I am the architect of my own personal torture

a_h_c @ 2009-12-16T23:33:00

2009-12-17T04:33:19Z

I really need to go to bed, but I just have to say that this is possibly one of the longest weeks EVER!!

Work has sucked way too much for only 3 days and shows no signs of improving. I really am beginning to hate people. Not so much with the holiday spirit.
I have gotten bad health news about 2 people in my life this week -- one close and one removed, but anytime you hear bad news about a childhood friend, it makes you feel just awful, I think.
My Christmas shopping is stuck and not improving, but hopefully, tomorrow I can make a dent in it. Thank goodness Toys R Us is open till 1 AM. Sheesh. If only Jay was more into toys.

Okay. Venting over. I hope you all are having a better week than I am. And one last thing: queen_haq , thank you so much for the cookie! I kept meaning to get back to you and all that, and yet -- epic fail. *sigh* Anyway, I appreciate very much that you thought of me and it made me smile. Happy Holidays to you!

Gleeeeee!!!

2009-12-10T04:05:12Z

Glee made me so happy tonight! I had to go out looking for a happy Glee icon. Spoilers ahoy!!

First, now the Quinn part of the pregnancy secret is out! Yay! Although, she still intends to keep the baby and now do that by herself? And who is she going to live with, because I'm thinking Finn might not be all that thrilled with her staying at his place forever. Oh, do we know when that baby is due? Will it be delivered at Regionals? When they wait until April, will the show reflect that passage in time or not? Okay, moving on from the endless questions....

There was more singing! Mercedes rocked and Rachel let her. And there were 3 more ND numbers too! Or maybe 2 numbers and one Rachel number. Even getting to see the Jane Adams girls perform a little more of their stolen #s was good. Did they publish those set lists in the program? If not, how did Emma see the other schools' lists? Making the more singing even better for me was that it was less obvious that the lip synching was going on. Much better for perpetuating the fantasy.

Britney's lines were awesome. And Santana admitted that she liked Glee Club. And Finn came through, as we knew he would. Must admit, even though the judges thought the choreography was a little unrehearsed, it was probably a little too good for 1 hour prep time. Liked the deaf academy's instructor's little meta comment about the most downloaded song on iTunes. And then Sue and Will's showdowns are always fun.

You know, I am not sure how I feel at all about the Will/Terri/Emma things. I think I would do just fine without that aspect of the show, actually. I am sad that the show won't be back until April, though. Now, I can totally look forward to watching Bones tomorrow!! Yay, Christmas episodes! Yay, gratuitous DB strippage! (And no, I have not been paying attention to that rumbling about him and Tiger's girlfriend? La, la, la... just keep moving people!) And Zooey D., even! I have my fingers crossed that it will live up to my hopes.

Wheee!!! I love it when I am loving TV!!

And now for some TV...

2009-12-05T03:56:30Z

Somehow my DVR seems to never get emptier, but I realized that I can blame those kids and their Pokemon and Backyardigans and Sesame Street and something called Gormiti. I managed to watch much TV in the last few days since we've been home, but I still have more than enough to keep my in my chair. Anyway, a few thoughts on a few of the programs:

Glee: Thank goodness that fake pregnancy thing is done with. Hallelujah!! I've found that I apparently have no opinion on what the future should be for Will and Terri, but I'm good with that. I enjoyed the music, but I thought the song that Rachel sang to Finn was too obviously pre-recorded or something. Too mechanized? Whatever it was, it made me too aware that there was a disparity between the sound and the picture. That is not good. I didn't think the plot was all that great, although I did like Quinn standing up to Sue. And even having a moral center of sorts. I'm looking forward to next week's show, but I will definitely miss the show until it comes back in the spring.

Bones: It is very good that I do not try to ever eat during this show. That was the most disgusting opening that I have never watched. The ew factor was off the charts. Blech! I also felt kind of blech about the whole Avatar product placement thing. The blatant product placement can be too obvious. I have to say that I didn't quite get the machine switching or whatever that had to go on for that guy to steal the autistic kid's perfect game. I don't get it. He filmed him, but didn't switch the machines? I thought there was something inside the machine that recorded the game? Maybe the machine is too old. Whatever. I did think of mastermia when Hodgins was showing off the muscles. I hope she was watching. I was pretty impressed. Although, I have no recollection of that tattoo. Should I? Was that part of some of the pre-wedding festivities? Memory loss is not a good sign. I did like Brennan's analogy at the end about she and Booth having different number systems. Pretty apt, actually.

Including the autistic kid did make me cringe a little bit because my MIL and I have had a very clear disagreement about the fact that she believes completely that Brennan has Asperger's (she tests autistic children so she sees that sort of thing all the time) and I believe that her emotional distance is more due to the traumatic childhood that she had. So the inclusion of an actual autistic child made me glad we were no longer in OK where the topic would have come up again. It did come up once during the visit, but I was able to avoid the discussion completely. Phew.

Grey's: I just wanted to say that I am now caught up and watching the last two episodes did not make me cringe. Huh. I am really not sure what to do with that, but I was definitely surprised. The older episode did make me realize that my work-wife and I have had to separate because she is now my boss. *sigh* The sacrifices we make.

Pics!

