Category Archives: tv

Reading, watching, listening

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Reading: Current read is Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith, who so happens to be a sorority sister. Cool! I should finish that today.

Recently finished Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot, the first in her “Heather Wells Mysteries” series. As I’ve said many, many times, Meg Cabot is always a great read.

I also finished Coal Run by Tawni O’Dell. O’Dell writes stories that are set in the general area of PA where I grew up…not precisely where I grew up, but in the “hey, we played them in football” area. She writes really well about tragedy and dysfunction, creating flawed but utterly human characters.

Also continuing to read and enjoy Daredevil.

Watching: I finally watched the last few episodes of Veronica Mars that TiVo saved for me. I liked the last couple of episodes for an end to the season…but if the show doesn’t come back for another? (the CW is still dangling a shred of hope over our heads…) Then the last episode was unmercifully cruel. Bah.

Movies…I haven’t seen a new movie in the last little bit, but Rand and I watched This Film is Not Yet Rated over the weekend. It seems like we watched a whole bunch of stuff, but I’m having trouble remembering what…oh well.

Listening: As you may have noticed, I’ve been on a bit of a Dixie Chicks kick. TiVo recorded their appearance on Austin City Limits, which was pretty cool. I’m still loving “Taking the Long Way.” 🙂

Reading, watching, listening

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Reading: Coal Run by Tawni O’Dell. Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis. Just finished The Amber Spyglass, will be writing about it soon. On deck: Lisey’s Story by Stephen King.

Watching: 28 Weeks Later (I wasn’t crazy about it); Thank You for Smoking (not sure how I felt about it. I didn’t love it.); Shut Up & Sing (a flawed documentary, but I enjoyed it.)

Lost, Heroes (season finale tonight!!), American Idol (I was wrong…bye bye Melinda. I was sad to see her go, but I suspect it’ll be better for her career in the long run).

I have several episodes of Veronica Mars to watch…I’m bummed about the news that it won’t be coming back next season, but not surprised.

Listening: The Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way. I’m not all the way through the album yet, but I’m loving it. It’s raw, emotional, powerful stuff.

Hodgepodge

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Well, I’ve been busy working…subbing and getting the last of my grading done. I’m almost finished! Woohoo!

People keep asking me what I’m going to do this summer. The answer to that is…um, I have no idea. I’ll be subbing until the last possible day to sub, and my pays are two weeks behind. That’ll get me through to the end of June. I start teaching a college class in mid-July, which will get me through half of July and most of August. So I have a couple of gaps that I’m going to need to fill in…I don’t think I can bring myself to work retail or restaurant again. I suppose I might put my name in at a few temp agencies, but they have so few actual temp positions. Hrm. Suggestions are welcome. 🙂

I hope all the mothers out there had a lovely Mother’s Day. I met my parents in Ellicottville for lunch, which was very nice. My mom and Rand’s mom both got the Mother’s Day calligraphy gifts I had made and posted on my Etsy site. I think they were both pleased.

Yesterday was my Dad’s birthday, which I forgot to mention on the blog, but did not forget to acknowledge. Happy Birthday, Dad!

I finished a couple of books yesterday…As Seen on TV, chicklit by Sarah Mlynowski (borrowed from LT!), and The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. I enjoyed both. I didn’t like The Thief Lord nearly as much as I liked Inkheart, though. Today, I’ve started The Amber Spyglass, the third part of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.

Monday’s Heroes was awesome, of course. I’m both excited and a little sad about next week’s season finale.

Watched Idol last night, and I think maybe Jordin’s going to go this week. I think Melinda’s proven herself to be an incredibly versatile performer over the past few weeks, and she rocks! Also, Blake was very good, and he’s very popular among the young girls. We’ll see how that goes… 

Week in review

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Well, I’m finally able to breathe a bit…grades for two classes are DONE. I’m reading portfolios for my third class, started today, and I have plenty of time to finish them. I’m calculating their final grades as I go along. The fourth class finished up their writing exit exams yesterday. I’m in the home stretch!

