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rachg82You guys know what's cute? My nephew. Who randomly calls me on the phone now, and who happened to call me tonight to tell me he found a new Cattie (Cattie #1 sadly got squished a few days ago. I know, awww. Let's all have a moment of silence for Cattie! Heh). And who--when I asked him what he learned in school today--replied "you don't really learn anything in 1st grade. You just do the same thing everyday! Math!" Heeeee. I was like "Well, are you learning anything new about math that you didn't know before?" And I couldn't hear everything he said to that unfortunately, but I know it included a rant about "counting" and "not having enough hands". Haha. *squishes him*
Also, you guys know how I went over to carve pumpkins with him this weekend, right? So, at one point we had a question about pumpkins that we didn't know the answer to, and I was like "we'll look it up later." And Jayden's reply? "Yeah, pumpkins.com!" Hahaha. I love six year olds!
And in other nephew/niece-related news, Isabella is no longer a shorty (she's apparently considered tall for her age now! And Jayden's tall too. Man, if this keeps up, there'll be no one to carry on the Oompa Loompa family legacy/curse! Unless I have kids that is. Then I'm sure it'll be bound to carry on. Heh. Sorry, theoretical offspring!). She's also talking up a storm, btw. She knows about a million words now, and babbles pretty much non-stop. IT IS ADORABLE.
Ooh, and one extra cute tidbit before I change subjects: I drew a Halloween picture for Jay while I was there, and the entire time I was doing it Isabella kept grabbing oil pastels & crayons out of his box and handing them to me. Like, over and over to the point where they were falling off my sheet of paper. Ha. It was so cute! I love it when babies are in that stage where they're just starting to *get* things, you know? It always comes up in unexpected ways, like "What are you doing? OH. Okay. When did you learn to do that?!"
Moving on, I've got more tv-rambling for you all. Although it's more like micro-rambling really (for me anyway. i.e. it's probably closer to "full-on rambling" for normal people, ha), as the episodes I watched for this entry didn't really bring out Super Verbose Rach to quite the degree you're all probably used to by now.
On today's plate we've got:
Gossip Girl:
So, remember how I mentioned in my previous entry that I finally watched the season 3 premiere? Yeeaaahh, scratch that. It was the second season finale I watched. Clearly I'm *super with it* and in the loop. Heh. But now I can offically say I've watched the premiere as I did actually watch it this week. For real this time!
And now that I've watched it, here's what I have to say:
-Blair/Chuck role-playing shenanigans = I wholeheartedly approve. And can I also just say: WHO DIDN'T SEE HOW BLAIR WAS TOTALLY CHECKING OUT THE GIRLS, LIKE HELLO THREESOME PLEASE AND THANK YOU. Also, Waiter Chuck! Haha. LOVE.
-Serena, way to not only make an exit, but make an exit via HORSE. Like oh, who doesn't do that when a party gets uncomfortable? Immediately before that happened too I was literally thinking, "this episode is kinda lacking in the crack department. I wonder when the crazy shit is going to fly and. . .OH. Well, there you go then."
-Blair's restraining order. "And I will be by Serena's side 24/7!" I BET YOU WILL, BLAIR. I BET YOU WILL. *thinks dirty thoughts* Ha.
-Lily/Rufus' mystery lovechild. He is SO a product of their union! The Rufus half = crashing an upscale party just to confront your parent and be all "I'M YOUR KID, SO WHAT IF THIS ISN'T THE TIME OR PLACE FOR SUCH REVELATIONS." Like, seriously, HOW DAMN HUMPHREY IS THAT. Not to mention how he's not telling Vanessa for God knows what reason. Just so it can cause unnecessary drama later. HE IS SO DAN'S BROTHER. But then the Lily side pops in also, and is all "Um, so how abouts we DON'T confront Mystery Dad? Scandal = bad, you know. Let's just show up dressed all spiffy and have random conversations about bootlegs instead, sound good?"
