Vampirefest '09

The Vampire Diaries is a new series on the CW (Thursday, 8 p.m.) adapted from a trilogy of books from the same name. The show rides in the coattails of the recent vampire boom. The tremendous success of Twilight in book stores and the big screen coupled with the popular HBO hit, True Blood has me convinced that America is suffering from some serious fang wounds right now.

But these are a special breed of vampires. These vampires are hot and have to worry about passing math or who they are going to take to the prom. What ever happened to, "I Come to SUCK your BLOOD!" They are nowhere to be found. Am I the only one who thinks Vampires should be wearing capes and not Abercrombie?

With Halloween approaching, I can only imagine what the 'straight up vampire' costume will be reduced to. The cape will probably be replaced with hair gel and plastic fangs with Invisalign Teen. Basic pale dudes in flannels and frowns asking for candy in low pitched monotone voices. Oh, the horror.




Images: squidoo.com, theinsider.com

This Week in Retro Gaming

This week we are going to discuss one of the more frustrating aspects of retro gaming: how to get your original Nintendo Entertainment System to work.

Sure, there are plenty of methods that have been tried and true.
-Blowing in the game cartridge
-Attaching another medium like the Game Genie
-Cleaning a game with rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip

But I think I found a method that has never EVER been discussed or published. Ladies and Gentleman: The Hockey Puck Theory



A standard NHL ice hockey puck is one inch in thickness and three inches in diameter. Historically, it has been used for sport only, but they have another use. They are the perfect wedge between NES game and the inside of an NES console. Next time you need help, consider this:

1. Give the game a good luck blow combining hot breath and steady wind.
2. Insert the game and press down as far as it will go.
3. Jiggle within the system horizontally for five full seconds.
4. Stick hockey puck on top of game.
5. Save the princess



Images: makezine.com, totalhockey.com, destructoid.com

The Rebirth of Television

"Dude, I can't believe you don't watch that..."
"You've never seen The Wire??? Dude..."
"...No, It's Always SUNNY in Philadelphia. Don't you get FX?"

Friends, family, co-workers, classmates and randoms all want one thing: for you to watch what they watch. I know this because I am that guy. I legitimately get upset when somebody says they have never seen an episode of 24. If only they knew how many times Jack Bauer has saved us all.

With that said, there are plenty of shows that I have never seen and people hate me for it. Here is the top 5:

5) The Wire/The Shield: I group these together because they are about crime fighting/solving/waving. I've heard good things.


4) 30 Rock: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan? I'm kind of upset that I missed the train on this one. Plus, they win awards.






3) Dexter/Californication: Unrelated shows but they are both on the up and coming Showtime network. HBO has been batting clean-up for years pumping out hit series after hit series. It is nice to see some competition.










2) Mad Men: I don't know. Maybe I am biased against shows that take place in the 1960s? My general disinterest toward the show has evolved into a throbbing curiosity.


















1) Lost: That's right. I don't watch Lost though to say I haven't seen it would be a lie. I watched the entire first season and half of the second season but I was not ready for the commitment.

That's what television is really. It's a commitment to a show; to made up characters; to the creative vision of writers, producers and directors. I was always told that if you start something, you should finish it. So if you are stuck in the middle of Heroes season one, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND FINISH IT!!!!

Saturday Night Live is good again, Larry David is bringing Seinfeld back in Curb Your Enthusiasm and E and Sloan might be this generations Joanie loves Chachi. All is right in TV Land. My advice would be to subscribe to Netflix, stat.

I wouldn't hold my breath for Kelsey Grammer in ABC's Hank though. One word: Doomed

Images: dexterhd.info, NBC, HBO, 500wordsonwords.files.wordpress.com, ABC

Worst. Movie. Ever.

I don't understand how some movies are made. Let's examine this weeks selection:

The Day After Tomorrow was released Memorial Day, 2004 to audiences expecting to see what they love the most: the destruction of Planet Earth. Usually, this destruction comes from outside forces i.e. alien attack, asteroids or (my favorite) the core of the Earth stops spinning. The Day After Tomorrow has the audacity to place the blame on the shoulders of human beings who threw out one too many Styrofoam cups.

The movie follows Dennis Quade who works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (yes, it actually exists) and finds shocking evidence that Earth is going through a rapid change in climate. Of course, nobody in the White House believes him and they have an ice age over the weekend.

Now, I don't know much about paleoclimatology but I do know that ice ages take years to envelop huge land masses. I don't like siting Wikipedia but here are some quotes from actual paleclimatologists:

- Dan Schrag, Harvard University: "On the one hand, I'm glad that there's a big-budget movie about something as critical as climate change. On the other, I'm concerned that people will see these over-the-top effects and think the whole thing is a joke... We are indeed experimenting with the Earth in a way that hasn't been done for millions of years. But you're not going to see another ice age -- at least not like that."

- Marshall Shepherd, NASA: "I'm heartened that there's a movie addressing real climate issues. But as for the science of the movie, I'd give it a D minus or an F. And I'd be concerned if the movie was made to advance a political agenda."

- Andrew Weaver, University of Victoria: "It's the Towering Inferno of climate science movies, but I'm not losing any sleep over a new ice age, because it's impossible."

If you want to see Dennis Quade at his best, rent Inner Space. Please stay away from this garbage at all costs. When I saw this in theaters, I was disgusted by the awful love story, terrible jokes and absurd storytelling. Sure, it's science fiction but the trailer alone made me want to pour a drum of oil into the nearest reservoir. And I'm pro-Earth.



Photo and Trailer: 20th Century Fox

Thank You VH1: The Return of Behind the Music

Did you know that Milli Vanili was in the middle of "Girl You Know It's True" when the pre-recorded tape they were lip-syncing to started skipping?

Girl you know its
Girl you know its
Girl you know its
Girl you know its
Girl you know its

You get the point. I had no idea that the 1990 Best New Artist Grammy Award Winners were outed during a show until Behind The Music came along in the Summer of 1997.

Behind the Music is an hour long narrated account of an musical artist(s) rise to fame. Often, that fame will parlay itself into drunk driving arrests, prostitutes, hard drugs/overdoses, gun shot wounds and the occasional bubble gum pop star turned cage dancing vixen.

After a three year hiatus, the show is back on the air and still delivers. I highly advise watching Bobby Brown's beginnings with New Edition. A new episode airs October 1 chronicling the life and times of Poison rocker/man whore Bret Michaels.


I'm always asking people what they think the best occupation of all-time is. I hear athlete and actor often and there are cases to be made for each. But the best all-time job is professional musician. The window to hit home runs or pitch shutouts is open for a very brief time only but the window for music is always open. Examine Paul McCartney for instance:

1. He is still dropping albums.
2. He picked up a model after leaving that one-legged disaster.
3. He continues to sell out venues all across the universe.
4. He is 236 years old and will be rocking until his early 300s

The only thing McCartney is missing is his own episode of Behind the Music.

Photos: Boston.com, VH1

A Note From The Daily Dose

The staff here at The Dose welcomes you. In this blog, you will read about music, movies, television, video games, models, sports and finance...wait a minute. I might be spreading myself a little thin. Let me start again.

The staff (and by staff I mean Bob Doda) at The Dose welcomes you. Prepare to have your socks knocked off your feet and to be impaled in a cement wall. Here, we discuss music that owns your face and movies that make you sick. I will make you dust off that NES slumbering in a milk crate under your bed and play until your eyes bleed. I'll serve up some opinions and I want you to volley them back. I don't sleep and I am never wrong. I know what's funny and what's not. What's real and what sucks. So, lets have some fun.