Also, I need some new TV icons. Various shows. Stat.

Because of where I live and the friends I've been lucky enough to make I get to go to TV show panels from time to time. Every single time I feel unbelievably lucky. I'm positive that at some point, someone will realize what a little imposter I am. There is no way I get to do something so cool. Some are Paley, some are TV Academy, all of them are a blast. Usually it's just not done to be a fan at these things cause that's not smooth enough for the industry, so I try to lie low, not go all fangirly, and generally play much cooler than I am (all goals that are not always met.) This means keeping the fandom to a minimum, not staring at the actors, and definitely, under no circumstances, taking pictures. I have breached this before for awful, unfocused, as they're getting up from the chairs on the fly shots, but really, no pictures. It just feels unprofessional.

But last night.

It's not even my favorite show. On right now or ever.

But um, I still broke all my rules.

I took pictures.

I woo!ed when he walked onstage.

It was a blast. And it won't happen again at the Academy or any other Paley event, probably ever, but last night, it was fun.

(And if Robert Guillaume had been up there, I'd have taken twice as many pictures.)

( My shame, it is hidden. )

Appearances or otherwise.

Just like last week, I'm back with very little to offer. Lots of memes, all from king_duncan, and far too few movie updates. AFI 100 in February is just not happening, folks. I'm too busy a little bee. It is my cross to bear.

Memes first!

TV meme:
Choose five series (no peeking before you choose them), list them, and then answer the questions behind the cut.

1. Sports Night
2. Veronica Mars
3. Doctor Who
4. Wonderfalls
5. Torchwood

( Questions and answers! )

And similar music meme:
Pick your top 10 bands and answer the questions.

1. The Old 97s
2. Spoon
3. Paul Simon
4. Iggy Pop
5. Neko Case
6. Liz Phair
7. The Pretenders
8. The Rolling Stones
9. The Beatles
10. Elvis Costello

( And away we go! )

23

AFI movie reviews... um... later. I need a cup of tea like wow.

You thought I was excited about Maude. You should have seen me when I discovered this:



It's like early Christmas. The universe really is made of cotton candy and puppies and flying elephants. It's like my own special trip to the cookie and dreams factory. Somebody up there likes me.

It's here! I've waited! But it's here! It's on DVD! It's so awesome! I can't stand it! Finally!



FINALLY.

Picture above is a link to where anyone who loves me can get me this for Christmas. Oh yes. It's on the list. Along with the first three seasons of "The Facts of Life." Don't hate.

In other news, one hour and four minutes til I leave for CONNNNNNNNNNNNN!
(Think KHANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN, only better.)

This... absence of feeling?

What's missing?

Oh. That's it. The hate. The hate is missing. For the first time in months.

I DON'T HATE GREY'S ANATOMY.

Last night's ep was good. Izzie didn't moralize, George was old!George, Callie annoyed me again, Karev was a little punk, Yang was ever so slightly eeeville, and Bailey had a good old yell. Best of all, Meredith! I didn't hate Meredith! I've hated hating Izzie and George and Meredith.

Hi show. I missed you. It's been a while. Keep this up and try not to suck again for a good long time, 'kay?

Rainbow

1. Have you ever been to a Pride Parade? Nope. But it sounds like fun. The Gay Days at Disneyland are a blast.

2. What's your favourite Skittles flavour? Red. Definitely. Purple is a close second. I refuse to eat the yellow and green, as I think an important part of candy is actually enjoying it. So if you're with me on the rare occasion that I get a bag of Skittles, expect half the bag to be dumped in your palm.

3. Did you ever watch "Rainbow Brite"? If so, who was your favourite Color Kid? Heck yeah! I had a Rainbow Brite doll who went everywhere with me for a while, and always loved these two.



4. Have you ever seen "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat"? Nope. Is that Webber? I either love him or hate him, so haven't chanced this one yet.

5. What's at the end of your rainbow? (Assume a pot of gold is already taken because that's just not creative). A happy family and a great job with Disney!

I figured if even depudor was man enough to watch the SERIES FINALE of Veronica Mars, hanging up on me in order to concentrate, I could handle it. ( Spoilery? ) I watched the S1 and S2 finales as soon as I was through with the S3. I needed to remember what good TV was like. The S1 and S2 actually had big stuff to reveal and wrap up and deal with. This seemed empty and anti-climactic. Kinda blah. Like S3 itself. juls_chuls wrote a really good entry saying good bye to VMars this morning without bitterness. I think if a little time passes and I watch S1 & S2 again I could talk about it without bitterness, but I really liked her point about why the bitterness is there in the first place.

And really, the reason why so so many of us have been bitter and scathing for so long is because if we're not? We just feel like crying at how it could have been compared to how it was. If we hadn't cared so much about VM in such an incredibly overwhelming way to begin with, it wouldn't have hit us this hard when it started to implode. I can't even let myself think about how excited and ridiculously impatient I was for S3 to start, and about how I gradually went from that to this over the course of a season.

