wickedly perfect....

Our last photo in the Highline Canal Series.... this lake was at the end of our hike that day...

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Perfection is defined by Dictionary.com as...

1. the state or quality of being or becoming perfect.
2. the highest degree of proficiency, skill, or excellence, as in some art.
3. a perfect embodiment or example of something.
4. a quality, trait, or feature of the highest degree of excellence.
5. the highest or most nearly perfect degree of a quality or trait.
6. the act or fact of perfecting.

I know it's easier to tear down rather than build up, and I'm certainly guilty of being snarky instead of smart from time to time... so today I'm just talking about things that have been perfect, or close to it, in my world over the past few days....

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Jim: Karen suggested that I get a haircut. For the interview tomorrow. So that I could look presentable. And not, as she so lovingly puts it, homeless...
Andy: What’s up, Big Haircut? You are no longer Big Tuna. From henceforth, you shall be known as Big Haircut......
--"The Office" (NBC)

The Season Finale was just excellent. I've watched the last 25 seconds a number of times online (and you can too if you click here...)

My favorite current fictional relationship is Pam and Jim hands down. Yes, I realize I'm 43 years old and I really shouldn't care.. but I do dammit.. I do!!

Best comedy on TV without question. And there are going to be 30 (!) episodes next year, including 5 one-hour shows...

NBC doesn't get much right nowadays... but they've done right by this BBC transport...

Rating (out of 100)
TVGuy Grade: 90

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Staying with the Season Finale theme, a show that doesn't get much love from the critics is "Numb3rs", for three reasons...

1. It's on CBS, where it is one of 3,902 Police Procedural Dramas...
2. It's on CBS Friday Nights at 10pm....
3. It's on CBS...

Regardless, the last six episodes of this, its 3rd season, have been magnificent. The writers have done such a great job of fleshing out the secondary characters... and the season finale had one of those "Big Twists You Don't See Coming" that CBS just loves and is usually just ridiculous (see "CSI: Miami") but on this show it was handled perfectly and fit into past storylines effortlessly...

The cast is just crazy good... no show on television has better incidental music... look, I've talked this program up "numerous" times here (the pun was unfortunate... my apologies) ... I don't know what else I can say except...

When the show first came out I remember thinking ..Oh, it's kinda like "CSI" meets "Good Will Hunting"... which would make it really, really good.... and it's as good as both of those elements...

...only better...

Rating (out of 100)
TVGuy Grade: 94

(honestly, if someone said I could only watch either "Lost", "24" or "Numb3rs" for the rest of their network runs I'd really have to give it some thought... give it a try, won't you?)

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Near Perfection doesn't have to always be about filmed entertainment... take for example our dinner Sunday night...

Sometimes you just need Comfort Food... and Sunday night was one of those times... a quick trip to the grocery store ensued and ended up yielding....

Sloppy Joes and Tater Tots...

Look, I know it wasn't Baked Macaroni and Cheese or Meatloaf or even Mashed Potatoes.... but still... as Rachael Ray would say... "Yum-O"...

Rating (out of 100)
TVGuy Grade: 85

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It's not a Season Finale, but FOX's "House" once again delivered an episode that was fascinating in its own right, but again furthered character interaction and story advancement to a degree that is just unheard of in a show this highly rated... It's just a pleasure to be watching people doing television at the absolute peak of their creative powers and I couldn't recommend this show more highly..... which since it's on FOX is disturbing on many levels...

Rating (out of 100)

TVGuy Grade: 88

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TVGal was in the mountains this weekend and brought home some Hershey's Kisses that she and her gal pal had purchased for their Condo Evening of Food and Fun...

Yes, there could be too many flavors, as you'll soon see...

>>Milk Chocolate
>>Milk Chocolate with Almonds
>>Special Dark
>>Special Dark with Almonds
>>Dulce De Leche
>>Caramel Filled
>>HUGS Chocolate (Striped)
>>Chocolate Truffle
>>Cherry Cordial
>>Chocolate Raspberry
>>Coconut Creme
>>Pink Kisses
>>Orange Creme
>>Candy Cane
>>Confetti
>>Candy Cane Mint
>>Macadamia Nut
>>Chocolate Mint
>>Double Fudge
>>Special Dark Espresso
>>Toffee
>>Vanilla
>>Neopolitan
>>Extra Creamy
>>Strawberry

Seriously, what's left? "Beef"? "Pork"?? "Grapefruit"???

However...

I've often said that Hershey's Kisses are among the greatest candies ever produced by man, and while the Chocolate Raspberry Kisses were borderline disgusting (I know, I don't understand it either...) the Confetti variety were chocolatey perfection.... I could have eaten about Twelve Thousand of them in one sitting, but both TVGal and TVCat were giving me the evil eye as I passed into double digit consumption....