I’m working today, and I’ve found myself with an extra free period, so I figured I’d share what I’ve been up to in the past week other than grading papers!

Last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. Rand and Wolfram made an appearance at Queen City Comics on Main Street.

wolfram and rand

We started the day with breakfast with Wolfram and his wife Rai-an at Amy’s Place, then headed over to the shop at around 11. The guys played three sets with short breaks in between. Small crowds would gather now and then, and several people bought copies of Super Secret. Emil got us pizza from Just Pizza for lunch, which I didn’t realize how much I’d missed until that moment. Later, I was browsing a discount rack in the shop and came across a fun Alias book (a book about the tv show, not the comic). It came with a bonus DVD and has a full episode guide–something the box set is missing. I was contemplating buying it when Emil told me to take it as a gift. Aw…thanks, Emil!

Saturday evening, we met up with jennimi and Scott for dinner at Anchor Bar, and then went to see the Shredd & Ragan Comedy Fest. The Comedy Fest featured Mike Birbiglia, a very, very funny comedian. He was the reason we went. The rest of the so-called fest featured Evil Jim (who really shouldn’t ever do stand-up…eep.), Tom Tran (very funny) and Matt Bergman (pretty funny).

On Sunday, we spent some time visiting Rand’s brother and SIL and their new baby, Aiden.

rand and aiden

What a little cutie, eh?

The rest of the week has been kind of a blur. I finished reading The Golden Compass and am nearly finished with The Subtle Knife. I’m really, really liking them. Heroes and Lost both rocked my world this week. I was unsurprised that LaKisha was voted off of Idol this week. (by the way…TiVo is the best thing EVER. I can zip through an episode of AI in 20 minutes.) Yoga continues to be amazing.

There’s probably more, but that’s gonna be it for now, I think. Back to class for me.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Reading, watching, listening

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Reading: For as busy as I’ve been, I’ve certainly found time to read lately. I’ve kind of put other projects on hold for the time being, but I squeeze in reading whenever I can. Here’s what I’ve been up to…

Buffy Season 8 (issue 3)–Rand picked this up for me on his weekly comics-buying venture. I’m enjoying it quite a bit. The first issue was bumpy, but it’s now settling into a great rhythm.

Fray — Joss Whedon’s story of a future slayer. I read this in pretty much one sitting, and I was so disappointed to find out that there was no more Fray. Boo! It did tell a complete story, but left you with the implication that there was more to come. Ah, maybe one day.

The Last Unicorn –When I was maybe 10 or so, the movie version of The Last Unicorn ran on HBO. My dad taped it for me, and I remember loving it. I watched it over and over and over again. It wasn’t until years later that I realized it was based on a book. Recently, I came across a used copy of the book and picked it up. It was interesting how the story came back to me as I read. It’s a lovely and sad fairy tale, and it was as good as I remember. After finishing the book, I promptly went to the Conlan Press website and ordered the 25th anniversary edition DVD. (orders from this website directly benefit the author.) I can’t wait to see it again!

Twisted –The new novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. I loved it, and I will be posting in more detail on my book blog.

I’ve also just started The Golden Compass, which I somehow missed out on when I was younger. So far, I’m loving it!

Watching: Well, American Idol, of course…it was Bon Jovi week, after all! 😉 I thought Jordin’s performance was one of the weakest this week, but I didn’t think there was any way she was going to be sent home. I was right.

I actually kinda liked Blake’s funky hip-hop beatbox version of You Give Love a Bad Name. It was certainly brave, and no one can accuse him of not “making it his own.”

LaKisha and Melinda both rocked the songs they chose. Melinda even made me like Have a Nice Day, which I hated when I heard it on the radio. (I did not purchase that album. I think the last one I bought was Bounce, which didn’t do a whole lot for me.)

