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Ben

I was watching Michaela and McKenzie on Saturday and we decided to make a Cutie Theater themed board game called Cutie Land. Check out this picture of it.

The object is to get from Earth to Mars and then back to Earth. If you’re a cutie and a robot lands on you, you have to go back to the last planet you were on. You do the same if you’re a robot and a cutie lands on you. Occasionally you have to pick up Cutie Cards which tell you what to do (go forward 3 spaces, lose a turn, etc.)

My photo printer came in handy making the cool game pieces.

It’s a ways away, but Philebrity says:

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah just got booked to play on Conan O’Brien last week of December.

It’s been a while since I made a GameShow shout out. This month I’m in third place, but I haven’t been playing that great for the last few days.

My mom was the big winner last month.

Check out this bizarre mannequin for sale on eBay.

Most of you know my love for BBC’s The Office. I watched the first episode of the NBC version with Steve Carrell, but never caught any of the others because I thought it was on Thursday nights. As part of a promotion for the 40 Year Old Version, NBC ran the first four episodes again last week and I finally got around to watching them on TiVo.

I thought they were pretty good.

It’s not going to hold up to the original, but it’s pretty funny. It’s much better when they write their own scripts though, rather than the two that were identical to the british scripts (the pilot and the one with the girl selling purses in the office). I loved the episode where Dwight, played by Rainn Wilson of Six Feet Under, is chosen to pick the health care plan and makes the employees say all of their diseases and conditions outloud. Jim and Pam’s made up diseases were hilarious (Hot Dog Fingers and Count Choculitis were a few).

Hopefully they’ll run the rest of the episodes.

In other news, I can’t wait for the HBO preview in a few weeks so I can watch this season of Six Feet Under on demand. If anyone spoils it for me you will die.

I just got back from seeing Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Grand Buffet, and Magnolia Electric Co. (songs: ohia) at the First Unitarian Church.

The early crowd was there and ready for CYHSY who opened with Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away. Highlights for me include the Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth and the previously unheard (by me) Satan Said Dance. I think they played every song from their CD except Heavy Metal, Gimmie Some Salt, and Clap Your Hands. It was 8000 damn degrees during the set and we thought about leaving after CYHSY, but we ended up sticking around for Grand Buffet and most of Magnolia Electric Co.

Grand Buffet was a hip hop duo spouting funny and offensive songs about treehouses and religious fanatics. Imagine an Insane Clown Posse that you wouldn’t be embarassed to like.

Magnolia Electric Co. fit into that indie-alt-country vein like My Morning Jacket, but probably lean more towards country (or maybe Western, who know?). Anyway, a few weeks ago someone described them as sounding like Neil Young and I thought that description held up well.

It was definitely a diverse lineup.

I’m so glad I stuck around to see the singer from Magnolia Electric Co. whip out a $100 bill and buy everyone in the room water. He picked a random dude out of the audience, gave him the $100, and told him to go buy water. The guy came back with a tub of water bottles and handed them out to everyone. That had to be one of the coolest and most unexpected things I’ve ever seen at a show.

Update: Why wasn’t this guy at the show?

Update 2: Show recap by the 700 Level. Also, another bengarvey.com shout out from blinq.

In my last post I ranked The Office as the greatest TV show ever. It got me thinking about what the best shows were. Here’s a stab at answering the question.

10. The Daily Show
9. Carnivale
8. Kids in the Hall
7. Survivor
6. The Sopranos
5. Six Feet Under
4. Twin Peaks
3. The Simpsons
2. Seinfeld
1. The Office

Note: There are a few shows I probably should consider based on everyone raving about them, but I haven’t watched them enough to include them in the list (ie. X-Files, 24, Lost)

Note 2: There are a bunch of shows that were before my time that most people would include. Personally, I don’t think they hold up as well today (ie. M*A*S*H, All in the Family, I Love Lucy)

Note 3: I used to really like Star Trek: The Next Generation, but was too embarrassed to put that in the list. Same thing with Quantum Leap.

Note 4: If you try to make one of these lists, don’t google for “best TV shows” because you’ll have to rewrite your entire list. Where’s Conan? SNL? Mystery Science Theater 3000?

Note 5: Don’t even comment if you’re going to ask why any of the following shows aren’t on the list: Cheers, ER, or Home Improvement.

Last Saturday’s show with John went well. I broke a string while playing “Freelove Freeway” from the Office (Rickey Gervais’s version here, although it’s not really funny unless you’ve seen the show (It’s the greatest TV show ever, by the way)).

The most remarkable thing about the show was the heat. I sweated like crazy through the whole set. Thanks again to everyone who came.

Here are some photos from the show.

To everyone who has been pestering me about Episode 4, here it is!

Make sure you watch the other episodes first if you’re new to Cutie Theater.

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4