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October 29, 2010

Morning Coffee (10/29/10)

Happy Friday! This week went... quickly, actually. Huh. Has everyone recovered from The Vampire Diaries last night? Tonight I'll be running a live chat about The Good Guys over at GoodGuysFans.com, so if you're watching, come chat with us!

I'm sure we've all heard about Gawker's ridiculous Christine O'Donnell thing, right? I'm not giving them the satisfaction of linking to it. Leave a comment if you have no idea what I'm talking about and actually want to know. Hah. I was also pretty unhappy with Jezebel's response. But very happy with the dozens of really good Twitter responses. So.

Maureen Johnson has REVEALED SECRETS about her upcoming books. I cannot wait.

The Greek yogurt phenomenon is pretty interesting.

This piece about why Halloween and New Year's are awful is somewhat New York-specific, but I sympathized with it anyway. Oh the pressure!

The Fug Girls Herald TV's Most Unheralded Actors

And the best flow chart in the history of ever: How to Explain the Internet to a Dickensian Street Urchin

Posted by Kat at 08:08 AM | Comments (1)

October 28, 2010

Morning Coffee (10/28/10)

Oh, hey, it's Thursday already! That seems to have happened suddenly.

Why would anyone commit voter fraud? and The voter fraud racket is back!

The Marie Claire editor responds. The Internet is unimpressed.

Joe Miller is in trouble for lying about accessing his staff's computers to vote more than once in his own online poll, but as some (forget who, sorry) on Twitter pointed out, the crazy thing is that he didn't manage to just rig his own site.

We know concussions are bad for football players. Now: minor hits: also bad. Great.

Oh, I don't have a link, but if you care, Caprica was cancelled.

Posted by Kat at 08:23 AM | Comments (1)

October 27, 2010

Song of the Day: "Sparks Fly"

I'm working on a review of the whole album, but I woke up with this one in my head, so...

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/27/10)

Oh, hi! I have a blog! Right! So... here's the deal. NaNoWriMo starts on Monday, so I'm currently trying to get various things squared away before that. During NaNo, blogging will likely be reduced - I'll try to keep up with Morning Coffee (with NaNo updates) and Song of the Day, but no promises about anything else, at least not every day. And then I'll reassess my posting schedule when we get to December. I want to work on writing more longer posts, which probably means fewer shorter posts, and... well, we'll see.

I assume we've all heard about the ridiculous Marie Claire "overweight people are gross and shouldn't be on TV" thing, but if not, here's the original article and here's Jezebel's take.

KITTEN BOMB OF CUTENESS. (Although, really, if there's someone next door who rescues cats - maybe someone was trying to leave them THERE?)

What happened to the Newsweek/Daily Beast merger?

Fox News and gold

Posted by Kat at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2010

Morning Coffee (10/21/10)

Happy Thursday! Today is going to be endless, but it's also my Friday, so I shouldn't complain. Too much.

Oh look! NPR finally got rid of Juan Williams! And that's . . . really the only part of today's news that I feel like mentioning. The rest is depressing and more of the same.

Morning soundtrack: AC/DC, Back in Black

The Stewart/Colbert rally is bad for democracy and the Democrats.

About the much-discussed Glee GQ cover: I pretty much agree with the Fug Girls. I do not agree with all the people blaming Lea Michele personally. And Dianna Agron herself has some interesting thoughts on the subject.

Was The Black Cauldron movie really that bad?

The President is going to be on the Daily Show!

Yes, the use of the name Megan on Mad Men was anachronistic.

Vampire Diaries fans: the CW is developing a new show based on different books by the same author.

Posted by Kat at 08:29 AM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2010

Documentary Recommendation: God in America

On Sunday, I found myself completely sucked into the entire six-hour run of PBS's God in America. This sort of thing isn't for everyone, of course, but if you'd at all interested in American history or religious studies or sociology, I highly recommend you check it out. (You can watch it online and find all sorts of accompanying resources here.) It traces the way that religion has played a role in major events of American history from the first interactions between the native peoples and Spanish missionaries all the way through this summer's Koran-burning and "Ground Zero mosque" controversies. The broad outlines, of course, will be familiar to anyone who's been paying attention, but it's presented well and had enough new-to-me information to keep me intrigued. Did you know that Hearst ordered his publications to make Billy Graham into a celebrity as a way to fight Communism, for example? That story was fascinating.

