b l o g o r e l l i

"RON SWAAAAAAANSON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Not even I would get one of these cats, but it doesn't hur their case that they look like Ron Swanson.

(ps: if you aren't watching Parks & Recreation, well, I have nothing else to say to you.)

Project 365: Day 266

Has anyone seen Jamie Oliver's new line of products for William Sonoma? This isn't the first time that packaging has lured me to buy something, but I'm even more inclined since watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on the tellie a few months back.

Love love love!

Breeding Buttowskis

Apparently, the town of Stoneham either produces citizens of the very bad or very good variety. In the latter category, Sandro Corsaro and his animated show on the Disney Channel, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, which just happens to be based on his childhood haunts. Cho forwarded me this great article from the Globe about Corsaro and the process of creating the show...

"The cul-de-sac in “Mellowbrook’’ where Kick Buttowski lives is modeled on Stoneham’s Nixon Lane, where Corsaro’s parents still live. The Stoneham library, the town square, the local elementary school, and such Stoneham streets as Broadway, Main Street, Bear Hill Road, and Kenneth Terrace are all seen in cartoon version on the show, as are Corsaro’s mother, some of Corsaro’s childhood friends, and Corsaro himself."

I think I might just know a real-life Buttowski in the making...

(left, Kick Buttowski, right, Linc Buttowski with his unwitting sidekick, Shocked Sibling -- or as Linc likes to call him, Nen.)

B1 = Sawyer = Bingo!

I was hoping to have a fun "Lost"-related link every Tuesday as the final season winds down (or up?) but have been delinquent...until today.

Ian Leino created these Lost Bingo cards (free download link on the bottom right of his shop page) and they are really clever and well thought out. The set offers 10 variations, so a group can play while watching...or just turn the whole thing into a drinking game and take a swig when anything listed on your card happens on the show. Ian is even selling Dharma Beer labels in his online shop. Hmmm, I might have to get some of those for the finale!

This is the end

Lost premieres tonight for its final season. I can't wait to see how everything resolves (or not.)

In case you didn't marathon watch the entire series over the 2008 holidays like The Prof and I, here is a nifty recap of the first five seasons...in just 8 minutes, 15 seconds.

Want more? Check out the two versions of the promotional photo for the final season released by ABC (below) and read some analysis of what clues the images give about "the end."

 

 

Guidos and Massholes go in, who comes out?

"How Can MTV Follow Up Jersey Shore? [With a show called] Massholes."

Oh yes, please do, MTV. At least think on the proposal because, as Jessica Grose points out on Slate, the idea has some great breadth of possibility for casting:

"MTV needs a new tribe to study. Lucky for them, there's a group of feisty young people just a few hundred miles north on the Atlantic coast. They're called Massholes. Though there is some disagreement about what, exactly, constitutes a Masshole, there are several characteristics present in all definitions. A Masshole is a resident of Massachusetts—though sometimes Rhode Island, New Hampshire, or Maine—who possesses a nearly carnal love for the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins; operates motor vehicles in an aggressive fashion; drinks Sam Adams; and overuses the adjective wicked."

Or just give me a call, and I could stock this show with quality Massholes in just the people I encountered today while running errands.

 

(Above, a classic Masshole move...the space-and-a-half parking job. Before this photo was shot, these people most likely chugged a DD coffee and cut someone off with a left turn to get into the garage.)

Men Will Be Boys

Yes, this show lives up to its phenomenal buzz. Luckily, I programmed our dvr in time to record the entire first season from Sunday's Mad Men Marathon. Watching while working late nights on store merchandise prep for the SEOM has provided a much-needed distraction at times. Isn't it odd, though, that seeing such a glut of smoking and boozing makes me not want to partake in either of those activities I previously loved so much?

Check the men (and ladies) out...
Season Two premiers this Sunday, 9pm, on AMC

BONUS! For all those Angel watchers out there, Connor (Vincent Kartheiser, actually) is back on the small screen, and slimier than ever.

Whedon Returneth

Now all of us Joss Whedon addicts out there who have watched the Buffy, Angel, and  Firefly dvds to the point of total saturation can take hope: his new show has some major Hype!

