tivu.

So many of my fellow students in my film classes use films as their points of reference. They are usually amazed by how many films I haven't seen, so amazed I've started to feel like I need to pad my DVD collection a little more and to Netflix all kinds of classic movies I end up not watching and sending back. I make myself feel better by saying I watch more than my share of TV. Sure, I have trouble naming Howard Hawks films but I can recite lines from just about every episode of The State, rank series finales (M*A*S*H and Mad About You float to the top ... seriously), and remember what two actors has shows that opened both the early-90s version of ABC's TGIF and its resurrection in the late-90s (The Olsen Twins with Full House and Two of a Kind).

It seems natural, then, that I would seek out some Italian television in order to help me with my listening and speaking of the foreign language. In my search I came across the FOXTV Italia site. Some highlights of programming available on FOX:

• Happy days
• Malcom (Malcolm in the Middle)
• Sabrina vita di strega (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)*
• Settimo Cielo (Seventh Heaven)**
• Streghe (Charmed)**
• Tru Calling
• Willy, il principe di Bel Air (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air)***

Apparently we're torturing the world with American refuse. I mean porting Tru Calling is just punishment. I think Eliza Dushku is hot but those pouty, shiny lips couldn't save that stinker. Sorry, Italy.

* Aired on ABC in United States.
** Aired on WB in United States.
*** Aired on NBC in United States.

out of the loop.

I am the only one I know that wasn't familiar with Jason Swinks. Katie and Jonathan know him from the bar scene, the Dog People know him through his adoption of a pup through them and I'm getting a ton of bulletins on MySpace about his funeral today at 2pm. He seemed like a nice enough guy, tons of people who cared about him. I guess he was just one of the in-town characters people loved and, since I stay inside all the time, I just don't know him? I blame Final Fantasy XII. Read up on a very popular, very missed young man: Obituary: Jason Swinks.

More in Mourning:
A Bad Weekend for Rednecks, Good Ole Boys, and Girls Raised In The South (GRITS)
Jason Swinks's MySpace profile
Memorial at Star Bar after the 2pm service.

underdog, live action. no, seriously.

During a marathon blog posting session a year and a half ago, I mentioned the rights for Underdog being picked up for a live-action picture. That's right: a live-action Underdog motion picture. Well, it'll be here in August.

In case you were wondering, yes, the dog speaks. Another stellar effort by the movie industry.

Il trailer di Underdog, il supercane! [Cineblog]
Underdog [IMDb]
Underdog Trailer [Apple Trailers]

nick campbell is (with parameters) number one!

Oh, how long I've waited for this. I've been on the internet for many years now but, with my relatively generic name, it's been somewhat difficult to make it to the top of a search engine list. Now, finally, I've done it.

Though my own webpage doesn't even come into the top ten, this blog comes in at number one, finally beating the "My Hero" Project by Nick Campbell of Juneau, Alaskam [sic]. Take THAT kid in a big baseball cap writing about his hero Martin Luther King, Jr!

Okay, so you have to type in «"Nick Campbell" Atlanta» to pull it up in Google but there it is. Here's a screenshot for you.

Screenshot of great Google search results. 1024x671, 120KB

It's one of the highest accolades for a person who spends most of his internet existence talking about himself.

for when your friends can't decide what they want.

Via Lifehacker I have found a solution for my problem of wanting to stuff my face with uncertainty of what I want to stuff it with.* Enter the Wheel of Food, a Wheel of Fortune type randomizer that selects restaurants based on ZIP code. Great for when you don't really feel like anything but you have nothing to eat at the house. And, if you're a gambler, great for randomly selecting a Valentine's Day restaurant (McDonald's is included after all).

I spun it and landed on Food Studio. If you insist, Wheel. If you insist.

* The man explaining the validity of "dangling preposition" is a linguistic professor. So suck it.

justice in the lust list.

At the risk of sounding jealous and petty, I have to express some serious disappointment in Creative Loafing's "Lust List". My displeasure with the list is nothing new. Almost every year I look at the "hottest" service professionals in Atlanta and think, "Wha?"

I'm starting my campaign here. Nick Campbell is in the service industry. Nick Campbell is moderately attractive (at least interesting-looking). Nick Campbell is at the very least a conversation piece. I'm a great candidate and my answers to the mundane questions would be better. I mean, best celebrity chef Rachel Ray? Why not just say Emeril? BAM!

