Since I pretty much decided to move back to Europe in a not so distant future, I thought it would be a good idea to slowly re-familiarize myself with the EU mentality by regularly watching the BBC World News on BBC America.

20 years ago, while in France, I used to religiously watch the Evening News with Dan Rather. I'm sure I didn't grasp any of the subtle nuances as my command of the English language was pretty basic at the time. Nevertheless, I was in awe of American news programs. Nowadays, I pretty much can't stand watching the news. Although I have to admit that the BBC show is a breath of fresh air.

The first thing I noticed is that we pretty much don't get world news in the US, just the big headlines. That's sad. We really have no clues on what is going on in the world. Heck, we don't even know what's really happening in Afghanistan. I heard statements from a couple US and UK allied forces representatives that frankly raised the hair on the back of my neck.

I also realized that the US media favors reporting (and editorializing) on what people said instead of actually showing or quoting them. On the other hand the BBC always seems to directly quote or show people making statements. For example, the day Bush left for his trip to Europe, they showed one of the White House press secretary assistant answering questions about the President's itinerary, etc. Which, of course, reminded me of C.J. on The West Wing. But I also came to the realization they never show that kind of stuff on the evening news. We almost never get to witness White House press briefings, we get a bunch of selective he said/she said or sound bites, at best.

I think it all comes down to the BBC news format. I would describe it as being like CNN's Headline News with more depth, interviews and less propaganda. Works for me.

I canceled my NetFlix membership yesterday. In the last 4 months we managed to rent the following movies:

1. The Fast and the Furious
2. Summer Catch
3. Rock Star
4. Josie and the Pussycats
5. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
6. AntiTrust
7. Shrek
8. U-571
9. The Glass House
10. Valentine
11. Saving Silverman
12. Dracula 2000
13. The Musketeer
14. Save the Last Dance
15. Joy Ride
16. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
17. Druids
18. Angel Eyes
19. The Forsaken
20. Baise Moi
21. Rules Of Engagement
22. Evolution
23. Driven
24. Along Came a Spider
25. Finding Forrester
26. Primary Colors
27. Training Day
28. Legally Blonde
29. Iron Monkey
30. The Gift
31. Texas Rangers
32. Behind Enemy Lines
33. Heist
34. The Others
35. Zoolander

The shipping/return delays have seriously improved (1-2 days) since they opened a warehouse in Tacoma, but even though, 20 bucks a month hardly seems worth it.

MasterCard using scare tactics. Priceless.

The US Copyright Office has rejected CARP for now. Yippie!

I feel naked.

I lost my wallet last Friday while doing laundry. Luckily I only had $5, my driving license and a couple credit cards in it. I called the credit card companies within the hour, but someone had already used my check card. I have to admit that, for once, my bank was extremely helpful.

I probably could have prevented the unauthorized charges if I had called right away, but I wasn't entirely sure whether I had lost it or just misplaced it. We also decided to retrace our steps, just in case.

Next time, I won't hesitate.

Last night we used our two tickets to paradise…

The opening act, Thom Bresh, was hilarious. Eddie's show was a little short, but we definitely wanna go back and do it all over.

It's official, the following TV shows have been canceled:

• A Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star (WB)
• Ally McBeal (FOX)
• As If (UPN)
• Bob Patterson (NBC)
• Citizen Baines (CBS)
• Danny (CBS)
• Dark Angel (FOX)
• Dharma & Greg (ABC)
• Elimidate Deluxe (WB)
• Emeril (NBC)
• Family Guy (FOX)
• Family Law (CBS)
• Felicity (WB)
• First Monday (CBS)
• Glory Days (WB)
• Greg The Bunny (FOX)
• Imagine That (NBC)
• Inside Schwartz (NBC)
• Leap of Faith (NBC)
• Love Cruise (FOX)
• Maybe It's Me (WB)
• Men Women and Dogs (WB)
• Nikki (WB)
• No Boundaries (WB)
• Once and Again (ABC)
• Pasadena (FOX)
• Philly (ABC)
• Politically Incorrect (ABC)
• Raising Dad (WB)
• Roswell (UPN)
• Special Unit 2 (UPN)
• Spin City (ABC)
• Temptation Island (FOX)
• That '80s Show (FOX)
• That's Life (CBS)
• The American Embassy (FOX)
• The Chair (ABC)
• The Chamber (FOX)
• The Court (ABC)
• The Education of Max Bickford (CBS)
• The Ellen Show (CBS)
• The Hughleys (UPN)
• The Job (ABC)
• The Random Years (UPN)
• The Steve Harvey Show (WB)
• The Tick (FOX)
• The Weakest Link (NBC)
• The X-Files (FOX)
• Thieves (ABC)
• Three Sisters (NBC)
• Titus (FOX)
• UC: Undercover (NBC)
• Undeclared (FOX)
• Under One Roof (UPN)
• Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central) (ABC)
• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (ABC)
• Wolf Lake (CBS)

We were kinda surprised with the dismissal of Dark Angel, although it was definitely predictable as the show' sophomore season wasn't really up to par.