Pop Culture Break-Ups

While I love my television shows, sometimes I have to say enough is enough. Here are three shows I have broken up with:

1. Glee – They slowly ruined every character I loved. The music was becoming less enjoyable; the first season seemed to try to have a variety of genres in each episode. Recently, they became too focused on current songs and themed/tribute episodes. After Mr. Shu said Finn taught him how to be a man, I washed my hands of it.

2. Ringer – I wanted to like it, and I tried. But I found myself just not caring about any of the characters or the plot direction. Considering how hooked I have been on Revenge since episode 1, I decided not to waste my time.

3. Alcatraz - Lost connections had me so excited, but I fell asleep during episode 1 – and i wasn’t even tired! I let several episode pile up on my DVR and then just deleted them. I could not get motivated to make the time to watch.

Thursday Tidbits 7/15/2010

Tidbits!

• If you’ve read the Betsy-Tacy high school books, you know that Merry Widow hats come in to play. I loved seeing this collection of hats, even if they were mainly to poke fun at them.
• Are you reading Catalog Living?  You should be!  Don’t believe me?  Tell me this doesn’t make you laugh out loud, for real.
• My friend Tony wrote about his experience meeting George Steinbrenner.
• Is anyone else excited about the new movie Easy A?
• LOLSlater is hilarious!

Thursday Tidbits 7/1/2010

I’m back from ALA and I think I have recovered! It was a great conference and I will write about it in the coming week. For now, to ease back in to the blogging habit, I thought I would do my old Thursday Tidbits to share stuff I am loving right now.

• Are you watching The Fabulous Beekman Boys on Discovery’s Planet Green?  I am loving this show so much.  Two NYC guys who have been together for 10 years buy a farm out in the country.  They grow vegetables and care for 80 goats, some pigs and chickens, and one awesome llama named Polka Spot, with lots of help from Farmer John.  They also make and sell soap from their goat milk.  One of the guys, Josh, still maintains a job in NYC so he commutes every week, leaving Brent to work full-time at the farm.  The editing, of course, really plays up the fights and drama, but you can tell Brent and John love each other and the life they have built.  My favorite thing is that they have a goat cam in their barn, so you can go online to watch the goats (and Polka Spot!) whenever you want.  I admit to pretty much having it open on a browser tab at all times.  Goats are awesome.
• BP’s Coffee Spill – very funny!  Less funny: an oil-soaked wave.
• If you didn’t follow Jamie’s Seventeen Magazine Project while she was doing it, it is worth going back and reading her blog about it, and what she has done since.  The next time someone complains that all teens are getting less intelligent, show them this.
• Why LOST fans should start watching Fringe, if they are not already.
• A blind fox becomes a foster dad – very moving.
• I embrace this 100% - Why I’ll Never Be an Adult (strong language, FYI).

That’s it for today.  Coming soon: ALA-related posts and pictures, MANY book thoughts, and why you should get your library involved with Wrestlemania this year!

LOST thoughts 4/8/2010

This week’s episode, “Happily Ever After,” was so good!  I think almost every time it went to commercial break, I clapped my hands in excitement!

What did you think?

I LOVED seeing Charlie again.  I forgot how much I liked Charlie Pace.  I think my favorite characters are: Locke, Vincent, Hurley, Ben, Charlie.  Although I also love Jin, Sun, Desmond, Rose…obviously depends on the day.

Jack looked exhausted in the hospital.  I wonder if the actor was tired, because I don’t remember Jack being that tired after the plane landed.

It’s good to see Eloise WIDMORE, Daniel WIDMORE, and Penny MILTON – WTF?

What exactly was it that made Desmond agree to help Charles Widmore?

BTW, I’ve been reading fan speculation that X is happening on the island because Y is happening in the sideways world at the same time.  (Like, Sun can’t speak English now on the island because Sideways Sun can’t speak English.)  What I don’t understand about these theories is that the worlds aren’t happening at the same time.  Sideways time is right after the original flight landed, back in 2004.  Island world is, I think, 2007, since they’ve been gone for 3 years.  So why would there be synchronicity if the timelines aren’t concurrent.  Any thoughts on this?

Kristen at E’s thoughts and what the heart of the show is about.

