"Boardwalk Empire" is superb TV

I just finished watching Season 1 of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and have to say I haven't enjoyed a TV series as much in a long time. 

In a pinch, I'd place it between "The Wire" (best TV series ever) and "The Sopranos" in terms of quality.  "Boardwalk Empire" shares key themes from both of those HBO series -- gangsters, crime, sociology -- but manages to stay fresh, even under the direction of Martin Scorcese, who never seems to stray far from tales of organized crime. Perhaps it's the grandiose sets and period dress that give it an edge.

Steve Buscemi is excellent in the lead role of crime boss "Nucky Thompson" but his supporting cast is equally top notch, particularly Michael Pitt as "Jimmy Darmody" and Michael Shannon's multi-layered "Agent Nelson Van Alden." Like "The Wire," many involved storylines intertwine over the course of 12 episodes, leading to an exciting finale that has you itching for Season 2. Note for the fainthearted: There's lots of cussing, nudity and violence. 

"Boardwalk Empire" is not yet out on DVD so HBO is your only legal viewing choice at this point. Those who seek it out will not be disappointed.

Nudge, nudge - reminders made easy

Remember the Eric Idle character in "Monty Python" who keeps saying, "Nudge, nudge?" Well now there's a email service that delivers digital versions of elbows in the side to keep you from forgetting what to do or where to be.

I know cell phones have alarms and reminders and all that but I'm fascinated by NudgeMail's ability to accept crude directions via email then deliver timely reminders back.

Here's how it works: Let's say it's Wednesday morning and you have an important meeting the next day -- but your suit at the dry cleaners won't be ready until 5 p.m. Wednesday, an hour before close. With NudgeMail, you address an email to 500pm@nudgemail.com, then put "Get dry cleaning" in the subject line or text.

That's it. You'll get an email reminder at 5:00. If you're busy at 5, you can email "snoozetime@NudgeMail.com with your new time (let's say 5:30) in the subject line. 

There are a ton of other alert options for day, specific date, snooze alarms, recurring events and more.

NudgeMail is free during its beta phase, so give it a try. 

Lady GaGa, Blondie as history teachers? Yep and it works

Who ever said history isn't fun never checked out the historyteachers.

GOOD magazine turned me on to these wonderful videos that mash world history with popular music. The videos are produced by three teachers in Hawaii who go by the YouTube handle "historyteachers".

The video above explains the life of Martin Luther set to The Bangles' "Manic Monday" and it's surprising 1) how effective the teachers are at rewriting Prince's lyrics without altering the music and 2) how accurate the history lesson remains throughout the song.

There are dozens of other video lessons, including the history of the French Revolution set to Lada GaGa's "Bad Romance," the Plague set to No Doubt's "Hollaback Girl" and Gutenberg set to Blondie's "Sunday Girl."

It'll be interesting to see whether these videos actually translate to increased knowledge of history -- I think they will -- but in the meantime I'm just going to enjoy them for what they are: Fun and thought provoking.