I have spent the last 4 1/2 days sick in bed and on the couch with the worst stomach flu I’ve had…. EVER.
So what have I done while lying in bed not able to eat or drink anything?
I’ve been watching food network.
I know right? Here I am stuck in bed leaving only when I have to… well… you know… And I’m watching shows about all the food I can’t have. Food Network Challenges with amazing edible results, Diners Drive-ins and Dives about all the places with food so bad it’s good and so good it’s bad, Alton Brown, Gida (everday italian), Sandra Lee (semi homemade… ugh), Paula Dean (even though I can’t stand her), Rachel Ray (we won’t even go into how much I dislike this woman on a normal day), Marc Summers (unwrapped) and so many other shows… All about food, which for the last 4 1/2 days has caused me nothing but heart ache (well stomach ache).
There is this new show “Ask Aida”. Aida Mollenkamp answers questions as she cooks on her show, questions sent in by viewers (in the form of e-mails, videos, audio…) fed to her by tech guru Noah Starr. Now, honestly, I don’t know why there is a need to have a second person on the show except that they can talk to eachother… But really, a tech guru character… To open up e-mails? They make a good team, Noah is cute and smiles a lot but really? I think they could have thought of something better for him to do than sit infront of a computer and open up the oven every once in awhile. I don’t know, check it out for yourself. http://www.foodnetwork.com/ask-aida/index.html
Anyway, be warned, there are some nasty stomach flus running around out there. Protect yourself!
1. Wash your hands THOROUGHLY before you eat or drink ANYTHING (warm water, soap, sing mary had a little lamb or your abc’s, it’s what we teach the little kids). This is the one that I forget sometimes… Even if you’re just eating a peice of candy, or gum, taking a drink from your water bottle… If you’ve touched anything that someone else has touched, better safe than sorry.
2. Drink orange juice, filled with vitamin C and tastes great
3. Along that same line drink lots of fluids. I don’t do this nearly enough and I’m almost always a little less than hydrated. It made this last fight with the stomach flu even worse I think.
4. Take your vitamins, I know, I know, but it’s good for you.
5. Avoid sick people. Easier said than done… But really sound advice.
And if you do happen to get sick… Try not to torture yourself as I have by watching shows all about the things you can’t have… It’s just… Not good. I don’t know why I do this to myself ( as I write this Giada is on in the background… Will I never learn?)
Filed under: TV
Tonight I was sitting in the living room watching TV (oh alright fine, I was watching American Idol. Happy? I’ve given in, not that good really) and there was a trailer for this new science fiction series… Dollhouse…
The basic premise is that there is a gorup of people known as Dolls, who are kept in a Dollhouse… Wait no… Let me back up.
This group known as Dolls are also known as “Actives”, the Actives have all had their personalities wiped so that their brains can be imprited with different traits. The muscle memory, skills, plain old memory of different personas, the Actives are then hired out for different jobs; everything from crimes to fantasies. Since this is a business, the Actives are monitored by another group, the “Handlers. Once their tasks are completed the Actives return and have their brains wiped clean again and are kept in a holding facility, nicknamed the “Dollhouse”.
So apparently once imprinted the Dolls take on a whole new life. They have the memories, the feelings and all that comes with being… Well… Us.
The main character is Echo (played by Eliza Dushku), and as with most of these shows she is quite attactive (think Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias, Alex Mac [okay, maybe not that one but the rest]) you know, if you care about that sort of thing… Me well I…
Oh come on now, I don’t care if you’re male or female. If you have to watch someone run around on TV it might as well be an attractive woman, it just makes it more enjoyable. We as a culture like beautiful things, cars, computers, babies, minds… People… I know that there are issues for some people because the stars of shows are normally beautiful. But the reason they are is because, well… It’s what we want to see. The hours I spend watching telivision are my escape. I’m not looking for TV to replicate my everyday life, I don’t really want to be reminded of that when I’m zoning out.
Anyway, back to Dollhouse.
People getting imprinted with alternate personalites is kind of a creepy premise. It should come as no surprise then that the show is premiering on Friday the 13th (February 13th 2009 to be exact). Tonight was the first time I’d seen anything regarding this show and I’m already excited about it and have scoured the web to read more… That reminds me, I should set the Tivo…
I have always been, and probably always will be a fan of science fiction and fantasy films, books, TV shows… Probably for the same reasons that I listed for liking to watch beautiful people. I like when things are out there. Things that make you stop and think. Ideas and concepts that, at least for now, are un-reachable. I like getting drawn into a world that is nothing like my own. I appreciate it when a show allows me to do that. I’m really hoping for that in Dollhouse.
Here are some links in case I sparked your intrest. Feb 13th… Fox…. I won’t be missing it!
Official site: http://dollhouse-tv.org/doll/?en
TV.com: http://www.tv.com/dollhouse/show/75224/summary.html
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135300/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollhouse_(TV_series)
Promo shot for the show… I think we know who this is aimed at…
On a recent trip that Chris and I took to a local mall (yes, I am a mall rat) I found this amazing vending machine.
It’s full of everything you could possibly want/need. Things you forgot at home, and things you didn’t know you wanted until you saw them.
Candy and snacks, diapers, sanitary products, halls, juice boxes, hot wheels cars, teddy bears and even pacifiers among other things are all contained within this one vending machine.
Vending machines used to be reserved for drinks, snacks and things found in Women’s bathrooms that I won’t mention by name here. Now it seems that you can buy anything in a machine. I’ve seen machines that vend stamps, small bags, makeup… When we went to florida, there was even a vending machine there that I could have bought tons of iPod products from (iPod Nanos, iPod touches, iTunes gift cards and headphones).
We are truly living in the future. A time where a machine (dare I say… ROBOT) allows you to buy things you want and need without needing to interact with a human.
At the height of this revolution right now I would have to say is redbox. Redbox, allows you to choose your DVD via touch screen (as many as you want) then once you’ve entered your credit card information (so that they can charge you if you don’t return the DVD) vends your movie using a very futuristic (well to me) slot. Rentals are $1 a day and if you keep it for 25 days it’s yours to keep (the max they will charge you is $25). Not bad.
But wait, it gets better… Become a member of this site http://www.insideredbox.com/redbox-codes/. And you’ll find many codes that will allow you to rent the movie for free. Well, it’ll give you $1 off so if you return the movie within 24 hours the movie is free. So when the library is closed and you can’t borrow the movie you want to see this is the perfect solution!
Chris and I have used this service a few times and only once did we have an issue with a DVD being too scratched to watch. We called up customer service and they refunded our money without us needing to PROVE that it was unwatchable. Not bad customer service for a company that for the most part interacts with it’s customers via machines.
I have realized recently that I am truly living in one of the most exciting times for technology. I am living in the era of the nerd and the geek. As a geek/nerd myself, I am very excited. I love that I can sit in my bed with my laptop and type out a blog, as I listen to music that is stored on my desktop in the other room and check my e-mail on my phone. I love that it’s possible to remote into my computer at home from my phone. I love that I don’t have to be plugged into a wall, or even connected to a wireless network in order to download applications to my phone (while we’re thinking about that I love that I can even have applications on my phone, 3D apps at that!).
To quote Judy Dench in the newest spaceship earth “We stand on the brink of a new renaissance”.
I can’t wait to see where else the digital world takes us. Anyone plan on making a machine that can dispense a computer?
