I love my baby. Have I mentioned that? b/c I really do. She's just the best and she makes me a better a person. Having her in my life makes me realize that I was just whiling away the minutes, hours, days, months, years... just waiting to meet her.
:o)
Bella turns 18mths on the 18th of July, but her 18 Month Check-Up was today. Just a few days off, no biggee. We dropped Lee off at work after lunch and went to the appt. Lee couldn't come with us b/c he had a meeting (the man has meetings all the damn time, I swear!) but that's ok. I don't think Lee's been to a Well Baby check up since Bella was 6mths. He was TDY for her 9mth, then he was TDY again for her 12mth and today a meeting thwarted him for the 18mth. We arrived right at 12:45 (appt was for 1pm) and got checked in at the Pediatric Clinic, then sent over to the Well Baby station, where I had to undress Bella (which she loves, my little nudist!) and fill out a 5 page booklet about her day-to-day activities. Before I'm done with Page 1, the P.A. calls Bella's name to get her weighed and measured. She's now 33.25 inches long and 25.13 pounds. That's a gain of almost 3 inches and over 3 pounds since her 12 Month Check Up! :o) She's now in the 75th percentile for weight and 95th for height! Big Girl!
Everything was checked out, eyes, ears, throat, tummy, chest, back, hoo-hoo, everything. She's perfectly healthy and happily advanced on all the checkpoints except for 2 things. She isn't very good at drinking out of a cup (not a sippee, an actual cup) w/o spilling and she still isn't very good at getting a spoonful of food from plate to mouth w/o dropping most of the contents. But all the other checkpoints, she blazed through without a worry. :)
She had to get her DTAP shot today. And you know what's crazy? She didn't cry. Not one single wail. In the past, she's done her "hurt" cry. It's where she does the silent cry for a few seconds, then wrenches her face up for the wail, and then BOOM, big scream! But today? I put her on the gurney, told her that it's no big deal, just a tiny little shot. She watched the PA give it to her, flinched a bit, then looked at him, then to me, then I hopped her off the gurney and she looked at the PA and said, "Bye-ee" and waved, and off we went. NO TEARS! No cries, not anything! I was amazed! As was ev1 in the Immunization Clinic! LOL I couldn't believe that my baby totally manned up! I mean, I can never recall, at all, screaming for shots. My parents say that I never cried during shots, from 2yrs on. I remember getting shots when I was 4 and I just watched the nurse do it while my sister screamed bloody murder, but I never thought that a tolerance for pain could be hereditary. :o) Such an awesome baby that I have. :)
I was also told that Bella is perfectly on par with how she should be growing, emotionally and physically. She has her Stranger Anxiety with adults that she doesn't know, and she likes to hide in my legs when there's people around trying to talk to her that she isn't familiar with, but I guess that's normal in an 18 month old. Dr Westen said that she'd like to see Bella fully potty trained at her next appt (2years) and I told her that I was going to start working on it after her 18mth bday.
All in all, a great check-up for Bella and peace of mind for mommy. :o)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Harper's Island. E3: Ka-Blam
We're on Episode 3 now, and still no news on the other 4 victims of John Wakefield. We know that Abby and Kelly's moms were both killed by him, but I'm wondering who the other victims were and if that will play into who the current murderer is.
But on to the recap!
We open with a pool party, and when you have a bunch of pretty people, you know you got to get them in swimsuits eventually. It's like a law in the tv-world.
Richard and Henry are having a nice conversation. Richard being Trish's sister, Shea's, husband. They're being little voyeurs, watching Mr and Mrs Wellington. Henry asks him about the Wellington lifestyle, but we all know that Richard loves the status of it all, even if he thinks his father-in-law is a little on the shady side.
Ooooh! Check it out! Skeet shooting! Maybe that's how the "Ka-Blam" will but put into play? Rich people really do love their skeet shooting, don't they?
Hmmm.... the secret note from a manservant. Curious...
And for once, we see Trish without her pearls. I guess that means no sex for her.
Henry's not too bad with the shotgun. That will probably work in his favor. But Tom wins and he and Katherine saunter off.
On to Kelly's autopsy. And there's our favorite demon hunting Sheriff! It appears that Kelly has a tattoo saying, "John Wakefield, John Wakefield, Come back for me." That's odd. And Sheriff seems to think Kelly didn't commit suidide. Ok, I watch enough CSI, ER, Bones, etc to know that strangulation causes hemmorhaging in the eyes, but I don't think it gives you straight up devil eyes.
