smacky and bucky

The weather the last few days has been uncharacteristically lovely, with temps in the upper 70s. That's due to change tomorrow though, and by the time the weekend rolls around, it supposed to be highs in the 40s.

This American Life is one of the greatest things in the world. Really. As a public radio show out of Chicago on WBEZ (and syndicated all over the country), this one-hour program focuses on a theme and presents stories that relate. When we were in the Peace Corps, one of the volunteer's boyfriend would mail her cassette copies of the show, and a bunch of us would listen to them. (One was on Niagra Falls and they interviewed a man whose father had had the job of fishing out the bodies of the suicides at the falls, using a boat and a hook... just one example of the kinds of stories they do.)

The folks behind the radio show now also have a television show on Showtime. It follows the same format of the radio show (sometimes presenting previous stories from the radio). I'm happy to report the TV version is as good as the radio version. You can watch the first episode for free on the Showtime site here: This American Life, Episode One.

The Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood is coming to American television! If you need a description, it's like Men in Black meets the X-Files: Secret organization battling aliens, that sort of thing. This press release confirms it will be shown on BBC America (hopefully with limited cuts for content. Torchwood has a bit of cursing in it). The release also says they'll be showing the new season of Doctor Who, but I'm not sure if they mean series 2 (which I just got on DVD), or series 3, which just started airing last Saturday in the UK. Hopefully series 3 will start airing on BBC America this summer. (I've seen last week's episode, and this new season will be good!)