30 Rock vs Arrested Development again

Listen people (Yaniv), I worked for 13 hours straight today. Literally. So Now I'm watching an episode of 30 Rock on the internet.

And guess who makes a guest appearance in episode 18? That's right, Will Arnet, AKA G.O.B. from Arrested Development. Yes it kind of blew my mind. And yes, he comes onto What's the Frequency Ken. Which is pretty much him coming onto his retarded brother in Arrested Development, Buster. Just sayin'.

On Fishbeer.com I will never, ever, post something about TV. Ever. Fishbeer.com will be the most pure website you've ever seen. Snow white like cocaine. Or South Dakota. Like apple pie on a Sunday morning. Vanilla ice cream on a Thursday night. An NSF proposal on a Wednesday night. Fastlane on a Friday morning. A Monday. Saturday. All day. Every day. Batman.

30 Rock vs Arrested Development

The Rural Juror vs. Bob Loblaw's Law Blog?

The Meat Machine vs. The Cornballer?

You decide.

fishbeer beta

It's just a screen capture. Don't freak out. Click to enlarge.

30 Rock

When I first saw Arrested Development on TV I thought it was a poorly done Fox knockoff of Curb Your Enthusiasm. What with the hand held cameras and improvisational feel. Turns out I was way wrong. Sure, the hand held cameras and improvisational feel are two things those two shows share. And they're both hilarious. But that's about where the similarities end. (turns out Arrested Development was actually very heavily scripted as well, it just feels improvisational)

When I actually gave Curb Your Enthusiasm a try about two years ago I watched every episode on DVD in about two weeks. I loved it. I still love it. I feel bad that I didn't like it when it was on TV. Before it's time? Probably.

And that brings me to today's topic: 30 Rock. Great show. Just started watching it yesterday. I'm four episodes in. You can watch the whole first season here for free.

It is a giant fucking Arrested Development knockoff.

Completely absurd humor. Quick cuts and flashbacks. Same use of music. Lots of references to things that happen in real life. Lots of references to NBC's parent company GE and NBC itself. Hell, it even has a Buster character..."what's the frequency Ken?"

Though I have to say that I dislike shows about shows. Or writing about writing. That shit bugs me to no end. So in that sense, bravo Arrested Development. And 30 Rock, you're good, but not that good.

I've cribbed Wolfe, you stickler

A place for everything was kept
in cold corners of the day
where the breeze walks softly
on skinny worn leather pads
and no dust is there.

Had speech been made
voices would bounce
aghast from plaster
wall to wood
floor freely.

Had things filled space
with hulking shoulders
or skinny waist
a breath you could not take
between their shadows.

But fertile ground it is
waiting perfect for the stuff
of a life too short.

january deam

Recent rains kept the dust down on the gravel road. Driving gently over crunching stones through a forest of bright gray poles each pothole was half filled with milky tan rainwater that splashed up and lacquered the rear fenders of my car. The easy upland landscape rolled in large, broad waves and the road swung and curved around them splitting the carpet of warm brown leaves arbitrarily in two.

The tower tapers toward the top and is capped with a gray box full of empty window frames. It sways back and forth like the road but we climb to the top for a view anyway.

The trail stays to the ridge barely elevated, barely delineated from the rest of the landscape. We pass fields of dark green lycopods and verdant walls of plush moss that stand out distinctly from the rest of the world.

Slipping into the woods, becoming a true foot path the trail winds its way towards the lake through a gauntlet of persistent dry brown leaves. It follows the right arm of the ridge where it splits and the land begins to fall away to each side and the ridge narrows and some sensation of elevation is finally apparent.

Yaniv is standing at the end of the trail in the middle of the cold, leafy fire pit on a broad knob where the land falls steeply away two hundred seventy degrees around him. The lake shimmers dark bluely in the distance through the trees several hundred feet below. He holds my wallet open in his hand and removes two twenties and a ten and crumples them up and stuffs them in his pocket. “I stole your money well. You never verb something good. You verb it well.”

I let him keep the money. That kind of tip is well worth fifty bucks.




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winter extravaganza part 5: this is why pennsylvania is this best

Brandywine River Museum








After three hours of frigid midging in Washington's winter encampment I finally landed this wild brown trout today. Hazah.

winter extravaganza part 4: 10th annual new years celebration featuring the second annual dance off