What We're Watching:

DSCF0089, originally uploaded by Drewnl09.

Not much, but Spongebob has a competitor now for Brenden's little toddler heart. It should be no surprise to anyone but I finally bought him a Thomas the Tank Engine dvd (narrated by George Carlin!), mainly because we caught an episode on PBS over the Labor Day weekend and he went ballistic because I couldn't play it again. Brenden already has lots of little TTTE toys, shirts, and books.

Jon and I are watching the last season of Deadwood when we can. If Brenden is still up we turn the sound down, because that is the most foul-mouthed show *ever*. Nevertheless I'm still cringing thinking about the day he calls his babysitter a "c--- s---ing c--t".

Despite the vulgarisms, Jon and I realized how much we love the show because we really missed the characters. The two protagonists (and occasionally antagonists) are Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) and Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant). While Al, a saloon keeper, was ostensibly introduced as the bad guy and Bullock as the good guy, (he sets up shop in Deadwood to sell hardware but eventually becomes sheriff), they've traded places and allied occasionally throughout the series. Right now they are best buds because someone even nastier than Al, (George Hearst, patriarch of the infamous Hearst family you might have heard of) has moseyed into town trying to buy up everyone's gold mines and he has the muscle to make it happen one way or the other.

I've really come to love Al, even though he is one evil sumbitch. He is such a howl and despite his murderous ways he is brave and follows his own code of ethics. (I came to sympathise occasionally with Tony Soprano, but I never liked him. I love Al). Seth Bullock is so upright and upstanding I'm sure he poops diamonds (don't get me wrong, I like him too; especially when he gets his sense of justice all in an uproar. There wasn't one person watching who didn't cheer when he hauled Hearst off to jail literally by the ear).

But it's not just them; there's the ill-fated Wild Bill Hickock (not a spoiler if you know your history), his friends the decent Charlie Utter and the wonderfully loopy but good-souled Calamity Jane (she's our favorite). There's also Doc Cochran (Brad Dourif in a non-slimy role) who saw way too much during the Civil War and has perhaps the biggest heart in town (and pays for it).

I really care about these people and what happens to them. I curse the powers-that-be at HBO for cancelling this most excellent show. Now that they've cancelled David Milch's John From Cincinnatti (no offense Mr. Milch, but that cancellation was warranted), maybe he can get around to making those Deadwood movies he promised us to wrap up all the story lines.