Transformers

Transformers came out on DVD today, and despite Pat's mocking, I did go out and buy it. Not only that, but I went to get it at Target, which is the only retailer offering it in the DVD case that transforms into Optimus Prime.

At 11:45 this morning, on the day it came out, there were at least five other people buying it in the five minutes I was at Target. One was a mother of a young child buying it in the regular case. The other four were all dudes my age and three of them were getting the transforming case.

Too funny. I may be a tool, but obviously I'm not alone. :)

DWTS, Pushing Daisies, and more!

I can't post nearly as often as I'd like to on this (and, yet, I still joined Facebook, like I have time for that), but I just wanted to comment quickly on Dancing with the Stars and Pushing Daisies.

First of all, they keep saying this is the best season of DWTS yet and I can't really make that judgement since this is only the second season I've watched, but I do have to say the competition is pretty impressive. I was planning a post for later tonight in which I was going to say, "Floyd's going home this week. There was a lot of buzz about him pre-season, but he's actually pretty bad. After that, Jennie Garth. But, then it could be anyone." Well, that was before Jennie's paso doble tonight. Now, I'm eating my words. My only other thoughts: love the ongoing Superman thing with Cameron Mathis. And yes, Mark Cuban is still my binky.

Unlike Floyd, Pushing Daisies has totally lived up to its pre-season hype. When I first heard about this show, I thought "this idea is stupid. No way am I watching this show." But the hype kept building and building so I decided to just watch the first episode and figured I'd give it up after that. No. This show is my new obsession. If you haven't seen it, get on that.

It's actually the only new show that's made the cut with me (although I haven't watched Samantha Who? yet; it's on the DVR). I liked Reaper, but I don't have time for too many shows. Dirty Sexy Money was m'eh. So, this season's line-up is looking like:

Monday: DWTS, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, and possibly Samantha Who?
Tuesday: DWTS
Wednesday: Pushing Daisies
Thursday: My Name is Earl, Scrubs

Speaking of My Name is Earl, if you saw last week's episode, you may have heard a bluegrass-y sounding cover of Gin & Juice by Snoop Dogg. That was The Gourds. When I first heard that song when Megan and I were living together I assumed it was by a bunch of young guys, whatever. Oh no. I actually saw The Gourds live on Saturday (at a great outdoor venue in Austin: Threadgill's) and it's a bunch of middle-aged men. They put on an absolutely excellent show, by the way. I highly recommend checking them out if they're in your area. Or, you could come to Austin. They're from around here so they play pretty often in the area.

Just a quick note on books while I'm posting anyway: I finished the Harry Potter series. Book 7 just might be my favorite, but I do also kind of feel like she cheated on the last few chapters. Like she suddenly realized there were a lot of loose ends and she needed to take care of them asap. There were some explanations that left me feeling dissatisfied. But, I also think I'm maybe being a bit picky and I think the rest of the book makes up for it. Right now I'm reading The Golden Compass and The Other Boleyn Girl. I'll keep you posted.

Sydney White, Monday TV, and Rustic Overtones

It's gonna be an eclectic post, friends.

Friday, I had a really terrible day. The worst since getting to Austin. There was a scene with the FedEx man. There were tears. It was bad. So, Friday night, I skipped out on kickball practice (more on kickball on my Boston to Austin blog once we've had some games) and Pat took me to see Sydney White. It's the Amanda Bynes teen comedy based on the Snow White fairy tale. It was Pat and I and a horde of teenage girls in the theater, which was super fun for him. Let me tell you, the movie really hit the spot. I just totally emptied my mind for a couple of hours and was absorbed in the total silliness of it. I laughed aloud several times and actually thought it was really cute. Pat thought it was possibly the cheesiest movie I've ever liked. He's probably not too far off, but I highly recommend it if you are in the mood for a little cheese. I'd say it's tied with Bring it On: All or Nothing for my favorite "mindless movie," but it could be that my opinion is colored by how emotional I was on Friday and how much better I felt leaving the theater.

Last week, I said I'd only watched DWTS and HIMYM, but I did watch last week's Heroes, too. I don't have much to say, yet. I'm going to watch a few more episodes and see how it goes. I'm wary of adding new characters (I'm looking at you, Grey's Anatomy), but I do like the Parkman/Mohinder/HRG partnership and I'm intrigued by what Peter's been up to for the last four months leaving him with amnesia. I'm also digging the storyline with Nathan and Peter's mother and Hiro's father. I'm much more interested in the storyline involving the older generation of heroes than I am in the boogey-man storyline. I hope they bring back Claude Raines.

I didn't get to watch much of DWTS last night because of the three-way time conflict of DWTS, Heroes, and Monday Night Football. I did see Mel B, my boy Mark Cuban, and Wayne Newton. Oh, Mark Cuban, how I love you so. Why are the judges such haters?? How was everyone else last night? The Cheetah girl?

Here's what's backed up on the DVR right now: two episodes of Reaper, one of Heroes, and one of My Name is Earl. This week I'm gonna check out Pushing Daisies, too. Unless it conflicts with the Sox game...

