More about Weller

Every week I agonize over the futility of wasting an hour of my life watching 24. Is Peter Weller really worth it? Then last night I saw something that made it all worthwhile,

The History channel is repeating the two-hour Rome: Engineering an Empire. The second half is on April 27th and covers the Flavian Amphitheater and Trajan’s forum among others. Peter Weller is among the professors who wax poetic about the glory that was Rome.

Some pundits have questioned why Weller is considered an expert. If you didn’t know, Weller has a master’s degree in Renaissance Art, taught a one-time-only class at Syracuse University, and is working on his PhD. (BTW, Mr. Weller, if you need any help on your dissertation, I charge a modest fee for organizing and indexing.)

As an actor he has the bearing to stand in front of a camera and give a speech as well as the enthusiasm for the subject. Next year the History channel will have more Engineering an Empire hosted by Weller. Hurray! for talented amateurs… this is how Sir David Attenborough started. Before you know it, Weller will be a much sought after expert in art and history…. And cigars…

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,103,00.html

But enough about him, lets talk about me.

I’m still working on MY master’s degree, chuh! This quarter at Drexel I’m taking a class in statistics (Action Research) and more Database Design. I have to master three new computer programs SPSS, Oracle, and Visio. My computer is having an aneurism just trying to load this stuff.

Despite all this stuff I managed to squeeze in one book this week, Full Metal Jacket Diary by Matthew Modine. This is the diary of a young actor on the set of Stanley Kubrick classic war film. Modine also took many excellent photographs during his time there. This is really a very sweet and interesting book but it doesn’t really delve into the mind of Kubrick, just as well, the surface is strange enough.

Peter Weller is still alive!!!

Ohhh the misery!

What I really mean is that Christopher Henderson, a character Peter Weller is playing on the television show 24 is still alive… so I have to continue watching this ridiculous show! I like Peter Weller. I think its amazing that an actor can play TWO iconic characters in a lifetime… Buckaroo Banzai and Robocop. I loved him in Naked Lunch as well. And I’m all a-flutter waiting impatiently for the DVD release of his series Odyssey 5.

But please… don’t make me watch 24 anymore! Everyone dies in this show so I vowed to only watch it until Peter Weller’s character dies. But no such luck, he’s as bulletproof as Jack Bauer.

I used to be a huge fan of 24 for about the first 14 or so episodes of the first year. Then someone got amnesia from a bump on the head and the complex conspiracy theories became twisted upon themselves. They would have excellent guest stars… then kill them. Logic would go right out the window as the actors desperately tried to salvage their performances when they are suddenly told at the last minute that THEY were the bad guys all along. Not much has changed in the five years the show has been on.

But I still watch because I like Peter Weller. So, I might as well have fun.

What did Christopher Henderson do this week?
He drove around a lot as usual. Got the prez to tell him where Jack was hiding. Somehow hired a bunch of commandos and a helicopter. (One of my main problems with this show is that the bad guys always seem to have plenty of men and lots of equipment… meanwhile Jack is ALONE with only his wits and a blunt pen knife.) All of Henderson’s men were killed in the last two attempts at Jack, but he still manages to find more.

Henderson arrives at the airport, dodges a hail of bullets (I think I saw some bounce off of him!) and kidnaps Audrey. Meanwhile all of his men are once again killed when Jack blows up a tanker (with one bullet!) Cold as ice Henderson severs an artery on Audrey so Jack will give him the damning evidence. As Audrey bleeds out, Henderson escapes (in a hail of bullets from Jack), steals a car and is off for another long drive.

Questions for this week:
Did Henderson kill Evelyn and her kid last week? That’s mega-cold.
Can the writers come up with a better explanation of Henderson’s actions than “I’m a patriot; I’m killing Americans for the good of the country!” That’s so lame.
How’s Mrs. Henderson doing? Jack shot her in the thigh and I hope she’s doing well.