Say hello to the new best shows you Haven't seen and a thing about Oprah boooks.

I'm an ass, I know. For all seven of you who read my blog I duly apologize for my extreme laziness/ business/ lack of talent and willingness to post. There, I said it. But the next issue of the magazine is going to be great, and I had to do a shit ton of work on it this weekend. I came home early from work to write to you, people. I heart you. Don't leave me.

Things might seem bleak for TV viewers everywhere, with the cancellation of the beloved Veronica Mars (be sure to read Marco's article in The Hatchet in July, it's amazing.)
So anyway, while I am with the majority of people who feel cheated by the whole Sopranos ending, I am glad to say that I have found a new TV show to obsess about and fill the huge void left by the nearly hyperventilating Tony Soprano. (How can a person breathe that loud? How?)

The show is called Brotherhood, it's on Showtime and it's fantastic.But first I have to tell you about another show. You may have heard me go on and on about The Wire (also an HBO show but one that doesn't get nearly as many viewers as The Sopranos did). think The Wire is as good as The Sopranos, no kidding, and Jeff and I are absolutely wracked waiting for the fourth season to come out on box set. I think it's currently in the fifth season on HBO, but do yourself a favor, go to Netflix and put this shit in the top of your queue. It's about drug dealers and cops in Baltimore, and you might think that sounds pedestrian, but just watch and you'll see some amazing portrayals of real world problems. Including but not limited to: an accurate portrayal of racial tension, general bigotry, class issues, the futility of drug laws, poverty and the irreversible effects of the ghettoizing of the poor, etc., etc.. In the history of my favorite shows, it may only be second to the undeniable and inimitable Six Feet Under. Considering I was depressed for a week and sobbed uncontrollably after the finale of SFU (now that's a show that knows how to end) this is a pretty meaningful statement. As meaningful as a statement can be about TV, I guess.

So right, Brotherhood is about an old-school Irish family in Providence, RI. There are two brothers, Tommy and Michael, whose lives have diverged in the most extreme of ways; Tommy is a State Representative and Michael is a mobster. Michael returns to Providence after seven years, having gone on the lam to avoid being whacked by another mobster. That mobster is out of the picture and thus insanity and pathos ensue in the lives of the Kaffey family. This too, might sound a bit run of the mill, but the difference is made up in the performances, the story lines and the strength of the characters. The saintly politician is not really as good as he seems and the violent mobster brother is smart but not cunning, and though a liar and a manipulative SOB you root for him anyway. Like that dude in The Muppets Take Manhattan said, "Peoples is Peoples." So the first season just came out on box set, so again, go to Netflix and put this at the top. The second season starts in September on Showtime, with some exciting additions likeJanel Moloney (Donna on The West Wing). Okay. So the whole point of this post was to explain why I haven't been writing. Now you know.Now go curl up on the couch and watch eight episodes in a row, you know you want to.

Oh, but first, I saw that Middlesex is now an Oprah book and I'm having conflicting feelings. Am I being an asshole here? I honestly like Oprah, I think she's an amazing philanthropist and she even did a special episode about the failing education system that featured my hometown Shelbyville, IN. (woohoo, Hoosier Pride!) Outside of being slightly mortifying, I'm glad she did it, as 95% of the kids I went to elementary school with have ended up either a) completely fucked up b) stuck in Shelbyville C) pregnant really young and divorced not too long after. But anyway, this whole Middlesex as an Oprah book bothers me and I don't know why, really. Except, what does it say about me that my favorite book is an Oprah Book, that The Obscure Object of Desire is ready to be consumed by the masses? Jeffrey Eugenides is an amazing writer, one that deserves a wider audience. But when so many people love the thing you love...don't you feel cheated somehow? I'm an asshole. But I bet you'll be less likely to read it, anyhow.