Why Barb Is Stupid: Television Edition

So I'm reading this book about Veronica Mars (shut up, OK?), and I get to a chapter about the voiceovers. Now, each chapter has a little introduction by Rob Thomas (who created VM), commenting on the chapter's topic, and for this particular chapter, he wrote that he wanted the voiceover to sound "Chandler-esque."

Naturally, I was like, "Huh. The voiceovers don't sound like Chandler to me." And then I realized, not Chandler Bing, from Friends, but Raymond Chandler. Author of such books as The Big Sleep.

Yeah. Brain? FAIL.

"A Little Fall of Rain" will still kill me, I bet

Les Mis is my favorite musical. I've seen it eight times (plus once by a high school, but I really don't count that), and only the latest time seemed a bit different; it was after the revamp earlier this decade (not the revival; this was still the original run), and egregiously cut the "Drink With Me" reprise, among other things. I saw that it's coming to Wolftrap later this summer, and was flirting with the idea of seeing it again; after all, I haven't seen it since 2003.

And then I saw this article, about how Cameron Mackintosh is allowing some theaters--including one in Philadelphia--to completely restage the show. I just wish I could figure out what that involves, other than the lack of a turntable, the runaway cart done differently, and the barricade being one piece. The quote about telling the story in the "most expedient way" scares me a bit...unless that means cutting "Castle on a Cloud." (One can dream.) The glimpses in the article intrigue me.

For a while I've been thinking about heading up to Philly (I hear the new Constitution center is fantastic); this just gives me more motivation to get up there--and soon.

Could use more Jim-Pam kissing, though

I'm finding a lot of people's reactions to The Office season finale a bit confusing. There's a lot of "That was so depressing!" but I really can't tell why. A lot of people seem to be quite upset about the thwarting of Jim's proposal, and I can understand being disappointed--and I can understand why Pam was a bit upset; she was sure it was coming, and then it didn't--but I didn't think it left Jim and Pam in a bad place.

There seems to a belief that Jim and Pam's relationship is in a more tenuous place than it actually is. After the episode where Ryan warned Jim, people freaked out because Jim didn't tell Pam right that minute--even though it didn't make sense for him to tell her then. And lo and behold, it's obvious in the next episode that he did tell her, just at a more logical time. Pam hears about having to get training for graphic design in New York or Philadelphia? Oh noes! Well, except that Jim totally supports her taking classes in New York over the summer. Pam stated that the relationship was sound; I think she'll get over the disappointment of him not proposing when she thought he would (and if I were her, when the moment came that he turned to her and said, "Hey," I may have figured that something was up--and that Andy interrupted). I wouldn't be surprised to find them engaged come September/October; I just hope we get a flashback, because I do think that Jim will do it on Dunder Mifflin property.

I can see being a bit bummed about Toby leaving. I'm not pleased that they made him into a bit of a jerk in the last few episodes, but from interviews with the writers, it's obvious this was unintentional. I had no problem with Toby crushing on Pam, but I think the hand on her leg was a bit much. And he did seem to take it too far. But I still like Toby.

I was a bit concerned that it made it seem like Michael was justified in his hatred of Toby, but I don't think that's the case, and I think the finale showed that. I'm a bit bummed with the new HR woman; I had hoped that she was playing along with Michael, but it doesn't look like that's the case. Though I do admit that I found her whole bit with Kevin was highly amusing. And she did give us a nice moment of Michael being not completely bizarre, which is always good.

The only thing that didn't really make sense was Jan's pregnancy, but I'm willing to give that a pass...for the moment. But overall, the finale made me laugh, and I loved the tag. Awesome. The deterioration of Dwangela made me sad, so that totally made my night.

I totally shipped Anne and Peter in the movie

I finished The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank this evening, an alternate history story about Peter van Pels (or van Daan in the Frank diary) surviving the Holocaust and moving to the United States. It starts off somewhat slow, and doesn't really pick up until he finds out about the publication of Anne Frank's diary (the action starts in 1952).

