Reasons to like TV again:

1. Kristen Bell is joining Heroes
2. Janeane Garafolo is joining 24

Reasons to not like TV:

1. The Geico Cavemen have a series.
2. Reality shows.
3. No, really, the fucking cavemen...

John Inman (Mr. Humphries on Are You Being Served; also the title character on Take a Letter Mr. Jones) died last Thursday, of complications from Hepatitus A at the age of 71. :(

"In December 2005 he and his partner of 35 years, Ron Lynch, took part in a civil partnership ceremony at London's Westminster Register Office." -- BBC News

SHORT/cuts

- Was sick for a few days, but better now. A slight annoyance as opposed to full blown pain in my upper throat and around my tonsils. This is not a new development; I get it every year. Every year I go to a doctor and am told "it's not strep." A lot of water, tea, lozenges, and awful menthol throat spray, and I feel almost to normal.

- Went to the Connexions drag show yesterday. It was a fun show; I was surprised they reprised a few numbers from last year, but they were fine. A couple of the songs were way too long, but the concepts were for the most part pretty incredible. Made me want to appropriate a few ideas for our preshows, although nothing directly.

- I haven't watched any of Veronica Mars, Desperate Housewives, or Grey's Anatomy this year, although most of those series have run at least 3 episodes already. It just didn't work out, taping them. Genevieve and I are watching season 2 of Housewives on DVD during our lunch hour, meaning we get about 3-4 episodes a week. Next up is probably Grey's Anatomy, and that won't be til deep into fall. Meaning it's distinctly probable I won't be seeing any of these shows' third seasons until after they've aired and are released on DVD, next fall. Ah, well. Unless I really manage to take advantage of the repeats and actually keep them on a tape and not fuck it up, I probably won't. I just hope I don't screw up the first 6 weeks of Lost, because Matt and I don't intend on waiting much longer than after those premiere and the show goes on hiatus til February.

- Sleepy. Think I am going to shower and get to bed early. Matthew worked without sleep and has already gone to bed to make up for only a few hours he's lost (he's getting back up at 4 a.m.). I think I'll catch some body heat time.

ABC likes alienating the eaters of their bread and butter. Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy have had erratic schedules for the last half of their seasons. It's getting really annoying. Desperate has had new episodes far and in-between reruns the last two months.

Both Grey's and Desperate are running clip shows tonight--the second clip shows EACH this season. I get that they want to bring new fans into the show, but isn't this a little late? Both series only have like 2 episodes left in the season...

Plus, Grey's is wonderful, but it's not exactly been a bear to follow this year. Desperate has always benefited/suffered from multiple storylines that take pauses and breaks for a few episodes each, but it's by no means more complicated than last year, and they already covered the first half of the season with a useless wrap-up before sweeps.

This fucked up schedule (there was a month of no new Grey's and _now_ they're running another fucking clip show?!) has been driving me crazy. ABC was on it's last hinges two years ago, and with Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and to a far, far lesser but Golden Globe winning extent, Commander in Chief, have brought them back to the forefront. And they're fucking it up.

This is reason #2 (commercials still rank as #1) that I hate network television, and will always prefer the DVD format.

I will say that if any show could benefit from a clip show, it's the increasingly harder to follow Veronica Mars, which is entertaining week to week with it's brazen, bubbly star, interesting supporting characters, and keen, quirky dialogue, but a wide-open, unresolved plot you could crash a bus through.

Today was a pretty full day of work. It wasn't really stressful or difficult or anything, but it was pretty busy. I ended up being very, very tired by the time 5 o'clock rolled around. Sometime after 6, I even laid back in my chair, cranked up Aqua, and apparently fell asleep. The nap did nothing but make me cranky when woken up.

Matt and I did food shopping in two parts. The first part was him walking around and putting things in the cart. The second part was me actually being alert and putting food for myself in the cart. It ended up being $170, which was pretty obscene, and I still haven't exactly thought about the inexcusable shopping cart rape that was so blatant and unforgiving... Money's not exactly tight, and most of the things we were getting were for pretty general consumption (I did end up getting two boxes of raspberries simply because they were there and not a bad berry in the bunch). I have to say that I don't really want to live in a world where an individual water filter is $10.

Two websites that I frequent like the dickens are bugging the hell out of me. I got into the habit of updating directly from Livejournal.com, using that embedded text box they have, after about two years or more using one of their stand-alone clients. I just hated that I couldn't change the mood icon that I wanted to use if I was feeling a different adjective than the pre-determined 130-some. Anyway, now when I'm typing, the window keeps expanding, and making that horizontal scroll bar, and part of my entry obscured. Fuckers.

