Okay, it's snowing, or at least sleeting, outside. But, by gosh, it's almost June and that means summer!
So...what does that mean for television?
THE 4,400 is coming back. They've added Homeland Security and it's going to be chasing down...someone. Yawn.
THE DEAD ZONE is coming back, too. New season.
I like a crime drama or cop show for slashing, but the ones I'm seeing so far all star women. All very PC, I'm sure, but I don't write f/f.
RESCUE ME has more potential.
"...revolves around the lives of the men in a New York City firehouse, the crew of 62 Truck. Examining the fraternal nature and relationships of firefighters, the series tackles the daily drama of the life-and-death situations associated with being a firefighter, while exploring the ways the men use dark humor to protect their true emotions."
For those who like a costume drama, EMPIRE has potential.
"...focuses on Julius Caesar's nephew, Octavius, who is forced into exile after Caesar's murder, and a fictional disgraced gladiator, Tyrannus, who has sworn to protect him."
Mmmm...to-ga!
The similarly themed HBO series (Rome) is also still green-lighted, but I smell trouble. Too many changes....
A new season of MONK starts July 8. The show has never been famous for the plausibility or complexity of the storylines. It's the character of Monk that has made it work up until now...but it's starting to wear thin. I hope the new season doesn't let me down.
Seems like everyone I know is watching STARGATE SG-1, so they'll all be glad to know the new season starts July 15, as does the new season of STARGATE ATLANTIS.
The only summer comedy that appeals to me is THE COMEBACK, starring Lisa Kudrow.
"....Valerie Cherish, a former "B-list" sitcom star so desperate for the spotlight that she agrees to star in a reality television show called "The Comeback," with cameras following her every move as she lands a part on a new network sitcom. Totally scripted, THE COMEBACK explores the madness of television, a Beverly Hills lifestyle, and the bravery of a comic-tragic 40-year-old woman who is slowly sinking."
CRIMSON FORCE might be a good miniseries, but that "team of astronauts stranded on Mars" thing has been done so often already.
I know I'd find it hard to resist JULES VERNE'S THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. Kyle MacLachlan and Patrick Stewart.
I knew it had to happen...someone just couldn't resist the whole Jurassic Park thing. ATTACK OF THE SABRETOOTH is it.
Should the mood for something sci-fi-goth overtake me, I might try BLOODSUCKERS.
"...high-tech adventure about intergalactic vampire-hunters."
Saturday, July 30, on SciFi. Must remember.
So much for the summer. What's on schedule, so far, for the fall?
Looks like David Boreanaz is on Fox's Bones. Another CSI knock-off.
Sadly, it also looks like the SciFi Channel's planned revival of Quantum Leap is a no-go.
Hey, hey! THE NIGHT STALKER is being revived by Frank Spotnitz. I like the look of the lead, Stuart Townsend. Yum. Slated for Thursdays next season.
Stockard Channing, Kelsey Grammar, Henry Winkler in a show about a family of single doctors? FLESH AND BLOOD (Formerly, "Out of Practice" which was a much better title.) I dunno....
That's about all that really struck my eye.
That's me. Double-bad. I've been back in town for three days and haven't posted a single thing!
I was going to write up my trip, but as long as McSwain! has done it already, I don't see why I should duplicate the effort. Read hers and you know my trip.
Except, of course, that I was in different airports, where I never looked at the artwork because I don't do that sort of thing and anyhow I had tight connections. And I was lucky enough to have empty seats beside me on my flights. And no Customs.
And I'm a snob, so running into snobby people doesn't phase me and I'm too old and far too egocentric to allow strangers to shout at me (or care if they do).
Also, I'm pretty sure her story about Chihuly was a lie. She tells a lot of whoppers.
Me, I was underwhelmed by said sculpture, but I'm not a big modern art fan. I huge glob o'glass looks like...a huge glob o'glass to me.
She's right about Amity swindling us out of Karaoke Bowling, though. It was a deliberate plan. What I can't figure is how Amity knew, even without hearing us, how badly all of us sing?
(McSwain! is always indignant when she's carded, and she always gets carded. She looks about 18 and has ever since I've known her.)
