Bad Dates.........

We find ourselves kind of in the dead zone of entertainment. The Summer Movie Season is over, and the Fall TV Season has yet to begin. So I'm going to go a little off subject today.....and talk about bad dates.

I envy you folks who have a happy relationship with your significant other. It's tough out here, putting your self out there, when odds are it'll fail, and you need to start over again.

Bad dates come from many places. You get set up by friends, find someone online, etc. My experience has been that most of my "good" dates, have come from someone I met, and asked out. The odds of a bad date go way up when its blind. But darn it, the payoff is such, that the risk is worth it. Right?

There was a time when (GASP!) I sold cars. (Needed to pay off a lease for 6 months...seemed like the best thing to do at the time) The biggest soul sucking experience of my life. Anywho, I had a female customer who seemed normal and we kind of hit it off. I didn't say anything since she was a customer, but she called me 2 weeks later, and asked me out. Sweet!....or so I thought. So I invited her to a Seattle Sushi joint, and we met the following day.

I dressed in a nice shirt, fashionable jeans, and good shoes.....not dressy, but nice. She shows up late (Not good), in a decidedly non dressy fashion. Fine, whatever....I'll try and give her the benefit of the doubt, but c'mon! So we sit down and conversation is OK. We proceed to talk about books.....I tell her I've been reading the latest Harry Potter Book....and she tells me that she doesn't read those, because......Here it comes...(If you've ever seen the show Blind Date, they like to do a timed countdown to the end of the date...when one of them makes an unrecoverable gaffe) So 3....2....1....- "I don't read books about magic, because if I read about magic, I believe it comes true." I actually had to pause, and ask her to explain it. During which I ordered another round of drinks to dull the pain.

Honestly, God bless her. She thought enough of me to ask me out, and was honest with me......but that doesn't qualify for a 2nd date. I spoke to her one more time afterward, and that was that.

The thing about a bad date, is you go into it with the best of hopes. Maybe this time, I'll meet a cool person to have fun with. But then, you're stuck with someone for 3 hours, when you'd much rather be ANYWHERE else.

Bad Dates are a fact of life....and until I cancel my membership to Bachelor's R Us, I think I'll be having more of them.

Do you have a bad date story? Please share.

I promise to have more pop culture talk next time (Hey, I did mention Harry Potter and Blind Date!)

Have a good week,

Jason

Can You Smell the Fall in the Air!

Yes sir, bring on the fall. This, for me, is the best time of year. For most, Spring is the time of renewal, but Fall does the trick for me. My internal clock, still says its time to be getting ready for the school year. I guess it's a bit like the salmon heading home to respawn. I will be returning to my Alma Mater soon with the start of the football season at the University of Washington.

Fall brings many things that for me are great. (Yes, I know, the Autumnal Equinox is on September 21st....but Fall begins on Labor Day in actuality....so there) First off, football. I'm sorry to all the football widows out there....but football is so delicious, I can't stand it. College and Pro.....bring it on.

It's also time to start planning for the holidays. Oh the glorious holidays. I pretty much get into a trance around holiday time, because I am so absolutly jazzed about the feeling. Halloween kicks it off. One of my favorite stories comes from a chance encounter I had way back when. I was chatting up a lovely girl at a party, and I asked her what her favorite holiday was. I expected the usual, Christmas or Thanksgiving...but it was Halloween. I asked her why.....now here's an answer. She loved the sounds of the dogs in New England. HUH? She explained that the dogs were used to the streets being empty in the cold evenings of October, but once the streets were packed with Trick or Treaters, the dogs went crazy. I'm not sure I understand her answer, but darn if it wasn't memorable.

So, from now to New Year's Day.....I'm going to pretty much be a happy camper.

Happy Fall Everyone!


Jason

Memories of 90210

I need to admit something. I am a huge Beverly Hills 90210 fan. Proof you need? I named my cat after the actor, Joe E Tata, who played the owner of the Peach Pit.

Why am I bringing this up. Being that its the TV doledrums of summer, I was scanning through my channel guide, and Soapnet was running a documentary on the show. Oh the memories. (Side note, tonight (Tuesday 8-19) SoapNet is starting the show from the beginning.)

I was in college when the show kicked off, and me and my friends loved the so bad its good quality, until we actually fell for the characters.

My man in the show, was Brandon Walsh. He was the bedrock for the 8 or so seasons it ran. Imagine my delight, when I was on hand for a Good Morning Northwest interview with Jennie Garth (Kellie Taylor), and had the host ask if she prefered Brandon or Dylan. After some thought, she came to the right answer, Brandon! Me and my friends were always stoked when Jason Priestly directed as well, because you could count on wackiness to ensue.

The show wasn't always good, but it was usually memorable. Tori Spelling was horrible. Dylan was cool. Brian Austin Green (BAG) was OK, unless he was singing. Brenda was not missed when she left. Emily Valentine (My Sister?) was nuts....and so on.

What a great show.....and I'll be tuning into SoapNet for reruns 'til the fall season starts.

Jason

The Dark Knight Bashing Begins

Well you knew this was coming. Whenever any pop culture event goes super nova, there is a group of society who feels it important to let us know they didn't like it.

I believe there are many people who see themselves as non-conformists....and if they like something the masses do, they are conforming.

Let's see what the list of complaints are. Batman's voice. Too Long. The Plot is too complicated. The Joker is almost omnipotent at times....etc.

Whatever. Dear fans, we are seeing the pop culture explosion of the decade. If you liked it, enjoy it. If you didn't, that's cool....and say so. But don't do so just trying to be cool.

Sidenote- I think Bats will get to the low $500 million range, coming short of beating Titanic....but its crazy the conversation is even coming up.

Jason