This is another situation where you can’t really find a good reason as to why the group has yet to receive this award; they were popular commercially and critically for not just a brief time but for a long while, and you would think that at some point, one year, in one random category, people could have thought that The Who of all bands did the best job. But that apparently wasn’t the case. Because, as we all should realize by now, these people are morons.
Nevertheless, I do plan to record and watch this year’s Grammy’s. At least they had enough sense to nominate and invite Arcade Fire… And with three nominations, they even have a serious shot at winning one.
In what’s feeling kind of like a retro activity these days, I’ve been watching some TV shows on DVD these days.
Angel Season 5. Probably haven’t seen it since it went off the year in 2004. I’d forgotten so many details it almost seemed new at times. I remembered that Angel and Spike had an epic fight over who got to shanshu, but forgotten just how awesome that entire episode—Destiny—was.
So good I had to rewatch with commentary. And be still my Spike-loving heart if the commentary didn’t reveal that in the first draft of the script, Angel won the fight. Only, after the scripting out each vampire’s arguments, they came to an inevitable conclusion: Spike was the better man. He was the deserving one.
And he won the fight.
(Vid above is a fan edit, not the original show. And like everything I tried to embed, not allowed. All have to be watched YouTube.)
Then there’s Everwood, Season 1. This I can be forgiven for not remembering, as I’d never seen it before. I’d seen later season, but not the start of it all. As it was somehow in memory as a good but rather sentimental program, I was a bit startled by some of the rawness, as in the epic fight (another fight!) between father and son in the pilot, below.
Another example? Episode 4 dealt with a breakout of gonorrhea among the teens of the town. Gonorrhea of the throat, to be precise. (“But I’m a total virgin!”)
Finally, the much-lamented Freaks and Geeks, which lasted only one season, but launched so many careers:
This year’s Oscar host, James Franco.
Jason Segal of How I Met Your Mother and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
John Francis Daley—Sweets on Bones
Seth Rogen, unlikely movie star and leading man
Busy Philips, now Laurie on Cougartown
And of course, that Judd Apatow guy.
The following short (1 minute) scene, in which Lindsay’s parents try to decipher the lyrics of The Who’s “Squeezebox”, is one of the damn funniest things I’ve ever seen.
I’ve got to watch the commentary track of that episode now.
Last night Jean and I took in some belated Halloween viewing and watched the pilot episode of AMC’s new series, The Walking Dead. All I knew about it was that it was about zombies, and it was supposed to be good.
So I was expecting it might be kind of scary, but wasn’t expecting it to be quite so—intense, I guess, as the warning said.
Because this not be a “fun” zombie series. In fact, they’re not called zombies at all, but walkers—the walking dead, you see.
But I should backtrack. The premise is a small town sheriff who is shot and goes into a coma. When he awakens from it, he finds the world much changed. Most people in it are dead. But some—well, it’s not quite accurate to say they don’t stay dead, because they are still dead, but they don’t stay still. They rise. They lumber around. They look for live flesh to feast on. The only way to stop them is to damage their heads (shooting being the most efficient way). While easy enough to get away from one on one, in a frenzied crowd, it’s a different story.
The whole thing is treated quite seriously, and is therefore horrible. Decaying corpses. Adorable little girls with teddy bears but rotting faces. Pathetic paraplegic zombie woman. And worst of all, loved ones rendered as walkers. Could you shoot the face of the person you loved and just watched die?
So. It was good, but it really wasn’t the ideal thing to watch right before going to bed.
If you’re curious, AMC is rerunning the pilot this Friday, apparently. Then it’s continuing on Sunday nights, in Mad Men’s old time slot.
Through the So You Think You Can Dance Canada season, I’ve been taping my favorites to DVD. In advance of tonight’s final show, I just rewatched them all. Be interesting to compare my picks with the judge’s.
Week 1
Bree and Edgar – Sexy hip-hop
Of course, with Bree having been eliminated so early, no way this will be in the final show. I love how sexy it is, but that’s apparently the very reason these two ended up in the bottom three that week: People were offended by it! (In the video, the actual dancing starts around 1:37.)
