December 29, 2009
Happy Birthday





December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas
I know it's already been sparse around these parts lately but this is my last post until next Monday. In honor of Christmas, allow me to share one of my favorite traditions with you - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

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"Merry Christmas! The Shitter was full!"
See you all next week!
December 23, 2009

This news about Susan Sarandon and Tim Robins calling it quits makes me sad. Twenty three years is like several lifetimes in Hollywood and is even quite a boon amongst regular folks these days. If I find out that Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell are breaking up, I'll need therapy!
December 22, 2009
Happy Birthday

December 18, 2009
Happy Birthday




December 17, 2009
Two Hanky Evening
I know it seems like it, but I swear, I do not cry at every episode of Friday Night Lights, just every episode this month. I would have been find last night if Amy Teegarden weren't so heartbreakingly perfect as a stricken teenager...and if the writing and tertiary characters weren't so great.
So Matt has flown the coop and Julie is understandably upset which has Tami worried and walking on egg shells. In an attempt to distract herself from her sadness, she's throwing herself (and Landry) into every club in school. She seems to be doing ok, if a little manic, until she finds out that Matt has called his mom and Grandma but hasn't called her. Shelby tries to comfort our Jules but I know teenage girls - I was a teenage girl - and there really isn't anything you can say to take the sting out of that. A short time later, in the middle of the Academic Smackdown meet, Julie is answering a literary question that I don't off-hand recall but had something to do with "wandering" and not going back home when she breaks down in tears (I was not far behind). Landry and Jess tell her she can leave and they'll cover for her so she heads backstage into the waiting and loving arms of her awesome mom.
Speaking of her mom - Tami has helped propel West Dillon High to become a Blue Ribbon winner for academic excellence. Glenn then uses that as an excuse to get the whole faculty drunk in celebration and finally make his move on Tami when he drunkenly kisses her. She handles it like the class act she is, of course. The next day at school she sweetly tells him that they just need to put it behind them and make sure it doesn't happen again even as he's making a massive fool of himself shouting about how he's so awful for "mouth raping" her. It sounds tragic (and it was) but it was also really funny.
Landry's been wrestling with his crush on Jess for a while now and when Julie forces him onto the Academic Smackdown team with Jess, he realizes that he needs to figure his love life out in a right hurry. He tries to have the talk with Tyra but she stands him up and dodges his call. So he leaves her a message that rambles on and on in that adorable Landry way until he realizes that he's got his answer already and confirms their breakup to her voicemail. He then asks Jess out in a ridiculously cute way that she can not possibly resist. I freaking LOVE Landry!
Coach is still dealing with the realities of having a juvenile delinquent for a star player. After he makes Vince the quarterback, the principal and police arrive to search his locker for a gun. Eric comes right out and asks him if he has one and Vince denies it. Then Vince's mom shows up to thank Coach for believing in him and giving him a chance no one else would give him. That's when Coach, who knows damn well that Vince has a gun, shows up at Vince's home to tell him that he needs to be a man and do the right thing - not just to stay on the team and out of trouble, but to improve his life and take care of his mother. The good advice doesn't penetrate immediately, but Coach's awesomeness is like Novocaine, if you give it a few minutes, it kicks in but good! That evening Vince shows up to the Taylor residence and without comment turns his gun over to Eric.
In other Lions news, Luke is kept from school when his dad makes him stay home to help replace the fence around their ranch to keep people from stealing their cows. Coach won't let him practice if he misses school and because coach can be a total crank-pot when he's stressing about two or three things at a time (overdue bills, Vince, Julie), he does not offer good advice to Luke but rather just tells him to stay up all effing night if he has to but he can not miss school. Caught between a rock and hard place Luke does indeed start staying up and attempting to replace the fence in the wee hours. So he's sleeping on the table at lunch when his most completely awesome teammate, Tink, asks him what's going on. Luke tells him the story and Tink suggests (as I had wished Coach would) that the team come over and help get the fence up in a jiffy. He then offers to ask the team for their help himself. Later that day at the ranch Tink shows up, alone because the rest of the team are busy at the Riggins baby shower/strip-a-thon. Tink works his awesome butt off helping Luke and his dad get the fence up and both papa Luke and I are immediately taken with Tink. Sniff! Then, with the fence fixed and things back to normal around the ranch, Luke gets injured by a pen full of crazy cattle. Poor Luke.
Mindy has gone into premature labor and put Billy in a bit of a financial bind with medical bills so the strippers offer to throw the previously mentioned baby shower/strip-a-thon to help raise money to pay the bills. That awful kid with the cornrows (who henceforth I shall call Cornrow, FYI) makes Billy an offer he's too stupid to refuse (we'll find out in the next episode that the offer is to turn Riggins Rigs into a chop shop). Meanwhile, Tim meets Becky's dad and knows right off that the guy is a shit because he's got a lot of experience with shitty fathers. That assessment is confirmed when Tim overhears him on the phone and calls him out on having another family in Seattle that Becky knows nothing about. Shitty Dad orders Tim to keep that to himself and then buys Becky a dog. Becky's mom gets pissed and gives the dog away and then Tim tells Becky the truth about her dad. That prompts the dad to throw down with Tim in the mud and I guess the dad is not aware that Tim is built like a fucking God because anyone who's ever seen him without his shirt on would know he could kick some middle-aged ass. Which he does. After Shitty Dad hits the bricks with a big cold shoulder from Becky, Tim goes and gets her dog back. It's sweet and adorable and so nice to see this other, protective, nurturing side of Tim. Swoon.
