Lessons in the apocalypse from Sam & Dean... JE

I really thought that I had the whole apocalypse thing down.  I mean, how many did Buffy face?  But they never really got into the whole four horsemen/witnesses/Revelations thing.  How did they miss that?  Maybe it was a reluctance to get all biblical?  I think I have to assume it was a focus on their own lore that obviously utilized things from other places (like the concept of an apocalypse), but had a different origin story.  The first evil and the creation of the slayer were at the core of their storylines, and they stayed pretty focused on that, especially as the seasons progressed.  So I am glad to have a new show in Supernatural that is giving us a Revelations 101 lesson.  And I really appreciate this because Sleepy Hollow is similarly dealing with a pending apocalypse and there are four horsemen (including a headless one, who is Death, see how it all relates) or at least four pending horsemen, and I'm so glad that I have this background knowledge from Supernatural so I have a little better grasp on what is going down because I've never read Revelations.  I'm strongly considering it though, it clearly has some awesome shit.  That said, I have stopped for a bit (not too long though), 3 episodes into season 6.  Season 5 is absolutely my favorite season so far.  So many things, and I really love Cas and Crowley, because they are awesome.  But as soon as you get close I'm going to watch again, because I am on a mission to catch up for Comicon.

Sherlock - Not only did I watch the premiere last weekend (love all the conspiracy theories about how he did it worked into the episode, and also, I love Molly and Mary), but I watched it the night it aired even though it didn't start until 10 pm.  And I'm probably going to do the same thing tonight.  Which is foolish because, you know, I have to work tomorrow and that is way past my bedtime, but it's Sherlock.  And it's totally worth it.  

Cannot wait for HIMYM this week, it's the 200th episode and apparently it's going to be from the Mom's perspective.  How she met Ted.  Super intense episode this past week.  Who do you think Lily called?  Her new friend the Mom? Ranjit? Her dad?
They renewed Parks & Rec for season 7.  I am really curious how they will go about keeping the show as "Parks & Rec" while still having Leslie move on to the bigger and better than she deserves.  This week Ann & Chris leave, so that will be a little emotional.  

Oscar Moviepalooze has officially begun.  I went to American Hustle on Friday.  I think it's a good movie, with amazing performances and a really interesting story.  It was, however, a little slow in the middle.  Jennifer Lawrence steals every scene she is in like the phenom that she is, and Amy Adams is near perfection.  Christian Bale gives the type of performance that I expect from him.  Jeremy Renner gives a great performance as a populist politician who is willing to do whatever to help his community.  Bradley Cooper's over-eager FBI agent is so intense that I actually felt anxious watching him continue to overstretch.  My only criticism there would be he is a little similar to his Silver Linings Playbook character, but stick with what you're good at.  While he obviously started with amazing talent, I think the director, David O. Russell, deserves some serious credit for pulling some of their best performances to date.  Fantastic supporting appearances from Robert DeNiro and Louis CK.  I really want to see Dallas Buyers Club, but I saw something about it being on DVD (and potentially iTunes/OnDemand) in a couple weeks, so I may wait and instead see Her or The Wolf of Wall Street next.  

I have been saving up links (mostly buzzfeed, of course) for you since my last post, although one of them was the Full House thing for the Superbowl, so we'll skip that.

1) You don't really need evidence, but you will appreciate this Marshall appreciation: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mwiggins/18-reason-why-you-want-marshall-eriksen-to-be-your-iau3

2) Since we have been all about the buzzfeed quizzes of late, here is another: http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/quiz-which-disney-prince-is-your-true-love    I got Aladdin, which is pretty awesome I think.

3) Since we are getting VERY close to your birthday, I thought this was appropriate: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/29-awesome-things-about-being-29

4) We are also getting relatively close to the Veronica Mars movie, and there was a pretty awesome trailer, which is broken down here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/krayford/the-25-best-parts-of-the-veronica-mars-movie-trail-ep5q  I was discussing some things about this with Sarah, and I've been giving some thought to the Logan vs Piz discussion.  I love Piz.  He's clearly the right choice, and in real life, we'd tell our friend to ditch Logan and stay with Piz.  But this isn't reality, this is the movies.  I don't go to the movies to see my characters make healthy life choices.  I want drama and tension and attempted reforming of bad boys (well, not too much reforming).  So I just want to be clear going into this movie, that I am 100% Team Logan.  And I'm totally hear for Piz if he needs to cry on someone's shoulder.

5) I just want you to know, for 60,000 and an Oscar nomination I would also do a 6 month movie shoot with Marty.  http://www.hypable.com/2014/01/22/jonah-hill-wolf-of-wall-street-pay-cut-oscar  Also, love Jonah Hill.

