At 5:00 PM today I will be going to Albany to pick up my Grandma. She's flying in from Wisconsin for the holidays. :) She'll be here three weeks, so I might not have unlimited time to spend here anymore. As we all know, it's the season for specials. Today I'm going to do a run-down of a few specials I've seen over the past couple of weeks: Last Laugh 05: Comedy Central's annual roundup of the past year. It was somewhat entertaining, but for the most part just disturbing. The funniest comedian there was Carlos Mencia, who didn't gross people out or depress them; he just made jokes. Too many comics are using gimmicks and gross-out humor these days; It's good to know that there are some people smart enough to make actual jokes. Best Year Ever: Vh1's roundup of the past year. I'm a big fan of Best Week Ever, so I rather enjoyed this show. In the end they decided Angelina Jolie had the "Best Year Ever," and they're correct. Miss World: Yesterday I had nothing else to do so I layed around and watched the Miss World pageant on E! It was quite disappointing. Miss USA had a funny looking nose, so she was out of the competition real quick. After that I rooted for Mexico and Canada, who both made it into the semifinals. Miss Canada was awesome: beautiful, smart, and a nice dancer. :) But alas, they couldn't give the prize to anyone remotely connected to America. Miss Iceland won. She was okay, but she was no Miss Canada. That's it for today. I might not be spending a whole lot of time flying around the site since I have to go pick up my grandma and I have the sudden urge to play video games. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it has to be satiated. :) See you guys later.

Sorry I wasn't around yesterday; I took the day off. :) I have a notepad document that I use to remember every blog idea that I get. Everytime I come up with something I want to talk about I save it in the "Blog Ideas" document for use at some future date. As it happens, the blog ideas document is empty. I'm totally out of ideas. So here's what I'm going to do: nothing! I think it's time for a blog rerun! :) For those of you that don't know, a few weeks ago I decided that since there aren't that many people on the site on Sundays, that I'd do what the networks do when the audience is light: Show a rerun! This was my very first blog entry after leveling was turned on. No one commented on it. :( [QUOTE="Midwestrocker's blog, June 22, 2005: Leveling!"]This is awesome! I'm a Soup Nazi! No soup for you! Bwahahahaha! And also, I just got up to my 100th post. I know that's not much considering how many posts other people are up to, but I rarely stick with something long enough accumulate that many posts, or enjoy it enough to even try. I've been an active member of Startrek.com (same screen name there) for at least a year and am only up to 150 posts. In comparison, I only started here 6 days ago. For me, this is quite an accomplishment. I'm sort of an internet jumper. I get really into things, then move on... sometimes rather quickly, sometimes not. I stuck with Myspace for a month or two, actively blogging and talking on the group forums, and I think that's the longest I've stuck with anything on the internet. And that's all I'll say. Often I say something like "This will be my favorite website forever!" and then I never come back to it. So I'm not going to do anything to risk that. PS: If you are "watching" me, let me know! I want to watch you back! Friends of my friends are... I mean... Friends of me are... my friends? It's a very complicated system and there are few cliches that fit. With friends like these... no, that doesn't work either. We all need a friend? That's not even a cliche!

This entry reminds me just how amazing it is that I've been here for six months. That's a very rare thing for me, and it's all thanks to you guys. :) Well, that's all I can think of to do. And oh yeah, remember to comment here. It's VERY important. ;)

