I know many of you aren’t happy with the writers’ strike. I know that I’m not too pleased with it. Knowing that shows like “The Office,” “Heroes” and “Grey’s Anatomy” may not have new episodes soon scares me.

What scares me more is that shows like “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” have already begun the reruns. I often go to these shows as my main news source because regular broadcast news scares me.

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Kermit the Frog was on to something when he made that famous statement: “It isn’t easy being green.” Just ask NBC.

For the week of Nov. 5-9, the network turned its icon green in the name of “Green Week” (detailed info can be found at www.nbc.com/green). The week was filled with environmentally-themed shows, like green versions of “The Biggest Loser,” “Bionic Woman,” “30 Rock” and “The Office,” and public service announcements, during which our favorite NBC stars give us tips for making our everyday lives a little greener. We are given rehashed tips like plant a tree, recycle, and turn off the water while brushing our teeth.

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Looking through the large picture window on 222 E. Erie St., I could see people everywhere. They were standing in the lobby, seated at every chair at the bar and relaxing in the large grandmother chairs.

My heart sank. “Oh no,” I thought to myself. “The secret is out about Hinterland.” I immediately had visions of a two hour wait time and a grumbling stomach. Thankfully, it was only a vision.

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This past weekend, a longtime friend and I met up in Los Angeles for a weekend of carefree fun and fancy. The weather cooperated, as did the shopping. New York and Paris are certainly chic, but there is something about that California sunshine that makes a tissue T and casual, tousled hair seem like the only option.

Perhaps it is that same California sunshine that has inspired a plethora of emerging fashion companies, each with their own spin on casual chic.

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“Life is pandemonium!” belts the cast of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” on opening night at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. “Spelling Bee” stopped in Milwaukee Nov. 6-11, before heading off to Providence, Rhode Island. The new musical comedy is Tony-Award winning, and has received critical acclaim from the likes of the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

What sets “Spelling Bee” apart from most musicals is its unique blend of traditional musical fare and audience interaction. Before the show, four audience members were chosen to be part of the bee.

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Having already witnessed Michael Pink’s beautiful adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” this past spring, I sat in my chair on Tuesday evening hoping to witness another wonderful Shakespeare performance by the Milwaukee Ballet.

Though errors in storytelling ability abounded throughout the night’s performance, most of Stephen Mills’ adaptation of “Hamlet” was quite entertaining. Mills, artistic director of Ballet Austin, reset his choreography from “Hamlet” for the Milwaukee Ballet.

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“Dan in Real Life” succeeds in offering the classic stereotype of a nonchalantly dysfunctional family. The film suggests that while the family appears normal on the surface, when the characters are deconstructed they are a band of misfits. It fails, however, to execute this idea effectively.

Dan (Steve Carell) is a 45-year-old writer/widower who is alone in trying to successfully raise his daughters, all under the age of 18.

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“Reservation Road” (2007) delivers a shockingly realistic portrait of one of the many horrors that keep parents awake at night. During a pit stop on the way home from a family outing, Ethan and Grace Learner (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) witness the unthinkable when their young son is killed by a speeding SUV.

The distracted driver at the wheel is fellow father Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo), a divorced lawyer raising his own young son. After panicking briefly, Arno speeds off into the night to promptly hide the crime.

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Although the title, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” may be obtuse and clunky, the film itself is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Chronicling the final months in the life of the notorious outlaw, the film succeeds in creating legendary characters ripe with flaws. As the title suggests, a bulk of the film revolves around the birth, life and eminent death of the relationship between Jesse James and Robert Ford.

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“30 Days of Night,” which is based on the horror comic miniseries written by Steve Niles, puts a different spin on your typical vampire movie.

It begins in a small Alaskan town where the sun is setting on the last day before 30 consecutive days of darkness. A series of vandalisms begin the trouble, and as darkness falls the worst is yet to come. A group of vampires attack the town and only a small group of survivors, led by Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett), are left to fend for themselves and try to survive until daylight comes again.

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“The Amory Wars” saga has been concluded with Coheed and Cambria’s latest and perhaps final album entitled “Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow.”

The graphic novel written by front man Claudio Sanchez serves as the centralized theme of the bands existence, creating not just a concept album, but a concept series that has stretched the length of four albums dating back to their 2002 debut “Second Stage Turbine Blade.”

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I’m not going to lie- I enjoy being befuddled.

I consider a piece of art to be a great success if I can leave a theater or close a book confused, but anxious to understand what I have just experienced.

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Since the release of the iPod, everyone and their mother’s have thought about getting one, and why not? Despite their diminutive size, they are jam packed with features, and just ooze trendiness. If an expensive car is the status symbol of the adult world, then a feature-loaded iPod is the status symbol of the teenage and college kid world.

That’s well and fine, but all the buzz around the iPod is kind of a buzz killer to other MP3 players. Anyone who gets an iPod may not even know what other cool MP3 players are out there.

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It is about time I said it: Video games have turned children into a group of porkers. They promote a gross and disgusting lifestyle filled with fried and sugary foods, and this sad trend shows no signs of changing.

Never have I once heard someone say, “Hey, I have to pause this and grab myself some cooked carrots and cup of yogurt.” I have heard, “Hold on a sec - I’m going to go zap an Easy Mac.”

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