I think I’ve got it figured out.

We’ve now seen A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back a couple of times. There is some question in their minds as to whether Vader was being truthful when he said . . . → Read More: Star Wars Conundrum: Sorted]]> I wrote before about the problem I have with showing my daughters the Star Wars series (well, some of them). It’s difficult to decide what order to show them which versions of the films, and how quickly.

I think I’ve got it figured out.

We’ve now seen A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back a couple of times. There is some question in their minds as to whether Vader was being truthful when he said he was Luke’s father. I’m going to play that up for a little while, and then we’ll move on to Return of the Jedi. It’s just the most natural progression, and I can’t keep a lid on this Vader thing forever. Someone (my mother) will spill the beans and verify the parentage and the entire history if she gets the chance.

This works out well enough, I think, time-wise. The Phantom Menace will be released in 3D in the theaters in February, and I plan to take the kids. The only real question there is whether they’ll be able to sit through the whole thing. That’s a long film for elementary age kids.

They tend to do better if they know the story ahead of time, so I may show it to them on DVD first. Still debating whether that’s a good move. I guess that’s my new conundrum.

After that, I think we’ll take a breather. There’s no immediate need to go into Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith. I think they need a few more years under their belts before we go there. At least, that’s the current thinking.

In related news: I love this ad for the new 3D release.

I’ve enjoyed almost all the Brisk animated commercials. I’m glad to see them bring that back. THAT’S BRISK, BABY!

It didn’t start out as good as last year, though. Of course there were fewer episodes last year, and therefore fewer groups involved; they didn’t have as much room for mediocrity (though truth be told, even mediocrity here is pretty darn good).

Sixteen groups . . . → Read More: The Sing-Off: recap and predictions]]> I’m pretty sure my wife will have no problem confirming this: I’m addicted to The Sing-Off.  Last year’s show blew my mind with the talent involved. This year matches that achievement.

It didn’t start out as good as last year, though. Of course there were fewer episodes last year, and therefore fewer groups involved; they didn’t have as much room for mediocrity (though truth be told, even mediocrity here is pretty darn good).

Sixteen groups started this season, and we’re down to 5 now as I write this. I don’t remember any groups blowing me away in the first 2 episodes, but now? My mind is blown almost every episode by at least one group.

The two that impress most consistently are my picks for the finalists this season: Afro-blue and Pentatonix.

Afro-blue have some amazing singers, great personality, and the smoothest sound I’ve heard in a long time. I could totally see buying their records. Their worst blunder was “American Girl,” by Tom Petty. Technically perfect, but the judges were right – they obviously didn’t connect with the song while they were arranging. They nailed their other performances, though. Here’s their Janet Jackson medley:

I don’t think that’s their best performance, but it is really good, and it has the scat in it that I love.

Pentatonix is just crazy talented. I don’t know how they get that much sound from 5 people. That’s insane. They’ve been strong most of the time, but “Video Killed the Radio Star” is what got me to sit up and hit rewind on Guilty Pleasures week. It’s even more insanely impressive that they switched songs and pulled this together just two days before the performance (jump to 1:45 if you want to skip the “color” piece).

“Rapapella” group Urban Method has impressed me a few times as well. I certainly think they’ll make it to the final four, unless they really blow it. I’m gonna call Dartmouth Aires as a final four group as well. I think they’ll just edge out Vocal Point this coming week – but that’s honestly a tough call (especially since I don’t know anything about the episode!).

I’m not a big fan of medleys, but Dartmouth Aires have me totally sold on their Queen medley. Not technically perfect, but… damn!

I can’t wait for the next episode to hear what each of these groups do next. Love it, love it, love it.

Rock on, Sing-Off!

Speaking of narcissism, here’s a picture of me that Lee Sargent drew for my birthday yesterday.

Everybody wants to play Clue Jr. with Jeff Caddick

That’s the only present I got yesterday that I wanted to share with everyone. (The Pringles are MINE.)

The caption from that was a . . . → Read More: Found on Facebook – episode 2]]> Every once in a while people post interesting stuff on Facebook, instead of just the inane time-sucking games and narcissism that usually goes on there.

Speaking of narcissism, here’s a picture of me that Lee Sargent drew for my birthday yesterday.

Everybody wants to play Clue Jr. with Jeff Caddick

That’s the only present I got yesterday that I wanted to share with everyone. (The Pringles are MINE.)

The caption from that was a take-off on his “No one wants to play with…” series which is very cool. Head over and give him some love. (And thanks again, Lee.)

I was also pointed to this very cool research being done by Microsoft. They’re taking a Kindle and a beam splitter and making steps toward a Star Trek-like Holodeck. They’re calling it the Holodesk.

That would be a fun research project. Here’s a little more detail if you’re interested.

Then there’s this:

I don’t even want to know how much time that took to put together.

