Close Encounters with Palin Phreaks

Its FREEZING outside today! Well, not quite freezing, as in less than 32 degrees, but really, truly cold! Truth be told it was pretty chilly yesterday, too, and there was rain. The weather caused a funny moment at the museum yesterday. The very small city park located one block behind the museum was the site of a rally for John McCain, starring everyone's favorite Tina Fey impersonator - Sarah Palin!! My assumption is that the McCain/Palin camp knew they wouldn't be able to fill a huge stadium or any of the larger municipal parks in this town, so they chose a small patch of grass that would make the crowd that did show up look a bit bigger than it was. So all morning, we were subjected to blaring music (if I hear Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 one more time I might scream) being blasted from house-sized speakers, and a whole swarm of red-clothed rally-goers who wanted to use our bathroom. Then at almost the precise moment that Palin took the stage, the heavens opened up, and rain poured down, accompanied by gusting wind and those frigid temperatures. It was great! It felt like divine retribution. A few minutes later, the front door of the museum swung open and in walked a middle-aged woman wearing a red cowboy hat, red leather boots, and a T-shirt loudly proclaiming that she was a "Palin Phreak". Myself and the rest of my staff were all standing in the hallway chatting, as we had no other visitors. Our newly arrived Palin Phreak looked at us and said, "Well can I get a tour or what?" to which one of my more liberal tour guides immediately replied, "Absolutely ma'am, come right this way." Now, I knew right away this was a bad combination, but I let it go - maybe I was feeling a little devilish. Half an hour later, the visitor and my guide were heard arguing rather heatedly in one of the back exhibit galleries, and a minute later the cowboy hat came marching back into the hallway, its owner practically shouting about her pasionate devotion to McCain and Palin and all things Republican. My tour guide was close on her heels, and she asked the woman, "Then what are you doing in here - the rally's across the street!" The woman gave the guide a look like she had antenna growing out of her head or something and responded, "To hell with that - its raining out there!". So much for the dedication of Republicans to their candidate.

Thank God there are only 7 days left...

And the Winner is...

Not Miss M!! Not Miss B! But rather Miss G!!!! Yes, it was over a week ago now, but in case you haven't heard Kenley DID NOT win Project Runway. Nor did Korto. So neither B or I guessed correctly. G, however, made the point that Leighann's clothing has a very sleek, modern, architectural look that is very appealing. In the end, G proved once again that she does have fabulous taste! And I have to admit, after seeing the final 3's Fashion Week collections go by on the season finale, I was somewhat disappointed in Kenley's. She strayed from her vintage roots, and it just wasn't so wow. So, that's that. Will we ever get to enjoy another season of Project Runway ridiculousness again? Well, as Bravo and Lifetime are currently duking it out over the rights to the show, its future is a little uncertain... Here's hoping cooler, fabulous heads prevail1

In other TV news (can you tell what's been dominating my time lately?) the new Christian Slater show is now in week 2. Christian Slater looks hot. Really, really hot. But otherwise, I still spend most of the show thoroughly confused about what's going on. Christian Slater plays two characters - Henry, who's a suburban dad, and Edward who's a CIA-type operative. Henry is really adorable and sweet. Edward is, well, kinda scary. There's torture. There's bombs and stuff. I don't know - I'll stay in it for seeing Christian Slater at least!

Also last week, the show "Crusoe" premiered, and I have to say that I really liked it! I have hopes that this one will stick around for a while...

Home Ec Smack-Down!

So Miss B doesn't agree with my Project Runway pick. Hmmm. This could be the biggest smack-down we've had since the famous Michael Jackson watch blow-out of '86, or perhaps the Renee vs. Grenee throw down of '87ish. Or not. Like I said I'm a little eh on Project Runway this season. However, I have to defend Kenley. Yes, she is, um, abrasive, but if this is really a competition about fashion design then she has to be the winner. Korto (is that really how you spell it?? if it is, someone needs to tell Heidi she's saying wrong!) does make interesting stuff, but I just don't get it sometimes! I mean that wedding dress - what was going on there? I would understand if she just went with the African-inspired theme, but very rarely does any of her stuff actually turn out that way. She always says it does, but really? And I'm the first to admit that I might be siding with Kenley because no one else on the show is. My UnderDog complex always kicks in when I see someone being ganged up upon (okay, grammar? or sentence structure? I have no idea how to phrase what I just said there). Jerrell, Leighann and Korto totally ganged up on Kenley, and she got defensive. I also think that incident with Tim Gunn was edited to increase the drama.