I thought the audience chose wisely, with Phil and Chris going home this week.

I liked the new Bon Jovi song. Maybe I’ll buy the new album when it comes out…

This week’s Heroes and last week’s Lost both made me squee with delight! I did not watch last night’s Lost yet.

Kind of randomly, TiVo started recording early episodes of Family Ties, so Rand and I have been watching those. That’s been interesting. 😉 It’s been a little while since I’ve watched any movies.

Listening: I recently listened to Ryan Fitzsimmons’ Open All Night. I enjoyed it very much.

As always, I’m open to suggestions!

Thursday ramblings

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The semester is rapidly coming to an end, and so I’ve been busybusy with class-type things. And after today, I have a big ol’ pile of papers to grade, so I’ll be even more busy. Phew!

I am teaching a class again this summer, and I’ll be needing to figure out how to make enough $ to sustain me in the in-between times. (from when school ends in June until the summer session starts, and from when the summer session ends until I start getting paychecks in the fall.)

I had my second yoga class last night, and I am loving it. I’m looking into getting myself a yoga mat of my very own.

I just began reading The Sparrow, which I’ve heard nothing but good things about. The downside is that it’s a 405-page book, and I’m finding myself wanting to do nothing but readreadread. I’ve finished several YA selections in the past couple of weeks, which you can see over at Required Reading. (or not. I can’t seem to get the link to work. you can get there from my About page, if you care. Or try this.)

I loved Heroes this week, and I’m eagerly anticipating next week’s episode! I haven’t watched last night’s Lost yet, but I’m also looking forward to that.

And with that, I’m off to read. Or grade. But probably read…

Idol thoughts

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Yep, sucked in.

I missed the beginning of the show, so I didn’t see Creepy Phil’s (TM Eden) performance. I didn’t see all of Jordin’s performance either, but I did check it out on YouTube yesterday.

Wow. That girl can sing. “A Broken Wing” just might be my very favorite Martina McBride song. I always cringe when people try to sing it, because they nearly always screw it up. Jordin most certainly did not.

I thought Melinda was fantastic as well, singing “Trouble is a Woman.” I’m pretty out of touch with the country scene these days, so I didn’t know the song, but she did great. She also looked good. (I hear there have been some issues with her looking too old.)

My thoughts on most everyone else=meh.

I didn’t think Sanjaya was awful, but he was pretty boring. Chris, I thought, was awful. I don’t think you should be allowed to do a song by last year’s contestants/winner. I dunno…it just seems wrong.

I think all the boys should go. They’re just, eh. I think the final two should be Jordin and Melinda.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Watching, watching, watching

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Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot of watching. Reading will pick up a bit once the semester winds down!

I’m not sure I’m going to hit everything I’ve watched recently. I’ll encourage Rand to refresh my memory if necessary!

On DVD

Stranger than Fiction…it got tepid reviews, but I have to say that I rather enjoyed it. The story was clever, it was told well, it had a satisfying ending, and Maggie Gyllenhall was adorable.

The Passion of the Christ…I told Rand I’d watch it if he’d skip the Jesus beatings for me. He’d seen it when it came out, I hadn’t. It was very, very Catholic. Many images were exact replicas of the Stations of the Cross that you see hanging on the walls of Catholic churches, except the movie images were bloodier. There were moments worth seeing, but I still thought it was mostly gratuitous and not really necessary. Give me Jesus Christ Superstar any day.

Shaun of the Dead…I loved this movie! I loved the way it played with your expectations. I loved that it was both genuinely funny and genuinely scary. I loved the way Shaun went from being a hapless loser to being a hero. Yeah, there were a couple of moments when I had to turn my head, but overall, I just adored it.

Let’s Go to Prison…I wouldn’t have seen this if hadn’t been made by Bob Odenkirk, who I know is funny. I enjoyed it. It was subversive and subtle and indeed very funny. Will Arnett was pretty much Will Arnett, but he does it well.