The film has a good mix of expert commentary and reenactments based on primary sources. Stephen Prothero, one of my favorite writers on religious issues, comments throughout, and I have to mention that he's not at all hard to look at. Other names I knew popped up from time to time - Mary Beth Norton, Amy Sullivan. I would have preferred that they give more time to some religious events that were less directly tied to major historical events - the Mormons were only mentioned in passing (perhaps because they did a whole documentary on Mormonism already), and I don't think the Salem Witch Trials came up at all. Still, it was cohesive, informative, and surprisingly watchable.

Posted by Kat at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

Song of the Day: "Roll Over Beethoven"

Chuck Berry week continues...

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

What I Watched Last Night (10/20/10)

Better With You, "Better With Fighting" - So we're doing this "every episode starting with 'Better With'" thing, are we? Sigh. I actually laughed out loud a few times at this episode! I think it's quietly becoming one of my favorite new shows.

Sister Wives, "A Fourth Wife to Be" & "Four Wives and Counting . . ." - Wedding episodes! Man, this is fascinating. I hope there will actually be another season. The women all seem really nice and fun and I kind of think they should just get rid of the guy, but . . .

Private Practice, "Short Cuts" - I'd been sort of putting off watching this show because it's gotten so ridiculous, but of course I enjoyed it. Even when the plots are ridiculous, the emotions and interactions feel very real. And I love the addition of Derek's sister Amelia this season.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/20/10)

Happy Wednesday! Please make sure you saw my post about Spirit Day earlier this morning. It's important. Related good news: military recruiters are, for the moment, accepting gay recruits.

PSA, because I've been getting lots of questions: Yes, Gossip Girl and Glee were both reruns this week. Vampire Diaries is back tomorrow, but Bones and Fringe are off.

Clarence Thomas's wife has asked Anita Hill to apologize. Um, okay. In other news of everyone connected to the Supreme Court being incredibly mature, Alito doesn't want to go to the next State of the Union.

Morning soundtrack: Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More

Christine O'Donnell: Unaware that the separation of church and state is in the Constitution.

Wondering how NBC and MSNBC will be covering Election Night? Wonder no more. (ABC, of course, will be too busy announcing the Skating with the Stars cast during Dancing with the Stars that night.)

The adorable little drummer kid from Love, Actually is all grown up and playing Paul McCartney in Nowhere Boy.

Posted by Kat at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

Wear Purple Today!

(I know, a post before Morning Coffee! Shocking! But I wanted to get as many people as possible before they left the house for the day.)

Today, October 20, is GLAAD Spirit Day. Wear purple to show support against bullying of LGBT teens. (There's Twitter and Facebook stuff going on too.) Read more about it here, and if you need help right now, call The Trevor Project or The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Posted by Kat at 07:37 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2010

Song of the Day: "You Never Can Tell'

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

What I Watched Last Night (10/19/10)

How I Met Your Mother, "Architect of Destruction" - Oh, show! I've missed you! And with this episode, it felt like you were back to your old self! This was a thoroughly enjoyable episode. The characterization was good and it was funny, and too often this show only hits one or the other of those notes.

NOVA, "Secrets of the Parthenon" - I realized part way through that I'd actually seen this before, but I watched it anyway, because, you know, Greeks! Recommended for anyone interested in ancient Greece or in restoration of historical structures.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/19/10)

Happy Tuesday. How is it almost late October already? Crazy. I am eating my first bowl of Count Chocula for the season, so there's that.

It sounds the like the gubernatorial debate in New York was kind of hilarious. Check out the Rent Is Too Damn High Party. Warning: Their song starts playing when you open the page. But also - HEE.

Less hilarious: Joe Miller (Senate candidate in Alaska) is now having his private security guards "arrest" reporters.

In better news: Counting Crows' Adam Duritz has been watching Supernatural and tweeting about it, and it's pretty awesome.

In "downfall of civilization" news: Outsourced has been picked up for a full season, while Friday Night Lights reruns can't even make it on ABC Family. (Also getting full seasons: The Event and Law and Order: LA. The V order was cut from 13 to 10.)

Posted by Kat at 08:23 AM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2010

Gwyneth Goes Country?

I know this is for her new movie, which actually looks fairly decent - Leighton Meester! - but it's still vaguely baffling. I mean, there is clearly some sort of GOOP joke to be made here, right? It's a . . . somewhat inconsistent career vision, it seems. The song itself isn't particular memorable, but it isn't wildly awful, either, so there's that.

Posted by Kat at 03:00 PM | Comments (1)

Song of the Day: "Sweet Little Sixteen"

I think we're going to have a Chuck Berry week, just because.

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

What I Watched Last Night (10/18/10)

The Mentalist, "Red Carpet Treatment" - I don't know how Rigsby is standing it, because Van Pelt is ripping MY heart out here. But it's setting up some good Cho/Rigsby interaction, so I'm happy with that. Anyway, overall, this was a good episode, and I'm glad Red John wasn't really a main point for once.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/18/10)

And we're back to Monday. I'm only working four days this week, though, so that's something.