6) Finally, this list is amazing, and I follow this woman on tumblr, largely because (as this list demonstrates) we understand each other http://www.buzzfeed.com/bookoisseur/31-fantastic-fictional-characters-i-would-spend-a-fbwc  I particularly like her emphasis on the importance of forts.

Okay, that's about it for now.  Back to my Revolution catch-up marathon.  Somehow I was 4 episodes behind instead of the 2 I was on just about everything else.  I put the ABC and CW apps on my phone, so I have been watching shows on those channels on my commute.  Today I'm trying to get on top of the NBC, Fox, & CBS shows.  Did I mention I watch too much TV?

Sarah was protected in San Francisco by the Legion of Boom.  She escaped without injury, no new knife cuts.  Her journey back was uneventful, but immediately up her return she found herself in the midst of a polar vortex musical.  She has seen Frozen several times so she feels up to the task.

Getting Caught Up....KE

AH! 12 days since the last post… sorry this is delayed…things have been busy…and I’m way behind on everything (including finishing my report cards- but let's prioritize). Plus you’ve been emailing/messaging me all this things, but I feel I haven’t been able to properly respond… so I’m spending the weekend playing TV catch up, blog catch up and general life catch up.

First- The Seahawks… We’re going to the f-ing Super Bowl!  I love these guys… however the challenge is finding a place I can watch the Super Bowl here in desert  (at 3:30am)- AND mom and dad will be here. And remember how we were talking about Pete Carroll…and then we concluded that he was the “Danny Tanner” of the NFL with his loving lecture ways. Well now apparently this is happening during the Super Bowl…. http://msnvideo.msn.com/?channelindex=2&from=en-us_msnhp#/video/2ac0b243-6c0e-4c01-82df-b3655980d678. 

Can’t wait to see the actual commercial!

Second- You’re like WAY ahead on Supernatural… so you just need to slow like WAY down or we won’t be able to discuss! I’m spending the weekend doing some catch up… but I also have regular TV scheduling to catch up on. (I’m a bit hung over today (Friday) so I’m finding TV the perfect activity.)

Third- Your Golden Globes review was awesome… it was inspiring to point of going to Hulu and watching the highlights per you’re reactions.

Fourth- Um, has Sherlock aired yet? Because if it has I’m not sure why you haven’t watched yet… or if you have watched you have yet to inform me! Please make this a priority.

Fifth- HIMYM…. The end is getting SO close. But they are leaving no stone unturned. This week finding out about Barney’s job, but then Lily and Marshall’s fight. SO many things.  Despite a  few disappointing episodes and especially the disappointing (and slightly offensive) slap episode this last season is doing well of bringing everything back around.

Sixth- I’m Parks and Rec caught up. I spent an evening working on the puzzle currently spread out on my dinning table and watching this season. So I’ve got that going for me- plus I like the way they went about the recall. Leslie had to lose so she could go onto to bigger things without the show having to wait around for her city council position to play out.

Okay… I think that gets me somewhat caught up… onto recovering from a “I’m too old for this stuff” sort of night and cleaning a bit because mom and dad come in 6 days! (You know how that is)

Sarah Update: Sarah’s portkey took her right to the middle of San Francisco during the Seahawk-49er game…it’s was just about as dangerous as it could get… not yet sure how she survived. 

The Blacklist and New Year Resolutions....KE

I am not skipping you’re turn without permission. You said it was okay because I had things to tell you about.

So when I originally started this blog I was going to tell you I started watching the Blacklist. I have since told you that and caught up to the current episode. It’s very Alias minus the JJ Abrams flair plus... James Spader (he needs to call me). It's fabulous...I just never know who to trust. And I have new thoughts and theories all the time…here are a few I thought I would share. (SPOILERS!)

-First- I feel I have to say that there is still a possibility that Red is Lizzie’s father…even though he told her he wasn’t. I don’t think he would tell her if he was. However, that being said, I don’t really think that he is (obviously I spend some time debating this with myself).  

-Second- I think that Red had a daughter and something awful happened to her (as they keep pointing out). Then he went away and he could have done some sort of Dread Pirate Roberts thing with Lizzie’s real father (we know he was a criminal)… and Lizzie’s real father is dead but Red feels he needs to take care of Lizzie because her dad was his mentor.

-Third- Lizzie’s mom plays a part in this somehow. If I learned one thing from Alias is never count out the mother. We don’t really know the whole story with the fire- only flashes of Lizzie’s memories. Red could be connected to the mom somehow.

-Fourth I totally don’t trust her husband (no matter how cute). He's a Russian- probably.

Stay tuned for more thoughts on this.

On my way back from back to Abu Dhabi I watched only a few movies: Austenland and About Time. I enjoyed both. (I also started the Blacklist on the flight) I know you’re already seen Austenland and also enjoyed it. About Time is like a less intense version of Time Travelers Wife (which I’ve only read the book) and it’s more about the time traveler than his wife.

