There's a few interesting new fall shows. I'm pleased the networks (or at least one or two of them) are spending a little money. They should have banked quite a bit after saving off the drek that is reality TV.
I just watched Grimm. Here's a different take on the classic fairy tale. It started with a twisty Red Riding Hood theme. I'm assuming there will be other tales and monsters as there's only so much you can do with Red Riding Hood. It's a little grotesque but not too gory. I can't take much gore.
About that. I will rarely watch anything rated R for violence. I just don't enjoy it and it will bother me. Fantasy violence I can take. It's not real. But the kind of things humans can do to each other...that's too real.
Once Upon A Time. Pretty easy to see this is another fairy tale theme. I haven't completely grasped this yet. I guess that was the plan. It's basically Snow White. There seems to be a fairy reality alongside or before our real world, and the characters are here now, and maybe they know it, maybe they don't.
Revenge. I'm hooked. A crafty young woman is destroying everyone responsible for her father's death in very elegant ways. How handy that she just happens to have piles of money at her disposal. Hasn't said yet where that bank roll comes from. I guess her inheritance.
Ringer. It seems pretty up front at first glance. Twin sisters trade places. But now it's not clear just where the one twin is. She faked her death, we know that, but so far, I can't tell if she's on the other side of the world or right there messing with the other twin's life. And I think the recently disappeared best friend is actually alive and well and still besties with the "evil" twin.
Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries are stacked on the DVR. I like to save them for a marathon watching. I always save the last episode of the previous season, too. That way I can remember what happened way back then.
In movies, I just watched The Green Lantern. I bought this one. I liked it a lot and it was a worthy addition to the comic book section in the DVD library.
I also bought the new Pirates of the Caribbean. I had heard Chris Gore review it, and he pretty much got it right. He asked, "Did we really need another Pirates movie?". It was OK (hey it's still Jack Sparrow/Johnny Depp), but I didn't like it as much as the others. Maybe partly because Elizabeth and Will aren't part of the story. I didn't like Barbarossa's cleaned-up gentleman persona, either. I much prefer him as a scruffy pirate, which happily he returned to at the end. This one ended as though it was really ended. I don't expect another installment, and that completes the collection in the library.
I rented Thor. Decided I better rent first before I waste money on it. I liked it more than I thought I would. I might buy it later for the Mythology section.
Sucker Punch (rented) was a strange flick. It was dark and a little bloody but in a comic book way. Gotta appreciate the art. Might buy it later. It's worth seeing again for the art and fantasy, and maybe it will make more sense the next time around.
When a movie in the library comes around on my Dish package, I'll DVR it if it's been a while since I saw it. Knowing is one of those. I can't remember but I think I rented before I bought it. Not the greatest movie (I don't think it did very well) but there was so much I liked about it and I knew I'd want to watch again. I remembered how it ended but forgot how it really ended so that was cool. I love the biblical mythology that was woven into the story which was part paranormal, part Sci-Fi.
Well, that's all I got for now.
Good morning.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
DWTS - week 4
Still bored. What does it say about me that I'm still watching? But here I am.
Nancy Grace is the one to watch for flubs, and she flubs BIG. There was the nip slip and then the fart the following week. I didn't catch either in my viewing but saw them thanks to YouTube. Last week she managed to get by without anything too embarrassing, but she really messed up the end of their routine when she nearly ended up on her ass. I love watching her face after each of her dances. Blinking fast with tightly clenched lips. Since I missed the nip slip, I didn't understand until later why she had such a mortified face then. She didn't miss a beat for the fart, and it's been said that it was Tristan and not her. His face didn't stay quite as straight, but that reaction could have been to either case. Since Nancy is holier-than-thou on her show, I like seeing her so humbled. Oh yeah, raise your hand if you only watch (or vote) for Nancy so you can hear Tristan talk another week. He's Irish, you know. I love the Russian accents, but I could listen to him all day. He's not hard on the eyes, either.
A few things were said that said it all, and I can only paraphrase since I'm too lazy to look it up. One of eliminated stars who was one of the better dancers said, "This is clearly not a dance competition." Another who also danced well but is also gone said something to the same effect. Carrie Ann said, "Don't take it so seriously." To which Tom added, "Yeah, have you seen the trophy?" So there you have it. This isn't about dancing, it's about who has the most fans. This has to be so frustrating for the pros. They're competitors themselves and train their partners as though it's a real competition.
