Louise Row, Host of Plain Jane, British Fashion Expert

For the second night in a row, while sewing, I happened across the show Plain Jane! I love it! I don’t know if it is because I was obsessed with giving makeovers from about age 10.. YES, that is exactly why.. I was also the makeover queen in high school. There is something about bringing out the best in someone that feels so great to me. Seeing someone transform into a person with confidence, loving the way they look, and feeling great is the ultimate high! I never got off on making someone feel awful- I was always the opposite. I wanted people to feel great. If you ask anyone who truly knows me, they will say the same. This show is SOOOOOO GREAT because of that. Tonight, I watched this adorable Asian girl, Jona reveal her secret crush on her best friend. The last two shows featured girls who were secretly in love with their best friend. I wonder if every show will reveal the same. Jona was adorable as a plain jane and became cuter as her new made over, haircut, made up, dress-wearing self. I am not going to be able to get enough of this show! I don’t think I could handle one of the participants confronting a crush and the object of their desire rejected them. How horrible would that be? I will have to keep watching to see if it ever happens. I hope it never happens it will break my heart!  If you want some “feel good” television, tune into Plain Jane! I wish I was the host!!! http://www.cwtv.com/shows/plain-jane

Friday Night Lights- SO MUCH MORE THAN FOOTBALL...

This show is unbelievably emotional and addresses so many societal moral issues it is INSANE! Whomever writes this show, hear me LOUD, you are all GeNIUs!

Peter Berg, creator, Friday Night Lights Television Series

The creator of the show, Peter Berg, is to be hailed. Every time I watch this show, and I am mostly alone, I say aloud, “This show is going to kill me!” I say things out loud the whole time like, “I cannot believe how great this show is..” so on and so forth. You get the picture. Never in my life have I watched a show that addresses all moral issues, and creates perfect repercussions and makes you think and understand things in a way you might not have before! I have all of them watched this season so far, and last night’s viewing of last Friday’s episode was no different for me! The characters are all so well written and the situations they are put in are genius.

Tim Riggins

Everyone in America should be made to watch this show- EVERYONE…! Tim Riggins is now going to take the blow for his bro- that TIM RIGGINS!! He is the good bad boy everyone loves to love. Quietly doing the RIGHT THING.. MOST OF THE TIME.. if he doesn’t, he understands, and is a stand up guy and will take the heat, admit it and move on.. this time, a glimpse into the future– we think he might take the blame for the chop shop because his bro just had a baby.. omg.. TIM… could we love you anymore.. you and your mildy bowed legs, monkey like musculature, long hair and awesomeness?

Last eve, as I finish up sewing, I lay down to partake in some television viewing and decide to fore go my Roku and actually tune into a television show. I went higher up into the channels and decided to watch Jersey Shore because it is so saturated in the media that we all are subject to on a daily basis. 

As I watch them file into their “new” Miami location, being paid $30,000 per episode, I realize that I haven’t heard a word used larger than suntan, and that the obvious lack of intellect should probably be embarrassing for them, but then again, in America we aren’t exactly bending our brains much- and we aren’t making intelligence and being smart cool. 

As a matter of fact, television programming is striving to do the opposite! It is adding to the denigration of American Society at Large. This show is the grand-daddy of all that is wrong with America and I don’t understand why the media keeps covering, it why the President mentions it, which is a whole nother issue  I don’t care to get into. 

Jersey Shore should be shown in schools as a prime example of what is wrong with America, and how one should never behave.  The women focus on highlighting external body parts, hair, tanned skin, ample cleavage, heels, and a the vocabulary of an 8 year old. The men focus on, hair, sun tans, ridiculously “sparkly” clothing and fitness. Thank god fitness is amplified because truly that is the only redeeming quality of this show. The girls are out of shape and focused on fighting, drinking, and wondering why the men they choose aren’t mature and don’t respect them. 