So Matt has flown the coop and Julie is understandably upset which has Tami worried and walking on egg shells. In an attempt to distract herself from her sadness, she's throwing herself (and Landry) into every club in school. She seems to be doing ok, if a little manic, until she finds out that Matt has called his mom and Grandma but hasn't called her. Shelby tries to comfort our Jules but I know teenage girls - I was a teenage girl - and there really isn't anything you can say to take the sting out of that. A short time later, in the middle of the Academic Smackdown meet, Julie is answering a literary question that I don't off-hand recall but had something to do with "wandering" and not going back home when she breaks down in tears (I was not far behind). Landry and Jess tell her she can leave and they'll cover for her so she heads backstage into the waiting and loving arms of her awesome mom.
Speaking of her mom - Tami has helped propel West Dillon High to become a Blue Ribbon winner for academic excellence. Glenn then uses that as an excuse to get the whole faculty drunk in celebration and finally make his move on Tami when he drunkenly kisses her. She handles it like the class act she is, of course. The next day at school she sweetly tells him that they just need to put it behind them and make sure it doesn't happen again even as he's making a massive fool of himself shouting about how he's so awful for "mouth raping" her. It sounds tragic (and it was) but it was also really funny.
Landry's been wrestling with his crush on Jess for a while now and when Julie forces him onto the Academic Smackdown team with Jess, he realizes that he needs to figure his love life out in a right hurry. He tries to have the talk with Tyra but she stands him up and dodges his call. So he leaves her a message that rambles on and on in that adorable Landry way until he realizes that he's got his answer already and confirms their breakup to her voicemail. He then asks Jess out in a ridiculously cute way that she can not possibly resist. I freaking LOVE Landry!
Coach is still dealing with the realities of having a juvenile delinquent for a star player. After he makes Vince the quarterback, the principal and police arrive to search his locker for a gun. Eric comes right out and asks him if he has one and Vince denies it. Then Vince's mom shows up to thank Coach for believing in him and giving him a chance no one else would give him. That's when Coach, who knows damn well that Vince has a gun, shows up at Vince's home to tell him that he needs to be a man and do the right thing - not just to stay on the team and out of trouble, but to improve his life and take care of his mother. The good advice doesn't penetrate immediately, but Coach's awesomeness is like Novocaine, if you give it a few minutes, it kicks in but good! That evening Vince shows up to the Taylor residence and without comment turns his gun over to Eric.
In other Lions news, Luke is kept from school when his dad makes him stay home to help replace the fence around their ranch to keep people from stealing their cows. Coach won't let him practice if he misses school and because coach can be a total crank-pot when he's stressing about two or three things at a time (overdue bills, Vince, Julie), he does not offer good advice to Luke but rather just tells him to stay up all effing night if he has to but he can not miss school. Caught between a rock and hard place Luke does indeed start staying up and attempting to replace the fence in the wee hours. So he's sleeping on the table at lunch when his most completely awesome teammate, Tink, asks him what's going on. Luke tells him the story and Tink suggests (as I had wished Coach would) that the team come over and help get the fence up in a jiffy. He then offers to ask the team for their help himself. Later that day at the ranch Tink shows up, alone because the rest of the team are busy at the Riggins baby shower/strip-a-thon. Tink works his awesome butt off helping Luke and his dad get the fence up and both papa Luke and I are immediately taken with Tink. Sniff! Then, with the fence fixed and things back to normal around the ranch, Luke gets injured by a pen full of crazy cattle. Poor Luke.
Mindy has gone into premature labor and put Billy in a bit of a financial bind with medical bills so the strippers offer to throw the previously mentioned baby shower/strip-a-thon to help raise money to pay the bills. That awful kid with the cornrows (who henceforth I shall call Cornrow, FYI) makes Billy an offer he's too stupid to refuse (we'll find out in the next episode that the offer is to turn Riggins Rigs into a chop shop). Meanwhile, Tim meets Becky's dad and knows right off that the guy is a shit because he's got a lot of experience with shitty fathers. That assessment is confirmed when Tim overhears him on the phone and calls him out on having another family in Seattle that Becky knows nothing about. Shitty Dad orders Tim to keep that to himself and then buys Becky a dog. Becky's mom gets pissed and gives the dog away and then Tim tells Becky the truth about her dad. That prompts the dad to throw down with Tim in the mud and I guess the dad is not aware that Tim is built like a fucking God because anyone who's ever seen him without his shirt on would know he could kick some middle-aged ass. Which he does. After Shitty Dad hits the bricks with a big cold shoulder from Becky, Tim goes and gets her dog back. It's sweet and adorable and so nice to see this other, protective, nurturing side of Tim. Swoon.
Wet Tee Shirt Contest
Today's Winner: Austin Nichols

