"Presto, I'm a dancin' fool!"
Dec. 25th, 2006 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieMerry Christmas...Ballroom? The local PBS station decided to air footage from the open pro finals of Ohio Star Ball tonight, so of course, I had to watch. I think it was this year's, although possibly it was from 2005. There was lots of good stuff. There was of course the two twelve-year-olds who did a better Quickstep than I could ever hope to achieve in my life, and then a seventeen- and eighteen-year-old who did the most fabulous Jive (these were both exhibitions). One of the Latin finalist couples did a Samba showdance that was awesome. Lots of energy, and for once the costume added rather than detracted--the woman was in a shirt and a pair of pants(!) with gold fringe all over them, and of course the in-and-out movement of the abdomen made it all shake and look really cool.
For their second showdance, the American Smooth winners--who are from Nashville, of all places--did what was technically a Viennese Waltz, but they used music from Gladiator that seemed much more of a Tango mood. Hmmm. It was nifty, but a bit unsettling at the same time. In the They Wuz Robbed!!! department, my favorites in the Standard competition came in third. So sad. Their frame was head and shoulders (heh) above everyone else's. Like, I usually don't notice that so much, and I noticed theirs. They moved sooo smoothly, too. And they did a Foxtrot for their showdance, when they could choose any Standard rhythm, and hell, for that alone I'd give them extra points; International Foxtrot is hard. But I suppose the winners were good, too; they did a Tango/Foxtrot that was faintly reminiscent of the Matrix routine I saw the one year I went to OSB. It was nifty.
*
I am, er, thirteen episodes into my NX S5 DVDs. Self-control? What's that?
I'd forgotten that this was the Season of Bad Hair. Well, for the first several episodes, anyway. Rob Morrow should not cut his hair so that it's long in the front and short in the back ever again. Ow. No. Fleischman's charaterization of it as "perky" notwithstanding, Janine Turner's hair was in a truly awkward growing out stage before finally settling down around episode ten. Chris had a very ill-advised beard for far too many episodes, and Ed, well...I liked his hair better when it was long, but not touching his shoulders. Ah, well.
In addition to rediscovering "Rosebud" last night, today I found "Cup of Joe," which, despite the title having no connection to any of the three plotlines, was also quite good. "Baby Blues" continued the trend of good eps, including a particularly funny dream sequence for Shelly in which she meets "famous moms"--Alexander the Great's mother, Queen Victoria, Medea--the one who killed all her kids--and Mother Nature, played by a hilariously sarcastic young black woman. "Mr. Sandman" was as good as I remember--John Cullum delivers a few particularly moving lines about how he's been so afraid of turning into his villanous father, he'd forgotten that he could be a kind and caring parent like his mother--and of course there's "Mite Makes Right." I was hoping for a deleted scene in that one which would explain why Joel so randomly asks Maggie out, but no dice. That's always confused me--they both seem so intractable and sort of set in their ways of relating to each other, that there ought to have been some important event that precipitated this change in their relationship. *shrug* Maybe it's good fodder for fanfic? Anyway, it's a nice episode nevertheless, and the dust mite in Maggie's dream cracks me up every time. Although there is also that ambiguous scene during the date in which she and joel are separated by the gulf of the kitchen island, and talking about clean slates, and it all gives rise to the horrifying thought that the mess that is the sixth season may actually have been planned...but I can't think that. Not and say sane.
"Heal Thyself" was execrable, but there's always one bad apple. Although I do sort of like Ed's little green low self-esteem demon. Not enough to save the ep, though.
For their second showdance, the American Smooth winners--who are from Nashville, of all places--did what was technically a Viennese Waltz, but they used music from Gladiator that seemed much more of a Tango mood. Hmmm. It was nifty, but a bit unsettling at the same time. In the They Wuz Robbed!!! department, my favorites in the Standard competition came in third. So sad. Their frame was head and shoulders (heh) above everyone else's. Like, I usually don't notice that so much, and I noticed theirs. They moved sooo smoothly, too. And they did a Foxtrot for their showdance, when they could choose any Standard rhythm, and hell, for that alone I'd give them extra points; International Foxtrot is hard. But I suppose the winners were good, too; they did a Tango/Foxtrot that was faintly reminiscent of the Matrix routine I saw the one year I went to OSB. It was nifty.
