Idol Thoughts

I don't have too much to say about this season; it's pretty boring. Last night's theme was so random. No Doubt and musicians that have inspired Gwen Stefani. Is she really inspired by Donna Summer?

LaKisha: I'd love to see her do something that's not in her comfort zone. I thought that was a strange choice.

Chris S: Meh.

Melinda: She can sang and she's awesome, but she bores me for the same reason LaKisha does. I'm just not a fan of the kind of music the two of them sing.

Blake: I almost shit my pants when Ryan said someone was going to do a Cure song. Don't fuck with my holy trinity, show. I figured it would be Blake doing Lovesong and was glad when it was. He did fine. It's not really a "performance song."

Phil: I hate Phil but I suppose he did ok. I would freak the hell out if he were watching every breath I take, every move I make, every step I take and every claim I stake.

Haley: Zzzzz... She's lucky she's hot.

Sanjaya: Rusty and I both cracked up when they showed him with his ill-advised hairstyle and then they cut to Ryan giving us his best "WTF?!" face. He sounded like ass but I'm pretty sure he's at the point where he doesn't give a rat's ass. I almost want to keep him around because I enjoy laughing at his suckiness.

Gina: I don't like the Pretenders but I like that song and thought she did a good job.

Chris R.: He's cute but not cute enough to like despite the badness of his singing (see: Young, Ace). I like my men to sound like men which is why I can't stand that Justin Timberlake-esque singing. That whinyness and falsetto does not appeal to me in the least.

Jordin: She did the song I would have done if I had to do a No Doubt song (oh, don't pretend like you don't think about those things), but that song was way too low for her register. Also, her outfit was hideous. I still like her better than LaKisha and Melinda though because she takes risks.

I'm wondering if "Not-Dim" will comment this year...

Ummm...

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring, Everyone!

Woot!

Guess what I got in the mail today?

Dear Ms. (ugly German last name that everyone pronounces incorrectly even though it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled):

It is a pleasure to inform you of your full admission to the Master of Science in Library Science/Harrisburg program at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Yay!!!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday, Feather!

Noooooo!!!!

*Update: The official total was 11.5 inches, but I think it was more.

&#(*^$&!!! And as per usual, PennDot did a bang-up job of plowing. It was in the 70s two days ago.

Approximately 6 inches and still falling

I just shoveled!

Yikes!

This made me laugh out loud. In the first picture you see a mug shot of a drunk driver. Nothing too amazing, but you can tell that something is amiss. Then you click on the second page and see the profile view...

Tidbits

Yesterday was the first day in months I was able to have almost every window in the house open and not be cold; the fresh air was awesome. I can feel my winter funk starting to lift. Plus, it's now daylight savings time!!

I upgraded our Netflix subscription to 4 at a time. If you don't have Netflix and you're considering getting it, do it.

Funniest lines from yesterday's Arrested Development watching (both from Tobias): "Allow me to change out of my assistant's skirt and put on my Barbara Streisand in Prince of Tides ass-masking pantsuit." and "I was an analyst and a therapist. The world's first analrapist."

Best transition from a TV show to a commercial: After Sandra Lee finished putting "Caesar" salad on top of a pizza (?!), the show cut to a commercial for Bird's Eye vegetables. Commercial announcer: "You often sacrifice flavor for convenience." Well played, if that was intentional.

TV Musings

During the group song, "Stuck in the Middle With You," I was waiting for someone's ear to be cut off.

Oh god--Simon and Ryan went to Africa and Randy and Paula are going to Louisiana. I'm all for doing good deeds, but not when you televise it for millions of people to see how wonderful you are. That SPECIAL AMERICAN IDOL EPISODE!!!111! promises to be a clusterfuck. Borat? Annie Lennox? Bono (Haaate)? Gwen Stefani? WTF?

Carrie looks like Skeletor.

Antonella and Stephanie--meh. I'm not surprised about Antonella and Stephanie wasn't shown enough in the auditions to do well. Haley doesn't have a bad voice but she's pretty pageant-y and picks the dumbest songs in the history of the world. Queen of the Night? Seriously, Haley?

Jared and Sundance--another meh. I sure as shit don't think Sanjaya deserves to be in the top 12 more than them, but I don't care that either of them are gone.

I feel compelled to write about Arrested Development like Rusty wrote about the Black Donnellys the other week because I've been rewatching our DVDs and getting even more pissed that the show didn't get a longer run. Phyllis from The Office was on the episode I watched the other day ("The Immaculate Election" from Season 2) and Kevin has a brief appearance in another episode (he informs Tobias of the gun-show loophole). Ed Helms also appeared as a real estate agent. That show had the best guest stars--Rob Corddry, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jeff Garlin, Andy Richter, Dan Castellaneta, and Henry Winkler, just to name a few. Several episodes were directed by Paul Feig, who created "Freaks and Geeks," which is also one of the best shows ever, and directed some episodes of "The Office."