"The buzz surrounding Joss Whedon's new sci-fi series Dollhouse is building, as fansites pop up and script pages are leaked. This show doesn't even exist yet, but rabid fans are already collecting every single tiny minute remnant of news and speculation surrounding it."

Ok, I have to admit that Eliza Dushku was my least favorite Buffy character (Faith,) but I am interested to see Amy Acker return after her character development as Fred/Illyria was thwarted by the cancellation of Angel. Whew, that last sentence was some serious sci-fi geekout, no? Anyway, here's a summary:

"Eliza Dushku plays a young woman named Echo, a member of a group of  people known as 'Actives' or 'Dolls' who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas, including memory, muscle memory, skills, and language, for different assignments. They're then hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies, and occasional good deeds. In between tasks, they are mind-wiped into a child-like state and live in a futuristic dormitory/laboratory, a hidden facility nicknamed 'The Dollhouse.' The story follows Echo, who begins, in her mind-wiped state, to become self-aware."

And, of course, there's a blog to keep fans up-to-date on the latest and greatest.

Emerging, Groggy

Since arriving home from Asheville, I've been enveloped in a practically non-stop indulgence parade...

First:

(Not my actual cake)

Then:

Followed by:

And the icing:

Yes, somebodies bought me the Oprah 20th Anniversary collection for my birthday; I basically spent the entire weekend hibernating and watching the discs. Nearly 18 hours later, I exited the living room, emotionally raw and bloated from all the turkey, wine, and weeping. I spent Sunday installing software on my computer and organizing  the 195 photos that I took on vacation. So I'm almost ready to share the photo albums from my "solo 30" trip.

Here are two previews (both taken in Hendersonville, a historic little town to the west of Asheville which also happened to be my headquarters after the hostel 'incident.')

The local soda fountain (really...still!):

Nothing makes for a nice Southern afternoon like buyin' a paper, eatin' some hog, and gettin' a trim:

More tomorrow -- PROMISE!

Friday Medal Round: Become a Nielsen Family

A reader recently sent me an email nothing that I don't often write about television. She is correct; my addiction to "my shows" (as my Nona and Gammy call "The Young and the Restless" and "The Price is Right", respectively) is as sporadic as my devotion to various other things, and especially things that come with hype. Lately, I've been enjoying season one of "Prison Break" non-stop...last weekend it was a marathon of "America's Next Top DesignStar." I guess I'm just more of a late adopter with television, which means I end up renting the dvds and ravenously watching them until 3:30 a.m.

While out to dinner last week, someone mentioned that her roommate had spent all of a Sunday recovering from a hangover…and making an Excel spreadsheet of their fall television schedule for each night of the week. I have to admit that I was impressed — I could never get all the channel/time info into that shitbox of an application and produce something understandable. I'd probably end up watching "Everyone Loves Raymond" re-runs for the next three months.

FRIDAY MEDAL ROUND: What's on  your fall television spreadsheet?

BLOGORELLI:
Gold – Grey's Anatomy (c'mon, like this one wasn't going to make even my list)
Silver – Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (it's got Hype)
Bronze – Hammered with John & Jimmy DiResta (this isn't a "new" fall show per say, but I should be getting royalties from these guys — they pick up curbside salvage, make the object[s] into something new + great, and return the "junk" to its owner. Hello? I do the same thing, except after I pick up said objects, I immediately put them into my storage space and never do anything with them ever again.)

Will You Accept This (CAD Rendering of a) Rose?

Holy shizat, architects really are the new rock stars! Aside from already-existing evidence, Gothamist is reporting that ABC producers are searching for a "man of many elevations" to be the next Bachelor.

I can hardly disagree on the idea, although I've never had the fortune of dating an architect. They are fun, smart, handy, have excellent taste in music, and usually sharp dressers, albeit in an, erm, "creatively conservative" way (but come on, we ALL know sweater vests have some kinky hotness factor to them.) Besides, according to The Polish Princess, these are the only guys worth marrying.

As per usual, the female contingent of next season's The Bachelor will be the same stereotypical, ethnically-mixed group of vanilla puddings as ever.