I came up with some New Year Resolutions for this year:

-To practice my Ukulele and get tour ready.

-Don’t start any new TV shows until my list is caught up on.

-Watch more movies from my “list” of academy award winning films (I started last year but didn’t get very far).

Read 25 books (I set this goal every year- in 2013 I got to 21 and half- thank you Game of Thrones)

Actually rank all HIMYM episodes once the show ends in March.

Also- I didn’t know this existed…my mind exploded.

http://www.trendolizer.com/2013/10/alan-rickman-off-with-benedict-cumberbatch-and-jimmy-fallon.html

Which leads to my next debate- do I wait to watch Sherlock at the same time you get in the States to watch it… or do I go on the internets and just dive in… by the time you read I may have already made a choice. But I promise no spoilers.

Sarah turns to page 43 and transfigures into a Shark. However, between her and the sword is Ursula, the sea witch. She'll have to roll the dice to get past Ursula!

Kacey and the Art of Surprise....

This is a long over-due blog… I feel like so much has happen.

Jamie mentioned in her last blog that I was headed to Bali for my two week spring break. PSYCH! I snuck home like a ninja and surprised the crap out of my family. It was awesome! But now I’m back in Abu Dhabi until summer.

The second thing that has been happening just in the past week… I started watching Battlestar Galactica and last night I finished season one. Now thankfully I have Netflix and won’t have to wait for a whole summer to find out what happens…but the surprise ending of the first season, combined with my recent awesome surprise home got me thinking about all the other shocking moments… well in television.

And TA-DA I came up with a blog!

WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS (Granted slightly outdated spoilers…BUT STILL MAJOR SPOILERS)!

Now obviously this is totally my personal list regarding moments that I remember watching television and say “holy &#?%!” … and honestly this day in age with spoilers all over the internet it’s hard to do that (as I have recently discovered with Downtown Abbey because I have NOT watched season 3)…but here some moments from some of my favorite shows.

Friends… Ross’s wedding to Emily. Two things: Monica and Chandler in bed together and then Ross saying Rachel’s name at his wedding. Oops!

Alias… SOOO many WTF moments in this show, but perhaps the one that made me physically react the most because I was on the edge of my seat  was Vaughn starting to tell Sydney who he really was but then BAM! They are hit by a truck…end of season.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer… There are two here. Buffy dying was pretty shocking….but the show was returning so I knew it wasn’t permanent. Probably even more shocking was her mom dying. With all the violence and death on this show… her mom dying from natural causes ended up being the most tragic of all.

Doctor Who… surprises at every turn here and I could say either the separating of Doctor and Companion  or a regeneration is always a bit intense, but since I’ve started watching Doctor Who I always knew those were coming. However so much happened along the way that I didn’t see coming… Few moments I remember going “WHAT!”: River Song meeting the Doctor but he didn’t know who she was (and we didn’t know who River was)… Amy being fake Amy…Amy and Rory being River’s parents… Every time Rory died… and River being the Doctor’s wife. Yes most of those have to do with River. Overall Moffat just keeps me guessing.

Lost….lord we don’t have time for that.

Battlestar Galactica… Okay I’m only one season in, but the end of that first season when Boomer shoots the Old Man was a total heart stopper.

Torchwood… when everybody dies. First Toshiko and Owen die… at the end of season 2… than Ianto dies in mini-series “Children of Earth” which is possibly one of the most intense and most shocking mini-series ever. Jack sacrifices his own grandson to save the world... just... too much.

Grey's Anatomy… so the finale where Meredith realizes their unknown crash victim was George was honestly when I stopped watching. That was such an edge of the seat season ending and I had to spend the whole summer wondering if he died (or Izzy). The next season just couldn’t live up to it. (However, Sarah has informed me about later happenings as she is a dedicated fan and I hear the finale with the gunman tops all other season finales.)

Fringe… again another JJ Abrams creation full of crazy-ass shit. But it all really kicked off when I realized that Olivia had managed to cross over to another universe at the end of season 1 and Leonard Nimoy was waiting for her in the alternative universe. Crazy.

Sherlock the miniseries…I didn’t know much about Sherlock Holmes before this miniseries and the Robert Downey Jr. movie versions, but I knew enough to know that Sherlock falls and “dies” in the “Reichenbach Fall” (but doesn’t really die). However, the whole finale of the second season and all the twists and turns about Moriarty setting Sherlock up just blew me away…and I still found the end utterly shocking.

I wasn’t alive for it actually happening… but honorable mention goes to M*A*S*H and the announcement of the death of Col. Blake because story goes that not even the cast new it was coming. It still gives me shivers and brings me to tears just thinking about it.

Okay that’s enough for now… there might be more later because the surprises just continue, especially as I continue to watch new shows. But I don’t want to give too much away!

Coming Soon: Sarah composes an impassioned essay about the importance of pencil safety.