Describing how great this show is will not do it justice. I highly recommend you watch it yourself to experience the slick writing, attention to detail, flawless acting, biting social commentary, and hilarious jokes. I can't think of another show that uses callbacks, foreshadowing and inside jokes so well. Arrested Development rewards people who pay attention, and I appreciate that. Every character is perfectly cast, and I can only think of one thing that I didn't like from the whole series, and that was Martin Short playing Uncle Jack.

It was so frustrating to be a fan of the show. We had to watch it be screwed repeatedly by FOX. They moved it all over the place in the schedule which prevented it from building a strong fan base, they cut the second season down to only 18 episodes (a full season is 22) to make room for "Family Guy's" comeback, and the third season was cut to 13 episodes. They aired the final four episodes in a two-hour block which was scheduled at the same time as the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Nice one, FOX. You better believe that our dial was planted firmly on FOX that night though. Imagine what it's like to be a fan of one of the most intelligent and hilarious sitcoms ever and have it cancelled while "Stacked" and "The War at Home" are still on the air. Arrested was nominated for 20 freaking Emmys (winning 7) and won several other awards, for god's sake! To quote GOB, "Come on!"

Raves

I do enough ranting on this blog, so here are some raves.

I watched Taxi Driver this weekend and was left wondering why the hell I waited so long to see it. The movie was gritty and raw, and I can't think of any movie that I've seen that is a better character study that this one. Released in 1976, it was nominated for and/or won several awards, most notably the Golden Palm at Cannes and Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Lead Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Score. Travis Bickle, played without flaw by Robert DeNiro, is a cab driver disgusted by his surroundings. Throughout the whole movie, Travis moves closer and closer to the edge of sanity. We get glimpses into his past; all the straws that are piling up on the camel's back, but we are never told the whole story. He tells Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) that she's just like all the others when she refuses to see him again after an ill-advised second date at a porn house, but we don't know what what "the others" did to hurt Travis. He writes to his parents that he still can't give them his address, but we don't know how long Travis has been living in his filthy closed-sized apartment, hiding from the world with only his delusions that he works for the government and that he alone has the power to clean up the streets and right all of society's wrongs to keep him company.

"Now I see this clearly. My whole life is pointed in one direction. There never has been a choice for me."

The viewer can feel Travis's discomfort and angst, which is a direct result of Scorsese's masterful directing and DeNiro's brilliant performance. The tension builds and builds until one hot summer night when Travis can't take it any longer. The ending is ambiguous enough that a first-time viewer like myself can't be sure if it's real or a fantasy, although I'm sure there are many who are more well-versed who have their theories and opinions. Also worth mentioning are excellent performances by Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, and surprisingly, Jodie Foster, whom I have always considered to be wooden.


Another good movie I saw recently was Sherrybaby. This movie is the story of Sherry (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a young woman who is trying to get her life back on track upon being released from prison after serving three years. I admire Gyllenhaal because she's willing to take on roles that aren't going to launch her into "superstardom," i.e. playing the lead in a formulaic romantic comedy like Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan. Sherry teeters between going back to her former life and trying to live as a decent member of society. Her journey finds her reuniting with her daughter; relapsing; mouthing off to her parole officer; using sex to overcome low self-esteem; and dealing with a cast of characters including her sexually abusive father, an aggressive tenant at her halfway house, and the manipulative director of her program. We watch her try to move from a life of instant gratification, whether it be shooting up or offering sexual favors in exchange for a job, to a more adult life where it takes time for things to fall into place. This movie can at times be uncomfortable, but so is life.


Finally, I leave you with a video that Chris sent me of Ricky Gervais interviewing Larry David. I'm surprised the universe didn't implode with two comedic geniuses in one room.

Ricky Gervais meets Larry David
Uploaded by deep

TV Musings

Since The Office was a re-run I watched part of the American Idol results show. AI just isn't doing it for me this year. I like some of the contestants, but I haven't latched on to any of them yet. I did love Leslie's ad-libbing during her sing-out. I liked her but I didn't bother getting attached since I knew she wouldn't last. To America, the only good singers are the ones who can belt it out. We're not big on subtlety. I can't believe some of these people haven't already been kicked off *coughAntonellaandSanjayacough*. I can't be too mad at America's voting patterns though; they shouldn't have been allowed through in the first place. Also, that group sing was painfully bad, and not in the delightfully cheesy to which I am accustomed.

Since there were only about 2 minutes of the hour-long Idol tape that I felt the need to watch on tape, I got a chance to watch 30 Rock. That show is hilarious. Dare I say it's funnier than The Office this season? I love the fact that Jack's sparkling wine tastes like (paraphrasing) the piss of Satan after eating asparagus. I'm sorry I haven't been watching that show all season, but that's what happens when the networks put every single show you watch on one night which also happens to be the night you're not home. I hope it comes out on DVD so I can Netflix it.

I also caught part of The Black Donnelleys (sorry if that's spelled wrong; I'm too lazy to look it up), which Rusty was raving about. I would have watched the whole thing but I wanted to be in bed before 11. What I saw of it was really good, but I don't hold much hope for a show that premiers mid-season, although if I remember correctly (again, too lazy), The Office was either a mid-season replacement or it premiered in the summer, so who knows?