Oh man, again with the needle in the eye? What's up with the doctor-on-eyeball violence, lately? First Bones, and now HI!
Mmmmmm... mimosas!
HeeHee! Howler monkey sex! And only a Brit would wear a VEST to the pool. Also, note to Sully. Saying "My bad" does not get you off the hook for leaving a dude swinging upside down from a freakin' tree. You could at least have sent an e-card.
We now know that the note says, "Hunter Jennings is at the Pines Motel" and it's written on stationery from The Candlewick Inn. I don't know about you, but it looks like girly handwriting to me. So my money is on Shea or Katherine.
Wonder why Abby is keeping things from her dad? I get that they're estranged, but shouldn't she let him know that JD and Kelly were sleeping together? Or that Kelly was really happy the last time she saw her and invited her to come live in LA.
Hunter is such a skeeze. Good on Trish for the slap! But now Hunter knows that Mr Wellington is lying to Trish and I'm sure he'll be working that angle.
Dude, JD needs some sun. The only way he could be any pastier would be if his name was Elmer.
"That's weird" is not how someone normal would react to that news. But I still think the writers are trying too hard to make JD look guilty. I think he's just 4 beers short of a 6 pack.
Dirty, Dirty! Looks like Step-mom is sleeping with her step-son-in-law.
**Ok, why is no one missing Lucy, yet?**
Well, I was right, it was a chick who left the note for Henry, but it was Ruth, not a main character. And Henry is off for a bit of sleuthing. And he finds a receipt for an airline ticket. Berlin-New York-Seattle. Wonder what Hunter was doing in Berlin? It was paid for by Mr Wellington. So looks like Henry is suspicious now.
Honey and herb rub. Sounds tasty! Here's hoping Chloe is working on some revenge against Sully! I'm thinking, tied to an ant hill.
HAHAHAHAHA! He got feathered! Too funny! Pooh Bear in the honey pot!
Now THAT'S gonna leave a mark. But is JD dead or just stunned?
I'm glad that Abby is coming clean with her dad. Even tho' it's turning into an argument. But that's par for course with them, isn't it?
At least Shane is acting remorseful for being an ass. And he truly seems saddened by the death of his ex. Ooooooooooh! Shane has JD in his trunk. So, not dead. Yet.
Nikki thinks John Wakefield is responsible for Kelly's death. Anyone else think that Shane had been messing with Kelly? Pretending to be Wakefield. Maybe as revenge for the breakup? Shane def has that wife-beater vibe, so no shock that he was wailing on Kelly.
Hunter wants 50 grand to leave town. Or else, he's going to rat out Mr Wellington to Trish. And now, Trish has recieved a secret note of her own that reads, "Let's make this work. Room 214. Hunter." Anyone else think that Henry is trying to test his bride-to-be?
The people on this island need to enact a Buddy System. Seriously, wandering off on your own is not ending well for anyone.
Good on Trish! And I told ya it was Henry! :o)
Oh, for the love of Pete, don't walk into creepy, shadowy sheds unless you're heavily armed.
Wow! Shane was really going to go through with killing JD if Abby hadn't shown up!
Oh, like someone like Shane would really use a word like "daft".
HeeHee! Shiny Sully! "Totally my bad." Go Cal!
Anyone else see a boat explosion in Hunter's future? Ooh. Mr Wellington paid up. For some reason, I thought he wouldn't.
Check it. It's Uncle Marty's money and his gun on Hunter's boat.
WHOA!!!!!!
Didn't see that coming! And there's our Ka-Blam for the episode!
Why put ink in someone's eyes? But that pic of the Sheriff with red eyes doesn't look good for him.
Not big on the murders this time around, but still a great ep!
But on to the recap!
We open with a pool party, and when you have a bunch of pretty people, you know you got to get them in swimsuits eventually. It's like a law in the tv-world.
Richard and Henry are having a nice conversation. Richard being Trish's sister, Shea's, husband. They're being little voyeurs, watching Mr and Mrs Wellington. Henry asks him about the Wellington lifestyle, but we all know that Richard loves the status of it all, even if he thinks his father-in-law is a little on the shady side.
Ooooh! Check it out! Skeet shooting! Maybe that's how the "Ka-Blam" will but put into play? Rich people really do love their skeet shooting, don't they?
Hmmm.... the secret note from a manservant. Curious...
And for once, we see Trish without her pearls. I guess that means no sex for her.
Henry's not too bad with the shotgun. That will probably work in his favor. But Tom wins and he and Katherine saunter off.