Jamie's Emmy Nod Highlights

While most of the west coast slept, the nominations for this year’s Emmys (which take place September 23^rd) were announced this morning.  I have some initial reactions for you.  Of course.

Modern Family domination – Proving that they are truly a brilliant ensemble; all 6 of the principal adult actors on Modern Family are nominated in the supporting actor in a comedy series categories.  You can talk all you want about Mad Men & American Horror Story racking up 17 nominations each, but that is the real story to me.  No lead actors and everyone gets recognized.  Well, except the scene stealing younger cast members.  I would argue they deserve to be there as much as the adults, but regardless I love seeing this intelligent and hilarious show get recognition through its talented cast. (Even though I don’t watch it regularly, shhh… don’t tell or they’ll take away my TV card)

Supporting Actor – I am elated to see Max Greenfield here for the New Girl.  I love this show and Schmidt has definitely developed into one of the funniest characters on TV.   I am disappointed that yet again, Nick Offerman (Parks & Rec’s Ron Swanson) was overlooked.  I have noted my love for the adorable Adam Scott (Ben Wyatt on Parks & Rec), and I would knock on doors for Leslie Knope, but that show is made by Offerman’s brilliantly hilarious, steak eating, secret saxophone playing, government hating, government bureaucrat.  He’s amazing.  Also notably left off was Neil Patrick Harris. I feel like he could have fit in there somewhere amongst all those Modern Family guys, because I just want NPH to win all the awards. 

Mini-series/Movie vs. Series – This year I am finding the mini-series vs. series thing to be a little strange. Sherlock, American Horror Story, & Luther are all in the mini-series/movie category, even though they all have had or are going to have multiple seasons/series.  I guess I don’t really understand how that works.  It’s not like they are just picking on the British shows because of their strange schedules (and because they call their seasons “series), since Downton Abbey is sitting in the drama series category, and as noted, American Horror Story is not.  That said, I am convinced the 17 nominations pretty much means that this award will go to American Horror Story instead of my favorite, Sherlock, but that’s okay because…

Benedict Cumberbatch – The man with the greatest name in the history of names is totally going to walk away with the award in his category.  Kacey & Meryl assure me that Luther is fabulous, and I am a big fan of Stringer Bell, I mean, Idris Elba (I mean, how could you not be?) but I’m putting my money on Cumberbatch all the way.  I bet I could actually put my money on him in Vegas.  But I probably won’t, the odds would probably not result in a very big payoff.

Drama, Drama, Drama – Have you seen the drama category?  The subtitle should be: 6 examples of how TV is kicking film’s ass in the game of quality.  I don’t even watch most of these, but their reputation precedes them.  I think this is easily the most anticipated category of the night; any one of these shows could walk off with the award. 

Big Bang Theory – I would be remiss to not mention my favorite show, as the Big Bang Theory was nominated for best comedy and the incomparable Jim Parsons (well, maybe I would compare him to one Mr. Cumberbatch, but no one else) is up again for his role as the, well, also incomparable Sheldon Cooper.  However, mostly, I am super excited to see Mayim Bialk (Amy Farrah Fowler on the Big Bang Theory) up for best supporting actress.   I really think the addition of Amy & Bernadette as regular characters has pumped new life into the show, which continues to be funny week in and week out.  It’s a great blend of allowing the characters to evolve and change, but not losing what made it so brilliant in the first place.  Also, if she wins, I hope she gets a shiny new tiara (to be honest though, I kind of hope it goes to the late Kathryn Joosten, how can you not want Mrs. Landingham to win?).

The rest – Apparently, I need to see Game Change.  And American Horror Story.  I wasn’t sure about it, and I am sure that I will need to watch it when it’s light outside, but let’s consider it officially “on the list.”  Supporting actor in a drama is a tough category.  I’m partial to the gentlemen from Downton Abbey or Tyrion (partially because Peter Dinklage is amazing and partially because he is my favorite character in the books), but I know that the Breaking Bad guys are highly regarded.  Plus I think that John Noble should be on there for Fringe, but the Emmys are a little slow with the sci-fi love.  And when I say “slow” I mean, they pretty much ignore it.  I don’t understand how you could ignore Walter. 

Looking forward to watching who wins in September, but of course I’ll be changing the channel when they get to the “reality” awards.

Books read: 32 (finally finished a Storm of Swords, but I’m still ahead of pace and working on the Dovekeepers for book club)

Coming soon:  Sarah reviews The Dark Knight Rises with a particular focus on the character of Bain. Oh, I’m sorry, it’s not a liberal conspiracy against Mitt Romney and the character is Bane?  Well, I’m sure that her piece will still be riveting. We hope that you can respect her opinion so that we don’t have to turn off the comments like Rotten Tomatoes.  We’re confident our readers are more mature.

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.