I’ve been watching a friend’s TiVoed recordings of Cold Case, and I have to say that I am very impressed with this show! I know that it’s going on into its Fourth Season already, but I never gave it a chance until just the other day. I’ve now watched about 10 episodes over the course of three days and I can tell that this is going to become one of my new favorites.

Cold Case centers on a special unit of the Philadelphia PD’s homicide squad. Detective Lilly Rush, played by Kathryn Morris, (apparently the first and only female in the homicide division) and her partner Scotty Valens (Danny Pino) investigate “cold cases,” ones that have remained unsolved over the years. Also on the team are detectives Nick Vera and Will Jeffries, along with Lt. John Stillman.

This show is cool for several reasons. First, they make extensive use of music to help set the scene. For example, if a murder took place in 1985, they’d use music that was popular at that time during all the flashback scenes. Second, I like the way the show uses two different actors for each of the major characters involved in the murder of the week. That gives more of an authentic aging effect than makeup could ever do. And finally, I just like the actors that are involved with this show. Kathryn Morris in particular is very good as Lilly Rush, and I simply enjoy watching her work.

If you’re looking for a great TV show to get behind, then I suggest you take a look at Cold Case.

I rented Syriana last night based on all the rave reviews it has gotten (plus I wanted to see George Clooney’s Oscar-winning performance). Well, I’m not too proud to admit that I had absolutely no clue what the hell was going on for most of the plot. It wasn’t clear to me what the characters were doing or why. I couldn’t tell who wanted what or what their motivations were. As a result, the film was thoroughly unenjoyable and I couldn’t wait for it to end. Plus, I didn’t care enough about it to even watch the extra features to see if anything could be explained that way.

I’ve gotta say that I absolutely hate movies like this. Look, I’m not saying that I need every plot detail to be spoon-fed to me, but what’s the freaking point of making everything so obscure and complicated? I mean, what kind of audience was this movie supposed to appeal to? I watch a wide variety of films and am able to enjoy everything from slapstick comedy to more cerebral fare. But seriously, I just don’t get what the hell everyone is raving about with Syriana. Do people automatically think something’s good just because they don’t understand it? Several professional critics, including Roger Ebert, admitted to not understanding the movie, yet gave it high ratings anyway!! What’s that all about? Here’s a quote from Ebert’s review:

The movie’s plot is so complex we’re not really supposed to follow it, we’re supposed to be surrounded by it. Since none of the characters understand the whole picture, why should we?

Um, yeah, okay Roger. Whatever you say.

I thought the movie flat-out sucked despite the strong acting performances by both Clooney and Matt Damon. So my recommendation is don’t waste your time on this money unless you’re really, really, really interested in oil and Middle Eastern politics!

I read a lot of lengthy texts on my computer (including books), so I was happy to come across this site called PDF Online. They provide a free service by which you can convert a lot of different document types into PDFs that are then readable with Adobe Acrobat. According to the front page, PDF Online supports .doc, .rtf, .ppt, .pps, .xls, .pub, .mht, and .txt files. In addition, you can even include images (.jpg, .bmp, .gif, etc.)in your document and those will be converted to. All you do is upload the file, create a name for the output file, and enter your email address. A few minutes later, the PDF file will be in your Inbox ready to use.

I’ve taken advantage of PDF Online numerous times now and am very happy with the results. Now whenever I have a plain text file, like from Project Gutenberg or something, I can convert it to PDF, thereby making it much easier to read. I’ve also used PDF Online for a newsletter and a couple of school projects. Everything has come out perfectly.

I usually read books that are in the public domain, so I’ve really gotten a lot of use out of Project Gutenberg over the years. Another site that I appreciate is ClassicReader.com. This site also focuses on books that belong to the public domain, but does so in a slightly different way. Instead of downloading text files of the novel, users simply read directly from the ClassicReader.com site. I don’t really have any book reader software that I’m attached to, so I like the fact that ClassicReader is easy on my eyes and also easy to navigate.

