First off - I am incapable of managing my iTunes library. It seems more often than not I go to find a song on my iPod that I know I have, and it's not there. I know it's in my iTunes...but how is it not on my pod? And I sync up my entire library too. So what gives?
Furthermore, I have recurring problems with syncing my games to my iPod. The problem being that they won't - no matter how many times I authorize the games, in various ways, I'm always getting the "you are not authorized" crap message. This is in addition to crashes, hang-ups, and other assorted annoyances.
In short, in my experience, iTunes is a bitch. And the thing is I know that I can fix it, but I really don't feel like carvingout a big swath of time to go through tech support, search blogs and forums, and do all of that just to fix some of these niggles. Eventually, there will be the proverbial straw breaking the back of this camel and I'll put everything on hold just to make it right again and iTunes and I will be the happy couple I know we can be.
What I can't fix is pay cable. I have the pay channels for work reasons, and because I don't pay for them. There's really no reason too. I was never a Sopranos fan, and most of the other quality shows you can get on DVD fairly soon after they air on the channel anyway. I don't see the reason to pay a monthly fee to watch crappy full screen movies.
And when I say crappy, hoo boy. Over the holidays I've flipped over to the pay stations - specifically Showtime, HBO, and The Movie Channel. And with DirecTV, there are multiple versions of Showtime and HBO - so it's over ten movie channels. And quite often they are filled with just absolute drek. If I wasn't being reimbursed for the fee, I'd be demanding a refund. Here's a quick look at what's showing:
Basic Instinct 2: As sleazy as the first one, but not as well made and everyone seems to be embarassing themselves. You can almost see the moment where Sharon Stone realizes this wasn't as good an idea as she had hoped. And David Thewlis? What is his deal? He finally found a career move worse than The Island of Doctor Moreu.
Dorm Daze and Dorm Daze 2: These are bargain basement sex comedies. The kind you'd find in the 80s like Hard Bodies and...other movies starring that blonde guy from Hard Bodies. Yet these were made in the past couple of years. And boy are they bad. Sometimes just jaw droppingly bad. Except, and this is a phenomenon I've always been fascinated by...there are some decent performances in these movies. There are almost awlays a few good performances in even the worst movies - it's just the nature of the beast.
There are more than a few young actors in this two part opus that acquit themselves nicely, all things considered. At least they're in the early part of their career doing dreck, unlike poor Sharon Stone. It must also be noted that Dorm Daze is on ALL THE TIME. On seemingly every pay channel at any given night I'll see one of them approaching in my Tivo list. They creep ever forward towards the present Channel guide slot like some sort of ravenous turd shark. People are paying a monthly fee for this?
Another Nine and a Half Weeks: Ah yes. Because there were so many unanswered questions in the first one...that was made over 20 years ago. The only obvious similarity here is that Mickey Rourke is also in this movie, assumingly playing the same guy from the first film. Rourke is supposed to have that same smouldering seduction thing going on, except he looks like someone stuffed some crap in a sock and then smacked it against an ashtray for a little while and dressed it up in an expensive coat.
We're supposed to believe that Angie Everhart (of Bordello of Blood fame) is overwhelmingly attracted to him. This is a movie worse than watching Basic Instinct 2 and both Dorm Daze while snacking on caramel flavored razor blades. It's supposed to be sexy. This is to sexy what Jim Belushi is to funny. And I don't throw insults like that around lightly.
It's really a stunning achievement that with all of the thousands of films made over the century of cinema that these channels can't find anything better to show their paying audiences. Someone needs to get fired. And possibly worse. Are those CIA black sites still operational?