If  American media wasn’t publicizing this so ad nauseum I wouldn’t feel compelled to ensue this diatribe. Jersey Shore should be viewed as everything that is wrong with youthful society of America– To make celebrities out of people with brains no larger than a chick pea is a crime. They should be made an example of, WHAT NOT TO BE, WHAT NOT TO BEHAVE LIKE, WHAT NOT TO WEAR, WHAT NOT TO SAY, WHAT NOT TO DO UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!

America is becoming lazier and lazier and less concerned with creativity, intelligence, and ingenuity. It is becoming the largest trailer park on the planet. No one wants to think, work for what they get and emulate people who are incredibly vapid, unattractive and scarily stupid.

The behavior on Jersey shore depicts operating in life as if in the 5th grade in terms of being able to handle your emotions, vocabulary, and emphasizing only physical attributes to deem your total worth to someone else. The larger the boobies, the darker the skin, the longer the hair, the more makeup, the higher the heels, the sexier and more valuable you are. Wow, really?!

Shouldn’t Jersey Shore be packaged with the show COPS? Double header… maybe people want to see the lowest form of human society back to back, a double feature portrayal– a veritable slice of American trash pie. The violence on both shows is equal and performed regularly by both casts! The actual physical attacking and regular threats of  “let’s step outside” to one another because of an inability to express yourself any other way is despicable, EMBARRASSING and pedestrian.

I am able to discern due to my striving to be a productive person in society, but MTV caters to younger minds which are formative and vulnerable. Youth is searching for an identity and they see these sort of people being televised, covered in major magazines, so they think that this must be the way to behave because they are and they are on TV! The ultimate prize.

Can’t MTV come up with something that empowers youth to want to become better? Smart is cool, and there are so many ways to portray it so that it becomes attractive to the youth of today. That is what was so great about punk rock, and independent films in the 80s. It fostered a coming together of youth that were striving for intelligence, getting 4.0’s in college, trading cool books, talking about philosophy and going to see indie films. That was a regular part of the crowd at hardcore shows. No wonder we found ourselves to be “elitists.” We weren’t buying into retardville. We knew there was a better and more productive way to grow and to find ourselves. Through books, literature, conversations about being vegetarian, organic foods, etc. What a totally different scene! And our parents didn’t understand, and thought hard core was so evil. They would be so relieved now to read this, knowing what was going down as we skated to the local VFW hall to be “intellectual” as we released our anger to 7 seconds, Minor Threat, and Murphy’s Law, etc. –through hardcore and later talking about books. Most every person I ever met at these shows was in college, getting great grades, dj’ing at the university radio station and questioning life- wanting to learn even more while not in class! We bragged about the latest Bukowski book we were reading and how raw and real the writing was. There was also a big “straight edge” continence abroad this lifestyle which meant many of the kids didn’t drink, smoke or have sex. Much different than today, and our parents were scared? What a joke!

Come on MTV, Step it up- Show smarter, hipster, edgier kids who have an imagination, who are creating the next wave of internet fame, fashion, and innovations through intellect, and using their minds to further themselves! CONSCIOUS MEDIA!  I am appalled and sickened by the enforcement of stupidity on television. How is society going to improve if we keep publicizing and creating fame out of the dumb?

I was interested in Cougartown when it first came out because I wondered how many unique situations can you really put a cougar into with respect to the term “Cougar”.. and dating.. but I now see that they make it a “lifestyle” .. which is a single 40 something… and different aspects of that experience.  The first show was clumsy and it just didn’t work.. but now.. the direction has perfected and the cast has settled in and I really enjoy watching it! 

My favorite character is Jules’  teen-aged son! He is hilarious.. his delivery is dry, witty and his facial expressions, priceless.  Second in line is Jules’ ex husband.. who is so imbecilic he is lovable.  By the way, Jules is played by Courtney Cox.  I like her enough, but find the male characters to be funnier.  I do like the younger girl.. blond, who used to be on Freaks and Geeks.. she is cast perfectly and has good comedic timing.  All in all, I really am liking this show… Good Job David Arquette!

