A few days ago my mom asked me whether or not I had seen the season finale of Downton Abbey. I hadn't and so the next sentence out of her mouth....wasn't words. I take that back. There might have been an "oh my" somewhere in that sentence of oh...............wow................oh.............my..........ah...oh..
So yesterday I caught up with Downton Abbey. I was two episodes shy from the end of the show. I don't consider Downton much more than a historical soap, but the show is fun and it's amazing to see how it's become a pop cultural icon here in the US, so I watch the show. That and avoiding conversations like the one above with my mother.
Anyway, my thoughts about Downton Abbey without giving any plot spoilers away can pretty much be summarized by the cartoon below that's been circulating on the internet the past couple of weeks:
I've been feeling under the weather this weekend so I've been trying to lay low and try to convince my lungs that they can breathe without giving me grief. A pair of lame lungs has given me the opportunity to finally finish the last season of the show Friday Night Lights. Just as good as the rest of the show. I wish we could've had more than 5 seasons of the show, but hey-at least we got five seasons of Tim Riggins.
Mom, here's the Carole Burnett "Glee" episode. You can just watch it from this blog or click on this link and watch it on a larger screen on Hulu. Enjoy. No, I haven't watched it yet.
Mom, If you use Hulu- let me know and I'll take this off. Hulu is a great use of the laptop by the way. Your desktop is so old it may be pretty slow. :)
The wireless we set up over Christmas should be able to stream this just fine.
I confess, I didn't watch the Emmy's last night. But after hearing the buzz about the show last night and reading some great "live posts" from Ann Cannon (seriously, if she tweeted, I'd spend more time on Twitter), I was kind of wishing I watched the show last night. However, thanks to Hulu and Twitter, I got to watch the highlights. Okay, I just watched the opening number, but it's definitely worth sharing.
I'm pretty sure I can't consider myself a pop-culture guru anymore since there's two people in the above clip I can't place. Kate Gosselin? I only figured that out because I read about her cameo. However, I know who Jon Hamm is, and that my dears, is all that matters.
Confession #1: I watch Glee. I'm still two episodes behind, but I started watching it this winter, and it's a guilty pleasure. Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester? Incredibly funny. Sue's Journal? Sue in bed with the principal in a track suit? Love Sue Sylvester. So when I read that Carol Burnett is going to play Sue Sylvester's mom I mentally did backflips in glee. I've loved Carol Burnett since I can remember and I LOVE her. I've even read her memoirs...and still LOVE her! Okay, enough of me gushing. Seriously, think of the possibilities. Especially with the backstory already laid down about Sue's family. Via Washington Post
Instead of cleaning, updating the resume or blogging I knitted this:
while watching this:
Monday, November 09, 2009
You may have noticed these the past 3 or 4 days on Google or blogs such my brother's and his wife. What better way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street? Personally, I can't remember the first time I watched Sesame Street or the Muppets. I'm told Kermit was my favorite, which is about right (I've always done his little laugh and just realized it a few years ago) but each of the Muppets (maybe even Elmo..Maybe) have places in my heart. Even today, I'll occasionally watch Sesame Street excerpts online. Then there's all the lessons they've taught millions of children throughout the world. Pretty incredible. Jim Henson, wherever you are, thanks again!
The second season of Mad Men arrived on DVD a few weeks ago, and we were lucky enough to get the first disc from netflix the day it released. If you've ever seen the show, it's awesome. A period ensemble drama set in the 1960's, it follows the antics of one ad executive, Don Draper and his wife, Betty, and the people they associate with from day to day. The show is dark but occasionally funny, riveting, shocking, and oh the clothes and the sets! Don Draper is a classic American anti-hero, kind of a Gatsby or Bernard Malamud's Roy Hobbs from the Natural(not the Roy Hobbs in the 1984 film,). Draper is an alcoholic womanizer who came from a shady past that was revealed to a certain degree in the first season. However, he's got qualities that make men jealous and women swoon. He's a brilliant ad-man, he's loyal and it doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes. The rest of the cast is spot on-(incredible acting) and the result is that every episode so far has been a gem.
The show has already influenced fashion. Last year's retro throwbacks that could be seen anywhere from Michael Kor's line to Target? Blame this show. However, if you don't have 200.00 dollars to spend on a dress, Mad Men has a new feature called Mad Men Yourself, where you can take 10 minutes and create a character version of yourself as a character of the show! Here's me with my appropo cig dangling from my lips (The amount of smoking in this show makes my allergic lungs nervous)
What's as cool as voting? The Season Premiere of 30 Rock. Halfway through, I thought it was as frantic as the 2nd season's first few episodes. But by the end? Pretty brilliant tv. And what's even cooler? I can embed the episode on my blog. Hulu is awesome.