This series of famous inboxes is hilarious. Yes, of course I linked you to Elizabeth Bennet.

Female Character Flowchart. Just. Amazing.

My friends Bailey and Laura have started a book blog. You should read it.

ABC is doing Skating with the Stars, which I'm quite sure FOX or someone did years ago, but fine, whatever SKATING. I'll watch it. Especially if they get exciting skaters I actually care about.

Slate has found the dumbest libertarian quote ever. From New Hampshire, of course.

Posted by Kat at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2010

Trailer: The Walking Dead

Confession: I don't like zombies. I get that they're very in right now, but I just don't understand the attraction. They're . . . icky. (Yes, I understand that vampires are also dead and conceptually icky, but at least they're often sexy and generally have good hygiene. That's really all I ask.)

But on the other hand: This looks freaking amazing. And I'm sure I'll give in and watch at least the first episode if only to understand what everyone's going on about. Anyone else?

Posted by Kat at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

Song of the Day: "Ya Got Trouble"

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (1)

What I Watched Last Night (10/15/10)

The Defenders, "Las Vegas v. Reid" - This second episode was just as slick and fun as the pilot. I'm not really into this show yet, but the leads are charming and charismatic and it's some nice escapist fun. And the cases were surprisingly interesting, although I don't even want to ask if they were at all legally plausible.

The Mentalist, "The Blood on His Hands" - Rigsby seems to have a new girl! His scene with Van Pelt in the car was great - they're both really solid, understated actors. Yes, I apparently care about that subplot more than about the murder. I never liked Kristina Frye much, so I can't bring myself to get too worked up about her story, but I was happy that the cult stuff was back. And I'm always happy to see Rebecca Field and Eric Winter pop up.

Better With You, "Better With Ben" - Super Sensitive Steve in the B plot was awfully reminiscent of Ted Mosby, no? Anyway, the A plot was cute, about whether Ben is considered part of the family, as seen through the Christmas card. And this family is nutty about their Christmas cards. Anyway, I'm still really liking this show, mostly because of the interactions between the various characters. I wouldn't say it went so far as to make me laugh or anything crazy like that, but I smiled a few times.

Hawaii Five-0, "Malama Ka Aina" - Honestly, I tend to watch this at the end of the evening and not pay all that much attention to the details of the plot. I mostly appreciate the pretty, both of the actors and the setting. I was excited about the football bit in this one, and I'm still loving the bromance between O'Loughlin and Caan.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/15/10)

Good morning! Friday! Finally! We're in the middle of a Nor'easter here, but I feel cheated because there isn't any snow. Boo.

The new Sherlock starts on PBS on the 24th, and NPR has a great interview with the co-creator and lead actor here.

Planet Money bought gold, and their story about it is surprisingly interesting.

More scripts have been ordered for a bunch of shows, including No Ordinary Family, Off the Map, Brothers and Sisters, and Life Unexpected.

Neil Patrick Harris is continuing his quest for world domination by directing a movie, and really, I'm okay with that.

The GIF Renaissance

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke may be directing a Romeo and Juliet series for ABC and . . . I don't know, write your own joke. It's too easy. Two semi-serious things, though: 1) I would not be opposed to seeing Renaissance Verona on my TV every week and 2) how do you make a series out of something in which the main characters die pretty quickly? Like after a few days/weeks, right? What is this going to be, the 24 version of Romeo and Juliet?

The wristwatch is declining? Really? Huh. I feel utterly disoriented when I'm not wearing mine.

"Samuel Jackson," "the CW," and "Sherlock Holmes" are not entities I would usually put in the same sentence. And yet, this seems to be happening. I am baffled but intrigued.

Posted by Kat at 08:12 AM | Comments (4)

October 14, 2010

No Christmas knitting.

That subject line probably made some of you gasp in horror, I know. But it's true. I've decided to try something crazy this year - not knitting any holiday gifts. I'm hoping that it will mean that I am less stressed and generally more pleasant to be around, and really, I think the people in my life would rather have that than another scarf. Also? I missed Christmas shopping. I know, this sounds crazy, but I'm having a great time looking at books and DVDs and stuff for my family. (Okay, I AM making one gift, but it's more DIY than crafty. You'll see.)

And this reminds me - I will definitely be doing more gift guide reviews this year. Can't wait.

Posted by Kat at 03:00 PM | Comments (1)

Song of the Day: "Marian the Librarian"

"What would you like to take out?" "The librarian." I LOVE THIS SHOW.

