Favorite Classic TV Shows

I was listening to the radio this morning and there was a trivia question about one of the shows that I grew up watching.

What show debuted on this date in 1976 starring Linda Lavin.

The answer to that question was Alice.

This show ran from 1976 to 1985.

I loved it. It was definitely part of our family viewing back in the day, along with Three's Company and One Day At A Time.

I miss shows like this. They were family shows and they were funny. Granted there's some really great TV, but the stuff you can watch with everyone seems to only be on stations like Disney.  It is a shame that writers can't come up with shows that are funny and entertaining for the whole family.

Now if you don't mind, I'm going to slink off somewhere and feel very old now.

I'm Easily Amused

Do you want to know how easily amused, this wench is?

Stick me in front of one of these



and see how long I stand there gaping and squeeing that there is a windmill around.

Yup, I'm easily amused and I'm proud of it!

What amuses you easily? I know I'm not the only one like this!

Comedies Rock My World

So far there have been two new shows that really get my seal of laughter approval, Monday night's Mike And Molly and Wednesday night's Better With You.

I have The Defenders on my list of shows to catch up on this weekend.

I'm also adding Shit My Dad Says to my must watch list of shows. Yes, its Bleep My Dad Says, but fuck it, what the hell is fucking wrong with the word shit! I'm so sick of  people deciding what words are bad! It makes me want to say fuck over and over.

Fuck Fuck Fuck!

I'm pretty impressed with the new shows I've seen, I'm not going to make any calls on what will stay or go, because usually if I like it, it tanks. Still I blow raspberries at all the people that were against Modern Family last season! Ha! That show is the greatest! But if I had to make the call, I'd say Better With You won't make it, Mike and Molly should have no problem, and Shit My Dad Said will hang in at least a full season because The Shat is awesomesauce and its worth watching for his terrible acting and comedy. Shat rules!

So what new shows do you love already?

Music Has Let Me Down

This last year has been lousy for me musically. So many of the new albums that have come out, by artists I love just haven't lived up to expectations.

I keep thinking about Andy Bell's Non-Stop. I love Any and I love Erasure, but this new solo album of his really is terrible. I listened to it a few times and I can't bring myself to go out and buy it. It isn't worthy of my money.

Right now when money is tight, and believe me for me right now it is. I have a few medical bills, a car payment, taxes on my grandma's...erm my house and my regular bills to pay, so when I want to spend money on music, it better be good.

Of course, now as the year is wrapping up and I have even more bills, some of my other favorite artists have albums out. Keri Noble has two out today, I still have a few old albums I'd like to get by Over The Rhine and Gordon Lightfoot. Trustworthy artists that don't put out crap.

I feel bad lumping Andy Bell in with the crap, but unless he is recording with Vince, his solo material just falls flat. And then there's Duran Duran. Oye! I don't think I'll buy their next one until I've listened to it for at least a week. They've put out more crap than any one artist should be allowed. The only good thing about Duran Duran these days is that they still look pretty darn good.

Looking good, however, is not good enough for me, when it comes to buying music.

So to all of the recording artist out there, think about the crap you are recording and do better, especially if you want to make a buck!

My Crush Returns

All it took was one hour and thirty minutes of the first part of Going Postal for me to resume my crush on Richard Coyle, which was starting to form from that awesome Elvisy trailer.

I'm not sure what it is about him that makes me go all gaga

I'm not sure if its the crazy curly hair or those gorgeous blue eyes, or maybe its that voice...but whatever it is...I only had to watch one part of the Pratchett film and I was hooked on him again. I also wanted to kick his ass again for the way he left the fabulous show Coupling, because had he left in Steve Moffat's good graces, he could very well have been the 11th Doctor, and though I love Matt Smith, Richard would really play the part so damn well.

Things That Annoy: The Political Edition

I could just make it a big ole one thing and say Republicans, because everyone knows I'm annoyed by them more than anything else, but really there's more than just the GOP in the political world to annoy the crap out of me.

Let's break it down.

1. Ads blaming all the bailouts on Obama and his administration. WTF? Seriously, I wonder what the ads would say if we DIDN'T bail out the banks and the economy totally tanked?