The other day I was flying around Wikipedia on my hang glider as usual and I came across something that peaked my interest. It was all about generations, describing their purpose, the way they lived/live, and what they did to mess up everything. Here's a little info on all the generations of the past 100 years. The Greatest Generation: Born 1901-1924; Ages 81-104 This was a "hero" generation, which means that they were the group that fixed the cultural problems that led to World War II. Hero generations later become "The establishment," as they prefer things to be the way they were when they were younger. We'll talk about that a little later... The Silent Generation Born 1925-1945?; Ages 59-80 The people born in this era are called "Silent" because they are quiet and distinguished. They had to be, the world was tough when they were growing up. The Depression, WWII, The Cold War... they had a hard time. It was also an "Artist" generation, and that fits. Some of the more distinguished people of this generation include Sandra Day O'Connor, Tom Brokaw and James Earl Jones. That's classy. The Baby Boomer Generation Born 1946-1963; Ages 42-58 Here they are! The all-important children of the Generation. They were born in droves, they protested the war and became hippies, they lost their pensions and jobs to China, and they're a "Prophet" generation. If "Prophets" are really good at making music, that fits. They're also the ones who are going to bankrupt social security and medicare. Very sad... I would name some famous baby boomers but there are just too many to count! Generation X Born 1964-1979; Ages 26-41 Ever wondered why there aren't any good movies, why there aren't any James Deans or Marlon Brandos, or why SNL is no good anymore? Look no farther than here. Yes, the cultural achievements of this "Nomad" generation haven't been incredible (lately) but they make up for it in all the technology they've invented. The internet, the home computer, the MRI, they were all either invented by Xers or invented during their watch. Sure there are no Hemmingways, Roosevelts, or Kennedys among this group, but the world is a somewhat better place because of them. Kinda. Moving on... The Millenial Generation Born 1980-1996; Ages 9-25 This is my generation (AKA Generation Y), and surprisingly, it's a "Hero" generation just like the Greatest Generation. I don't know what's going to take us from promiscuous, under-achieving materialists into proud, institutional war winners but I have hope. Maybe when Generation Y's veterans come home from war they'll teach the rest of us what life is really all about. Famous members of Generation Y include Justin Timberlake, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson and Britney Spears. So that sums up the past 100 years. The next generation will be called Generation Z (1996-2026) but not enough is known about them to make any judgements. What generation are you a part of? That's it for today. I'm awfully proud of myself for living up to my Duke of Infotainment reputation. :lol: If you did make it this far, thanks for reading this very long blog entry. Good day. ;)

Yesterday I was flying around TV.com on my umbrella as I usually do when I came across something I hadn't before. In the forums, you can search for different thread titles, correct? Well, I went there and searched for my own name. Instead of searching for threads, it searched for blogs. My blog came up, and it told me exactly (and I checked) how many comments had ever been made on my blog. Of course, like any immature teenage boy, I then checked all of my friends to see how I stacked up to them. ;) Also, you can add certain blogs to your favorites. So now, whenever I go to the "Forum" button at the top of the screen I can see my friend's blogs and whether or not they've made a new blog post. This is what it looks like: Don't be offended if you're not listed there, I didn't want to fill up my forum page with all of my friends. Also note that you can see how many posts all of these people have. Isn't that amazing? ;) Has anyone seen this before? Because if this is something everyone knows then please tell me so I can take this down immediately. :lol: Now, with friendship in mind, I'm going to shine the spotlight on a few of my friends. The reason I'm doing this is because I want all my friends to be friends. I'm pretty sure there's a children's song that goes along with that. Anyway, here are a few of my friends; Go meet them, greet them, and blop them. :) Try to keep the "Dating Game" theme song in your head while you're reading this. Drewshack: Drewshack is a Sci-Fi and animation fan. He's the editor of several shows (including Criss Angel Mindfreak) and he's where I get the majority of my cool Lost links. Darquesyde: DS is the very funny editor of all that is G4. He likes video games, sci-fi shows, and people doing bad stuff and getting caught. :) He probably has one of the best blogs on the site; Almost as good as the mess I call my blog. :lol: CTURecruiter: CTU Recruiter is my mom. I don't think any further words are necessary. Lady_Taaluma: Lady Taaluma is a comic book, Phantom of the Opera, and Batman fan. Her blog is deep/meaningful and funny. If you wish to communicate with her in any way, she probably "Doesn't have one." :lol: Okay, so that's it. I'll probably get to all of you at some point in my life, so don't feel bad if you're not in the first batch. Go, blop by these people's profiles, and you don't even have to say "Midwestrocker sent me." Now on to other things: I made a blog post, at the suggestion of Angelsxo, to honor Missribs Be sure to go back there and post your thoughts. I think that's all I've got for today. Remember that absolutely everything you say in my blog will be responded to, so check back later. ;)

Yesterday, Angelsxo sent me a PM with an excellent idea: let's honor our very favorite TV.com staff member. Missribs is one of the only staff members to hear our complaints and respond to them. She has cured our frustrations and made working on the site worth it again. There is no one who has done more for our community than her. What we want you to do is to sign this blog post with your own personal thoughts, and after a certain unspecified time period we'll send it to Missribs. Remember, Don't tell her! It's important that you spread the word about this, but not if your blog is one of the seven she watches. Now, please sign our card and tell us how Missribs has helped you enjoy your TV.com experience.

