License to Pawn

In the absence of summer scripted television I've begun watching a lot of strange reality-type shows on History, TLC, A&E and the likes. Including Pawn Stars, which, according to commercials, is the most watched reality show on cable. Or something like that.

I want to be his friend.

I love that show. I love all the weird facts, the strange people, the crushing disappointment in finding out your super-rare-it-was-$20,000-on-eBay item is a total and complete fake. Amazing.

And now there is a book!

License to Pawn is part memoir, part behind the scenes, part weird facts and stories. Most of the book is told from Rick's perspective, though the other three stars of the show are each given a chapter apiece. Because of that, there is some repetitive and duplicated information. It's not anything masterfully written, and the book goes off on a bunch of tangents (but I can't really blame them for that), but overall I really enjoyed it.

It was interesting getting some background on the people you see on TV; who they are, how they got into the business. (And how they seem to know so darned much)

If you're looking for a quick, but thoroughly entertaining read (I honestly don't think I've read a book that fast since I powered the Hunger Games trilogy in a weekend) pick this up.

And hey.. now I know even more useless information!

Game of Thrones Season 1

Well HBO's Game of Thrones ended last night in spectacular fashion. As a huge fan of the books I was incredibly pleased by the television adaptation. The casting (in most cases) was spot on, the scenes were faithfully adapted and interpretative, and it really captured the "anything goes/shit is gonna go down" essence of the books.

NOW. If you haven't read all of the books, please do not continue reading my completely unorganized bullet points. I assure you that I will be spoilering the crap out of things. You've been warned.

Comic-Con 2011

Comic-Con 2011: HBO Announces GAME OF THRONES and TRUE BLOOD Panels

I'll make it to Comic Con one of these days. And I'd kill to go to either of those panels.

I'm a massive fan of Game of Thrones, and the entire Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. (And in a few weeks I guarantee there will be lots of rambling about Dance with Dragons).

And True Blood ain't too bad either. Believe me, I'm not really a Vampire person, but I'm getting insanely pumped for the new season, especially since summer has a bit of a television drought.

I think I'll need to mark a date on my calendar sometime around mid-December. Buy Comic Con tickets. They always sell out so quickly.

101 Gadgets That Changed the World

This past Wednesday, History aired a two hour special titled 101 Gadgets That Changed the World. This list, first compiled by Popular Mechanics magazine, includes hundreds of years worth of items that have changed the way we live.

Many objects relate to a similar format or type, like media devices. Cassette tapes, DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs, Floppy Discs, and Flash Drives all made the list in various locations. Similarly, phonographs, radios, transistor radios, Walkmans, and MP3 players are all in there as well. And that is all great and good; different formats are innovative and world changing for a myriad of reasons. The jump from a 3.5" diskette to a CD-ROM was a huge one that had gigantic implications for the way we store and exchange data. And likewise the jump to Flash Drives led to the dawn of even greater abilities to store, move, and retrieve.. sometimes even for nefarious purposes ala Stuxnet.

But... like any massive countdown list I have some issues with a few of their choices. A tagline of the program is that these are technologies that we can't imagine living without. Yet the light bulb, and invention that literally changed the way we work and live, was only #10. The dry cell battery, an object that powers more devices than I can even fathom to count? #11. Or what about the hypodermic needle? A medical gadget that is repoinsible for saving millions of lives? #4.

And what, pray tell, could possibly be more important than those three things?

A smart phone. Really.

Now, their rationale is that this gadget combines at least 12 other gadgets, including the MP3 player, alarm clock, GPS navigator, and television. Maybe my entire perception of this list is completely off, but if every smartphone on the planet magically evaporated, we'd still have all of those individual gadgets. Yes, it would be more inconvenient to have separate alarm clocks and MP3 players... oh wait. Most people do anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I adore my HTC Evo, I use it constantly. But if I had to chose between no phone, or having no light bulbs, batteries, or hypodermic needles, it wouldn't even be a question. The smartphone has definitely been a life altering device, but to me it's certainly not the greatest or most important gadget ever made.

But no one ever 100% agrees with these lists anyway. Like "Welcome to the Jungle" as VH1s greatest hard rock song of all time? Pssh.

Anyway, it appears that History will be replaying the special this Saturday (June 18th). Check out their show site at http://www.history.com/shows/101-gadgets-that-changed-the-world, or Popular Mechanics page at http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/reviews/101-gadgets-that-changed-the-world#fbIndex1