*
I am, er, thirteen episodes into my NX S5 DVDs. Self-control? What's that?
I'd forgotten that this was the Season of Bad Hair. Well, for the first several episodes, anyway. Rob Morrow should not cut his hair so that it's long in the front and short in the back ever again. Ow. No. Fleischman's charaterization of it as "perky" notwithstanding, Janine Turner's hair was in a truly awkward growing out stage before finally settling down around episode ten. Chris had a very ill-advised beard for far too many episodes, and Ed, well...I liked his hair better when it was long, but not touching his shoulders. Ah, well.
In addition to rediscovering "Rosebud" last night, today I found "Cup of Joe," which, despite the title having no connection to any of the three plotlines, was also quite good. "Baby Blues" continued the trend of good eps, including a particularly funny dream sequence for Shelly in which she meets "famous moms"--Alexander the Great's mother, Queen Victoria, Medea--the one who killed all her kids--and Mother Nature, played by a hilariously sarcastic young black woman. "Mr. Sandman" was as good as I remember--John Cullum delivers a few particularly moving lines about how he's been so afraid of turning into his villanous father, he'd forgotten that he could be a kind and caring parent like his mother--and of course there's "Mite Makes Right." I was hoping for a deleted scene in that one which would explain why Joel so randomly asks Maggie out, but no dice. That's always confused me--they both seem so intractable and sort of set in their ways of relating to each other, that there ought to have been some important event that precipitated this change in their relationship. *shrug* Maybe it's good fodder for fanfic? Anyway, it's a nice episode nevertheless, and the dust mite in Maggie's dream cracks me up every time. Although there is also that ambiguous scene during the date in which she and joel are separated by the gulf of the kitchen island, and talking about clean slates, and it all gives rise to the horrifying thought that the mess that is the sixth season may actually have been planned...but I can't think that. Not and say sane.
"Heal Thyself" was execrable, but there's always one bad apple. Although I do sort of like Ed's little green low self-esteem demon. Not enough to save the ep, though.
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-26 10:00 pm (UTC)Btw, I am now officially hooked on the new Doctor Who. Cackling may begin now. How many episodes of the new DW are available? I have 1x01-1x13, 2x01-2x10 and a couple of Xmas specials. I have resources, but am checking what I should be looking for... Yeah, so in trouble. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-26 11:42 pm (UTC)Muahahaha.
Btw, I am now officially hooked on the new Doctor Who. Cackling may begin now.
*cackles obligingly*
You seem to need the last three episodes of season two, and then you'll be done, assuming you have the latest Christmas special. (One day this week, I'll get around to watching that...) Season Three starts around Easter.
Now we just need to get you hooked on Old Who. And the audios! Eight and Charley are the good crack. *g*
no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 02:17 am (UTC)Sweet, thanks. I foresee a DW marathon in my future.
Now we just need to get you hooked on Old Who. And the audios! Eight and Charley are the good crack. *g*
Hee. I did watch it on PBS as a kid, but mostly saw Four. How cracky are we talkin'? ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-27 07:05 am (UTC)Well, cracky as in a monster made entirely of sound in one of the audios (that's my favorite, but more for the 'ship than anything else...).
And the old TV eps had even more fabulous monsters, like the one made out of spray-painted bubble wrap in "Ark in Space," or the evil snake that gets in Tegan's brain, or the Loch Ness Monster. Oh, and there's the Nimon, which...I'll just quote from a post I made about that this summer:
"I...dude. The end of part two? Where the Nimon goes everywhere with his arms held out for balance because he's tottering around on platform shoes of at least six inches, possibly more? And he has a papier-mache head with plastic horns that were obviously purchased from Pound-Stretcher or something stuck to it and is wearing, I believe, black pantyhose on his arms and a gold lame loincloth? And then he shoots lasers from his horns? COMEDY. GOLD."
Crack, crack, crack! But if you're into audio plays at all, or even if you're not, check out the Eight 'n' Charley stuff. Start with "The Chimes of Midnight," as it's probably the best, and it's seasonally-appropriate, too!