New "Watchmen" Trailer

I don't know why, but over the last week or so, I've gotten more and more excited over the prospect of this movie.

Since I first saw the trailer (in front of "The Dark Knight"), I've read the book twice, and everything I've seen so far from the movie looks really good.

Welcome to Raystober!

Hmmm... that doesn't work quite as well as "Soxtober"...

Still, the Rays did manage to finish off the Red Sox in Game 7 and advance to the World Series. I'm not gonna give PooZ too much crap about this (since he was nice enough not to give me too much crap about the Mets not even making the playoffs), but I may show up at his place of employment rocking my Evan Longoria jersey (pictured here).

Of course, if I do that, he may also punch me in the face.

It's a tough choice. Make fun of PooZ's team, or continue having good face health? Only time will tell what I decide.

Oh, and as for the World Series, PooZ says he might not watch any. My job prevents me from doing anything like that, so I'll keep watching, and hoping my pick of Phillies in 6 comes true.

College Football Top 10

Could the AdamReisinger.com jinx be over? For the first time in, well, quite possibly the history of these rankings, the Top 8 teams all won. That results in little movement, and a lot of copy-and-pasting, from last week’s rankings.

10. Ohio State
I know I said (to myself, since I wasn’t putting rankings online yet) that when they lost to USC, they were done. But with Terrelle Pryor at QB, this really is a different team, and a much better one. Of course, with Penn State coming to town this week, this could be a temporary reprieve for OSU.

9. Oklahoma
I know it’s weird to drop them 2 spots after a win over a ranked team, but this team just has no defense whatsoever. Sorry Sooners, but you’re not gonna win a BCS game if you can’t hold teams under 35 points.

8. Florida
No game, no movement. Of course, the way college football has gone the past couple years, sometimes that’s the best way to go.

7. USC
Am I ready to forget about the loss to Oregon State? Not completely, but given their domination of the Boeckman-led OSU team, and the utter destruction in the rest of their games, I’m gonna put them back in the rankings.

6. Oklahoma State
If they keep winning games, the Cowboys might make Mike Gundy known for something other than his crazy rant from last year.

5. Texas Tech
Holy crap, the Red Raiders actually have a defense. They shut out Texas A&M’s offense in the 2nd half, giving up just 2 points on a safety. Oh, and they also topped the 40-point mark again.

4. Utah
They’ve won their last 2 games by a combined score of 89-23. Sure, they’re not playing the best opponents in the world, but they’re not letting their opponents do anything either.

3. Alabama
Eventually, Alabama’s tendency to play close games is going to come back to bite them. They almost blew a huge lead against Georgia, then almost loss to Ole Miss. Circle that Nov. 8 game against LSU (when Nick Saban returns to Baton Rouge). That might be the loss.

2. Penn State
Speaking of playing with fire and almost getting burned, don’t be fooled by the final score. Penn State struggled for 3 quarters with Michigan. If they do that again, against Ohio State, they’ll go down hard.

1. Texas
Here’s the current 4-game stretch for the Longhorns: Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech. If they finish that stretch undefeated, they might get into that argument of best college football teams of the BCS era. 2 down, 2 to go.

Dropped out: Missouri, BYU
Unbeaten and unranked: Boise State, Ball State, Tulsa

This Week in Buffy History: October 19-25

October 19
1999 - Episode 4.03 “The Harsh Light of Day” airs on The WB
1999 - Angel Episode 1.03 “In the Dark” airs on The WB

October 20
1998 - Episode 3.04 “Beauty and the Beasts” airs on The WB
2002 - Angel Episode 4.03 “The House Always Wins” airs on The WB

October 22
2001 - Angel Episode 3.05 “Fredless” airs on The WB
2002 - Episode 7.05 “Selfless” airs on UPN
2003 - Angel Episode 5.04 “Hell Bound” airs on The WB

October 23
2001 - Episode 6.05 “Life Serial” airs on UPN

October 24
2000 - Episode 5.05 “No Place Like Home” airs on The WB
2000 - Angel Episode 2.05 “Dear Boy” airs on The WB

October 25
1979 - Sarah Thompson born (played Eve in Season 5 of Angel)

Series of Tubes #1.3

SUNDAY SHOWS

- “Desperate Housewives” has been excellent this year, getting back to some of the snarkiness and infighting that made Season 1 so great. That said, I hope this “Dave” mystery doesn’t drag out throughout the entire season, since these long secret backstories are usually what end up losing me as the season goes along.