One last thing: the Rustic Overtones. Why do they spite me so? Seriously, if I had known the reunion was going to last more than the summer...And if I had known a little earlier...I may not have left the East Coast. They are playing shows left and right! And I'm missing them. But, the good news is that they are playing the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. I've already got plans on Saturday, but I'll be seeing them Friday. I can't wait! I hear that they played for some record execs, too, so maybe they're going to become big rock stars (living in hilltop houses, driving fifteen cars). I hope so.

I'll have the quesadilla...

I rarely cover one of the pillars of pop culture on this blog: music. But my latest obsession is worth sharing, if for no other reason than some of you may enjoy mocking me.

I have never liked Nickelback. In fact, I'd put them in a category with DMB, Hootie and the Blowfish, Counting Crows and a number of other bands that I give the "big B" to ("B" for "blow(s)"). Really really dislike Nickelback. Always change the station when one of their songs comes on. And then one day, they re-release what is probably their most ridiculous and annoying song.

And I love it.

I listen to it every day and I walk around the house singing it and laughing. Oh yes, boys and girls, I'm talking about Rockstar. I can't even begin to explain what I love about this song, although I'll cite the video and the commentary by Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top) as two reasons, but it's more than that. I can't put my finger on it, but for some reason I just find this song really amusing and really catchy and it makes me happy when it comes on the radio.

True story.

And so it begins...

So far, we've had How I Met Your Mother and Dancing with the Stars.

The HIMYM premier was freaking awesome. I don't even know what the funniest part was...either the ending (http://www.slapcountown.com/) or the "tramp stamp" (specifically Barney's reaction to it; who knew Doogie Howser would go on to be a great comedic actor? His timing is awesome.)

As for DWTS, I don't have much to say, yet, except that the star I was most looking forward to was Mark Cuban and he did not disappoint! He was awesome! I'm not sure who I'd send home from the guys, but I agree with the judges on the lady who should head home: Josie Maran. She just was...blah. The guys, though...they held their own tonight. A lot of people were surprisingly good for the first week. At this point, I'd say it's wide open. My favorite new professional dancer: whoever's dancing with the Cheetah Girl. Their dance was awesome and he seems to have a lot of personality. Maybe I should learn his name...

I apologize for the excessive use of the word "awesome" and for the brevity. DWTS is about to end, though, so I have to get back to work. Woo, marketing textbook, here I come!

I'm back!

So, I probably shouldn't be devoting too much time to pop culture, much less blogging about it, but...it's TV season. And I love TV season. So, I'm going to do a quick catch up on the books I've read/movies I've seen, but I'll probably be keeping any actual commentary to TV for the foreseeable future.

And yes, I will eventually post to my Boston to Austin blog. In fact, I can't wait to share all my Austin adventures with you guys, but I just haven't had the time. That, and I want to start with a post about our road trip, but right now I can't seem to get the pictures from my camera to the computer. Gotta work on that.

So, real quick, books I've read: The Killer Angels (for my fellow Whedon fans, he's said in a few interviews that this book partially inspired Firefly) and the Harry Potter series. I needed some light reading leading up to the move and since starting school. Speaking of, I'm about to finish book 7 and I'd really love some recommendations for another series I could pick up. Preferably something light, easy-to-read and easy to get in to.

Movies I've seen: Arsenic and Old Lace (really weird), Superbad and Shoot 'em Up. Um, Superbad lived up to the title. And Shoot 'em Up was weird in an entirely different way than Arsenic and Old Lace. I wanted to see it because it had Paul Giamatti and Clive Owen and I like action films, etc. But wow...the plot was even thinner than it usually is in action movies. It was pretty much just an excuse to showcase a lot of violent action sequences.

Overdue...

So, I've been saving this post for six weeks or more now thinking that I'd eventually come back to this and write something a little longer and a bit more thoughtful, but it's clear that's not going to happen, so instead I'm just going to bite the bullet and post my immediate reactions to Schindler's List.

In other news, my new project is to develop the ability to read more than one book at a time. The list of books I want to read is so long and this would allow me to read a lot more books because I could read other books while stalled on a book that I like, but isn't a page turner for me, like Schindler's List or The Killer Angels, which is what I've been reading since I finished Schindler's List. Another new project is to read all the Harry Potter books before I move. We'll see how either one goes.

Anyway, on to the overdue post...

Schindler's List

Well, it only took me two months or so (maybe more, I'm not even sure), but I did finally finish reading Schindler's List. I'm sure everyone knows the story (and it's a bit complicated to review the plot of non-fiction, eh?), so I'll keep my review to the actual writing, which I didn't love. I really hate when authors "break the fourth wall," so to speak. Don't address me directly. Don't tell me your purpose in writing the book. If it's not clear to me without you explicitly stating it, perhaps you should rethink your career as an author. What I did like was that Thomas Keneally did not canonize Schindler (although, he unfortunately stated explicitly several times that he wasn't.). It makes him all that much more admirable to me; he wasn't a hero, he was just a man who did the right thing at a time when that was hard to do.

Anyway, I'm a little embarassed to say it, but I think for the second time in the short history of this blog, I'm going to say "skip the book, watch the movie." Man, it goes against every fiber of my future-librarian body to say that. And twice in the span of a few months. Ugh. Of course, in the name of full disclosure I must admit that I haven't seen the movie in ten years while the book is still fresh in my mind. Still, I don't think you can ever go wrong with Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley.