attempting to whet your appetite....

I've spoken about how the husband and I are into Mad Men. the attention to detail in set and costume design, the brazen chain-smoking of the 60's, the blatant chauvinism, the interesting characters, the casting... all of these things make for a really great series. what makes for an even greater series is excellent writing. here's a link to a scene from season 1 that I loved, when Kodak is shopping agencies to market it's 'wheel'. in the world of the show, the face of advertising is changing and Sterling Cooper, where much of our story takes place, is trying to catch up and maintain it's foothold. if you choose to watch the clip, imagine that Don, the guy doing most of the talking, is a pretty complex dude - troubled, secretive past, one foot in the idyllic 'burbs with the perfect family, one bigger foot on Madison Avenue as a talented ad exec, coctailing his way through the day with the boyz and philandering in a quiet, maddening, absolutely self-destructive sort of way. oh, and that guy that tears up and leaves the room toward the end of the scene is separated from his wife.

because I'm a big dork

I will say plainly that I miss So You Think You Can Dance. last season was my first to really follow the show and it makes me want to... you know... dance.

I especially like these girls, who were my favorites... chelsie, who's apparently on Dancing With the Stars now:





it should be said that my real fave dance of hers is probably still 'Bleeding Love', which I posted months ago... M and I both totally loved it.

and here's katee:





this has all come up because, while flipping channels, we caught a glimpse of someone who looked like chelsie on DWTS, which led me to the internet to see if it was her (affirmative), which led me to youtube to watch dances from last season that I loved, which made me realize how much I enjoyed that show.

come back into our lives, Cat Deely, you saucy Aussie host. we miss you and your intriguing clothing choices.

in my dream, the vampires were hunting jack bauer...

aside from last week's grody and annoying sickness, one of the things I will remember about this holiday are the mini-addictions that took over my life and sleep schedule... namely:



and





we barreled through and watched the whole first season of 24, and have begun the second. I hate to speak ill of my sex, but why are the women on 24 so stupid?! ack, I wanted to strangle Kim Bauer myself!

as for the Twilight series... um, yeah, I know. vampires. vampire love in high school. mm-hmm. I feel your judgement. and yet I - dare I say it? yes, I think I shall - I DEVOURED them, staying up all hours of the night to finish the stories. M took me to see the movie yesterday afternoon, and I was predictably let down. books turned into movies are a tricky thing, aren't they? the things I liked about the 2 Twilight books I've read - the overall eloquence and thoughtful quality of the books, the sweeping and all-encompassing 'forever' love between Bella and Edward, the concept of restraint between lovers - all of that takes time to set and develop, to hook you in and help you believe, and it's hard to achieve that in a couple of hours. I was also not appreciative of some of the liberties taken with the story and dialogue, but what can you do. C. Hardwicke directed, and she directed Thirteen, which was horrifying and something probably every parent would do well to watch, but I couldn't help but wish it wasn't such a... teen movie. silly, I know, since that's it's primary audience... but still. the setting looked like I imagined it would, though. another series that I think has had a good visual jump to the big screen are the Harry Potter books... it all looks as I thought it would, and they've done a fairly decent job of concentrating on the major plot points in the films and faithfully rendering them. probably my all time favorite book-to-screen experience is this one:




the novels by L. Alcott are my favorite of all time. for me, this film wins for being very very true to the book. all of the girls were wonderful... special mention must obviously be made of K. Hepburn as Jo. it's affecting and has the feel of the book... sweet and fun and earnest and home-spun in the best way.

don't talk to me about the newest version.... w. ryder as Jo is just... no. and s. sarandon is not Marmee.

any books you think made great movies? or wretched movies?

a part of the system...

last night, I wrote my senator and congresswoman for the first time ever. trippy. today, I'm bent on making sure my voter registration is legal and valid since moving and getting married and stuff. I told my representatives that their actions this week with regard to the bailout bill will be directly tied to my vote for or against them, and I have to follow through...

I'm thinking this morning about John Adams. again, if you haven't seen it, it's a really good HBO mini-series that you can rent. one of the best things about it... it lit a fire in me about representative government. I've generally thought most politicians are forced to represent those who lobby and fund their campaigns, and those peers and co-horts who will further their careers and livelihoods... but now, I'm ready to ask to be represented.

tgif

portrait of a feline taking it all in:





portrait of a happy dog:





portrait of flowers cut out of the backyard this morning:





*****

here's the trailer for the awesome independent film M and I met on...




awesome.


*****

*MAJOR Office spoiler ahead*


*I'm warning you...*




Jim proposed last night!! I literally stood up and clasped my hands to my mouth. so sweet! I made M back the DVR up so I could see it again... and he didn't delete it so I can watch it again if I want to! if I can figure out the freaking DVR...

to commemorate a new season of The Office, I gave myself a pedi! it was much, much needed.... been walking around with chipped and sad looking toes for weeks. I used to get them done regularly at University Nails on Bellaire, and then Magic Nails on Shepard when I moved to Montrose. Somewhere along the way in the past year and a half, my priorities shifted...

anyhoo, they look spicy. ;)



happy weekend!

bleeding love

so my husband and I are fans of So You Think You Can Dance...

and we were both so moved by this performance by Chelsie and Mark that we downloaded the song, kept thinking about the routine through the weekend, and here I am posting a link to it.