Glee:
I haven't watched tonight's episode yet (I knooooow, I'm totally slacking on my tv duties). But I did watch last week. And I'm sure I had some actual thoughts on the episode, but I can't really hear them over the sound of Jane Lynch's fucking awesomeness.
Seriously though, was there even one second in that episode when she wasn't hilarious? The part where she stood outside the office throwing things and screaming? SO FUNNY. I just wish they hadn't kept showing that clip in the promos, otherwise I bet it would've made me laugh even harder.
Also: "Oh hey there buddy, I thought I smelled failure."<---THIS. Hahaha.
JANE LYNCH, I LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER.
OH, AND: You guys read that Joss Whedon is going to direct an episode this season, right? I am crossing my fingers that they let him go all out and write a song or something. PLEASE TV GODS LET IT HAPPEN.
So You Think You Can Dance: (which I haven't seen this week's episode of yet either. I'm a week behind on most of my shows right now)
First off, has everyone else heard Mia Michaels is leaving? This is--and I'm not exaggerating my feelings here--fucking horribly horrible. Like, to the point where if it does end up staying a permanent thing I think the show will be split into two eras: "Pre Mia Michaels Leaving" and "Post Mia Michaels Leaving". I MEAN, REALLY. Like, I'm not saying Mia is like my ~god~ or something, or that she never says something dingbatty or even harsh as a judge (although I generally enjoy her judging for the most part), or even that every piece she does is brilliant, but overall? She is pretty consistently amazing. Her choreography has so frequently raised the bar for the show, brought in Emmys, reduced people to tears, you name it. And even if her stuff isn't your cup of tea, you have to admit that she was a central figure on the show. Everytime a dancer picked her out of the hat, it was a big deal for them. Who else did they get excited like that for, other than maybe Shane Sparks in the early years?
And I'm not saying there aren't other great choreographers on the show, because of course there are. But it just won't be the same without Mia. I'm hoping that even if she won't be on as a regular anymore she'll still come back once or twice a year as a guest choreographer or something. Sniff. *pours some liquor on the ground* Heh. Okay, enough with the melodrama. But I really will miss her! Hopefully they'll bring in some new exciting choreographers this year to offset the loss.
Moving on, two more random points:
-that girl who twisted her ankle, and got the crazy swelling? I did a similar thing a few years ago, but the swelling on my ankle was actually worse (I pulled the tendons in my ankle after running across the street in heels and falling like the graceful person that I am). And the bruising was MASSIVE. All up the side of my leg and even down across my foot covering my toes. It was like "HOLY CRAP HOW DID I DO THIS."
It sounded like the girl's injury was a little different though. I can't remember, did they show if she had to quit? 'Cause if she did screw her ankle up like I did mine? I can't even begin to imagine dancing on it. I couldn't even walk more than a few blocks for a good six months without it swelling up on me. Poor thing (her, not me. Heh). Then again, dancers--like gymnasts--are pretty bad-ass when it comes to things like that. Like that girl whose toe-nail got ripped off! Ohhhh my God. That was so effing gross! And she was like "It's fine! Just don't look at it!" Haha. I was like "that's a dancer all right."
-Aren't they supposed to be changing the show back to its normal 2-eppy per week format soon? I hope so. The auditions/vegas episodes feel like they're taking for-ev-er to get through with only one episode a week.
Dollhouse
Why, hello there, Colonel Tigh! Hee. WAY TO STEAL ALL THE BSG PEEPS FOR YOUR SHOW, DOLLHOUSE. I APPROVE.
Other things I approve of?
Topher: Still amusing me more than annoying me. Also: "Man-reaction." Still funny! Heh. Plus Dewitt's response, all "I choose to ignore that." Hee. I'd like to see more scenes between them. Remember last season when they both went all crazy in his office and had their little bonding moment? That was fabulous. I WANT MORE SILLY DEWITT.
Which brings me to. . .
Dewitt: ~Still does fluttery things to my heart~ (although I still miss her longer hair).
Ballard: Being all "Thank God" at not having to watch Echo in her school-girl assignment. Hee. Please show Ballard having a sense of humor more often! I enjoy it. I also enjoyed his jumping back into his FBI/interrogator role. And working with Dewitt! (I like anything relating to her. Heh. I won't even deny it) I also like seeing him in the dollhouse, and how he reacts to it. I would like to see more of the "fighting the system from the inside" though. Otherwise it's a little like "what exactly are you doing there Ballard?" Also, even though he has no lips, I still think Tahmoh Penikett is kind of a hottie. I mean, seriously, dude works out. AND IT SHOWS.
Eliza Dushku: Wearing pig-tails. She should do this more often. What? It was cute! Heh. Also, her acting was pretty decent in this episode.
The actor who plays Victor: I forgot I was looking at a doll, and not the actual serial killer. Kudos on the acting there as well.
Requisite philosophical-ish question, re: The part where they mentioned the serial killer missing activity in the centers of the brain relating to empathy. It made me wonder, just because someone is missing empathy, would that automatically mean they'd want to kill people? And what does it say about our view of human nature if we assume it would? I do believe missing empathy plays a role in creating that type of person (and have seen crime documentaries talk about similar brain scans for real), but also think there's got to be some other underlying layer of fucked-upness to trigger the urge in the first place. i.e. lacking empathy merely removes the brakes and lets the car drive on. But someone's got to have a reason to want to press the gas pedal (kill) to begin with. But in my experience popular culture--tv/movies--don't address what truly creates the desire other than "they were abused" or some other similar reason. They then jump right to "they have no conscience" or "they have no empathy." So it makes me wonder do we as people see human nature as having something fundamentally violent/evil inside us? And all it needs to show itself is poor treatment growing up, and/or a simple lack of empathy?
Not sure if that made sense, but it came to mind while watching the episode and I thought it was interesting.
The Amazing Race:
Angry Couple stopped being so annoying, so of course they got eliminated. I wonder if they weren't really so fight-y all the time, and were just being edited that way. And then the show was like "okay, so here's their last episode. Let's edit them to look all nice now, and make people feel bad for them." Hmm.
And, re: the previous week, poor Zev and whats-his-name! Justin, right? (It was something like that.) But that suuuucked, to come in first place and then get cut over a lost passport. Lame!
Dumb Americans Are Dumb: THIS IS WHY THE WORLD THINKS ALL AMERICANS ARE DUMB, GOD. Note how many of the contestants couldn't recognize Jackie Kennedy last week. !!!UGH!!! Note also the people this week who were like "We need a ticket to the Persian Gulf! Where is that? Oh, it's a region?" (UGH!SQUARED!) and then when at the airport were like "Dubai's not even a country?!", all clueless (they had assumed it was a country, and then acted all ~shocked~ that it wasn't). I was like "IT'S A CITY, YOU FUCKTARDS. I HATE YOU." Heh. BUT REALLY, JESUS. Thank God not all the American contestants were so ignorant, but I really wish the dumb ones had the decency to be dumber in a *quieter fashion* so that the non-Americans around them wouldn't have to think "MUST YOU NOT ONLY BE DUMB, BUT ALSO BROADCAST YOUR DUMBNESS TO THE WORLD?"
To the non-Americans on my flist: We're not all that stupid. I promise!
Wrapping this up now, I'll leave you with a Vid of the Day. In honor of Mia Michael's departure, my pick for today will be one of her best-known routines: "The Bench" dance between Heidi (Heeeiiiiiido Ho! Heh) and Travis in Season 2. This routine won her her first Emmy, for those keeping score. (Bit of advice: Watch it quickly before YouTube takes it down. I swear Fox has someone full-time on staff whose job it is just to watch for So You Think You Can Dance vids being uploaded on YouTube so they can have them removed. So annoying. Like, if you don't like it, why don't you create your own channel on the site, Fox, and put the clips up officially and make it ad-supported content? Stop trying to ruin everyone's fun, and focus on how you can actually profit from it! DUMB-ASSES.)