Finally, we come to a bizarrely favorite thing from my childhood: The Battle of the Network Stars. A friend pointed to this article. I can’t say that I remember this particular moment, but it is a great story, and I certainly remember the show.

You just gotta love the ’70s. There is absolutely no way you could pull something like this off these days. The stars wouldn’t have it, the networks wouldn’t have it, and the lawyers probably wouldn’t have it either.

Back in the day, though, this is what passed for reality TV, and it is still pure gold, in my opinion. Way better than today’s elimination-based reality series. Who wouldn’t love to see Sheldon (The Big Bang Theory) beat Jim Caviezel (Person of Interest) in a race? That would just be awesome.

I make jokes about awesomeness all the time. That is truly awesome.

The dad in that video is a friend of mine from college. Unfortunately I’ve barely spoken to him since then, but we hooked up on Facebook a while ago, and I’ve been watching Adam’s progression through his Facebook posts. Adam has had that for 3 years – virtually his entire life. That video is . . . → Read More: Why Facebook and YouTube are cool]]> It’s very simple, really. They brought me this:

I make jokes about awesomeness all the time. That is truly awesome.

The dad in that video is a friend of mine from college. Unfortunately I’ve barely spoken to him since then, but we hooked up on Facebook a while ago, and I’ve been watching Adam’s progression through his Facebook posts. Adam has had that for 3 years – virtually his entire life. That video is the joyful culmination of a lot of pain, stress, prayer, and effort of a lot of people on Adam’s behalf, not to mention Adam himself.

I’m sure there are still challenges ahead, but that’s one hell of a mountain he just crested. Congratulations.

And thank you, Ken, for sharing it.

Well, I thought I was over it.

Today I had my 6-month dental check-up. Six . . . → Read More: My experience with the “c” word]]> I can’t remember precisely the last time somebody took a needle and jammed it into my gums multiple times. I can’t remember the date, but I vividly remember the experience. And the crying. And the fear… no: terror. It’s been a long, long time. And I was okay with that being an experience in my past. I was over it.

Well, I thought I was over it.

Today I had my 6-month dental check-up. Six months ago everything went just like every other check-up I’d had my entire life. For 40 years, somebody looming over me, putting their chest in my face and attempting to choke me with my own saliva while scraping my teeth with a metal hook every 6 months is just something I’d come to expect. And at the end of every one of those appointments I’d walk away with a new toothbrush (and sometimes a sticker or superball in my younger days). Never in any of those appointments did anyone use the “c” word in reference to me, without preceding it with a negative indicator. Until today. Today, he used the “c” word right to my face and told me I had one.

I will now never be able to say “Nope, I’ve never had a cavity” again.

The cavity is in my wisdom tooth, so he gives me a choice: get a filling or get all the wisdom teeth extracted.

What kind of a choice is that? Blissful sleep followed by incoherence followed by pain for days, or reliving one of the scariest moments of my life?! And he expected me to make a split second decision!

I opted for the needle eventually, but I chickened out on doing it right away. I couldn’t face it. I needed to reschedule.

Yes, I know I’m a wimp. People have this done all the time, many of them multiple times. I have no explanation other than to admit I’m a wuss. And now I’ve given myself a month to get good and worked up about it (or, alternately, be convinced by all the nice people I know that it’s painless and simple, even humorous – though I have no idea how anyone is going to convince me that needle-technology has come so far that it doesn’t hurt to get stabbed in the gums repeatedly).

I’ve always had inordinately strong teeth (even if they weren’t straight). I didn’t even go to the dentist for most of the ’90s. But still, never a cavity. Even at my visit 6 months ago, the dentist literally said “You may never have a problem with your teeth.” I took that as a good sign.

So that just increased the shock today, and decreased my ability to deal with it.

I’ve never been good with needles. I’ve gotten used to needles in the arm now, because I have to have blood drawn every quarter, but I still can’t watch. And if the technician doesn’t do it perfectly, it still frickin’ hurts (though thankfully we have some great techs here who can do it with absolutely zero pain, which amazes me). And my memory of shots in the arm as a child vs shots in the gums as a child puts the latter at about 47.3 times worse, so I’m really not looking forward to this. The only worse shot I remember getting as a child was in my knee just prior to a tonsillectomy (and still, I don’t understand – WHY in the knee?! That’s almost as far as you can get from the tonsil!), so at least I can imagine something worse.

Sigh.

At least I have two fond memories related to Novocaine. Bill and Tim will help me through this.

Bill:

Tim:

Hopefully, the hard part will be remembering not to laugh when I’m in the chair.

I talked about how excited I was about this season in my review of last season, so instead of repeating myself I’ll just say… “can’t wait!”