2. Campaign ads that just toss mud at the opponent without saying what the candidate creating the ad is going to do.

3. Sarah Palin: Let's just banish her and her whole wackjob family to an island on ANOTHER PLANET!

4. Both parties working for the common good of their own pocketbooks rather than the American people.

5. Religious ideals taking precedent over what might be right for the nation or humanity in general; abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research.

6. Career Politicians: Let's face it. Once elected they want to stay there forever. I think there should be term limits on every type of elected office. Let new blood screw up the system! (As long as they aren't in the Tea Party)

I could go on, but I'll stop at six.

I Heart Richard Coyle

Richard Coyle is probably my favorite British Actor. Having watched a few clips from the Going Postal movie, I think he might have surpassed David Tennant, and that takes a lot of doing.

It was this video clip that brought him back into my mind



I want to run my fingers through those beautiful unrully curls of his...but  his wife would get pissed.

Christmas Is In The Air!

The season finale of Eureka was tonight and it kind of left us a bit muddled. Things in modern day Eureka are well...watch and you'll understand. To give you a mild spoiler, the story arc of this season is not over and fans, like myself will be treated to a Christmas episode this year.

I love Christmas episodes.

Only a small detail has been leaked about Eureka's special:  Dr Noah Drummer is set to “wreak havoc with one of his experiments”, but as yet, no further details are forthcoming.

My source is Unreality Shout  which also shares some casting tidbits about the upcoming Christmas Doctor Who.  I'm really excited about that too. I wish more shows went all out for the holidays. Its a shame White Collar won't be back until January. Mmm imagine Matt Bomer's Neal Caffrey under the Christmas tree. Now that would be a real Christmas treat.

Suddenly I'm really excited about the holidays!!

Damn Those Psych Finales

What is with the writers of Psych?

This is the second finale that has truly been lackluster when compared to the rest of the season. Not to mention the relationship angst they keep tossing in, which is good because when two characters that don't start out together, get together, the show kind of goes south.

But I really hate this new character they've worked in right now; Declan, the super rich, rather ugly dude, that just makes you want to punch him in the face. He's so cool that he's obnoxious. To be perfectly honest..I don't  see what anyone could see in him. Lassie is more attractive and at least his bitterness is without agenda. Declan is just ick. I wished they would have killed him off at the end of this episode.

The only good thing about this finale is that Psych is only going away for a couple months. The show is coming back in November, which means, hey! Maybe a Psych Christmas epi! That would be so cool.

Ah well, 2 more months til we get more episodes. I think I can wait.

Fall TV...Please Start Soon

I'm really sick of re-runs and the summer tv season is just about over, with finales of White Collar, Psych and Eureka all coming this week. The Gates oddly has 3 more episodes and probably that will be the last we see of ABC's weird and cheesy paranormal drama.

I want my Big Bang Theory back! And The Middle and Modern Family!

I want Castle!

I think there are a few newbie shows I might be interested in too, the one with Rob Morrow and the one with Matthew Perry

I'm not sure if there's anything else I want to watch, but damn it, I want my regulars on my TV set.

I'm sick of waiting

What shows are you waiting to start this fall.

Have You Seen These Comcast Commercials?

Zach Levi from Chuck seems to show up in everyone's house, except mine!

That's so very wrong.

Of course, Zach wouldn't want to show up in my house, because there is a strong chance I wouldn't let him out again!!!

Muhahahaha!

Of course, a girl can always hope. I'm sure by now you know that Zach is one my TV boyfriends aka celebrity crushes.

Book Review: Exquisite Corpse (2006)

Exquisite Corpse: Surrealism and the Black Dahlia Murder by Mark Nelson & Sarah Hudson Bayliss

It's not a new book, but it's new to me. I found this at Big Lots for 50 cents! Such a steal. I've always been fascinated with unsolved murders, and the Black Dahlia case is one of the most interesting. As a bit of a background, Elizabeth Short (nicknamed "The Black Dahlia" because of her dark hair and clothing), a 23 year old aspiring actress, was found bisected in a vacant lot in Los Angeles, CA on January 15, 1947. Her body had been cleaned and drained of blood, there were shapes cut into different parts of her body, and her left breast was cut off. There were many suspects, but the case remains unsolved to this day.

