Already on:
Mondays @ 8:00 – Weeds

Monday, 09/20
9:00 – Hawaii Five-0

Tuesday, 09/21
7:00 – NCIS

Wednesday, 09/22
8:00 – Criminal Minds

Thursday, 09/23
8:00 – Grey’s Anatomy

Sunday, 09/26
(too lazy to figure this out yet in HST) – Dexter

Of these, I am looking forward to Dexter the most. OK, and Five-0, but you never know whether shows will make it, no matter how much you want them to, so I’m trying to avoid becoming too attached. (It’s always good to hear the theme song, though – somehow, that thing never gets old.)

Friday, we obtained the new digital cable box from Oceanic Time-Warner, and I promptly hooked it up to the MacPro. Showtime HD worked just fine, much to my delight. Then I switched to the programming I was most excited for in HD: sports. ESPN HD was, I knew (from watching it at my cousin’s house), on channel 1222. But Oceanic’s blue screen told me I wasn’t authorized to view this channel. Hmm, odd. How about 1321 (Food Network HD)? Same thing. Grrrr! What is the point of HD if I can’t view sports or food?

So what did I have access to? I decided to keep hitting the channel-up button on the remote to find out. As it turned out, plenty: HBO, Cinemax, Starz, the Big Ten Network (!!!) . . . and at least two channels of, shall we say, programming for mature audiences . . . Yeah, that’s right. I couldn’t get ESPN or Food Network, but I had a couple free p**n channels. Huh?!

By the next afternoon, I was pretty frustrated. I needed my ESPN and Food Network fix. I called Oceanic, and the tech confirmed that I should be receiving these two channels. He pinged my box, and Food Network HD popped up on the screen. So did ESPN HD. Since that covered my basic concerns, I thanked him, politely declined the opportunity to sign up for their phone service (because, seriously, no service in a blackout = fail) and hung up.

A while later, I discovered that I seem to have lost a lot of the, errr, interesting freebies I was getting when I couldn’t see Neil Everett’s face in high-def. Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to get those. Including the Big Ten Network. Or NHL Network. Seriously, those don’t come with the package, but I get ImaginAsian TV and Disney XD HD (in which “The Suite Life of Zac and Cody” is currently on but not in HD)? I’m sorry, did I subscribe to the secret HD Clown Package?!

Clearly, this is just a conspiracy to siphon more money out of my Starbucks fund and into my sports addiction. If that isn’t un-American, I don’t know what is. Also, I don’t know the proper spelling of un-American. :oP

CBS released video of the updated intro today, and the web is abuzz with opinions. Here ’tis:

For the sake of comparison, here’s the original opening:

Interesting, huh? I love how the new version includes updated versions of some of the original shots. My boss is entertained by the concept of the female agent doing martial arts in a sun dress. Ha.

What do you think? “Hawaii Five-O” is a little near and dear to kama‘aina hearts, so we’re anxious to see how endearing this updated version will be!

Yesterday was the last ever Sunset on the Beach season premiere of “LOST,” as the show enters its final season, so of course I joined my friends Ryan and Jen and, oh, THOUSANDS of others on the beach for the event.

Executive Producer Carlton Cuse introduces stars before the show.

I won’t post any spoilers, because, come on, the episode airs Tuesday night, but let’s just say it was well worth staking out a good spot on the beach starting at 10:00 in the morning. I will, however, post a few photos from the red carpet arrivals:

Ken Leung (Miles). Of course an Asian guy arrives first and on time.

Emmy Award-winner Michael Emerson (Ben). I love this photo because the fan on the right looks pretty desperate.

Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana). New-ish girl we haven’t gotten to know that well yet, though she did kick Sayid’s ass in one ep.

Daniel Dae Kim (Jin). Awesome.

Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert). As established on the Season 5 DVD, he does not wear eyeliner. But people still ask.

Naveen Andrews (Sayid). As Anonymous Julie has pointed out, he is kinda short.

Jorge Garcia (Hurley). Super nice. Spent a lot of time with the fans.

Producer Jean Higgins.

Jeff Fahey (Frank Lapidus).

Harold Perrineau (Michael). Hammed it up for fan photos. Awesome.

Director Jack Bender.

Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond). OK, slight spoiler: He’s in the season premiere. ;o)

Emmy Award-winner Terry O’Quinn (Locke — and the new badass dude). He had to think twice before stopping for this photo but was really nice about it!

Evangeline Lilly (Kate). Also super nice and posed for a ton of photos.

The famous Damon and Carlton (executive producers and lead writers Damon Lindeloff, right, and Carlton Cuse), celebrities in their own right through the official “LOST” podcast.

Yunjin Kim (Sun). Yay!

Matthew Fox (Jack) and Josh Holloway (Sawyer) also arrived eventually, but they came way after everybody else, and I had deserted the red carpet by then.

I have a few other photos up on my Flickr album here. Please don’t reuse any photos without asking first.

Enjoy Season 6, everyone! Looks like it’s going to be quite a ride . . .

The idea of a bunch of old, retired jocks doing a spoof of what most would hardly consider a masterpiece in the first place probably makes you want to throw up a little – and I can hardly blame you there. But I, for one, am super excited. And if you know me at all, you know I’m not kidding. I bought the commemorative DVD of the original Super Bowl Shuffle, complete with outtakes. I, who have had the gall to insult Sir Elton John (yeah, I’m never letting that one go), have the Super Bowl Shuffle on my iPhone. I teach it to children when left alone with them. I know where this puts me on The Great Social Scale of Life, but I don’t care: I readily admit, I love the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Sure, I’ll miss Sweetness being in the remake, but for obvious technical reasons, Walter Payton couldn’t be there. Too bad they couldn’t get Gary Fencik in there, too:

Buddy’s guys cover it down to the bone,
That’s why they call us the 46 Zone.
Come on, everybody, let’s scream and yell,
We’re gonna do the Shuffle,
Then ring your bell.

This is gonna be awesome. Mark my words: Steve Fuller will steal the show. This will particularly be the case if it’s Vikings-Jets. ;o)

How did Satoken’s father die? And what else did we miss? Help!