So, Miss B, we'll see who's cuisine reigns supreme after tomorrow night (that's the tag line from Iron Chef America - I thought I'd try to mix up my reality TV.)

Fall 2008 Television Round-up

Well, its hard to believe, but the fall TV season officially got underway 5 weeks ago! While I don't think we're quite at the mid-season point yet (that's when all the networks summarily yank a bunch of shows that you've been cultivating an interest in and replace them with a whole bunch of crap that wasn't good enough to make it into the first round of TV premieres) I feel the need to summarize the season thus far - perhaps more for my benefit than anyone else's interest. I find that I have a hard time keeping track of all my shows, especially since somehow this year almost all of my shows are on Monday nights in a 2-hour time range. Not having a working VCR, a DVR or Tivo, this presents problem. Anyway, here's what I think about my admittedly odd assortment of TV shows:

Prison Break: The ex-cons are still a good-looking bunch of guys, and the (finally!) budding romance between Michael and Sarah is great. But in all seriousness, why can't these guys just be done with breaking into and out of things?? I'm afraid the story lines are getting a bit predictable and boring. Although, I think when you initially create a new TV show and name it Prison Break, you might be creating a self-limiting story line. On the other hand, Michael's nose bleed thing intrigues me, especially in light of Lincoln's recent statement that when Michael had nosebleeds as a 13 year old, they were an indicator of some serious health issue. Hmmm. Maybe this condition will require the guys to break into a hospital...

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: This one is the show I would have guessed I'd be least into - I was NOT fan of the Terminator movies (in fact I've never seen them) and a lot of stuff blows up and quite a few people die pretty horribly. However, I am a sucker for stories that have a background story and a mystery, and each week you get another part of the puzzle. So this whole John Connor/time travel/world-wide apocalypse/Brain Austin Greene thing has hooked me. I really do look forward to this show every week.

Heroes: When this show first premiered a couple of years ago I LOVED it! Again, its not something I would have normally gotten into (its based a comic book. yeah, exactly.) but again the overarching mystery has me hooked. Last season got completely trashed by the writers' strike - it didn't make any sense and it was all smooshed together. This year I'm still pretty much confused by it all, but I'm enjoying the confusion. The best part is that at the end of last week, Hiro and Ando dug up Adam Monroe, which I assume means that that character will be returning to the show. Adam Monroe is played by David Anders. David Anders played the gorgeous but evil Sark on Alias, and I have never quite gotten over the fact that Alias was cancelled. To this day, I believe that had the show gone on for another season, it would have been revealed that Sark and Sydney were syblings. But anyway, Sark is on Heroes and that makes me incredibly happy!

Dancing With the Stars: Dear God, Cloris Leachman is still on the show. Really, what else is there to say??

Project Runway: Actually, this show is almost over for the year. The finale is coming up on Wednesday. I'm kinda eh about it. I like Kenley's clothes. I hope she wins, but if she doesn't I don't really care. I might not be the target audience for this show, though. My favorite part of every season is when they have to make an outfit out of produce. Its great just for laughs. However, they didn't have to do that this year, so it just wasn't the same for me.

Survivor, Gabon: There is something really wrong with that kid who's name might be Charlie, and is currently in an alliance with another guy who's name might be Marcus. I never know anyone's names at this point in the season. Anyway Charlie seems to have developed a serious stalker-esque crush on Marcus. That can only turn into serious reality drama before too long! Otherwise, I'm rooting for Bob. He was way too emaciated when the game started. and now he's literally a walking skeleton. Plus he's old. No one old ever does well on Survivor and so far he's doing really, really well!

