The Blacklist in Brooklyn

The Blacklist was shooting in my sister's neighborhood:

Which means:

No parking on the streets they reserve.  Trying to find parking in general is a major headache--good thing we were heading down to NJ.  For those who don't have to park in NYC--when a TV show or movie shoots on a street--it's a headache as they shut down a few streets which are normally packed with parked cars.  So it's kind of like, where are all those cars supposed to park?

Anyhoo, now I might watch The Blacklist--just to see the neighborhood on TV.  I love watching shows and movies set in New York and see familiar locations.  As long as I don't have to deal with the parking.

Landed in NY

Today I arrived at JFK at 7:45am to take Mom to some appointments and hopefully catch the arrival of my nephew's newest sibling.  After landing, my sister (who due any day now!) and I hit the SoHo Bloomingdale's for a fun event that her mom's group hosted.  All the beauty counters had a fun offer--my sister opted for the more pampering options like the hand massage and hair do-up, I went for the more instructive offers.  I got a matched sample of BB cream at the Bobbi Brown counter, my eyes were made up at the MAC counter, and I got the "perfect pout" at the Christian Dior counter, plus we both picked up samples at other counters.  Department store beauty counters aren't usually my scene but the super nice folks at Bloomie's made it real warm and fun--I loved it!  It was a super fun morning:

Then I caught up with my friend Dan for lunch:

Where we caught up after a brief discourse about the gray hair and weight adjustments from more than 15 years ago:

And enjoyed the BEST ramen at Ippudo:

Caught back up with my sister and her nuclear fam for dinner and to visit Augie's Uncle Justin and Auntie Amanda:

And catch Amanda's turn on 30 Rock as a cigar-smoking girlfriend of Jack Donaghy:

Great day packed with awesomeness!

Tonight: Watching Criminal Defense

As I mentioned on this post, tonight I'm watching the premiere of Criminal Defense on the Nat Geo channel.  Per a friend's request, I added a pic from the Franny archives for the her amusement.  Looking forward to watching it!

Goodbye to the Triple-X Olympics

Given that I ended up spending a good number of days with only basic channels (Mom!) and without bottomless internet, I was left with only the prime time coverage where I felt I was watching a lot of the same events and same teams going through semi-final and final stages.  Sometimes I wished I saw other non-USA competitors--I feel like previous Olympics I saw so many of the other gymnasts' performances and that was pretty cool.  Sometimes it was exciting--seeing May-Trainor and Walsh-Jennings win their 3rd gold in beach volleyball with some pretty good challenges was worth watching.  Sometimes it raised questions--some I was able to glean answers from the internet.  FYI, the player with the contrast jersey on indoor volleyball teams is the libero. 

Another question arose when an announcer mentioned during the qualifying heat of the 4x400 women's relay race that Sonya Richards-Ross may run in the final (i.e., she wasn't running on the qualifying team).  And yes, the following evening she was "added" (i.e. replaced a different runner) to the final race team that went on to win gold.  In hindsight, I recollect that similar comments were made about the swimmers in relay races (e.g., none of the swimmers who swam the heat to qualify the US a final spot in the 4x100 freestyle relay swam in the final--the team instead included Adrian, Phelps, Jones, and Lochte who won the silver).  My first question was that, barring injury of a qualifying runner, replacing runners was allowed?  It seems that similarly to individual races, one (or 4) have to earn their spots in the finals.  I understand that in the end, that it's almost a business decision to bring home the gold and put a faster athlete that rested (instead of raced in the qualifier) in the final race.  So my second question is, what does that mean for the members of the relay team that wins the qualifying heat but aren't on the final relay team?  Do they get a part of the Gold glory?  Or is all part of the Team USA spirit?

Anyhoo, overall I wished they had featured other sports like women's boxing (hello, it was first time it was part of the Olympics!) and the gold medal rematch of the finals from the 2011 Women's World Cup soccer/football game between Japan and USA.  But I guess folks who are say, Olympic Sailing fans were on the same boat limited to what was considered Prime Time worthy.  Bah!  What am I saying?  I'm sure anyone into Sailing can afford multiple cable channels!

