Homeland

Brilliant game. (Photo by Eddie Shannon) Thanks to a snowstorm Katie, Min, Lee, and I got to play some Left 4 Dead. I’d forgotten how sharp that game’s design was! Movies Nein. TV The Amazing Race - I was spot on with my predictions last week. Super fun episode and, surprisingly, Tim and Marie ended up my favorite racers by the end. The Daily Show - Watched a few eps here and there, but the white/black Santa bit was…HILARIOUS. Definitely watch the opening 10 mins or so of the Evangeline Lilly episode. So hilarious. ...

Weird to see Benedict Cumberbatch with a Southern accent (Photo courtesy touchedmuch) It’s been a surprisingly movie-filled week! I don’t usually talk about the sporting events I watched here, but that was a hell of a Ravens game yesterday, wasn’t it! Movies 12 Years a Slave - What an intense movie. Extremely well-acted and a brilliant counterpoint to Django Unchained. Where Django took revenge for slavery, 12 Years a Slave makes it a hell of a lot more personal and is that much better for it. The flick is tough to watch sometimes, but it’s the best movie I’ve seen this year (so far). ...

Hashtag Stay Hungry Remember that charity thing a million years ago? Here’s the picture we took with Adam Jones. Pretty cool. Movies 30 for 30: The Band That Wouldn’t Die - I don’t remember if I classified the last 30 for 30 I watched as a movie or not, but for the sake of filling out this section, why not, right? As for the documentary itself, what a neat portrait of football in MD. I would never have realized the depths to which the city loved that old team and how heartbroken they were. Made me really excited to see the band at that Ravens/Jets game I went to. ...

Clever ad copy for one of the best shows this season. (Photo by Katya Yakubov) It’s been another awesome week! I got to meet Adam Jones at a tailgate and watch the Ravens win along with…all the stuff below! Movies None this week! TV The Amazing Race - Katie and I shotgunned the entire tenth season because it had a leg that passed through Madagascar. I think she’s really starting to get into the show, which is great because it’s loads of fun to watch. I’m also working on the fifth season on my own and watching the current season. I’m really liking Nicole and Travis to win the race… ...

I really dig the entire ensemble in this show. Lots of talent. (Photo courtesy michelarouca) A nice, relaxing weekend led to plenty of tv getting consumed and a great new show find. Movies Argo - Katie, Min, and I were looking for something action-y, but not too brainy and this is what we (brilliantly) settled on. The flick still holds up after a year, but I found the embassy storming less traumatic the second time (and also separated from Benghazi and watching the movie with people instead of solo) ...

Just adding to my ‘pictures in front of ballparks with Katie’ collection. Man have I been busy! So much has conspired to keep me from getting this out until now between going to Boston and the government shutdown and all kinds of craziness, but no excuses now! We should be back to our regularly scheduled programming from here on out. ...

It’s my first time experiencing a Shakespearian comedy (Picture courtesy Pinay New Yorker) Sure, it’s not like watching live theater for real or anything, but this was my first tie experiencing one of Shakespeare’s comedies (not counting liberal adaptations like 10 Things I Hate About You) and I absolutely loved it. More below. Movies This is the End - I wish I could say that I had more fun watching this movie, but it just wasn’t all that funny. Then there’s the fact that I’ll be forever embarrassed by jumping and shouting “AH!” during a jump scare. ...

The cast of Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (Picture courtesy: SegmentNext) I finished 999 last week and I thought, “Should I wait a bit before picking up Zero Escape?” Then I ordered it and got it on Friday. Man, I’ve spent something like 10 hours on it already. I’m loving all the new thought experiments, the prisoner’s dilemma, and the quantum aspects of the story ...

Lincoln Memorial Four score and seven seconds ago I started trying to come up with a clever line to write here. As you can see, I failed. Movies Lincoln - I’ve talked to lots of people about this movie and it’s one I feel better about recommending the more I think about it. Sure, Lincoln himself may or may not have been as epic a figure as the movie makes him out to be (dude is like a god in this picture), but the political intrigue and heist-like nature of the vote makes for good cinema. Now if only it didn’t feel quite so awkward to have all these great white men saving black men… ...

Nintendo World Bag Guys, I got a Wii U in NY this weekend. I know what you’re thinking, stupid gimmick system, right? Maybe, but I don’t feel like it is yet. I’m having tons of fun with it so far, just gotta sink more time into the multiplayer with friends this weekend. Movies Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva - Not gonna win any awards, but it was inoffensive and funny in some pretty ridiculous ways. Min and I had fun watching it. ...