Life on Mars: I've only seen one episode of this so far, and it was good. Not great, but good. I'm going to continue giving it a chance for a few more weeks.

Desperate Housewives: Neal McDonnough always plays the crazy guy. Anytime you see his name on a cast list, its like "Oh, this show must have a crazy person in it". And this season of DH is no different. Neal plays Dave, Edie's new husband. And apparently he's just been released from a mental institution. Well, that's not going to go well. Also, this fast-forward 5 years into the future was a little disconcerting at first, but now its hardly an issue at all. Except for the continuity questions, like if they moved forward 5 years in the story, is it now 2012 on DH, or were they in 2003 last season and have now fast forwarded to the present? In the end, it doesn't matter, but it kinda bothers me.

Brothers and Sisters: I love this show! I love everyone on it, and even though the stories tend to be a little repetitive, I just love the Walker family too much to not watch it! Kevin and Scotty are adorable together, and even though Justin and Rebecca kind of grossed me out initially, I think they're pretty funny too. This is another one that I really do look forward to each week.

I feel like I might be missing a couple, but in general that's my take on 2008 TV. Tonight (and of course its Monday) the Christian Slater show premiers, so I'll have to check that out. Stay tuned for a review of it next time...

Ouch!

So, for about a week I've been hobbling around like a little old lady because I totally threw my back out last week during the brutal fight to get my cats in their carriers prior to the Cricket Massacre. I kept telling myself that it would get better on its own. I've hurt my back several times over the years (its genetic - my dad has back issues, too) and its ALWAYS gotten better on its own after a few days. Well, not this time. It just wasn't getting any better and I was looking more and more pathetic. That's when it hit me: Oh my God, I'm getting old! My muscles and bones aren't springing back like they used to, I need actual medical help to get better!

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Yep, its true. So, I sucked it up and went to the doctor for the first time in 2 years and got some serious pain killers and muscle relaxants. I took my first dose this morning, and let me tell you I was completely loopy for the rest of the day! I think my interns thought I'd lost it. We were doing some object handling in the storage room for a while, and I kept referring to this 200 year old teacup as a plate. Then I asked one of them 4 times in the course of about 10 minutes where I had put my notebook, and it was sitting on the desk in front of me. Once the drugs wore off, I decided against a second dose. Clearly, I'm not ready for narcotic painkillers.

Anyway, the point of this ramble (which might have been affected by some residual drugs) is that my 30's are looming on the horizon, and I'm not so sure I like it!

Lists

After my last post that was basically one long whine-fest, I've decided to discuss something a little lighter this evening. I noticed today at the museum that at one point I had 3 separate to-do lists going, and at the time I noticed I was in the process of writing a 4th one. Huh. In fact, once I stopped to think about it, I had several to-do lists from past days stuffed in the pockets of my work purse, a couple magnetted (new word) to my fridge at home, and at least a few dozen other types of lists cataloging everything from "stuff I need to purchase for the Fall '08 wardrobe" to "home improvement projects I would do if I owned a house". I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the way I've become a LIST-MAKER.

Now, my dear childhood friend BD will tell you that I was most definitely NOT a list-writer as a kid. BD was the list person back then - whenever we disagreed over what to do for fun on a Saturday afternoon, she would magically produce paper and pens and make everyone in attendance list, in descending order, the things they would like to do. Then everyone would read their's out loud and we would vote. At the time, I hated this list-making excercise, but in all honesty it usually worked. In hearing everyone's lists and rationale for their choices, we came up with some pretty cool stuff to occupy our time (how many of you out there can say that you actually played in the local dump?) Perhaps BD's childhood wisdom made an impression, because I am now most definitely a follower of the listing philosophy.

Sadly, I can't say that all of my various lists have made me any more organized or any more efficient in my daily life. I know what I need to get done, I just very rarely actually accomplish it. Still, the act of checking something off a list is pure satisfaction - especially when its something you've been putting off forever and ever. So, tonight I'm going to sign off and pay bills. That's been on my list for way, way too long...

P.S. Congrats on your anniversary BD! The house looks great...