Hani and Tara-Jean – Nico’s jazz routine
Yep, also won’t be there, given than Hani was the first to go! Seemed completely unfair, though, both that he ended up in the bottom 3, and that the judges dismissed him along with his injured partner.
Week 2
Nathalie and Mackenzie – Hip hop
Seems I either love the hip hop or am completely indifferent to it, and this one, I loved. I think it’s partly the song, which I liked so much, I bought! (Also a very rare thing for me, with hip hop.) And these two white, contemporary just did a great job with it.
Charlene and Jeff – Contemporary
Having rewatched, I have to say, I don’t think I’d include this one. It was fine, they danced it fine, but there was just so much contemporary this year! Nothing especially stood out about this one. I can’t even remember the choreographer, but it was probably Stacey Tookey.
Danielle and Sebastian – Theatre
This one, on the other hand, was very memorable. I think Sean Cheeseman may be my favorite choreographer. This seemed to suit Danielle and Sebastian perfectly.
Week 3
Amanda and Denys – Quickstep
Someday, someone needs to explain to me why in the ballroom dance classes I take, quickstep is considered one of the easiest. It’s typically the first one you learn. Yet on this show, it’s taken as gospel that it’s the hardest. Either way, Amanda and Denys nailed it.
Charlene and Jeff – Hustle
Oh my God, just as impressive on the second viewing (well, it’s more than my second). Still think this is the best disco I’ve ever seen on one of these shows. They were amazing.
Week 4
Nathalie and Mackenzie – Blake’s contemporary
I think I’d like this better if I didn’t now know that the tatoos represent Blake and Mia Michaels (are we ever going to find out what that was about?), but it was a fairly striking contemporary piece. And at least neither was supposed to have a disease.
Amanda and Denys – House
The number that, insanely, landed these two in the bottom three. Aren’t they great? (By the way, this is the closest Denys got to hip hop in the entire competition.)
Week 5
Charlene and Mackenzie – Latin
Some sexy Latin thing they did. Another one that, on retrospective viewing, I’m not sure deserves a place here.
Amanda and Sebastian – Contemporary
Amanda is afflicted with something here—Alzheimer’s? An eating disorder? I don’t remember. (When I tape, unlike YouTube, I don’t include the intro.) Sebastian tries to uphold her. Clearly, I liked it at the time, but they did way too many of these “issue” dances this year. (Ever since that cancer number made a big splash on the American show…) Caused each to lose something in the repetition.
Claudia and Denys – Samba
Clearly I wasn’t being overly picky this week, but Denys was great as usual, and Claudia kept up reasonably well.
Danielle and Edgar – Contemporary
Mostly notable for how well Edgar handles this dance, given that it’s not his genre. Danielle looks remarkably strong (physically, not as a dancer) with him. And, I love this song!
Week 6
Janick and Denys – Tango [Edit: Paso Doble]
Possibly at some point I just started taping everything Denys did? Although this was a good tango paso doble (and Janick’s first appearance on the DVD). But I can’t say I particularly remembered it before rewatching it just now.
Amanda and Mackenzie – Afro-jazz
Another one I didn’t remember all that well, but it is nicely done.
Claudia and Jonathan – Hip hop
This one, I actually remembered! Because I was so surprised how good they both were. On rewatch, I remained particularly impressed with Jonathan (and Claudia still wasn’t bad). But don’t expect to see it again, as they’re not top 10, and there’s a tour to promote… [On edit: Or, not so much, apparently…]
Group number by Mia Michaels (results show)
Even though I taped some, I’ve been mostly ignoring group numbers and solos in this list (as it’s already insanely long), but had to include this, as I think it’s possibly the single best thing done all season. Wow. Just, wow.
Week 7
Danielle and Denys – Contempory (military loss)
On rewatch, this really is my favorite contemporary number of the season. I can tell the story without any preamble, it’s incredibly touching, Danielle is just amazing, and Denys is Denys.
Week 8
Edgar and Amanda – Hip-hop mannequins (Luther Brown)
I think Amanda actually held her mannequin positions better than the hip-hop boy, but whatever, it was a very fun number. (Amanda is actually quite amazing, especially given her young age.)
