Lighter Fare

Before I start rambling on, a heartfelt thank you go to the Blog/Tech God - a.k.a. Ken - for helping me with my template when I got hopelessly stuck attempting to decipher HTML (which was as easy as interpreting hieroglyphics without the Rosetta Stone) and moreover for having the patience to translate so I could understand and "make blog go" myself (with some heavy handholding). I even started to sort of get the code a little and am highly pleased.

Anyway. To balance the darkness from last few weeks' forays into the Department of Traumatic Dentistry, Chicken Little, Inc. and Recalcitrant Technology, I decided it's time for fluffier fare. To match the snow we got yesterday.

Which turns out to be good timing, because I’ve been so freakin’ busy the past few weeks that my wee brain conked out yesterday at 2:34pm - I know the exact time because that's when I put my keys in the refrigerator - and still has not seen fit to return. I suspect it’s gone on strike until I start treating it better, obeying certain labour laws specifying that for X amount of hours’ work, Y amount of downtime is required. In retaliation, I’m thinking of locking it out. Also, I have a rogue nerve or two I might employ for intimidation purposes and while they get it sorted, I’m planning to lie on the couch – at least mentally - with a cold compress, some dark chocolate and potentially a torrid romance novel, although that latter item might be too demanding.

Imagine muzak...

And while I am reclining in front of the TV, figuratively speaking, why not continue with the fluffy and talk about television? Which isn’t entirely true – about the fluffy, that is. Great writing is on the small screen these days. As is highly entertaining and mentally undemanding things.

I watch a variety of shows - although I've noticed that with each passing year, the amount of television I watch gets less and less as I grow older and apparently pickier - but I'm going to stick to just a few today. However, in connection to the above-mentioned point regarding great writing, my Must-See TV contains only two dramas: Brothers & Sisters and Bones. Both combine snappy, crisp dialogue with fantastic, subtle acting, do pathos and comedy equally well and both shows excel at the small moments that flesh out the characters and their relationships. In B&S, I enjoy pretty much everyone (with the exception of Tommy - does anybody like that character? - and I could do without Holly, as well), but am especially enchanted by the glances between Sarah and Kitty as perfect examples of the eye contact that happens between sisters - lasting mere seconds, they communicate the decades of love and common experience. This year is much less soapy than last season and the ensemble has really gelled, growing into a believable family. Much the same could be said of Bones - here, the ensemble makes up a family of sorts, as well, revealed in small glances, gestures and throwaway inside jokes. Not to mention, they really scare me every now and again - the Gormogon storyline is proving rather terrifying when you think of the years (centuries?) of dedicated "culinary" work.

On the "highly entertaining and mentally undemanding" front (I am, of course, speaking of reality shows), Dancing with the Stars continues to make me happy every Monday night (go, Mel B & Maks!!), America's Next Top Model somehow sucked me in again, despite my protestations (is it me or is Tyra becoming increasingly random and capricious with every episode?) and then we have the granddaddies of the genre. Survivor is following the trend of a crap season being followed by a brilliant one and China is proving that this show, despite being on its 15th season, is still fresh. And then there's the 12th The Amazing Race, which I started watching mainly because I’d suckered Michele and mor into watching it with me as some sort of bonding experience, but was barely through the first episode before I was completely hooked and laughing my derrière off. Using a task involving donkeys right off the bat was a stroke of genius and my favourite moment of that first episode was when Nathan and Jennifer - the irascible couple of the season, they spend every moment together screaming at each other - tried for what seemed like hours to making the donkey go and the donkey, displaying the flawless tendency of animals to reacting in kind to the way people treat them, refusing and finally, when Nathan screamed at the donkey, it started braying continually and I laughed and laughed and laughed, exclaiming "Dude! You made the donkey cry!!”. My second-favourite moment happened in the second episode, where grandpa stripped down to his black briefs in the theory that perhaps it would make pole vaulting over a muddy ditch in Holland easier. Classic television.

What will you miss the most after the strike hits your TV? And speaking of, here's a rather brilliant presentation on the issues behind said strike. Man, I miss the Daily Show...

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