When it was all over, I really loved the big music showcase at the closing ceremony.  Man, I wish I was one of those London volunteers just dancing around in a bright leotard costume to Pet Shop Boys, Queen, Annie Lennox, George Michael, etc.  It must have been just a big party in that stadium. 


On that note--it will be really interesting to see what Rio De Janiero brings to the ceremonies in 2016!

What in Marketing Heck, Lifetime?

I was reading an article online when I noticed this banner ad:

Out of the corner of my eye, I would have guessed the ad was for Maxim magazine, except the words "SO EFFING HOT!!!" were missing.  Instead, I was surprised that it was an ad for Project Runway, one of the few reality shows I've enjoyed watching.  For those who don't know the show, it's basically about up-and-coming clothing designers competing for start-up funds for their own line, with challenging creative competitions for eliminations.  Even though I wouldn't say I'm a fashionista by any large stretch, I do appreciate the designers' sheer creativity and professional attention to detail and I love the well-crafted, interesting, and flattering clothes. 

Sure the gorgeous, hot model in bra, thong, and heels in this Maxim-style ad is gorgeous, hot model Heidi Klum, who is the host of the show.  But you know who the target demographic of Maxim is?  Young, straight males.  You know who actually watches Project Runway?  Pretty much everyone except young, straight males (with the exception of the hip and smart dudes who watch the show after being introduced to it by their wives/girlfriends).  I don't know if Lifetime is trying to bring a new demographic to this show, but this outfit is not de riguer for Ms. Klum, nor is the come hither attitude.  If the guys who decide to change over to Lifetime to watch, say, Jennifer Love Hewitt in her underwear for The Client List also choose to DVR Project Runway from this ad, they may be pretty disappointed.

C'mon, Lifetime, really?

Ann Curry's last day at Today

Today was Ann Curry's last day at the Today show, after only a year as co-host.  What, no lipdub video for her?  Instead, as she gave a tearful farewell speech, she got this awesome Matt Lauer face:

Don't Stop Believin' Ann Curry, there's still brighter days out there.

FIFA Women's World Cup 2011

Anyone watching the Women's World Cup? I caught the USA opener vs. North Korea today. Last year, I got on board with the Men's World Cup, so I'm trying to ramp up for the Women's games.

Again, even though I hope the USA team tops out, whenever I watch any North Korean team (or I guess any team from an "exalted-supreme-leader" country) play, I kind of pity-root for them. Like, are there dire repercussions if they lose, like Uday Hussein's reputed torture of the Iraqi football team when they lost?  The goalie for the DPRK made quite a few saves and I feel like after each one, she had this sigh of relief, my family eats another day...

Well, USA topped out the DPRK 2-0 (though they had actually scored a 3rd goal--which was taken back as the forward kicked the ball as the goalie was diving for it and was technically touching the ball, which counts as possession by the goalie). But the DPRK have a chance to make it out of this group if they can beat Colombia and Sweden. #Pity-Root!

As I was listening to the commentators at half-time, there was a moment that recalled one of those awkward transitions on a news programs when they go from a story about some horrible crime to a human interest piece on someone growing the biggest pumpkin:

Ian Darke: North Korea, in their all red outfit about to start the 2nd half here at a boiling hot Dresden--part of the old East Germany. We're in the Dynamo Dresden Football Club stadium. A club that was once an arm of the East German secret police...the Stasi.

Julie Foudy: What a beautiful city this is...

Ian Darke: ...

Julie Foudy: ...

Ian Darke: It's been...it's been lovingly rebuilt, hasn't it?

Julie Foudy: Yeah...

Ian Darke: That's of no concern to the USA, who have a job to do here!

Post-Oscars

Hooray for me--I managed to squeeze in "The King's Speech" right before the Oscars. And then right after, I watched the actual awards show. Though the opening montage of Hathaway and Franco was pretty funny, the rest was so predictable and boring. It probably doesn't help that I'm on East Coast time now and this thing goes on until 11:30pm. Dudes, you really have to entertain me, please! You want me to stay awake, right?!

First, the young co-hosts really showed their age. With lack of hosting carriage and composure, I felt I was watching the best man and maid of honor stumble and giggle their way through their toasts a box of wine in. I was waiting for one of them to start pointing at respected actors and start crying into the mike, I love you, man...I really, really love you, man.

