TV We're Not Watching: Being Erica

Here's the first installment of an irregular and probably obtuse series on shows that we're not watching, usually because they're not airing in the US, didn't get released on DVD or streaming services, or just got up and cancelled. First up, I reveal my feminine side by giving "Being Erica" its due.

(This article originally appeared on my old Xanga blog. I think. I'm too lazy to check. I'm also too lazy to write new articles, so I'm shamelessly regurgitating something I found in my old files. Welcome to blogging.)

I'm about three sober years into my recovery from soap opera addiction. It hasn't been easy staying on the wagon. Having good friends helps, but temptation is everywhere, from plot speculations buzzing about the blogosphere, to that Mecca of soapy operatic perdition, SoapNet.

Best. Picture. Ever.

Frankenstein's Monster playing a theremin. Your argument is invalid.

Paul's Unusable Guide to Politics: Sequestration

Welcome to the first edition of The Unusable Guide to Politics!

Through this series, you will gain no insight and walk away with little or no understanding of public policy. Today's topic is currently writ large across the lower thirds of the 24-hour news world: sequestration.

You've probably heard the time bandied about incessantly over the last few days, and may have wondered, just what is sequestration? At last, the truth can be revealed.

Sequestration is the result of the frustration that fans of the classic NBC submarine show seaQuest DSV experienced when their favorite program was various re-engineered, re-tooled, re-jiggered, and eventually cancelled in a startling display of network interference and overall TV weirdness that left viewers confused, angry, and willing to accept massive gaps in the show's timeline in exchange for the impossibly cool Michael Ironside being cast as the new captain in season 3 because of his uncanny ability to believably deliver lines like this with conviction. Eventually, the terms seaQuest and frustration combined to form our modern word sequestration.

Feeling seaQuest-trated? Check out the opening credits from the first year, and dream of better days.