So, for next year, do Atlanta a favor and think Nick Campbell when casting your vote for the Lust List. It's the right thing to do. I don't think Kenny will mind.

alla faccia tua!

My Italian class (which has become an exercise in how long an uncomfortable silence can last before the teacher or a knoweledgeable student intercedes) has taught me many things this semester but, possibly, one of the best is how to play the card game Scopa.

I was told this was a children's game, like how I used to play Go Fish or War ... but this is way more fun and, frankly, speaks to how much we believe American children are idiots. The first time I played Scopa I was surprised by how many ways you can score points (sadly, my only reference point of comparison is the time Joey and Chandler played Cups on Friends). But once you get all the relatively complex rules (complex compared to "you have any 7s? No? I'll go fish then.") it's pretty awesome. I've taught just about everyone I've hung out with in the past couple weeks how to play. And I have to tell you:

I am a master.

You should practice.

go slow.

I sat at Lindbergh Center Station, waiting on a southbound train when a soft-spoken man with a duffel bag approached me.

He: The board up there says next Lindbergh train in 11 minutes ... where's the Airport train?
Me: Sometimes the trains don't register on the board. The next Airport train could be here in two minutes or twenty minutes.
He: Oh.

He walked around for a while but I plugged my headphones back into my ears if for nothing else but to avoid any crazy ranting (he seemed the type). He waved me down again, however, and I removed my earbuds.

He: Do you happen to have sixty cents? I'm on my way down to Grady and was hoping I could stop into McDonald's for a cheeseburger.
Me: I think I have a quarter.

I pulled the wad of shelving pins from my back pocket, sifted past my house key and plucked the quarter from the mess. He was grateful and I awaited the usual "God bless you" response. Instead, he looked at me, thanked me and:

He: Don't go so fast. Go slow.

As the southbound train arrived and breezed by me, he reiterated his words, walking away backward. "Go slow. Go slow."

Me: I'll try.

What kind of portent have I been issued?

sympathy for the omnislash.

Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII

Lest some horrendous external event comes to rain disaster in late December, my Christmas is hardly ever ruined. My mom demands a Christmas list from me every year (even though now I'm far past the age where I should be making them) and my parents rarely go off book. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome my new ADIDAS shoes, my new soccer ball, numerous DVDs and, of course, my new video iPod. Cadbury also made out like a bandit with all kinds of chew toys, hay, treats and a slicker brush (which he tries to eat). My brother Josh, however, always has the most interesting Christmases of all.

You may notice the picture of Cloud Strife here (I know, this is yet another post making reference to a Final Fantasy game). The picture is there as a comparative tool. Josh has two unwavering interests: weaponry and video games. Josh's "poison" of choice (so to speak) is swords and he usually has some sort of ridiculous blade waiting for him beneath the great seasonal evergreen: one year he got a Braveheart replica sword and in another he received a naginata (the Japanese halberd featured in the poorly edited story I wrote, Christmas with Gouki). This year, his two loves were combined with the Buster Sword, the giant weapon Cloud has tipped on his shoulder. The replica has to be at least twenty or thirty pounds and four feet long (complete with materia slots). My parents got it off (where else?) Amazon. Without further ado, I give you motion picture of Josh holding a giant sword.

Josh carrying his Buster Sword replica, 320x240, 624KB (Quicktime)

nyc: don't block the box.

There's really too much to say about New York. I came out of Penn Station and was amazed. TV does not lie to you about the grandness of this city. Nothing I hate about Atlanta exists here: trains come every couple minutes, there are plenty of places to eat that aren't bars or $15/plate or chain restaurants, and you can walk to places. This city has an identity; Atlanta is trying to steal its own from others. This city functions; Atlanta is held together by paste and socially/environmentally-apathetic developers. This city is beautiful; Atlanta tries really hard.

But what would Katie love about this place? Sure, she would like the art, the scene, the not having to travel by car everywhere. But she would be in hysterics every couple of blocks on a major thoroughfare like 5th or 6th Ave. In each intersection is a painted area designating the boundaries of its interior: the box in which the two streets meet each other. Above each of these boxes is a sign that says, "Don't block the box - Fine + 2 points." She would have to be carried I think.

regali.

Cadbury demands you check out his wish list at Gifthat. He expects something from each and every one of you.

You can also check out my (lamer) Amazon wish list.

abrupt end of transmission -and- deleted scenes.