So let's see... What did I do yesterday? I watched a pretty good episode of Alias, went to the doctor and got a clean bill of health, became editor and TU for a couple of people, and started a movement. All in all it was a pretty good day. :) Yesterday me and several friends (Thank you guys) used a protest banner to show our disgust with the ad banner. And today, no ad banner. Did we do it? Could we really have such an effect on the staff? Should we be given medals? I can't answer those questions (except the last one) but what I do know for sure is that this proves how well we can all work together to get our voices heard. In the future, we will not be trampled over. :) Coincidentally, yesterday was Pearl Harbor day. Well, that's not really a coincidence at all but... that's the best segue I could think of. It's important to honor our veterans and those who died on 12/7/41. Back to foolishness! Yesterday, there was a bonanza over the Santa Claus guide, so I thought I'd shed some light on some other surprising guides. An episode of Enterprise featured archive footage of several figures in world history, thereby bringing them to TV.com. There are guides for FDR, Ayatollah Khomeini, Vladimir Lenin, Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy. I dare you to become editor of the Fidel Castro guide. :) I became editor of a new guide: Bob Dylan Why? Because he's a musical legend. Also, Angelsxo made me trusted user for Julia Roberts and Keanu Reeves. Thanks. I have nothing to do today so I'll probably spend the majority of the day hanging around here. I hope you guys are okay with that. ;) And from now on I'm going to answer every comment in my blog. See ya later. P.S: Roxie almost killed me!

Edit: If you wish to use the above banner for protest, here is the image source: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/midwestrocker/Protest.jpg Here's a roundup of everything floating through my mind today: The Gauntlet II Ahhh... it has finally returned. My favorite reality show: The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. 32 greedy, promiscuous, hot tempered beautiful people go down to some island and battle it out for $300,000 dollars. What could possibly top that? And although I do love this show, I have to acknowledge that it will never be better than when Julie tried to kill Veronica. Seriously, it was one of the best TV moments ever. The acclaimed Julie Stoffer tried to unhook her opponent's safety harness while the two of them were dangling 150 feet above ground. It was awesome! Boston Legal Last night on Boston Legal: A lawyer cut off three of a Priest's fingers and one of them was carried off in the mouth of a cat in the midst of 10 screaming nuns. Let's just leave it at that. Bai Ling I have to admit it: I watched But Can They Sing? But only for Bai Ling! This former Chinese soldier, former Playboy model, former actress in a Star Wars movie is the most hilarious singer of all time! If you thought William Hung was funny, go here and click on the one with the red mohawk. You will not be dissapointed. Let's give her a medal or something. ;) New Editorships Thanks to Missribs, I've gained two new editorships: George W. Bush Because he's the president. I am now the editor of the President of the United States, which, in a way, makes me president of TV.com. Not Buying it? Okay. Wil Wheaton Because he has one of the best blogs on the internet. Also, I am sick of my mod queue being empty. I want to edit something! Please, anybody, submit to my guides! I have 15 trusted userships begging to be filled. The Ear Doctor Today at around two I'm going to see an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor (Or ENT, and if you've seen Lord of the Rings you know why that's hilarious to me) about my infection, which is hardly noticeable anymore. It might be going away, but with a recurring infection like that it's best to get yourself checked for any unsuspected things... like Hobbits living in my ears. The End Well, that's it. I hope you guys enjoyed the round-up of everything that's in my head. I'll be around for awhile... ;)