MONDAY SHOWS

- “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is in danger of getting cancelled, which is a shame, because this week’s episode might have been the best yet. I like seeing more of future leader John Connor, instead of whiney teenager John Connor. Plus, seeing Sarah try and be motherly (to a kidnapped boy) and semi-fail at it was fun.

- I like “Gossip Girl”, I really do, but I need to say something. There’s no way that Blair could have done what she did to Serena and then, 10 minutes later in the episode, they’d totally be BFF again. It just wouldn’t happen. And hopefully, beneath the surface, things still aren’t cool between them.

- In the “Chuck”-verse, Bryce Larkin is the perfect foil for Chuck. Bringing him in once or twice a season will spice things up throughout the run of this series. I just hope the writers resist the urge to use him more often, since there’s only so much you can do with Chuck-Sarah tension.

- Also, the Michael Strahan cameo on “Chuck” needs to be addressed. For the most part, I found the entire storyline very stupid (he was a manager of a local sporting goods store, and he’d bring his entire staff into the Buy More to play “Madden” and make a mess of things). It was all worth it though to see Strahan get his ass kicked by a little Asian girl at the end of the show.

TUESDAY SHOWS

- “Eli Stone” is one of those shows everyone tells you that you should be watching, but you don’t. Well I watch, and let me be the 1,000th person to say you should be watching this show. I think going with some more overt religious overtones is a good publicity move, since it’ll draw in that “Joan of Arcadia”/”Touched by an Angel” audience, but at the core, the show can still keep its quirky creativity from last year.

... no thoughts this week on the Wednesday shows (off due to debates) and the Thursday shows (I really won’t have anything more to add on “Smallville” until the show stops sucking, which might be never). Enjoy the DVRing!

Fave 5 - Britney Spears Videos

Britney Spears’ new video, “Womanizer”, has debuted and I must say that I’m a fan. Britney is indeed back. However, I’m not ready to say “and better than ever” yet, because the “Womanizer” video, while incredible, doesn’t crack my Fave 5 Britney videos. And here they are:

5. Everytime

I’m not a huge fan of Britney’s ballads -- her voice isn’t made for that type of song -- and the videos for them are usually boring. But this is the exception. The song caters to her voice rather than straining it, and the video tells a sad story to go along with the song. Good stuff.

4. Piece of Me

There’s a reason this video won 3 VMAs this year -- it’s freakin’ cool. This was the beginning of Britney’s comeback (let’s ignore the horrible “Gimme More” video).

3. Toxic

Let’s see: Britney Spears + “Alias” overtones + partial nudity = yes. This is my most-played Britney Spears song in iTunes and obviously one of her best videos.

2. Baby One More Time

The one that started it all. Obviously, Britney’s done higher quality videos since this one, but sometimes you just have to stick with the basics, which is what she did here.

1. I’m A Slave 4 U

This is by far my favorite song and video by Britney. This was the video where she moved from being an innocent tease to being a sex symbol. Go Britney!

SportsBytes #3.3

- When you try to pick a World Series matchup before the playoffs even start (and, in my case, before one of the teams is even set), sometimes you can end up very wrong. However, that doesn’t look like it’ll be the case for me. Thanks to Matt Stairs, the Phillies -- my pick to win the World Series -- have a commanding 3-1 lead in the NLCS, and should be advancing quickly.

- Over in the ALCS, the Rays have spent the past 2 games beating the shit out of Red Sox pitching. Remember what I wrote about Josh Beckett last year? Well, I take that back. He can’t pitch at all this postseason. With the Rays up 2-1, I see them winning this series in 6 now.

- Over in the NFL, the Redskins shat the bed against the previously winless St. Louis Rams. What?! The fucking Rams?! You had me, then you lost me, Jim Zorn. Losses to teams with 0 wins aren’t going to garner my favor. Honestly, though, I think this was just a blip on the radar screen. There were plenty of things that looked good about the team on Sunday, they just couldn’t put it all together.