The second is last.fm, which is taking a very long time to load my total artists list. As someone who acknowledges that it doesn't matter what my music stats are as long as I am enjoying the tunes, I am also someone who really likes to know "who's in the lead" or whatever. It's all still uploading, but the artists are updating individually as opposed to the whole chart. After Yes, Virginia's release on Tuesday, there's a good 60-some tracks that haven't been added to my list for the Dresden Dolls since then. Nellie McKay is listed on my weekly charts as having 52 plays last week, but my overall hasn't even updated her past the otherwise anemic 40-some that came before that. Blargh.

Matt and I watched another episode of Lost yesterday, which was very interesting. Only one for tonight; Matt has a registration system to make functional by tomorrow.

I'm alone in my section of the office, tomorrow. That sucks.

My shoulder still hurts, but only really now when I touch it. Jamie thinks it's a pinched nerve. That sucks, too.

Started Lost season one last night. Matt and I watched the first episode (the pilot, part one), and tonight we saw part two, and the third episode. It looks to be a very captivating show, moving at a steady pace, and full of interesting characters that I want to more about than 40 minute intervals are allowing me. One thing that bugged the hell out of me was at the end of episode three. I get that they don't want to have all the secrets out by episode three, but Jack was a fucking idiot for not ( Read more... )

Generally, though, I like it. Very curious, although it may turn out to be one of those damn shows that never knows when to stop with the surprises... humans are deep, fascinating figures, but there's only so much you can reveal slowly without it coming off as kinda reaching. I had that problem with most of season 3 of 24, and it was slightly irritating in Alias, although the latter seemed to have that trouble only because it was obvious the writers didn't know if they'd get the appropriate guest stars.

Anyway. It's decent stuff. Favorite characters: Hurley and Kate, easily, even if Kate is essentially Jennifer Garner pt. 2. That's ok. I like Jennifer Garner.

The last few days have been a whirlwind.

In short, very overwhelming. I really just haven't had the energy to post about it. And still not. Unfortunately. 'Cause I've really got a lot to say.

I saw Mom Mom on Thursday. She was so much better than I expected/pretended to expect ('cause I didn't know how to expect anything!) Matt and I were actually there for about five hours. Longer than I think Matt expected. I, once again, didn't know how to expect anything. Partially because, well, Matt was the driver.

Pop Pop is sick. I'm still getting used to the regular cold/sick-type thing actually being very serious for older people. And I'm still getting used to Mom Mom and Pop Pop being older people. A consolation, though small, is that I think they've come to realize it. It's not a shock for them. Pop Pop and Mom Mom almost seem resigned--not "giving up," mind you, but resigned--to the fact that they will get older and sometimes get sick.

My father hasn't gone to see them. I'm letting that just speak for itself. It's insufficient for me to just shake my head, with my going skyward... It's appalling. I just haven't figured how to appropriately react to that.

Errrrrm... After that, there was snow. Angry snow. It stopped Rocky from going forth, which was frustrating, and was the basis of an argument-through-cellphone with Matt, which was far more frustrating.

Between that, though, was the Wicked Winter Renn Faire. It went. It wasn't very organized, as no one seemed to really know what everyone else was doing, but it went. Michael, Christian, and Genevieve performed The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (as in the Reduced Shakespeare Company's signature show) and it went off beautifully. Accolades to them, Johanna, and Danielle for making that happen.

Grey's Anatomy broke my heart. Desperate Housewives was awesome, too.

Well, this whole thing has been awfully disjointed. Good enough.

The Superbowl is on TV. This means no Desperate Housewives. Fuckers.

I haven't written at all this week. I haven't either had the time, or felt inclined. Just busy, I guess. And tired... very, very tired. I've been exhausted most of this week.

Finally saw Veronica Mars tonight. I have no idea what's going on. I think I missed only an episode, but apparently lots happened in it, so I am completely lost. And the current events really suck on it.

24 has certainly picked up. It took Sherry Palmer to finally get that to happen. Plus, Gina Torres is in it, which I am happy about, except she plays someone completely different than I'm used to. Between her as Anna (Alias), Jasmine (Angel), and Zoey (Serenity), I just have never seen her as anything but a confidant, forthright woman. I guess Sherry's forthright enough for everyone, though. Really, it was the dullest, most irritating first nine episodes. There are exactly 4 parts to every season of 24, and here it was Kyle Singer, Mexico, and then Nina Myers (yes!). I was happy to see Sarah Clarke as Nina again. And I like new girl Chloe.

Kim Bauer is one of the most annoying characters that I recall watching on an otherwise (usually) satisfying television series. She has never made the right decision, has repeatedly put herself and others in jeopardy, and fucked things up consistently. I hate her avidly, and this season is no different. She just has a boyfriend to get equally annoyed by.

Yeah, that's about as in-depth about as I'm going to get about my own current events.

The Golden Globes were last night. Homosexuals everywhere! I feel like such a fake movie fan. I haven't seen a damn one of those movies. Most of them I would like to, but just haven't. The TV shows I fared better with. And that just makes me want to cry.