The book does a good job exploring both survivors' guilt and the reactions of Jews living in the States, who weren't necessarily directly affected by the Holocaust, but had to confront what it meant for their religion. How can they live a normal life in the New Jersey suburbs?

I found Peter intriguing, and could pretty much understand why he did what he did throughout the book...but I found myself not liking him. His actions frustrated me, and I just kind of wanted to grab him and shake him. Yet it at all made sense. So kudos to the author for that.

I also learned that "Dussel" in German means "idiot."

It did make me want to go back and reread the diary, so that may be the next book on my agenda. And maybe some of the critical works about it.

Supercalifra--never mind

So I'm watching Mary Poppins because it is awesome and I love it, and just two things that come to mind every time I watch it:

1. Dick van Dyke's accent as Bert doesn't bother me. Maybe I just don't know a real Cockney accent, but for as much as everyone scoffs at it (including him), I don't hear what's so terrible about it.

2. Other people totally want Bert and Mary to hook up, right? I'm really just working on the assumption that they're a couple, but for whatever reason, she comes and goes with the wind. But they're totally together. Bert + Mary 4ever! Maybe this is just my need to root for a couple in every movie and tv show I watch. That may not be healthy.

That's just too catchy

For your amusement this Friday evening...



Not sure why Dumbledore gets naked, though.

Cake + tv = awesome

I LOVE Food Network Challenge. SO much. Especially the cake challenges. I caught one tonight that was a bit older, and it was interesting comparing it to the newer ones. They had to make a wedding cake for a couple, but unlike more recent competitions, the contestants got a little introductory video before the challenge--giving them plenty of time to design a cake specifically for the couple. A lot of time in these more recent challenges, since the contestants meet the couple (or whomever) right before the challenge, the contestants already have a design in mind that they might tweak a little to fit the cake recipient. In tonight's challenge, most of the cakes were designed specifically for the couple.

Naturally the couple picked one of the cakes that wasn't personalized at all.

It was also interesting that the episode had a lot of the judges discussing the taste of the cakes (and the judges reserved most of the negative comments for when the contestants weren't there) and literally no critiques of the design/look of the cakes at the end. The judges and couple commented on the design throughout the show, but nothing at the end, which is kind of annoying. It rubs me the wrong way when the contestants get judged for how the cake looks when still in progress. The professionals can comment on techniques, but a lot of the time, I want to be like, "Well, it might look like crap now, but can you wait a bit?" It kind of emphasized how the shows now focus a lot on what the cake looks like, but not necessarily what it tastes like.

And can I just say that if I were the cake beneficiary, I'd definitely want the contestants to know my preferences beforehand. The contestants tonight specifically chose cakes for the couple; the groom mentioned he likes blueberries, so one of the cakes had blueberries. Me? I like my cakes basic. Give me a white cake with chocolate filling. Don't give me raspberry buttercream. (I'm the same with cookies. Peanut butter? Chocolate chip? Sugar? Yes. Anything with fruit or coconut? No.)

Really, it's just interesting comparing an older one. Also interesting? No Kerry Vincent, and a different emcee.

Maybe something should stop you now

I had a half hour to kill tonight between How I Met Your Mother and Samantha Who? (stupid West Coast baseball games, not starting until 10), so I was flipping around and found Mannequin on some randomly high cable station. Man, it brought me right back. It's funny watching movies from that era, because sometimes I watch and still kind of think that the people look just super cool, even knowing how horrible a lot of their fashions are. But that really isn't what I thought about Mannequin. I just kept cringing, particularly at poor James Spader (well, when I wasn't giggling at him and Andrew McCarthy having scenes together; I just kept thinking about Pretty in Pink). Seriously, just watch this clip.

It's so horrible, but I love it. I mean, Andrew McCarthy is wearing leather pants in that elevator bit. Awesome! Sadly, I'm at a point where I'm like, "Dressing up would be fun, but would it be worth it for a minute or two of playing around like that?" And also, since I was flipping around a bit, I couldn't remember when Andrew McCarthy breaks up with Roxie, so was a bit annoyed to think that he might be cheating on her. When did I get so old?