Jordan Rippy

As most of you probably know, new episodes of The Office tonight on NBC. It was great to see everyone again! It was also great that our friends from Lakeland came over to Sarasota for a little Office reunion party. We had tons of food..In fact, Kristin has several trays of pigs-in-a-blanket left over that were never even cooked!

Tonight was The Office season 4 premiere and it was phenomenal. Last year, a bunch of us gathered each week at Drew’s house for the weekly “Office Party”. Now, Drew lives in Gainesville. So, Kristin and I extended invitations to a select few to join us at our home for a new and improved “Office Party 2.0.” At the “Office Party 2.0″ we watch the episode from the previous week and then watch the new episode. Some of you may be thinking, “The Office Party 2.0 sounds an aweful lot like the old Office Party.” What you don’t know is that we actually use an ancient, nearly forgotten form of recording called “VHS” to record each episode. Thanks to Ashley and Bobby, we have a new TV, complete with a built in VCR/DVD. So we used the VCR to record “The Office” onto a VHS tape. Favorite quote from tonight’s show:

“I’m not superstitious, I’m just a little stitious.”

So my last post has prompted me to start a dialogue with my vast readership. Saved by the Bell has once again bridged both generational and geographical gaps that no other teen sitcom could attempt to reconcile. Here I am opening a forum for favorite Saved by the Bell moments. I’ll get things started…Here are some favorite Saved by the Bell moments:

• MVEMJSUNP = Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
• Zap Zit turns Kelly’s face red before homecoming…And “Red Faces” become the new trend around Bayside.
• Screech ruin’s Lisa’s fashion show by describing Zack’s brown suede pants as “Perfect for wearing while stabbing your best friend in the back…I’m outta’ here!”  
• “Bayside is the school that’s cool and you know that it’s true (know that it’s true, Know that it’s true.)” - a little lemon juice ruins the live performance though.
• And who can forget? B-B-BBB-B GO BAYSIDE!

Please join in the fun by posting your favorite Saved by the Bell moments.

Once again, the DVD menus ruin critical plot points…How can a show revered for it’s excellence in continuity miss this? Anyway, here are my season 4 observations:

• Chloe is so brash and plain-spoken. I love it.
• Tony Almaida is the bees knees.
• I enjoy Edgar Stiles.
• President Logan = Horrible leader.
• President Palmer = Great Leader.
• The “new” CTU follows protocol.
• I guess they finally realized that nobody like Kim.
• Everything bad still happens in L.A.
• Michelle is “the cat’s meow”.
• Mike Novak redeemed himself.

Looking forward to season 5. I’m particularly interested in how they’re going to bring Jack Bauer out of exile. We won’t be able to start it tomorrow, since we are going to get our faces rocked off at the John Mayer concert.

Well, it would have been if it weren’t Blockbuster Total Access. July was my first full month with Total Access. The following are the stats and observations from my first month.

• Total DVD’s received through the mail: 21
• Total DVD’s received through in-store swapped: 21
• Total DVD’s received in July: 42

Random facts:

• I received one DVD that I did not request.
• Blockbuster corrected the error, and comped me a free rental.
• I received all mailed DVD’s in two days or less.
• The “swapping” process is as easy as the commercial makes it seem.
• Each month I get an extra “e-coupon” for a free rental.

Overall, I am extremely pleased. The system works great, especially since there’s a Blockbuster right near my house. This makes it easy to make swaps. The way I see it, 42 DVD’s at approximately$4 a piece would have cost about $168. The two-out-at-a-time package I purchased cost $15 a month…No extra fee’s. That’s quite the savings.

That’s how many minutes Kristin and I spent watching 24 yesterday. I know what you’re thinking, but unless you watch the show you don’t understand. When it’s happening it doesn’t feel like your watching nearly four hours of television. It just feels like “one more”. The episode ends and you decide to watch one more, until next thing you know you’ve one mored yourself through five hours of Jack Bauer’s life…We’re in season 4…I’ll give you my reflections on the season once it is complete. 24 requires full context before it can really be commented on.

What glows in the dark, has lanes, balls, refreshment prices rivaled only by movie theaters, and shoes like these?