2009-12-04T04:17:59Z

We are back from OK and we had a good visit. I was glad that it was only for the limited # of days though. The trip back wasn't lovely -- an extra 40 minutes in Houston and Jillian didn't take a nap until we got on the plane at about 5:15 central time, but she did sleep the whole flight, so it ended pretty well. We had a bit of illness in OK, but we did get to visit with the family and that was nice. I'm a bit worried about the MIL because she started smoking more frequently again (although she's sort of trying to hide it), and the lists and things are a little worrisome in someone whose mother passed away from Alzheimer's. But, we all got through it and there were no major disasters. Once we got back, we had school events and day care meetings in the evenings. This is the first night this week that we all ate dinner together, I think.

And now, I bring you a few pics of the family, just because I can!

We had some warm days in November. The boys decided to clean the table on the deck (which necessitated the removal of shirts that were getting wet), and then ate their lunch out there when they were done. There was apparently ham at lunch that day.

Here is Silja -- the reason we went to OK in the first place. Possibly one of the happiest babies I've met. And so squidgy!!

Here's Jarrett at the zoo in OKC -- he demanded we take his picture on all the statues. Not camera shy at all, this one.

Here's Jillian at the 3-birthday party in OKC. She looks way too old in this picture!

And here is the ridiculously attractive Oslo branch of the family. Just ridiculous.

a_h_c @ 2009-11-25T22:54:00

2009-11-26T03:54:32Z

So, I was not enjoying the focus of tonight's episode on the whole pregnancy debacle, but the musical numbers (when they finally arrived) were good. And Kurt and Rachel finding common ground was sort of intriguing.

Quinn singing Papa Don't Preach was fun -- and apparently completely mesmerizing. As well as the sister's reaction to the kids being clean and all asleep at the same time. Hee! I did think the Hair number was about as nutty as the deaf students did, but I was just sort of relieved to get to some more singing, because the episode was a bit sparse there in the middle. I definitely liked that Mercedes, Artie and Tina got a chance to do lead in the songs this week, but I totally don't think you can pick up the sign language for a song that quickly. Not that it wasn't sweet and all. Sue wasn't bad, but she seemed sort of subdued, somehow.

I'm looking forward to the next two episodes (in large part because I've heard that this pregnancy thing will finally go away), but what is this crap about no more Glee until April?!?!?!?! Damn you, Fox!

In other non-sequitors: Private Practice last week had the cutest/sweetest baby ever! I just wanted to reach in and take it from the TV.

Tomorrow, I am headed to the in-laws in OK for a few days -- we are leaving in the evening and arriving after bedtime EDT, but what can you do. I am looking forward to seeing my brother-in-law and his family with our new niece, since they all live in Norway and we see them maybe once a year if we are lucky. But, 11 people in my MIL's house for 3+ days could be rough. Especially since I think there might be some computer withdrawal for me. If you don't hear from me till next week, send good thoughts. I need to get through this visit without losing my cool. Gotta love those family holidays!!

My mind is warping into IMdb, oh, and it's a big day for someone!

2009-11-20T04:40:43Z

I watched Bones and Glee tonight and I enjoyed them both, but I kept getting distracted by the guest-stars.

First on Bones, was Pa Walton who just recently got a penile impant on Grey's. That's what I thought about every time I saw him. So, I was not surprised at all to the reference to his girlfriend at the nursing home needing him to come back and help her with her "crocheting".

Then on Glee, Sarah Drew appeared back in HS when about 2 weeks ago she was on Grey's as a freakin' doctor! I know that all those teenagers on Glee are anything but, but it still was distracting. And you know that SD can be totally cute -- witness her as Everwood's Hannah -- so I just kept trying to visualize the make-over in my head. And then there was Quinn's mom who was played by someone whose name I should remember who used to be on one of my soaps in the 80s, and then was on the Heights and a ton of other 90s things (I just went and looked her up! Charlotte Ross was Eve on Days and she was on the 5 Mrs. Buchanans too, which I cannot believe I watched and can remember. I really have watched way too much TV in my life.) and Quinn's Dad was Michum Huntzberger from Gilmore Girls. I kept waiting for Logan or Honor to come through the door. Very distracting.

Whew. Database dump.

In other kiddo news, today was my baby girl's 2nd birthday. I cannot believe it's been 2 years! So, happy birthday, Jillian! I hope you have a great year ahead of you. Mwah!

Gotta love that Guide!

2009-11-14T03:43:23Z

I have to admit that the Guide that comes with my cable/DVR is very handy, but sometimes, it provides almost as much diversion as the actual shows. I still want to know who gets to write these things, but my giggle of tonight which I will share with all of you people comes from the synopsis of 20/20. It starts with what sounds like a pretty awful story about a girl who is shot in the face by her boyfriend, but the second story of the night is described this way:

"A story about women who hoard cats instead of children and why."

Honestly, I'm not even sure where that sentence is even supposed to go, but I think 20/20 might actually get better ratings if they can do a story on these women who are hoarding children. Where is that old lady in the shoe during sweeps period, huh? Ha!!

Titles for posts is the hardest part.

2009-11-13T02:35:59Z

So, while I am feeling that I have too much on my DVR to watch, I am enjoying most of what I have been able to clear off the DVR.

Last night's Glee was pretty enjoyable.

