It's Been A While

OK, so it has been just over 4 months since I last wrote a blog post. Here's a summary of what happened.

• After being out of work for month I got a job at a 3PL called Pro Star Logistics.
• I finished my yearly reading of Harry Potter.
  
• My new favorite currently running show "Once Upon a Time" premiered. (LOST is still my all time favorite show in case you were wondering)
  
• The 5th and Final Season of "Chuck" Premiered.
  
• We had a fun Halloween in which I dressed up as a member of The DHARMA Initiative, Alisa was a witch, Collin was a dinosaur coming out of an egg and Liam was a pea-pod.
• We had a fun Thanksgiving at Grandma Norberg's house and one at my in-law's house in Idaho.
• I began my yearly reading of The Lord of The Rings.
  
• We all celebrated Kari's return to her family.
• Season 19 of "The Amazing Race" concluded.
  
• The first season of "Terra Nova" concluded.
  
• Collin (or one of his little friends) threw something at my TV and cracked the screen causing an annoying black line that extends from the crack to the edge of the screen.
• We had a wonderful Christmas.
• 2011 ended.
  
• 2012 began.
  
• I began watching the 4th Season of "Merlin" via iTunes
  
• I lost my job at Pro Star and became unemployed again.
• "Alcatraz" premiered.
• Liam turned 1 year old.
  
• The 5th and Final Season of "Chuck" Concluded.
• Alisa and I started watching the show "Prison Break" on Netflix while up in Idaho and got ourselves hooked.
  
• I finished my yearly reading of The Lord of The Rings.
• Season 20 of "The Amazing Race" began.

So, that's about it. At the moment Alisa and I are waiting for the next few DVDs of "Prison Break" to arrive at the library but my main focus is job searching. Things are going pretty well. I have had several interviews and one coming up tomorrow and I'm actively networking. More posts soon.

FINALLY! Merlin Season 2

Well, iTunes finally got their act together and fixed the problem with Merlin Season 2. So, after a long wait I was eventually able to watch those last two episodes. And, it was totally worth the wait. This season was great and since I bought it I now have it forever. Or at least until this computer crashes.

This season had some great episodes. I especially liked the one where Merlin fell in love. Of course, she ended up dead but it was a still a very well done and touching episode. I also enjoyed the episodes with Uther being bewitched by and marrying a troll. The love triangle with Arthur, Lancelot and Gwen got more interesting this season. And, Uther's war on magic got more intense so I look forward to seeing how things go with that next season especially now that Morgana has disappeared and Mordred has a grudge against Merlin.

As great as the season as a whole was I really thought the finale was spectacular. The introduction of Merlin's father and the release of the dragon really makes me wonder what direction next season will take. I look forward to season three being made available next spring.

So, there you have it; the long awaited review. I hope that both of you found it satisfactory.

The Great Merlin Conundrum - Part II

So, I am sure that all of you have been wondering when you will have the pleasure or reading my review of the second season of Merlin. Well, as you may remember, NBC chose not to broadcast Merlin Season 2 and I don't have cable so I couldn't watch it on The Syfy Channel either. So, I ended up purchasing the season pass on iTunes. This was going along just peachy for a while until we have hit a snag. The season has 13 episodes and the first eleven came to me just fine. They became available for download the morning after they aired on Syfy and I would watch them on my computer the following evening. However, just as we are getting to the end iTunes has provided me with two copies of episode 11 while episode 12 is nowhere to be seen. On top of that, when I downloaded the final episode of the season it ended up actually being the season 1 finale mockingly masquerading as the season 2 finale. Needless to say, iTunes had me a little bit confused and annoyed. I mean, I paid for the full season so I really should get the full season. Anyway, I went to the comments section for Merlin Season 2 on iTunes and found that there were pages of comments from others who also were having the same problem. I wrote a message to iTunes in their feedback section so I'm hoping this will be resolved soon so I can see how the season will end.

The Great Merlin Conundrum

So, many of you will remember a few months ago I wrote a glowing post about the British show Merlin that aired on NBC over the summer. Ever since the first season finale aired there has been uncertainty regarding whether or not the show's second season would make the journey across the pond to us in America or not. NBC was less than happy with the ratings but many of us who became fans were hoping that it would come back. Well, a little while back the fate of this show was revealed. The good news is that the second season of Merlin (which has already aired in the UK) will indeed be returning to American TV beginning April 2nd. The bad news is, it will be airing on The SyFy Channel; not on NBC. That is a problem for me because no matter how much I adjust the antenna up on my roof, it will never pick up The SyFy channel. Now, I am not one to concede defeat easily. I have no intention whatsoever of not seeing the second season (or third for that matter) of this magnificent show. I have thought long and hard and I have determined that I have several options:

1. I can spend a ludicrous amount of money and get cable or satellite.
2. I can wait for several months until the show comes out on DVD and either buy it or try to check it out at the library.
3. I can try to find someone who gets The SyFy Channel and by employing my considerable charm and mad baking skills convince them to record the episodes for me.
4. I can look into buying the episodes on iTunes as they become available.

Of course, there may be other possible solutions to this sticky problem but, those are all the ones I can think of at the moment. If anyone has any bright ideas I will be happy to hear them.

Merlin – Jolly good show!

So, in an attempt to lift the caliber of summer TV, NBC decided to import a couple of foreign shows to add to their summer lineup. I had the pleasure of watching both of them. The Listener, a hit Canadian program from last year about a mind-reading paramedic, got pulled after only 8 episodes due to low ratings. I was sad about that but fortunately, the other show stayed. That other show was Merlin.
Merlin (which, not surprisingly, comes to us from the U.K.) follows the adventures of the teenaged, budding sorcerer Merlin as he comes to Camelot and becomes the servant of the than Prince Arthur. Merlin has the ability to perform magic but must keep it secret because Arthur’s father King Uther Pendragon has outlawed all magic and is ready to execute anyone who he thinks is practicing (or even capable of practicing) magic. I’m sure that there are many who are more familiar with the Arthurian legend than I am who are simply groaning when they see the amount of artistic license and the numerous anachronisms present in the show. Of course since most scholars agree that there was never a King Arthur in the first place it doesn’t really matter that much. I mean, since it is pure fiction why not have a bunch of Polynesians living in 6th century Britain? Anyway, I loved this show. It was fun, imaginative and significantly more family friendly than the majority of my TV shows. In fact, my wife actually enjoyed watching an episode with me every once in a while. I really enjoyed the interaction between Arthur and Merlin. In a lot of ways it reminds me of me and my little brother Shane when we were younger. Just like Arthur and Merlin we both liked each other very much but neither of us were willing to admit it.
So, since the season finale a few days ago I have been keeping an eye out for information about whether NBC is planning to bring it back next summer. If they don’t they can expect a sternly worded e-mail from me.