Janick and Jeff – Blake’s jazz fusion
Nice sexy number, with whips and cages! I was impressed how well Jeff, who looks so Pillsbury dough boy, pulled this off. Amazing what eyeliner can do. Great dancing doesn’t hurt, either. (And apparently not offensive often for either to be eliminated, which is good.)
I’ve left off the “Top 4” show, as it’s not taped yet, but my favorite there was definitely the Sean Cheeseman “royalty” number that Janick and Jeff did. After that, Nico’s contemporary with Denys and Janick.
My picks (not necessarily predictions) for top dancer are 4. Janick 3. Jeff 2. Amanda 1. Denys.
I was pleased–and, I admit, a little surprise–to read that Edwin Outwater, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s young, hunky, charismatic, and talented conductor has renewed his contract through to 2015. I thought he would be lured away.
Not sure if I ever got around to mentioning how blown away we were by the Symphony’s Carmina Burana last year (the season closer). Never mind Tommy; that was the real original rock opera. It’s only disguised as classical music. But really, it’s all sex and drugs and debauchery… It’s rock’n’roll, baby.
This year’s Pops lineup looked so appealing we’ve signed up for all 8 shows, despite the sticker shock of buying that many tickets at once (good seats, of course). This Friday begins with a reprise of one my favorites from the past: Cirque de la Symphonie. It’s the closest we get to Cirque du soleil in this town.
Tons of TV shows seem to be starting this week as well, even before all the summer favorites (Mad Men, So You Think You Can Dance Canada) are done. Not sure there’s room in the schedule for any new shows. I’m rarely very good at picking out the new shows that will last, anyway, so perhaps it’s best not to even start until it’s clearer who the survivors will be.
It’s even back to school time for me, as our ballroom dance classes commence the last week of September.
So many leisure activities to fit in. I get mildly stressed thinking about it, which seems sort of backward.
Much as I like So You Think You Can Dance Canada, having episodes daily, many two hours long, has been a bit onerous. Of course, it’s just the auditions; it’s not really essential viewing. But they just have such a great ratio of actual dancing vs. blah-blah about dance that they’re a bit hard to resist.
Anyway, I’ve finally caught up. Of course, I’m behind on all other TV viewing, but at this time of year, that isn’t so much anyway. Sunday they announce “our” Top 20. Let’s just hope CTV doesn’t start making these kids dance (and us vote) twice a week, in order to fit this all in before all the Fall shows come back with new episodes.
Apart from sitting on the couch watching gorgeous young people sweat through dance numbers, I’ve acquired four new CDs in the last week (and one’s a double CD). Even for me, that’s rather a lot, but when shopping for used stuff, you got to grab it when it comes up.
The one I got totally new, though, and in digital download format only, is Arcade Fire’s Suburbia. Given that the album is number 1 in Canada, US, and Great Britain, guess I’m none too original on that front. But this is my first Arcade Fire album (or song or anything). I just grew intrigued from reading the reviews.
I love that it’s a concept album. I love that the concept is the suburbs, as representing emptiness and loss and waste. I love people barely 30 being nostalgic for the past: “I used to write letters. But by the time we met things had already changed. We used to wait.” (Very Ray Davies and Village Green Preservation Society, that way.) The songs are smart and sound gorgeous. I don’t mind pretentious when it’s backed by talent.
My remaining purchases are all of old favorites. With the acquisition of Flash Gordon, I now, finally, own every Queen album. Course, this one is the weirdo, as it really is a movie soundtrack in the old sense of the term: Not a bunch of pop songs that play over montages in the movie, but the actual score that sets the tone and mood of the scenes. So it’s mostly instrumentals, along with bits of movie dialog (and the insanely catchy theme song).
So obviously, not the one to get if you’re only going to buy one Queen album. Or even 10. But within the movie score genre, it’s actually quite good.
And, I finally completed my Lowest of the Low collection by getting their final album, Sordid Fiction. I need to give all these more listens, but so far it appears to be just as good as their first three: same catchy pop with an alternative edge, smart lyrics with plenty of Canadian references.