Two characters that are irresistably flawed, well written and well directed are:

Hank Moody on Showtime’s Californication:

Hank Moody, The lovable colossal F*&K up!

Don Draper on AMC’s Mad Men:

Don Draper, the smoldering, badboy Advertising Exec

The ever mysterious Don Draper

For those of you who don’t know.. MAD MEN is short for Madison Avenue Men, the old school Advertising Executives that once owned the avenue and ruled the business world in Manhattan.

I have had many  reputable people suggest this show to me, and finally ordered the first season from Netflix and finished it! The direction of this series is unmatched on any show I have seen in a long time.  Don Draper, the main character is portrayed in a film noir, dark manner.  He is secretive, mysterious, dark haired and eyed, smart yet stupid with his personal decisions.  Often times, in life, I have found smart business men to be dumb romantically.  They take chances and bet on a situation beneath them.  However, Don makes interesting mistress choices, they are metaphorical for each part of his personality.  In the first season the series clearly shows Don Draper married to a younger woman, blonde, typical trophy wife.  However, it is clear that she doesn’t challenge him intellectually, and ultimately is bored, but she makes a fine mother of his two young children.  Mistress one, is artsy, and a bit dangerous, has her own ad agency business, is sexy and bohemian.  She appeals to his intellect.  Mistress number two, yet to happen, is a young Jewish woman who has taken over her grandfather’s upscale Manhattan Department Store.  She appeals to his business side and strength of character because she doesn’t give in so easily to his advances.

Very entertaining is the bevy of American circumstances that no longer are acceptable such as: children playing with plastic bags on their heads, only to be scolded for removing the dry cleaned clothing, kids jumping back and forth from front seat to back seat as mother drives the car, no seat belt, no airbags, a child getting smacked by his neighbor as he runs through the house during a party and the father of the son makes the child, after being smacked, apologize to the “smacker”, people smoking cigarettes in the office, the home, while pregnant, drinking at work, even in the morning, and gender specific treatment, men vs women and their place within society expressed through business meetings, secretaries and their superiors (bosses), and the way the men treat the secretaries.

This show is interesting as they don’t give it all away, and there exists many nuances that the viewer will pick up on and make up their own mind about what they are watching as situations unfold.  The direction is genius and the feel of it, 1960s, is very authentic.  It is much more than Mad Men, it shows human thoughts, consciousness, and shows inside the ad business, which is manipulative, frowned upon, and ultimately shapes society.  The shapers are flawed beyond belief.  Think about that for a minute…

I highly recommend this show.

I loved the movie Witches of Eastwick way back when as did most women… especially because Jack was at his most devlish and although aging, still sexy!

The premise behind the new show on television, Wednesday nights, is the same… 3 women in town who come together under the guise of some sexy man, Darryl VanHorn, in this case and they unwittingly discover their “powers.”  I thought they did a great job of casting. 

Roxie, played by Rebecca Romjin, my girl Lindsay Price from Lipstick Jungle as Joanna, and Jamie Ray Newman as Kat, who I haven’t seen before, but is beautiful and well cast.  This is definitely a woman’s show.. as it centers around 3 women who become BFF’s and a super cute man, who they all barely resist.  Also fun is the fact that it addresses the “unknown” and the mystical, which typically is very woman-like.

I recommend it… I dvr it every week and settle in to watch it… it is a super fun treat… check it out on ABC Network..

http://abc.go.com/shows/eastwick

YUP!

