4 Things Before Bed...Cotton Candy TV, EW articles, Erotica best-sellers

What can I say? It was one of those days. And yes, work is still driving me slowly insane.
But hey, can always be worse.

1. Not everyone does the star-crossed lovers thing well. Actually very few people seem to.
Just finished watching this week's Secret Circle and it's very silly. The teen lovers whose destiny is allegedly written in the stars, hooked up finally, and a bunch of black birds congregated in a cloud above the heroine's house. Right before this, the heroine's father informed the hero's father...that "written in the stars" also equaled...cue music...da da dum...a curse. I rolled my eyes and giggled.

I think Vamp Diaries works better because it focuses more on friendships and sibiling relationships than on romantic angst. The romantic angst has taken a back seat to the brother bonding after the first season. Romantic angst isn't something you want to drag out too long on a tv show...it becomes, well, overly melodramatic and silly.

Somewhat disappointed in Secret Circle - I was hoping for a bit more regarding the parents backgrounds than...well, romantic love triangles, or in this case a quadrangle. ( spoilers for Secret Circle )

Vamp Diaries continues to have fun plot-twists that actually track. This is hard to do on American TV Serials. I'm impressed. Also it has an attractive cast and cool guest stars. I rather adore the newest one, the boxing female vamp named Sage - a past love from Damon's past. Unlike Secret Circle - Vamp Diaries has wisely chosen to meld the adult's story with the kids. Actually, I rarely see the kids or the high-school setting. We're more focused on the older group.

( spoilers )

2. Happily Ever After...( Read more... )

3. EW has huge article on Game of Thrones, with lots of pictures, and Game is on the cover. That series is hot. Deservedly so, in my opinion. While far from perfect, it is amongst the most entertaining tv serials I've seen to date. (Actually there is no perfect tv show on, I can find fault with all of them. People don't create perfect things. What I love about the Native American art - specifically the Navajo and Hopi...is they would deliberately place a flaw inside the middle of their art. Dreamcatchers and beaded jewelry always had one mistake inside it. It's how you can tell authenticity. The reason? To not do so - traps the evil spirit inside the work was one explanation, but the one I liked was that it doesn't reflect the beauty of nature. Nature is most beautiful in its own imperfections. From their pov, it is arrogant not to put in the imperfection.)

4) Anyhow...EW also has a review by Lisa Schwarzbaum - their film critic, who has fallen in love with the erotica "Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James", who according to the review began as a Twilight fanfic. (Schwarzbaum also loved the Twilight books or reviewed them favorably along with the films).

Here's a "memorable line" according to Schwarzbaum: "I'm panting loudly. All I can concentrate on is his voice and his touch. Nothing else is real. Nothing else matters, nothing else registers on my radar."
( Read more... )

Off to bed. Tired.

(no subject)

Well, I stopped procrastinating and finally joined the YMCA Dodge...which has the 25 foot pool with four adult lap swim lanes. This is a rare find in a city. Now just have to get googles, a lock for the lockers, and ear plugs. I actually like this gym, instead of the exercise machines facing mirrors they face windows looking out over the street. No mirrors except in the classrooms. Very diverse - appears to be 75% black - and also laid-back (ie. not that many upwardly mobile yuppie hipsters who looked like the walked off the set of the New Girl or How I Met Your Mother or a CW show... which have inundated my hood in ways you would not believe.). This may work. It is a 15 -20 minute walk. But that's doable. Also can always take the subway part way - although that would extend the time by about 30 minutes. Once I get my act together, my game plan is to swim at 8-9 three nights a week. I miss swimming, it's a very relaxing sport. And I prefer to do it in a pool over a lake or ocean...because no other living things and I can see what's in the water.

Goal? To reduce stress, body weight, get back in shape, regain balance.

Also bought groceries. I feel like I'm constantly buying and cooking food. It's aggravating. I love food and enjoy cooking, but it does get old after a bit.

Watched In Plain Sight and Merlin this morning. Both were quite good.
In Plain Sight may be the only USA procedural that has any critical merit to it or depth.
It's also ending this year. Tightly written character study of a damaged female WITSEC Marshal in Alburqueue, New Mexico. There's nothing else similar to it on tv. And it's been consistently excellent throughout, building the characters and evolving them. Plus, perhaps the only series outside of Veronica Mars that employs the voice over narrative in a thoughtful and productive manner. Grey's Anatomy...overuses voice over to the extent that I want to kick them sometimes.

Merlin is quite good this season. But doesn't seem to have that many episodes. According to previews...next week's episode is the last one for this season? Okay. I hope that's not true. Last season felt longer. I'm loving the Merlin/Arthur dynamic. And Gwen is evolving in leaps and bounds. She's become multi-faceted as well. One of the better examinations of the legend.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern is actually beginning to get rather good.
Fascinating actually. If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman, Terry Prachett, and Suzanna Clark's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, also like The Prestige...than this book is for you. It's written in an interesting manner and a bit of a puzzle. Surprised more people on the old flist haven't read it or commented on it. Was quite popular a year or so ago, even got optioned for a film...but nothing appears to have happened with it.