Potpourri (And not the Stinky kind)

My nephew is 9, turning 10 in less than a month now. He's growing his hair long.

For Hallowe'en he has chosen to be a Grim Reaper. It seems he's developed a liking for the television series Dead Like Me (and if you're one of those people who killed it prematurely by never having watched it, then I wish bad juju to find you -- and your remote control. Jesus).

I impressed the living shit out of the kid by telling him I crossed paths with it on the job. Yeah, that beats the hell out of the lame-ass phonecalls mommy's taking all day at work, huh? You betcha, sonny.

He does Google searches for game cheats and, thus, can get to, like, level 842 in Sonic.

Fuck, man. When did I get so old? Ha!

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Ah, well. I'm gooder as I get older. So, there's that.

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I was flipping through channels, trying to find something decent to entertain myself with, when I happened onto the Long Way Round. This is a travel documentary series that features Ewan McGregor with a fellow named Charley, who I presume to be a nearest & dearest of Ewan's, as they embark upon a circumnavigation of the globe on a pair of heavily-laden BMW motorcycles. They head east, riding from London to what is their eventual destination of New York City.

It's very lo-fi for such a noteworthy film star. Ewan's sporting a beard and a rather unkempt look, but he's even more charming than I'd realized. The travels are authentic and they're keeping to being people-of-the-people in the series, which makes for a good candid show.

I caught the episode this evening that has the boys taking their trek to the Ukraine. It was surreal, to say the least. They land in this small-ish town and are talking up the locals, finding out where the only hotel is, when a couple young guys mime out that the guys are gonna get flea-ridden at the local dive. A kindred local steps up and invites the boy to their home.

Now, it seems like this everyday guy who's just being one of those generous types you hear about in the rural towns. They travel through some very low-rent ramshackled bungalows and then enter through these high-security gates and emerge to find, well, a mansion.

From there, it gets bizarre. The wife's an Imelda Marcos with hundreds of shoes, the husband comes down the stairs (at the party where he's showing off these Brits he's caught to all his buddies) brandishing an acoustic guitar in one hand and a Kalishnikov in the other. Turns out all his buddies have their guns, too. And there are cabinets filled with them. Their host, they are told, "sells TVs."

That's just a fragment of what happens in the episode. It's hysterical. It's brilliant because it's real life and great documentary television. Just fabulous.

I'll have to keep an eye on the show, if I can remember it.

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I caught the debut of 30 Rock. Not sure I'm quite giving it thumbs up yet. I want to. I love Alec Baldwin. Ever since his brilliant take on the pedophile/actor in State and Main, I've loved his snarky media roles. He's great in them. This is no exception. He's a great utter dick.

I hated the weird opening scene where she buys all the hot dogs. But, then, I'm no fan of hot dogs. A snack. Now and then. Sure. Not even frequently. Seldom. Yes. Seldom. Staple? Never.

Weird scene. Didn't work for me. The same could have been expressed re: her character via something more simplistic and applicable. Who spends $150 on hot dogs, depriving an entire line-up in New York and makes it out alive? Huh? WHO?

But I digress.

I did, however, have a sausage with dinner. It's not that. Bangers and mash? Dear God, I'm in. Broiled chicken-apple sausages I get with me brekkie? In. Down. Et al. Ad nauseum. Yum. Sure. But hot dogs are one of those "Hey, I'm at a backyard party and I have a beer and yeah, I'll have onions on that" kind of celebratory mid-August sort of food that needs to come with an Experience. A ball game. A beach party. You know. A Dog Worth Remembering. All caps-like, indeed.

But the rest of the episode was a little askew for me as well. It seems, well, contrived. I'll give it another shot, but contrivance has a limited market in my world. Especially in a season with so much to offer. What good TV!

Don't even get me started on Heroes. Too cool.

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I learned that Egyptian mummy heads can apparently sometimes be fragrant. Apparently some favoured a stuffing for mummifying purposes that composed of spices like sage and cloves and such. Apparently. I haven't double-checked this but quite liked the trivia.

Look, ma, I'm learnin'.