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Thoughts on Last Night's Television

Survivor: Samoa: "That was seriously hard-core."

The Office: "Hilarious as usual. (And I thought that was Darryl carrying the dog food too.)"

Community: "Why didn't I know this show was coming out? I (heart) Joel McHale hard. Loved it."

Project Runway: "I thought for sure that it'd be Gordana going home because she'd had two weeks in the bottom for being blah. Apparently, making one horrendous outfit is worse than making a bunch of forgettable outfits. Good to know."

Models of the Runway: "Finally we've gotten rid of Fatma. Jesus H. Christ, I can't believe it took this long."

Crazy for Gossip Girl

I have found the most amazing article about Gossip Girl fan-dom. Don't believe me that it's the most amazing article ever? Check out this snippet:

"What do you do if you're a former fashion writer serving 18-to-life in prison for drugging, and sexually assaulting a former colleague of yours for 13 hours one crazy Halloween? Write lengthy missives to the New York Post, obviously.

"Because, you know, they will publish them! Or selections from them anyway. No one wants to transcribe all seven handwritten pages of crazy.

"Yes, Peter Braunstein, Woman's Wear Daily writer turned lunatic fugitive turned suicidal inmate, loves Gossip Girl. Why wouldn't he?"

And you thought your obsession was too much...

My favorite line from Monday's episode: "For some of us a college degree is an accessory. Like a Malawi baby or a Poodle." -Chuck Bass(tastic)

Also, one last thing regarding Gossip Girl: I'm loving this season of Gawker's recapping style (i.e., the Power Rankings).

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Better Late Than Never, Right?

I know (I know, I know) I've been really lax about updating the blog. (It's only been two weeks... not so bad, right?) And the unfortunate part is that I really do have stuff to write about because the television season (for my tastes) are in full bloom. But never fear, I'll get you all caught up lickity split.


Reality Television

Big Brother 11

Ah, Jessie, you silly, silly, self-indulgent freak. I thought I'd get the opportunity to say, "Sorry, we won't really miss you," after you were ousted by Jeff using the "wizard power," but that wouldn't have been true because you're mugging is too good to be true and the BB producers are going to bless us with your jury house antics from here on out. Really, I know you want to be a WWE superstar, but lose the star-studded hot pink tights. (And here's a tip when picking out future costumes: If it's likely to match Lydia's hair color, then you know you've selected the wrong outfit.)

Now, on to Jeff, my imaginary reality TV show boyfriend. Honestly, if Jeff didn't smoke (and didn't say phrases like "You got, got" repeatedly), he'd be my official dreamboat. I even liked his little "I'm trying to make [Jordan] a better person," speech on last night's HOH interview. Sure, he stumbled through it (and I think he realized that he should have said, "Make her a better player," instead), but he was so flustered and admitted that he needed to work on not snipping at her so much. Love that guy.

I don't know how, with the huge cast of bizarros that were cast this season (and the fact that some of the best of them--ahem, Casey--were voted out early), but I have loved BB 11. Every season I think, "I'm done with this show, these people are nuts-o," but they always get me back.

Top Chef: Las Vegas

Two words for you: Voltaggio Brothers. I prefer the younger one, Michael, and my sister favors the older one, Bryan, but that's what I love about the VolBros... something for everyone. One loves big racks and the other's a family man. One's good under pressure and delivers in the Quick Fire, the other's slow and steady and wins the Elimination Challenge. These two are pitch perfect. Love them.

I've been (surprisingly) in tune with the judges opinions. They're really weeding out the chaff early this season and not penalizing the upper-crust chefs for early mis-steps. I think that Preeti and Jesse are not long for the Top Chef world--too many times in the bottom at Judges Panel (or a total inability to shuck a clam)--and we'll see them go home shortly. I also would put a little money on the fact that Ron and Hector don't have long-term staying power because they can't shake those ethnic roots enough--their range is too limited for the competition of Top Chef--but we'll see. That's the beauty of reality TV.

Project Runway

Ah, Tim Gunn, how I've missed you. But I do have a question, Timmy: What really does being CCO at Liz Claibourne entail? I'm just wondering because you've transported across the country for nearly four months and still have that title. Even Nina Garcia moved from Elle to Marie Claire--maybe that was for un-relocation reasons, but I'm just saying...

Also, in a note similar to my comments on the early episodes of Top Chef: Las Vegas, I don't think the judges have been too far off. I also think that the level of competition is pretty stiff this season. They've weeded out Ari's out-of-this-galaxy-weirdness, and Malvin's out-of-this-world-weirdness (He actually said there wasn't a vocabulary to describe his designs. Who does that?), and it looks like Mitchell's out-of-this-sewing-room-lack-of-ability is going to come to a quick close, but the others look pretty solid. But, I'm just going on the record: if they don't put a cork in Johnny's I'm-a-recovering-meth-addict schtick, then I'm over it.

By the by, Models of the Runway might be the best thing ever. Love it.

Survivor

It's coming back on September 17. My DVR is already set-up to record. Yea!

Serialized Programming

Entourage

Have I told you how much I love a Turtle-related storyline? I have? Oh, well good, then you already know how seriously stoked I am about the awesomeness of this season with it's focus on all things not-Vince-related. Keep the good episodes coming, Marky Mark and the Entourage Funky Bunch.

Mad Men

I am not looking forward to the (spoiler alert) storyline with Little Miss Sally Draper getting molested by Big Papa Hofstadt. Call me incest-and-molestation shy, if you will, but I wouldn't mind not watching that.

What I do love watching: Cosgrove v. Campbell. I love me some happy-go-lucky Ken Cosgrove and I hate me some slimy Pete Campbell.

