The Screaming Viking

So far I haven’t been a huge fan of Spartacus.  It has been interesting enough so far to keep me watching it, but it’s no where near as engrossing as Rome.  The episode before last (episode 6 or so?) is finally starting to bring the story together.

I read online that the lead has cancer and that has delayed shooting the 2nd season.  Not to be cold, but I don’t think changing the lead would really hurt the series…but we’ll have to see what the network decides.  Hopefully the actor is O.K.

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Entertainment Weekly is reporting that actor Andy Whitfield, who is starring in the Starz drama “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

He will begin treatment immediately in New Zealand, but as a result, production on the second season of “Spartacus” has been delayed. It was originally scheduled to get underway later this month.

Whitfield’s cancer was detected early and his prognosis is good. “I’m receiving excellent care, and am feeling strong, positive and determined with an army of support behind me,” Whitfield said in a statement.

Starz president Chris Albrecht said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Andy. His health, of course, is our primary concern. He has our complete support during this difficult time.“

Capt Phil Harris of “Deadliest Catch” fame died Tuesday from complications related to his stroke.  He was 53…

It’s kind of strange when you hear someone from a T.V. show you are a fan of dies.  I don’t feel sad or tore up…anything like that, but there is a sense of “loss” I guess.  I am curious to see how this will be handled in the upcoming season of Deadliest Catch.  The discovery channel seems a little more classy to me than something like E!, so I hope there isn’t too much footage of him in the hospital unconscious and none of his lifeless body.  I would think a 10min or so montage of footage from the past however many years as a highlight reel in the episode where they cover his death would be fitting.  From watching the show, I’ve never got the impression his boys were mature or experienced enough to handle the “Cornelia Marie” without him…so I wonder how that will play out down the road.  I know nothing about how crabbing works, but they might be better off to “rent” out the boat and their shares as they work on learning more about what it takes to run a crab boat.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

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(CNN) — Capt. Phil Harris of the Discovery Channel show “The Deadliest Catch” died Tuesday of complications from a stroke suffered late last month. He was 53.

Harris, the tattooed and gruff captain of the Cornelia Marie, was a fan favorite in the reality show about crab fishing off Alaska.

“Discovery mourns the loss of dear friend and colleague Captain Phil Harris. He was more than someone on our television screen. Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him,” a statement from the network said. “We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart.”

Harris suffered a massive stroke on January 29 while his crew offloaded crab at St. Paul Island, Alaska.

“It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad — Captain Phil Harris,” said a statement from his sons, Jake and Josh Harris. “Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end.”

I’ve been watching this show lately and it’s a little interesting.  The show works out well for me because it’s only 30min and it’s not something you really have to pay attention to.

Pawn Stars is on the History Channel and is about this pawn shop in Las Vegas run by Cory, Rick and Richard Harrison.  It’s a combination of reality T.V. and antique road show.  They try to work in a bit of “reality” with some conflict between the people and them yelling back and forth at each other…and that really doesn’t work for me.  It’s amusing sometimes and it’s kind of needed to flesh out the characters a bit, but I’m far more interested in the people that come in to the store.  Sometimes the things they are bringing in are interesting but what is more interesting to me is how ill prepared people are to negotiate the price of their items.  I mentioned something to the wife last night, but I don’t think an episode has gone by without a gun or weapon of some sort being sold.  There are a few other interesting things, but I’m most interested in the guns.

It amazes me how many people will walk in to the shop with a gun and not have any idea what they really have.  It wouldn’t take much effort to research some information about the item online, then set a price in your head and go in to the store.  The biggest mistake a lot of these people make is not being willing to walk out.  There are several guys that walk in and say they are selling an item because their wife has told them to get rid of it.  I would personally get rid of the wife…but that’s just me.  Some dude had an item that was quite valuable, a civil war gun? I think.  After getting it appraised he agreed to trade the gun for a guitar valued at about 4k.   Now I understand that people have different ideas of what is valuable…and the value of an item is somewhat based on your personal bias…I couldn’t see trading a gun for a guitar, but I got at least one buddy that would make a trade like that without blinking.

The problem I have with how some of these people do business is that they will hear these high values for items, “this would go for around 10k at auction”, and they will sell it to Rick for 3k.  I fully accept that not having to hassle wit the auction is worth some money, and some of these people probably got the items from relatives that died or something…but why wouldn’t you at least research how to auction something like that off?  Maybe it isn’t too much of a hassle…who knows.  I do like the way the guys at the pawn shop buy things…they tell you a price, move very little if anything at all…and most of the time they tell the buyer what they expect to make off the item.  That seems pretty honest to me.

The show is interesting…it’s acceptable TiVo fodder if nothing else.

Anyone who is a deadliest catch regular will be familiar with Capt. Phil Harris.  If you watched last season you know he had some health issues.  Apparently over the weekend he suffered a stroke and some reports have him currently in a coma.  It said it happened while he was unloading a boat, and I would expect to see the story in this season’s deadliest catch.  We’ll see if he pulls through or not.

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‘Deadliest Catch‘ star Phil Harris is currently in hospital after suffering a stroke while unloading his boat.

The captain of the Cornelia Marie had a stroke while in port off-loading from his boat, a Discovery spokesperson told TMZ.

“He has been transported to a medical facility and is receiving the best care possible,” the rep said.

According to the Discovery web site, Harris has been working in the fishing industry for 32 years.

For the past 18, he has been captain of Cornelia Marie, a crew that includes his two sons, both deckhands.