Revenge "Duress": AKA: Tyler the Bad Ass

So in prep for tonight's Revenge let's take a moment to discuss last week's explosive episode.

We finally got what we all, or at least I, have been waiting for since that very first episode he showed up, Tyler's EPIC meltdown. Major props need to go out to Ashton Holmes by the way for creating a character I almost loved to hate. I love Ashton Holmes and so for him to be able to make me have a vehemenet hatred of one of his roles is a testament to his insane talent. I really hope to see him on my tv again soon.

 His psychotic break couldn't have worked out better for Emily though, it gave her the perfect opportunity to close ip loose ends on the Frank murder. Sure she'd layed the ground work to frame Victoria/Conrad but let's face it Tyler makes a far better patsy, especially after his preformace at Daniel's birthday. Seriously the guy is a dangerous sociopath who's been off his meds, even if he denies it, who's going to believe anything he says?

Though a major plot bunny that was driving me crazy was, were was Nolan's security guy? I realize he got him because of Frank's attack, and now that Frank is dead he may have no longer seen a need for him, but I was pretty sure the guy was around for awhile after Frank's death. So why wasn't he there when Tyler went all stabby on Nolan? Poor Nolan, the whole Revenge plot is Emily's grand plan and yet while her consiquence seems to be that she gets to sleep with the yummy Daniel Grayson, Nolan gets the crap beaten out of him on several occasions. Not cool.

Also I am dissapointed that the had Nolan admit to of haven "fallen" for Tyler, as opposed to have just slept with him to blackmail him later, which is truely a testiment to just how lonely he is. The one good thing to come of this whole mess however, seems to be the fact that Ashley and Nolan seemed to bond, for at least a moment, over their awful taste in men. I really hope they end up becoming friends, because let's face it, they could both use some. Currently their only friends seem to be Emily, and well, she's not the greatest at relationships.

I guess it was nice to see that Emily has actually fallen for Daniel, though I admit I was a little surprised/annoyed by, at least how it appears in the preview, that Daniel decides to propose in order to gain access to his trust fund...Seriously Daniel...I thought better of you.

It wouldn't be a full discussion if I didn't mention my intense dislike of Fauxmanda and her trapping of Jack. Seriously, it kills me a little inside that  Emily never gets to hear the things that Jack thinks he is telling her. He's been waiting for her practically his whole life, it's so sweet and endearing, the fact that Fauxmanda is exploiting it make me sick. Ok, maybe that's a bit much but still. It's no wonder she seems so jealous of Emily talking to Jack, after all even though he doesn't know it, all those sweet words were meant for her. I can not wait to see how Emily takes her down.

Throw Back: Boy Meets World and Other Classic Tv & Film Love Moments...

So all the back and forth between Ben Savage and the ladies of Awkward (Greer Grammer, Jillian Rose Reed and Jessica Lu) on twitter, which all lead to THIS, got me reminiscing about Boy Meets World, the younger years of course. The years when Topanga was still weird, Eric wasn't a complete idiot and his best friend was Jason Marsden (you know "That Guy",  the one who was on like EVERY tv show back in the early 90's), Minkus still existed and Rider Strong was my huge fangirl crush.  It was a simpler time...and because everything  in my world seems to link back to one another that all got me thinking about this:

Heart Strings by Find Vienna. Seriously one of my fave songs at the moment, and the love montage video is just amazing! I can't even count all the awesomeness, Singing in the Rain, Moulin Rouge, I Love Lucy, Mickey & Minnie, The Sound of Music, Grease, Titanic, Boy Meets World, Mary Poppins, the list goes on. I even forgive them for the Twilight moment, because there are so many great movies/tv shows in there.

(If you're interested the Cory/Topanga moment comes at 2:44)

Champagne Revelations

Sitting on my couch with The Boy, champagne glass in hand, watching A League of Their Own, which is by far my favorite movie ever. I mean there are lots of movies I love, but A League of Their Own is the "saw it in theatres, must watch every time it is on tv despite owning it, actually got me to play an entire season of softball, I can quote every line in my sleep" favorite movie.

