Thursday, February 19, 2009

Immediately Watch: Burn Notice



I love 24. I'm not here to dog on it. But hear me out for a minute. You've seen, what, 5 or 6 seasons of it now, right? And you've heard every Jack Bauer joke (which are just derivitives of Chuck Norris jokes). AND you are watching this season, with satisfaction, but that unshakable feeling of having seen it before.
Sound like you? If not, navigate away. If it is, start watching Burn Notice now.
My brother in law turned me on to this show, and I was very skeptical. A cable series? Was I going to become one of those people? Yes, yes I was.
I don't really want to do an entire technical synopsis, so if you want the nitty gritty, check here. Michael Westen is a spy who uses his expertice to make money on odd jobs while trying to find out who burned him. He also serves as the shows narrator, explaining all the cool spy stuff he's doing. You should also know that Bruce Campbell (of Evil Dead and Army of Darkness fame) is his beer drinking best friend, and their chemistry is perfect.
The locale is fresh, the premise is fun and never too heavy, the plots are clever if not ingenious, and much like my previous post, this show is fun. I'm not telling you to drop 24 by any means, we're all happy Jack is back, but find a place to squeeze in Burn Notice. You'll thank me.

Immediately Listen To: Aquabats

If you want to listen to garbage, try Nickelback. If you want to listen weepy, emotional teenage wannabe rants, try your hand at any number of soundalike Emo bands. If you want pure, unadulterated joy, for the love of all that is good and holy, please listen to The Aquabats.

Now, I know I'm not introducing you to the hippest indie group, they've been making the rounds since I was in high school and shortly thereafter. But if you have never listened to them, they do one thing better than just about anyone; they have fun. They are fun. So much so, that they are actually involved in the Nick Jr. show "Yo Gabba Gabba".

I just got done listening to the amazing song "I fell asleep on my arm", which takes a wicked shot at pseudo-violent-hocked-up-on-energy-drink bands like the also-rans in Limp Bizkit. I was literally laughing out loud in my van as the singer screamed about how his arm was so numb. In a world with so much fake earnestness and overly-emotive whininess, I'd much rather have a good time. Aquabats are amazing. Listen now, or perish