"Exquisite Corpse" focuses on one suspect, George Hodel, and his connections to the world of Surrealist art, showing fascinating similarities between many artworks/photographs of leading Surrealists and the Black Dahlia crime scene. The theory presented in the book is that the killing was inspired by Surrealism and went on to inspire many Surrealist works created after Short's murder. Using photographic comparisons between crime scene photos and photos/artworks by leading Surrealists Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, Andre Breton, and others, the authors provide a convincing argument for the reasoning behind Elizabeth Short's brutal murder. Dr. Hodel had a close relationship with Man Ray, and through him many other artists, whose work may have been referenced through the placement/dismemberment of the body and different markings made on it.

The title of the book comes from the technique created by Surrealists in which the artists write or draw on a paper, fold it to hide what they put down, and then pass it to the next person for further contribution. The name itself is from the first time the game was played, using words instead of drawings: "Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau (the exquisite corpse will drink the new wine)." The authors suggest maybe a real-life game was played with Elizabeth Short's body, and also, the crime scene photos resemble more than one "exquisite corpse" drawing.

This was definitely the most interesting book I've read in a long time. It weaves true-crime with art history in such a way that both subjects are not overwhelming, and the authors chose to use the least-gory of the crime scene photos, which was nice because I've seen some bad ones of this case. Whether you are interested in the murder, or art, or are just looking for a fairly quick, interesting read, I highly recommend this book!

I Heart Pink Milk

I have to admit it. I'm a Strawberry Milk fan, probably even more so than chocolate milk. (Anything but the plain old boring kind)

I was at Walmart today when I happened to spy a beautiful quart of Strawberry Milk.  My nephew used to call it peet rick when he was a wee baby. That's pretty close to pink milk, doncha think?

How can you resist something so pretty and so tasty?

Shy of being lactose intolerant, I'd say it is pretty hard, and if you are lactose intolerant, I recommend Almond Breeze in Vanilla, because you can never seem to find the chocolate, which is to die for, and apparently people have, because you can't find it anywhere. A few teaspoons of vanilla extract in some 2% milk is pretty awesome too.

Thursday Thirteen On A Wednesday

 I have a friend that volunteers at the Animal Rescue League and fosters cats many times throughout the year. I love animals so much and I admire her for doing that but I know I could never do it myself and here are 13 reasons why.

1. I'm pretty sure there are laws about how many cats a person can own, and I already have more than my share.

2. If a cat moves into my house, there is no way on Gods green earth that I could give it away.

3. If anything happened to the foster I would be devestated. We rescued a starving kitty last month and my sister took it home and she didn't make it. I think I was as devestated as they were. I wanted that kitty to live.

4. One litter box per cat? My house would only be litter boxes!!!

5. I'd never make it to work because I'd be too busy, feeding kitties, cleaning up kitties and above all else, cuddling kitties.

6. My cameras would run away from home because I'd only use them for taking cute kitty pictures that I could turn into LOLcats.

7. My dog would be evicted. The cats I already have, took over the house, any more and the dog wouldn't be welcome and they'd oust him.

8. I'd never be able to eat chicken or tuna again. (There's always one cat that will kill you for one of these noms)

9. My heart would seriously break if one were adopted see # 2 for the reason.

10. I'd never be able to go on vacation because you just can't leave kitties home alone, or you will have no home!

11. I'd have to start a cat blog and have each cat blog one day out of the week. Hey! There are a lot of cat blogs out there! My cats have tried to take over my blog a few times.

12. I'm too young to be a crazy cat lady..erm...uh.

13. I really don't want to be on the evening news because I AM THE CRAZY CAT LADY!

All joking aside, I admire all the people that can take in foster kitties and dogs. It takes a real good heart to be able to be the temporary kitty mommy or daddy, until the animal finds its forever home, and every one of these people should get kudos for doing it, especially as it is really done out of the goodness of their hearts.

Hats off to all the volunteers at the shelters! If not for you, I would never have found my Bootsie, Misty, Gummie, and Lady Sugarplum von Buttonhead.

Remember, the next time you want a pet, go to the shelter!