But those bowling scores are a total lie. McSwain! only got 62. And I got TWENTY-six, okay? I was totally into double-digits.
I do have to mention that watching that group bowl was an education.
That's all I'm sayin'.
Also? The commencement ceremony? It was not anywhere nearly cold enough to freeze a monkey's brass whatsits. Those slackers parked themselves in chairs with a Scenic View and refused to move for three hours.
Those of us who sacrificed our comfort to stand for three hours, thus enabling ourselves to snap (admittedly, lousy) shots of Amity cruising along gowned and capped, were plenty warm. Especially since we were standing at the back of the crowd, right beside the coffee urns. And close to the bathrooms.
And with a good view of the many and varied horrendous fashion faux pas passing by. I swear, if there was ever a group that needed the services of the Fashion Police, that group was the one.
One woman was wearing leopardskin boots with three inch stiletto heels, a "handkerchief" skirt, the hem of which barely covered her butt in one place, and some kind of PleaseCFM blouse that time has, thankfully, erased from my memory.
Another girl was wearing a very attractive little two-piece suit, very appropriate for the occasion. Less appropriate was her headgear - a baseball cap worn backwards.
McSwain! also failed to mention that a major theme of Kaufman's speech was about how college kids shouldn't run up credit card debt. I'm sure those graduating with $20,000 in student loans will be grateful for the financial advice.
(We did, in fact, spend a fair amount of time designing The Perfect Monument for McSwain! one day during the trip. I'm one of those who thinks it's good to get these things settled and known by all.)
Otherwise?
Anyone who orders macaroni-and-cheese topped with fishcakes deserves what they get. My most memorable Connecticut Meal was at the Shack in the casino. I had a lobster roll and it was fabulous. Given any encouragement at all, I'd have eaten at least three more of them.
I notice that the whole, ugly Rick(y) Schroeder incident got left out of her recital, too, but it's not for me to share someone else's secrets.
That cow she bought was excellent. Totally. People will be standing in line for it. That thing with wanting to pet the live cows was just weird, though.
Posted by AnneZook at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)I'm a Bad Blogger. I just realized I haven't posted a thing since my, "I'm home!" note.
Well, I'm leaving again. The car is picking me up at 5:00 tomorrow morning, so I can catch a 6:30 flight to Connecticut.
I'll be back in town Tuesday evening, so no blogging until then.
Everyone be good, happy, and safe!
Posted by AnneZook at 07:20 PM | Comments (1)I remember the days when I'd have dashed to the blog to announce my homecoming within hours of stepping inside my own front door. Nowadays, I figure anyone who cares where I am probably already knows. (Nowadays I figure not that many people actually care.)
Still. I'm making the formal announcement now. I'm home from the wilds of Missouri.
The business part of the trip went just fine. I don't think I picked up any C&W cooties from being in Branson and the dreaded two-lane, bumper-to-bumper highway traffic has been replaced by an expansive, divided 4-lane highway that I cruised smoothly down in record time.
The Familial Visit also went well. Had a chance to visit with my mother and spend a little time with most of her siblings.
Saturday I spent with her and my siblings (and their ramifications). My brother (and his wife) came down for a couple of hours on Saturday. I saw him about a year-and-a-half ago but I haven't seen her in many years.
My Lives-in-Kansas-Sister came down with her two girls, both of whom are astonishingly beautiful, well-behaved, and intelligent. I don't know where they get it from, the four of us were all Wild Kids, but my L-i-K-S is raising amazingly civilized and loveable girls. One assumes she began by deciding they wouldn't be allowed to act the way she did when she was young. (Joking. Mostly.)
I'm happy to report that the I.C. and my frequent hot flashes provided amusement for all during the course of the weekend. (Family can be such a mixed blessing.)
Of course, my mother's generation all went through it years ago, so my experience inspired them to sharing stories of their own travails. My L-i-K-S has yet to embark on this latest adventure and had little to contribute. Her oldest, Rapunzel (so-named for her beautiful hair and even more beautiful disposition) was also restrained.