Who has the most fans so far? Ricki Lake is actually dancing well and holding her own. Of course she has Derek which is a big plus. Chaz is consistently in the bottom but makes it back over dancers much better than him. We know who his fan base is and it must be huge. J.R. has the rest of the sympathy vote, and he really isn't bad. The Kardashian brother is for some reason getting raves from the judges and of course whatever fan base the K's have is keeping him on. David Arquette is also getting underserved raves from the judges, but I doubt he has the fan base to hold him.
The raves from the judges? Yeah, they are still handing out higher than deserved scores across the board. What game is this?
I'm sure the flaming gay guy will be gone this week. He's an amusing novelty but absolutely no dance skills there, and Chaz has all that particular fan base locked up. I expect Hope the soccer player to go soon. She's an odd looking woman. Rockin athlete's body but doesn't look all that good in the outfits. An athlete needs to have natural dance skills to go far in this competition, and she doesn't.
This week we were treated to performances by The Bangles. I didn't even know they were still together but apparently they are (or most of them) and touring now. Jeez, how unfair they've barely changed and they can't be much younger than me! I'm not even sure they're younger. Where was I in their heyday? That was sometime in the 80's which would have made me about....OK never mind, I guess they are younger.
Good morning.
Nancy Grace is the one to watch for flubs, and she flubs BIG. There was the nip slip and then the fart the following week. I didn't catch either in my viewing but saw them thanks to YouTube. Last week she managed to get by without anything too embarrassing, but she really messed up the end of their routine when she nearly ended up on her ass. I love watching her face after each of her dances. Blinking fast with tightly clenched lips. Since I missed the nip slip, I didn't understand until later why she had such a mortified face then. She didn't miss a beat for the fart, and it's been said that it was Tristan and not her. His face didn't stay quite as straight, but that reaction could have been to either case. Since Nancy is holier-than-thou on her show, I like seeing her so humbled. Oh yeah, raise your hand if you only watch (or vote) for Nancy so you can hear Tristan talk another week. He's Irish, you know. I love the Russian accents, but I could listen to him all day. He's not hard on the eyes, either.
A few things were said that said it all, and I can only paraphrase since I'm too lazy to look it up. One of eliminated stars who was one of the better dancers said, "This is clearly not a dance competition." Another who also danced well but is also gone said something to the same effect. Carrie Ann said, "Don't take it so seriously." To which Tom added, "Yeah, have you seen the trophy?" So there you have it. This isn't about dancing, it's about who has the most fans. This has to be so frustrating for the pros. They're competitors themselves and train their partners as though it's a real competition.
Who has the most fans so far? Ricki Lake is actually dancing well and holding her own. Of course she has Derek which is a big plus. Chaz is consistently in the bottom but makes it back over dancers much better than him. We know who his fan base is and it must be huge. J.R. has the rest of the sympathy vote, and he really isn't bad. The Kardashian brother is for some reason getting raves from the judges and of course whatever fan base the K's have is keeping him on. David Arquette is also getting underserved raves from the judges, but I doubt he has the fan base to hold him.
The raves from the judges? Yeah, they are still handing out higher than deserved scores across the board. What game is this?
I'm sure the flaming gay guy will be gone this week. He's an amusing novelty but absolutely no dance skills there, and Chaz has all that particular fan base locked up. I expect Hope the soccer player to go soon. She's an odd looking woman. Rockin athlete's body but doesn't look all that good in the outfits. An athlete needs to have natural dance skills to go far in this competition, and she doesn't.
This week we were treated to performances by The Bangles. I didn't even know they were still together but apparently they are (or most of them) and touring now. Jeez, how unfair they've barely changed and they can't be much younger than me! I'm not even sure they're younger. Where was I in their heyday? That was sometime in the 80's which would have made me about....OK never mind, I guess they are younger.
Good morning.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
I think I hate sports.
Actually, I know I do. I hate sports when they encroach on my personal time. Case in point. I've been eagerly awaiting the new season of The Good Wife. 2 of the last 3 weeks, it was preempted by (I assume) some damn sports event. Well, not exactly preempted. Worse. It was run in entirety. Later. Later as in the DVR only recorded the first half of the episode. If this is going to happen all the time, I now have to waste DVR space recording the program that follows to make sure I get the whole episode. Fine.
This brings up another annoying thing that the powers that be do. Running an episode past its allotted time slot. Since I'm setting up timers so tightly (back to back on different channels, 2 in one slot, etc), I can't tell it to record an extra 2-5 minutes or it messes with another timer. So I often miss the crucial last couple minutes that set up for the next episode. Grey's Anatomy is one that does this, but at least I'm also watching Private Practice which comes right after. I miss a few beats while I switch recordings, but at least I get the last words. Not always the case with other shows, though.