And I always love Joan. (Especially Joan v. Mr. Hooker.)

Sons of Anarchy

It's coming back on September 8. My DVR is already set-up to record. Yea!

What awesome TV-related thoughts do you have to share?

Crazy for the Celluloid

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of getting my digital cable receiver installed in my bedroom (for only an additional $2/month, which is sweet), so now I get 300+ channels of TV that I'll hardly ever watch. Awesome!

But the most awesome part is that I watched the Big Brother 11 episode that I missed on Tuesday night. (Which was very, very cool. I loved seeing the athlete clique implode.) Watching my summer guilty pleasure got me to thinking about other goodies that I've seen recently at the movies or on TV.

Here's what's what:

So, I went and saw Transformers 2 over the Fourth of July weekend and, as much as I loved the first one, I wish that this little picture to the left were accurate. I wish the autobots would attack Michael Bay so he'd stop making these movies. They're only going to get worse. Spare us, please.

But then I went to the movies last weekend and saw something really good: The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3. My dad, being the old fogie that he is, had told me that, "That's a re-make, won't be as good as the original." Whatever. He might be right. But it's also true that this was a book first (which I now want to read to see what the original plot line was because it was written back in 1973), so even the original film version was a rip-off. But enough about our family in-fighting, on with the movie.

I really enjoyed this. There were a couple of cheesy points and implausibilities, but overall good dialgoue and acting. Good cinematography and sound editing. I'd recommend this one around.

This past Sunday I watched the first two episodes of Big Love Season 1 via my Netflix hook-up. It was... hmm... very HBO. I actually enjoyed the storyline and I'll watch more, but the sex is kind of crazy. I don't necessarily mind a little bit of the what-for in a story (especially if its central to the story line as it is in Big Love), but this is so very, very HBO. It's like with each original show they try and top themselves with the number of penis shots and protracted scenes of regular (not-quite-so-hot) people grinding away on each other. I got it with Sex & the City, thought they were trying to go "edgy" in The Wire, but this just seems like a bunch of pasty suburbanites doing their business. Not overly provactive, in my opinion, just cheap. But I'll keep watching for the story (especially with the teens, I like that part).

Then Sunday evening I watched the debut of Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime. I enjoyed this original "programming for women," but I wonder how long I'll stay with it. It seems as if the show's gimmick (in this case a model dies and comes back to life in the size-16 body of an intelligent model) might get a little old. This happened to me with Eli Stone... loved it for a while, but then got tired of the song and dance. I'll keep you posted on my love-age of this one.

Hit me up in the comments and let me know what's been rocking your visual world lately.

Interrupting Our Regularly-Scheduled Programming

I was going to post a blog today about composting, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.


The blog is taking a moment of silence for the undisputed King of Pop. His music, his moves, and his videos are iconic. He will remain infamous, long after his death.


We're also taking a brief break to honor the quintissential "Girl Next Door" who inspired many a young lady to experiment with hair wings. Farrah, you were a classic beauty.

Depressing week on the blog, huh?

So Many Sad Things

It's a day of sadness on so many levels...

TV legend Ed McMahon died earlier today. (Raise your hand and admit if you thought he was already dead.)


Jon & Kate (of Jon & Kate Plus 8) are separating. Watch the video and tell me which is more sad:
1. These eight lovely children are going to suffer through watching their parents divorce;
2. Jon wears large "diamond" earrings in both ears and doesn't even come close to pulling it off; or
3. Kate things "agreeance" is a word.

But, perhaps, the most sad thing to happen in world news today was the shocking revelation that there is an 18-year-old girl who actually thought her dad was stupid enough to believe her lie that she fell asleep during a tattoo procedure. As somebody who's got some tattoos--you don't fall asleep. Ever.

Sadness all around today.

Holy Moly, That Was a Mother of a Finale

Last night's Southland finale was kind of crazy. Seriously.

Exhibit 1: You started off with this crazy lady...


...and things just escalated from there.

Exhibit 2: Dewey went crazy and Brown went for a wild ride with her wild partner.


I won't be sad to see Dewey's brand of crazy get booted from the show (but seeing as how his story line is "dramatic," they're likely to keep him around).

Exhibit #3: Detective Adams did this:


Exhibit #4: Detective Clarke got shot by his neighbor... totally surreal. (Also, totally impossible to find a photo of online). I'd love for somebody to be able to find a photo of Clarke's glassy-eyed post-shooting stare to add to this blog. Put the link in a comment, if you can find it.

Chocolate is Yummy

I love chocolate as much as the next girl. Truth be told, I had a large bowl of chocolate-covered peanut clusters for lunch today (with a Diet Coke, natch). Anyway, I've been incredibly creeped out by the new commercials for Axe Dark Temptation (the ones with the "Chocolate Man"). It's just gross to me.



Anyway, I turned myself into a "Chocolate Woman" via Axe's Chocolatize Me application on Facebook. Turn yourself into something tasty and post a link so I can see you (and want to eat you up).

I'm a PC

For a long time I have been a user of the personal computer, and on two of those occasions over the past 19 years I have used a Mac computer. I'm not a big fan of the Mac, probably because the mouse with no buttons and different layout are different to me and I'm too old and crotchety to try and figure out how to use them.

Somewhat secretly I've resented those recent "I'm a Mac" computer commercials (probably because I resent the fact that I'm not "cool" if I don't use a Mac). That being said, I love the new "I'm a P.C." commercial that is playing right now (the Gates & Seinfeld commercials don't get me excited quite as much). Check out the video below and tell me, "Are you a Mac or a PC?"