Puppet Master
Last night I watched the 1000th episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (which aired Tuesday night way past my bedtime). The ep was hosted entirely by Craig's "Crocadillyaligator" hand puppet Wavy and had a whole puppet theme. Wavy interviewed a few guests and some of the other puppet regulars from the show made appearances and Jason Segal came on with his Dracula puppet to perform the big musical number from the end of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. That's when I was reminded of something I have somehow managed never to mention here before: I totally have a crush on the very funny Jason Segel.

Now that I've remedied this oversight and Googled the shit out of his image, expect to see more of him around these parts in the future.
December 16, 2009
Hair Watch - Salvation!
It might be too soon to declare the crisis over, but Josh Charles's hair looked pretty good last night on The Good Wife. Not only was his hair issue under control, but his character got out of the office, out of his suit (not like that, perv!) and into some gym clothes for a game of basketball with his BFF, Tony Goldwyn who turned out to be just as big a douche as all the other characters Tony Goldwyn always plays.
Mmmm...Josh Charles.

In The Pink
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Sean Faris is really workin' the '80s-chic layered polos with popped collars.
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Paul Rudd probably could have used an undershirt here, but he's Paul Rudd so all is forgiven.
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Paul McCartney gives pink a big thumbs up.
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So You Think You Can Dance, Season 6 - The End Is Nigh
Lord knows I love this show and that I thought it'd be great to see it in the fall, but it turns out I was kind of wrong. All season long they've aired a two hour performance show on Tuesday and, once baseball finally went away, a one hour results show on Wednesday. This week, with all their other shows on holiday hiatus, you'd think they'd be well able to air a two hour performance show on Tuesday and a two hour results finale on Wednesday right? Wrong. They shortened the performance show to one hour on a season where they've already crammed two extra dancers into the finale thereby requiring them to 86 solos, same sex dances and a group routine.
Let's not try to do this show in the fall anymore!
Kathryn and Ryan - Samba (Jason Gilkison)
In order to cram 9 dances into one hour (42 minutes of show), they skipped all the intro packages and just jumped right into dances which, for me, cut down on the anticipation factor and made the dances a little less exciting. I suspect that it was in anticipation of this that the costume department sent Ryan out to dance without his shirt on. I'm not usually distracted by his bare chest but it was particularly alluring last night. Also, Kathryn, who it turns out is frakking awesome at everything once again smoked the floor at a Latin ballroom routine.
Grade: A-
Ellenore and Jakob - Broadway (Tyce Diorio)
Just about the closest Tyce has come to knocking my socks off with a Broadway number - this one showcased the hell out of Ellenore. Her movement and quirk is so perfectly matched for Fosse-esque stuff that it's ridiculous. Jakob was great of course but the problem with this routine was that it was like to people dancing two separate things rather than a pair dancing together and what Ellenore was dancing was just so much more interesting. Also, her hair looked fanTASTIC during this routine!
Grade: A
Ashleigh and Russell - Lyrical Jazz (Sonya Tayeh)
I know people (Jay and Mike) who think that the judges have way over-rated Russell and that he isn't so great. I whole-heartedly disagree and after watching this dance, I just can't understand why they don't think he's been great. Once again the dance seemed to give one person a lot more to do than the other - Russell seemed to be wrestling with inner demons and having some kind of dance epiphany while Ashleigh just lovingly floated in the background for support (though, to be fair, she did dance her meager part beautifully). Russell owned it and I loved the routine.
Grade: A
Ellenore and Ryan - Jazz (Gerry Stewart)
They were like two robots, both emotionless through the entire thing. So naturally Nigel hated it, but Mary and I both thought it was really good. In addition to this also fitting Ellenore like glove (she got some great choreography for her last night), I thought this was Ryan's best out-of-genre dance all season.