I liked the focus on some of the secondary characters, definitely. Giving Artie and Kurt a chance to have songs was good, and including Tina was a nice touch too. I was taken aback by her confession about the stutter, but to be honest, I was a little put off by the fact that Artie kept raising it with her -- about how it made them similar. Not that I didn't see where he was coming from, but if the stutter had been real, I could see how someone might come away with the impression that he was really interested in Tina primarily because she had some sort of problem, first and foremost.

It really was show with a disability theme, wasn't it? With Sue and Becky and the sister. I have to say that I knew that Sue had some sort of personal connection with a disabled person the minute that she gave Will the speech about Becky wanting to be treated like everyone else. Although, then Finn and Rachel went and created a fake disability to get Finn a job. At least the show doesn't get bogged down in being too preachy.

I still am not really feeling the whole Finn-Quinn-Puck triangle, but I did think it was good of Quinn to apologize to Puck for calling him a loser. One last thing -- who knew that Mike O'Malley could actually pull off Kurt's dad like he's doing? Definite surprise. Well, that, and the fact that Kurt would be working on the cars with his dad. Huh.

As for tonight's Bones, here is my primary question:

If Sweets decided at the end of his book that B&B were in love with each other, then what was the deal with the whole brain scan thing where he was trying to convince Booth that he was not in love with Brennan before the operation? WTH? But everyone seems to be in agreement that there is love there. And Gordon Gordon (so happy to see him again! Now -- where is Caroline?) counsels patience. Yay! Although the whole gun/penis thing was actually kind of getting annoying.

I will say that the case itself was not all that thrilling for me, except for the fact that I have had a sort of irrational fascination with little people since I was a kid and wanted to be thought of as an adult. I will watch almost any of the reality shows on TV about little people, so this episode was sort of built for me. I did laugh at Mr. Nigel Murray trying to explain the reality of the term "midget wrestling" to Brennan. Hee! I also appreciated that there was not real questioning of the fact that the victim could have an average size twin (see Little People, Big World), or that he would have a relationship with an average size woman. Go show!

Now, I have something like at least 6 hours on the DVR to watch. And a ton of backstitching to do to finish off my niece's x-mas present before t-giving. At least those two things can happen together. Oh, and could Hurricane Ida please go on her way? This cold and rainy weather stuff is irritating beyond belief. Ugh.

TV plus

2009-11-07T04:03:17Z

Wednesdays' Bones was maybe not the best MotW ever (I ID'd the "torture" and the murder device at least 5 minutes or more before the show revealed them), but the relationship substories were good. The B&B interplay was pretty spot on, and the issues with Angela were... interesting. Certainly didn't see that one thing coming until it was actually happening. Glad the World Series is over and the Fox TV is back, in general.

I also watched Grey's and while I don't have much to say, I will say 2 things -- 1) When Mere was lying on that bed she did not look that ginormous; and 2) I hate the episodes that center on the kids. I always end up in some sort of tears. Manipulative show. But it was interesting to see Coco from Fame again -- I hadn't seen her in a while. She just looks the same forever, I think.

I also spent part of my night looking at information on the internet about palatal expansion. Apparently, my 8 year old is a candidate and at the dentist on Monday, I may get the word that they think he needs it. Joy. It looks awful. He would hate it with the heat of 10,000 fiery suns. How do you deal with that? If he needs it, the older he is, the harder it would be, from what I've read. But man, the blow-back would be seriously harsh. Stupid parenting choices.

Quick Birthday message

2009-11-05T04:05:40Z

Happy Birthday froxyn ! I hope you have a fabulous day! I wish you no dead animals in your place and lots of good things to eat. And there must be some sort of perk you can get for the whole new citizen thing, right? Right? I am glad I found your fanfic and that it led me to your journal. I do enjoy reading about your life down under. That's what LJ is for, yes? Hope you have a great day!

I know no one else will care but...

2009-11-03T03:42:07Z

On The Big Bang Theory, take Sheldon's speech about football and chicken-fried meat and substitute the word "Oklahoma" for the word "Texas", and it all works just as well. Honest. Even my husband says so. *sigh* I wish I could find a clip. Seriously, perfect.

ETA: And here it is -- the Sheldon part starts about 1:30 into it.

Also? The new girlfriends on The Girls Next Door? Just really not as fun to watch as the original Girls. It's just not the same any more.

How do I let this happen?

2009-11-01T05:14:55Z

So, here I am after 1 AM awake (which, hello! I have 3 kids from ages almost 2 to 8, if they are asleep, I should be too!) because I got myself upset by a book. I read 160 pages of said book, then skipped to the end and I cannot stand it. I kept waiting for it to get better and it didn't. It's just not a good book for me. Maybe someone else would like it, I don't know, but I REALLY don't. It put me in such a sucky, sucky mood. How can I fall asleep that way? I snapped at J at least twice and have now been up for at least an additional hour I should have been sleeping. I've been watching mindless TV, which is helpful, but still.... It's a damn good thing I get an extra hour on this night. Unfortunately, no one will tell the kids that. And I need to be up and making pumpkin waffles in probably less than 7 hours. Why do I let inanimate media do this to me? What is wrong with me? Urgh!!