On to Kelly's autopsy. And there's our favorite demon hunting Sheriff! It appears that Kelly has a tattoo saying, "John Wakefield, John Wakefield, Come back for me." That's odd. And Sheriff seems to think Kelly didn't commit suidide. Ok, I watch enough CSI, ER, Bones, etc to know that strangulation causes hemmorhaging in the eyes, but I don't think it gives you straight up devil eyes.
Oh man, again with the needle in the eye? What's up with the doctor-on-eyeball violence, lately? First Bones, and now HI!
Mmmmmm... mimosas!
HeeHee! Howler monkey sex! And only a Brit would wear a VEST to the pool. Also, note to Sully. Saying "My bad" does not get you off the hook for leaving a dude swinging upside down from a freakin' tree. You could at least have sent an e-card.
We now know that the note says, "Hunter Jennings is at the Pines Motel" and it's written on stationery from The Candlewick Inn. I don't know about you, but it looks like girly handwriting to me. So my money is on Shea or Katherine.
Wonder why Abby is keeping things from her dad? I get that they're estranged, but shouldn't she let him know that JD and Kelly were sleeping together? Or that Kelly was really happy the last time she saw her and invited her to come live in LA.
Hunter is such a skeeze. Good on Trish for the slap! But now Hunter knows that Mr Wellington is lying to Trish and I'm sure he'll be working that angle.
Dude, JD needs some sun. The only way he could be any pastier would be if his name was Elmer.
"That's weird" is not how someone normal would react to that news. But I still think the writers are trying too hard to make JD look guilty. I think he's just 4 beers short of a 6 pack.
Dirty, Dirty! Looks like Step-mom is sleeping with her step-son-in-law.
**Ok, why is no one missing Lucy, yet?**
Well, I was right, it was a chick who left the note for Henry, but it was Ruth, not a main character. And Henry is off for a bit of sleuthing. And he finds a receipt for an airline ticket. Berlin-New York-Seattle. Wonder what Hunter was doing in Berlin? It was paid for by Mr Wellington. So looks like Henry is suspicious now.
Honey and herb rub. Sounds tasty! Here's hoping Chloe is working on some revenge against Sully! I'm thinking, tied to an ant hill.
HAHAHAHAHA! He got feathered! Too funny! Pooh Bear in the honey pot!
Now THAT'S gonna leave a mark. But is JD dead or just stunned?
I'm glad that Abby is coming clean with her dad. Even tho' it's turning into an argument. But that's par for course with them, isn't it?
At least Shane is acting remorseful for being an ass. And he truly seems saddened by the death of his ex. Ooooooooooh! Shane has JD in his trunk. So, not dead. Yet.
Nikki thinks John Wakefield is responsible for Kelly's death. Anyone else think that Shane had been messing with Kelly? Pretending to be Wakefield. Maybe as revenge for the breakup? Shane def has that wife-beater vibe, so no shock that he was wailing on Kelly.
Hunter wants 50 grand to leave town. Or else, he's going to rat out Mr Wellington to Trish. And now, Trish has recieved a secret note of her own that reads, "Let's make this work. Room 214. Hunter." Anyone else think that Henry is trying to test his bride-to-be?
The people on this island need to enact a Buddy System. Seriously, wandering off on your own is not ending well for anyone.
Good on Trish! And I told ya it was Henry! :o)
Oh, for the love of Pete, don't walk into creepy, shadowy sheds unless you're heavily armed.
Wow! Shane was really going to go through with killing JD if Abby hadn't shown up!
Oh, like someone like Shane would really use a word like "daft".
HeeHee! Shiny Sully! "Totally my bad." Go Cal!
Anyone else see a boat explosion in Hunter's future? Ooh. Mr Wellington paid up. For some reason, I thought he wouldn't.
Check it. It's Uncle Marty's money and his gun on Hunter's boat.
WHOA!!!!!!
Didn't see that coming! And there's our Ka-Blam for the episode!
Why put ink in someone's eyes? But that pic of the Sheriff with red eyes doesn't look good for him.
Not big on the murders this time around, but still a great ep!
Harper's Island. E2: Crackle
Ok, before the ep even starts, I'm so wondering how they're going to work in CRACKLE! I mean, supposed, each ep title is the sound of how a victim dies. For instance, Whap was from the whap-whap of the the rotor blade on the boat (poor Cousin Ben, we hardly knew ya). I'm kinda thinking that someone may die in a fire!
So it looks like the timeline is starting up the morning after. Doubtful anyone knows that Uncle Marty is dead. Altho, you'd think someone would've heard the shots.