Of course I already knew most of the trivia/lore, how much Madonna hated filming, how all the injueries were real, and that one bruise lasted for over a year, but having been some time since I last watched it there were a few things I never pieced together.

Tonight's revelations:

Evelyn was played by Bitty Schram who more recently played Sharona on Monk. While I never truly "watched" Monk, my parents did and so I deffinately was aware of it's existance and have seen several episodes.

Mr. Lowenstein was played by David Strathairn aka Dr. Rosen on Alphas. I always thoght his voice sounded familiar on Alphas but never made the connection as to how I knew him till tonight.

Sometimes it is just really awesome to watch a favorite movie/show and have new realizations and make new connections.

It's Gonna Be a Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone had a fabulous night ringing in the New Year. The Boy and I went down to a friend's house in South Jersey to celebrate with a mix of old friends and new which was nice.Some times, though not always, I find it really fun to just hang around with a bunch of new people, especially at friend's parties, because then you know they are preaproved.

So here would be where I should list resolutions for this year I suppose, honestly I haven't given it all that much thought. 2011 was a rough year so I'm really glad for the fresh start.

I always do the "get healthier" resolution, and the "get more put together" one as well. Do they ever come to fruition? Hardly, but that doesn't mean i am going to stop trying. So we'll go with those two for the moment, hopefully this year they will stick.

I also really want to work more on my writing, both on the countless stories I have started working on and keeping up this blog. I'd like to continue to be able to post frequently, and maybe even get to the point where there is a following, right now I kinda feel as though I'm sending stuff into the ether, and then maybe, I'd love to get some contests and giveaways going on this thing.

So here's to 2012 being a banner year.

It's the Most Wonderful TIme of the Year

Sorry for being MIA lately, my fabulous brother was doing some updates on my new laptop, and as I was off from work I was sans a way of updating. Plus the holidays are always a busy time. The Boy can attest to the fact that the entire month of December, our kitchen turns into a bakery.

It was a very pop culture Christmas this year, thanks to some brilliantly crafty and slightly sneaky friends. Major props go to my friend Leslie who not only cross stiched the entire Firefly cast (four times no less), but also managed to somehow sneak away at NYCC to get the lovely Jewel Staite  sign & personalize them.

Seriously how clutch is that?

Anyways, I've decided that this post, which will probibly be my last of 2011, is the perfect time for a Best Of list, are you guys tired of them yet? So here are some of my favorite pop culture things of 2011.

• Awkward - This was by far my favorite new show of the year. I knew the moment I read the pilot that I was going to like the show, despite it being on MTV. After the first episode I was hooked, even in all it's insanity, the show is still so real. It brings me back to when I was in high school, but in the good way. I am so excited that a second season is on the way and I can't wait to see where the characters are headed.

• The Resurgence of Mark Paul Gosslaar - 2011 saw the resurgence of one of my favorite childhood actors. I practically jumped for joy when I learned that Mark Paul Gosslaar and Breckin Meyers were doing a show together. I mean seriously what more could a girl raised on Saved By the Bell and Clueless want? The show itself is hysterical, better than I had expected. But things got even better, with both the TNT tv movie Hide, and ABC Family's 12 Dates of Christmas, it felt as though MPG was EVERYWHERE and that just made life better.

• Teemagnet.com - This has to be my new favorite website. Seriously all the best geeky tshirts on display. It's my homepage...it is why I am poor.

• Revenge - I fully admit to not really knowing how the show was going to work, I mean it sounded more like an awesome movie than a tv show, but after watching the first three eps I was hooked. I'm not generally a fan of "soapy" shows but Revenge is pure, gooey, guilty pleasure tv. Madeline Stowe is amazing and Ashley Madekwe is my fashion icon.

• Ring My Bell - Speaking of the lovely Ashley Madekwe, her fashion blog, Ring My Bell is my  newest obsession. This woman is fashion icon, she has a fabulous sense of style and is an all around amazing person. 

• The Return of the Muppets -  2011 also saw the return of the Muppets to the lime light, and I couldn't be more excited about it. Having always been a Muppet fan the fact that they were getting a new movie made me giddy, add in the fact that Jason Segel wrote and stared in it and I was in HEAVEN.  