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

What I Watched Last Night (10/14/10)

The West Wing, "The Stackhouse Filibuster" and "17 People" - I know, I know, this isn't helping me catch up on Fall TV. But Wednesdays are generally the evenings when I go to my friends' house and make them watch West Wing. (I know, it's so nice of me.) These are two great episodes, and I'd forgotten that they were back to back. They really bring home - as though we needed a reminder - just how great the writing and acting was on the early seasons of this show.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/14/10)

Happy Thursday! The Chilean miners have been rescued, which is good because I'm getting really annoyed at how there's so much "human interest" coverage and so little mention of the problems and issues that led to them being trapped in the first place. And my thermometer says it's 33 outside, which is making me wonder if I would have seen a temperature below freezing if I'd thought to look at it when I first got up. Boo. Oh well. There will be plenty of time for that.

For those who like this sort of thing: ABC Family has ordered seven new pilots. And by "this sort of thing" I mean "wildly improbable teen dramas," from the looks of it. Sign me up!

The cast list for Too Big to Fail is . . . wow.

The Five Worst Mean (Little) Girls of All Time

Just How Sorkin-y is The Social Network's Mark Zuckerberg? The answer: Very.

Posted by Kat at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2010

I LOVE MASQUERADES.

There's no new The Vampire Diaries this week - I know, I know, let's all hold hands and get through this together - but there is this amazing teaser for an upcoming masquerade episode. I was going to make some blanket statement about how I love masquerades on TV shows, but now that I think about it, Gossip Girl is the only other specific example I can come up with. But STILL. I am excited. Also: Matt in a suit.

(As always, Vampires-Diaries.net is the best source for news.)

Posted by Kat at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)

Bones 6.2: "The Couple in the Cave"

My recap of "The Couple in the Cave" is up at TheTelevixen.com. Enjoy!

Posted by Kat at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

Song of the Day: "Till There Was You"

I think I've used this before, but I can't leave it out of my Music Man week...

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

What I Watched Last Night (10/13/10)

Glee, "Duets" - This was a refreshingly solid episode, with neither annoying guest stars nor Sue, so I was happy. Of course, I had some quibbles, but nothing that takes away from my sheer delight at Finn and Rachel's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" or Sam and Quinn's "Lucky" or Kurt and Rachel's "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy." I'll do another bullet points post on this.

Castle, "Punked" - Steampunk! Duels! Alexis (and others) in love! Another good episode. I'll have a full recap at TheTelevixen.com soon.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/13/10)

Happy Wednesday! The Chilean miners are in the process of being rescued - yay! Don't Ask Don't Tell is, for the moment, illegal. (I think. It's changing quickly.) And The Situation is off Dancing with the Stars. So I guess I'm saying that the world is not entirely a dreary place today.

The Dangers of USB Drives

The latest Gossip Girl Reality Index: "Lily and Eric took a road trip without Rufus? That's like making a hemp necklace without Vanessa. You'd never get away with it. Minus 3."

How can we have an election if the World Series isn't over yet?

Something I try not to think about too much: Are the dangers of football worth it?

Posted by Kat at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2010

Trailer: Avalon High

Avalon High is my favorite Meg Cabot book, so I was simultaneously thrilled and worried when I heard they were making a movie. But after seeing this trailer, I think I'm mostly thrilled. Especially as the female leads are Britt Robertson (Life Unexpected) and Molly Quinn (Castle)! And really, high school drama and King Arthur? Epic!

Posted by Kat at 05:00 PM | Comments (1)

Glee 2.3: "Grilled Cheesus"

It seems this episode was pretty polarizing, but I'm going to claim some middle ground: I thought the episode was touching and contained some good emotional notes, but I didn't like the treatment of religion or some of the other inconsistent plot elements. And I haven't been able to put this into any sort of coherent argument, so hey, bullet points!

* First, yes, of course, the story with Kurt and his father was touching. It seemed to be so deliberately playing on the audience's emotions, though, that it didn't actually make me cry the way a lot of more subtle shows do. (I cry at TV much more often than at real life. It's a problem.)

* Finn's whole "grilled cheesus" thing was . . . I'm trying to come up with a word other than cheesy. Hah. It played up the "dumb jock" stuff, and I really liked his characterization better the past two weeks.

* The 15-year-old girl in me who listened to Yentl on repeat completely ate up the whole "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" sequence, and really, Rachel is at her best when she's doing Streisand. (See also: "Don't Rain on My Parade.")