And den I got The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight. I actually don’t own all of their albums yet—haven’t quite convinced myself I need their first two albums. And not sure how I convinced myself that I needed this double CD, given that it already have this on DVD, not to mention that it contains yet another version of Tommy. I think I have 8 versions of that particular rock opera, at this point.
And, you know, The Who really were great that night, at 4 in the morning or whatever, performing at the Isle of Wight. The only problem is that this is a very similar set to Live at Leeds. And Live at Leeds is just better, in both performance and sound quality. But at least Wight features the entire concert, in the proper order. That’s something.
Oh, and one more set of CDs that came into my possession this week is the unabridged (9 CD) audio version of the novel The Wife’s Tale by Lori Lansens. This is courtesy of the author herself, who read my earlier blog post lamenting my difficulty in acquiring the audio version of this book. Isn’t that cool? And the timing is perfect for our upcoming driving trip to Quebec.
You’ve seen The Story of Stuff, yes? The fairly enlightening, partly animated video about how we North Americans all have too much stuff, and why that’s a problem? It has made me think. (99% of what I acquire is discarded within 6 months? Really?) But so far, I don’t think it’s really made me change my behavior.
It’s just so ingrained. Just watch this beautiful justification for why two people having three television sets just isn’t enough….
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Many television series ran their course for the season back in May or so, but we’ve been getting by with season 1 of True Blood (never did develop the love, though), season 1 of Californication (whereas I really did get caught up with all these flawed people), and even finally finishing all my PVR’ed episodes of Flashforward. (And the TV critic who claimed the last episode was confusing and open-ended was an idiot. The last episode wasn’t in the least hard to follow, and the series tied itself up very nicely, leaving some areas open for the future, yes, but hardly to a frustrating extent. The whole thing is recommended for all who like sci-fi, physics, and philosophical questions of will vs. fate, as presented by pretty people.)
But now all those are done, too, so Jean and I have near run out of shows we both like to watch. This is a problem, because we both tend to like to settle down around 9:00 for a bit of TV. What to watch, what to watch, when all I want to do is catch up with So You Think You Can Dance (nestled there on the PVR) but he’s already engrossed in an action thriller on AMC?
What, you only have one TV, you ask? Well, no. But the thing, we only have one TV in a location where it’s actually comfortable to sit down and watch it. The second one is in the kitchen, where your only seating option are the high stools at the breakfast bar. Fine for catching the news while preparing and eating dinner, but not so great for settling in for a long watch. (Plus, being that close to the food also leads to way too much snacking.)
And the third? If you can even call that a TV, given that it’s–and I’m serious–a Commodore 64 monitor. So it’s very old and therefore prone to some flickering, and also very small. And, it’s in the exercise room. Being an exercise room, there are no seats in there, unless you count the big weight machine chair. So it’s a great place to play exercise or other videos while exercising. But if you just want to watch TV, you’re kind of stuck with a yoga mat on the floor as “seating”.
This, combined with the grumpiness that comes with the heat and humidity of late, that has led to us arguing over our respective television preferences, and who is to be banished to the uncomfortable upstairs. Adding insult to injury, upstairs person also loses PVR access. Stuck with live TV, with its many, many long commercial breaks (all telling you that you suck and need to buy more stuff)…
So, clearly, we need to put a TV in the living room.
Much like TV in the bedroom, this is something I’ve always resisted, with some idea that the living room should be about “higher” culture like books and music and paintings and conversation.
But one has to be practical. Fact is, it is the only other room in the house with couches and chairs.
But we ain’t putting a TV cabinet in there. So, the thing will have to wall-mounted. And, it’s the living room; it’s going to have to look good. So there’s no question of moving one of the existing extra TVs into that room (and besides, we need them where they are!). Clearly, we need a new TV.
A lovely, sleek, new flatscreen television.
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See how that works? And the lovely new television will, in turn, lead to justifications for high-definition TV receivers and service and PVRs, not to mention BluRay DVD players and discs. And won’t that mean some sort of sound system upgrade? …
And hence we demonstrate our value in this culture of consumerism.
Usually, after coming back from vacation, there is a daunting pile of TV programming stored in the PVR.
