I really like seeing the rotating banner images on here everyday, and it occurred to me that it'd be nice to have a change of color every once in a while too. Or some people may not be fans of the all-blue theme in place on this site since it's pretty bold. I happen to like blue and that's why it evolved into that, but I knew from the day I switched the site's white background to a patterned blue that the new background made the site look profoundly different. So now you can choose your own background color, and your choice is saved (for return visits from the same computer).
The same page with different background colors
You can find the color selection in the first box in the left-hand navigation. Basically you mouseover the colors to see what they look like, and when you're happy with what's set, you're done! I automatically store a cookie whenever you mouse over a color, so that color is saved for the future (on that computer). All subsequent pages you view will follow that color choice. And you can easily switch it again at any time by mousing over a different color. The default blue is the first box, in case you want to go back to the original look. Or mouseover the white box to view the site naked. Looking at it now, I can't see how I ever had a site with a plain white background. But maybe someone will like it.
This was just a first pass, so let me know if you think one of the choices is fugly or if you want a choice that's not there now and I'll make it happen.
And no, the boxes/content panes themselves are not customizable. They will stay light blue regardless of your color choice, because I don't want to worry about a whole bunch of issues with making sure fonts, highlights, bullets, blockquotes, spoilers, etc. look correct in different colors. It took me long enough to get this color scheme looking the way I want :)
Update: I had a couple of cookie issues because I was being hasty in making the change. It was actually beneficial because I ended up making the login and cookies more secure. So if you experience any flaky behavior with staying logged into the site, try deleting your cookies and logging in again. Due to the secure login you may have to login again one time anyways. After that you should have a secure cookie for future (automatic) logins on return visits.
At last, Google Maps can be embedded on webpages using a much simpler method than using their API. Previously you would have to apply for an API key and write some code to place points/shapes on the map. Now you can click on the "Link to this page" link on any kind of map (businesses, directions, MyMaps) and there's some embed code you can grab. Here's an example of a driving tour of Australia:
This week's episode was interesting. It had more funny moments than the last few and more plot too. And yet I somehow still got left with the feeling that not much happened. E immediately fell into what everyone saw coming a mile away...difficulty in juggling Anna and Vince. Though using phone reception as the way of doing that seemed pretty ridiculous. Nobody's phone worked up there? Not very believable.
Adding to that, the whole thing with Anna's boyfriend was kind of stupid too. The Coke joke was funny, especially when he brought it up in the confrontation at the bottom of the hill. But the rest was stupid drama. Speaking of which, Drama was useless in this episode. They should've been nice and just given him the time off instead of putting him in for 10 irrelevant seconds.
Ari yells at Lloyd for yelling on the phone
Ari's bouts with Dana are always amusing, and this wasn't much of an exception. And you could even believe that Dana would put her grudge with Ari aside just to salvage the movie. Ari had a pretty fantastic sell with all his empty threats and fear-mongering about the state of the studio's financials. By the way, what kind of movie exec would shower at their office?
I actually got excited for a second at the thought that they may be making Turtle replace Eric as he began to read E's script, but was sorely disappointed that they made him so lazy that he wouldn't even do something to help his career. It would have been an interesting turn if Vince had to start relying more on Turtle or Drama as E struggles handling additional clients, and it could have led to some interesting dynamics and/or a breaking point. But apparently we'll have none of that.
And finally, ARGH. We've still got Billy-freakin'-Walsh in the picture. Crappity crap. Here's an idea: Maybe during the shooting of Silo he could be involved in an unfortunate pyrotechnics error and get blown to bits. Better yet, on the way to Cannes his plane could crash. Get the hell rid of Walsh is the gist of what I'm saying here.
This is pretty cool...the Daily Show frequently does reports from "remote locations" that are really almost always green-screened (though some aren't, like their report on U of I's chief). But this week's reports will be coming from Rob Riggle who was actually in Iraq:
Riggle from his marine days
Giving its green screen a temporary rest, the Comedy Central series will air "Operation Silent Thunder: 'The Daily Show' in Iraq," several onsite dispatches filed by Senior War Correspondent Rob Riggle.
