If you haven't noticed, "The Wire" is a critically acclaimed but somewhat ignored TV show on HBO.  If you're not watching it, you are both not alone and horribly misguided.  On a scale of 1 to 100, The Wire is a 98, Arrested Development is an 82, Sports Night is a 70 and just about everything else is less than a 50.  (This includes: The Sopranos, The West Wing, Seinfeld, and the biggest gainer on the charts - 30 Rock.  -- 30 Rock might just be the funniest show on TV right now.)  Maybe I'll put The Office, Friday Night Lights and the Colbert Report in the 50s, but nothing other than the above-mentioned three above 60.

 Anyhow, if you have not seen the first four seasons of The Wire, DO SO NOW!!  No show has done more to explain the current economic, criminal and educational situation our country is in right now.  The first three seasons are on DVD.  The fourth is available On Demand through many cable operators and will be on DVD soon.  The fifth and final season will be airing sometime next year.

I could go on, but I actually have a ton of work to do.  The original purpose - to point you to this interview with David Simon, where he talks about what he actually means to say with the characters and plotlines, as well as revealing his political leanings (as if you hadn't guessed) and more - WARNING:  THERE ARE MULTIPLE SPOILERS INVOVLED!! Do not read this if you haven't finished season four - and you have to watch the episodes in order, or you're wasting your time.  Anyhoo - on to the interview. 

FOLLOW-UP:  Here's Part 2.

So, I finally got around to fixing my site so I could again make entries (over the last few months, the Joomla backend had been messed up and I never bothered to fix it, so when I wanted to make a new entry, I had to manually insert it in the database via PHPMyAdmin.  I am so lazy.)

Anyway, this evening I was having yet another fun day with my HDTiVo.  Apparently, the latest versions of HDTiVo software, 6.3, 6.3a, and 6.3b had some really nasty problems.  They expand the HDTiVo's functionality a great deal over the previous 3.1.5 software version, so I upgraded - only to find it rebooting about once every two hours, which is awesome when it's main job is to record things.  I've caught up on the shows that were screwed up through BitTorrent, but I needed to return the software to 3.1.5 so it would stop rebooting.  That took most of the day for various reasons even more boring than this story so far.  But it did result in me going out to pick up a Frosty from Wendy's - which is the point of the story.

I have never tasted a Vanilla Frosty, so I decided that I would give it a try.  I have been watching what I eat and working out a lot, so this was a big risk considering that I only let myself have one dessert like this a week (Carbs and sugar = Bad, Protein = Good).  I was apprehensive pulling up to the drive through as I wasn't even sure if Wendy's has vanilla Frostys anymore.

As I am reading the backlit menu/sign, the lady asks for my order.  Of course, they ask for your order as you are seeing the menu for the first time - so I asked for a second (there was no one behind me.)  I ask, "Are there still Vanilla Frostys?"

This kid apparently cannot play any instrument, so he shot himself playing one note at a time and edited it together to make a song. I'm impressed.

Actually the game was played in '91, but it was part of the 1990 season.  The Giants started off the season 10-0, but then finished 13-3, including a loss to the 49ers.  Phil Simms was lost for the season due to a foot injury, so Jeff Hostetler stepped in.  This team was nowhere near as dominant as the 1986 team, but it sure had luck on its side.

I just wrote a ton on these clips, but Joomla lost it. I'm having Joomla problems.

In this clip, the 49ers have the ball, up 13-12. Roger Craig just rushed for a 1st down, and if they get one or two more, they're going to the Super Bowl.

Oh, there's more...

Yup.  That's it.

So, the forum is gone - thanks to Turkish hackers.  It will return - all the posts and data were saved, but the forum itself was still vulnerable so it had to be removed.  Thus, comments don't work either.  So, I'm going to install an external forum.  That should fix it.

However, that will come after I install a Gallery for the 500 or so photos I took while I was in Ireland and the UK.  It was about three weeks of driving on the wrong side of the road and walking a ton.  Thankfully, the Ring of Kerry is my kryptonite - my allergies were so bad that I could only eat to stop sneezing.  I gained 10 pounds.  

Preppermint is still going strong.  It takes up most of my time.  I have a blog over there - its really only for Preppermint related stuff, but to explain my extended Irish absence I did post photos and a description of my experience with Airport Security the day of the London terror arrests.  Apparently "no liquids on board" means "you'll be four hours late".  You can read more at Preppermint .