---

Could one of these wily foxes be the next Bachelor? Nah, they're all married. But keep looking, gals .
(top row l-r: Bobby Crocker, The Mad Hungarian, bottom row: Jiminy Cricket's hubster Zach...who has yet to be identified with a nickname on this site)

go blow

this weekend, prior commitments forced me to stay behind in the city while The Gang went up to Lake Winnipesaukee  to enjoy the beautiful weekend weather. i told myself that i would be uber-productive, unpacking THE WHOLE apartment, working on the remaining *2* wedding photo albums for the blog, and just genrally kicking some To-Do List ass.

as it turns out, 2 days is just enough time to develop a new reality television addiction. damn the Bravo network, first with QEFSG and now...Blow Out. the not-all-poignant story of an arrogant (but straight) salon owner (Jonathan Antin) trying to open his second salon, in Beverly Hills.

FROM THE BRAVO BIO:
"As a teenager, Antin was inspired to become a stylist by Warren Beatty's role as the sexy, lady-loving George Roundy in the hit film Shampoo. He dropped out of Beverly Hills High to enroll in the Fairfax Beauty Academy, where he quickly landed a job at a trendy Melrose salon. Like Beatty's character, Antin's smoldering good looks and charisma, combined with his unique fashion sense proved irresistible. Within a few years, he claimed the Melrose salon as his own -- garnering a list of celebrity clientele rivaling the best in the business."

my favorite part is hearing Jonathan's various soundbites, like how some days he dresses "Cubano" while others he does the "Rock Star" and sometimes, (sigh), just the plain old "Steve McQueen."

Tuesdays at 9 -- followed by QEFSG -- woo hoo! BKP and i will surely be glued to the set.

this is the end

of angel...final episode -ever- is on tonight at 9. now, I've taken a lot of slack for becoming addicted to watching this show but I just have to say "WTF?!?!?" when The WB cancels Angel and then announces a fall line-up like THIS

bad enough to keep Charmed, a show so horrid that I cannot even stomach the commercials, but to replace Angel with *2 hours* of "Blue Collar Comedy" starring "redneck" comedian Jeff Foxworthy AND Drew Carey's Green Screen, improv sketches with animation...I mean, is there a God?

BLOGORELLI COMMENTS ON BLUE COLLAR COMEDY
1. did ANYONE ever think that the "you know you're a redneck if" crutch was funny?
2. i hate Hate HATE improv comedy. that show "Whose Line Is Anyway" made my stomach burn with irritation in the same way as when I was 9 and my brother made me so mad that i slammed his little fingers in my bedroom door. not to worry, my dad replaced the door with a curtain and my brother still has all 10 digits. still, grrr...may all improv comedian's microphones blow up simultaneously.

Moving on to the Friday night lineup, "Commando Nanny, a semi-autobiographical tale of Burnett's early career as a paratrooper turned Beverly Hills babysitter; the cast includes Major Dad's Gerald McRaney"

ok, whoaaah. did i just read that correctly? MAJOR DAD'S Gerald McRaney?!?! MAJOR DAD? HELLO? how did this happen? where did they even *find* that guy?

(tedious sigh)

luckily, midseason we can all look forward to "Shacking Up, a family sitcom starring Fran Drescher (The Nanny)"

someone pass me a dull spoon so that i can gorge my eyes out...i cannot take any more of this torment.

meet me at caritas

so, lately i've had more free time than usual.
but i've managed to fill it by indulging in my new guilty pleasure - watching old episodes of the tv show "Angel". i know, i know...most would merely dismiss it as a "Buffy" spinoff, but my friends the shulmans got me hooked. i blame it on my addictive personality.

that's how i found Lorne, a.k.a. "The Host"

He's an anagogic demon, which means he can mystically sense people's thoughts, feelings, and futures -- but only when they sing *karaoke*!

The Host makes his living by running a karaoke bar called Caritas, where demons and humans alike can get a "reading". Other positives:
- he loves singing
- he's muy sociable
- he's svelte, suave and well-dressed
- he uses 1950s slang words like "cookie"
- his favorite drink is a seabreeze

Negatives:
- he's somewhat self-centered
- he's green and has horns
- hello!? he's a demon...

AND my new t.v. crush!!
Check him out this season on Angel