P.S. Season 2, now and forever = LOVE.
Also, you guys know how I went over to carve pumpkins with him this weekend, right? So, at one point we had a question about pumpkins that we didn't know the answer to, and I was like "we'll look it up later." And Jayden's reply? "Yeah, pumpkins.com!" Hahaha. I love six year olds!
And in other nephew/niece-related news, Isabella is no longer a shorty (she's apparently considered tall for her age now! And Jayden's tall too. Man, if this keeps up, there'll be no one to carry on the Oompa Loompa family legacy/curse! Unless I have kids that is. Then I'm sure it'll be bound to carry on. Heh. Sorry, theoretical offspring!). She's also talking up a storm, btw. She knows about a million words now, and babbles pretty much non-stop. IT IS ADORABLE.
Ooh, and one extra cute tidbit before I change subjects: I drew a Halloween picture for Jay while I was there, and the entire time I was doing it Isabella kept grabbing oil pastels & crayons out of his box and handing them to me. Like, over and over to the point where they were falling off my sheet of paper. Ha. It was so cute! I love it when babies are in that stage where they're just starting to *get* things, you know? It always comes up in unexpected ways, like "What are you doing? OH. Okay. When did you learn to do that?!"
Moving on, I've got more tv-rambling for you all. Although it's more like micro-rambling really (for me anyway. i.e. it's probably closer to "full-on rambling" for normal people, ha), as the episodes I watched for this entry didn't really bring out Super Verbose Rach to quite the degree you're all probably used to by now.
On today's plate we've got:
Gossip Girl:
So, remember how I mentioned in my previous entry that I finally watched the season 3 premiere? Yeeaaahh, scratch that. It was the second season finale I watched. Clearly I'm *super with it* and in the loop. Heh. But now I can offically say I've watched the premiere as I did actually watch it this week. For real this time!
And now that I've watched it, here's what I have to say:
-Blair/Chuck role-playing shenanigans = I wholeheartedly approve. And can I also just say: WHO DIDN'T SEE HOW BLAIR WAS TOTALLY CHECKING OUT THE GIRLS, LIKE HELLO THREESOME PLEASE AND THANK YOU. Also, Waiter Chuck! Haha. LOVE.
-Serena, way to not only make an exit, but make an exit via HORSE. Like oh, who doesn't do that when a party gets uncomfortable? Immediately before that happened too I was literally thinking, "this episode is kinda lacking in the crack department. I wonder when the crazy shit is going to fly and. . .OH. Well, there you go then."
-Blair's restraining order. "And I will be by Serena's side 24/7!" I BET YOU WILL, BLAIR. I BET YOU WILL. *thinks dirty thoughts* Ha.
-Lily/Rufus' mystery lovechild. He is SO a product of their union! The Rufus half = crashing an upscale party just to confront your parent and be all "I'M YOUR KID, SO WHAT IF THIS ISN'T THE TIME OR PLACE FOR SUCH REVELATIONS." Like, seriously, HOW DAMN HUMPHREY IS THAT. Not to mention how he's not telling Vanessa for God knows what reason. Just so it can cause unnecessary drama later. HE IS SO DAN'S BROTHER. But then the Lily side pops in also, and is all "Um, so how abouts we DON'T confront Mystery Dad? Scandal = bad, you know. Let's just show up dressed all spiffy and have random conversations about bootlegs instead, sound good?"
Glee:
I haven't watched tonight's episode yet (I knooooow, I'm totally slacking on my tv duties). But I did watch last week. And I'm sure I had some actual thoughts on the episode, but I can't really hear them over the sound of Jane Lynch's fucking awesomeness.