At the movies

Grindhouse…Actually went to the theater! I really enjoyed the first feature, Planet Terror, which was directed by Robert Rodriguez. It was great fun. It starred Freddy Rodriguez and Naveen Andrews (yum!) for one, and Robert Rodriguez really kept his sense of humor about him. I’d watch this movie again. The fake trailers were hilarious.

And then there was Death Proof. Sigh. I’m not a Quentin Tarentino fan to begin with, but I think he’s become more insufferable, if that’s possible. His movie was deadly serious, and not really all that good. I was bored. I was bored during a dramatic car chase that had a girl clinging to the hood of one of the cars. Tarentino’s dialogue wasn’t even very good. It was tedious and pointless. It wasn’t clever. It wasn’t funny. He’s obviously in love with the sound of his words. I’m not.

On TV

Ooh, these last few episodes of Lost have been fantastic. I’m completely riveted! I’m back into waiting on the edge of my seat to see what happens next.

Rand and I have watched all 6 episodes of Andy Barker, PI and found it quite fun. I knew, though, not to get attached. It’s already gone buh-bye.

Looking forward

New Heroes next week. Yay!

Saw a trailer for 1408. Stephen King + John Cusack = GOLD! 🙂 Well, that is if they don’t screw it up. And given that neither William Goldman (Misery) nor Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) is involved, well, the odds are pretty good that it’ll be screwed up. But I’m in anyway.

Hot Fuzz, from the same guys who brought us Shaun, also looks promising.

Country night on Idol

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Ah, if it weren’t for blogs, I wouldn’t even know it was happening…but now I think I might have to watch.

Why? Because Martina McBride is the vocal coach for country week, and she is ten kinds of amazing. I heart her.

It’ll probably suck. I’ll probably watch it anyway. Thank heavens for tivo.

Reading, watching, listening

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Reading: Mostly student work these days…other than that, I managed to do a read-through of my NaNoWriMo novel. I wrote a bit about it at my writing blog, if you care about that sort of thing.

I also skimmed a bunch of grammar-type books to write this month’s Absolute Blank article over at TC. I began reading Spunk & Bite, which you can see along with all the others in our Amazon Store.

I read the first issue of the new Buffy comic, which I did enjoy, but I’m not sure I have the patience for monthly comics. Then again, do I have the patience to wait until it’s collected? Hmmm…

I have a bunch of things I’m looking forward to reading, like Laurie Halse Anderson’s new book Twisted, which was released today.

Watching: I think Lost is the only current show w/new episodes that I’m currently watching. It’s been fantastic lately, if I do say so.

Rand and I finished the second season of MASH last night. (How many more seasons is Frank on? Gah.) Toward the end of the second season, there was an episode that had to be groundbreaking television in 1974, dealing with a gay soldier. I was impressed.

Over the weekend, we saw Catch and Release at the dollar fifty movies. I liked it okay, and cried a bit at the end, but there were a few too many distracting plot holes for me to love it. The movie stars Jennifer Garner as Gray, a woman whose fiance has died just before their wedding. The question I had to keep asking myself was “doesn’t she have any friends? Or family?” It’s possible, I guess, that the answer to those questions is no, but that was never explained. I’m just pretty sure that if my fiance died, my family and friends would be there. I’m just sayin’.

Jen cries like no one else out there, and Kevin Smith was indeed as great as everyone said. Oh, and Timothy Olyphant (of Deadwood) is hawt.

I also watched Mean Girls…Rand had never seen it. 🙂 Oh, and I almost forgot…we watched The Full Monty, which I had seen before, but Rand just bought on DVD.

Listening: At present, I’m listening to KT Tunstall’s Eye to the Telescope, which I finally purchased from iTunes. I *heart* iTunes. And having an iPod. (I like the album quite a bit, too!)

As always, any recommendations are welcome. 🙂