trying to believe

Wow, you’re eight years old today. Where has the time gone? I wish I could say I’ve been using you from the very beginning, but I haven’t. But now… you’re indispensible. I rely on you for email, calendaring, spreadsheets, searching… You’ve become a trusted tool in my online life. So, with that, I wish you a happy birthday, Google. May you have many more!

So far, I’ve been really impressed by the current fall lineup on the major networks. A lot of new, creative shows have come out that I’ve quickly come to enjoy.

Heroes

At the top of my list is Heroes. The premise behind the show is that ordinary people around the world start to discover they have extraordinary powers. Last night’s premiere was everything I had hoped it to be and more. I remember as a kid - as I immersed myself in comic books - wishing I had super-powers.

Heroes airs on NBC - Mondays at 9pm EST.

Six Degrees

From the producer of Lost (my favorite show), J.J. Abrams, comes a new show called Six Degrees. It’s based on the idea that in a city of 19 million, a group of six people will be drawn together by fate. Some will meet the friends they’ve always needed. Others will meet the person they’ll marry. The pilot was pretty good and I’m anxious to see where they take storyline. (It’s almost a play on the whole Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.)

Six Degrees airs on ABC - Thursdays at 10pm EST.

Men in Trees

The past couple of episodes I’ve seen on Men in Trees have been entertaining. The show chronicles the life of a relationship expert who flies to Alaska and discovers her fiance had been cheating on her. She takes her trip to Alaska as a way to start over.

Men in Trees airs on ABC - Fridays at 10pm EST.

Returning Shows

• Lost

  Of course, if I had to stop watching any of the above shows in order to watch Lost, I would gladly do so in a heartbeat. Season Three starts October 4 at 9pm EST on ABC.

• Grey’s Anatomy

  I simply can’t help myself but to watch Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a great show with great writing and great actors. It airs on Thursdays at 9pm EST on ABC.

Hmm…. notice a trend here? ABC has a lot of great shows this year. Thankfully, I have one of those new-fangled Dual-Tuner DVR cable boxes through Comcast, so I won’t miss an episode…

I saw Jackass: Number Two over the weekend to entertain my immature, childish side. I laughed to the point of exhaustion and nearly got sick on more than a couple of occasions. I really could have done without some of the more questionable “stunts” in the movie, but overall I thought it was pretty funny. As to whether I’d see it again or not… I’d have to say I’d pass. The movie had its funny parts, but the sick parts made me ill.

Looks like Google just subtly added a new feature to the Google Personalized Homepage

It’s a nice addition for folks that want to maintain seperate “dashboards” of content on their homepage. One page might be for news, another for entertainment, etc… It’s not really anything “new”, but it’s nice to see that Google is continually improving their homepage offerings.

My internet and phone service has been down at home since Friday afternoon. BellSouth has been soooooo very helpful. (Yeah, right.) I called on Friday night, and they told me the issue should be resolved by Monday. I’m not the only one who’s been affected either. At least one of my neighbors was without phone and internet service as of yesterday evening, and who knows how many others have been out of service so far.Hopefully the issue will be fixed when I get home today.

• 09.18.06 @ 2128 - UPDATE: No dialtone still. But guess what does work all of a sudden? My DSL connection.
• 09.20.06 @ 0710 - UPDATE: Still no home phone service. This is getting ridiculous. Worst part about it? My internet works. I spoke with my neighbor and their service has worked since Saturday. I think I’ve been more than patient with BellSouth up until this point… I am not happy.
• 09.21.06 @ 1245 - UPDATE: Phone service finally was restored yesterday. Ridiculous.

Has it really been five years? Where has the time gone?I wrote these thoughts last year, and rather than rehash things I figured I’d just direct readers to the older post… Remembering 9/11

From CNN.com, 7:56 a.m. EDT, September 4, 2006 - Steve Irwin, the TV host known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” has died after being stung by a stingray off Australia’s north coast. Irwin, 44 was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest, according to police sources. Irwin was filming an underwater documentary at the time.

Crikey…

Imagine my surprise when I awoke to news that Steve Irwin, the infamous Crocodile Hunter, passed away this morning. Love him or hate him, Irwin was a dedicated conservationist and he died doing what he loved.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve enjoyed watching him put himself in dangerous situations. He was entertaining, educational and more than a little wacky. That’s what brought people back, though. You never knew what Steve was going to do each episode. You never knew what animal(s) he would encounter/wrestle/save/etc.

Thanks for sharing your passion with the world, Steve. Rest in peace, mate.

Here’s a small tribute video someone put together on YouTube.