30 Rock:  A refreshing comedy that mixes the best of tight writing, smart comedy, and the best character in television, Jack Donaghy.  This is probably the show that we most look forward to each week.  This season seems to be much tighter and improved over last season.  One of the best episodes so far is “Reaganing.”  If you haven’t seen an episode of 30 Rock, we cannot recommend it enough.  9.5/10.

Community:  Another NBC hit that, quite frankly, has been on a roll this season.  From the KFC donated space similator, Drew Carey with a hole in his hand, and a spectacular Halloween episode, Community is a rare miss this season.  For a primer, checkout last season’s “Modern Warfare,” and really, this season’s Halloween episode (“Epidemiology”) was one of the funniest bits of TV this season.  9/10.

The Office:  Obviously an NBC stable, it has slowly been on the decline since seasons 2-3.  This year seems much improved over the last couple of seasons, but still, not as good as it has been.  6.5/10.

Modern Family:  Another tightly written comedy involving an extended family in Southern California.  “Chirp” and “Strangers on a Treadmill,” both currently on Hulu, provide great insight into the zaniness of this family.  9/10.

Psych:  One of USA network’s primetime “dramadies,” I started Sandi on this one kicking and screaming, but it has settled in as one of our favorite shows.  It follows fake psychic Shawn Spencer and his best friend, Gus,  as they work for the Santa Barbara police department as psychic detectives.  The cases are usually funny, witty, and always watchable.  The show does have a serious side and has shown it brilliantly in at least two episodes: the third season finale “An Evening with Mr. Yang,” and the fourth season finale “Mr. Yin Presents.”   While it is still a TV show, those two episodes are very suspenseful, and are among my favorites in the series (Sandi would likely disagree.)  Psych airs on USA, starting again, Nov. 10.    9/10.

White Collar:  Another USA show that fits the bill under their tag line of “Characters Welcome.”  This show follows an former con man now working as a consultant for the FBI.  Not as funny as, Psych, but it features interesting, likable characters.  Unfortunately, its not back on the air until the end of January.  But check it out when you get the chance.  8/10.

There are a few others that are worth mentioning that we both enjoy, including, Running Wilde (still finding its legs, but still more funny than most things on TV.  Check out the episode with Andy Ritcher); Covert Affairs (another USA show that follows a new recruit at the CIA; mostly good, but the leading girl can be a little annoying); and NFL Football (seriously, it is awesome to have access to normal television and watch some of America’s greatest sport).

I personally have another of show that I like that Sandi isn’t all that crazy about.

Fringe:  Awesome.  Seriously awesome.  It is a little off, but it follows the “Fringe Division” of the FBI that investigates paranormal activity.  There is more going on than meets the eye, but it is fascinating science fiction and television.  And this season in particular has been off the charts, with the right combination of craziness, kick you in the pants awesomeness, and I-can’t-believe that just happenedness.  I don’t want to tell you too much and give it all away, but I’m just going to say this: it is about parallel universes.  How cool is that?  Watch it on Fox or catch up on Hulu.  9/10.

Also, if you find yourself looking on Hulu for something to watch, check out “Kings.”  It is a modernish retelling of story of David from the Old Testament, but much more interesting than Sunday School.  8/10.

Anything we’re missing out on?  Let us know!

Hotlips Raspberry Soda

Wow.  This soda, made by a Portland, Oregon based pizzeria, tastes exactly like eating  freshly picked raspberries; in fact, there is a little bit of crushed raspberry in the bottom of the bottle.  Mike: 8/10.   Sandi: 8/10.  (Also, they apparently have all of their sodas on tap…and they occasionally have huckleberry soda, which must be like the nectar of the gods.  Just my opinion, however.)

Bubble Up

Bubble Up is a lemon lime flavor soda made with both lemon and lime oils.  It is bubbly, and the aftertaste is slight, but I think that many years of Sprite drinking have changed any expectations for a lemon lime flavor.  The flavor is less strong than Sprite, but it is still light and delicious.  Mike 6.5/10.  Sandi:  6.5/10.

Nesbitt’s Orange Soda

Nesbitt’s of California Orange.  The orange flavor is strong, but not overbearing.  After drinking (and loving) orange cream, it is a shock to remember what real (straight up) orange soda tastes like.  And it was pretty good.  Better than Fanta Orange or Sunkist?  Probably, but mostly because the taste is a little fuller.  Mike: 7.25/10.  Sandi:  7/10.

