Alrighty then. Time for the latest up the minute info on Bitscape's life. An exclusive report! Yadda yadda yadda.

So, anyway, after the last rambling, I read a little, ate a little, emailed a little, surfed a little. Then, on a random whim (rolling of eyes), I ran out and rented American Pie. Yeah yeah, MPAA boycott and all, but a guy has to watch a movie once in a while. I had heard this was a really funny one, and I was bored, so...

When I say "ran", I mean that literally. I had calculated that if I made decent time, I could run to Blockbuster, rent the movie, arrive back home, and watch it before tonight's Xena episode. I knew I couldn't miss tonight's episode. Missing one all new episode last week was certainly a sin. Missing two new ones in a row would be an act of pure heresy.

Upon arriving at Blockbuster, I thought I was in a different store. I mean, I know I haven't been there in a while, but this was insane! The ENTIRE layout, the look, the placement of the entrance/exit doors, the video shelves... EVERYTHING was different! There was certainly more shelf space to hold videos, since the racks now extend far above eye level. And you know those tv's they have. There were a hell of a lot more of them scattered throughout the store. And they were playing actual music videos instead of that crappy advertising they always had before. It was insane!

I guess Showtime is giving them real competition. See, I wouldn't have known, because on the rare occassions when I have gone out to rent videos in the last few months, I've gone to Showtime even though it's farther away, because it was cheaper, better selection, more in stock, etc etc etc. And now I come back to Blockbuster on one occassion, and wouldn't even recognize the damn place if I didn't know otherwise.

So initially, I had trouble finding the movie I was looking for, because everything had been moved around so much. But, it didn't take too much wandering around before I stumbled upon an entire wall of American Pie's, and I quickly proceeded to rent it. Not due back until Thursday. Another change.

I returned home in an efficient manner, and proceeded to roll the movie. Because it's ineligible for a movielog entry due to the pan-and-scan-ed-ness of the medium, I'll just ramble my thoughts about it here:

Well, it had some good laughs, but wasn't as funny as I would have hoped. A far cry from, say, "There's Something About Mary". Of course, comparing it to what is possibly the funniest movie to come out in the last decade might not be quite fair. (Although it did have in common a whole slew of metaphoric phrases to describe a certain blindness-inducing action. "Stroking the one-eyed snake." lol. I hadn't heard that one before.)

So anyway, I laughed, but there was nothing that had be on the floor splitting my gut. I would also say that this might be the type of movie that would be funnier if watched with a large group. Certain types of humor just work that way. I don't know for certain, but I have a suspicion that this review would be much more positive if I had seen the movie with a group of people.

Not all humor is like that. For example, a typical episode of Ally McBeal, I can watch alone and get absolutely hysterical over. Funny how that works. Anyhow...

Watching it was almost enough to make me want to do a lengthy follow up to last fall's rambling in which I went off on a tangent inspired by one infamous Slashdot article by Roblimo. (I've been thinking about doing one anyway, and now I know I'm going to have to sometime soon.) That may or may not be tonight though. I'd kind of like to, but it's getting late for my sleep-disordered brain, and I still have a Xena episode to cover.

Well, as luck would have it (and as I planned it), just after the end credits went up, it was nearly time for the Warrior Princess to take the stage. Oh goodie!

Ok, this episode left me happy. In recent months, I've been having some serious doubts. In fact, by the end of February, I was pretty much convinced the whole thing was going down the toilet. Perhaps it's not so.

Tonight's episode, "Kindred Spirits", was the great hour of entertainment that I had once come to expect every week from the show. This was one made specifically for the Joxer haters in the audience. (Which I haven't always been, but the writers have made him so annoying in recent episodes, that I don't see how anyone could still like the guy.)

Conspiracy theory #1533: Perhaps TPTB intentionally made him so awful in recent months as a setup for tonight's episode. They thought, "Let's make the audience really, really mad at this guy, and then satiate their bloodlust for the idiot by landing him in a village full of angry Amazons." I mean, how else can you explain the whole drift toward bringing Gab and Joxer together? 'Cause everyone knows Xena is Gabrielle's one and only. :)

Well, whatever the case may be with TPTB, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Yeah, Joxer gets caught being a peeping Tom in the wrong place at the wrong time, and before he knows what's going on, the Amazons have him all shackled up. As luck has it, the "pervert" must be judged and sentenced according to Amazon tradition by Queen Gabrielle.

OKAY. lol. Maybe it's just the strange week I've had, but I found the entire proceeding absolutely HILARIOUS. And for once, neither Xena nor Gabrielle started acting like a couple of wussies, as had been the case in some episodes earlier this season which involved Joxer. (And actually, I think that might have been the root of the Joxer problem all along. The annoyance wasn't with his character per se, but the way anyone around him (especially Gabrielle) seemed to catch the idiot disease whenever he was present.)

Well, this time, they spared him no mercy. lol. Amazon tradition dictated that one of his eyes be put out. (Xena's reaction to Gabrielle's comment about how Joxer was going to be blinded. "Oh, Gabrielle, that's just a myth. They don't really go blind from that." rotfl. See parenthetical commentary a few paragraphs above.)

Ok, I'll admit: That forth act wrestling parody was... way over the top. I could see some fans not liking it, seeing it as going out of character (and no, I actually haven't been on netforum tonight to see others' reactions. I'm just guessing about what the usual response from some would be). It worked for me. I laughed. It was unique. It was out there. If the creators of this show didn't have the courage to go "out there" sometimes, it would be no better than the other run of the mill crap that regularly spews from the television.

Well, anyway, a very good episode. Top notch performances from LL and ROC, and Ted Raimi wasn't half bad either. Most importantly: The writing, which for a while seemed so hopelessly stupid, for lack of a better word, is now, IMO, back on track. Makes me wish I hadn't missed last week. Also, this episode was a nice blend of comedy and drama. In this review, I've mostly just talked about the comedy parts, but there was drama which was most appreciated. Ok, it was 80% comedy, 20% drama, but they were very nicely blended, and the parts that really were dramatic counted. Loved those scenes at the end.

So, I am happy to say that I can again proudly state what I have said in the past: I watched an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, the best show on television.

Now, looking at the clock, I'm pondering whether to come back after I restart Netscape to free my swap, and ramble another rambling that needs to be rambled, sooner or later. Right now, my hunch is that I will. Sleep be damned. But first, maybe a bite to eat, and another sip of leftover Mountain Dew. :)