In which Alexis discusses TV off her usual LJ path

2009-10-27T02:50:20Z

Well, I am very happy there's not too much new TV this week so I can try to catch up a bit on my DVR. Lately, I've been watching the shows that I don't wait for eagerly, but rather those that I generally enjoy, but usually do not pay full attention to. But sometimes, you find a little gem in there while you're doing something else while watching TV.

On Numb3rs this week, that guy who played the youngest brother on Arrested Development and who played the Buy More assistant manager on Chuck last year (is he coming back this year? Did he replace Big Mike? That show has been off the air for way too long.) was on Numb3rs as a professor in biology who gets sucked into the case of the week. But the best part about him was this bit of conversation he had with Charlie and Amita:

"When do you ever have time to teach? I've missed 4 classes just since I've met you. Office hours are going to be a bitch."

Because seriously, while we occasionally see these people teaching at Cal Sci, they are almost always available without any scheduling difficulties to help the FBI. It's one of those questions you think and are pleased to see someone ask. Notice, however, there was no answer.

For pure fluff and weirdness, Katie Price was on The Graham Norton Show. All I know about Katie I have learned from the Fug Girls and their discussion of her lovely outfits. What I learned tonight is that Katie is dating an extremely muscular man named Alex who has been outed as a cross-dresser. And she wants to dress him up and has had sex with his alter-ego, Roxanne. She also apparently keeps her old breast implants in a drawer in her house and thinks about auctioning them off for charity. What else can you ask for in television entertainment? And how her nipples did not escape her dress as she sat on that couch, I will never know. BBC America... Alexis' source of crack television. I somehow miss all the quality stuff they show and head straight for the drivel. I know, I know. It's a talent. Or a curse. Next week on Graham, Isabella Rossellini is back! I think that means more shorts about sex in the animal kingdom! I must remember to hunt down the Sundance Channel's website....

Parenting is gross.

2009-10-20T03:17:38Z

Being a parent so often means that your life is gross. I hope this doesn't surprise or scare off those of you without kids, but it is the reality. My husband and I manage to generally divide up the gross -- he is the go-to-guy for the poop and the mucus, and I generally deal with all the blood and am better with the vomit. But, unfortunately, as last night proved, vomit is a 2 person job.

Poor Jillian apparently had something that did not agree with her. I can't figure out what it is, because basically, we all ate the same dinner, but the poor girl went through 3 pj shirts, 2 pj pants and 2 sets of bed linens last night. And 2 baths -- one before bed when no one knew the yick was coming, and one in the middle of the yick. So much gross. And so much laundry.

(Sidebar: We have a new house, so we have a new washing machine and it's one of those fancy high efficiency things, and I can't stand it. It drives me crazy. I can't figure out a way to do a very small load -- which happens with kids -- and the soak feature I can't decipher either. And yes, I have the book. But the biggest problem is that I can hardly get through a load of laundry without an "LF" code appearing and the cycle ceasing to function. According to the book, this code is supposed to indicate that there is some problem with the lines bringing water into the machine, but that has not been proven yet. It really just seems to happen if the machine is unbalanced or something. But, unless I sit down there with it, I have no idea at what point in the cycle this problem occurred, because you can't just start it up again. So, I have to either start all over or make it rinse and spin and hope that will get things clean. I hate this thing. Urgh.)

So, I spent last night on vomit watch and all day today on vomit watch. I hate vomit watch. You know, at least with the poop, there's something in place to catch it. With the vomit, you have no way to protect everything else in your house from getting hit. Vomit is the worst. I am glad that it seems to be over and I can go back to work tomorrow. I do not enjoy spending the whole day worrying about vomit. Parenting is gross.

There is no way that guy gets hired by the FBI

2009-10-16T03:00:55Z

It was fun to see Brennan get all excited and giggly over the Egyptian mummy -- even if it was with Daisy. Who Sweets has made an impact on, because she was significantly less annoying. And Daisy's probation must have gone well because there is no way that they did all that in a 24 hour period, right? The mummy was interesting, but I did not need to see the top of that doctors head chopped open and her brain being sliced. Cam's work is so high on the gross meter. Blech!

I know that the Director -- sorry, Booth, Assistant Director -- guy is there to help put more tension on the B/B relationship, but I cannot get by the fact that that actor was such a doofus on the Drew Carey show. I just don't buy him in any sort of authority position. I kept expecting him to transform into the doofus. I don't really have a problem with the character and the premise of Brennan dating someone else, but I do have a question -- there has been no reference to Booth's love for Brennan since the season opener, right? So, we've just been left to infer that he's still in love and that the brain stuff hasn't faded as time from the coma increases? I know, they almost kissed, but I just kind of think it's interesting that there's been no mention of those feelings at all since. I did think that DB sold his disappointment about the meatloaf story and such very well. Even Brennan picked up on the non-verbal cues.

All in all, I thought it was a solid episode. I did enjoy it.

I just realized -- I said nothing about last night's Glee!

I won't actually say much -- I love the musical number stuff, and some of the scenes are great, but the whole pregnancy-faking thing I cannot stand -- but Sue salting the garden and calling out the minority kids by minority affiliation was great fun. As was the confrontation in the principal's office about the functional illiteracy of the Cheerios. I liked that girls other than Rachel got to be highlighted in songs this week (when will that happen with the guys?), the clandestine jam session, and the boys carrying out Artie when everyone was storming out of the screaming match. To be honest, the last song got to me. Quinn did a good job of showing emotion through the song and the look on Kurt's face when she danced with him was so sweet. Definitely enjoying the show, but if the fake pregnancy thing goes all the way through to the end, I might have to hurt someone.

