I really have been busy, see?

I've got a smorgasbord of pop-culturey tidbits for you today, just a smattering really. I've got a lot of irons in the fire/balls in the air/cats in the cradle and once I finish something - anything! - I'll be more verbose. That's a total promise.

• Mr. Mouse and I have been watching Undeclared on DVD and have gotten through four episodes. It was Judd Apatow's sophomore attempt at television after Freaks and Geeks - it's getting a B/B+ thus far. It's not nearly as charming or funny as FandG; I haven't been able to connect with any of the characters yet; and the dad-in-midlife-crisis-who-tags-along-during-his-son's-frosh-year-at-college is super-annoying. There are only seventeen episodes, however, and at around 24 minutes each I think we'll make it all the way through.
• I've been reading a bunch of fantasy books loaned to me by my friend Brownie: Heart of Stone and House of Cards by C.E. Murphy; and Cast in Shadow and Cast in Courtlight (halfway through the last) by Michelle Sagara. These are both series and I'll do write-ups once I finish the third of each. They're pretty good for what they are - dragons and gargoyles and girl-power - set respectively in modern day NYC and some imaginary world. And there's actually a LOT of plot in each series - which is why I stopped reading Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books which ended up being softcore porn with a non-sex paragraph here and there.
• The Olympics are tomorrow! Mr. Mouse and I love the Olympics, both the winter and the summer games. Good thing the DVR is practically empty as we'll fill it right up (durn jobs again getting in the way of my television viewing). We prefer the sports that are quantifiable - races and games (track & field, soccer, swimming, volleyball) - to the subjective ones that are judged (gymnastics). Mr. Mouse would like me to add that we are in no way interested in the ridiculous Opening Ceremonies (we'll be churning through more Undeclared eps instead).
• My favorite BtVS/Firefly/BSG writer, Jane Espenson, is slated to write a two-hour t.v. movie for Battlestar Galactica which will air in 2009 after the series ends. The movie will be directed by Admiral Adama himself, Edward James Olmos, and apparently focus on the Cylons right after they destroyed the humans' worlds. Here's a link to the L.A. Times story (thanks to Whedonesque for the link). Jane is awesome: funny, smart and great at characters. This t.v. movie will be a treat.
• I'm getting off work at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow so I think I'll finally go see a matinee of Dark Knight. Also, when I mentioned that I'd been reading very good things about the new Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen/James Franco stoner-action-comedy, Pineapple Express, Mr. Mouse actually said, out loud and not crossing his fingers or rolling his eyes, "I would go see that in the theater with you." I was in shock and totally speechless for nearly two seconds (!!) - he never is interested in going to the movies. Now, if I can only get him to buy the tickets too.