Here’s the incredibly . . . → Read More: Doctor, Doctor, gimme the news…]]> We’re heading back toward another season of Doctor Who! Matt Smith will reprise his role as The Doctor starting on Easter weekend (April 23rd). Also returning are companions (and newlyweds) Rory and Amy. And of course, River Song will show up at some point as well.

I talked about how excited I was about this season in my review of last season, so instead of repeating myself I’ll just say… “can’t wait!”

Here’s the incredibly short teaser trailer for the new season:

(Check this out for an analysis of the alternate trailer with an extra character. Or here is a side-by-side comparison.)

The Silence is coming! What does that mean?! Here’s a quick refresher of hints in last season.

Here’s the full trailer from back in December:

While you’re waiting for your Doctor Who fix in April, take this quick hit to tide you over. Taken together, these two ‘mini-sodes’ create an approximately 8 minute episode created for the British charity event Red Nose Day (which is apparently like the Comic Relief events). The humor is slightly more adult than the show usually is, but I guess they were pushing to a different audience for the charity event.

Part 1: Space

Part 2: Time

Apparently there will be a “prequel minisode” released on Friday, too.

So… only one more month of anticipation!  Can’t wait!

Awesome.

How many plugs for Tom Hanks’ roles can you spot?

Here are the ones I caught (most were pretty obvious):

I love the spray bottle.

Tom Hanks continues to impress.

This is a time when companies throw huge amounts of money at making their best commercials. Every one I’ve talked to, and every poll I’ve seen has this Volkswagon ad as the clear winner for best commercial of the night. I . . . → Read More: Commercial goodness]]> So on Sunday there was this huge block of mostly new commercials, periodically interrupted by some guys running back and forth on a field and knocking each other over for no really good reason.

This is a time when companies throw huge amounts of money at making their best commercials. Every one I’ve talked to, and every poll I’ve seen has this Volkswagon ad as the clear winner for best commercial of the night. I agree. This thing is great. So predictable, but so well played and cute you gotta love it.

Seriously, give that kid credit for selling that. It wouldn’t have worked if he had underacted. Here’s a bit on him from the “Today” show.

That wasn’t the only cool commercial, obviously. Here are my picks for the rest of the top 5.

• Chevy – Misunderstanding (I love this one)
• Audi – Release the Hounds! (Again, awesome)
• Bud Light – Product Placement
• Motorola XOOM – Empower the People (despite that I liked this commercial because it ripped on Apple’s old “1984″ campaign, this is a risky move because for a lot of the commercial you could actually think that it’s an Apple iPad and thus this one backfires by being associated by the competition)

What were your favorites?

Soak it in:

Seriously, this is one of the most inventive things I’ve seen in action movies in a long time. Hats off to the creators. Total, unabashed cheese that somehow transcends itself and becomes a beacon of awesomeness. Even with out understanding anything they’re saying, . . . → Read More: The most awesome thing to come out of India – ever]]> Like The Matrix, you cannot be told what this is. Words cannot describe it. It must be experienced. You must immerse yourself in it to feel the awesomeness.

Soak it in:

Seriously, this is one of the most inventive things I’ve seen in action movies in a long time. Hats off to the creators. Total, unabashed cheese that somehow transcends itself and becomes a beacon of awesomeness. Even with out understanding anything they’re saying, I can actually follow what’s going on, too. With the visuals that’s completely unnecessary in order to appreciate it, but it is a nice bonus.

This is what the SyFy channel should be doing with its movie dollars.

I considered a bunch of different options for today’s post. One was a video of some birds eating berries in the snow in my backyard, but they flew away by the time I got the camera. Probably for the best, though. It would have looked nice, . . . → Read More: Telling Time – 7 day challenge]]> In the 7 day challenge, today’s topic is: Embed a legal youtube clip that I either found today or created myself. Then tell everyone about the clip and related information.

I considered a bunch of different options for today’s post. One was a video of some birds eating berries in the snow in my backyard, but they flew away by the time I got the camera. Probably for the best, though. It would have looked nice, but been boring.

Another idea was to create a video of my wife and I discussing a topic, but I couldn’t come down on which topic and I’m not sure I could have convinced her to do it, honestly.

A few other ideas flitted through my brain, but while I was working yesterday my wife rediscovered a video from a few years ago that we took of the girls one night soon after they had gotten watches. They were constantly telling us what time it was for a while.

The result this time was a bit unexpected.

Can you tell which of the kids is the comedian?

(hey, by the way, remember back on the first day of this challenge, when I said I wasn’t going to pay attention to the 300-400 words requirement? This is me, being rebellious. I’m living right there on the edge. I’m not even going to include filler text or nothing. Nope. No filler text here. You won’t see it, so don’t even look for it. Were I to include it, it might be right around this point in the post, but as I said, I’m not going to bother putting filler text in here. Because, what would be the point, really? Does it add to the discussion? I say no. You may of course feel free to disagree, but I stand my ground on this one. Nope. No filler text will be included.)