So I stopped writing about the production. I was boring myself with the entries and, since my blog is essentially just an opportunity for me to read my own composition, I just ended it. Also, the video didn't win due to various factors, not the least of which was that the purported "talent search" for a "credible show" was more of a "popularity contest" no matter how viable the talent was. I can't blame Yahoo! for choosing what was most popular; it's a good litmus test for how successful a show would be. It just turned out to be a different contest than I thought it was. Thanks to everyone that commented and voted.

There was plenty of good footage I couldn't include in the original version (Ian's been urging me to make a director's cut) so I thought I'd put up some deleted scenes.

This first one is the full version of the "Catch 22" segment. Sean did such a great job with this and, unfortunately, we had to cut it for time. But now his acting chops can be shown (complete with the original transition into the music video), his credit being given on a blog.

Catch 22/Count of Monte Cristo (full version), 320x240, 3.6MB

This next one is probably my favorite setup and joke of the entire shoot but I could never fit it in. For this video I also put some handy "in" and "not in" markers to let you know what made it in the final version and what didn't. From Ian's opening monologue:

Excerpt from Ian's Opening Monologue, 320x240, 2.9MB

Hopefully this isn't beating a dead horse but I think it's funny. I also think the three people that read this think so, too.

web of chaos: post-release diary, pt 3 (more pro-pro)

Vote for Ian here!

Ian's video is officially entered in the Yahoo! Talent Show. Vote for it and leave a comment! You have through December 1st to do it! I'm using a lot of exclamation points!

While searching for props especially for the breakdance scene, Ian got this hot from a shop in Little 5. I'm always a little confused on what kind of hat is what but I think it's a fedora. I downloaded some Sinatra the other day so I was feeling kind of Rat-Packy and decided to try it on. Nothing but compliments. Since then, it's been a regular part of my wardrobe. I wear it around the house. I wore it all during the shoot (making it difficult to wear the headphones which may explain some of the floopy audio). I couple it with my Diesel jacket and look pretty awesome. It just goes to show you I'll do pretty much anything for positive recognition.

The scene for which we bought the hat was coming pretty close to production but, at five-ish on Tuesday evening, I quickly realized the time crunch I was going to be to tape it all. Sonny the Breakdancer wasn't going to be off work until 7pm. I told everyone involved with Dad's Garage shoot we were starting at 9 (although, since Dad's fell through and I couldn't secure another theatre, we decided to recreate it at my house) and I didn't have the phone number of everyone involved to tell them we might be a little late.

Actually, I did have the phone number for everyone except one: Becca. Becca was a good sport to help us out, especially since she got shoved in the face and pushed down to the ground take after take. At rehearsal she was pushed down to the concrete so many times it was ridiculous and I kept saying, "Again!" even though there was no way I could use the footage. And now, here I was, knowing I was going to be late at 5:00pm and could do nothing about it except try to hurry.

In the two hours we had before Sonny got off work we had to watch a small bit of Dr Phil (Katie's unguilty pleasure) before heading off to the store to pick up some ingredients for a Monte Cristo (the sandwich you see ever so briefly in the video. Sonny got off work a little early and we headed to the hotel Ian secured for us for the Breakdancing segment. Then, after arriving at the wrong hotel, we found the right one and went there.

The breakdancing scene is like many others on the Yahoo! Talent Show but our concept was this: a dude would be breakdancing for a while before Ian would break in and taunt him. The dude would challenge him and then Ian, in Michael Jackson/Ali G style, would gain a leather jacket and hat (the hat) and continue with a dance off. The dancer would fall defeated and Ian would walk out.

The shoot took dang near forever, a little over two hours (a little time dedicated to picking up Josh Campbell to help out with sound). I also laughed just about the whole time and it's the only time I was on screen, to act a fool. So if you want to see me hopping around like a doofus ... well, all you really had to do was ask.

Becca called me at some point and I somehow said we'd be back there by 9 still. We didn't leave there until about twenty after. So Becca ended up having to go to Borders to wander around while my other friends (who know me better) knew I really meant 9:30, 10:00 with my 9:00 call time.

This is getting long and is very uninteresting I think. I'll cut it short.

[to be continued ...]

web of chaos: post-release diary, pt 2 (pro-pro)

Vote for Ian here!

Ian's video is officially entered in the Yahoo! Talent Show. Vote for it and leave a comment! You have through December 1st to do it! I'm using a lot of exclamation points!