Double Cola

Double Cola is exactly what the name sounds like: a cola flavored soda with twice the amount of cola flavor.  It definitely has punch and a rich flavor that is different from most other colas (even though it is a cola).  Tastes good, but Pepsi Throwback is still my cola of choice.  Mike: 7/10.  Sandi: 7.5/10.

Sweet Blossom Rose Soda

Almost as bad as it sounds, but surprisingly sweet and not too overpowering.   But I wouldn’t buy it again.  Mike:  4.5/10.  Sandi: 6.5/10.

Jeff’s Chocolate Cream Soda.

Again, another weird one, but not as bad as it sounds.  It was weird to taste a creamy chocolate with carbonation, especially after many years of drinking chocolate milk.  It was good, but again, I don’t know if I would buy it again.  Mike: 6/10.  Sandi: 6.8/10.

Sprecher Root Beer

Rated the best root beer by the New York Times, this root beer is interestingly lacking in the root beer flavor, but is very smooth and “fire brewed,” whatever that means.  Rich taste, but not exactly what I think of when I think of root beer.  Mike: 7.5/10.  Sandi:  8.5/10.

XXX Root Beer

More root beery than the Sprecher, with a bolder taste.  If looking for a strong root beer for a drink or a float, this would be a good choice  (though not reviewed here, Virgil’s Root Beer is another great choice.)  Mike: 7.5/10.  Sandi: 5.5/10.

Virgil’s Black Cherry Cream Soda

Strong black cherry Flavor.  I liked it better than Henry Weinhard’s Black Cherry (sacrilege for some of Sandi’s family).  It has a rich, creamy flavor, that was smooth and delicious.  Mike: 7.5/10.  Sandi:  5.5/10.

Goya Coconut

Misleading flavor name.  There really wasn’t much coconut flavor and it was disappointing overall.  Sandi disagrees with my characterization, but she still liked it.  Mike: 3/10.  Sandi:  7/10.

(Not Purchased at Galco’s but that we have also tried)

Heritage Dr Pepper

With Dr Pepper’s 125th anniversary, it, like Pepsi and Mt. Dew before, decided to revert to the “original” recipe made with real sugar.  It was only available in limited locations, but didn’t have the same punch as regular Dr Pepper.  It was still delicious, however.  Mike: 7.5/10.  Sandi: 8/10.

Virgil’s Cream Soda

Powerful vanilla flavor.  Almost overpowering.  Still, very good and good for the cream soda lover.  Mike: 7/10.  Sandi: 9/10.

That is our soda round up, for now.  We’ll keep you posted as we find more delicious liquid candy from all over the place.  And if you have anything you’d like us to try, either comment on this post, or email us at archreviews at gmail dot com.

(Yeah, I know this is a pathetically small picture)

Mike:  I found the flavor to be a little overbearing, to where it almost tasted like a cracker with Easy Cheese.  And I’ve had my fair share of those.  Along with that, I didn’t necessarily enjoy the flavor, making it not only not that tasty, but overbearingly not that tasty.  However, I imagine that it would be more satisfying in a dip or something that is more complimentary to the flavor than straight up.  5/10.

Sandi: I agree that the first time I tasted these they had a bit too much of a fake cheese flavor to them for my liking.  However as I continued to eat them (they weren’t inedible by any means) they did grow on me a bit.  6.3/10.

First up: “HELVETICA”

A whole documentary on a font?  Surely you jest!  Nope, that’s what it is, entirely devoted to the font Helvetica.  It was fascinating.  Sandi was going to go to sleep (and was leery in the first place) but she became intrigued and watched the whole thing with me.  It tracks the development of the font from the old typecasts up to today.  I’ve always been somewhat interested in fonts, and I don’t know why.  I have an attraction to serifed fonts, and a strong hatred for the crap that is Comic Sans.  The documentary traces how Helvetica shaped the modern world and the backlash against it.  In fact, since we’ve watched it, we have picked up on how ubiquitous Helvetica is and how we sometimes do not even notice it.  Mike: 7/10.  Sandi: 6/10.  Watch the trailer here.

Next: “KING CORN”

Almost as ubiquitous (am I using that word right?  And do I get bonus points for using it twice in one post?) as Helvetica is High Fructose Corn Syrup.  It is delicious (to some) and it just about everything Americans eat.  Rather than turn this into a rant about how the combination of corn subsidies and sugar tariffs make us fat, I’ll talk about this documentary.  It was filmed by two college aged friends from Boston, who, oddly enough, have great grandparents from the same small town in Iowa.  After discovering that most of what we eat comes from corn, they decide go back to their ancestral home and grow one acre of corn.  It follows their ups and downs, including trying to make their own high fructose corn syrup.  So, they discover, that most of the corn that is planted in Iowa and the rest of the Midwest is not fit for human consumption and rather it goes to livestock feed and high fructose corn syrup.  Hence, because what we eat is sweetened by corn, and what we eat EATS corn, we are therefore made of corn, but I think my Idahoan tendencies would show a good percentage of potato in my person, too.