Oh no! Run Bambi! Whew!
And you know, for being the main character, I'm not a fan of Abby. I don't think she's too great an actress.
Was that a missing boat oar? hmmm... could be kindling!
Ok... that's disturbing. And a really quick kill, too. Good thing they only wrote PSYCHO and not DERANGED LUNATIC. b/c they would've totally been caught in the act.
And bloody hands on brother JD. Interesting... It looks pretty likely that he was the one who killed the deer. I mean, he's already had words with Shane.
Ok, if someone forced me to do a scavenger hunt... well, let's just say that I'd be taking advantage of the open bar!
Oh, I see! THAT'S why they sent everyone off on some lame ass scavenger hunt. For some chocolate flavored kisses! (Trish must have pearls of horniness.)
WTF? Who sets a priest trap? And, um, ow.
Ok... Creepy Kelly has some dead eyes. Something's not quite right there. And not just the whole 'my mom was murdered' deal, something else.
And Shane's a dick. Maybe he'll die next?
Cal, considering he's a Brit, should really be able to hold his alcohol way better. And he has stupid hair.
Shane and Jimmy are so gonna kick JD's ass. You know that they think it was him.
Chloe is such a little ho. And her death obsession is a bit out of hand.
OMG, stalk much, Kelly? She's a bit overbearing. And anyone who asks to live with you moments after meeting you (no matter that you knew each other 7 yrs ago) is so off the rails.
BONFIRE! Told ya! Someone is so gonna become a crispy critter!
Oh no! CAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is why I don't go walking in the woods. Well, that and the fact that I'm not very nature-compatible. I only like the outdoors in-so-far as how close I am to a real live toilet.
Another deer? What's up with that weirdness? And do you know how heavy those bad boys are? No way is a little chick doing that heavy lifting.
Oh, that asshole is NOT gonna leave Cal hanging! Bad, Sully, Bad!
Mr Wellington is so not cool. You know that somehow, Trish is going to find out that he's the one who brought Hunter in to break up the wedding and she's gonna go a bit ballistic.
Kelly and JD are just freaks in love. And getting freaky.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Was that Kelly strung up in the rafters?
Damn commercial break! Guess I'll find out in 2 & 2. (Wow! totally random Love Connection reference!)
Oh. Interesting way to prevent anyone questioning Uncle Marty's whereabouts.
And poor Kelly. :(
Methinks GiGi is gonna find someone's remains. That is what dog's do. Or, they lead you to a huge trap. Not holding out big hopes for Lucy's survival.
And WHOOSH! Up in flames she go!
I say "yay me" for guessing the method!
And now it's off to guess the victim for next week!
I'm betting on JD. Just b/c he looks too guilty.
So it looks like the timeline is starting up the morning after. Doubtful anyone knows that Uncle Marty is dead. Altho, you'd think someone would've heard the shots.
Oh no! Run Bambi! Whew!
And you know, for being the main character, I'm not a fan of Abby. I don't think she's too great an actress.
Was that a missing boat oar? hmmm... could be kindling!
Ok... that's disturbing. And a really quick kill, too. Good thing they only wrote PSYCHO and not DERANGED LUNATIC. b/c they would've totally been caught in the act.
And bloody hands on brother JD. Interesting... It looks pretty likely that he was the one who killed the deer. I mean, he's already had words with Shane.
Ok, if someone forced me to do a scavenger hunt... well, let's just say that I'd be taking advantage of the open bar!
Oh, I see! THAT'S why they sent everyone off on some lame ass scavenger hunt. For some chocolate flavored kisses! (Trish must have pearls of horniness.)
WTF? Who sets a priest trap? And, um, ow.
Ok... Creepy Kelly has some dead eyes. Something's not quite right there. And not just the whole 'my mom was murdered' deal, something else.
And Shane's a dick. Maybe he'll die next?
Cal, considering he's a Brit, should really be able to hold his alcohol way better. And he has stupid hair.
Shane and Jimmy are so gonna kick JD's ass. You know that they think it was him.
Chloe is such a little ho. And her death obsession is a bit out of hand.
OMG, stalk much, Kelly? She's a bit overbearing. And anyone who asks to live with you moments after meeting you (no matter that you knew each other 7 yrs ago) is so off the rails.
BONFIRE! Told ya! Someone is so gonna become a crispy critter!
Oh no! CAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is why I don't go walking in the woods. Well, that and the fact that I'm not very nature-compatible. I only like the outdoors in-so-far as how close I am to a real live toilet.
