Just for the heck of it...

I figured I'd go ahead and post since it's been two months since the last time. Despite the fact that I haven't been posting, I have been partaking in the pop culture. I've seen some movies (Lions for Lambs was horrendous, as was I am Legend; National Treasure 2 was surprisingly enjoyable), read *lots* of books, and have pretty much given up on TV (due to a combo of a lack of time, the strike, and Heroes sucking this year). I tried American Gladiators, but the nostalgia factor was just not enough to overpower the cheese factor. At least Psych starts again tonight. Gus and Shawn are my favorite relationship on TV, followed by Ned and Chuck, JD and Turk, and Len and Bruno. ;) Oh, and speaking of, I know I failed to do my weekly DWTS posts during the fall, but I'm glad Marie Osmond didn't win. I thought Mel B. was the best dancer, but Maks' choreography for the finale was awful. That's my $.02 on that.

Most of what I've been reading I won't bother posting about (historical romances, I kid you not; I'm addicted to them.), but I did read a cool collection of short fiction that I got at the Texas Book Festival called The First Line. All of the stories in it start with the same first line. There are four issues a year, check it out: www.thefirstline.com.

PS I've recently discovered Google Reader. An excellent way to stay on top of the million or so pop culture blogs I like. :)

One last thing: http://thesuperest.com/archives/2007/10/16/k01_unopposinator/
A couple of friends draw "superheroes," each one bested by the next. An excellent time-waster. (Thanks to Pop Candy for linking to it!)

Great news for Whedon (and Dushku) fans!

Fortunately for me, I'm both. :)

Welcome to the Dollhouse.

Sorry I've been so lax about this blog; Facebook and my "life in Texas" blog are taking up most of my internet time these days! This is one of the reasons I resisted Facebook all these years!

But, I have actually been doing some recreational reading, including a Romance novel I really liked and I'm not too proud to say it, Flowers from the Storm. I'm reading another one right now, too. Okay, I am a little embarrassed. I started The Golden Compass and gave up after page 67, making me the only person ever to not like this book, I think. I also read I Love You, Beth Cooper. It was a quick read and quite entertaining. It's the story of a high school nerd who confesses his love to the captain of the cheerleading squad in his valedictorian's speech and how he spends the rest of his graduation day. Hijinx ensue. The "soundtrack" and move quotes are a cool feature of the book, too. At one point, you could download the soundtrack from iTunes (or so I read on another blog), not sure if that's the case now.

I don't think I've seen any movies, but I have been trying to keep up with TV. I really liked the one episode of Samantha Who? I saw, but we didn't get the first one for some reason and the third was booted for Monday Night Football. Pushing Daisies is still my favorite thing on television; Sabrina and Mark (totaly cutie!) were robbed; and Heroes hasn't been as good this season. They need fewer characters and faster moving plots. This season doesn't have enough action for me (although, full disclosure: I haven't watched the last two episodes, yet, maybe it gets more exciting). Oh, and I can't wait to watch Scrubs! I haven't gotten to it, yet, but I am really hoping J.D. and Eliot did something they shouldn't have.

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!