Grade: A-
Ashleigh and Jakob - Foxtrot (Jean-Marc Genereux)
It was good, classy and a little jazzy and pretty. But it was also a little tiny bit boring compared to some of the other routines we saw last night. They danced it really well (of course) and it was nice to see them back together but Foxtrots really aren't show-stoppers. Of course, I guess the same can usually be said about Viennese Waltzes and I still think Jakob and Mollee's VW from last week was SPECTACULAR! Anyway...
Grade: A-
Ellenore and Russell - Paso Doble (Jason Gilkison)
Dear Jason Gilkison, I love you. Seriously, he's got some good shit going on this season! I am not at all a Paso Doble fan but this was great. Very strong and dramatic. Ellenore reminded me how totally awesome I thought she was in her Tango when she got up there and killed this one and Russell was also totally the shit. Capital G Great!
Grade: A
Kathryn and Jakob - Contemporary (Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson)
Holy shit you guys! This was SO GOOD! Dwight and Desmond usually do the pad de duex's up in here, which are fine but they're usually a little dry and slow for my taste. Also, ballet is obviously best when it's danced by ballet dancers so that is always a tough one. I've never seen any of their straight-up contemporary stuff before and let me tell you, it was awesome! No story, no gimmick just beautiful dancing by two of the best dancers around as imagined by a couple of geniuses.
Grade: A+
Ashleigh and Ryan - Contemporary (Travis Wall)
It's unfortunate for them that the went after Kathryn and Jakob's contempo routine. It's also a little unfortunate that this wasn't one of Travis's best numbers. But it was still good and they danced it well and there was certainly a degree of matrimonial familiarity and tenderness that was lovely to watch. But she showed him up pretty good in this one and it is so clear that as the season has progressed, she's grown a great deal more than he has.
Grade: A-
Kathryn and Russell - Hip Hop (Tabitha and Napoleon)
NappyTabs routines have been so very boring this year. I've had naps that were more exciting and interesting than that routine. The danced it well for what it was. Russell was good with the movement but a little over-the-top with the facial performance (he was a tad too committed to his Krump face here where it wasn't necessarily...necessary), Kathryn was slightly less good here. She looked a bit like a fish out of water.
Grade: C
Predictions:
Final Order SHOULD be:
6. Ryan
5. Ashleigh
4. Russell
3. Ellenore
2. Kathryn
WINNER: Jakob
Final Order WILL be:
6. Ryan
5. Ellenore
4. Ashleigh
3. Kathryn
2. Russell
WINNER: Jakob
Let's not try to do this show in the fall anymore!
Kathryn and Ryan - Samba (Jason Gilkison)
In order to cram 9 dances into one hour (42 minutes of show), they skipped all the intro packages and just jumped right into dances which, for me, cut down on the anticipation factor and made the dances a little less exciting. I suspect that it was in anticipation of this that the costume department sent Ryan out to dance without his shirt on. I'm not usually distracted by his bare chest but it was particularly alluring last night. Also, Kathryn, who it turns out is frakking awesome at everything once again smoked the floor at a Latin ballroom routine.
Grade: A-
Ellenore and Jakob - Broadway (Tyce Diorio)
Just about the closest Tyce has come to knocking my socks off with a Broadway number - this one showcased the hell out of Ellenore. Her movement and quirk is so perfectly matched for Fosse-esque stuff that it's ridiculous. Jakob was great of course but the problem with this routine was that it was like to people dancing two separate things rather than a pair dancing together and what Ellenore was dancing was just so much more interesting. Also, her hair looked fanTASTIC during this routine!
Grade: A
Ashleigh and Russell - Lyrical Jazz (Sonya Tayeh)
I know people (Jay and Mike) who think that the judges have way over-rated Russell and that he isn't so great. I whole-heartedly disagree and after watching this dance, I just can't understand why they don't think he's been great. Once again the dance seemed to give one person a lot more to do than the other - Russell seemed to be wrestling with inner demons and having some kind of dance epiphany while Ashleigh just lovingly floated in the background for support (though, to be fair, she did dance her meager part beautifully). Russell owned it and I loved the routine.