It is an interesting premise, but I think this documentary could have been better.  The two documentarians seemed to long for the day of the family farm, where all the farms were small and owned by families rather than larger corporations.  One thing they overlook, however, is that without the consolidation of the smaller farms into larger ones, their grandfathers never would have been able to leave Iowa and they probably would not have been able to get their college degrees.  A marvel of technology is that we now grow a lot more food than we can eat, and since we aren’t getting by with subsistence farming any more, we can do other things other than working on the farm.

Anyways, it was kind of interesting, but I thought the guys came of a little “toolish.”  Good food for thought, but, not too much for my liking.  Mike: 5/10, Sandi: 3/10.  More info here.

Awesome.  That is really how I describe Pepsi Throwback, right down to the can.  No nasty aftertaste from the high fructose corn syrup, just delicious caramel colored water.  (Other than the power of the corn lobby giving us the crap that is high fructose corn syrup, there is also the power of the US sugar industry that ensures there are large tariffs on imported sugar.  Hooray for rent seeking!).  Anyways, I usually only drink pop on special occasions, or when I need a little caffeine during finals, but I could probably drink this everyday.  Highly recommended, but for a limited time only!  Mike 9/10.  Sandi 7/10.  (She doesn’t think it tastes that different, she likes Coke better, and actually likes high fructose corn syrup, bleh!).

As a bonus, here is a video about a store in LA.  In the words of Liz Lemon:  I want to go to there.

The second show that I watched a couple episode of was “Andy Barker, P.I.”  This show stars Andy Richter of Conan O’Brien fame as mild mannered CPA Andy Barker.  He starts his own practice and finds himself not only with little to do, but that his office was formerly occupied by a private investigator.  His accomplices in crime investigation include Tony Hale, who manages a video store in the same strip mall, an Middle Eastern immigrant who runs a restaurant and tries to be too American, and the old PI.  It sets up for some funny situations, and to be honest, I think Andy Richter is hilarious, with great comedic timing.  Unfortunately, there are only 6 episodes, but I have enjoyed the 3 that I have watched.  8.5/10

I better get back to studying.

Once in a while, there is a movie that is so transcendent in story, acting, and cinematography, that it stands alone as a piece of art.  “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” was not such a movie.  Not that we expected that going in; no, far from it.  We knew we were getting ourselves into a CGI-addled mess with lots of explosions, fighting, and gratuitous shots of good looking people in explosions and fighting.  All in all, it is the kind of movie that the Redbox goer like us isn’t afraid to rent because you are only out $1.06.

The movie starts, oddly enough, in the 1600s with some dude getting a metal mask welded on his head because he sold arms to both the French and the English in who knows what war.  It then breaks to the “near future” with the dude’s descendant being an arms dealer and selling a few “nanomyte” warheads to NATO.  The nanomytes are potent and can consume whatever you want them to, until you tell them to stop, and we learn later on, they can be used to control soldiers if you want.  Being a geek, this reminded me of the phrase “Resistance is futile,” but alas, the Borg never put their nanoprobes to the destruction of the Eiffel Tower.  Anyways, the bad dude is playing both sides of the fence, and sets up the NATO convoy, lead by All-American Hero Duke, to steal the warheads.  Duke and his Wayans Brother get ambushed by the bad dude’s forces, led by Duke’s former girlfriend.  Amazingly, Duke and Wayans Brother are able save the warheads, but only because they are bailed out by the vastly technological superior Joes.  And then Duke and Wayans Brother are asked to join the elite G.I. Joe Squadron, which is now composed of several nations.

And that sets us up for the rest of the movie, other than the reason that they needed to take their shirts off to lift weights in a 6 person gym, but that’s a question for another time.  (related spoiler: I just don’t understand how the bad dude has to use NATO’s money to build these warheads, when he is able to build himself an underwater lair beneath the polar icecap, with the accompanying submarines, etc.  Also, why after they steal the warheads do they need to be weaponized?  I just don’t understand.)  In the end, you find the answer to some questions, like why did Duke’s former girlfriend go all crazy, why do you don’t mess with Snake-eyes, and just how much CGI you can have in one movie.