On a different note: I have been trying to make the firm decision to break-up with Private Practice. They ended on a cliff-hanger last year, and so they got me to tune in to see how it turned out, but after that first episode, I was thinking -- okay, we're done. But J taped last week's episode and I almost deleted it without watching, and then decided to just zip through it on the DVR and then be done with it. But then, they show the previews for tonight's episode and it's a cross-over with Bailey. That's just cruel. Shonda is taunting me with Baily/Addison friendship stuff. No fair. Urgh. If there's one show I am watching that I could give up, it's that one. Damn, you Shonda!

I am so uninspired to post lately

2009-10-13T02:40:18Z

Warning: Some stupid whining ahead.

I've been watching my tv and I know I should be posting about

House: And the Chase the killer thing. What?
Grey's: I really don't think I should have to hear about John Walton's penis.
HIMYM: Since when is maple syrup season in the fall?
Glee: Sue is approaching 30. And heading up Glee Club?

And probably some other shows I've watched recently. But for some reason, I can't seem to get motivated. RL seems to be sucking the internet energy out of me. Tonight J and I had one of those minor passive aggressive things we get sometimes where I just said today I didn't tell him anything and I take responsibility for that. Stupid shit. Over the dishwasher and Elliott's new-found affinity for doing picture in a picture things at bed time. Urgh. Of course, my mood might be affected by the fact that while the boys had school, Jillian did not, and I took her to the zoo and walked 4 miles (I had a pedometer) today and my hamstrings are very tired from pushing a stroller up the hills in Rock Creek Park.

Let's see what else can I blather on about? We are having a bunch of people over to the new house on Sat. to see it, and I'm a bit stressed about getting ready for that. I am becoming more certain that I will not be offered the promotion I applied for, but also more certain that I don't think I really want it. So, that's not a complaint really, but somehow a bit disheartening, all the same. Neither my nor J's parents can seem to find a time this fall to visit their grandchildren. I had to spend $2000 on plane tickets to Oklahoma for T-giving, which really, needed to happen, but was not planned. My brother is being baptized and defending his dissertation all in the same week this month and I just wish he would propose to that nice church-going girl already and take the job at UConn and we could all move to the next thing.

Mainly, I just would like to have something fun happen. Can something fun happen? I know that having people over should be fun, but right now, it just seems like an exercise in organizing, cleaning up, shopping, etc. I think the lack of alcohol in my life may be catching up with me. Blech.

You know, I've never been to Vegas. When can I go to Vegas? Maybe I can just drop the kids off in Oklahoma and keep heading west?

You know what's aweseome? Parker is awesome

2009-10-09T02:57:42Z

Tonight's Bones was a little strange, but I did laugh tonight -- mainly thanks to Parker. Love that boy.

And his semi-permanent face paint. As a mom, I was totally cringing. And you know that Booth was dreading that conversation with Rebecca. Hee. But Parker having a conversation with Angela about chastity and being Booth's girlfriend and then moving onto Cam and Brennan... comedy gold. Driving Booth to actually seek out a conversation with Sweets. The world is ending! And then Brennan's straight-forward approach solves the whole problem. My oldest is 8 and you never know where those questions are coming from -- always best not to try to guess. I don't think 8 year old boys are all that deep, most of the time.

As for the rest of the show, I wasn't all that sure about the sidebar with the grad student, but I did love the initial rant and Cam's refusal to let him go back as if nothing had happened. And Angela and Hodgins' reaction was fun. But ultimately, I didn't really care and could have done without it.

As for the actual case, I was prepared for it to be some sort of mob killing -- all that suburban pressure. Fox's version of Desperate Housewives? I loved that the guy was selling adult toys/videos out of his garage, though. Man, he was some kind of jerk. Poor lady from Women's Murder Club. First her show gets canceled, then she ends up married to a really icky guy. Who got charcoaled. That I could have done without seeing in the close-ups. My main question, though, was did the three people think that he wouldn't be noticeable in the pig-pit when the food really was ready? Kind of weird. And they did have some time to put the body in there and cover up the bloody rocks under the windmill. Actually, given the neighborhood, I can't believe there was a HOA policy that would allow a windmill.

I don't think the mystery was one of the best, but the B plot was entertaining enough for me to make up for it.

Dollhouse 2.02

2009-10-05T02:56:33Z

Hmmm... I am not completely riding the bandwagon on this one, Mr. Joss.

There were just a few too many places where it seemed like they could have headed off the catastrophe and didn't. How are they not listening in on conversations between Emily and the friend (way to build an elaborate set-up there, by the way)? Why does no one realize Emily is skidding off the rails? I do have to say that I give some leniency for the fact that I do not expect Topher to be able to foresee the level of sleep deprivation and how it might skew a personality, but still. At the end, she gives the baby back in a whole Solomon-story-like maneuver and then chooses to keep feeling. I did think the ending conversation with Ballard was interesting, but overall, this episode was not one of my favorites.