So much word. Remember how much I used to gush about Mars? About the lines and the stories and the characters and the actors and the everything? When playmayt insisted "You have to meet them. These are your people."? How Keith Mars invaded my brain and forced me to buy a Sugar Daddy "Who's Your Daddy?" shirt which I then wore to a VM watching party? How excited I was to watch the S3 premiere a week early online at depudor's? And she and sweetcynic23 couldn't wait for me so they watched it before I got there and then watched it over again with me? schnappycat's best of all possible comms in the world, rack_of_lamb? The fact that I had an lj icon specifically to be the default for all day Tuesdays and would try to only use VMars icons when posting and commenting on Tuesdays? Because it was Veronica Mars day. The show just became something I couldn't love with that much enthusiasm, that much fun and joy and devotion. It became the mean drunk dad who smacked me in front of my friends. The sketchy uncle who went to jail and embarrassed the rest of the family. But before that, there was good. Lots of good. And even after that, there was still lots of giggling, lots of games, lots of drinking and laughing. I've met some awesome people online, the nicest man in Hollywood, and some really great friends in RL. And I'll always love S1 & S2. And Logan and Mac and Wallace. And maybe, just maybe, one day I'll even love Veronica again. One day.

Until then, I leave you with this vid, shameless stolen from juls_chuls's post, because I think it's the end VMars deserves. It's like a greatest hits vid. It makes me happy.

Yes, I have finally caved and watched "House." I still don't like Laurie's American voice as much as his natural accent I fell in love with in Peter's Friends and who knows how many BBC series, but it'll do because it means Hugh Laurie is on my TV screen and therefore all is right with the world. And because the man is so wonderful and modest he says stuff like this:

The Hollywood Reporter: How does "House" get an Emmy nomination for drama series last year while you personally do not? To my mind, it was a bit like honoring the meal while ignoring the chef who cooked it.

Laurie: I'm greatly flattered by your analogy, but I'm not sure it's quite right. David Shore is really the chef, Katie Jacobs is the Maitre D', and I am merely the waiter. Fifteen percent is considered normal.

Made of class. This man is made of pure class.

OMG playmayt! (whose birthday is today, so if you haven't already wished her many happy returns, jump on over to her lj and DO IT NOW! I'll wait. Are you back? K.)

Jonathan Crombie is starring in The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway right now. LA likes to bring cast members from the Broadway shows out here. That means...

Possibly...

GILBERT BLYTHE IS IN THE HOUSE.

I swear, I'll calm down soon. I'll try. Maybe after I get some lunch in me.

( Really embarrassing yelling back here. )

Hey, usually I'm a very sensible girl, but when presented with the possiblity of seeing a literary and movie love from my youth, you'll excuse me if I lose my shit just a little. In my defense, I totally kept it together when Randall Batinkoff became a regular at the store in SM, even though inside I was twelve years old again and babbling.

The first part has two subparts, the second part is just one part, and the third part will be referenced and footnoted.

Hee.

1. The Riches and October Road have inspired me to create a new TV appreciation rule for myself. I will try at least three episodes of any new series before I give up on it. Cause I was ready to ditch both these pop stands til the stellar third episodes sucked me back in. If you quit either of these before the third epi, I recommend you try again. It's only 43 minutes.

For "The Riches," it probably has something to do with Eddie's general attraction (cause I am drawn to anything he's in like gravity draws lead down to the ground,) but for "October Road" I think it has more to do with them dropping the annoying cliches and this little coincidence:



SEPARATED AT BIRTH.

I am now only uncomfortable during this show whenever the boys lip sync, which unfortunately, is still pretty often. If they could just quit that, I could actually admit I like this in public, instead of just to you people here.

2. I am the queen of fancy coffee drinks. THE QUEEN I TELL YOU. Due to my wondrous sense of noblesse oblige, I am willing to share my newest recipe with you all.

Take one 8oz. cup (Because the 16 oz. won't fit in the machine.)
Put it in the machine.
Push the button for Cappuccino.
Sniff the good smells.
Empty the 8oz. cup into your 16oz. cup.
Put the 8oz. cup back into the machine.
Push the button for Hot Chocolate (with milk.)
Sniff the really good smells.
Empty the 8oz. cup into your 16oz. cup.
Very carefully carry this full to the brim cup back to your desk.
Fin.

3. More progress on the 30 in 30 goal!

5. Millions-- I wanted to see this movie when it came out because I loved Danny Boyle's earlier movies, especially The Moneybag Trilogy. Even though this is a movie about the sweetest kid who's ever lived (not even kidding) it's still very much a Danny Boyle movie, complete with physical danger, a menacing stranger in black, and a bag full of money. HEE. Can this man do anything else? I don't think so. And do I care? No, I don't. It's well paced, it's beautiful to look at, the characters are a joy to get to know, and I have a feeling I'll be watching this one again and often. Highly recommended.
4.5 wags

6. Flannel Pajamas-- I've got mixed feelings about this one. I loved the lead actor's performance, and this is the most I've liked Julianne Nicholson since The Love Letter. But I really didn't like her character after a certain point in the movie. And since I felt like the movie really didn't want me to take sides, I was bothered, because I was totally on the guy's side. And then in the making of featurette, one of the actresses said she liked working on the film so much because none of these characters were apologizing for who they were. 'Scuse me? The poor guy spent most of second half of the movie apologizing for living and everything under the sun. I must have missed something big because I don't know what went wrong (or what the trippy last five minutes of the movie meant,) but other than that I really enjoyed this non-three act traditional look at the life of a relationship.
4 wags