Grade: A
Ellenore and Ryan - Jazz (Gerry Stewart)
They were like two robots, both emotionless through the entire thing. So naturally Nigel hated it, but Mary and I both thought it was really good. In addition to this also fitting Ellenore like glove (she got some great choreography for her last night), I thought this was Ryan's best out-of-genre dance all season.
Grade: A-
Ashleigh and Jakob - Foxtrot (Jean-Marc Genereux)
It was good, classy and a little jazzy and pretty. But it was also a little tiny bit boring compared to some of the other routines we saw last night. They danced it really well (of course) and it was nice to see them back together but Foxtrots really aren't show-stoppers. Of course, I guess the same can usually be said about Viennese Waltzes and I still think Jakob and Mollee's VW from last week was SPECTACULAR! Anyway...
Grade: A-
Ellenore and Russell - Paso Doble (Jason Gilkison)
Dear Jason Gilkison, I love you. Seriously, he's got some good shit going on this season! I am not at all a Paso Doble fan but this was great. Very strong and dramatic. Ellenore reminded me how totally awesome I thought she was in her Tango when she got up there and killed this one and Russell was also totally the shit. Capital G Great!
Grade: A
Kathryn and Jakob - Contemporary (Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson)
Holy shit you guys! This was SO GOOD! Dwight and Desmond usually do the pad de duex's up in here, which are fine but they're usually a little dry and slow for my taste. Also, ballet is obviously best when it's danced by ballet dancers so that is always a tough one. I've never seen any of their straight-up contemporary stuff before and let me tell you, it was awesome! No story, no gimmick just beautiful dancing by two of the best dancers around as imagined by a couple of geniuses.
Grade: A+
Ashleigh and Ryan - Contemporary (Travis Wall)
It's unfortunate for them that the went after Kathryn and Jakob's contempo routine. It's also a little unfortunate that this wasn't one of Travis's best numbers. But it was still good and they danced it well and there was certainly a degree of matrimonial familiarity and tenderness that was lovely to watch. But she showed him up pretty good in this one and it is so clear that as the season has progressed, she's grown a great deal more than he has.
Grade: A-
Kathryn and Russell - Hip Hop (Tabitha and Napoleon)
NappyTabs routines have been so very boring this year. I've had naps that were more exciting and interesting than that routine. The danced it well for what it was. Russell was good with the movement but a little over-the-top with the facial performance (he was a tad too committed to his Krump face here where it wasn't necessarily...necessary), Kathryn was slightly less good here. She looked a bit like a fish out of water.
Grade: C
Predictions:
Final Order SHOULD be:
6. Ryan
5. Ashleigh
4. Russell
3. Ellenore
2. Kathryn
WINNER: Jakob
Final Order WILL be:
6. Ryan
5. Ellenore
4. Ashleigh
3. Kathryn
2. Russell
WINNER: Jakob
Happy Birthday


Good Morning

December 15, 2009
Suit Up!


Aw! In the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother Barney finally gets what he's always wanted - everyone suits up! And they do it in the service of a musical number! Neil Patrick Harris singing is awesome, and I can't wait to see/hear the others join him, though I understand from Alyson Hannigan's Twitter page that any lines she has will be mostly filler (which, btw, was a Joss/Buffy shout-out that warmed my cockles), I wonder if that will be true for any of the other cast members.
First Drugs, Now Prostitution

I'm guessing...just based on Little J's wardrobe here, that that's the direction they're taking her character.
Time Warp

So the Golden Globe Nominations were announced this morning by John Krasinski, Diane Kruger and Justin Timberlake. I have very mixed emotions about the nominations themselves, but I'm totally in love with how the announcers dressed. Honestly, if I popped this picture up and told you that it was an on-set photo of the three of them guest starring on Mad Men, you would totally believe me, right? Because every one of them looks so perfectly early '60s chic!
Happy Birthday


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