Recapping Doesn't Mean Getting A New Hat

Well kids, when a guy travels a lot on the weekends and has a lot of fun doing it, that makes for a double-edged situation: lots of stuff to talk about and long gaps between entries on his blog. It also causes an unexplainable urge to write in the third person, and the only way to get rid of that is to do a ... MAJOR RECAP! This major recap may well span over several entries, so strap yourselves in for the fun ride, kids.

First off, hello to all of you Blacksburg kids who are reading this now that you're back at school! I'm sure my hits will go up by at least 56% during the semester, like they always do. It also seems like most of the other regulars on my blogroll are back to regular posting. Looks like balance has been restored to the Force.

Over the weekend, I returned briefly to said Blacksburg to hang out for a little while, mainly with Gina, since this begins another semester away for her. One highlight from the weekend was 24's return to the small screen, accompanied by Katie's video of all of those in attendance at the 24 viewing party. As is usually the case when Katie breaks out her video camera, we made a pretty hilarious little documentary. Everyone chipped in over the two-night premiere, including both Gina's and Katie's mom, and Josh and I both got to do a phone interview over the different nights (since I was actually there for Sunday night).

Some quick reflections on this season of 24 (including vaguely-veiled spoilers if you didn't see the premiere, which you should try to track down very quickly): Just like everyone else who is a fan of the show, I can't believe they killed them! They sure weren't kidding about changing the flow of the show within the first ten minutes of this season. Killing off two of your most beloved characters, one of whom has survived through the first four seasons no less, is a sure-fire way to either alienate all of your fanbase or raise the stakes to exciting levels all over again. I'm still planning on watching the rest of this season, so I guess my opinion falls into the second category. It's excitin'!

I feel like I've been talking a lot about TV here lately, so I'll point your mouses to other cool things. First, check out the first installment of TSPN Radio, Tom's podcast. It's a big download, but since these things take a lot of work to put together, check it out (my roommate makes a guest analyst appearance early on, as well). Good job, Tom and Ben.

And, for a dose of new year's goodness, check out the list of 2005's banned words. Banned because they were overused. Maybe you can coin your own slang term. Great idea. I'll make that one of my resolutions.

That's all for now, folks!