That's what Disney is calling itself now. I guess they decided that they cannot definitively say that Disney is the happiest place on Earth; They've never been to Minnesota. The folks are ridiculously happy up there. So last Wednesday I went to the Happiest Celebration on Earth, Disney World in Orlando Florida. Please note that Disney World and Disney Land are two seperate things. DW is in Orlando, DL is in LA. DW is huge because there's plenty of room for expansion in central Florida, wheareas DL hasn't expanded in many, many, years. Of the two you'll definitely get more bang for your buck at Disney World. So me, my aunt, my first cousin and his two kids (5 and 3) take off for Disney World at 10:00 in the morning. It doesn't take long to grasp the size of the complex. We went through about ten miles of land owned by Disney before we even got to our exit. There were hotels, restaraunts and apartment buildings (For college students who work at Disney for credits) everywhere. It also doesn't take long to grasp the effect Disney has had on American Culture. There were people who had pulled off the Highway to take a picture of the sign that said "Welcome to Disney World". We arrived at MGM Studios at 11:00 AM. We spent the entire day there. We got into the park at about 11:30. Why did it take you a half an hour to get into the park, you might ask? First, we had to walk to the tram. Second, my ticket had become degmagnetized so the nice lady at the ticket counter took me from department to department trying to get me a new ticket. Towards the end of the process Disney asked me for my personal information (Address, age, phone number) which I naively provided without a squeak. I hope I didn't inadvertently enlist myself in the "Happiest Army on Earth." The first thing we did in the park was make sure that the kids were awake; We took them to the Playhouse Disney show, which was incredibly trippy. It was then that it dawned on me that most television shows for children were probably invented by way of acid trip. There were flying moons, talking flowers, and inexplicable purple things. And the floodlights... I almost felt high by the time I left. Then it was on to the Little Mermaid show, which was surprisingly good. After that we stopped by a stunt show we had to walk up 95 flights of stairs to see. There were car chases, jetskis, an explosion, and a man that set himself on fire! It was awesome! As to how they can do that in front of little kids without freaking them out, I have no idea. Several of the other highlights of the trip include Star Tours, a three minute adventure in the Star Wars universe that you have to wait Twenty Minutes for; The Indiana Jones Stunt show, which was the same as the previous stunt show except there were car chases and the guy that came out of the audience was clearly a plant; and Muppetvision 3D, which was actually pretty cool and way more 3D than Medium's special 3D episode. The best part of the trip was the finale: Fantasmic. Me, my family, and Seven Thousand of my closest friends watched a huge special effect filled show in which Mickey has a dream. It features scenes from every animated Disney movie that I know of and really reminded me how important those movies were to me as a child. It was spectacular, and even made me forget how cold I was. After Fantasmic, everyone filed out of the park, got onto the trams, and walked out to their cars. The celebration was over. It was a very good trip. I haven't been to Disney since I was seven, and surprisingly it was even more enjoyable now. It was hard work; my legs were quite sore from at least two miles worth of walking and my arms were tired from carrying my 60 pound cousin. The only bad part is that I didn't bring my camera and I didn't get to buy any souvenirs. The only thing I have to remember this trip by is my actual memory. How much does that suck? :)

Ahh... it feels like I can breathe again! I've returned from Florida! I came through rain, tornado warnings, an earache and 4 hours of country music but I've arrived to five hours of taped programming, one of the last new episodes of Arrested Development and my high-speed connection. :) Tonight is about recooperation, rest, and blopping. Lots of blopping. Tomorrow I'll talk about my trip to Disney World. TTYL. PS: Congratulations to Withcinsider on being named Community Spotlight. And congratulations to all my other friends who had Community Spotlight before.

Today was a very fun day. :) I woke up at 8:15 in the morning (which is somewhat unusual for me) to go to one of my cousin's basketball games. I knew he was going to win because I overheard the coach of the other team say "We're gonna get slaughtered." :lol: And they did. After that my cousin came over to my Aunt's house and we played a PS2 game called Freedom Fighters for 4 hours and he didn't win once! :) We continued playing later on in the night, and he still didn't win. He got much better, but he didn't win. ;) The rest of the night was spent eating and talking with many, many family members. Five cousins, three Aunts, and my Grandma. It was a very good night. Right now I'm watching the Real World Austin Reunion. It's very out of character for me to watch any unscripted shows, but there are a couple that I like. This season of the Real World, although I didn't see every episode, was awesome. The previous seasons always got off to a bang and ended in a whimper but this year's most certainly didn't. I know it's a little trashy to enjoy watching people fight each other, but come on! Just... come on! :) My favorite part of this season was when Johanna was arrested for stealing a rose from a homeless person, or as Wes calls it, "Grand Theft Carnation." :lol: For some reason drunk people going nuts is also entertaining to me. Again, trashy, but I'm a teenager! Hopefully I'll grow out of it. ;) You may have noticed that this is a colour free blog. It takes a little while to put in those colours, and time is scarce here. I'm also not incredibly sure how long the colour bug will be with us, but probably until I come up with something else to spice up my blog. Then again, I might be trying to spice up my blog a little too much. Maybe I should strip it down. :) We'll see. When I see all the awesome stuff going on in the right side of my screen, I feel like I can't breathe. I miss blopping, posting, and submitting. :( I can't wait until tuesday comes. I've also noticed that I have become a "Freak and Geek." That fits. :lol: