Burn Notice: "Shock Wave"
Jul. 26th, 2012 09:18 pmAfter a season that's been stuck between "eh" and "watchable," Burn Notice finally got the lead out and turned out a really good episode!
( Spoilers )
( Spoilers )
Many things make a post
May. 16th, 2012 12:40 pmInternets! It feels like I've been gone from you for ages, but I suppose I haven't. I've been spending my time reading Paul Murray's Skippy Dies, which was quite good. Admittedly, the first 300 pages (of 650) were a barely-interesting-enough-to-continue slog, but after I got through them, it got excellent. It's also pretty funny in places. ( A few spoilers. )
In short,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gamesiplay and rowdycamels, I think both of you would like this book, though perhaps for different reasons.
*
I recently read the following description for a sitcom that will be airing on ABC next season. I thought there was no way it could be real. Surely someone slipped it into the list of new shows as a little joke. Here, do you believe this is actually going to air on TV?
It's real. I weep for humanity.
*
Anyway, enough of that. Burn Notice premieres on June 14th! Hooray! Especially since Castle started trying to turn itself into BN, I've been wanting summer to come. I have to admit, I'm not anticipating ( incredibly, incredibly mild spoiler ) but knowing this show, at least Fiona will get to help break her own self out of jail, which is always good.
*
Plans for the rest of today: REVISION. I'm going to have the second draft of my space pilots story done by June 1 or else.
In short,
gamesiplay and rowdycamels, I think both of you would like this book, though perhaps for different reasons.*
I recently read the following description for a sitcom that will be airing on ABC next season. I thought there was no way it could be real. Surely someone slipped it into the list of new shows as a little joke. Here, do you believe this is actually going to air on TV?
How well do you know your neighbors?
Meet the Weavers, Debbie (Jami Gertz) and Marty (Lenny Venito). Marty, in hopes of providing a better life for his wife and three kids, recently bought a home in Hidden Hills, a gated New Jersey townhome community with its own golf course. Hidden Hills is so exclusive that a house hasn’t come on the market in 10 years. But one finally did and the Weavers got it!
It’s clear from day one that the residents of Hidden Hills are a little different. For starters, their new neighbors all have pro-athlete names like Reggie Jackson (Tim Jo), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Toks Olagundoye), Dick Butkis (Ian Patrick) and Larry Bird (Simon Templeman). Over dinner, Marty and his family discover that their neighbors receive nourishment through their eyes by reading books, rather than eating. The Weavers soon learn that the entire community is comprised of aliens from Zabvron, where the men bear children and everyone cries green goo from their ears.
The Zabvronians have been stationed on Earth for the past 10 years, disguised as humans, awaiting instructions from home, and the Weavers are the first humans they’ve had the opportunity to know. As it turns out, the pressures of marriage and parenthood are not exclusive to planet Earth. Two worlds will collide with hilarious consequences as everyone discovers they can “totally relate” and learn a lot from each other.
It's real. I weep for humanity.
*
Anyway, enough of that. Burn Notice premieres on June 14th! Hooray! Especially since Castle started trying to turn itself into BN, I've been wanting summer to come. I have to admit, I'm not anticipating ( incredibly, incredibly mild spoiler ) but knowing this show, at least Fiona will get to help break her own self out of jail, which is always good.
*
Plans for the rest of today: REVISION. I'm going to have the second draft of my space pilots story done by June 1 or else.
Music, Burn Notice, Christmas
Nov. 18th, 2011 02:58 pmOver the past week, I bought fifteen Christmas ornaments (all the stores I went to had sales!). One is an adorable straw porcupine (its spines are twigs), one is a glass ball with a snowflake etched on it, one is an egg, and the other twelve are birds. Because I didn't have enough last year, obviously.
I might have an addiction.
Anyway, while I'm here, have a link to my favorite Christmas song: "Darlin' (Christmas Is Coming)," by Over the Rhine.
In fact, have many links to music, because I haven't done a music recs post in a while. This is what I've been listening to lately.
Maria Taylor
You may know her as part of Azure Ray. Her lyrics...don't make a lot of sense, but I like the space between folk and pop where she tends to hang out.
100,000 Times (My favorite of these.)
Time Lapse Lifeline
Cartoons and Forever Plans
Peter Bradley Adams
He's a perennial favorite of mine, and while I wasn't looking, he released a new album. IMO, it's his best so far. Some favorite tracks:
Be Still My Heart (I love the chorus.)
Full Moon Song (It's almost a kid's song, but not exactly. Very fun.)
Between Us (Purty.)
London Bridge Is Falling Down (Takes some of the lyrics from the kids song, but an entirely different tune. It reminds me somewhat of Loreena McKennitt's long settings of poems, but even mellower.)
Karine Polwart
I know, I rec her practically every other time I do this. But...so pretty!
I've Seen It All (Sad, but awesome.)
Don't Know Why
Eric Whitacre
Five Hebrew Love Songs (I'm linking to the album here because it's five tracks. My favorite is the fourth one, "Eyze Sheleg!")
*
And finally, a couple thoughts on last night's Burn Notice:
( Necessary Evil )
I might have an addiction.
Anyway, while I'm here, have a link to my favorite Christmas song: "Darlin' (Christmas Is Coming)," by Over the Rhine.
In fact, have many links to music, because I haven't done a music recs post in a while. This is what I've been listening to lately.
Maria Taylor
You may know her as part of Azure Ray. Her lyrics...don't make a lot of sense, but I like the space between folk and pop where she tends to hang out.
100,000 Times (My favorite of these.)
Time Lapse Lifeline
Cartoons and Forever Plans
Peter Bradley Adams
He's a perennial favorite of mine, and while I wasn't looking, he released a new album. IMO, it's his best so far. Some favorite tracks:
Be Still My Heart (I love the chorus.)
Full Moon Song (It's almost a kid's song, but not exactly. Very fun.)
Between Us (Purty.)
London Bridge Is Falling Down (Takes some of the lyrics from the kids song, but an entirely different tune. It reminds me somewhat of Loreena McKennitt's long settings of poems, but even mellower.)
Karine Polwart
I know, I rec her practically every other time I do this. But...so pretty!
I've Seen It All (Sad, but awesome.)
Don't Know Why
Eric Whitacre
Five Hebrew Love Songs (I'm linking to the album here because it's five tracks. My favorite is the fourth one, "Eyze Sheleg!")
*
And finally, a couple thoughts on last night's Burn Notice:
( Necessary Evil )
Several things make a post.
Nov. 2nd, 2011 09:21 pm1. I discovered a really good gyros place near my house. OM NOM NOM. They use ranch dressing instead of tzatziki, which never occurred to me but is delicious. Also the meat is really good, and they use incredibly tasty tabouleh as one of the toppings.
2. I went to Radnor Lake today and saw a deer! Sadly, I only got one halfway-decent shot of her, and the rest were of deer butt. Nevertheless, wildlife! I took about 120 pictures total and haven't managed to sort through them yet, but once I do, I'll put them up.
3. Burn Notice returns tomorrow night! I had sort of forgotten they even had a winter season, so this is an unexpected bonus for my week!
4. Apparently Jamie Bamber is going to be guest-starring on Body of Proof as a love interest for Megan starting late this month. I was never a fan of Lee (as I recall, he was the one character I consistently thought BSG could do without), but it was more the character's fault than Bamber's, so this should be...interesting. Also, quid pro quo since Dana Delany guest-starred in an S2 episode of BSG? Anyway, please please please, show, have Ethan make a reference to his amazing resemblance to a certain Viper pilot, or some kind of joke that plays on his BSG background!
5. Fringe Friday in two days! Things I am hoping this episode addresses or includes: ( under a cut; all speculation, no spoilers )
Relatedly, news from the scheduling front: counting this week, only three episodes are going to air this month before the EIGHT-WEEK HIATUS ARGH until January 13th. This means episode eight, the original fall finale, won't air until January. On the one hand, it's certainly going to be a cliffhanger, and this way, we'll only have to wait a week for the resolution instead of eight or nine weeks. I might have a shred of sanity left by the end of the hiatus. On the other hand, from the title alone I am expecting big things from that episode, and now I will just have two more months to build up unreasonable expectations. (Granted, only once or twice has Fringe failed to live up to my expectations, but still.)
2. I went to Radnor Lake today and saw a deer! Sadly, I only got one halfway-decent shot of her, and the rest were of deer butt. Nevertheless, wildlife! I took about 120 pictures total and haven't managed to sort through them yet, but once I do, I'll put them up.