A few other questions: Why exactly do they let Madeline/November remember the Dollhouse? That seems like asking for trouble. I will admit that I am curious -- whose name is on the files that Senator Wes received? Did anyone else think the girlfriend/wife/staffer had gotten nabbed while going to the door? Were the people in the white jackets the replacements for Dr. Saunders, or just regular medic folks? Was that baby not one of the cutest things you've seen? Such a great smile!! And why exactly do we not tie down the combative active prior to the wipe? Duh, Topher. Oh, yes. The conversations between Topher and Ballard are actually not bad. And Topher seems to be rebounding to his usual ego-stroking self after last week's difficulties. Not sure if that's good or bad. It is kind of funny, so maybe it's just the opportunity for levity.

Thursday Night

2009-10-03T01:35:45Z

First off, I meant to post last night, but I hit the LJ maintenance window. Who thinks it's a good idea to have the maintenance window at 11 PM Eastern time? It's only 8 PM on the West Coast, I would think prime LJ time. Very strange.

Angie (magicjunkie ), I don't know if you are still out there, but I hope you had a happy birthday and that things are going well for you! Post and let us know how you are doing, okay?

So, I watched Bones and Grey's, but the 2nd Grey's from last week. J and I have realized that on Thursday nights we actually record 6 hours of TV. It is a crazy night. What is the deal? Anyhoo, I guess I'll start with Grey's:

People finally started to deal with their grief a bit more which was good. I think Bailey and the cancer dude were a little bit disappointed that Alex and Izzie didn't seem to be more excited about the good news, but I guess that kind of news is sort of relative, right? I did like Izzie getting a bit more fire into her and confronting the bus accident girl and actually speaking directly to Alex. Nice throw-back when she told him to take off his pants. And it was definitely good for him to let out some of that anger he'd been holding onto.

Did anyone else think that the shrink was a bit fascinated with the darkness that is Christina? Lexie found a way to use that darkness to motivate the boat girl, so maybe some good there. I did enjoy Lexie's discomfort with Callie and Mark's familiarity. Hee. "How gay are you?" And boy, Callie may be in for it with the merger, huh? Not so good a time to have had it out with the chief and jump ship. She had a strong point, though. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole merger thing, in general. I guess I will have to wait and see.

The ending did get to me though -- Bailey in the elevator and Meredith with the locker. And, while it was a bit strange to have everyone partaking in the voice-over, I think it worked okay. I also think they did a pretty good job at shooting Ellen Pompeo without resorting to her carrying around a lot of things in front of her stomach. If you knew she was pregnant, you got why they were only shooting her from the torso up and why she was sitting a lot, but not as obvious as it is on most of the sitcoms on TV.

On a totally frivolous note, Stella was my grandmother's name, so I approve of the name of Ellen's new baby girl. Not a weird name, like David Boreanaz gave his daughter. I mean, Bardot itself is not so bad, I guess (although you are maybe looking for your daughter to be kind of a sexpot), but Bardot Boreanaz? That's kind of over-the-top.

Ooo -- segway to Bones. I wasn't really caring at all about Cam's problem with her, what do you call her... ward?, but I did definitely enjoy watching Booth scare that Perry guy off. That was fun. Also fun? Cam's face when Angela asked her what she was like when she was that age.

The Amish storyline was not bad, although I was trying to figure out why those kids had gone all the way to DC and were trying out the party lifestyle, and yet the girls were still wearing their Amish clothes. Huh? Also, the piano girl couldn't tell a young guy from someone her father's age just because he had a beard? She said she spoke to him. How oblivious are you? I did like Brennan barking at the kids about their lack of adherence to the spirit of Rumspringa and her complete obliviousness to Clark's issues with working the tracks. But I am also a bit skeptical about the openness with which the girl's brother and the boy's parents seemed to view the music. The mom seemed a bit more flexible all along, what with wanting the picture and all, but I wasn't sure how realistic that might be. I suppose there is a spectrum of rigidity, so it's not really unreasonable.

The interaction in the car with B&B about the age at which they lost their virginity was interesting and fun. Gotta love that double-standard with boys and girls, huh? But I did wonder at the fact that Booth was put off by Brennan's analytical approach to losing her virginity -- she's been like that in virtually all her discussions about physical relationships, why would he think that she was that much different at 22? There was not much this week alluding to the coma after-effects except for the brief discussion of the belt buckle, and I think that's how it should be.

Lastly, I thought that it was interesting that the show went a completely different way with the solution to the case -- it turned into something totally impersonal as a crime. They don't usually do that. But sometimes life is just that random, so I thought it was a decent choice. I do still really enjoy this show. Yay!!

It's a G night

2009-10-01T02:57:05Z

I managed to watch the first part of Grey's from last week before the next episode aired, but yes, I am now officially behind. And yes, it made me cry. I definitely will need to watch part 2 soon, but urgh. That show. I do appreciate that there were a few moments of levity thrown in -- Sloane apartment hunting while Callie falls apart all over him, for example. Christina ordering Lexie to be the patient's friend because she knows she won't do it. I think that Bailey's meltdown when it comes is probably going to be truly epic. And I have to say that I was impressed with the way that Hunt managed George's mother's questions about the army. I felt so badly for Callie when Mrs. O'Malley gave her the organ donation responsibility, but honestly, wouldn't everyone have known that George would donate everything he could? Not that that meant that forcing Alex to tell Izzie was wrong, because it wasn't. She would have killed him any way she could find if she found out after the fact about George. I did tear up when Bailey demanded to know where the organs were going. Damn you, show!

