Random thoughts and favorite lyrics (I know, that came out of left field)... JE

Oh, Frozen.  I have watched it 3 times already.  I started it for a 4th time today, but it was nap time and somewhere near the beginning my internet went out, so I gave up and slept during some basketball instead.  I mean, of course I loved it.  It's a wonderful Disney musical with great music (written by the guy who helped write Book of Mormon and his wife), some of my favorite actors (especially those selected for their musical backgrounds, and extra impressed with Kristen Bell as I had no idea she had those kind of musical skills), but most importantly... it's about sisters.  That is going to win just about every time.

I can't even with Teen Wolf.  I mean, I knew she was going to die (dammit Tumblr, and Twitter), but still, Lydia's reaction just destroyed me.  And if they had given Mr. Argent just a tiny bit more time to react, I'd probably still be in the fetal position.  I am pretty nervous for whatever Mr. Davis and company have in store for the finale tomorrow night.  

But enough about my TV related trauma.  You watched the Red Wedding.  With no idea what was coming.  I'm sorry.  Like I said, it was traumatic for me to watch, and I already knew.  The show makes you care about Robb so much more than the books (like I said, he is never a narrator, at least as far as I have gotten, but since he's dead, I doubt he'll start narrating in the future.  But you never know), which is kind of cruel.  I hope you are doing okay.  New season in like 2 weeks I believe.

So we generally focus on TV here, but I have random thoughts about all kinds of things.  The other day I was walking to the bus listening to some music and my favorite Cat Stevens song came on, I've Got a Thing about Seeing my Grandson Grow Old.  And I was trying to figure out why this was my favorite song, of all his brilliant songs.  And it really comes down to one line, "I've got no time for silly chitter chatter."  That's it.  That one line makes the whole song for me. This led me to think of what other lines make the whole song for me.  So here is my off the top of my head at the time list:

- "Why am I so soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?" - Paul Simon, You Can Call Me Al - This song (and actually the entire album, and most of Simon's songs) is fully of really great lyrics.  But this one is both hilarious and completely relatable. 
- "I'm sorry if my heart breaking ruined your day" - Jewel, Sometimes it Be That Way - I know, I know, it's Jewel.  But it's such a great F-you post-break-up line.  I don't want to analyze it too much, I just like it okay?
- "If we weren't all crazy we'd all go insane" - Jimmy Buffett, Changes in Attitudes, Changes in Latitudes. This is a completely true statement.
- "I want to be your absolute ultimate" - Mike Doughty, Unsingable Name - I used to think this was my favorite Mike Doughty song, but it's just this opening line.  It's a good song all the way through, just not my favorite(my favorite is I Hear the Bells).  And I think that's because it falls short of the opening.
- "I heard a few heads say that hip hop was dead, no it's not, it's just malnourished and underfed" - Blue Scholars, Southside Revival - I'm not really cool enough to have this on my list (I mean, come on, look at the rest of the list), but whatever, I like it.
- "Now that I've met you, would you object to, never seeing each other again" - Aimee Mann, Deathly - This is off the Magnolia Soundtrack, which is a wonderful soundtrack, filled mostly with Aimee Mann songs, but this line is the best.  If I'm not mistaken, it's actually from the movie somewhere.  
- "I'm so into you, but I'm way too smart for you" Jonathan Coulton, Skullcrusher Mountain - Okay, so technically this is a line from a mad scientist to the woman he is holding captive, but I think it has broader applications.
- "I am gonna make it, through this year, if it kills me" - The Mountain Goats, This Year - Not that long ago I purchased The Sunset Tree by the Mountain Goats and I like it a lot better than the other albums I had listened to a little.  This song is a big part of why.
- "She only smokes when she drinks, she only drinks now and then, now and then when she's tired of being let down by men" - Joe Nichols, She Only Smokes when She Drinks - What, can't I have some ridiculous country music on my list?
- "If I'm in the mood it will not be with some dude who is whistling cause he has nothing to say" - In the Heights, okay, adding something from a musical is kind of like cheating.  Especially because it could have just been "anything from In the Heights," but this particular line stands out to me.  It's clever and funny, and sassy as hell.  

Honorable mentions to the opening line from Some Nights by fun. (some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck, some nights I call it a draw), and the chorus from The Wire (but I fumbled it when it came down to the wire)

So that's what I got today.  Zags are down early to Arizona, but there is lots of time so I'm going to focus on them.

On her ice castle quest, Sarah has met up with Muppets who have invited her to join them on their next caper.  

Rockin' Old Men and Game of Thrones.... KE

Who knew that 70 year old men would put on the best concert EVER. I knew I would enjoy it and appreciate getting a chance to see the Rolling Stones live, but the energy level (mainly from Mick Jagger) and the quality of music was outstanding. Mick Jagger had a catwalk that he would strut up and down and Keith Richard even moved a bit with his sparkly headband. I mean we’ve seen some pretty great old guy concerts… Bon Jovi, Elton John and Billy Joel, Tom Petty…. all which are hard to top… but I think this one topped those.  (I would have to say Elton and Billy are a close second- only Mick Jagger can hit all the notes still.) I’m going to go see Justin Timberlake in May too. As sexy as he is going to be….he’s got a lot to live up to now.

Buzz Feed Joss Whedon which heroine are you- I got Dr. Horrible's Penny.