3. Burn Notice returns tomorrow night! I had sort of forgotten they even had a winter season, so this is an unexpected bonus for my week!
4. Apparently Jamie Bamber is going to be guest-starring on Body of Proof as a love interest for Megan starting late this month. I was never a fan of Lee (as I recall, he was the one character I consistently thought BSG could do without), but it was more the character's fault than Bamber's, so this should be...interesting. Also, quid pro quo since Dana Delany guest-starred in an S2 episode of BSG? Anyway, please please please, show, have Ethan make a reference to his amazing resemblance to a certain Viper pilot, or some kind of joke that plays on his BSG background!
5. Fringe Friday in two days! Things I am hoping this episode addresses or includes: ( under a cut; all speculation, no spoilers )
Relatedly, news from the scheduling front: counting this week, only three episodes are going to air this month before the EIGHT-WEEK HIATUS ARGH until January 13th. This means episode eight, the original fall finale, won't air until January. On the one hand, it's certainly going to be a cliffhanger, and this way, we'll only have to wait a week for the resolution instead of eight or nine weeks. I might have a shred of sanity left by the end of the hiatus. On the other hand, from the title alone I am expecting big things from that episode, and now I will just have two more months to build up unreasonable expectations. (Granted, only once or twice has Fringe failed to live up to my expectations, but still.)
This week's TV
Jul. 22nd, 2011 08:20 pmThe shows I watch all had fairly blah outings this week. Boo. Very short thoughts on all of them follow:
( Rizzoli & Isles )
( Burn Notice )
( Warehouse 13 )
While I'm here, have two links:
Hipster Star Trek - Sadly not updated recently and only has a few macros, but the ones they have are hilarious.
WTF Comcast - Comcast OnDemand listings that are...well...odd.
( Rizzoli & Isles )
( Burn Notice )
( Warehouse 13 )
While I'm here, have two links:
Hipster Star Trek - Sadly not updated recently and only has a few macros, but the ones they have are hilarious.
WTF Comcast - Comcast OnDemand listings that are...well...odd.
Book Reports
Jul. 9th, 2011 12:45 amStop whatever you're doing and go find a copy of John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things. It's part Narnia, part Alice in Wonderland, a bit Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and entirely awesome. Plus it's filled with creepy-ass subversions of fairy tales that will make you shiver with delight. The story itself, aided by the densely descriptive prose, has such a cinematic feel that I'm shocked it hasn't been turned into a movie yet. (Wikipedia informs me that one is in development, but has been so for four years now...hmmm.) My only criticism is that the ending felt the tiniest bit pat, but the rest of the book was so good that I don't even care. Read it. Now. Really.
Slightly less urgent but still worthwhile is Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi. This was hugely popular when it came out earlier this decade, and now I see why. It's hard to describe exactly what's so wonderful about it--maybe I could just say that Nafisi synthesizes her obvious love of literature, teaching, and history, as well as parts of the western canon and of Iranian culture and politics, into something remarkable--but English majors, y'all need to read this.
On the other hand, something immensely popular to run away from is Paul Coelho's The Alchemist. I probably should've been tipped off by the subtitle ("A Fable About Following Your Dreams"), but sadly, I was not. This is a New Agey self-help book poorly disguised as a novel. The characters are stand-ins for ideas, the dialogue is largely made up of long speeches that could have come from some kind of wacky spiritual treatise, and much of what they were saying to each other made me want to beat my head against a wall. However, I did finish the book, for two reasons: it's short, so what did I have to lose but an hour or two, and Coelho's (or more accurately Coelho's and his translator's) language is lovely. He did great things with all the settings. Now if only there had been real characters to move among them.
Finally, something I'm not exactly recommending because I imagine most of you have read it before, but I finally got around to reading Anne of Green Gables last week, only about twenty years late. I'm not quite sure how I missed it as a child, and it's unfortunate that I did, because I would've loved it as a nine-year-old or so.* It is a bit too much of a children's novel to enjoy as wholeheartedly now as I would have then, but I did find Anne and everyone else in it extremely charming. Not quite charming enough to read the rest of the books in the series, but nevertheless.
* Though my favorite fictional redhead would still have to be Pippi Longstocking. Oh, how I wanted to be Annika and have Pippi as a friend when I was seven. Heh, I think even then I knew she was just too exciting to actually want to be.