Riggle will provide what the network calls "in-depth coverage and insights from the front lines." Scheduled to be back in New York this weekend, he begins his reports as soon as Monday. ("The Daily Show" airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. EDT.)
While in Iraq, Riggle performed for U.S. troops with fellow comedians Horatio Sanz, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer as part of an entertainment tour titled "Operation Feel the Heat."
Besides "The Daily Show," Riggle's credits include "Saturday Night Live," "The Office" and "Arrested Development." A major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, he served in Liberia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
Stephen Colbert's Cheating Death segments have been hilarious, and I think there's been 4 so far. Apparently these clips appear on Comedy Central's Motherload website, but only for a limited time. I couldn't find the Colgate/Alli one anymore, so I've uploaded it here. That's right, it's a Cheating Death symbii exclusive!
For those that don't mind minor spoilers (and really there's not even much spoilers here), rishi pointed me to about 20 hi-res shots from the upcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight.
There's some pretty sweet shots of the Joker in there too.
As it turns out, Will Arnett is up to a whole lot. And nearly all of it looks really promising. For the most part, it's because he's working with incredible casts, many of them full of great comedians. Check out a breakdown of the movies he's involved in from soonest to latest release date:
The Brothers Solomon (Sept. 7, 2007) Synopsis: A pair of well-meaning, but socially inept brothers try to find their perfect mates in order to provide their dying father with a grandchild.
Will Arnett and Will Forte are both pretty hilarious, and from the trailers it looks like they're able to complement each other's comedy well. Add to that the fact that Bob Odenkirk (of Mr. Show fame) is directing, and you've got Champ from Anchorman, Pam from the Office, and SNL comics (Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader), and there's an obvious wealth of comedy in this cast/crew.
Semi-Pro (Feb. 29, 2008) Synopsis: Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics, rallies his teammates to make their NBA dreams come true.
Apparently Will Ferrell just can't get enough sports comedies. We've had Talladega Nights for NASCAR, Kicking and Screaming for soccer, Blades of Glory for figure skating, and now he's doing basketball.
Horton Hears a Who (Mar. 14, 2008) Synopsis: Horton the Elephant struggles to protect a microscopic community from his neighbors who refuse to believe it exists.
I've actually posted (briefly) about this one before saying the following: "And get a load of this (voice) cast: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Isla Fischer (Borat's wife :), Jaime Pressly, Dane Cook, and Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin). That's a boatload of comedy talent, and some pretty unique voices too." I really am pretty blown away by it...this Dr. Seuss flick is going to rake in the dough.
Spring Breakdown (2008) Synopsis: The storyline revolves around three thirtysomething friends who break the monotony of their uninspired lives by vacationing on an island that's a popular spring break getaway for college co-eds. One of the women works for a powerful senator whose daughter is one of those co-eds, only she's as geeky as her chaperones.
Most Likely to Succeed (2008) Synopsis: At his 20th high school reunion, a guy (Arnett) tells his the girl of his dreams a series of lies that make him appear to be a wealthy, successful New Yorker. When she shows up in his city, he goes to extraordinary lengths to keep up the charade.
This one seems to have a mediocre premise, but I think the fact that it's got a writer and two directors (one of which was also a writer) from Arrested Development mean that it's got much more potential, and we may get to see some more of Arnett in a Gob-like role. As someone pointed out in the comments, in Arrested Development Michael was labeled in the yearbook as "Most Likely to Succeed."
We're the Millers (2009) Synopsis: After turning 30, a pot dealer (Buscemi) realizes his life is meaningless and wants to get out of the business ... but not before one last big score that will finance a new life. His last pot-related task is to assemble a fake family and smuggle 1,400 pounds of pot across the Mexican border in a motor home.
You've got Steve Buscemi, Will Arnett, the writers of Wedding Crashers, and the director of the Full Monty. If this happens, it will be bananas.
And finally, here's some of his smaller/limited detail projects:
Space Invader (2009)
Writers from Just Shoot Me and the director of Night of the Living with a movie about: "A love triangle develops between a group of astronauts at a space station orbiting the earth." Sounds dumb.