Another deer? What's up with that weirdness? And do you know how heavy those bad boys are? No way is a little chick doing that heavy lifting.
Oh, that asshole is NOT gonna leave Cal hanging! Bad, Sully, Bad!
Mr Wellington is so not cool. You know that somehow, Trish is going to find out that he's the one who brought Hunter in to break up the wedding and she's gonna go a bit ballistic.
Kelly and JD are just freaks in love. And getting freaky.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Was that Kelly strung up in the rafters?
Damn commercial break! Guess I'll find out in 2 & 2. (Wow! totally random Love Connection reference!)
Oh. Interesting way to prevent anyone questioning Uncle Marty's whereabouts.
And poor Kelly. :(
Methinks GiGi is gonna find someone's remains. That is what dog's do. Or, they lead you to a huge trap. Not holding out big hopes for Lucy's survival.
And WHOOSH! Up in flames she go!
I say "yay me" for guessing the method!
And now it's off to guess the victim for next week!
I'm betting on JD. Just b/c he looks too guilty.
Harper's Island. E1: Whap
There are spoilers as I will be recapping the episodes week by week here.
So, WHAP! You've been warned.
Nice! The show just started and I gotta say, Cousin Ben's death was pretty damn cool!
I am enjoying seeing Christopher Gorham, forever Jake 2.0 to me. :) And it's always fun to see Harry Hamlin. He was great on Veronica Mars! Just realized who Chloe is. She's Cameron Richardson, Paula from the late-great Point Pleasant. A wonderfully creepy little show that never had a chance by Marti Noxon from Buffy fame. And oddly Mr Wellington (Richard Burgi) was also on Point Pleasant.
Love the guys calling Uncle Marty a "superhero"! haha! When does Harry Hamlin NOT play the snarky, horny older man?
Ok, right now, I call Hunter as the next victim. Smooching on a bride-to-be never ends well. That ranks up there with having sex when you're supposed to babysitting.
So far, I'm liking how they're introducing characters. Since there's new people coming to the island, locals, and returning townsfolk, it makes for an easy meet-&-greet for the viewer.
Just got the link to http://www.harpersglobe.com/
That should be a fun site to augment the show!
Oh, look! It's Bobby! (I'm just a huge dorky fan of Supernatural.)
Anyone else creeped out by Madison? If she turns out to the be the killer, I'm gonna need therapy.
Brits never has a sense of humor. But I kinda feel bad for the guy. All he wants to do is propose to the little hootchie.
Oh, who has sex with their pearls on? (Now I'm thinking of a really dirty "pearl necklace" joke!)
No Freakin Way! Harry Hamlin dies in the first ep??? I did NOT see that coming!
Ok, I'm sucked in. This show is pretty damn cool!
So, WHAP! You've been warned.
Nice! The show just started and I gotta say, Cousin Ben's death was pretty damn cool!
I am enjoying seeing Christopher Gorham, forever Jake 2.0 to me. :) And it's always fun to see Harry Hamlin. He was great on Veronica Mars! Just realized who Chloe is. She's Cameron Richardson, Paula from the late-great Point Pleasant. A wonderfully creepy little show that never had a chance by Marti Noxon from Buffy fame. And oddly Mr Wellington (Richard Burgi) was also on Point Pleasant.
Love the guys calling Uncle Marty a "superhero"! haha! When does Harry Hamlin NOT play the snarky, horny older man?
Ok, right now, I call Hunter as the next victim. Smooching on a bride-to-be never ends well. That ranks up there with having sex when you're supposed to babysitting.
So far, I'm liking how they're introducing characters. Since there's new people coming to the island, locals, and returning townsfolk, it makes for an easy meet-&-greet for the viewer.
Just got the link to http://www.harpersglobe.com/
That should be a fun site to augment the show!
Oh, look! It's Bobby! (I'm just a huge dorky fan of Supernatural.)
Anyone else creeped out by Madison? If she turns out to the be the killer, I'm gonna need therapy.
Brits never has a sense of humor. But I kinda feel bad for the guy. All he wants to do is propose to the little hootchie.
Oh, who has sex with their pearls on? (Now I'm thinking of a really dirty "pearl necklace" joke!)
No Freakin Way! Harry Hamlin dies in the first ep??? I did NOT see that coming!
Ok, I'm sucked in. This show is pretty damn cool!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Things That Someone Needs to Make
I'm not an inventor. Hell, I'm barely a typer. But what I am, is someone who gets irritated at life's little "fuck you"s and b/c I'm female and demanding, I want it to be fixed.