This year, not so much, because our time away corresponded with many shows winding down their season. This means that I haven’t spent all my time back watching television, and can therefore write about it.
Sitcom-land
You know what sitcom I’ve actually enjoyed most this season? This one:
This program has evolved a great deal from its original premise of 40-year-old woman chasing hot young guys (a premise I never found quite as offensive as I was apparently supposed to) to an ensemble show about said woman, yes, but now focusing on other relationships in her life: her son, her ex-husband, her friend, her neighbor (and now age-appropriate boyfriend). It’s evolved so much, in fact, they’re considering changing the title.
But the main thing about it is, it’s funny! The occasional episode doesn’t quite work, but it’s when popping, it’s really popping. The cast play off each other wonderfully well.
Unfortunately, two sitcoms I used to really enjoy haven’t had such great seasons. How I Met Your Mother started the season with Robin and Barney together, broke them up in record time—which really disappointed me, as they’d built this up over quite some time—then seemed at a loss for storylines for the rest of the season. Earlier seasons of this show were very enjoyable, but I don’t know if I’ll be tuning in next season.
Similarly, 30 Rock. Unlike Mother, I wasn’t that invested in any particular character or what happened to them. Just found the show often wickedly funny. But it’s often been bordering on dull this season, with Jack’s love triangle and Liz’s lack of love situation and Kenneth not really having much to do.
I don’t know. Maybe I should check out Parks and Recreation. I hear that’s good.
High-concept dramas
I never watched Lost, and I dropped 24, so I can’t comment on either of those high-profile programs. But I have mostly been sticking with Flashforward.
At least, mostly. I don’t know what it is about this show, but I can’t seem to watch it until I have a bunch of episodes stacked for viewing. And the program has really been criticized, but I’ve mostly enjoyed it. Maybe because I watch several in a row? It’s an interesting premise, and it seems to me they’ve been moving it along well and reasonably keeping all their threads in order.
However. It has been cancelled, but that news did not reach the producers until after they shot the final episode. Which, I’ve read, has resulted in a season finale that ties up many loose ends, yes, but also introduces mountains of confusing new complications to set up the then-expected season 2.
So what do I do now, me with my remaining pile of episodes as yet unwatched? Do I see it through even knowing I’ll just be disappointed in the end? Or do I cut my losses now? Oh, such dilemmas.
Glee!
How can I write about TV and not mention Glee, right? Although the amount of hype around its return has been just absurd. And the show has taken some time to find its footing again. The first half-season, though I mostly loved it, was nevertheless marred by some really stupid plotlines, dragged out far too long. The second half had almost an opposite problem: plotlines going by quickly, you could barely see them as they whooshed by. It’s like the show was in a frenzy, trying to cram in as many hit songs and Sue zingers as possible, forgetting that the show really needs to have some heart.
But recent outings have been better. The Joss Whedon-directed episode was almost as great as hoped, the Lady Gaga episode has some really stunning, subtle (of all things) scenes. And it still makes me laugh, and I still like the songs, and Britanny may be the best dumb blonde character ever. Glee!
And over on the cable channels
I somehow miraculously managed to notice that:
Space channel is playing True Blood
Showcase is running Californication
In time to actually watch both shows from episode 1 (or nearly). And so far (I’m near the start of season 1 of both), while I like True Blood, I was kind of expecting to love it. And to be totally into the Sookie and Bill thing—which I’m not. It’s fine that they’re together, but I don’t feel too invested in it. (Plus, I read the first novel, so now I think I know who the killer is.) But I’ll keep watching. Perhaps the love will develop later.
As for Californication—that’s fun! Who knew David Duchovny could be so lively. And damn if he doesn’t still look really sexy.
Thought I might periodically start writing about “a few of my favorite thing”—my own, narcissistic version of Stuff White People Like, I suppose. So I’ll get to PVRs, chocolate, and Zomig eventually, but I’d like to just start with my piano. Which I’ve talked about before, but now I have pictures!
It’s gorgeous to look at. It finishes off the living room very nicely. (That room’s come a long way from its empty desolation when we first moved in with only condo contents.)
