Just finished watching the first episode of CARNIVÀLE. I miss HBO. Period. HBO's come up with another award winning show, I can tell already. It's Not TV. It's HBO. Damn right. Here's the premise of the show:

1934. The Dust Bowl. The last great age of magic. In a time of titanic sandstorms, drought and pestilence - all signs of God's fury and harbingers of the Apocalypse - the final conflict between good and evil is about to begin. The battle will take place in the Heartland of an empire called America. And when it is over, man will forever trade away wonder for reason.

Debuting on HBO this September, CARNIVÀLE follows a traveling carnival as it wends its way across the Dust Bowl, focusing on a mysterious young fugitive with hidden talents who is taken in by the carnival, and on the charismatic, shadowy evangelist who will ultimately cross his path. The 12-episode dramatic series takes place at a time of worldwide unrest, with evil on the rise around the globe and the Great Depression wreaking economic and social havoc here at home.

As they become aware of their abilities, Ben and Brother Justin find themselves wrenched from their lives to realize that the world they thought the knew -- this tenuous, prosaic reality shared by humankind -- is actually a chessboard upon which is played the ancient conflict between Light and Darkness, and they are key players in the battle.

So Ed Stalh (John Connor from T3, or the little boy from The Man Without A Face all grown up) is the main character in this show, and the Little Man From Another Place a la Twin Peaks as well. I watched the first episode and I was really awed by how the commercials and promotions gave a very difference impression of the show. I thought it was all about weird carnies and like voodoo tarot and card reading. It turns out the show actually has religious implications. Excellent performances by all of the cast, and you feel as if you're actually in the Dust Bowl; the locale is so bleakly portrayed. I hope the next two eps download quickly or I can find out when they're doing one of those marathon deals with the show. They probably will over my xmas break again which I'd be totally down for. I have to convince my father to get Tivo, and if he won't, I'm shelling out for it myself. Especially since my boss and cousin taught me how to "hack" Tivo muahaha. Imagine being able to record 700 hours of anything you wanted. I could have ever season of every HBO show I wanted. Amazingness. Way to go HBO, you never fail to amaze me with your shows. Now if they'd only get off their butts and release Six Feet Under Seasons 2 and 3. Then again Season 1 was only released last like February..maybe this next one will yield another. I'm an HBO whore...totally.

Going to see Rent tommorrow YEAHHHHHHHH! I'm really excited about that. I'm going with Marisa, and I'm really glad I found someone to go with. I would have ended up going to one of the Rochester shows alone. Meg and Jay didn't want to shell out the $ to go see it, but I think it's such a great show that it would be really stupid of me to pass up this chance. I mean I passed up Wesley Willis last spring semester, (ok well I was under 21 which isn't really my fault but let's just say it was) when he was in Rochester, and he died this summer. Let's not tempt fate twice eh? Tommorrow's gonna be rough, math midterm and nightmare CCNA review where they insist on giving us tests and quizzes even though the course is NOT graded or part of my college curriculum. Mmmhmm. Aha. Right guys.

I'll leave ya with one of my favorite songs ever.

Blind Melon - Change

I don’t feel the suns comin’ out today
its staying in, its gonna find another way
As I sit here in this misery, I don’t
think I’ll ever see the sun from here
And oh as I fade away, they’ll
all look at me and say, and they’ll say,
Hey look at him! I’ll never live that way
But that’s ok their just afraid of Change
When you feel your life ain’t worth living
you‘ve got to stand up and
take a look around you
then a look way up to the sky
And when your deepest thoughts
are broken, keep on dreaming boy
cause when you stop dreamin’ it’s time to die
And as we all play parts of tomorrow,
some ways will work and other ways we’ll play
But I know we all can’t stay here forever,
So I want to write my words on the face of today
and then they’ll paint it