*
And in completely unrelated news, an entertaining TV production video: "What it takes to walk down a hallway on Burn Notice." No spoilers.
Slightly less urgent but still worthwhile is Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi. This was hugely popular when it came out earlier this decade, and now I see why. It's hard to describe exactly what's so wonderful about it--maybe I could just say that Nafisi synthesizes her obvious love of literature, teaching, and history, as well as parts of the western canon and of Iranian culture and politics, into something remarkable--but English majors, y'all need to read this.
On the other hand, something immensely popular to run away from is Paul Coelho's The Alchemist. I probably should've been tipped off by the subtitle ("A Fable About Following Your Dreams"), but sadly, I was not. This is a New Agey self-help book poorly disguised as a novel. The characters are stand-ins for ideas, the dialogue is largely made up of long speeches that could have come from some kind of wacky spiritual treatise, and much of what they were saying to each other made me want to beat my head against a wall. However, I did finish the book, for two reasons: it's short, so what did I have to lose but an hour or two, and Coelho's (or more accurately Coelho's and his translator's) language is lovely. He did great things with all the settings. Now if only there had been real characters to move among them.
Finally, something I'm not exactly recommending because I imagine most of you have read it before, but I finally got around to reading Anne of Green Gables last week, only about twenty years late. I'm not quite sure how I missed it as a child, and it's unfortunate that I did, because I would've loved it as a nine-year-old or so.* It is a bit too much of a children's novel to enjoy as wholeheartedly now as I would have then, but I did find Anne and everyone else in it extremely charming. Not quite charming enough to read the rest of the books in the series, but nevertheless.
* Though my favorite fictional redhead would still have to be Pippi Longstocking. Oh, how I wanted to be Annika and have Pippi as a friend when I was seven. Heh, I think even then I knew she was just too exciting to actually want to be.
*
And in completely unrelated news, an entertaining TV production video: "What it takes to walk down a hallway on Burn Notice." No spoilers.
Just watched through the latest episode of Burn Notice. More (many more, long and extremely verbose) thoughts later, but OMG OMG OMG FLAIL FLAIL FLAIL THE LAST TWO EPISODES OF S4 AND THE FIRST TWO OF S5 WERE GOLD-PLATED AWESOME!!1!!11!!!eleventy!!!! The last minute of 5x02? THE AWESOME CHERRY ON TOP. A PIECE OF LUMBER WAS NEVER A MORE WONDERFUL SIGHT. *dies*
Burn Notice 4x10 to 4x14
Jul. 2nd, 2011 03:35 pmFirst, a question. Since The Fall of Sam Axe is a prequel, is it absolutely necessary to watch it between S4 and S5? Or can I safely wait until it comes out on DVD? (I don't particularly care if the movie gets spoiled for me by S5, but I don't want to be missing vital info.)
( But you know what always cheers me up? Stealing a chemical weapon from a bunch of crazy South Americans! )
( But you know what always cheers me up? Stealing a chemical weapon from a bunch of crazy South Americans! )
Burn Notice 3x13 to 4x04
Jun. 28th, 2011 11:52 pmI have FINALLY figured out who Jeffrey Donovan (Michael) reminds me of! Well, besides Rob Schneider. But no, really, he looks somewhat like Vincent Ventresca without the crazy hair, and the voiceovers are very reminiscent of Darien Fawkes's on Invisible Man. Plus there's the whole involuntary job-change, fighting crime in novel ways with a team, shared criminal backgrounds... No wonder this show dove straight into my heart!
( Guys, guys! I have a loaded machine pistol in my hand and I have no idea what I'm doing! )
( Guys, guys! I have a loaded machine pistol in my hand and I have no idea what I'm doing! )
Fiona Glenanne and her bad reputation.
Oh, Fiona. You are indeed a woman after my own heart. People who enjoy morally gray women blowing things up should watch this. (Calling![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fallingtowers!)
It's got clips through S3, it looks like, but almost all of them are from the Job of the Week plots and shouldn't be terribly spoily.
Oh, Fiona. You are indeed a woman after my own heart. People who enjoy morally gray women blowing things up should watch this. (Calling
fallingtowers!)It's got clips through S3, it looks like, but almost all of them are from the Job of the Week plots and shouldn't be terribly spoily.