- Hey, did you know hockey season started? Like 2 weeks ago? No, really, I swear. And that might be the last time until the playoffs I mention hockey on this blog.

- OK, 2nd-to-last time. I’m actually in a fantasy hockey league this year (don’t ask) and the team that I co-own pulled off a miracle Week 1 win. I would not at all be surprised if it was our last win of the season.

College Football Top 10

Well, one week into my rankings, and they’ve already been destroyed. Maybe I’m the jinx, since college football got crazy last year, the first year I did my rankings.

Still, I trudge ahead, hoping to shake out the madness in the FBS.

10. BYU
Yes, I dropped them even though they remained unbeaten. I’m just not sold on them, and I can’t get over the fact they should have lost to Washington.

9. Missouri
Wow, that was a disappointment. I really expected more out of the Tigers, but OK State had their number. Still, Missouri has proven to be one of the top 10 teams in the country so far.

8. Florida
Way to get back into the picture, Florida. The Gators now have to be considered among the top 1-loss teams, with a spanking of LSU.

7. Oklahoma
Losing to a top 5 team at a neutral site shouldn’t be that damaging, but it was the way Oklahoma lost -- taking control early and then giving everything back quickly.

6. Oklahoma State
Good win for the Cowboys, who now need to keep proving themselves against a tough Big 12 schedule (I’ve still got 5 teams from that conference in my Top 10).

5. Texas Tech
Speaking of good wins for teams that needed to prove themselves, here’s Texas Tech. Should they have handled Nebraska more easily? Probably. But I was impressed with their ability to handle adversity and come out with a win.

4. Utah
By far the most impressive of the BCS busters. The Utes shouldn’t face a challenge until the season finale against BYU.

3. Alabama
I know a lot of people have them at 2, and I don’t have a knock against them. I’m just more impressed with the 2 teams I have ahead of them.

2. Penn State
That destruction of Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium was very impressive. Not impressive enough for number 1, but at least enough to make them a solid favorite for a BCS title game berth.

1. Texas
Wow. Just wow. They handled everything Oklahoma threw at them and came away with a double-digit win. They earned this spot. Now they get to keep earning it with a game against Missouri.

Dropped out: Vanderbilt, LSU
Unbeaten and unranked: Boise State, Ball State, Tulsa

This Week in Buffy History: October 12-18

October 12
1999 - Episode 4.02 “Living Conditions” airs on The WB
1999 - Angel Episode 1.02 “Lonely Hearts” airs on The WB

October 13
1980 - Ashanti born (played Lissa on episode 7.14 “First Date”)
1997 - Episode 2.05 “Reptile Boy” airs on The WB
1998 - Episode 3.03 “Faith, Hope and Trick” airs on The WB
2002 - Angel Episode 4.02 “Ground State” airs on The WB

October 15
2001 - Angel Episode 3.04 “Carpe Noctem” airs on The WB
2002 - Episode 7.04 “Help” airs on UPN
2003 - Angel Episode 5.03 “Unleashed” airs on The WB

October 16
1968 - Todd Stashwick born (played M’Fashnik Demon on episode 6.04 “Flooded”)
2001 - Episode 6.04 “Flooded” airs on UPN

October 17
2000 - Episode 5.04 “Out of My Mind” airs on The WB
2000 - Angel Episode 2.04 “Untouched” airs on The WB

Rays Give Skeptics Hope...

PooZ's doubts my skepticism, but I have my reasons. For example, a 9-8 extra-inning loss on Saturday (actually, early Sunday morning on the East Coast), in a game that blew apart both team's bullpens.

Look, I know last year I wrote that Josh Beckett was money in the postseason, but this year, he's about as money as the economy. It might be time for the Sox to admit that something's wrong with him physically and shut him down.

By the way, random note on the Sox this postseason: Boston is 4-0 in 9-inning games and 0-2 in extra-inning games. I think that speaks to the struggles of the bullpen outside of Papelbon (who still has never given up a run in the postseason).

Oh, and yes, PooZ and I will probably go back and forth on the Red Sox via Cyberspace for the rest of the postseason.