Rating (out of 100)
TVGuy Grade: 87

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A week ago TVGal, myself and TommyK went to a downtown bar called "The Front Porch" on a Sunday night...

why is this notable you ask? Well, I'll tell you...

Each night, they pick a name (or names)... if you are lucky enough to be called that by your parents then you drink for free that day....

Yep, free...

Well, May 13th was "Greg" night...

Can't recommend this place any more highly... and again, did I mention I drank for free?

Their website is here, although it doesn't really graphically make a lot of sense... but you can see the monthly calendar for Free Drinking Night if you click on the "Hello, My Name Is" tab...

(I know it will be awhile until we get back to "Greg", but TVGal is Friday... I work until Midnight... I imagine I'll be picking her up shortly after that...)

Rating (out of 100)

TVGuy Grade: 91

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Many months ago I declared This Commercial as my favorite of all-time. Who doesn't love a quarter million superballs released on the streets of San Francisco?

Well, those maniacs at Sony Bravia have done it again.... this time exploding thousands of "Paint Fireworks" at some condemned Scottish buildings... and while it doesn't quite reach the level of the first spot for me, it's pretty damn close...

Rating (out of 100)
TVGuy Grade: 90

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Back to Season Finales for a bit... long time TVGuy readers know that a guilty pleasure in the TVGuy Mansion is ABC's "The Bachelor"....

I like to say that TVGal loves the show and I just tag along, placating her love for all horrific reality television... but in truth I enjoy the mocking process right along with her...

The finale was last night, and I have to say watching Andy (he's the doofus Bachelor du jour) just destroy the runner-up (I actually thought about calling hospitals to see if she was all right...) and then propose to Tessa (she's the doofus Future Mrs. Bachelor du jour) was entertaining in every way possible...










Every season I hope ABC will put this show out of its misery... but after last night, I'm good for another few go-rounds of mockery....

Rating (out of 100)
TVGuy: 82

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With our coffee this morning TVGal has introduced the newest member of the Coffeemate family to our dwelling... "Blueberry Cobbler"...

Honestly, if you hated coffee, this stuff would change your mind... time for another cup...

Rating (out of 100)
TVGuy: 90

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Glinda: It's good to see me, isn't it? No need to answer, that was rhetorical...
--"Wicked: The Musical" (2003)

TVGal and I hadn't seen a lot of shows during our first two years of courtship, which doesn't make any sense as we both enjoy live theater... her parents bought us tickets to "Wicked" at Xmas time which was quite nice of them...

As we settled into our balcony seats in the sold-out theater Sunday Afternoon a small degree of anticipation began to settle over me... I didn't know anything about the show other than it was adapted after the book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire which took L. Frank Baum's "Wizard of Oz" and added certain elements to the story which were a bit unexpected...

Once the show began it was clear this was truly a labor of love for the creators as the songs, sets, special effects etc were just beyond fantastic and bordering transcendent at times... it's truly a masterpiece of theatrical arts...

Yes, I have a few quibbles... well, one actually....

...at the end of the show after the curtain call (at which point the crowd was beyond delirium) a member of the cast talked about a charity event scheduled for the next night where there were only 200 seats available and you could mingle with the cast etc... there would be improvisation, music etc.. and it would all help the fight against the dread disease AIDS...

...but all this did was serve to take me out of the moment of seeing the actors as the characters and rather regional actors shilling for some event I wasn't going to be attending and reduce (slightly) the high that the audience was feeling before all this...

TVGal informed me that she had seen shows at this venue where they did this after every performance, which I think is just unforgivable... I'm all for charity etc... but isn't there a better way to do this? Before the performance? Information in the Lobby? Anything but right after the show is finished????

...if you are paying 55 (or more) bucks for an event you want to go out on a high, especially a show as great as this one.... a minor quibble, but one that really bothered me at the time...

but now, not as much.... I haven't encountered a "100" yet in any of my ratings, and had this show not been weighted so heavily towards the first act (which is twice as good as the 2nd), well, we might have had my first perfect score...

The first act had the 3 great songs from the soundtrack... "Defying Gravity", "I'm Not That Girl", "The Wizard and I"... but the 2nd act had the great plot reveals (how the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion came to be... what happened after Dorothy left, etc...)

If you can see the travelling Broadway show (it's in Oklahoma City, Columbus, East Lansing and Philly next) I can't recommend it more highly....

ah screw it... something this wickedly perfect deserves a rating that is it's equal....

Rating (out of 100)

TVGuy: 100

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(Elphaba is holding her broom)
Glinda: You're still riding that old thing?
Elphaba: Well we can't all come and go by bubble...
--"Wicked: The Musical" (2003)