Seriously though, was there even one second in that episode when she wasn't hilarious? The part where she stood outside the office throwing things and screaming? SO FUNNY. I just wish they hadn't kept showing that clip in the promos, otherwise I bet it would've made me laugh even harder.
Also: "Oh hey there buddy, I thought I smelled failure."<---THIS. Hahaha.
JANE LYNCH, I LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER.
OH, AND: You guys read that Joss Whedon is going to direct an episode this season, right? I am crossing my fingers that they let him go all out and write a song or something. PLEASE TV GODS LET IT HAPPEN.
So You Think You Can Dance: (which I haven't seen this week's episode of yet either. I'm a week behind on most of my shows right now)
First off, has everyone else heard Mia Michaels is leaving? This is--and I'm not exaggerating my feelings here--fucking horribly horrible. Like, to the point where if it does end up staying a permanent thing I think the show will be split into two eras: "Pre Mia Michaels Leaving" and "Post Mia Michaels Leaving". I MEAN, REALLY. Like, I'm not saying Mia is like my ~god~ or something, or that she never says something dingbatty or even harsh as a judge (although I generally enjoy her judging for the most part), or even that every piece she does is brilliant, but overall? She is pretty consistently amazing. Her choreography has so frequently raised the bar for the show, brought in Emmys, reduced people to tears, you name it. And even if her stuff isn't your cup of tea, you have to admit that she was a central figure on the show. Everytime a dancer picked her out of the hat, it was a big deal for them. Who else did they get excited like that for, other than maybe Shane Sparks in the early years?
And I'm not saying there aren't other great choreographers on the show, because of course there are. But it just won't be the same without Mia. I'm hoping that even if she won't be on as a regular anymore she'll still come back once or twice a year as a guest choreographer or something. Sniff. *pours some liquor on the ground* Heh. Okay, enough with the melodrama. But I really will miss her! Hopefully they'll bring in some new exciting choreographers this year to offset the loss.
Moving on, two more random points:
-that girl who twisted her ankle, and got the crazy swelling? I did a similar thing a few years ago, but the swelling on my ankle was actually worse (I pulled the tendons in my ankle after running across the street in heels and falling like the graceful person that I am). And the bruising was MASSIVE. All up the side of my leg and even down across my foot covering my toes. It was like "HOLY CRAP HOW DID I DO THIS."
It sounded like the girl's injury was a little different though. I can't remember, did they show if she had to quit? 'Cause if she did screw her ankle up like I did mine? I can't even begin to imagine dancing on it. I couldn't even walk more than a few blocks for a good six months without it swelling up on me. Poor thing (her, not me. Heh). Then again, dancers--like gymnasts--are pretty bad-ass when it comes to things like that. Like that girl whose toe-nail got ripped off! Ohhhh my God. That was so effing gross! And she was like "It's fine! Just don't look at it!" Haha. I was like "that's a dancer all right."
-Aren't they supposed to be changing the show back to its normal 2-eppy per week format soon? I hope so. The auditions/vegas episodes feel like they're taking for-ev-er to get through with only one episode a week.
Dollhouse
Why, hello there, Colonel Tigh! Hee. WAY TO STEAL ALL THE BSG PEEPS FOR YOUR SHOW, DOLLHOUSE. I APPROVE.
Other things I approve of?
Topher: Still amusing me more than annoying me. Also: "Man-reaction." Still funny! Heh. Plus Dewitt's response, all "I choose to ignore that." Hee. I'd like to see more scenes between them. Remember last season when they both went all crazy in his office and had their little bonding moment? That was fabulous. I WANT MORE SILLY DEWITT.
Which brings me to. . .
Dewitt: ~Still does fluttery things to my heart~ (although I still miss her longer hair).
