The Office

You know a TV show is great when you're watching a show and you actually feel as if the situation on screen is happening in real life. The Office (UK version) is just that... You watch the show and the entire time you feel awkward and embarrassed as if you're the one committing the unimaginable acts performed by the socially retarded David Brent (played by Ricky Gervais).

I just had to buy this complete series set since this is probably my second favorite TV series after the Family Guy. In my opinion, it's just genius, although I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people don't get it. It's definitely a different type of humor.

It's also bitter-sweet. The entire series consists of 12 episodes and 2 Christmas special episodes that wrap things up. 14 episodes seem like too little but at the same time, there is no way The Office can be dragged on more than that. In my personal opinion, I think that's the beauty of it. It portrays the entire story line in 14 episodes, it captures the full attention of the viewers and ends at the top of its game. But the viewer isn't fully satisfied... The viewer wants more.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, creators of The Office, were summoned by NBC to continue on with an American version of The Office. I haven't seen an episode of the American version mainly because I'm afraid I'm going to be disappointed (Have you seen American Dad? It's amazing that Seth MacFarlane can create something as good as Family Guy but turn around and fuck up so badly with American Dad. It's probably because all he did was mimic Family Guy with different characters... There's no originality with American Dad). Also, the cast of the UK version was so perfect that I don't think the American version can even come close to the UK version even if they have Steve Carell. How do you top characters like Gareth Keenan (played by Mackenzie Crook) and Keith Bishop (played by Ewen Macintosh)? However, I did put the first season of the American version in my Netflix queue just to see how good or bad it is. The general consensus seems to be that the American version isn't too bad, although the UK version is better. I have a feeling that when it comes to contemplating the purchase of the American version of The Office, it won't be a no brainer as it was with the UK version.

Consulting in a Nutshell

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Byun's iPod

NOTE: I hate Bono so I replaced his worthless pic with something more of value. So fuckin' sue me iNazis!!

You can't go a day these days without seeing some kind of advertisement for the iPod. The sleek looking MP3 player has become the next hip gadget that everyone wants. Fortunately, unlike cell phones, it doesn't really create an annoying environment in public.

I'm amazed that it took me such a long time to get an iPod. Perhaps it's because music isn't such a big component in my life and most of the time I'm listening to music I'm in my car. Up until this point, I figured it would be much more cost effective just to burn CDs for the drives. Well, this year my state tax return was $350+ so I went out and got myself an iPod Video...30 GB and black. I figured once I start traveling, I would have something to do and always have a great excuse on hand not to start up a conversation with a stranger on the plane. As it turns out I'm kind of glad that I waited this long because the iPod Video is freakin' sweet!

I went with the 30 GB because there will be no way in hell I'd ever have more than 30 GB of music. The process of finding songs and downloading them is a pain in the ass and I'm too lazy to take interest. However, I found a way to burn DVDs and convert them into MP4 format and then transfer them to the iPod. Full length movies are kind of worthless because you can't skip between chapters so it's really hard to navigate on the iPod. So what did I do? As a Famliy Guy fan, I took it upon myself to start my own project of burning and converting all 4 seasons of the Family Guy out on DVD and upload them to my iPod. I say project because you have to burn each individual episode and the conversion takes forever!

So now, my iPod is fully loaded with 63 episodes of Family Guy and I've only used about 10 GB of space. This is including all my music as well as some of my favorite pictures. Perhaps I would have been better off buying the 60 GB model if I had known that I could store Family Guy episodes. But I think by the time I fill 30 GB, a new generation of iPods will be out with even more features and perhaps a better battery.

The one only complaint I have is that the iPod wasn't really built for video. It almost seems like a worthless feature. According to the specs on apple.com the 30 GB model is able to output 14 hours of music playtime and 2 hours of video playback. I guess 2 hours isn't too bad since that's about the same time a laptop runs on batteries but that's only 4 episodes of Family Guy. Also, not to mention that the iPod battery is only capable of 500 recharges (fully depleted and fully recharged). I guess it's a good thing that Apple started a battery replacement program just in case it turns out watching Family Guy episodes abuses the battery and shortens its life. Nevertheless, I'm definitely going to enjoy being able to watch my favorite TV show during those boring flights and I don't think many people can say they have 63 episodes of genius on their iPods.