A very different G show -- Glee! A good pick-me-up from Grey's, I have to say. Although, look -- I don't care about either baby story. Can't we just ditch all of that? It's annoying. I adore Kristin C., however, and I'm glad she got to sing so much, although the best was probably the duet with Rachel -- that was pretty amazing. But the final number was good, as well. I think I was just happy to see it after seeing teasers for it for so long. I was a bit confused though when Rachel reappeared at the glee club performance. I feel like there's a deleted scene somewhere that gets us from Sue giving her control over the musical and her joining back up with the glee club. And for someone who didn't know the choreography, she did pretty well in the performance. Still definitely enjoying the show. Why can't that show be 2 hours? I'd probably watch that on schedule with no problems.

As of now, I am no longer the Acting Division Director at work. I get to go back to being a regular person. Phew. I'm not sure what it makes me think about the possibility of taking on the job permanently, but I guess I will have to figure that out. Soon. Damn.

TV round-up

2009-09-25T02:55:56Z

Okay, a few TV notes.

First, I haven't watched Grey's tonight and I plan to, but here's the thing: I'm pretty sure there will be tears. I cry easily. And while I want to see it, I'm not all that crazy about getting all red and puffy and such. Hopefully, I'll gather the courage.

Anyway, let's see -- I watched The Good Wife last night and it was fine. I like the relationship with the investigator and I seem to be being given free reign to dislike Logan from Gilmore Girls again, so that's good. And Jen's Grandma from Dawson's Creek is on it. Another good. But, it seems just kind of like another law show. I'm going to try some more episodes and see what I think.

I also saw Modern Family because everyone was raving about it. I'm on the fence. It has a lot of that uncomfortable humor which is so trendy right now, but which I usually just find uncomfortable, not that funny. So, I'm not sure. Another wait and see.

Glee made me laugh so hard. There is no way that the football team did not incur some sort of penalty, or that they were good enough to give Kurt that much time to get his kick off, but I don't really care. The dancing was awesome -- Kurt at the beginning (was the blond girl one of the cheerleaders?) and the audition for kicker and the team at the end. I do wish there was more singing in it, though. And Sue on TV is just ridiculous enough to be completely fabulous.

I don't believe that there is any way in hell that Terri could possibly pass off Quinn's baby, but whatever. (You've got to wonder who the parents are of that woman and her sister. Phew!) I'm kind of hoping that will just go away. To be honest, I was kind of surprised that Quinn might actually be pregnant. I knew the hot tub episode was not a viable means of impregnating a person, but I also sort of thought that she might just be dim enough not to have taken a pregnancy test or have read it right. Not sure what I think about that whole storyline, to be frank.

And Bones was back tonight. And the Ewww Factor was back with a vengeance. From the cats eating the body to the flesh melting off in the trunk of the car and the eyes of the CIA guy? What is up with that? The show is called "Bones". Cam's deal is the flesh (as Brennan pointed out), and she is not the star. EWWWWWW!!! But I loved that everyone stepped up to help Wendell. Do we think he is now the permanent assistant? I could deal with that. I smiled at the fact that Booth can inspire him with his hockey metaphor.

I also liked Booth intimidating the State Dept. guy and Sweets getting offended at the crack about him being too young. The State Dept. guy reminded me a lot of some of the young go-getters I run into on the Hill who look about 12, but think they are so much better than us lowly bureaucrats (who usually make much more money than they do). A woman I used to work with was famous for telling new political appointees that "I was here before you got here and I will be here after you leave." She would not have dealt well with the State Dept. guy.

The Booth/Brennan re-bonding moments were very sweet. From the car to the under the sink stuff. I definitely enjoyed the show. Minus the gross parts. *shudder* I did miss this show.

I have tomorrow off (yay!) and I will be doing all sorts of errands and stuff. Very exciting. But no kids involved. Which is definitely of the good. I haven't had a day off without the kids since some time in the beginning of August, I think. I'm ready for it. And Jarrett starts basketball classes tomorrow. This should be interesting. Fingers crossed!

House the patient? Hm... no.

2009-09-23T02:30:20Z

I watched the House premier tonight (last night was comedy night, and I definitely had fun with HIMYM and TBBT. Quick question for you Barney/Robin folks -- do they actually have a ship name? I was laughing at some of the promos I saw for the show in the last few weeks, but realized I had no idea if there was an actual ship name. Anyway....), and while I get that it was well done and all of that, I just sort of didn't really care for it.

I would have been fine if the season had started again and all of what we saw had just happened over the summer. I know that House didn't really fundamentally change who he is, or anything, but I don't really enjoy seeing him being bested by others and breaking down a bit. Part of the fun is to watch him come out on top. I kept hoping that one of those mental patients had some sort of disease that was causing the seeming mental illness so that he could diagnose someone, or something.

I'm glad that is over and now I'm ready to get back to the House that I really enjoy. Where he's a doctor.

TV from my DVR

2009-09-19T03:22:06Z

I watched this week's episode of Glee tonight. And I still enjoy the music numbers so much. And Jane Lynch is always fun. I'm still pondering the rest.