Get 'Em Wet (2009)
As someone on the IMDb boards mentioned, after the failure of Let's Go to Prison, do you really think they'll make another movie where Dax Shepard and Will Arnett team up? Hopefully not. The premise: "Two hot tub salesmen travel to Japan to break into the local market."
Jeff the Demon (2009)
They've got the writer/director of Da Ali G Show which is a big plus. And they've got a writer/producer of Monk. But the premise sounds lame: "Two high school losers find a book that allows them to summon a power from the netherworld. Said demon, Jeff (Arnett), helps them win every battle and right every wrong in their lives ... at a price."
I wasn't all that excited or interested in an article about how Chicago's supposed cell phone driving ban hasn't been very effective, and the lack of police enforcement being labeled the major reason for it. First off, I thought they've showed a few times now that you're just as distracted on a headset because it's the conversations people are having and not the physical act of holding the phone that's slowing their response time and increasing the chance of an accident. So it seems ineffective right from the start.
And yeah, I've seen dozens of people each week (probably even each workday) driving around with their phones to their ear. I usually tend to use my headset, but sometimes I get an incoming call and it's not connected or I forgot it at home or something, and I'm not going to avoid using my phone because of that.
But here's a real genius comment:
Chicago Police Sgt. Thomas West, of the traffic enforcement division, said, "We write our share of cell phone tickets."
But West Side resident Ernestine Funches disagrees. "I've seen police who see you on the phone and don't do anything," she said. "People don't have any respect for [the ban] because police don't enforce it."
"I think they should," Funches added, "because I know how distracted I get when I'm on the phone."
Well, la-di-freakin-da! Ernestine Funches can't drive while on her phone, so why should anyone else get to? We must all be just like her. There's no way some of us can actually drive and talk at the same time. By that logic, we should all drive at 40MPH on the highway and leave our blinkers on to respect those that forget they're driving on the damn highway and they've had their turn signal on since they left home in the morning. Someone should really get on enforcing that. While driving through intersections I also get distracted by bold and shiny objects, so let's go ahead and ban those too. Anything with metal or bright colors that's visible from the street must be taken down or painted over with muted colors.
Man, I can't believe it took this long to realize how great it would be if everyone else would just be forced by law to compensate for all of my deficiencies. How cool. Thanks Ernestine!
This week's episode was dull. Don't get me wrong, it did have some funny moments. But overall the episode felt incredibly lackluster, and relapsed to all the pitfalls of the not-so-great episodes we've been seeing recently. First off, the forays into Ari's personal life fell forced and I'd much rather see him being an agent. He got frantic and yet it was unfunny. We needed half an episode to explain that Ari gets jealous easily and his wife is willing to forgive that? I suppose at least Mrs. Gold was looking pretty hot for the whole episode though.
The episode managed to setup a few potential storylines for E, with both his love interest in Anna Faris (who's willing to take bets that she loses the boyfriend and ends up with E?) and the fact that he gets to expand as a manager with Anna as his second client.
E and Anna Faris exchange information
I guess it's not entirely surprising, but somewhat disappointing that it looks like nothing is going on with Vince and Medellin since the season is nearing its close. But seeing him just hanging out with Turtle and Drama and being stupid is growing old.
I gotta say, it's pretty unfortunate. It seemed like the beginning of this season was a turn from 3b, and that we'd get some more interesting stuff going on, but that quickly reverted and now Entourage is again feeling stale and out of ideas. Plus the fact that Season 4 came right on the heels of 3B seems to have thrown things into even more disarray. Who knows how long we'll have to wait for Season 5, but I feel like I'm quickly losing interest in the way things have been going (we've long discussed that Entourage is a good, but not great show in past episodes' comments. But now it seems to be falling under that good level. I'm not ready to give up on it, but I am going to be watching future episodes with even more skepticism/cynicism than before). At least we're quickly approaching the new fall seasons of some other great shows.
There's 3 DVD releases I've been eagerly awaiting, and they all hit stores next month. But it's actually the last DVD coming out - one I absolutely do not want - that made me want to post this. But first, the awesome 3:
That's right, it's the Entourage "Worst Of". Seriously, HBO should do themselves a favor and not release this so we can all pretend it never happened. At the very least they should make it free, for those who just want complete sets.