That’s right! The Bowling Ally. This morning I led worship at Crosspointe Church in Lutz, Fl. When I got home Kristin and I watched a healthy dose of 24 and then decided to do a little bowling. Neither of us have bowled in several years and our scores show it.

Game 1
Jordan 75
Kristin 66

Game 2
Jordan 95
Kristin 99

Since the power to our lane was accidentally cut during our third game, we can’t say for sure who would have won, but I was ahead by about 12. I was also about to actually break 100…We were on our 8th frame and I had already racked up an impressive 98 points. The manager was nice enough to give us some free passes for our “loss”.

I did enjoy season 3, but I do have one gripe about the production of the season 3 DVD. When you select an episode on the DVD menu, it takes you to an alternate menu designated to that specific episode. However, the background pictures of the episode menu often reveal key plot information. For instance, in one of the episodes a key character from past seasons makes a “surprise” appearance. However, the surprise is ruined because his or her picture appears in the background of that episode menu. Since he or she had not appeared in any previous episodes in season 3, it totally ruined the element of surprise. In another instance, the menu pictures showed a key character lying (clearly) dead on the ground…Yet another surprise ruined!

• Kim is starting to seem like less of a total moron.
• Chase ruins everything when he tries to be a hero.
• I enjoy Chloe.
• President Palmer finally found the snag in his moral fabric.
• Why does the President still view Sherry as an asset?
• Sherry Palmer’s bangs look awful.
• I don’t like Ryan Chapelle, but you know…
• Tony is a beast working in his physical condition.
• President Palmer has the worst secret service detail…they’re never around.
• Michelle is the man in this season.

Today, Kristin and I finished 24 season 2. We also started 24 season 3. We’ve literally watched six 42 minute episodes today. That’s right 252min of Jack Bauer. It’s ridiculously addicting. Every time I pop in a DVD and wait for it to load I feel like a heroine addict who’s already tied off and just waiting for a vein to surface. Anyway, it’s interesting to see what happens when a show has a good first season. The show takes on a new form. The same thing happened with The Office. Where there’s a popular show there’s more money, more advertising, better production, better acting, and better DVD menus. Here are my reflections from season 2:

• Jack Bauer is still the man.
• Kim Bauer is still unbelievably ignorant.
• President Palmer has way too much conviction and moral fabric to be a politician.
• Sherry Palmer is impressively sinister.
• Jack Bauer is still very unconcerned with protocol.
• President Palmer says, “Make no mistake” a lot.
• George Mason totally redeemed himself.
• Protocol seems to be more of a suggestion at CTU.
• Apparently CTU is not too hard to infiltrate.
• Everything bad happens in LA.

I’ll keep the 24 commentary going as long as it stays interesting. I imagine it won’t be long before we finish season 3.

Two things are completely rocking my world these days. First, Blockbuster Online Total Access. It’s amazing. Kristin and I rent from Blockbuster all the time and recently signed up for All-Access. We’re on the “two out at a time” plan. Basically that means that we get two movies shipped to us and either ship them back or swap them out in the store and receive two more. I am confident that Blockbuster will have to buy me out of this contract, because we’re swapping movies out like crazy. At only $15 a month, it’s a bargain. I’ve yet to figure out how they are making money.

The second thing that’s changing my life? 24. Several weeks ago Kristin and I finished watching season 1 and 2 of The Office. When we finished season 2 we felt a huge void in our evenings. So we decided to get addicted to another TV show. It was a toss up between 24 and Lost. We went with 24. We just finished season 1 and have started season 2. I know we’re way behind the curve on this one, but we’ll be caught up in no time. Well, in like 120 more hours. Observations from 24 season 1:

• Jack Bauer is the man.
• George Mason is not the man.
• Kim Bauer is the biggest idiot on the show.
• The time clock is very effective.
• Real-time is a great idea.
• Jack is lucky he keeps so many shirts in his CTU locker.
• Victor Draeson’s accent is atrocious.
• 24 = crack.
• Jack Bauer says, “Forget protocol” a lot.
• Jack Bauer says, “We don’t have time for protocol” a lot.
• Jack Bauer doesn’t like protocol.
• Various characters often make reference to what “a long day” it’s been.
• My favorite part of the season was…11:59:58…11:59:59…12:00pm…

That’s what the show does. You’re about to find out something amazing and then that time clock pops up.