I had to shut off my YouTube Video of Bright Eyes, Easy/Lucky/Free to write this because it made me think of the show Bored to Death which I watched on my DVR late last night while struggling to contain my excitement for life! So Ironic.. isn’t it? Anyway, I had to share this show with all of you because I heart Jason like a mother______… really.. did any of you see him as Max Fisher in Rushmore?!! That is one of THE BEST comedic characters EVER!  I think he is Wes Anderson’s muse, which is alright by me, because Wes Anderson pretty much rocks the house as well! Ah, don’t get me started! You will have to go to my film blog www.filmandpotcorn.com because I review Bottle Rocket as well, which I lurve like crazy.. is this post too hip to be true.. It very well may be.. it certainly gives you a glimpse into my movie tastes… ok, back to my sweet Jason and his new gig on HBO… Jason plays writer, Jonathan Ames, who’s girlfriend dumps him because he smokes too much pot and loves white wine and the premise is created.. he is unusually bored and is attempting to pen his next novel but is lack for material! The episode I caught last night has him posting an ad to Craig’s List to position himself as a “private investigator” and he gets a job and the ridiculousness rolls on from there. I LOVE IT.. I like his deadpan delivery, vulnerability and his awesome cuteness AND (I know this is a run-on) his GREAT HAIR! If you heart the JBird as much as I do, do yourself a favor and tune in! I have now set my DVR to record every episode on the channel at every time so that I don’t miss one.  There are going to be cameos by other celebs.  I saw Ted Danson last night, I am unsure if he will be on the show regularly.. perhaps he is because he is Jonathan’s boss! If Ted Danson is good enough for Larry David, he is good enough for me too! Indulge your self in a little Jason and Bright Eyes here… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4okYD_USno8&NR=1

As I began my first few episodes on Netflix DVDs, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this show.  I loved the beginning credits, the song, the feel of it.. decidedly indie… but much of the dialogue and delivery bordered on banal and cliched.  The director must have been experimenting with different sorts of deliveries and mood.  It makes sense that as the show progresses, it gets better because the actors settle in, the direction has a clearer picture of what they are looking for, and the audience becomes more attached to the the characters.  Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin, is a likable lead and that is how they are sustaining the show.  Her vampire boyfriend, Bill Compton, played by Stephen Moyer,  is likable as well and stumbles between his human-ness and his vampire reality.  Alan Ball is behind this show, which means it is destined to be great and has been very well received so far… The show takes place in Louisiana and is based upon the premise that Vampires have now been accepted into every day society.  The struggles for Vampires and humans to co-exist is a common theme.  It is a most clever premise and Alan Ball was behind the film American Beauty and the HBO Series, Six Feet Under.  I like his sensibilities.  He is dark, humorous, and seems to have a real grasp on “edgy.”  His mind is sort of Hitchcockian and modern.  True Blood is a mixture of drama, romance, fantasy and horror!  All the right elements for escape and great entertainment!  Of course, the cast is scantily clad and the dialogue can be silly and sarcastic as well. 

PS Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are now together in life off the screen as well.. the chemistry between them works… great casting… realistic but attractive… odd and endearing, silly and dramatic… A+

Web Site for the show: http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/season2/

is this statement a double entrende?

Hey there sunshine!

I am a big fan of Friday Night Lights and this watching hobby has inadvertantly introduced me to Taylor Kitsch, as you can see from the pic he is ridiculously handsome!

How could I have not known about him as a woman who digs cute men before this show? Is it because I wasn’t aware that he was an Abercrombie model, or in Snakes (Snacks) on a Plane (I didn’t see it).  After seeing pictures and seeing hin in action as Riggins in Friday Night Lights, the camera loves him much more in motion.  Although, he doesn’t look terrible in pictures!  Ladies, I think he is going to be the next “Matt Dillon” of sorts.  Maybe not as edgy as Matt was, but definitely as cute and appealing!  Keep an eye out for him, he is going places!

He is a certified personal trainer and nutritionist.  It shows!  How many actors can back up that face with a body? Not too many…

Birthplace: Kelowna British Columbia

Birthdate: April 8, 1981

How come we don’t see any Friday Night Lights actors out and about destroying their image in Hollywood? They must have great PR agents!  After plenty of research, I can’t find any dirt on Kitsch and who he might be or may have dated.. Feast Your Eyes Ladies…! If you want to see him in action, walking and talking, Friday Night Lights DVDs! The show is amazing! Best bunch of characters out there!  Realistic, morals, values, attractive and great writing!