On the other hand, her sister, Pippi Longstocking (so named for her infectious charm and winning smile), found the entire thing absolutely hysterically funny. Every time I broke into a sweat, Pippi broke into a cascade of giggles. It was worth having hot flashes to hear her laugh.
It was a short visit but for some inexplicable reason, I came home exhausted. No doubt it has something to do with the I.C. (I plan to start blaming it for everything from now on. Things I should do and don't. Calls I should make, but forget. Floors I should mop but ignore.) I arrived home Sunday, unpacked, sat down to read and relax for a while, and nearly fell asleep twice. Hence the lack of blogging.
While I had a good time visiting, there's really no substitute for the comfort of your own home, is there?
Yesterday evening I undertook the mammoth task of fighting my way through to the goblin castle to rescue...I mean contacting tech support for my new router to get it and the adaptor up and running. After two hours on-line and two hours on the phone, my new hero, Fred, managed to get all the parts and pieces working and communicating.
But here I am, today! Blogging!
Sadly, I have nothing to say.
Of my evening.
So, last night I decided just to give up and buy new stuff. I bought a new router and a new (plug-in) wireless card, because I don't know which of them was the problem in my original set-up.
$120 and two hours later, I still didn't have wireless. I couldn't get the card to install properly and the new router has a blinking light where there should be a steady one.
Part of this, I should point out, is the manufacturer's fault. The entire world should hire me to write their installation manuals instead of those stupid "experts" they do hire.
They always make unwarranted assumptions about the home-user's level of knowledge, you know? When you give me instructions to set up a wireless for my laptop connection from my PC? Tell me which computer to install which pieces of software on.
Also, telling me at the end of the instructions that I should have had the computer powered off during the entire install process? Will not make a repeat buyer out of me.
I give up. I'll deal with it when I get back to town.
What I need to do is bring the laptop into the office and see if the (original) wireless card is actually working. That will tell me if the problem was in the card or the router.
I never wanted to know this much about computers, okay? In Anne's World, you should be able to pay a little man to come over and fix things when they go wrong.
I have at least twenty things that must be done here in the office, before I leave town, so naturally I'm sitting here blogging my evening instead of working.
Lynnzo handed me a humongous DS story last night, to read when I get back to town. It will have to wait until I finish running through the Sentinel eps, though. I'm never going to get this story finished if I distract my brain with DS at this point. The Sentinel isn't a major story, and it's not going to be that long, but I'm determined to write it. (Of course, I was determined to write the OaT story, too. And look what happened with that?)
I miss you already, and I'm not even leaving for another 24 hours!
Posted by AnneZook at 01:18 PM | Comments (2)Okay, it's cold and gray for like the fifth day in a row and it's starting to affect my disposition.
Yesterday I was bustling around, doing bits of chores (kitchen floor, bathroom floor, dusting, etc.) and one of the things I did was to renew the virus software and download the latest windows updates on the PC. Ten minute later, the PC was up-to-date, but my wireless was no longer working and I couldn't get online with my laptop.
Four hours later, after being repeatedly bounced between the manufacturer of the router and the manufacturer of the laptop...it still wasn't working. I uninstalled things, reverted to earlier versions, soft-booted things, hard-booted them, reset things, changed other things. Finally, my cell phone battery gave out and I gave up.
I'll buy a new router. It's easier than trying to figure out what's wrong with this one. (But first, I'm going to haul the laptop in to the office tomorrow and see if it will connect to our wireless network here.)
Needless to say, that was not how I'd intended to spend my Sunday afternoon.
I also didn't intend to spend part of my weekend in a barrage of e-mails with a new web designer. I finally gave up on the company that designed my other blog (I've been trying to get them to fix some problems since January) and hired someone new. He found a lot more problems with the site than I (or he) anticipated at first, but after he gets them corrected, the site will load a lot faster and I won't always be getting error messages when I try to rebuild.
Sigh. It was cold and gray and snowy all weekend and I didn't even get to huddle down with my story file and do some writing to distract me from it. That's very sad.
I've put on five pounds and I’m back on the diet.
Wednesday I have to go to Missouri.
I am just so grouchy.