Farewell, old friend [UPDATED]

UPDATED 5.30.09: So apparently ABC has resigned Scrubs to a 9th season despite the amazing finale, which is mentioned at length below. As of now, Zach Braff & Sarah Chalke have signed on for 6 episodes and it's rumored that the show will be treated as a "Frasier" to Scrubs' "Cheers," by either focusing on a different character than J.D. or by being solely about the new interns introduced over the past season.

Personally, I'm not too sure how I feel about this because, as a fan, I'll watch the new show at the beginning for the curiousity of what they're going to do with it, but am very nervous for them as they'll have a LONG way to go to match the pay-off of the 8th season/series finale.
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Thank you, Scrubs.

I didn't really enjoy this show the first few times I watched, but it eventually started to creep into my regular viewing thanks to syndication. The rapid-fire cutaways, the obnoxious situations, the relatable characters, & the emotional sentiment that subtly reverberated through each episode was hard not to feel connected to. The series finale saw characters from the past make cameos, long-forgotten story references, and the use of Peter Gabriel's "The Book of Love" in the final moments was an amazingly placed gracenote.

There's talk that the show went a season or two too long & I can see that point, but the finale this week was really well done & a fitting way to send the beloved series out. There's also talk of them trying to work out a Season 9 since ABC was treating them so well, but I think that would be a mistake. It ended in such a great way that anything more would be taking away from what creator Bill Lawrence (who finally had a cameo this season & shared the very last scene of the series with Zach Braff) & the rest of the cast & crew has accomplished.

The Boston Red Sox set an MLB record by scoring 12 runs in one inning before recording a single out. They're really hitting on all cylinders right now.

Walking In Memphis....Literally

Returned from a trip to Nashville & Memphis to see Jason Mraz open for Dave Matthews Band.

On the way down, we made a brief pit stop in Metropolis, IL, to see the infamous Superman statue. It was as advertised & not so ironically placed in front of city hall & the police station. There was a tribute comic store next door that we didn't have time to go into, but it looked massive. I've been past Metropolis several times on various ComedySportz trips and always wanted to stop here, but never have so this was really cool.

Nashville was such an awesome town & well worth the 9 hour drive! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed being down there. Obviously, the weather helped a ton, but the attitude & feel of the place was just really cool. The concert itself was awesome as Mraz played highlights & then DMB played for 3 hours & the set list was tight. They played 3 songs off the new album & just made me more jacked to pick it up in early June.

Our 2nd day down there, we toured the Grand Ole Opry. Granted, I am not a country music fan in the slightest, but it felt like it was one of those do-it-once-&-you-never-have-to-do-it-again things. I'm so glad we went though because the history of the Opry was fascinating and the tour itself was really cool because we got to go on the actual stage. Even if you're not a country fan, I can't recommend the tour enough. That evening, we went to eat at a place called Amerigo & I had the greatest chicken parmesan ever.

Following that "do-it-once" mentality, we traveled to Memphis the next day and took in the grandeur & spectacle that is Graceland. Again, the tour itself was cool and I recommend doing it once, but there's no real reason to ever go back. The Jungle Room is intense, the car collection is massive, and being able to walk through the King's private jets was really cool. It's easy to get wrapped up in the ambiance, but just let yourself go for a few hours and you'll enjoy it. That night, we crashed at my step-brothers house & treated him to his favorite restaurant, Amerigo - where I had the 2nd greatest chicken parmesan ever.

The next day we stopped by the legendary Sun Records and the place just reaked of old school cool. This is the studio that Elvis recorded his first record and Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis (collectively known as the "Million Dollar Quartet"), and many others followed suit. Again, you get to go through the actual studio & stand where they stood, and the tour guide was very personable. Although the tour is brief, it's more than worth it.

We wrapped up our time in Memphis with a visit to the Rock N' Soul Museum which was in the FedEx Forum - home to the Memphis Grizzlies. It was so worth the price of admission. Not counting Graceland, this was the longest tour & was absolutely loaded with memorabilia. There was history dripping off the walls and since it was self-guided, you could really take everything in at your own pace.

On the trek back to the Quad Cities, we ended up stopping at the infamous Lambert's Cafe: Home of the Throwed Rolls. The portions were family-sized and the ambiance was great...and yes, they tossed rolls all over the dining room. People just raised their hands and a surprisingly accurate waiter would chuck a roll clear across the room. It was really fun & the food was great - can't ask for more than that.

Every tour we went on was well worth it. We missed out on the Gibson Guitar Factory Tour, The Pyramid, & Beale Street, unfortunately, but that just gives me more reason to head back down there sometime.

Caved and went to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night with some friends of mine. I thought it was a solid popcorn summer action flick - and it's not being advertised as anything different. The fan boys are all in an up-roar because they now expect every film to be The Dark Knight or Iron Man, but the X-Men franchise has never been 100% accurate to the comic - and I don't know how it ever could be. Hugh Jackman was great, but Liev Schriever really impressed me as Sabretooth. There's a lot left to be desired in character development, but the over-the-top action makes up for most of it. Go see it.

Later.