I watched an episode of the latest iteration of “Scooby-Doo” the other night, and it really freaked me out. Seriously, it was genuinely kinda scary. The scenes where Velma was displaying romantic interest in Shaggy? I mean, that was just goosebump city, right there.

Ah, yes. Mitch has had his first Geek-Rant™. I’ve run across quite a few non-geeks who, after getting into a show with a shortened season, have a similar reaction, rejecting the need for reruns or “filler” episodes, and instead demanding continued excellent storytelling across an entire (American) season of episodes.

We geeks rarely know how to respond, ’cause non-geeks rarely agree with us.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the voiceovers sounded even remotely similar to the actors. Now, granted things have gotten better in recent years on that front, but “I don’t wanna see any monkey-fightin’ snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane!”??!? Seriously?! Can’t the censors come up with anything that makes even the tiniest lick of sense?

Although, that one is kinda funny…

First off (ahem), I VOW THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS FOR THE END OF LOST HERE. A friend of mine just started watching the last season, so I don’t want to kill his momentum.

There have been arguments about whether or not it was a good finale. Whether enough questions were answered. Whether the right questions were answered.

I didn’t care about that.

What kept me coming back to Lost was the characters, and watching them attempt to relate to each other and come to terms with themselves. Every character was alone and flawed in some way, and my fascination was in watching them work their ways out of that. It was, ultimately, a story about the fundamental nature of humanity and how we must   attempt to find connection with each other, and the emotions involved in doing such a thing.

In my opinion, the finale succeeded brilliantly in bringing that story to a close.

Your mileage may vary.

P.S. Oh, and speaking of absolutely nothing related to that, come back Thursday for an ASTOUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT OF AWESOMENESS! Exclamation point!

Stupid compelling advertising. I bought a bottle of Old Spice body wash today.

I’m trying to decide if it will make me feel clean… or oh, so dirty…

Finally got it up. Sorry for the delay. Photoshop was refusing to do…well, much of anything, really. That kinda crimps my style of, y’know, completely doing the strip in Photoshop.

In related news, Time Machine for Mac OS X is teh awesome!

Totally based on real events.

The following day, I called an employment agency to leave a message with a contact there. The receptionist said, “Can I have your name, sir?”

“Sure. It’s Jeff Burkholder.”

“Chuck Burkholder? Okay, I’ll put you into her voicemail…”

“Um, excuse me? That’s Jeff. Jeff Burkholder. Not Chuck.” I’m not a loser, I didn’t add.

Oy.

Since the advent of things like Tivo, Hulu, iTunes, and season DVD sets, rerun season seems really, really unnecessary anymore. There’s been a seismic-level shift in how people watch TV, but the networks seem to be trying their best to ignore that fact.

Hey, guys? You might wanna talk to your friends in the newspaper and CD industries and see how ignoring (or, in extreme cases, suing) the customer is working out for them. I’m just sayin’.

I’m not really gonna comment about this one. Apart from to say that my wife’s super-hot whether she has her hair up or down, and whether she’s wearing her reading glasses or not. I think that should cover me.

If not, you’ll know why there’s no comic next week.

The Eponymous Neaner saw this week’s strip, raised her eyebrows while laughing, and called out, “Whoa! Harsh!” It’s not that we shun that network, but there’s a certain demographic that it caters to that we really don’t seem to identify with anymore. And apparently, it’s a demographic that does NOT appreciate intricate storylines, intelligent characters, or a lack of plotholes you can drive speeding, bomb-laden, Keanu Reeves-carrying buses through.

Although, NBC? That white flag you threw up (double entendre intended there) known as “The Jay Leno Show”? You’re next on this 18-34, middle class, white male’s hitlist. Watch your back.