* I didn't hate Kurt's version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which is saying something, because my skepticism of Beatles covers runs bone-deep. I was not so wild about Mercedes's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," though, and I think I finally figured out why - I think of that as a very personal song, so the big group setting just seemed off. Well, that, and sorry, Mercedes, your voice is lovely but you are no Art Garfunkel.

* People seem VERY upset about Finn's "Losing My Religion." First, on a musical level, sure, his voice isn't as strong as some of the other voices on the show, but it's fine and I like it. And as to the common complaint that that song isn't actually about religion - sure, we know that, but I can totally buy that Finn would have taken the song at face value. So that didn't bother me at all.

* Writers, last year Rachel was taking down the abstinence club and practically throwing herself at guys. Don't ruin the characterization by making her suddenly weird about Finn touching her breasts just to give him something funny to pray about. Also, they never talked about the whole lying thing, so she still thinks he's a virgin and he still thinks she slept with Jesse, right? That makes that whole scene make even less sense.

* Puck doing "Only the Good Die Young"? Awesome. (I asked for that in my Billy Joel post, remember?)

* So, the actual religion stuff . . . apparently my thoughts are complicated. A list within a list!
1. I kind of hate that Sue was actually right about something for once, but she basically was.
2. At the same time, high school music departments do religious songs all the time, whether that's right or not, so why was this a big deal suddenly?
3. And on the other hand, I didn't think Emma was right, but I loved seeing her stand up to Sue and for the kids.
4. It doesn't seem surprising at all that most of these kids, when pressed, would identify as Christian, and that some of them wouldn't be sure how to react to Kurt when they suddenly found out he was an atheist while he was in the middle of a crisis.
5. As everyone else in the universe has said, it's unfortunate that they made all the atheism due to various childhood traumas. That seems unfair.
6. And there was no excuse for the bedside prayer service without Kurt's consent, especially since Finn's mom was there, so it wasn't just kids being clueless but trying to help.
7. Except - if Kurt's father is in fact religious, and Finn's mom knows this, does that override Kurt's objections? I am undecided.

* Ewwww, Finn ate a week-old sandwich!

* Finn's "I thought we were sort of family" reaction to not being told about Kurt's dad was perfect.

* Oh! And how perfect was the kid playing little Kurt? Amazing.

Posted by Kat at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

Song of the Day: "Goodnight, My Someone"

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

What I Watched Last Night (10/12/10)

Sister Wives, "Third Wife in Labor" and "1st Wife's 20th Anniversary" - I know I should call this show a guilty pleasure, but it's so fascinating on so many levels - psychologically, anthropologically, theologically, sociologically - that I can barely bring myself to be ashamed. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

How I Met Your Mother, "Subway Wars" - Robin wants to prove she's a real New Yorker by seeing Woody Allen, crying on the subway, killing a cockroach, and some other things. So they all have a race, and . . . well, it's complicated, but it allows for an episode of cute little moments between various characters, especially Robin/Barney and Robin/Lily.

Gossip Girl, "Goodbye, Columbia" - Oh, they're pretending like they go to school! Cute! This episode was pretty good, except that I'm ready to be done with Juliet now. (But at least Eva's gone.) But really, I'll put up with practically anything as long as I have feuding Chuck and Blair back like this. The visiting professor's reaction to them ("Oh my God! You students are psychotic!" And fleeing the school altogether) was perfect, and really brought home how those two are operating on a completely different level than anyone else.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/12/10)

So, we have a problem. The almighty web filters at my office are cracking down, and they have decided that my site is "pornography." (Why? No idea.) This is a problem because the way this usually works is that I write posts in the evenings or the morning before I go to work, and then go in and hit Publish at various points throughout the day so they show up for you nicely spaced instead of all at once. For today, I think I'll try publishing from the phone or iPad, so we'll see how that goes. But it does mean that the timing might be a little weird, and that I won't be able to approve comments until the evening. (And if you tell me about a typo or coding error, I won't be able to fix that until the evening either.) Thanks for your patience!

For those of us writing a novel in November and using iPads: A NaNoWriMo iPad Toolkit. I actually haven't decided whether to write on my iPad this year. Thoughts, anyone?

Has the fall TV season failed us?

You may have heard that Nick Hornby and Ben Folds have collaborated on an album. Now, for NYMag, Hornby picks his favorite music and Folds picks his favorite books. They're calling this a big shocking "switcheroo," but given that Hornby has written a book about his favorite music, I'm not sure how much of a departure this is. But still interesting! (Folds picks one of Hornby's books, but Hornby doesn't pick one of Folds's songs. Heh.)