Gawker’s thoughts: I like their take on the 3 spirit guides

EW’s Jeff Jensen’s short reaction - I haven’t read the long one yet.

Jezebel found some awesome easter eggs in this episode.

Thursday Tidbits 4/8/10

Tidbits!

• Stephen Colbert vs. dogs from the Middle East – so funny!
• Left over from St. Patrick’s Day - the Muppets sing “Danny Boy.”
• You really must watch this video about an orangutan and a dog who became friends.
• Still don’t believe dogs are awesome?  Check out this dog who helps an autistic boy attend school.
• I might need this clock from Think Geek.
• There are a few women I know that I would love to send this to.
• Jasper’s hair might be the worst think about this picture from Eclipse, but there are a few other things running close behind.

Are you watching THE PACIFIC?

My husband and I are watching HBO’s The Pacific and I love it so far.  It is a different experience from watching Band of Brothers.  Because I was much more familiar with the European events than I am with the Pacific, there is a stronger element of surprise this time.  I honestly have no memory of ever studying much about the Pacific theater.  Is that a history teacher fail or did it just not stick?

We are three episodes in and I love the balance of war and personal stories.  I have to admit that I fell in love with the character of Bob Leckie immediately, but I would be hard pressed to say if that was due to the actor/character/writing or because I think the actor looks like Matthew Morrison, Mr. Shue on Glee:

James Badge Dale, playing PFC Bob Leckie:

Matthew Morrison, playing Mr. Shue on Glee:

Am I crazy?  Don’t you think they could play brothers?  It is not just the hair, it’s facial, too.  Episode 3 really intensified my love for PFC Bob Leckie.

There are other Pacific actors that I think look like other actors.  One is Josh Bitton, playing Sgt. J.P. Morgan, whom I think looks like a cross between Fred Savage and Jon Favreau:

Anyways, I’m finding myself getting attached to specific characters, whereas in Band of Brothers I loved the whole Easy company.  I say that, though, looking back several years, having watched the series several times now, so I can’t trust myself.  I am loving The Pacific, though, and can’t recommend it enough.

Best Short Film – Animated

Let’s continue with Oscar posts and make this Oscar week!

At this point, the one category in which I have seen all nominees is Best Animated Short.

Surprisingly, the weakest nominee, in my opinion, is the Wallace and Gromit short, “A Matter of Loaf and Death.”  It is cute, but usual Wallace and Gromit – nothing new.  I predicted how the plot was going to play out within the first few minutes.  Predictable plots are okay for cartoons aimed at kids, but not Oscar winners.

“French Roast” was funny and clever, although not enough has stuck with me to really say more than that.

“The Lady and the Reaper” was great.  It reminded me of an old Bugs Bunny cartoon with the music, the bosomy nurses, strong-chinned doctor, squinty old lady, and hooded Death.  The reaper and the doctor fight over the end of the old lady’s life – Death pulling her into the light, only to have the doctor yank her back.  Not my favorite, but definitely a lot of fun, with great music.

“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” was my personal favorite as far as what tickled my fancy.  Granny terrorizes her grandkid with bedtime fairy tales.  The animation is fun, and I enjoyed the dark humor.  It is from Ireland, which also might make me a little biased towards it.

“Logorama” is the final short and right now I think it is the contender for the Oscar.  (This is based solely on my opinion of the shorts, not on any buzz I have read.)  ”Logorama” is set in a world built completely out of company logos.  Buildings, cars, even the people are crafted out of well-known images: the AOL man, the Pringles guy, Best Buy, McDonald’s.  I don’t want to explain the plot because it’s great to just let it unfold.  I have read on-line where people don’t understand how the creators got away with the use of so many logos, but I think this falls under Fair Use.  I can only imagine the licensing fees involving in that amount of logos would probably equal Avatar‘s budget.

If you can take the time to watch these shorts, I think it is worth it.  As I shared before, some of these are available on-line.  ”A Matter of Loaf and Death” is available through Netflix (DVD only, not on Watch it Now), and some theatres are carrying all the shorts together as a feature.  In the past, iTunes has offered them for purchase, but so far I haven’t seen them on there.  I am hoping to see the live shorts at my local indie theatre before the Oscars on Sunday.

Have you seen any of these?  What are your thoughts?