Second--what a teaser to suggest that Hugh Jackman was going to sing and dance! The payoff was watching Hathaway sing a send-up of "On My Own" on her own? Pffft. Let down.

Third--how many outfits and hair dos did Hathaway go through? Distracting. Almost as much as wondering if Franco was stoned or indifferent? Leaning his head back so that his heavy-lidded glassy eyeballs would be able to read the teleprompter annoyed me. This is Hollywood for cripes sake, I know they have access to Four Loko backstage, son.

And finally, no surprises in the winners. I stayed through the end because I was really, really hoping that Annette Bening would pull out a surprising win. Oh well. At least Natalie Portman's speech didn't include how much her fiance "totally wants to sleep with me!"

On the plus side, I really enjoyed Kirk Douglas' bit during the Supporting Actress award--really encouraging that a stroke has not kept him down. I found David Seidler's speech about being the oldest winner of the Original Screenplay Oscar witty and inspiring. And man, Sandra Bullock--that woman has got it together. She showed everyone how it's done--gorgeous and with great comic timing, class, and sincerity--totally engaging. Also--after seeing more clips from the nominations, I'd really like to see "Winter's Bone" now (though, it looks pretty intense--kind of still scared).

Oh well, on to next year...

Doubles

Anybody remember Kids in the Hall? It was a Canadian ensemble sketch comedy show from the 80s and I remember discovering much later in syndication on cable (Comedy Central?). The flow and humor (not really for the kiddies) is kind of like Nick Swardson's Pretend Time show today. The show would often go from sketch to backstage and sometimes later scenes would connect from an earlier scene.

Definitely one of my favorite comedy series of all time and one of my favorite sketches was when Bruce McCulloch's "double" appears. Backstage, Bruce McCulloch runs into a much heavier and older man who claims to be his double. Obviously Bruce doesn't see it and is somewhat miffed that the guy thinks he looks just like him:



Then in a later scene, to his annoyance, the "double" appears and another actor can't tell them apart, looking at each of them in turn, shocked, "Bruce?! Bruce?!" (and then the scene flows into another sketch):



For some reason, this set of sketches has been one of my favorite. Perhaps because of some uncanny possible future relevance?

YES.

The girl had friends over the weekend and I had served them pancakes and eggs. I was putting stuff into the dishwasher and then I went to put stuff into the dryer which is in a closet in the hall on the other side of the kitchen. All of the sudden I hear one of the girl's friends come into the kitchen to bring his plate to the sink and he starts saying, "Thank you very much, the food was deli----omigosh! I thought you were your mom!"

Apparently the girl (not me) was at the kitchen sink rinsing out her plate. I froze, listening to the stunned silence. I can only imagine the face the girl made because all of the sudden the friend is stammering, "Sorry! It's just that I thought you were your mom when I brought...uh...well, you kind of look like..."

The girl responds, in my opinion, much more vigorously appalled than Bruce McCulloch. She shrieks, "Aaarrrrrgggghhh! Why are you saying that?! My mom is, like, old...and she's like...full-Asian!"

Fortunately, after some more apologizing and ranting (yeesh, should I be insulted?) this became water under the bridge and the friendship was preserved.

But out of curiosity, assuming general peripheral vision because you're focused on just bringing a plate to the sink, is it fair (and so insulting) to say that it is possible to confuse this:

With this?

Erg. Point taken, sweetie. Hmm. Well, on that note, I've suddenly found motivation to exercise again (or just buy looser shirts). And get a haircut.

Anybody else psyched for Sunday?

FINALLY! A new episode of Glee! After the Super Bowl! I should make sure I take a nap. That's definitely the disadvantage of East Coast live viewing over West Coast. Kind of jealous all my friends in SoCal can shut it down before 9 on Sunday.

Regarding the game, I'm kind of torn about you will win on Sunday. I feel like the Packers have such fresh blood who are so hungry and talented versus the Steelers who are seasoned pros where some already have a ring. Hey, is Pouncey going to play? Reflexively, I'd give the Packers the edge. Either way, it should be a good game.

Anybody else looking forward to a super Sunday?

Some points of interest

I'll try to make this post a bit more interesting--apparently to my blog mentor, Linda, my brief moments of glory are best kept to my glued-to-the-screen-bathrobed-nuked-cup-of-coffee-clutching-self.