I start off my mornings now checking the Talent Show site to see who made it into the "Our Faves" category and who has been featured in the intro video. All day I refresh Ian's profile to watch the total views on the video increment slowly (at last check he was at 242). "Spyder" might be a little more obsessed, taking to heart all comments, both negative and positive. "Why are people wasting their time trying to snipe our video?" he asks. "It's the freaking internet," I say. "It's what they do."

We may have been a little cocky when production started. After taking the necessary workshop I needed at school in order to check out equipment (a light kit and microphones), we convened back at my house where we started to prepare for the shoot starting later that day (Monday the 20th). Our plan was thus: get done with shooting Monday and Tuesday, edit Wednesday and Thursday, upload by Friday. That would give us the weekend for people to vote on it and still an extra week for it to be on the site.

That's when Dad's Garage fell through. I'm not sure what happened but Dana came back and essentially told me it wasn't going to happen since no one was there. So the people that were going to come over for the shoot instead came over for a rehearsal of the "Backstage" scene and I determined I would just find another location by the following night.

By not shooting those scenes at the theatre (almost half the entire content of the video), however, we had to condense all our production time to Tuesday. At the time, we didn't really sweat it. The length of the video had to come under ten minutes and most of the videos we were spoofing were no longer than thirty seconds. How long could these shoots take?

Oh, was I ever so young?

Filming began at 11am at the home of Sean Kiskel, who was to star in our version of the Catch 22 song, a little ditty about the stats one can find about the book Catch 22 on Amazon. The concept: Sean is trying to find the next hit Catch 22 song, stopping in frustration. Ian comes into the room, claiming the song to be old, tired and dead (by his hands). Ian then shows him "something new," leading into a short music video about The Count of Monte Cristo. That shoot went awesome. I got all kinds of coverage, I got to watch Sean fall down a lot and the stuff we shot for the music video was pretty killer. We finished a little behind on time but we still felt good.

Then we headed up to Alpharetta/Roswell for shoots at Rich's house and a local hotel. Rich's place was the site for our parody of Everybody Wants a Panda, featuring Trackside's favorite bartender, Jonathan. The point here was to interrupt Jonathan in his extolling of the non-bears with Ian's claims that he loves pandas more. Then Ian would dive into Brian's collection of stuffed pandas in nothing but a robe and sparkly boxers (that Katie picked out), rolling around and seductively singing the same song. I started running into audio problems here, mostly because I stopped directing and became a spectator. You can barely hear Ian for most of the later part of the segment, not to mention also the light changes for part of it. Stupid sun.

After that it was a wait until 7pm before our actor for the Breakdance scene was off work. Suddenly, I realized the crunch we were going to be in.

[to be continued ... ]

web of chaos: post-release diary, pt 1 (pre-pro)

Vote for Ian here!

Ian's video is officially entered in the Yahoo! Talent Show. Vote for it and leave a comment! You have through December 1st to do it! I'm using a lot of exclamation points!

In that realm of time that blurs Monday and Tuesday, I tried hard to stay awake. My body was still feeling the ill effects of waking up at 3:50am for work and I was dangerously close to being up for 24 hours. My eyes started to shut on their own, my breathing was heavily supplemented by yawning and my mind started a routine akin to turning off all the lights in a factory: one by one processes started to prepare for quitting time. This bedraggled feeling was well-known to me by now since it was my entire week. Care left me; I was left with no care. Finally, I clicked export and collapsed on my bed, knowing it would take my sweet computer at least and hour to render the nearly ten minute long video.

A little background: a few years ago Ian and I were involved in a contest put on by Bluetorch to choose a new host (in the midst of MTV's VJ contest). You had to rack up a ton of votes online first (viewers voted on contestants' worthiness based on profiles and informal interview), then survive an elimination round before producing your own video. The finalists then took their video with them to California where they lived in a house with other strangers who wanted to be on TV. After being filmed for a week doing all sorts of things (like a far less extreme version of Real World vs Road Rules) and then the producers made their final decision. Ian tested really well but never officially heard any word. Bluetorch filed for bankruptcy.

On the 14th or 16th (I can't really remember anymore) I came across a similar contest put on by Yahoo! -- they call it a Talent Show. I'll spare you of the particulars but people upload whacky videos in hopes the judges will deem them worthy of the grand prize: $50,000 and a show on Yahoo!.