But more important, it sounds great. Even though I’m the one playing it, and I’m hardly the world’s most gifted player. When we were shopping for it, I also tried out the smaller, cheaper version in the same brand (the one I’d walked in expecting to buy), and the larger, more expensive one with a million complicated doo-dads. Of the three, this one just had the nicest tones. The piano player’s piano, the salesman said.
So I love playing the thing. I’m having no trouble motivating myself for twice weekly practice sessions, which of course is also contributing to it not sound too bad when I play. I wish I had even more time for it.
In shopping for it, we discovered that we get could a real piano for less than we paid for this digital one. Not a grand, of course. An upright. A “starter” upright, whatever that means. But we stuck with digital, mainly for not having to tune it, for it being so much lighter and more portable, and for being able to get the look of a grand, without the expense.
But I also like some of the digital features. For example, though I do mostly play in “piano” mode, I can choose between Piano 1 and Piano 2. And though I can’t explain to you the difference between the two, I can hear it, and some songs sound better in one or the other. I also occasionally use the more exotic sounds, like harpsichord for Bach, or strings+piano for, say, The Beatles, or electric piano for Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend”. The one thing I’m actually missing a bit from my old keyboard are the synthesizer sounds, but I can somewhat approximate that with some of the weird vibraphone mixes included.
You can also fine-tune things. Like I was finding the touch a little too resistant (after years of playing on a keyboard with no touch sensitivity at all), so I was able to lower that. I can increase the resonance, so the sounds is fuller and richer without me playing any better. And I can take songs in impossible keys, like “Love Reign O’er Me”, which has six (!) flats, and transpose them into another key. Allowing me to play the song as written, except with only three flats (it somehow feels like a song that needs some flats), but it comes out sounding OK, and I can actually get through it.
So yeah, my piano is definitely on the list of things I like.
Something else I like? That Glee is back soon. With Madonna! And Joss! And Neil Patrick Harris! And The Beatles! Squee…
OK, so instead of owning the podium, we just rented the top floor.
I have to give a CP reporter the credit for that quote.
Wasn’t that fun? The Olympic withdrawal is going to be tough. It’s been the framing device around all events for the past two weeks. Furthermore, that’s been true of almost everyone else. What else does that anymore? Not the Oscars, not the series finale of Lost, not the Superbowl, not even the Stanley Cup.
Big eating weekend
I described last weekend (Feb. 19–21) as my “big eating weekend.” For the Friday, well ahead, we had arranged to meet up with friends at Verses. They were particularly pleased to have meat there. “We’re coming off a month of veganism,” they explained. “If you think vegetarianism is hard? Try veganism.”
Then on the following Saturday, our neighborhood association held a wine tasting dinner at Solé. Solé generally does an excellent job with these, and the featured wine was from Rosewood Estates, which we really like. So we had to sign up for that as well. We ended up sitting with the owner of the winery, who proved to be a very interesting guy, with rather strong opinions about wines of different price points, and the marketing strategies of various regions.
And it was a great meal. It started with their Sémillon, which I judged reminiscent of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, so was pleased when informed that’s what they were going for. It was delicious, as was the smoked trout served with it—amazing stuff, the food highlight of the meal. The main course was chicken with wild mushrooms, and it was served with a Meritage wine. (I was hoping to get their Pinot Noir again, but the 2007 is apparently all sold out.) Dessert featured honey wine, served with an apple caramel tart.
Olympic-wise, that was a pretty quiet weekend. That’s when there was all that grousing about Canada’s performance being somewhat disappointing, which I mostly found irritating. But since we don’t really know our neighbours (and besides the wine people, that’s who was there), it was very handy to have that to talk about.
Shall we dance?
Despite some moments of mild panic—me on the “hockey stick” step (seriously, that’s what it’s called) of the cha-cha, Jean on the intricate shaping of the slow fox—we’re fumbling our way reasonably well through our ballroom dance classes for people who had taken a seven-year break. This week’s class coincided with the Russia-Canada hockey quarter-final, but late arrivals reported on the already lopsided score involved there, and we stopped worrying about that too much.
But our dance instructor wanted to talk about another sport: ice dancing.
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