Series of Tubes #1.2

Hey, I came up with a format for this. I’m going to divide the sections by days of the week, and write my notes in that order. For my personal show watching schedule, check out last week’s Series of Tubes.

SUNDAY SHOWS

- When I first watched it, I was going to write about “Family Guy”, but I’ll say this quickly -- that show has a way of beating jokes to death, then bringing them back to life. We have not seen the last of the bird.

- As for “American Dad”, I wish we’d seen the last of Roger. I actually enjoy this show (which is why I keep watching it on a weekly basis), but I can’t stand Roger as a character. He’s not funny and doesn’t bring anything to the make-up of the cast. Get rid of him, or at least minimize his role.

MONDAY SHOWS

- Terminators with imprints of the personalities of the humans they’re modeled on? NO!

- I’ve now seen two episodes of “Gossip Girl” post-Dan/Serena break-up, and I have to say, I wish they were back together. I don’t like seeing Serena being all, well, Blair-like, and I kinda find myself rooting for Dan. I guess I see a lot of myself in him (writer, semi-loner in high school, always shooting for the stars in relationships, etc).

- “Heroes” is totally back. Some people may still not be on board with some of the storylines for this season, but at least they’re not boring like they were last year.

TUESDAY SHOWS

- I still have every episode of “Fringe” saved and ready to watch. I just haven’t yet. Get back to me on this one.

WEDNESDAY SHOWS

- Last year I was almost ready to give up on “Bones”. I didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. But by splitting up the core group (Zack’s locked up, Hodgins and Angela broke up), they’ve shaken up the creative mix of the show in a good way. Now, they just need to make sure they can keep up the tension/vibes between Bones and Booth without having them sleep together. I’m pretty sure that would be the show’s “jump the shark” moment.

- People may not be watching “Dirty, Sexy, Money” in droves, but I enjoy the show. Tripp’s manipulation, possibly of everyone, continues to be the driving force being the show, and it’s back in full force this season (after it started to wane a little bit at the end of last year’s abbreviated season).

THURSDAY SHOWS

- Smallville just sucks. I really need to stop watching this crap. I’d like to be more specific, but it’s really just a general suck-i-tude right now. Plus, the show doesn’t even take place in Smallville anymore, so what’s the point?

Fave 5 - Songs I Know Better Because of TV

Look, I know, another Fave 5 related to TV. I swear, next week’s won’t be, but I’ve been thinking about this lately. I’ve got lots of songs in my iTunes library that I wouldn’t have, or wouldn’t play as frequently, if it weren’t for associating them with some TV show. Here are my 5 favorites of that group.

5. The Fray - “How to Save a Life”
I first heard this song in a promo for “Grey’s Anatomy”, a show I’ve never watched. I still haven’t seen a single episode, but I bought this song from iTunes and it’s now be played 30 times.

4. The Dandy Warhols - “We Used to Be Friends”
Aka the “Veronica Mars” theme song. I HAVE watched every episode of VM (and hated how they modified this song for Season 3). I’ve also spun this one 40 times in iTunes.

3. Esthero - “Wikked Lil’ Grrrls”
A play count of 64 times as of this writing, and just think, I wouldn’t have known this song existed if it hadn’t been used in a promo for the Smallville episode “Thirst”. I hated the episode (a spoof full of “Buffy” references and things like James Marsters -- aka Spike -- saying “there’s no such thing as vampires”), but I love the song.

2. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - “Fresh Prince of Bel Air”
Now this is a story all about how... this song got up to 54 plays in iTunes. Look, everyone who’s ever seen the show knows the main verses. But do you know the lyrics to the extended version? I do. “First class, yo this is bad/drinkin’ orange juice out of a champagne glass/is this what the people of Bel Air livin’ like?/Hmmm, this might be alright”

1. Barry Manilow - “Mandy”
OK, obviously I’d heard of the song “Mandy” long before I associated it with any TV show. But it was languishing in my iTunes library with a play count in the single digits until I started watching “Angel”. When I discovered that, in the show’s continuity, “Mandy” was Angel’s favorite song, I gave it another shot. Now it’s been played 115 times, the 3rd-most played song in my library.