The site is completely free to use, but recently the owner has started including annoying popup ads. I guess that’s his prerogative since he offers a free service, but of course I was disappointed. At least the ads only appear the first time you click on a title and not with every chapter or anything like that; but it is still somewhat irksome.

On a slightly different but somewhat related note, I am thinking about buying a PDA in order to read e-books (among other things). So a purchase like that might end up limiting the need to visit ClassicReader.com in the future.

I met a couple friends for lunch at Outback Steakhouse today and we got into a pretty interesting discussion about music. You know how there’s that one band, song, or artist that you just can’t stand, yet everyone else seems to love them? Well, mine is U2.

I have never owned a U2 CD in my life and can’t for the life of me figure out why they are so popular all over the world! I hate, hate, hate their music! There’s no specific reason for it; it’s just a matter of taste I guess. Out of all the songs that they’ve ever released and that have made it all the way to No. 1 on music charts in various countries, there’s only one that I like. I think With or Without You is a great song, and totally give them credit for that. But everything else… no. I immediately change the station when I hear a U2 song come on and I wouldn’t go to a concert if someone gave me free front row seats.

I do know that the lead singer’s name is Bono, but I have no idea what he looks like and wouldn’t be able to pick him out of a lineup. Actually, that’s gonna change in about two seconds because I’m going to find a picture of him for this post.

Anyway, I know most of the world loves U2, but that was the point of our conversation at lunch.

I clearly remember when the news of Jon-Benet Ramsey’s murder first broke back in 1996. It sounded like a horrific crime and there was simply no getting away from the near-constant media coverage. Tabloids like the National Enquirer and Star Magazine made it sound like the parents were directly involved with the crime. The speculation at the time was that either the father killed Jon-Benet himself, or the mother did it after catching her husband engaged in some unspeakable sex act with the little girl. (Photo from CNN.com)

Everything about the case was smarmy and disgusting.

Police detectives didn’t get very far with their investigation (funny how things never work out with CSI-like efficiency in real life), and no formal murder charges were ever filed against anyone. The parents maintained their innocence and the case eventually faded out of the news cycle.

But now there’s some totally freaky looking guy named John Mark Karr that has come out and confessed to killing Jon-Benet. This guy was picked up in Thailand where he’s apparently been teaching English to grade school kids. (Don’t I know what kind of losers that “profession” attracts!) Anyway, I’ve been reading the reports and watching video clips of that news conference, and there’s definitely something wrong with the dude. Is he a murderer? Is he the murderer? Obviously that can be cleared up pretty quickly with a DNA test.

But from what I can gather out of all these news reports, the general feeling is that this guy is probably just a nutjob.

I bought a new vacuum cleaner today. My old one seemed like it was ready to give out at any minute and just wasn’t picking up very much dirt and dust anymore. I decided to go with a Dyson, one of the most expensive brands out there, because it’s also one of the best.

Because of the high price tag (I spent over $450 on my new vacuum), I did a lot of research and read a lot of reviews before actually making the purchase. There were a couple of things that I was definitely looking for in a new vacuum. First, it had to be very powerful. With pets and kids in the house, I have to vacuum every single day — there’s just no way around that. So I wanted a product that would do the job right. Second, I didn’t want to have to mess around with filters. I hate having to buy accessories for my vacuum because I inevitably run out right when I need it most. I can’t tell you how many times my old vacuum crapped out due to an overloaded filter just before company came! And third, the vacuum had to be durable. I wanted something that would last several years, and I didn’t mind paying for it.

The Dyson DC14 model met these requirements and had some pretty good reviews from consumers. I tried it out at the store and was amazed at how powerful it felt and sounded. I did a demo on that little strip of carpet that the stores put out there and I was sold! I knew that was the vacuum for me.

Once I got it home, I couldn’t wait to try it. Sure enough, it worked like a charm. I only had to make one pass over the carpeting in the living room and dining room in order to pick up all the visible pet hair and dirt. I was disgusted by the amount of debris left in the canister once I finished cleaning — that just confirmed the fact that I need to vacuum every day!

Anyway, if you’re looking for a great vacuum cleaner, I suggest going with a Dyson. This thing really is as good as everyone says!