Anyways, other than a few glaring plot holes, and CGI galore, it wasn’t really that bad of a flick.  Would I watch it again?  Most likely.  Do I want the imaginary accelerator suit?  Most definitely.  Would I pay more than $1.06?  Probably not.  5/10.  Watch the trailer!

Sandi’s comment: 6/10.  Thankfully not trashy (really little swearing).  Good family fun, or something like that.  (Sandi was in and out of her nap.)

1.  “Dirty, Sexy, Money.”  Despite the horribly cliched and tacky sounding name, this show follows one lawyer who is determined not to get mixed up with his father’s famous and only clients, the Darling family.  The Darlings are an insanely rich and dysfunctional family, living blissfully while spending gobs of money.  Nick George, the main character, vows to his wife that he won’t get mixed up with the Darlings when his father mysteriously dies.  That changes when the Darlings promise him a large sum of money for whatever charitable cause that Nick sees fit.  There are only 10 episodes on Hulu (my only source for TV is the internet) and they are all pretty good.  I found myself relating to Nick, but at the same time, he makes big mistakes and is less than perfect.  Needless to say, it follows Nick’s interactions with about every member of the family, who are utterly incapable of solving their own problems, despite the large bank account.  One of the Darlings, Brian, is quite honestly probably the most selfish and jerkiest characters I have ever seen in real life or on TV; and the best part is that he is a priest.  I don’t know if the second season will show up on Hulu or not, but what they have on there is worth watching.  7.5/10

2.  “The Deep End.”   I don’t even know where to begin with this one.  The premise is based on four new associates at a huge firm in LA.  They are supposed to be the cream of the crop, the best of the best, and they all have the degrees to back it up.  Unfortunately, as a law student, this show is utter crap and unrealistic.  First, one of the associates, Dylan Hewitt, is supposed to be the idealistic young lawyer who stands up for what is right.  That’s all well and good, but Dylan shows up ten days late.  Not only did this prestigious firm never call to confirm, they did no fire him, which to me seems like bad business.  Then he is give a pro bono case, or a case that a firm takes, even though the client can’t pay.  While he does “zealously” defend his client and her interests, he  does several incredible things that should open him and his firm up to a large malpractice suit.  1)  The other side in the case is on the board of several corporations that use his firm: that is a pretty clear conflict of interest; 2) as the clip will show, he outright ignores the partner who gave him the case; 3) why the hell is he doing research in that incredibly inefficient library?  And even if he was doing research with books (most lawyers don’t anymore), why does he only have one (1) book out? 4) He appears before the judge ex parte, or without the presence of the other side’s lawyers.  That should be enough to get the case thrown out.  And that’s just the problem with one story line and one associate.  Another major hole was that this first year associate was supposed to land a major client, to make up for the one he supposedly lost.  I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t trust someone fresh out of law school with that sort of task.

While I know that not everyone is in law school, or a lawyer for that matter, and that a show about four first year associates sitting in front of their computers doing research on WestLaw is not exciting, “The Deep End,” wasn’t that exciting, either.  It was just horrible TV. 2/10

“The Alchemist” is a compelling story of a Spanish shepherd who sacrifices everything to complete his personal legend.  A long the way he gains and loses all he has, on more than one occasion, meets Melchizedek, learns new languages and skills, and falls in love.  More than once he decides to stop and to forget about his ultimate goal, but in the end he persists.  It makes for compelling fiction while at the same time helps on re-evalute their own goals and ambitions.  Like I said, I would read it it again, though probably in English.  Solid 7.5/10.

The unabridged version is, for lack of a better word, LONG.  It is still engaging, but at times it lags.  (Which points, I can’t really say).  There is still the classic story of revenge and bad-assness, but you can get waded down quite easily.  It is still a sad tale of the unfortunate Edmond Dantes, wrongly accused and imprisoned on his wedding night, and is captive in the Chateau d’If for 13 years.

With the knowledge gained in prison, Edmond becomes very wealthy and anoints himself the Count of Monte Cristo.  He works his way into the social circles of those that betrayed him, opening a large can of whoop-ass in the process.  Seriously, Edmond Dantes is the Jason Bourne of the 19th Century, except with a title and loads of money.  In the end, Edmond revenges himself and goes off into the sunset.

It is really one of my favorite books of all time because Edmond is an awesome hero who kicks butt and takes names.  Also, a much more interesting read than The Three Musketeers, which I read last summer.  (Sandi gave me a 3-in-1 book which also includes The Man in the Iron Mask). Unabridged: 6/10  Abridged: 8/10.

If interested in purchasing, you shouldn’t have any problem finding a copy.  The abridged version is recommended, but the unabridged is still good.