So here we are, doing this all over again for another company (albeit an exponentially larger, more financially stable company) with a more streamlined approach. We're older and wiser (though, as I learned throughout the shoot, a little more grandiose). And with the quality of the videos online already, how can we lose?

After seeing the ad for the Yahoo! Talent Show (pathetically) on MySpace, Ian and I started to plan out the concept: the video would start with the ending of one of his shows, complete with credits, then move on to him being a jerk backstage, a monologue describing his qualities while taunting other contestants, and then finish up with several spoofs of some uploaded videos.

Just before I discovered the contest I saw my buddy Jamie. Just coming from a shoot himself he gave me a phrase in reference to how his friends knew the lingo and generally what to do but only from what they saw on TV and in the movies. It stuck with me throughout my own directorial effort: playing Cowboys and Indians.

I (thought I) planned vigorously. I drew storyboards and compiled prop, cast and locations lists. I pulled my friends to participate, which they did generously for zero dollars and a small bit of a lunch meat platter. I called Dana, who was in the midst of moving out, to see if I could use Dad's Garage as a location (to which Dana received positive replies) and Ian found our other locations. Things were going swimmingly.

I remember reading the script/production diary for π and wondering why Darren Aronofsky said he was having such a hard time with making a movie, dealing with feelings of physical pain brought on by the stress of the production. I didn't wrap my head around the idea and, even as recently as two weeks ago, I still held that stance. Soon, at least on a smaller level, I would completely understand.

[to be continued ... ]

rent the space under nick.

It behooves Dana to get out of Unit N as soon as possible so we will have her room to rent out very soon. If you need a place to sleep, here are some details:

• 3 bed/2 bath converted loft
• Huge general living area
• Nestled in the party capital of Atlanta: the Virginia Cotton Docks
• Located less than half a block from the corner of Highland and Sampson near plenty of restaurants ...
  • Johnny's Pizza
  • Roman Lily Cafe (for now)
  • Highland Bakery
  • Zuma
  • P'Cheen (Creative Loafing's pick for Best Neighborhood Bar
• Live with two handsome devils: Nick and Garrett
• Located in the Old Fourth Ward
• Within walking distance from Inman Park, Cabbagetown, Sweet Auburn
• Within Nick walking distance of: Poncey-Highlands, Midtown, Downtown, Little 5 Points, Candler Park, the Edgewood shopping district and the Virginia-Highlands.
• $450/month + utilities

We are hoping to find someone we know a little bit first but are open to anyone (dependable) seeking shelter. Drop me a line if you're interested: thatkidnick -at- gmail.com.

The Gris and the Hani?

One is Gil Grissom from CSI. The other is the prime minister of Palestine. Maybe it's my facial recognition but I think one could stunt double for the other. Think about it, Haniya. If you step down from office in order to re-establish aid to Palestine, what would you do with your time? You could do worse than putting that grimace to work in Vegas.

sono? so? no. so no.

Can we all please agree to completely ignore this trend of SoNo? Seriously.

The area south of North Ave and north of Ralph McGill (Peachtree and Piedmont only) can not dub itself a bastardization of SoHo. I mean, outside of a couple bars (O'Terrill's, Django), the Shakespeare Tavern, Chicken and Waffles, The Civic Center and a Publix, what's this area have to offer that it needs a new stupid name? Nothing. Also, do I need to remind every one that this name is completely stupid? I first saw this on a billboard for a condo development. Now I'm seeing it on the "district guides" scattered throughout downtown. It's completely ridiculous.

So, let's just all try to ignore this foolishness and, maybe, when we turn back around, the pro-SoNo residents will feel shame. My hopes are that this will fade away into nothing more than blips on the City of Atlanta's hopeless branding scheme.

Laugh with me and then ignore it forever: http://www.sonoatlanta.com.
PS: The domain has to be sonoatlanta.com to clarify that it is not one of its predecessors such of SoNo, CT (South Norfolk).

because there's so much to eat.

I love to get presents. I like giving them, too, but I love to get them, especially when it's something I didn't ask for but really wanted. This might stem from my parents who showered me with affection and gifts; I joke sometimes that my mother showed her love for me by giving me treats (a behavior she still exhibits today with the advent of Amazon.com and the ability to ship). So you would think Christmas and my birthday to be the two brightest days of the year for me. I would, too. There is, however, one day that may shine just as bright or brighter. There is one day when I can eat my fill for free and still hang out and play all day. There is one day when my friends seem to unite in a common cause. That cause: chili. Ladies and gentlemen, the Cabbagetown Chomp and Stomp.