The Acafellas group kills me with their Bell Biv Devoe and Oklahoma City's own Color Me Badd. Stellar song choice, gentlemen. I also kind of loved the mohawk dude's motivation to join the group to get more action with the town's PTA membership. I do now have to explain to my Office Director what her beloved Josh Groban was doing on the show, if she didn't watch. That should be interesting. Terri seems to be becoming a little more than two-dimensional. I think that's good.

Here's a question -- was Mr. Shoop's (is that how it's spelled?) mom hallucinating that scene with Josh? Or was that supposed to be real? More questions: Will Victor Garber sing on this show too? Can Mercedes get some more solos? And what about the Asian girl? When does she get a solo?

The other thing I watched off of my DVR tonight (well, slid through, really) was the grand finale of The Guiding Light. Now, I used to watch this show every day in the late 80s when I got home from middle school and high school, and then I would watch occasionally in the 90s off and on, but I haven't seen it in forever. As I said to J -- it was a lot like what I've heard about going to a high school reunion. It all looks smaller than when you left it and everyone is fat. Seriously. Everyone was fat! Except maybe for Phillip and Beth and Mindy, who, OMG, it took someone actually saying her name for me to recognize and I'm pretty sure it was the same actress I used to watch in the 80s. Damn. Something about aging or surgery or something. Or, maybe, it was a completely different actress, which would be kind of good. And then all those people from other soaps who confused me by being on GL.

I had heard that due to their budget troubles, they had changed the kind of cameras the used (and that was definitely apparent), but they were really low on funds -- as evidenced by the fact that all but about 2 scenes took place outside in a real place, not on a set, and the one that was inside the Spaulding mansion was anything but mansion-like. Alan must have been cringing wherever he is (somehow, I think he's dead, but then again, no one ever really dies on a soap, right?). It was kind of sad. That show hit some serious milestones -- nothing gets 70+ years on TV -- but it might have been good for it to go a little sooner. That said, it did make me a little sad to see it end.

Bones is back!

2009-09-18T03:01:51Z

Yay! I missed this show. It took me a bit to get back into the flow of it, but I enjoyed it. And I guess I will go along with the show's explanation for the season finale. Because I can't be bothered to expend energy on it, to be frank. As for tonight...

The level of discomfort between B&B was interesting. That disconnect that was born out of the coma and then Brennan ups and goes to Guatemala for 6 weeks... what part of her avoidance syndrome drove that choice, I wonder? It is interesting the particular bits and pieces that they chose for Booth to forget -- the socks, the clowns, the breakfast. Are these things going to go back to normal in a few weeks, or will they persist?

I liked Angela giving basically everyone a hard time (telling Hodgins that no one else cares about the "King of the Lab"), and Caroline is always a kick: "Still in earshot, people, still in earshot." And it was fun that Cindi had Sweets converted so quickly. I was sort of feeling like the show was running slower than I was because I thought they needed to bring Cindi in to ID the guy about 2 scenes before they got to that, and I wondered why they didn't arrest the guy on some other charges while they worked on the murder thing -- I mean, he was defrauding people out of their money. And what about investigating the deaths of all those old people buying into the retirement home? So, I was glad that Caroline remembered the Al Capone strategy. Sometimes you have to take the oblique approach.

I do want to know why there was not a grad student this week. I mean, excavating 12 bodies and identifying them by yourself? Don't you think there was some room for assistance there? Kind of odd, I thought. But the show did end on a hopeful B&B note -- Cindi says it will all work out and wouldn't you trust her?

Oh, I also saw part of the True Blood finale, and I just have to say that that show is mighty gorey at times, isn't it? I had to cover my eyes! Ewww!

VMAs 2009

2009-09-14T03:40:04Z

First off, before I run off to bed, Happy Birthday to tlace ! I hope you had a great birthday! And Happy Birthday tomorrow to sowell ! I hop you have a great day. Even if it is a Monday.

Random spewage on the VMAs:

It's kind of weird to watch stars like Beyonce and J. Lo go crazy for Janet, but who else are they going to jump up and down for?

I agree with Kanye that it's pretty much unbelievable that Taylor Swift won that category, but that man has lost his freaking mind. And Beyonce looked horrified.

Russell Brand has managed to not make any inappropriate jokes about MJ. Yet. Good for him.

Why do they try to write banter for presenters? It never, ever, ever works.

I am slow, but it has taken me until this week to realize that Blair is singing on that Good Girls Go Bad song. I would never have thought that that's what her singing voice sounds like.

It is totally ridiculous that I was so tickled to see Seth Cohen walk out on stage. I didn't even really like that show all that much!

Lady Gaga is aptly named. And how many bizarre outfits does she have for one night?

Beyonce must go through a lot of double-sided tape. And I still don't understand the metal hand. What is that?

Was Pink actually singing while doing the trapeze act? It was amazing, but if she really was singing, I am so much more impressed!

Beyonce really does have some class, doesn't she? That was very sweet what she did at the end. And she really will sing along with everything, won't she? You know that's the case when she's doing Boyz to Men with Jimmy Fallon and Andy Samberg.

But can she get Jay Z to where his pants properly? The man is too old to buckle his pants below his ass. Give me a break.

All in all, a memorable show. But maybe for some very strange reasons. But hey, Kanye's behavior means that Russell shouldn't be the one everyone reviles tomorrow, right?