I <3 hit counters

Top 4 Reasons I Came Back to the original VCH:

-I missed my hit counter and comments- it felt like I was writing in a black hole.

-I missed the mood and music at the top.

-The publishing button at blogger sometimes takes a long time.  I thought a few times I had lost some entries.

-Sentimentality.  I started here.  I put a lot of good stuff here and I just couldn't get attached to anything new.

MUSIC

Since my private journalistic thoughts have jumped all over the place in recent weeks, I think I should refresh everyone's memory on what have been my favorite songs of the year.  Scroll down if you don't care.  :-P

50. Helicopter- Bloc Party

49. Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt- We Are Scientists

48. One of is Gonna Die Young- The Ark

47. Thinking About You- Ivy

46. Love Steals Us From Loneliness- Idlewild

45. I Turn My Camera On- Spoon

44. You Can't Steal My Love- Mando Diao

43. Twin Cinema- The New Pornographers

42. Empty Room- Marjorie Fair

41. Fortress- Pinback

40. Fistful of Love- Antony and the Johnsons

39. Catch My Disease- Ben Lee

38. Silver Sparkler- The Jim Yoshii Pile-up

37. We Both Go Down Together- The Decemberists

36. Apply Some Pressure- Maximo Park

35. Hey Now Now- The Cloud Room

34. Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes!)- Beck

33. Goodnight Goodnight- Hot Hot Heat

32. An Honest Mistake- The Bravery

And today we add #31: Sugar, We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy.  I don't have much to say about this one.  I liked it a lot better when it first came out and was only on the alternative stations.  This band sold out faster than a sale item on Black Friday.  The pop machine gobbled them right up and all of a sudden I'm hearing them on Sirius' "Pulse" channel- a self-proclaimed channel for soccer moms.  Call me an indie snob, but that just infuriates me.  Enjoy your mansions, Fall Out Boy.  I hope Matt Groening sues you.

Television

 -We watched the finale of Prison Break yesterday and I have to say I was a little disappointed with where it ended.  I have a feeling that's because that episode was not meant to be the start of a 4 month cliff hanger.  They had clips of what was coming up!  If the episodes are made, why hold them until March?  You've effectively canceled AD and Kitchen Confidential, so why not just keep PB on when 24 comes back?  Are they going to be doing the special encore thing every week for 24 too?  (By the way, when does a rerun stop being a "special encore"- they showed almost every episode of PB twice.  Doesn't seem too special to me!)

- I haven't watched the last two episodes of Desperate Housewives yet, and what's worse is, I don't really care that much.  That show is just flailing.  Someone needs to whack it with an oar.

- On the other hand, Grey's Anatomy just keeps getting better.  A tad predictable in spots, but that can be forgiven because the characters just keep getting better and better.  The last episode was one of the funniest yet.  If this show can keep blending humor with heart and drama, then it should be around for a while.

- This is the first time in a while that I haven't been completely hyped up for LOST tonight.  I still love the show, but I'm just not anticipating Kate's story as much as I was the "other 48 days" or the meeting of the two survivor groups.

Wrestling 

If there was a silver lining in My Name is Earl and The Office not being on last night, and it's a small one, it's that I was able to record the WWE special on the DVR.  There was only one glaring problem I had with it and that was The Big Show.  On Monday night, he was positioned to be the next great hero- the man to finally put an end to Triple H's bullying.  And then 24 hours later, he is shown as a big bully himself, deliberately trying to hurt a 175 lb man who had dedicated the night to his recently deceased best friend, Eddie Guerrero.  So which is it, WWE?  Are we supposed to love Big Show or hate him?  Are we supposed to like him on Raw and hate him on Smackdown because he is a so-called "invader"?  Does anyone in WWE think that there are actually fans who have such a brand preference that they only watch one or the other.  Look WWE.  There are no Smackdown fans.  There are no Raw fans.  There are only WWE fans.  As interesting as the feud between the two shows has been- no fan is taking real sides as if it's a real promotional war.  We root for the wrestlers we like- and how are we supposed to do that if a guy is playing two different characters on consecutive nights?