While watching the Season Finale of 30 Rock, I realized the scenes in DC with Jack and "Cooter," hit a little too close to him. Jokes about toilet water and not getting pens? As over the top as these jokes seems, um yeah, they really aren't, at least in my little corner of the Guvment. All I can say is, Tina Fey, please keep Jack in DC for a few more episodes at least. In other government news, although this year was the hardest year yet, the Departmental Honor Awards Convocation I direct each year was a success. We even had an esteemed Senator from Idaho in attendance.
Craftster user Grenouille78 created a replica of Scarlett O'Hara's famous green-and-white picnic dress from Gone With the Wind using just $10 worth of materials from the dollar store. I couldn't help but think Carol Burnett's Starlet O'Hara would be proud. Here's what may be one of the best comedy sketches of all-time...
Not to get anyone's hope up, but it sounds like talks are going forward for an Arrested Development movie. Jason Bateman told E,
"I can confirm that a round of sniffing has started," Bateman says. "Any talk is targeting a poststrike situation, of course. I think, as always, that it's a question of whether the people with the money are willing to give our leader, Mitch Hurwitz, what he deserves for his participation. And I can speak for the cast when I say our fingers are crossed."
Jason, I know my fingers are crossed too. E sources confirm the rest of the cast is on board and that the Creator of Arrested, Mitch Hurwitz, has been using his downtime during the Writer's Strike to come up with ideas for a script. So remember, Family First! and a little Chicken Dance while we wait in anticipation for hopefully good news about Arrested Development!
Saturday afternoon Kelli and I went down to the District to the Edward Hopper exhibit. As we were walking down to the Metro, she informed me our conversation was a Sorkin conversation. Kelli has been marathon-watching “Sports Night,” and started to see a pattern in Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue. Because we were walking and talking, repeating each other’s words, rephrasing each others dialogue…we were having a Sorkin Dialogue.
If you too want to have a Sorkin Conversation; here’s the key points to follow:
Start Walking
Start Talking to yourself or someone else
If you're talking to yourself you have to question your sanity. out loud. To yourself.
Rephrase the dialogue of the person you're talking to
Tell the person who started the conversation you don't care about the conversation.
Needless to say, throughout the day, Kelli kept saying we were having a Sorkin conversation. We wonder why no one else seems to hang with us.
The next day, we, the roommates, had tinfoil dinners and s'mores for our Sunday dinner. We decided to light our fireplace and as the match was lit and put on the kindling and papers, someone questioned whether or not the chimney flue was open. Well, a few seconds later, smoke was billowing into the living room and my roommates pretty much reenacted this scene below from West Wing. Oh yes, we live in a Sorkin World.
I haven't been watching very many shows this year. I catch Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, and an episode of "Ugly Betty" here and there online. I fell for Friday Night Lights last season, and if you haven't watched the first season, you should check it out..if you like quality television. The show follows the players, the girlfriends, the coach and his family of a small town West Texas high school football team. The show somehow succeeds in not being a soap,even with all the twists. The acting is superb, the scripts are strong and the first season from start to finish is some of the best television I've seen in several years. Not to mention, the show highlights a lot of great intelligent bands (like well Grey's, but a better choice of music imo)The second season started out a little slow, but the last several episodes have been great. Landry, (the guy above) who was a bit of an annoyance last season has turned into one of the best assets of the show. As I was watching the second to last episode aired, the song below was played and it resonated with me. Granted, my father's never been to prison, my brothers are still alive, but the song and lyrics especially hit a nerve. So this holiday season when you're waiting for the writers show to give you new episodes of (gag) heroes or can't wait until Lost starts up in February, check out the first season of Friday Night Lights, or watch an episode or two online. Let me know how it goes for ya.
SEA WOLF - I Made a Resolution well I woke up this morning and I made a resolution, I said "never going to sing another sad song again."
I decided I'd admit it, I'm not an intellectual, though the words never come easy unless I'm singing them, and the hills that I was born in will never leave me no matter how hard I try.
and then my brother was murdered while my father was in prison, and the girl that I sometimes loved up and moved away, and my body filled up with blackness, and the darkness it wanted to drown me, and I heard my father's footsteps catching up to me, and he took me by the shoulders and he said "son, my hands are strong, but I hope you have the strength to shake us free, shake us free boy, shake us free my son, you better shake us free."
(breakdown)
and now I'm lying in the van, chicago in the springtime, and the rain outside was falling sounds just like popcorn, but before I open my eyes I think I make this resolution, "no I'm never gonna sing another sad song for as long as I live"
and the light coming through the windows is making everything glow and he took me by the shoulders and he said "son my hands are strong, but I hope you have the strength to shake us free, shake us free, shake us free, shake us free my son." I made a resolution I made a resolution I made a resolution I made a resolution
I was going to blog about my feelings about Dane Cook, but then I remembered the old adage: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Well, I still decided to blog about Dane, but I decided to come up with nice things to say about Dane.
If you don't know this sketch, please click 
Create your own character 