Speaking of The Good Wife. Last week (got the whole thing) there was the hottest most honest sex scene I have ever seen ever. Yeah, on primetime network tv. He had her against the wall and you only saw their heads the whole time. I was mesmerized.
Dancing With The Stars. Bored now. If sports gotta mess with my programming, take this one. Won't hurt my feelings a bit. The judges have gone soft and are giving high scores across the board. Well, I guess that's their only option since everybody is equally mediocre and boring.
I've already given up on The X Factor. The auditions were kind of interesting for the really bad ones, but that's why we watch the auditions, you know. Now that they've got through that, it's just too boring for me. And it's conflicting with other things I'd rather watch.
Verizon rant. I just invested in a new mobile broadband modem. The offer lowered my data plan by $10 a month if I got the new modem and 4G plan. Well, saving $10 is good, and with the rebate, the modem was free. Right now, that's all that's good about it. The problem is I don't yet have 4G here. The modem is supposed to connect to the 3G signal in the meantime. It does, but not reliably. In fact, I think I have a faster connection than I had with the old 3G modem. When I have it.
I'm thinking the problem is the new software. It looks the same as the old one, but it doesn't work the same. It's fuckin wonky, and I think I know why. I just found out that the big cities about an hour from here just got 4G. I think the modem is detecting that 4G signal, but it's not strong enough to connect. I'm left in limbo with no connection because the software can't resolve it and it gets stuck on the 4G signal. After much cussing, rebooting, and pissed offedness, I learned that if I unplug the modem and then plug it back in, it forces the software to reset, and I get the 3G connect button back. In the time it's taken to write this much, it disconnected more times than I counted.
I'm trying something else as I write this. I was barely getting 2 bars with the old 3G modem, and hanging it high in the window seemed to help maintain a reliable connection. It looks like this modem is more powerful, and maybe by placing it lower, it won't be so sensitive to that faint 4G signal. I tried it sitting on the desk the last couple days but it was still wonky. It's now hanging lower than my desk top. So far so good.
Good day.
This brings up another annoying thing that the powers that be do. Running an episode past its allotted time slot. Since I'm setting up timers so tightly (back to back on different channels, 2 in one slot, etc), I can't tell it to record an extra 2-5 minutes or it messes with another timer. So I often miss the crucial last couple minutes that set up for the next episode. Grey's Anatomy is one that does this, but at least I'm also watching Private Practice which comes right after. I miss a few beats while I switch recordings, but at least I get the last words. Not always the case with other shows, though.
Speaking of The Good Wife. Last week (got the whole thing) there was the hottest most honest sex scene I have ever seen ever. Yeah, on primetime network tv. He had her against the wall and you only saw their heads the whole time. I was mesmerized.
Dancing With The Stars. Bored now. If sports gotta mess with my programming, take this one. Won't hurt my feelings a bit. The judges have gone soft and are giving high scores across the board. Well, I guess that's their only option since everybody is equally mediocre and boring.
I've already given up on The X Factor. The auditions were kind of interesting for the really bad ones, but that's why we watch the auditions, you know. Now that they've got through that, it's just too boring for me. And it's conflicting with other things I'd rather watch.
Verizon rant. I just invested in a new mobile broadband modem. The offer lowered my data plan by $10 a month if I got the new modem and 4G plan. Well, saving $10 is good, and with the rebate, the modem was free. Right now, that's all that's good about it. The problem is I don't yet have 4G here. The modem is supposed to connect to the 3G signal in the meantime. It does, but not reliably. In fact, I think I have a faster connection than I had with the old 3G modem. When I have it.
I'm thinking the problem is the new software. It looks the same as the old one, but it doesn't work the same. It's fuckin wonky, and I think I know why. I just found out that the big cities about an hour from here just got 4G. I think the modem is detecting that 4G signal, but it's not strong enough to connect. I'm left in limbo with no connection because the software can't resolve it and it gets stuck on the 4G signal. After much cussing, rebooting, and pissed offedness, I learned that if I unplug the modem and then plug it back in, it forces the software to reset, and I get the 3G connect button back. In the time it's taken to write this much, it disconnected more times than I counted.
I'm trying something else as I write this. I was barely getting 2 bars with the old 3G modem, and hanging it high in the window seemed to help maintain a reliable connection. It looks like this modem is more powerful, and maybe by placing it lower, it won't be so sensitive to that faint 4G signal. I tried it sitting on the desk the last couple days but it was still wonky. It's now hanging lower than my desk top. So far so good.
Good day.
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