Coming tomorrow, my thoughts on Best Documentary, based on the three out of five I have seen!

One Week till the Oscars

We are one week away from the Oscars!  I’m excited about them, although less than other years because so many of the races have pretty obvious winners already.  Nevertheless, I love the Oscars. I have been trying to see as many of the movies as possible.  I’m still working on that, hoping to cram a few more in before Sunday.  So far, my favorite movie of 2009 continues to be Up.  I know if does not stand a chance at Best Picture, but if it doesn’t win Best Animated, I’ll be very angry!

Do you like to watch the Oscars?  Are you excited about any of the races this year?

Oscar Nominated Shorts

I try to see as many of the Oscar nominated films  as possible (for me) before the awards.  ITunes usually has all the nominated shorts available for purchase at some point before the show, but a few of the animated shorts are currently available on You Tube!  If you would like to watch some, this post on Oh No They Didn’t has them, plus clips/trailers for most of the other shorts.  So far, my favorite is “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” but I might be biased because it is from Ireland.

Thursday Tidbits – Including LOST

I had a nice little break in my week yesterday thanks to the snow!  Thursday Tidbits for this week:

• I was sad to hear J.D. Salinger had passed away last week, and I thought The Onion’s response was great.
• I am angry that Obama is cutting funding for school libraries from his budget.  He talks about students needing to receive a good education, and they need access to good learning resources for all, and how we need to provide a 21st century learning environment, yet he isn’t funding the one space in the school that can do this for every student, no matter what each teacher is doing in the classroom, no matter what kind of environment the students live in.  The Unquiet Librarian has a fantastic post about why Obama should fund school libraries that is worth reading.
• My husband and I were watching John Oliver’s new stand-up show on Comedy Central the other night.  Nick Kroll was on as a character, Fabrice Fabrice.  He was hilarious!

Lost on Tuesday night was amazing! Some of my random thoughts:

• Holy cow – underwater island?  And that was a Dharma shark swimming around down there!
• It was pretty awesome to have Not-Locke apologize to Ben for Ben having to see him as Smokey.  And to see Ben scared when the Smokey was killing those guys – it’s not often we see Ben so vulnerable.
• Back before Lost started jumping forward in time and all we ever saw was the past and current island time, I thought that a great way to end the show would be everyone coming home and landing in LA, and Locke back in a wheelchair, just making eye contact with Jack, so I was kind of excited to see that scene sort of created last night.
• It seems like everyone in the no-crash time is going to have a suckier life than when they crashed.  Granted, things look good now for Hurley and Locke, but I have my doubts.  We’ll see!
• It was fun to see old characters come back.  Hi Claire, Charlie, Boone, Artz, and Frogurt!  And in the temple, hi Cindy! I was wondering if the 2 kids she had walk in were the same 2 kids taken after the 815 crash.  I’m assuming so.
• It was weird how things were slightly different on this flight 815: Shannon stayed behind in Australia, the conversation between Rose and Jack was different, Desmond on the flight appearing and disappearing, Hurley thinking he’s lucky, no Michael or Walt in sight (I have a feeling Walt is done with the show).
• Where the heck is Vincent?
• So, I’m assuming that what the Others did to Sayid is what they did to Ben as a child. They had said when they helped Ben that he wouldn’t remember things or he’d be changed or something. So I’m wondering if the same will happen to Sayid.
• Terry O’Quinn was just amazing as the 2 different Lockes.
• So, when the Others saved Ben as a kid after Sayid shot him, they said he’d be different, and he was but he was still Ben.  So will Sayid still be Sayid, or did Jacob take over Sayid’s body as the Man in Black/Esau took over Locke’s?  My friend Amy pointed out that NotLocke/FLocke/UnLocke/ManInBlackInLocke looks like Locke, but Locke’s dead body is still laying on the beach.  So can Jacob and Man in Black take possession of bodies or just re-create them? And if they can take possession of a human body, would that body still be fragile or would it become indestructible like NotLocke is now, as demonstrated by the bullet bouncing off him in the temple.
• Thoughts on the two different universes.
• Side by side comparison of Flight 815 from the pilot and this episode.

Okay, just a couple thoughts I had. I’d love to hear what you thought of Lost!  Comment or post a link to your own blog post with your thoughts.