The Wire: 5 Seasons in 5 Minutes

Below is the Wire "rap up," a five minute rap track detailing five seasons of "The Wire." I'm sure you've been told this a million times by now but if you haven't seen "The Wire" you absolutely have to see it. Now. Like, right now. Get your hands on all five seasons and watch them without sleeping, eating, or going to the bathroom.



For good measure, here's the classic scene between Bunk and McNulty where they use only the "F" word for two minutes straight:

Advertising is based on one thing: Happiness

Minus the blatant sexism and racism, I don't think there's a time I would rather have been a part than the 1960 of "Mad Men." Three martini lunches, three piece suits, and three women in one night all sound pretty good to me. Much better than today's work environment where you have to walk on eggshells and have HR rep present to use the vending machine. The second season starts tonight. If you're not watching this show, I'm ordering you to do so. The first season DVD is on sale now as well. My fellow Canucks can watch the entire first season on CTV broadband.

One of the best scenes in recent TV history:

Durham County = Twin Peaks 2.0

Anyone who owns a television is painfully aware that the summer months are not the prime TV watching season. Nor should they be. After all, we ought to be outside chasing butterflies and playing Ultimate frisbee. However, you can only do that so much before you are crushed by the sheer whimsy of it all and you find yourself on the couch yet again watching some reality dreck like "Moment of Truth." I was pleased to discover that the Canadian networks were going to use the summer months to play some programs from their sister networks like "The Movie Network." I am particularly interested in watching the critically acclaimed "Mad Men" which starts on Global this Sunday.

I am also half way through the 6 episode story arc "Durham County" which aired on the Movie Network last year. The series stars ex-Headstones frontman Hugh Dillon as a big city detective investigating a series of violent murders. The intrigue being that Dillon's character was intimately involved with one of the victims and is trying to keep it from his superiors in order to remain on the case and not become a suspect himself. The series owes an explicit debt to David Lynch's "Twin Peaks." The parallels are obvious - big city cop investigating a murder in a small town that features an eclectic cast of crazies. Like Kyle Mclaughlin in "Twin Peaks," Dillon has frequent dreams that reveal important aspects about the case. It may not be the most original show but it is certainly worth watching in this depleted summer lineup.

New Zealand's 4th most popular Folk/Comedy Duo

The Flight of the Conchords are a musical comedy duo from New Zealand made up of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. They specialize in absurdly funny songs. They have been making audiences laugh for a couple years as part of their "Folk the World" tour which has resulted in them getting an HBO series. Luckily for us without HBO, the duo have posted the entire pilot episode on the good 'ol series of tubes:

Bonus: My personal favourite Conchord's song, "Business Time"

Riches and Riches and Riches

I just got through watching the premiere of "The Riches" on Showcase and I was quite impressed. The drama stars the brilliant Eddie Izzard and resurgent Minnie Driver as the patriarch and matriarch of the Malloy family, a vagabond group of thieves and con artist. They are associated with the mythic "white gypsies" of the American south. Through a variety of mishaps, the Malloy family ends up assuming the identity of the "Rich" family who were killed in an accident and set out to "steal the American dream." This show is well acted and well written with a lot of room to grow. Check it out!

Heat Vision and Jack

What if there was a TV show starring Jack Black as an Astronaut who gained knowledge through exposure to the sun? What if that same show featured Owen Wilson as the voice of a slacker motorcycle? What if the very same show was directed by Ben Stiller? That show would be called "Heat Vision and Jack" and it would be awesome. However, it was also never picked up by FOX, surprise surprise. Thanks to YouTube, you can watch the hilariously funny pilot anyway:

Enjoy the chaos.

Yo! Levar Burton Battle Tony Parker

This week, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker released his debut French hip hop album. As to be expected, this was about as wise a move as marrying Eva Longoria. It is quite terrible. I'm not joking, it's sub-Federline, please take a listen for yourself:

I'm not any kind of rap or hip hop expert but my God! However, it does have a rival for worst rapping by a non-rapper I have ever seen. Like me, I'm sure your childhood was shaped by Reading Rainbow hosted by the legendary Levar Burton but I must have missed this episode:

Levar Burton may be a lot of things, Geordie Laforge of Star Trek:TNG, Kunta Kinte of Roots, and a brilliant children's television host but he is not a hype emcee by any means. What the hell is rag basketball?

So, who wins this battle of the rap heavyweights?