Posted by Kat at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2010

Review: Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other


Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other by Scott Simon
Genre: Memoir, adoption
Year: 2010
Rating: 8.3

Scott Simon's new book about adoption falls somewhere between "memoir" and "book-length NPR story," and I mean that in the best way possible. He weaves together his own story (Simon and his wife adopted their two daughters from China) and personal stories of other families who have adopted with more journalistic information about adoption in the U.S. and around the world. Honestly, I was a little wary when I saw that Simon was going to tell the stories of his friends - those sorts of anecdotes can get tedious - but then I realized that he's Scott Simon, so his friends are people like Frank Deford. In his own story, Simon manages to hit just the right balance - it's personal enough to be interesting, but doesn't feel exploitative or like he's invading his daughters' privacy. My overwhelming reaction to this book was less anything new about adoption, although Simon certainly did well with that subject, and more that I wanted to be friends with Simon and his wife and daughters because they seem like such interesting people. I guess I'll have to settle for that private message I got from him on Twitter that one time. (A highlight of my tweeting experience? Yes, of course.)

Posted by Kat at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

Song of the Day: "Iowa Stubborn"

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

What I Watched Last Night (10/11/10)

No Ordinary Family, "Pilot" - Cute! A quick pilot review of this will be coming later today.

Community Season 1, Disc 2 - I'm trying to catch up so I can watch the current season, and boy, do these 20-minute episodes go quickly. Really, this show is just as good as everyone says. It somehow manages to be delightfully snarky and earnestly heartwarming all at once. Watch it!

Bones, "The Maggots in the Meathead" - This was the Guido episode. Meh. I'll have a full recap up at The Televixen soon.

Law & Order: Los Angeles, "Echo Park" - I was excited because the episode description mentioned a cult, but there was nothing very cultlike. Oh well. It was fine, and I'm happy that Teri Polo (Sports Night, The West Wing) is back on TV. I'm not terribly attached to this show yet, but I'll keep watching it for now until it becomes clear which of the new shows are sticking around and I make a final decision on my show list.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/11/10)

Happy Monday! I barely slept last night, but I'm surprisingly awake. Huh. Hope you're better-rested than I am.

USA scheduling news: White Collar returns Tuesday, January 18 at 10, and Royal Pains Thursday, January 20 at 9. New show Fairly Legal (formerly Facing Kate) premieres right after that at ten. It stars Sarah Shahi and Michael Trucco (BSG, Castle), and I can only hope that the fact that Trucco is a lead means for once he won't be getting between a couple I like and I can just enjoy his prettiness as God intended. Currie Graham is in at least an episode, but I really hope he's going to be a regular.

I really want to see Nowhere Boy, but Secretariat sounds pretty bad. Although this review of it as a creepy Tea Party allegory is fascinating.

I'm not particularly interested in Marilyn Monroe, but the cast of this movie is incredible.

More interesting movie news: Al Pacino as Phil Spector? By Mamet? Huh. Okay then.

Posted by Kat at 09:00 AM | Comments (1)

October 08, 2010

Remembering Jackie Burroughs

I found this a little late, but Sullivan Entertainment has posted a few tributes to the late Jackie Burroughs:

Posted by Kat at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

Song of the Day: "The Sadder But Wiser Girl"

I was talking about The Music Man on Twitter yesterday, and discovered that some of my friends didn't know it, so hey! New song of the day series! I think this is my favorite song from this show:

Posted by Kat at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)

Trailer: The Tempest

I love the idea of Helen Mirren as Prospero - but then, I saw Vanessa Redgrave as Prospero at the Globe, so the idea of a female Prospero doesn't seem odd to me. In any case, this movie looks AMAZING:

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/8/10)

Happy Friday! The Nobel peace prize was given to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. You can read about him here.

NPR had a bunch of great stories this morning. Make sure you catch:
Understanding Pakistan, By Way of Its Pop Idols
Quantitative Easing, Explained
Serving Up Economic Advice, With A Smile (An Austan Goolsbee story featuring Dahlia Lithwick AND Skull and Bones!)

SyFy has picked up Haven for a second season! Yay!

The CW greenlit a pilot about a hairdresser turned lawyer with a mall kiosk. I want to joke about it but who am I kidding? I'll totally watch.

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October 07, 2010

Vampire Legal Issues: "Memory Lane"

"Memory Lane" was a fun episode, but didn't really have many openings for legal discussions. Did that stop us from rambling about it for a while? Of course not!

Katie: So . . . is it just me or is there just not much to talk about this week?

Christine: I don't think there is. Other than me wanting to know about the testamentary dispositions of various Lockwoods, that is. But nothing from the actual plot of the episode. Mostly what I came away with last week was a greater love for Uncle Mason.

