MUST SEE TV IS BACK

I hate the end of summer. Summer is my season. Nothing is wrong when it's summer. For most of my adult life I've lived in places where it's basically perpetually summer - the Caribbean, South Florida, Texas and San Diego. Eventhough I haven't lived north of I-10 in over 12 years, and seasons don't change much you can't escape that time moves on and seasons are less weather related and steered more by social timing (holidays, school year, travel times, etc.).

I have to find ways to cope.

One of the things that helps me is the fall return of all my favorite shows. Thursday evenings being the jewel. If I'm going to hang out on Thursday nights - it comes after my shows are finished. My brief thoughts on the shows I watched last night:

MY NAME IS EARL- Not the funniest episode to date, but decent. Earl is a staple - you know what to expect and you'll always get some good laughs. Hopefully the writing will be better as the season gets going.

THE OFFICE - This was the funniest Office episode yet!! This show is so uncomfortably funny and I think the cast makes it. Whomever it was that cast the show deserves an emmy.

GREY'S ANATOMY - Everything I expected from the first show of the season. This show's success can be heavily attributed to it's music. Having said that, the acting and writing are both great as well. However, ER once had great writing and acting, but not the music. ER was never as good. I thought they did a good job at addressing everything that was left hanging from last season. That doesn't always happen.

SIX DEGREES - This was a pilot for a new series where everyone's lives mesh together eventhough they may not know each other (hence the name referencing the six degrees of separation theory). All I can say is, "eh". It was OK. Not great. Acting was good, but it just didn't seem to go anywhere or keep my attention. Ironically, one of the secondary characters is a girl I went to high school with (Sarah Vowell)- so that was interesting.

MELANCHOLY

I'm still not ready to talk about the Texas loss to Ohio State on Saturday. So don't even ask.

I do, however, feel it appropriate to maybe write a little something about 9/11. I figured I'd post about that day 5 years ago today.

I was driving to work in Houston, listening to NPR when they interrupted Morning Edition to report that a small plane had crashed into the WTC. The initial report indicated that it appeared to be a single engine, but possibly a dual engine prop plane. "Wow!" I thought to myself, "Had to be a suicide thing." They resumed Morning Edition and I arrived at work.

A few people mentioned hearing about it and we clucked about the possible causes for a few minutes before starting the day of work. The day of work was interrupted 30 minutes or so later when my assistant came running into my office screaming, "We're under attack!! We're under attack!!!"

She was so hysterical that I didn't even bother trying to get details out of her. Instead, I turned on the radio in my office and listened to the drama unfold. When the radio announcer, who was reporting from Manhattan, started screaming that the first tower was collapsing, I didn't believe it. I thought to myself, "Maybe just a couple of floors on the top. Surely this is just a case of another reporter sensationalizing the situation - as they do."

Then I saw the pictures.

Then I saw the footage.

As I watched, the tears streamed down my face. I thought about the confusion. I thought about the desperation. I thought about the way that this incident would forever change our country and way of life.

I was a part-time firefighter at the time, running a small department in suburban Houston. This all hit too close to home. In the footage of the collapse, I was seeing and hearing sounds that perhaps most people missed if they'd never worked as a firefighter on a working scene. Distress alarms and panicked radio traffic. These sounds send the hair on the back of your neck standing straight up and induce flushing cold sweats. Helpless. Hopeless.

It's been 5 years - which apparently is the end of the "Grace Period" where entertainment executives feel it's appropriate that they can start capitalizing on the entertainment value. I'm not ready to indulge them. I also won't indulge the conspiracy theorists and political activists who like to stir the pot and point fingers. Especially when they like to use phrases like, "This is all 'Fact'. You make your own decisions." Yeah asshole, anyone can present 'Fact' and still spin it to make the point they're trying to make. I learned that in 8th grade debate class. Fuck you. It was a tragedy. That's all that matters.

Where were you?

WORD TO THE WISE(MEN)

When a female prefaces something with, "I know this might sound a little bitchy," take the following action immediately:

1) Take one hand and cover your throat.
2) Take the other hand and cover your nuts.
3) Turn sideways

You're about to be served one of the most scathing and hurtful insults you have ever been dealt. Sure, she might pepper the ensuing statement with sugar coated words that gently disguise it - but make no mistake: She's got a dagger in her hand and she's aiming to slash your throat and cut off your wedding tackle.

That is all.