Brokeback Mountain fucked everyone, and got Best Drama, Best Director, Screenplay, and Original Song. I haven't seen the film. I'm not even entirely sure that I want to. It's impressive, though, that they managed to score picture, director, and writing awards. Not a one for acting, though. Walk the Line also may be a movie I have to put on my list. I hate Johnny Cash's voice, so I didn't give a second thought about seeing his biopic. But since it got Best Musical, and Actor and Actress trophies in the same field, I may have to reconsider.

Felicity Huffman happily won Best Actress in a Drama for Transamerica, which I am thrilled about. This too is on my list. Shrugs to the Supporting Actors. I don't know the movies. I am so behind. George Clooney (Syriana), and Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, uh... The Constant Gardner) won. Sure.

Lost and Desperate Housewives won for the series categories. Since I have both of their seasons one on my shelf, I feel prepared. I just haven't cracked Lost open yet. Matt and I opted for 24.

Geena Davis surprised me by winning Best Actress in a Drama, go her. I like Geena Davis. Mary Louise Parker looked genuinely off-kilter (see: stoned and angry) when she won. Chris Rock seemed to imply that she was either screwed because she was the only non-Desperate Housewives nominee, or a "fake" win because the Housewives all canceled each other out. I wanted Marcia Cross to win. Or Felcity Huffman, even. That would've great; a double win on her part. I think Teri Hatcher is good but overrated, and Eva Longoria simply doesn't deserve it.

I was so happy for Sandra Oh when she won for Grey's Anatomy! I love her! And I was convinced she was going to be overlooked! But she won! Yay!

... and naturally, I hadn't seen any of the miniseries or made-for-TV movies.

Random thoughts:

- I was watching Dharma and Greg on FX. For one, seeing as the station seems to be of the "special effects" ouvure (hence the, y'know, name), "Dharma and Greg" is about as low-fi as "effects" can get. Totally an Oxygen or Lifetime show. Anyway. Jane Seymour was on it. And she was fucking hysterical. Seeing Dr. Quinn guzzling pixie stix (and playing herself doing it-- not as someone else) was one of the funniest moments in television for me.

- The Overstock.com Christmas holiday jingle is damn catchy. I didn't get anything from them this year, but I certainly had the song in my head.

- The new Geico gecko disturbs me. They went a little far with the realism. Part of his charm initially was that he looked kinda CGI. And his new accent's... strange.

Yeah. Anyway.

Matt and I have not been seeing a lot of each other this week. Mostly because I go to bed around midnight or shortly after, get up by nine, work in a different part of the office, and Matt goes to sleep at like 12 or 2, and then I wake him up at 8 or 9. And the process begins again.

It has been troublesome, but we've had our moments. Last night at about 10 or so, I went to sleep on the condition Matt wake me up at midnight so we could watch CSI (which has become our new show to watch together, along with the occasional Star Trek: The Next Generation episode) and then went back to sleep. With the exception of the nap beforehand, it seems to be the plan for tonight as well.

CSI is a very entertaining show. It can get a little gruesome here and there, but it's not nearly as blood-and-guts as I had anticipated. And I really like the character Katherine Willows.

That and we've been occasionally getting food together which has been nice, too. I'm realizing that the days keep bleeding together, though. Same thing every day, and I am really bored and disenchanted with my work, and am just waiting for the hours to crawl by. I've been so tired.

And that's been about it. I'm seeing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Jamie tomorrow, which should be good. I have promptly forgotten the book. So it'll all be a nice surprise for me.

- Show
...was splendid!
I met Mr. Merlin (who is a Crim from California, and someone who I've briefly bantered with on LJ), who was very nice. I was happy with my performance, and I think everything went quite smoothly.

- Some films I've reached recently...
On Showtime, I saw It Runs in the Family, with Michael and Kirk Douglas. It was a sad, somewhat underdeveloped, story of three generations of one family. It never stayed with one set of people long enough to really be gripping, and lots of things were left unresolved, but it was interesting, and I like Bernadette Peters (who played Michael Douglas' wife).
I also saw Mean Girls, which I was supposed to wait for with MSU-Brian (possibly; I know we're supposed to watch it together--I don't know if I had to have never seen it... but, well, that was a long time ago). I really liked it. It was a good, solid commentary on high school that didn't insult the age group so much as expose it. Most high school films seem to be made by people who really don't remember high school and either gloss it over, or make it out far worse than it was, or somehow fuck with it. I felt Mean Girls, despite it's liberties in the riot scene, kept itself in check for the most part.
I started to watch Basic Instinct on some network channel... It was too slow to watch with commercials; I may like it all at once, but I couldn't go 30 minutes with 8 of them being ads for cereal and fucking NetZero.