So I’ve given up on completing the books first and started watching Game of Thrones. The books are good- just a bit thick to get through and I have not been a very progressive reader lately. (My new years resolution is not going so well). However, I am finding that because the show covers pretty much everything in the book, I’m actually anxious to find out what happens after the point I have to read in Book 2. There have been times where I have been watching and actually wished I didn’t know what was going to happen because I think it would be more intense. That’s not usually how I operate either. Usually I want to read books first because when I watch the movie I get more out of the movie. But a book in a TV format (and an awesome TV show at that) I’m feeling reading spoils the TV show a bit (that's a slightly awful notion... but it's what I'm feelin').

Mortal Instruments conversation continued: Simon was probably the best part… and actually beside Magnus Bane being lame and not loving the casting for Jace… the rest of the casting was pretty good… just not enough to save the movie. There was very little character development and all of a sudden they seemed to know each other really well. Again- too much going on in such a short amount of time. MAYBE it should have been a television show too! That’s my new thing- complex book series as TV shows.

And because no blog would be complete without some Buzzfeed:

This is interesting (I particularly like the last one): http://www.buzzfeed.com/keelyflaherty/once-upon-a-time-theories-that-might-actually-be-true

I got Mr. Feeny… It might have something to with the fact that I chose “I am the teacher” http://www.buzzfeed.com/austinhunt/which-boy-meets-world-character-are-you

Also…  yesterday a friend of mine and I were reminiscing about old sitcoms. Then we decided to make Growing Pains into a drinking game. Then we also discussed how to make watching Golden Girls into a drinking game (she owns all the seasons on DVD). So turning 80s/90s sitcoms into drinking games might become a thing I do… stay tuned for that.

Sarah is pleased the concert was rockin’. So pleased in fact that she is inspired to start her own rock band. Step one- find a sparkly headband to wear. 

Jamie's June Fave Five

We can’t stop now, we are on a roll!  Kacey got a post up on Saturday AND we went to see Les Miserables at the 5th Ave. Which was brilliant, for the fourth time.  I think it’s my favorite, and I don’t say that lightly.  I love musical theatre in general, and I have a number of favorites (Rent, Hairspray, Wicked, Spring Awakening, Avenue Q, etc). But I think that Les Mis may top even RENT.  And that is saying something for someone who will be seeing RENT for the seventh time in August.

But anyhow, another month has come and gone so it’s time for another internet fave five.  Here’s what I loved in June (and, okay, the first couple days of July).

1)        No White Noise: Buffy Re-Watch – I have not been participating in the Buffy re-watch that this blog is doing, for a couple reasons.  1) The “live” re-watch is Monday nights, which interferes with Eureka and 2) I just did a full Buffy re-watch a few months ago.  That said, the hilarious recaps from a first time watcher (see what I did there) are inspiring me to want to catch up, or at least join in.  Reading someone’s initial reactions to one of my all-time favorite shows, complete with hilarious screen shots/captions is priceless.  Even if you don’t join the re-watch (or first time watch), I recommend reading their recaps, which generally get posted on Tuesdays. ,

2)        Nerds Fixing Internet Errors – Back to the Future – Speaking of screen shots, if you were anywhere on the internet on June27th, you probably saw the screenshot of dates from Back to the Future?  It was posted around with people making comments that we were supposed to be in the future and where the hell were our hover boards.  Generally this is a valid question (along with jet packs, I mean, why don’t I have a jet pack yet??) However, the true nerds and BTTF fans spoke up to note that this was just a little photo shop and we really have another 3 and a half years until we should panic about the lack of hover boards.  The true date from Back to the Future 2 where they travel to the future to check out Marty & Jennifer’s less than awesome future is October 2015.  I just loved how quickly the internet nerd community policed itself, because we certainly wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves if we are not living up to the promises of the future from a 1980s time travel comedy.  An iconic film, yes… but a film nonetheless.

3)        Top Ten Sherlock Quotes – I read a lot on the website Hypable (which I mention on here a lot) because instead of being an entertainment site that is obsessed with the details of the TomKat divorce of who is getting the first pictures of the newest oddly named celebrity baby, it focuses on the kind of nerdy fan stuff that I really care about.  Whether it’s leaking spoilers or casting news for my favorite show or a highly anticipated film, or starting a lively debate over the best TV theme songs of all time, Hypable never fails to keep me coming back for more.  Multiple times a day usually.  This little piece on the top ten quotes from the brilliant BBC Sherlock series was one of my favorites.  Not only did the author pick out some of my favorite Sherlock quotes, but they also used the word plethora in the opening paragraph.  Bonus points for that.

4)      Paul & Storm - Write Like the Wind - Now, I am only halfway through book 3 of the amazing Song of Fire & Ice series, but I'm fairly confident that I will catch up before George gets another book done.  So I'd just like to say that I totally support this plea (which, for those who have not read/watched Game of Thrones, is totally spoiler free) from Paul & Storm that he get on it with writing more books.  They posted this fabulous song on the brilliant Geek & Sundry YouTube channel. 

5)        Lego Settlers of Catan – Well, let’s just make this post as nerdy as possible and round off my fave five with this link that a friend sent to me of this awesome lego version of the game board/pieces.  I didn’t learn to play this game until a few months ago, and now I’m not certain where it has been all my life.  Not only that, but I left the game with my parents and apparently my mother is a little obsessed.  We might have to make an intervention banner. 

Books Read: 31 (Only a few hundred pages left, but A Storm of Swords is so good… and intense… and emotionally devastating.  I might have been cursing George R.R. Martin in a manner I typically reserve for Joss Whedon after a particularly upsetting character death)

Coming Soon: Sarah analyzes what will need to happen for us to get to a future where we don’t need roads.