Katie: Well, tell me what you want to know about testamentary dispositions. That's fun to say.

Christine: It IS. I'd love to know who owns the Lockwood place now. It seems like it passes from eldest son to eldest son, so I am assuming that most of the property passed to Tyler, and that Mrs. Lockwood is the guardian/conservator of the estate (depending on the terminology Virginia uses). Mrs. Lockwood probably also got some money herself, and perhaps a life estate in the house. Didn't you have a theory about primogeniture and why Tyler was able to call off Mason when he was attacking Caroline?

Katie: Oh, I did! That was just about the wolves, though, not the property. My theory is that leadership of the pack passes to oldest son, which means that when his father died, Tyler became head wolf, not Mason.

I'm not convinced about the house thing, though. What makes you think Tyler owns it? Mystic Falls is weird, but it's not THAT weird, and I think it would be bizarre for a modern couple to arrange things that way, instead of having the parents co-own the house and so have Mrs. Lockwood be the owner now. Isn't that how this usually works?

Christine: Yes, but in this case I am thinking of the house more as a family estate (like you'd have in aristocratic families) than as a family home. The Mayor could have given Mrs. Lockwood a life estate- i.e. she has the right to reside in the house for the rest of her life- without actually passing title to her. (The life estate thing often happens when the testator leaves his second wife a life estate, but actually devises the house to children from his first marriage. This way the Mayor could provide for Mrs. Lockwood without running the risk that she'd have a midlife crisis and marry the FedEx guy and leave him the estate, instead of Tyler.)

And how would the head wolf thing work since as far as we know the Mayor never activated the curse and so wasn't a wolf?

Katie: Ah, interesting. Okay.

Do we really know that the Mayor never activated the curse? I guess I'm not necessarily believing anything Mason says.

Christine: You'd think Tyler would have noticed if his father always disappeared on the full moon. And the Mayor looked terribly confused when the Gilbert device affected him. Mason could be lying, of course, and he doesn't seem to have been close to his brother, so he could also be wrong. Did the Lockwoods keep journals? I wonder if they passed on their werewolf knowledge with the vampire knowledge and Tyler just hadn't been inducted yet.

Katie: That's my guess - that even if the Mayor hadn't actually transitioned, he knew all about it, and just hadn't told Tyler about it yet. One would assume they kept journals. Hmmm.

Christine: You'd think. All those founders seemed set on preserving their brilliance for future generations.

Katie: Anything else? Or are we just hoping that there will be more legal stuff tonight?

Christine: I think the latter. I am hoping for total awesomeness tonight.

Katie: Indeed. See you next week, folks!

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Rice Krispie Treat Footballs!

My newest tailgating creation:

Rice Krispie Treat Footballs

Rice Krispie Treat Footballs

I'm pretty proud, if I do say so myself. Not that I came up with it - you can find the recipe here at RiceKrispies.com, the site with the worst search and navigation ever. (Well, maybe not ever, but seriously! What were they THINKING? This is awful.)

Of course, now I have to figure out what to make this week now that everyone was impressed by those...

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Song of the Day: "More Today Than Yesterday"

How did I not know until yesterday that Spiral Starecase spelled their name that way? Did you all know that? I am bewildered.

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Castle 3.2: "He's Dead, She's Dead"

Psychics everywhere! And Castle's real name is cracking me up more that it possibly should. Read my full recap at The Televixen.

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Morning Coffee (10/7/10)

Happy Thursday! Today in "things I don't think we quite expected," Mario Vargas Llosa has won the Nobel prize for literature. I . . . don't think I've ever read him. Huh.

I think it's the first scarf day of the season. Wheeee.

The Calculus of Cancelling TV Shows

Were you wondering if there's a new line of National Parks quarters? No, just me? Anyway, there are.

I don't remember whether I already linked to this, but I kind of love the headline "The Connecticut Country-Club-Crackup." You know, as long as she doesn't actually win or anything crazy like that.

New Vampire Diaries tonight! Hey, look, more pretty promo pictures. And by "pretty" I mean "badly Photoshopped," but whatever.

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October 06, 2010

Song of the Day: "Cathy's Clown"

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Pilot Review: Better With You

Better With You is a pretty traditional sitcom about two sisters and their parents. The older sister has been living with her boyfriend for years but says she doesn't want to get married; the younger one is marrying someone she has only known for a few months. Hilarity ensues. Supposedly.

I've watched a few episodes of this, and I can't really decide how I feel about it. On the one hand, it's not particularly funny, or original. On the other hand, the cast is great - especially Joanna Garcia and Debra Jo Rupp - and it's comforting in sort of the same way as reruns of Friends and Frasier are. It's a nice twenty-minute break of watching pretty people in pretty apartments have pretty problems. I'll probably keep watching.