SportsBytes #3.2

- Wow, I just looked at the sports landscape for tonight and tomorrow. There ain’t shit going on. No MLB, no NHL, no NFL, no major college football. Only some preseason NBA. Now, I love the NBA, but I can’t get excited about preseason. Why couldn’t they start the LCS sooner?

- Speaking of the LCS, I’m sticking by my picks of Rays and Phillies. I know the Red Sox looked good in their series against the Angels, but I feel like injuries, and their struggles at Tropicana Field, will catch up with them in this round.

- As for my Mets, who weren’t involved in the postseason in any way, they extended manager Jerry Manuel’s contract for another 2 years. Look, I wasn’t happy with how the season ended, but I couldn’t exactly blame it all on Manuel. Still, did the team have to make this decision so soon? Especially when Bobby Valentine just expressed interest in the job? I’m giving this move -- the first of the offseason -- a C-.

- Hail to the Redskins! After another big road win against a division rival, the fightin’ Zorns are now 4-1 and behind only the Giants in the NFC East. Plus, because of the wins over Dallas and Philadelphia, they’re in the drivers seat for tiebreakers over those teams. I gotta admit, I had my doubts about the Jim Zorn era, but it’s working out so far.

- The main reason it’s working? Well, that would probably be Clinton Portis. Bucking the league-wide trend, Zorn is giving Portis the majority of the carries in the backfield, by a wide margin over Ladell Betts. I’ve got nothing against Betts, but he’s no Portis, so this move makes sense to me. The more Portis carries the offense, the less they have to rely on the still-green Jason Campbell, and that usually leads to success.

College Football Top 10

We’re now 6 weeks into the college football season, which is enough time to get a sense for some teams. Others, I’m still not so sure about. So here are my tentative Top 10 rankings, which will change drastically from week to week (unlike most rankers, I have no qualms about dropping teams 6 spots, or moving them up drastically, depending on results).

10. Utah
Rule #1 of Adam’s rankings: undefeated teams get precedence over 1-loss teams. Utah also has 3 road wins, and an impressive win over an Oregon State team that beat USC.

9. Vanderbilt
Not a typo. They’re really this high. Will they end up here? Probably not, but the win over Auburn was pretty damn good.

8. BYU
I’m not sure they should be this high, with a tainted win over Washington, but they are pretty good.

7. Texas Tech
Amazingly, I have the Red Raiders at 7, even though I’m less sold on them than any other team in the top 10. Looking at their schedule, they’re an easy 5-0, but they could easily be 5-6 in a few weeks.

6. Texas
4 ranked opponents in the next 4 weeks will answer all lingering questions about this team, questions that probably could have been answered if they had already played Arkansas (a game that was postponed due to Hurricane Ike).

5. Penn State
I like this team more than most people. I saw a lot of their game Saturday, and they have a very interesting offense, and an incredible defense. Sure, JoePa is crazy, but he seems to luck into these seasons every once in awhile.

4. Alabama
I’m amazed that I fall more into line with the coaches than the media in my rankings, but I think people have fallen too much in love with Alabama. The win over Clemson isn’t as impressive as it looked, and the win over Georgia was one good half.

3. LSU
They’re still the defending champs, and still haven’t lost a game in regulation (Les Miles’ favorite excuse) since 2006. I don’t think they have the QB to carry them all the way, but that showdown against ‘Bama in early November could be huge.

2. Missouri
This team has the 2nd-scariest looking offense in the country...

1. Oklahoma
...behind only this team. Sam Bradford is crazy good at QB, and they’re incredibly deep in the backfield. I can’t wait until the Sooners and Tigers meet, which might not be until the Big 12 Championship game.

