something on the boob tube

I was able to catch the TV show Pushing Daisies on cable. It threw me off at first because of the stylized visuals and narrative but it’s actually pretty endearing. The plot revolves around a piemaker named Ned who has the power to bring the dead back to life by touching them. The catch is if he touches them a second time, they’d die again and stay that way for good. Also, if a dead creature that he brings back to life stays alive for more than one minute, another creature of roughly equivalent biological stature will die in its place. So when he revived his mom from a fatal aneurysm, his childhood sweetheart’s dad dropped dead. In another episode, three resurrected frogs equated to three dead sparrows. I guess the writers didn’t bother anymore with proper taxonomical details on this one.

The piemaker was able to make a profitable venture out of this by teaming up with a private detective to solve murder cases and pocket the reward money. After all, what better way to find out how the victim died than by resurrecting him for a minute and asking him about it. Things became interesting (and this is where the pilot episode takes off, really) when Ned’s childhood sweetheart was murdered on a cruise ship. He revives her and ends up letting her live beyond the customary minute which results in the death of the funeral home director. To eliminate the guilt baggage, the funeral guy was portrayed as a contemptuous opportunist who steals valuables from the bodies that are brought in.

Naturally, Ned and Chuck – the childhood sweetheart – fall in love but must live with the tiny complication of not being able to touch each other. Come to think of it, this is the dream TV show of moral conservatives. No sex scene whatsoever. In one episode where they kiss, each was enclosed in a transparent body bag. I’ve only watched two episodes so far though so I don’t know what’s still in store. I guess each episode will feature a murder case for them to solve and enough cutesy romantic stuff to keep the plot alive. And Ned still keeps the secret of accidentally causing the death of Chuck’s father so that’s another fodder for tension and conflict.

As I mentioned earlier, the show makes itself a little different by having a stylized design and narration technique. The colors are bright, vibrant, and downright bubblegum-inspired. There’s also an omniscient voice-over narrator that pops out every now and then. The dialogues are crisp, witty, and funny and the actors are all charming in their own way. The overall appeal reminds me of the French film Amelie. The actor who plays Chuck even looks a little bit like Audrey Tautou. Chi McBride who also appeared in the first season of House portrays the private detective and the waitress is played by Kristin Chenoweth who I thought looked really familiar until I remembered where I first saw her: in the humdrum Robin Williams comedy film RV.

losing sucks

Still can’t get rid of that hollow, mournful feeling after Liverpool’s big loss the other day. Can’t even bring myself to write my usual amateurish post-game review. Life is sad.

Manchester United 1-0 Barcelona

Barca played magnificently up to the final whistle but United held their ground and went on to take that coveted spot in the Champions League final. The La Liga club were relentless on their attack and maintained impressive control of the ball throughout the match. Unfortunately, Zambrotta’s mistake early in the game proved to be too costly. That lone goal from Paul Scholes was enough for Man U to advance. 

The defensive wall of United was nothing short of awesome. For a team that’s more famous for its fierce attacks and the lightning speed runs of Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s refreshing to see Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown in full action once in a while. As for Barca, they’re lucky to have Lionel Messi on their ranks. The kid is sheer brilliance and can definitely give Kaka a run for his money.

Overall, it was a riveting game and a spectacular display of first-class football. Here’s to hoping tomorrow’s match will be just as much of football extraordinaire. And no more traumatic own goals. Please.

football weekend

The Birmingham-Liverpool match was a drag. Benitez of course saved his better players for the second leg of Champions League semifinal against Chelsea. I’m all for that. What seemed left on the pitch though were a bunch of disinterested players who couldn’t care less whether they win or lose. All the Reds could manage on the first half was a failed attempt from Peter Crouch to score a goal.

It didn’t help that Riise was also on the line up. Yeah yeah he made one (really idiotic) mistake (at a very crucial time in this entire season) and everyone makes mistakes and he should be given another chance blah blah blah but I’m still sore about that f’ed-up header so forgive me if I don’t want to see him playing too soon. Liverpool picked up in the second half, scoring two goals to get a draw, but by then I was more interested in the scab on my big toe than in their humdrum performance. And I couldn’t take any more of Voronin. It’s torture to watch him play.

Barcelona 0-0 Manchester United

Well, these semifinal match-ups are turning out to be a lot more interesting than expected. First off, an own goal from a Reds defender in the Liverpool-Chelsea game. Now comes a handball from Barcelona defender Gabriel Milito. What was he doing waving his arms around anyway? Did he somehow hope to scare off the United attack by doing a King Kong pose? Then Cristiano Ronaldo goes on to miss the penalty shot and Man U played defensive for most part of the game. Only goes to show that more than quality play, stupid blunders are way more entertaining. Keep them coming guys.

Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

Can you freakin’ believe it?! Riise delivers an own goal in the final minute of stoppage time, giving Chelsea an away goal advantage. Crap. Bad luck, not to mention a crucial moment of sheer stupidity, bites.

and more wrangling

“If George doesn’t sell – because I am not going to sell – I guess we stay in this position that we are in.” That’s Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks talking. Now isn’t that something we can all look forward to. In the latest installment of this ridiculous administrative civil war saga, it’s George Gillett who’s now hitting back.