For instance, why can't someone come up with a pack of smokes that holds 40 Half-Smokes. For the times when you need that hit of nicotine, yet you don't have 5 mins to smoke it out. Or if it's cold and you just want to burn one right quick then get back into your warm house. And don't tell me to pinch it out and re-light it, b/c that sucks and the first drag always tastes a bit like warmed over ass.
I need someone to invent a better laptop. One made of some kind of durable space shit with a retractable handle so I can carry it around in airports w/o spazzing that someone's gonna bump into me, I'll drop it, and then it'll be all fucked up. I don't feel like buying some 200 dollar POS Laptop Carrier. I'd rather spend an extra 100 bucks on a laptop that I didn't have to worry about and that came with a handle. Look into, nerds. I'm sure it's feasible.
I want someone to invent a roll of toilet paper that my 11 month old daughter can't unravel in the space of 12 seconds. I don't care how you do it, just make some sort of plastic cover that prevents tiny hands from spinning out a double roll of Charmin onto my floor while I'm trying to put my contacts in.
I want the assholes who make screws and bolts to have some kind of online database. I want to be able to type in "The movers lost the screws to my chair and now I have no back. They are X size holes. What screw do I need?" b/c right now, I'm stuck with going to fucking Home Depot every 3 days trying to find the screws that my idiot movers lost. Ok, fine, I shouldn't blame the movers. It's just as possible that while unpacking, I possible threw them out in a fit of metal rage.
But hey, I just get irritated at the little things. Luckily, on the grand scale, everything is roses. :)
For instance, why can't someone come up with a pack of smokes that holds 40 Half-Smokes. For the times when you need that hit of nicotine, yet you don't have 5 mins to smoke it out. Or if it's cold and you just want to burn one right quick then get back into your warm house. And don't tell me to pinch it out and re-light it, b/c that sucks and the first drag always tastes a bit like warmed over ass.
I need someone to invent a better laptop. One made of some kind of durable space shit with a retractable handle so I can carry it around in airports w/o spazzing that someone's gonna bump into me, I'll drop it, and then it'll be all fucked up. I don't feel like buying some 200 dollar POS Laptop Carrier. I'd rather spend an extra 100 bucks on a laptop that I didn't have to worry about and that came with a handle. Look into, nerds. I'm sure it's feasible.
I want someone to invent a roll of toilet paper that my 11 month old daughter can't unravel in the space of 12 seconds. I don't care how you do it, just make some sort of plastic cover that prevents tiny hands from spinning out a double roll of Charmin onto my floor while I'm trying to put my contacts in.
I want the assholes who make screws and bolts to have some kind of online database. I want to be able to type in "The movers lost the screws to my chair and now I have no back. They are X size holes. What screw do I need?" b/c right now, I'm stuck with going to fucking Home Depot every 3 days trying to find the screws that my idiot movers lost. Ok, fine, I shouldn't blame the movers. It's just as possible that while unpacking, I possible threw them out in a fit of metal rage.
But hey, I just get irritated at the little things. Luckily, on the grand scale, everything is roses. :)
Friday, December 5, 2008
Chuck - Just Go With It
Man, how much can a person love a tv show? And I say this knowing full well that I've become enamoured in years past with The X Files, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, BSG, Alias, Bones, etc, etc. But Chuck is new breed of show. Chuck was created by Josh Schwartz, the genius behind The OC. Yes, that show got to be incredibly stupid, but you can't argue with the first season's awesomeness. I must admit, tho, that Josh kinda pisses me b/c he's MY age and he's this crazy mad creative guy while I'm, well, I'm just Jeanine. :o)
I stumbled upon Chuck from reading one of my favorite tv columns, TV Gal on www.zap2it.com. Amy would go on and on about this little show and I'd read all these great one-liners that she would quote in her column and I would think, "Damn, I gotta see this!" Of course, the fact that Adam Baldwin of Firefly and Angel fame was in it didn't hurt. Unfortunately, Chuck premiered in September of '07 and I was living in Italy at the time. Thus, no NBC for me. And Hulu wasn't up and running then, either. Those bastards. Didn't they know that I needed them? But anywho, I kept reading about it and when I did make it back to the good ol' U S of A in April of '08, I was able to catch a few eps of reruns and then I was able to catch a few more on Hulu. I finally got around to renting Season 1 on DVD just today and watched all 4 eps on the first disc in one glorious Chuck-filled go. I admit, it had a shaky start. It was very unbelievable and I wasn't invested into the show yet to allow it to slide. But of course, from the eps I had seen and from all of Season 2 that I've faithfully watched, I knew it would improve. And improve it did! While the first ep had only a few fun moments, the second was chuck (heehee) full of them!