- Commercials
I am amazed by the assault of NetZero, Optimum Online, Netscape, and AOL ads on television. You will likely see at least two of those for every commercial break. And sometimes, in a row. And if you change the channel, well, then your odds are even better. They are everywhere, and have made me somewhat hostile. None of them are entertaining.
Cellphones, too, but that's hardly new. Mostly these days it's just Catherine Zeta-Jones encouraging me to "get more." Well, I would if I could, Catherine, but I appreciate your support.

- Grey's Anatomy
... made me cry. Not tonight's episode, but one from like two weeks ago. I don't even know why. It was just did. It had to do with this train accident and these two people who had never met who were brought together quite literally by a metal pole that went through their abdomens in the crash. One had to die to save the other, and the actress who played the female patient for some reason just made me start streaming salt water.
I love Sandra Oh, who plays Dr. Yang on the series. She, and pretty much all the cast, is extraordinary. Well, actually I have something of a love/hate for Dr. Grey.
I have last week's, and tonight's to watch, in addition to tonight's Desperate Housewives. There is just never enough time.

- Sleep
I don't want to go to sleep soon, but I know I have to. One because I have to take another dose of something-Quil soon, and I can't take two, so I have to pick one. And NyQuil will help me sleep... But tastes awful. But I should go to sleep anything, because (two) I have work in the morning.

They legalized gay marriage in South Park... I wonder how the real Colorado feels about this.

"I am so bored. Episode One bored."
-- Andrew Wells, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Dead Things"

Yeah, that about covers it. So, a few random, recent events of little to no importance:

1. The Pizza Man Mistrusts Me
I asked Matt to order me a pizza from Dominos, and so he went to the one on McBride and ordered it to be delivered, paid for it and left. Some time later, the doorbell rings, and the pizzaman tells me I owe him $17. Despite the fact that the sticker says "Paid." He reasons, "Well, sometimes it's wrong." Um, ok? So how do I prove that it's paid for-- I sense a faulty system in "sometimes it's wrong." So I have to wait while the driver calls the store and makes sure it's paid for. He doesn't have some private office number; he calls the main line and has to wait through those menu and special deals... Sure enough; paid for. Thanks. Is there no trust left in the world?

2. Matt and I have prolonged watching season 3 of 24 for about a year. We just haven't had the time to devote. Finally Matt unwraps the copy we have and we sit on the couch to watch at least one (but likely more than) of the episodes. I comment that the menus are always the same on the seasons, as we see when the DVD loads. The first episode's menu has a photo of Jack Bauer and George Mason. But George Mason died deep into season 2. Matt suggests it's a flashback. But 24 doesn't do flashbacks... it's all real-time. Whatever... ok. So we start it. The beginning is instantly familiar. The credits rolls. A "Sara Gilbert" title card comes up... This is season two... Sara Gilbert's character died like 5 episodes into it. Sure enough, for the last year, we've had two copies of season 2 and been completely oblivious to it.

3. So, instead we watched two episodes from Star Trek: The Next Generation, with the Romulan-Tasha ("Redemption II"), and an interesting if underdeveloped one about trying to communicate with an alien species that speaks only it metaphors ("Darmok").

4. I'm on page 5 of the next Lil Attila graphic novel. I have hopes. It's already different than I was expecting, including an extended sequence between the Pope and God. Matt saw the dailies, and laughed. I consider that a good sign.

Picard declaring his undying love to save Lwaxana from the Ferangi, is probably the funniest Trek moment I've ever seen.

This week already I've missed Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and Madonna on TRL.

I think it's time I got Tivo.

I think it's time I should get free money to get Tivo...

Sometimes VH1 makes me skin want to fly off my body. For the most part, it's their incessant need to bite the hand that feeds them, and they seem to hate music videos and celebrities.

But when they act fucking stupid when mocking others... that's what bothers me most. They had this special called Totally Canadian or something vaguely that. It basically "lovingly" trashed on the country, which is... whatever. It consisted mostly of "Oooh, caribou is funny word!" and made Americans seem like bigger morons than they were implying of the Canadians.

After the obvious mentions of William Shatner and Alanis Morissette (and mind you, I was watching this, so I am to blame for my irritation partially), the start talking about the national bird of Canada: the Canadian Goose.

Well, see that's all well and good, but it's not a fucking Canadian goose! It's a Canada Goose. What pisses me off most is that they had actual Canadians on the show commenting on the goose (although none of them mentioned it by name, because their comments were after the initial introduction), and if any of them either corrected the producers, they were ignored entirely. Or, they let it happen.

I know it's a stupid little thing. But it was a stupid little thing that could've been corrected, and shines really bad on the people that are supposedly southernly superior.

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Thanks for writing in!

School is over.

I'm sleepy.

"Will and Grace" soon. Missed "Friends". Did Rachel have the baby or what?