Ballard: Being all "Thank God" at not having to watch Echo in her school-girl assignment. Hee. Please show Ballard having a sense of humor more often! I enjoy it. I also enjoyed his jumping back into his FBI/interrogator role. And working with Dewitt! (I like anything relating to her. Heh. I won't even deny it) I also like seeing him in the dollhouse, and how he reacts to it. I would like to see more of the "fighting the system from the inside" though. Otherwise it's a little like "what exactly are you doing there Ballard?" Also, even though he has no lips, I still think Tahmoh Penikett is kind of a hottie. I mean, seriously, dude works out. AND IT SHOWS.
Eliza Dushku: Wearing pig-tails. She should do this more often. What? It was cute! Heh. Also, her acting was pretty decent in this episode.
The actor who plays Victor: I forgot I was looking at a doll, and not the actual serial killer. Kudos on the acting there as well.
Requisite philosophical-ish question, re: The part where they mentioned the serial killer missing activity in the centers of the brain relating to empathy. It made me wonder, just because someone is missing empathy, would that automatically mean they'd want to kill people? And what does it say about our view of human nature if we assume it would? I do believe missing empathy plays a role in creating that type of person (and have seen crime documentaries talk about similar brain scans for real), but also think there's got to be some other underlying layer of fucked-upness to trigger the urge in the first place. i.e. lacking empathy merely removes the brakes and lets the car drive on. But someone's got to have a reason to want to press the gas pedal (kill) to begin with. But in my experience popular culture--tv/movies--don't address what truly creates the desire other than "they were abused" or some other similar reason. They then jump right to "they have no conscience" or "they have no empathy." So it makes me wonder do we as people see human nature as having something fundamentally violent/evil inside us? And all it needs to show itself is poor treatment growing up, and/or a simple lack of empathy?
Not sure if that made sense, but it came to mind while watching the episode and I thought it was interesting.
The Amazing Race:
Angry Couple stopped being so annoying, so of course they got eliminated. I wonder if they weren't really so fight-y all the time, and were just being edited that way. And then the show was like "okay, so here's their last episode. Let's edit them to look all nice now, and make people feel bad for them." Hmm.
And, re: the previous week, poor Zev and whats-his-name! Justin, right? (It was something like that.) But that suuuucked, to come in first place and then get cut over a lost passport. Lame!
Dumb Americans Are Dumb: THIS IS WHY THE WORLD THINKS ALL AMERICANS ARE DUMB, GOD. Note how many of the contestants couldn't recognize Jackie Kennedy last week. !!!UGH!!! Note also the people this week who were like "We need a ticket to the Persian Gulf! Where is that? Oh, it's a region?" (UGH!SQUARED!) and then when at the airport were like "Dubai's not even a country?!", all clueless (they had assumed it was a country, and then acted all ~shocked~ that it wasn't). I was like "IT'S A CITY, YOU FUCKTARDS. I HATE YOU." Heh. BUT REALLY, JESUS. Thank God not all the American contestants were so ignorant, but I really wish the dumb ones had the decency to be dumber in a *quieter fashion* so that the non-Americans around them wouldn't have to think "MUST YOU NOT ONLY BE DUMB, BUT ALSO BROADCAST YOUR DUMBNESS TO THE WORLD?"
To the non-Americans on my flist: We're not all that stupid. I promise!
Wrapping this up now, I'll leave you with a Vid of the Day. In honor of Mia Michael's departure, my pick for today will be one of her best-known routines: "The Bench" dance between Heidi (Heeeiiiiiido Ho! Heh) and Travis in Season 2. This routine won her her first Emmy, for those keeping score. (Bit of advice: Watch it quickly before YouTube takes it down. I swear Fox has someone full-time on staff whose job it is just to watch for So You Think You Can Dance vids being uploaded on YouTube so they can have them removed. So annoying. Like, if you don't like it, why don't you create your own channel on the site, Fox, and put the clips up officially and make it ad-supported content? Stop trying to ruin everyone's fun, and focus on how you can actually profit from it! DUMB-ASSES.)
P.S. Season 2, now and forever = LOVE.
