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I was pretty surprised to see that NBC has picked up the rights to the British show The Kumars at No. 42 in an attempt to retain its Thursday night ratings crown. The Snook and I are big fans of the Kumars, who are an Indian family living in Wembley that host a chat show in their back garden. Guests have to come through the house and meet the whole family (Mom, Dad, and crazy Grandma) before going onstage to be interviewed by the son, Sanjeev. No, it’s not real, but the guests are and it’s still hilarious. (We were damn happy to find it’s on here in Oz.) But I just couldn’t picture Americans getting all the Indian jokes. Then I read that they’re going to redo it with a Mexican-American family. Ahhh! Now that makes more sense. Although I don’t think there’s as much a tradition of self-deprecating Mexican-American humor as there is with the Indian-English. And other than Millionaire, US networks have a bad habit of royally screwing up their British imports (i.e. Cold Feet, Men Behaving Badly). This could be very sucky indeed. (Off topic: Indian-English? Is that what you’d say? That looks weird.)

I somehow found myself in an argument over SUVs at Metafilter today. I think a lot of my attitude towards them (and their drivers) comes from my years at ND. It seemed like over half of the undergraduates brought them to school and you never, ever saw one filled to capacity. They were status symbols, not off-road vehicles. (The prevalence of “Eddie Bauer” special editions will attest to that.) Sure, it’s nice not to have to shovel around your car in the winter, but is it really necessary to burn that much fuel just to go up to Meijer and pick up a case of Coke? See, I’m working myself into a rant again.

Three whales have been frolicking in Sydney Harbour for the last couple of days, having stopped off for a break on their trip to Antarctica. They’re heading out, but apparently some of the ferry pilots saw more coming in last night. I can’t believe I live in a place where I could go whale watching without leaving dry land. This Midwestern girl is impressed.

I finally picked up my copy of Anne Tyler’s “Back When We Were Grownups” today. (They had to send it over from another branch of the library.) I’m a couple chapters in and I’m enjoying it so far. It’s not what I’d pick up for myself, but it seems to be an easy read and I’ve already thought of lots of stuff for our discussion. Have you gotten your copy yet? Anybody having any difficulty?

Rockpool was fantastic. It remained a total surprise for the Snook up until we actually walked in the place. He said he didn’t figure I’d take him there, since it’s, like, “the best restaurant in Sydney.” (I didn’t know that. I just picked it because I recognized the name and it had a good rating.) He had sashimi and baked kingfish; I had salad and a steak. They also just kept bringing us little appetizers, like delicious cold zucchini soup and these little savory dumplings. The waiters were excellent, and I even managed to get one to tell me the secret of their salad dressing: “palm sugar”. (Whatever that means.) We had fantastic wines with each course and I learned what a “sommelier” does (that’s my word for the day). Then dessert. I had the passionfruit soufflé and the Snook had the chocolate. He said, “This is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted in my life.” It was a pricey evening (well over $100 US), but it was soooo worth it. If you’re ever in Sydney you should give it a try.

I am not legally affiliated with Roald Dahl in any way. I simply run a fan site. I have no input whatsoever into the planned remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Therefore please stop sending me your script and casting ideas. I will not “pass them on”. Even if I were involved, I probably still wouldn’t greenlight a script for a children’s movie involving genetically-mutated Oompa-Loompas. Just some advice.

Diet Update: My gym has doctors’ scales. You know the ones, where you move the little weights across to make the thing balance? And you start by moving the big ones, and then they get progressively smaller so you can get your exact weight? Well, I just met one of my short-term goals: I got to move one of the big weights back a notch! That makes me ecstatically happy.

I was interested to note that my site received a hit from the Google search “his dark materials film lyra casting”. So I looked through the other results and found some news regarding the books. Apparently there is a film version in the works, but not much has been done other than the hiring of Tom Stoppard to work on a script (which sounds like a brilliant decision to me). Philip Pullman seems to have very little involvement in the project, and has stated his “take the money and run” attitude towards it on many occasions. I also found a great interview with him that took place right before The Amber Spyglass was published. The second half was fascinating to me, as Pullman explains why Lyra’s world is different and where he got certain ideas for the books. Interesting reading if you liked the series…

He turns 26 today! He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m taking him out for a super-fancy dinner tonight at Rockpool. (Shhh, it’s a surprise!) Oh, and I score 25 points, right, Bill? 🙂

That mention of River Phoenix on the PTWND (post that will not die) reminded me of a kickass Australian band I saw on TV last week called TISM. They were performing their song “(He’ll Never Be An) Old Man River”, the chorus of which is “I’m on the drug that killed River Phoenix.” Seriously. Some of their other songs include:

• “Honk if You Love Fred Durst”
• “X-Treme Sports Can Kiss My Arse”
• “I Might Be a C*nt, But I’m Not a F*cking C*nt”
• “All Homeboys Are Dickheads”
• “Defecate on my Face”

I mean, who wouldn’t want to listen to a band like that? Oh, did I mention it’s, like, nine guys all wearing leather hoods to hide their faces? The rumor is that they’re all schoolteachers and they prefer to remain anonymous. What are the best song titles you’ve ever heard? Any that struck you as really, really funny?