Well, I start off with this: Linda had gotten me hooked on Dexter. I know I'm way late in the game as I still haven't finished season 1 and it's like, on season 6 or 11. But the interesting casting point about this series is the leads, the titular character and his sister, are husband and wife (Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter) in real life. Until now! Apparently after meeting on the set, getting married, and his battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, they are divorcing after a couple of years. So given that this series has the stones to kill off really key characters, are we taking bets who may meet their demise next on this show? I'm kind of leaning toward it not being the guy playing "Dexter".

On a slight tangent, I have put on my Amazon wish list, two other television series that Linda (and a lot of other folks) recommended: Firefly and Pushing Daisies. I mention this only as a suggestion to those who may need a good holiday gift. What makes these two series good gifts? Well both series were critically acclaimed, but the fact that both are dunzo, with one only lasting one season and the other last two seasons, makes it a package deal. No putting the onus of getting the "other seasons" on the recipient AND he or she can watch the whole shebang in a very lazy weekend versus trying to take on say, 24 or Lost.

And on a completely unrelated note, last month, right before I visited my sister in New York, The New York Post reported on Malik Turner's efforts to meet women, which was by posting flyers near pay phones. Yes, New York still has pay phones. He works for UPS and currently lives with his mother but I was like "Awww, it's so hard to meet people." Then I perused the vast qualifications required to date him, aka "Types of women Malik is looking for-":

Age Range - 21-45 Hair Color & Length - Blonde, Red (Hair MUST BE LONG)
Shoot, I guess I'm out of the running.

Body Type - Big-Chested, Curvy, Leggy, Voluptuous (NOT FAT), Gorgeous Face, Long Fingernails
Okay, is this a wish list? Unless Sofia Vergara is digging his scene, he'll need to play out the plot in Weird Science.

Habits-Doesn't Smoke, Drinks on occassions, Very Promisuous (into 3-somes-2 girls, 1 guy, 4-somes-3 girls, 1 guy), Independent, employeed, willing to take turns paying on date (NO GOLDDIGGERS!!!!!)...
Where do I begin? To start, I don't think he has to worry about Golddiggers--I think they usually cross off guys who still live with their mothers. I also love how he defines Promisuous [sic] and sets the parameters of 3-somes and 4-somes because some girl is nodding her head as she goes down his list but then says, "hold up-- I'm into 3-somes and 4-somes but only if they're...oh, okay, I'm good."

Clothing style - Mini-skirts, Daisy Duke shorts, Spiked-Heels (5-6 inches high)
Well, what else am I going to wear on my way to a 3-some or 4-some?

And finally, it goes without saying:
NO HOOKERS, SHE-MALES, TRANSSEXUALS, TRANSVESTITES NOR DOMINATRIX ALLOWED!

But truly the kicker was when he was "asked how rigid he was about his ad's criteria, he said, I'm not interested in anything else." And he wonders why he's having trouble meeting women?

And finally, because I'd like to end on an up note: Did you know that you can download free Holiday Mp3s from Amazon? There's a good mix--something for everyone.

Hope everyone's Monday ends on an up note!

Holy cow: week of 10/16

Some things I'm trying to get my mind around this week:

- Wisconsin beat Ohio State which moved Michigan State into the top 10 (#7 or #8) depending on which poll you prefer--robots or people. Hasn't it been over a dozen years since the Spartans have been in the top 10? And currently, they're #1 in the Big 10 standings? Hasn't OSU had that spot for like, a decade? Wow, thank you Wisconsin. What has occurred to me: I've been dutifully wearing my MSU shirt every Friday before their games--has that had an impact? If I don't wear it this Friday, will the Chaos theory go into effect and all heck will break loose? I guess I shouldn't risk it.

- On Paul's Husker Homies side--what happened in Nebraska? I had pretty much written off Texas given their last two losses, but man I did not expect to see that nightmare of a struggle Nebraska had in their 20-13 loss to the Longhorns: all those dropped passes and their only TD came via a thrilling 95 yard punt return. There is still hope--if Missouri beats Oklahoma and the Huskers beat Missouri the following week, balance will be restored in the Big 12.