For the uninitiated, here's a synopsis of Chuck:
Chuck Bartowski is your everyday slacker. He lives with his sister and her fiancee, who are both doctors, and spends his nights playing video games with his childhood best friend, Morgan, and his days working at the Buy More (like a Best Buy) fixing computers. He hasn't dated since his college girlfriend dumped him for his roommate, and this was 5 years ago. He got kicked out of Stanford b/c said roommate also turned him in for cheating, even though he wasn't. So he's been at the short end of the stick for years, but isn't a bitter asshole about it. He's just a nice, albeit nerdy, guy with no real goals.
Enter Bryce Larkin. Bryce is currently a CIA agent and is also that same college roomie of Chuck's. Bryce has gone rogue and has stolen the "Intersect". This Intersect is actual a computer program that's a huge pot of information from the CIA and the NSA. ALL the information. Every file, every image, every secret operation, it's all on this Intersect. Bryce downloads the Intersect onto his handy dandy (I watch too much Blue's Clues) Blackberry, blows the original computer to shreds, emails the file to Chuck and then is shot and killed by John Casey (Adam Baldwin). Chuck opens the email and all that data is downloaded into his brain. (Now here is a sticky part for me. Would you really remain standing for 12 hours while being bombarded with images and information? And how would you be able to retain all that info? Hell, I can't even remember the name of my 1st Grade teacher. But this is what I'm talking about when I say you gotta just suspend your disbelief and go with it.) After the download, his computer is fried and Chuck wakes up on the floor. (C'mon, who hasn't had that happen before?) Now, whenever he sees anything that was on any of those files, he "flashes" on that file, and it basically opens in his brain and he knows everything about it. At first, there's some confusion, but then a hot blond comes into the store and everything melts away. Until he finds out that she's a CIA agent trying to protect him from being killed by the NSA. It ends with the CIA and NSA deciding to join forces to protect Chuck, aka The Intersect, in the beautiful forms of Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and John Casey (Adam Baldwin), respectively.
This show works on multiple levels. First and foremost, there's the great humor! Chuck is so lost in this world of spies and espionage and Casey is, well, he's a dick, but he's funny at it. Much like his Jayne character on Firefly. Sarah is sweet and lethal. She has such a crush on Chuck, as he does on her, yet they can't really be together b/c her job is to protect him, not date him. Secondly, this show has some great action scenes. Be it blowing up the random car here and there, having Sarah get into a raging fight with Casey, or even the pratfalls that Morgan has to do when getting mercilessly shoved aside by a tunnel visioned Casey, it all works and it's never cheesy or overly CGI, nor does it rely too heavily on stunt doubles (which seriously pissed me off on the early seasons of Buffy before SMG got her tae kwon do on).
I love this little show and it's rare to have a show that I can actually Laugh Out Loud at during every episode.
For some escapist fun (don't think too hard, just go with it), I recommend Chuck.
I stumbled upon Chuck from reading one of my favorite tv columns, TV Gal on www.zap2it.com. Amy would go on and on about this little show and I'd read all these great one-liners that she would quote in her column and I would think, "Damn, I gotta see this!" Of course, the fact that Adam Baldwin of Firefly and Angel fame was in it didn't hurt. Unfortunately, Chuck premiered in September of '07 and I was living in Italy at the time. Thus, no NBC for me. And Hulu wasn't up and running then, either. Those bastards. Didn't they know that I needed them? But anywho, I kept reading about it and when I did make it back to the good ol' U S of A in April of '08, I was able to catch a few eps of reruns and then I was able to catch a few more on Hulu. I finally got around to renting Season 1 on DVD just today and watched all 4 eps on the first disc in one glorious Chuck-filled go. I admit, it had a shaky start. It was very unbelievable and I wasn't invested into the show yet to allow it to slide. But of course, from the eps I had seen and from all of Season 2 that I've faithfully watched, I knew it would improve. And improve it did! While the first ep had only a few fun moments, the second was chuck (heehee) full of them!