This Week in Buffy History: October 5-11

October 5
1999 - Episode 4.01 “The Freshman” airs on The WB
1999 - “Angel” premieres on The WB with Episode 1.01, “City of”

October 6
1997 - Episode 2.04 “Inca Mummy Girl” airs on The WB
1998 - Episode 3.02 “Dead Man’s Party” airs on The WB
2002 - Angel Episode 4.01 “Deep Down” airs on The WB

October 7
1972 - Jason Padgett born (played Holden Raines in Angel Episode 2.12 “Blood Money”)

October 8
2001 - Angel Episode 3.03 “That Old Gang of Mine” airs on The WB
2002 - Episode 7.03 “Same Time, Same Place” airs on UPN
2003 - Angel Episode 5.02 “Just Rewards” airs on The WB

October 9
1981 - Zachery Ty Bryan born (played Peter Nicols on episode 7.04 “Help”)
2001 - Episode 6.03 “After Life” airs on UPN

October 10
1970 - Bai Ling born (played Jhiera on Angel Episode 1.13 “She”)
2000 - Episode 5.03 “The Replacement” airs on The WB
2000 - Angel Episode 2.03 “First Impressions” airs on The WB

October 11
1985 - Michelle Trachtenberg born (played Dawn)
2003 - Alyson Hannigan (Willow) marries Alexis Denisof (Wesley)

Series of Tubes #1.1

- This is just going to be an introduction to what will soon be a weekly feature on AdamReisinger.com. As I wrote a week ago, I watch a lot of TV, and I have opinions on most of what I watch. Here’s where I’m going to share my opinions with you (see how this internet thing works?)

- So why not share them now? Well, I’m about a week and a half behind on my TV watching. Step 1: catch up. Step 2: form opinions. Step 3: share opinions. Simple as that.

- As for what I’ll be sharing opinions on, well, here’s my weekly viewing schedule. I’m not gonna write about every show every week, just the ones I feel like commenting on.

SUNDAY
The Simpsons (8pm, FOX), Family Guy (9pm, FOX), Desperate Housewives (9pm, ABC), American Dad (9:30pm, FOX)

MONDAY
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (8pm, FOX), Chuck (8pm, NBC), Gossip Girl (8pm, The CW), How I Met Your Mother (8:30pm, CBS), Heroes (9pm, NBC)

TUESDAY
Fringe (8pm, FOX), Privileged (9pm, The CW), Eli Stone (10pm, ABC)

WEDNESDAY
Bones (8pm FOX), Knight Rider (8pm, NBC), Do Not Disturb (9:30pm, FOX), Dirty Sexy Money (10pm, ABC)

THURSDAY
Smallville (8pm, The CW), 30 Rock (9:30pm, NBC)

Fave 5 - Sitcom Episodes

With the new TV season starting up, it’s worth noting that I’m only watching 2 live action sitcoms. I used to watch more, but honestly, the crap they put on now just sucks. Thank goodness for Fox’s Sunday animation lineup, or the only comedy I might get during the week is watching the punk playing John Connor try to be a hero.

That said, I used to love sitcoms, and here are my 5 favorite individual episodes.

5. Friends - The One With The Embryos
Back before I was obsessed with “Buffy”, this was my favorite TV show. I loved “Friends” and watched it religiously. As for this episode, nothing was better. Forget the main plot (where Phoebe becomes a surrogate mom for her brother). It’s all about the subplot with the trivia contest and the bet. I used to know all the trivia answers (“big fat goalie” “her ear” “11”). I still know most of them (“dangerous liaisons” “weekend at bernies” “transponster”) . Yes, I’m sad.

4. Seinfeld - The Boyfriend
Three words: “I’m Keith Hernandez.”

3. Family Guy - PTV
Look, the episode has a weak ending. But the FCC song is far and away the funniest thing to ever air on television.

2. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air - Papa’s Got a Brand-New Excuse
The Fresh Prince did a lot of “very special” episodes (Will gets shot, Carlton accidently takes speed, etc.) but this was different. Watch this episode and you see the transformation from “The Fresh Prince” the rapper to Will Smith the actor. It happens in the final scene. Just watch.


1. The Simpsons - You Only Move Twice
This episode literally has everything. In fact, though “The Simpsons Movie” was good, it wasn’t nearly as good as this episode (and it actually had many of the same elements). I don’t care how long “The Simpsons” runs for, they’ll never top this one. The Denver Broncos! (it’s worth noting that Homer Simpson became the owner of the Broncos before the 1996 season, and they proceeded to win 2 Super Bowls in 3 years). They have to bring back Hank Scorpio for one episode before the series ends its run.