• Pop Culture Art - So one of the greatest things about going to NYCC this year was getting to go through artist alley and seeing all the amazing pop culture inspired prints. Some of my favorites include, Katie Cook, Brian Kong, Scott Ethan Ambruson and Laurie B.

• American Horror Story - One of the most frustrating/thought provoking shows which I was sucked into this year. While not as scary as I had initially thought, it definitely kept me on my toes, and filled with emotions and tons of questions. While I didn't always love what went on with the story lines, and more often than not screamed in frustration over loose ends, but it was still a wild ride.

There you have it, some of the awesome pop culture stuff of 2011.

Harry Morgan Dies at Age 96: AKA: The Entertainment Industry Has a Profound Effect

Despite the fact that the final episode "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", aired over a year before I was born, I grew up on M*A*S*H. It was and may still be both my mother and father's favorite tv show. They managed to collect all 11 seasons on DVD, slowly gathering them as Christmas and birthday gifts for each other. One of my favorite memories was when the both bought the same season for each other for Christmas one year. Not to mention that at some point they owned the M*A*S*H trivia game...yup that existed.

Anyway like I said, I grew up on the show, FX used to marathon episodes daily and I would come home from school and watch it with my mom. It was just the normal thing to do, it wasn't until I got to college that I realized it was a bit odd for someone my age to be able to describe entire episodes of a show that had been off the air for over a decade.

This morning I read on TVLine about the death of actor Harry Morgan. There was no big fanfare, in fact I almost missed the article entirely. Just a simple statement really that the man had passes away at the age of 96. You can read the article for yourself here.

It made me sad. I realize how utterly simplistic that sounds, but it's the truth. I talk to my mother often enough, as we do live on very different schedules, but reading the news made me immediately take out my phone to text her, because I knew she'd be sad too.

Despite working in the industry for years, I still am amazed at the way this silly little business has such a profound impact on our every day lives. The way it can cause such deep emotions and connections that you never really stop to think about or even notice all that much. A reminder that on some level my silly little job can, and often does have an impact.

R.I.P. Colonel Potter.

American Horror Story "Spooky Little Girl" : AKA: Seriously? We're pulling Black Dahlia now?

Okay, so I get it's a "Horror Story", says it right in the title, and there are therefore supposed to be ghosts, that's a given, but come on now, the ghost roster has gotten WAY too long. Before I continue my rant let's sound off with the ghost we know of in the house thus far:

1. Charles Montgomery
2. Nora Montgomery
3. Infatata/Thaddeus Montgomery
4. Beauregard (Constance's deformed son in the attic)
5. Hugo (Constance's cheating husband)
6. Tate
7. Troy (twin)
8. Bryan (twin)
9. Chad 
10. Patrick
11. Gladys
12. Maria
13. Female Cult member
14. Male Cult member
15. Young/old Moira
16. Hayden
17. Travis
18. Elizabeth Short

Seriously, we are up to EIGHTEEN now, in the house! Not to mention, the five classmates Tate shot, who's ghosts, though not connected to the house, were roaming about on Halloween, and the fact that somewhere Constance has another child, who very well may be in the house as well, and we aren't entirely sure what happened to Larry's wife and two daughters. I mean seriously, I really am starting to think that they've decided to throw the story out and see how many fun ghost stories and legends/guest stars they can address. Did we really need The Black Dahlia this week? Sure it was a cool idea, but I would have much rather focused on what was actually going on with the family. We got like a nano-second of Vivian, a sprinkling of Ben and no Violet whatsoever. Her mother was carted off to a psych ward, and it was basically her fault, but all we "see" of her is Ben mentioning she won't leave her room.

Also why have the police never questioned Ben about the death of Derek? Clearly, they must know he's dead by now and this is the third of Ben's patients to turn up dead. Bianca, the cult member, Sally, the boring woman who committed suicide, and now Derek, seems a little strange to me that no one thinks it's odd that all of a therapists clients are dying.

I've come too far into the season to give it up, but come on American Horror Story, make me want to stay.