For the uninitiated, here's a synopsis of Chuck:
Chuck Bartowski is your everyday slacker. He lives with his sister and her fiancee, who are both doctors, and spends his nights playing video games with his childhood best friend, Morgan, and his days working at the Buy More (like a Best Buy) fixing computers. He hasn't dated since his college girlfriend dumped him for his roommate, and this was 5 years ago. He got kicked out of Stanford b/c said roommate also turned him in for cheating, even though he wasn't. So he's been at the short end of the stick for years, but isn't a bitter asshole about it. He's just a nice, albeit nerdy, guy with no real goals.
Enter Bryce Larkin. Bryce is currently a CIA agent and is also that same college roomie of Chuck's. Bryce has gone rogue and has stolen the "Intersect". This Intersect is actual a computer program that's a huge pot of information from the CIA and the NSA. ALL the information. Every file, every image, every secret operation, it's all on this Intersect. Bryce downloads the Intersect onto his handy dandy (I watch too much Blue's Clues) Blackberry, blows the original computer to shreds, emails the file to Chuck and then is shot and killed by John Casey (Adam Baldwin). Chuck opens the email and all that data is downloaded into his brain. (Now here is a sticky part for me. Would you really remain standing for 12 hours while being bombarded with images and information? And how would you be able to retain all that info? Hell, I can't even remember the name of my 1st Grade teacher. But this is what I'm talking about when I say you gotta just suspend your disbelief and go with it.) After the download, his computer is fried and Chuck wakes up on the floor. (C'mon, who hasn't had that happen before?) Now, whenever he sees anything that was on any of those files, he "flashes" on that file, and it basically opens in his brain and he knows everything about it. At first, there's some confusion, but then a hot blond comes into the store and everything melts away. Until he finds out that she's a CIA agent trying to protect him from being killed by the NSA. It ends with the CIA and NSA deciding to join forces to protect Chuck, aka The Intersect, in the beautiful forms of Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and John Casey (Adam Baldwin), respectively.
This show works on multiple levels. First and foremost, there's the great humor! Chuck is so lost in this world of spies and espionage and Casey is, well, he's a dick, but he's funny at it. Much like his Jayne character on Firefly. Sarah is sweet and lethal. She has such a crush on Chuck, as he does on her, yet they can't really be together b/c her job is to protect him, not date him. Secondly, this show has some great action scenes. Be it blowing up the random car here and there, having Sarah get into a raging fight with Casey, or even the pratfalls that Morgan has to do when getting mercilessly shoved aside by a tunnel visioned Casey, it all works and it's never cheesy or overly CGI, nor does it rely too heavily on stunt doubles (which seriously pissed me off on the early seasons of Buffy before SMG got her tae kwon do on).
I love this little show and it's rare to have a show that I can actually Laugh Out Loud at during every episode.
For some escapist fun (don't think too hard, just go with it), I recommend Chuck.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Mr Brooks
Mr Brooks is a movie starring Kevin Costner and (loosely) starring Dane Cook. Costner is a good actor, always has been. Loved him in The Untouchables and Field of Dreams and yes, god help me, Robin Hood. He's faltered these past few (10) years b/c he started to believe the hype around him. That he was this great, amazing Actor. I kinda want to compare him to Leonardo DiCaprio. Leo, god love him, was a great child actor and went on to star in Titanic. Which, he has said over and over, that he wishes he had never done. He became this huge Star, not as an actor, but as a teen heartthrob, and really, outside of Johnny Depp, who really has overcome that moniker? But Leo kept getting these accolades as being the best Actor who's ever breathed and he started to believe the hype but he put the smack down upon himself. He brought himself back down to planet Earth and realized that hey, this is just a job. I do my job, I get paid. I am NOT god, nor am I A god. I'm just a guy. Costner realized this too, only it took him a considerably longer amount of time to do it. In Mr Brooks, Costner tries to shed his good guy image (an act he tried to accomplish with A Perfect World) and you know, it's believable. He does an amazing portrayal of someone neck deep in addiction (albeit an addiction to murder) and he's trying to overcome it, only to be dragged back in via blackmail. This is where Dane Cook comes into play. I'm not saying Dane is a good actor, nor I am saying he's necessarily a bad actor. He's just Dane Cook. Luckily, his role isn't huge and his lines aren't long. I wouldn't even call him the protagnist, as that role is encompassed by a great William Hurt, who isn't even a real person, just the Devil on Costner's shoulder. This movie is long. Really long. If they would've editted out everything about the Meek's subplot with Demi Moore, I think I would've enjoyed it all that much more. As it stands, I give it a 2.5 out of 4. It would even be elevated to a solid 3 had they ended the movie 5 minutes early. And if you've seen it, you know what I mean.
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