For those that have no idea what I'm talking about: Chomp and Stomp is a festival held on the first Saturday in November in Cabbagetown (that neighborhood between Oakland Cemetery, Reynoldstown, Inman Park and the Fulton Cotton Mill Lofts). The "Stomp" is pretty much for the live bluegrass music and the path of arts and crafts vendors. The "Chomp," though, is why I go. Chomp and Stomp is also a huge chili cook-off.

There are separate competitions between local restaurants and amateurs and winners get bragging rights. There were eight restaurants there this year, I think, but a ton of amateurs, all lined up down the street. $5 gets you a taste of the restaurant chili but amateur delights are free. And, since the corporate sponsored stuff is usually bland at best, it's a good deal.

Joey and I went from one end of the line to the other, only taking two breaks: one because the Metalhead chili was way hot and was ruining our taste for others and the other because we needed to break it up. My buddy Sean Kiskel entered his delicious chocolate chili and, had his chili not been so popular, he would have had enough to feed the judges and win the competition. Sadly, after three batches, the people sopped up his chances. A win in my (and his) book but still.

Rescue Me! Animal Project also had a stand there for animal adoptions so Erica was definitely there. Not to mention Mark, Sarrah, Clif, Kristin, Jenn Bunn, Chris Kirksey and a young man I used to call Revans. There were plenty of others; it's like a melting pot event for all my friends.

Also present was a boy named Mercer. I'd never met Mercer previously but his mother invited me to kick a ball around with her and her son. We kicked it around for a while before his mother said, "I'll be back in like 15 minutes." So, it was Mercer and I for a while, kicking the ball back and forth to each other and to passers by. It was a lot of fun. I totally got into it.

As the sun set and the chili supply dried up, we started making our way back (also we tried to escape the clutches of Erica who was sloppy drunk from God knows how many cups of Sweetwater and tried to embarrass Joey and I to death). I looked back at the park while walking away and smiled. Kristen (from Rescue Me!, not from the recent union to Clif) said it best when she said it was my "special day." It was delicious.

By the way, the chili from Fire on the Mountain was the best of the day to me, no matter who actually won the competition.

I love Chomp and Stomp.

TV not for Nick: Project MyWorld

Project MyWorld
Starring Renee Intlekofer, Shaina Fewell, and Taryn Southern
Created by Renee Intlekofer and Shaina Fewell
Monday, 6pm DirecTV Channel 101

In an awesome bit of synergy, Rupert Murdoch is spreading the oversaturated name of MySpace via one of his other holdings, DirecTV. On Channel 101, not the indie video site but the DirecTV "exclusive" station (from which certain shows are recorded automatically into the "Showcase" section if you have the DirecTV DVR), you can catch the three girls as they traipse about Europe on a mission: bringing MySpace to real life. Renee is looking for "Mr Right" by perusing MySpace profiles and meeting up with these people. Taryn is apparently along for the ride. And then there's Shaina, the rock 'n' roll brunette musician with an absent father. Yes. Anyway, she's looking for bands.

"So, oh my God, you guys." You expect this to be said before every staged confessional. And I know that most reality television confessionals are staged and done in multiple takes but at least the editors and "participants" provide the illusion. But the production values aren't on trial. It's a reality show and that genre pretty much as their style down. What horrifies me is watching these girls bounce around Europe, flitting around from guys and musicians and totally embarrassing America. No wonder everyone hates us. I know a lot of countries don't agree with our foreign policy (neither do a lot of Americans) but I would hate us, too, if I had to deal with these girls as US Ambassadors.

Yes, the girls are perpetually annoying. Yes, it's like watching a giant train wreck take place in several exotic locations. The only thing that really saves this show, however, is being able to see these places in Europe that wouldn't necessarily be shown on travel programs because they're "partying with the natives." If those milksops could be removed from the program while leaving everything else in tact, you know, like the music scene and local activities and such, this show might be okay.

I kind of look at this program like Linkin Park: the production is solid and the music isn't horrible, but then the the rapper comes in and ruins the whole gig. But since Mike Shinoda is the producer, he really kind of has free reign so you either have to take it or leave it.

I leave it.