- On a completely different subject: yes, I've seen the pix of the GQ - Glee shoot shot by Terry Richardson. It reminded me of an exhibit of his work I saw in California when I lived there. If you've seen his portfolio (a lot of which is sexually graphic and/or has a 70s basement-sexual predator-kind of vibe--think those American Apparel ads from 5 years ago), this is par for the course. At first I thought, why so much Try on Ms. Michele's part? I was like, okay, you're not uptight high schooler Rachel Berry, you're a sexy adult female who probably puts out. I get it.. But then I realized that perhaps much of the responsibility for these pix is of Mr. Richardson, who has garnered allegations for exploiting and sexually-abusing young female models. Bottom line, he seems able to get the pictures he wants from who he shoots. Anyhoo, he definitely shoots provacative and interesting photographs, but you'll definitely want to leave the kids behind if you decide to check out an exhibition of his work. And I'll skip sharing this Glee shoot with the other big Glee fan in the house--my tween daughter.

- And on a final tangent: Taylor Swift recently hinted that her new song "Dear John" was about her relationship and breakup with John Mayer. John Mayer?! How did that happen? Is it only me who feels there is somewhat of an ick factor here? He's in his 30s and already publicly shared d-bag comments about women he previously dated. She was 19 when they dated last year, but in my mind she's perpetually 16 as she's become the epitome of girlish adolescent innocence and naivete. Didn't she have a hit song last year called "Fifteen?" Ugh. See what I mean? It would only ick me out more if she flat out stated that this song was actually about Jon Gosselin.

Yeesh, anymore surprises that I should know about?

You know you wish you could peek and see

under that darn bandanna.

I haven't seen that many episodes of Bret Michaels' Rock of Love reality show where a bevy of vixens competed for his affection, but when I did catch any clips, I was totally fixated that the bandanna was always there. Sometimes there would be a cowboy hat as well, but the distracting constant was a head wrap of some sort. Which wouldn't be distracting in itself but there were scenes where it was odd that the hat or bandanna stayed on--dancing, cuddling on a bed, or even during a vigorous makeout session. Sober or drunk, what are the odds that none of the 20 women would want to grab his hair? Conspiracy, I say.

Is that a wig he wears? If he's bald, he should rock it. He's got a pretty good face that could pull it off. If he's got a receding hair line where he's grown out the rest of his hair, he should shave the rest of the hair off and go bald. See above.

C'mon, I know I'm not the only one who wants to see, right?

Making me smile: Engrish and Missy Elliott

Translating language and culture in another country isn't always straightforward and often results in very laughable executions, especially in Asian countries. One of the more common terms/venues for this is called "engrish". "Hey Dude, let's Rock!" can become "Attention friend, let us create the time of rough influence!" Or apparently that movie "Indecent Proposal" where Robert Redford offers Woody Harrelson a million dollars to sleep with his wife, played by Demi Moore, was translated to "Peach Colored Transaction" in Japan.

But my favorite "translation" right now, given the inexplicable popularity of Jersey Shore (not that I'm pointing fingers), is the translation for that show to "Macaroni Rascals" in Japan. So awesome.

On a totally unrelated note, also making me smile was this clip:



I've nodded my headed to pretty much each of these songs and love that Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake included Missy Elliott in their homage to rap and hip-hop.

Her video for "Ching-a-Ling" always puts a smile on my face with its catchy song and dancing:



Happy Friday!

Change of venue

"Guys, I need to eat something."

You know who I was informing of my hunger? The cats.

The day before a friend suggested getting out of the house might be in order. Talking to unsympathetic cats who won't even bother acknowledging me confirmed it. Thanks to a generous Starbucks gift, I headed there and treated myself to a Vivanno smoothie (instead of coffee because I'm pretty darn good at making iced lattes at home now)--chock full of protein and fruit.

A good day topped with the season premiere of "Glee". I am loving the new character, Coach Beiste--credit to the writing and actress Dot Jones--so easy to have become a caricature, she was revealed as much more dimensional, poignant character. And excited to see more of Cheyenne Jackson as the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline--loved him on 30 Rock. Of course as always, loved Sue Sylvester and the music--Empire State of Mind, Telephone, What I Did for Love--can't wait till next week.