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Morning Coffee (10/6/10)

Mystery: My alarm LOOKED like it went off this morning, but I didn't actually hear anything. Which means I got up two hours late. Ugh. Hope your Wednesday is going better than mine!

The Facebook Movie Facebook Feed Brilliant.

Is Mercury in Retrograde? (No. But it looks like December will be just delightful.)

The latest Gossip Girl Reality Index: "Sorry, but while we may believe that Chuck Bass would hand over a jumbo-size check to the “Gulf Coast Fisherman’s Relief Fund,” we do not believe he would authorize the use of Comic Sans. Minus 3." Point. Also, "No one in the history of time has ever sneaked up on a person at a laptop and not looked at what was on their screen. Especially not someone who is in the midst of a complicated scheme to bring down a whole group of friends, using the Internet. Minus 5 for Juliet’s lack of sleuthiness."

Tumblr of the day: Incredulous Kristy

The West Wing Cast: Where Are They Now?

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October 05, 2010

Song of the Day: "Your Love Is the Place Where I Come From"

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Bones 6.1: "The Mastodon in the Room"

My very late recap of the Bones season premiere is now up at The Televixen. Enjoy!

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/5/10)

Happy Tuesday, even though I keep thinking it's Wednesday. It's really not. Today was one of those mornings when NPR kept doing interesting stories so I kept not getting up. The guys who won the Nobel for physics sound really interesting - no, really - and Bill Bryson's new book sounds GREAT. But I was half-asleep so I'm a little hazy on all that. Anyway!

The Fug Girls Pick the Best and Worst Dressed Characters on TV

Fall TV 2010 Ratings Winners and Losers

The Five Funniest Things About The Disastrous 'Idol' Announcement

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October 04, 2010

Song of the Day: "I Should Have Known Better"

Beatles on a train!

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Pilot Review: The Whole Truth

I finally watched the first episode of The Whole Truth yesterday, and I am . . . emphatically lukewarm about it, if such a thing is possible. The leads were fine, but not particularly great. The case was fine, but not particularly intriguing. I did like the supporting cast. Morrow and Tierney have some chemistry, so I am somewhat interested to see how that goes. I hate that they're claiming to be the first show to show both sides - Raising the Bar, anyone? - but the format does seem okay in general. I guess I'll watch one more episode and see how it does.

Posted by Kat at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Morning Coffee (10/4/10)

Happy Monday! Ready for a new week? There seems to be some sort of travel warning for Europe, but that's both very broad and very vague. And according to NPR, Europeans themselves are unconcerned. Hm. In other European news, there's a subway strike in London, so, uh, good luck getting around?

Happy Supreme Court Day! The new session opens today, with three women and no Protestants on the bench. Wow.

Listen to this really interesting interview with retired Justice Stevens.

I was barely online at all over the weekend, so I'll have more links for you tomorrow. Good luck surviving your Monday!

Posted by Kat at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2010

Julie Andrews Birthday Celebration: "Just in Time"

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Julie Andrews Birthday Celebration: Now with Bonus Gene Kelly

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Julie Andrews Birthday Celebration: The Muppet Show

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Julie Andrews Birthday Celebration: "I Could Have Danced All Night"

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Julie Andrews Birthday Celebration: "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"

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Julie Andrews Birthday Celebration: "Before I Gaze at You Again"

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Julie Andrews Birthday Celebration: "In My Own Little Corner"

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Julie Andrews Birthday Celebration: "My Favorite Things"

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Morning Coffee (10/1/10)

It's . . . October. Wow. Happy October. That seems to have snuck up on us quickly. It's also Julie Andrews's 75th birthday, so we're going all Julie all the time today, with a variety of songs and clips. Enjoy!

The Social Network comes out today! I am excited. Going tonight. Of course.

So, uh, there was a coup in Ecuador? But I think it's over? Yeah. Oh, here's the story. In other news, Rahm is out - to run for mayor of Chicago - and Pete Rouse (rhymes with house) is in.

GMA is showing a pink hippo, but it's less cute than one might think. And this story about the poor Rutgers student just makes me sick.

Yes, folks, it's a quiz to see which Salvatore brother you belong with. Oddly, I thought I was giving mostly Stefan answers - trying to be honest - but it told me Damon. Wait, does it EVER say Stefan? We need an investigation!

The Columbia-based site that almost beat out Facebook

Six Reasons Why You Should Be Watching Rubicon

Posted by Kat at 09:00 AM | Comments (1)

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