a99kitten's Musings

Finally sitting down today. I literally have not sat down since I woke up. Between dog walks and laundry and cleaning and getting the house ready for the painters and cooking…But I got a lot done! Anyway, watching an old episode of Private Practice from December that was on the DVR. Without going into the whole episode of emo-chick television, storyline has a 60yr old woman married to a 30yr old man and having issues with a pregnancy (woman is 60 – duh).

Anyway…as soon as they showed the wife I had the reaction I was supposed to have. Disbelief. Some shock. It’s obvious that is what the show was going for. And the commercial break after the first introduction to the 60yr old wife gave us a long Victoria’s Secret Angel lingerie ad. Really? Did you plan that ABC?

The fact that they expect us to believe that this nice looking 30yr old man would be happily married to a 60yr old woman is ridiculous. The reason for this is simple. Men are superficial. Period. Even the “nice” ones are. It’s why your Dad hates all of your boyfriends. He knows what they are thinking. Even if they are the nice guy, student body council President, the “golly gee Mr. so-so” kind of guy (my dad hated those the guys the most!)

And you can say oh women are gold diggers so that is the only reason they end up with old guys. Well…I agree and yet disagree with this. Women typically search out security. Men who offer security. Now this can be in the form of physical strength/security, emotional security, financial security, etc. Are there gold-digging whores who search out men who will pay their bills? Absolutely. I’ve known some. Hate them the most.

But men…they search out hotness. Period. If a woman gains 10 pounds – men are disgusted. At the very least, they are bothered but just don’t say anything. This makes them “nice”. But they are never simply NOT bothered.

Guys say oh “Twilight” is stupid. Women just want a guy who is obsessed with them and unrealistic. Blah blah blah. No…women want a guy who thinks they are perfect and beautiful and wonderful. No matter what. THIS is the fantasy part. No man ever will.

So television and movies and books, etc. are there as fantasy. As fun. As an interlude. Why channels like Lifetime and Oxygen and Harlequin romance novels sell. And why Twilight sold so well to the non-tween crowd. And why girls are so susceptible to the rom-com. That fantasy of being perfect in the eyes of someone. Period.

Holy cow!!!! All 5 seasons on DVD for $52.99 with the Amazon Gold Box special! That’s crazy!!!

This show is one of my all-time favorite shows ever. The writing on it was classic. Dark and brooding vampire, good fighting and actions scenes plus dark story lines. And then they threw in some very humorous stuff as well.

The first season was a bit more kid-like to morph over from Buffy, where he left Sunnydale to move to LA to fight evil. They were good episodes but they were usually single stories. Then they really ramped up the big story arcs.

The fact that Angel/Angelus is hot is a nice bonus :) And yes..he is where I got my doggie’s name from :)

Finished reading Gossip Girl book #2 “You Know You Love Me” and #3 “All I Want Is Everything” this week. These are fun, easy reads for summer while laying out in the sun. Or laying on the sofa bundled in a soft blanket…with a glass of Veuve in hand!

I *love* the show so it’s easy to breeze through these books. Season 3 of the show starts this Monday (9/14) and I am SOOO excited for it! Such a guilty pleasure TV show!! Like the first few seasons of the old 90210 used to be oh so long ago…

The books are not Ayn Rand obviously. No confusing Cecily Von Ziegesar with a Bronte sister (although they were heading down the Heathcliff/Catherine path with Chuck and Blair.) But they are very fun to read. The TV show has definitely changed a fair amount from the books. I definitely prefer the character development of the TV characters. If Dan or Nate would have been like this in the show, I’d hate them even more than I did! But to be fair, I’m only through Book 3. So maybe they flesh the characters out more. But so far…most of the characters are pretty different. I will get the rest via my Kindle. These are EXACTLY the kind of books I wanted the Kindle for! I also love all of the clothes, shopping and pampering they describe in the books :)

But the show will always be better because we get Chuck Bass. Definitely one of my favorite characters on current TV…and I simply love Chuck & Blair :)

The person who put this together did a great job. Makes me want to buy all the DVDs and re-watch them…I also LOVE this song from season finale. I play it all the time..

I am finally watching “True Blood”. I say finally because I normally watch all vampire related stuff. I did Tivo True Blood when it first ran last year but I lost some of the eps and didn’t want to start watching half-way through the season. Plus a friend of mine told me that I might not like it anyway.

But so many people I know in real life or follow on twitter watch and talk about it. And remember, I do love vampire stuff :) Plus a friend recently gave me the Sookie Stackhouse series to read once I finished the Twilight series (which I just did last week!) Although I am inserting a few non-vampires books in between! :)

So I set my Tivo AGAIN to record Season 2 when it started again. And then I bought the first season on DVD and figured vacation was a perfect time to catch up!

I just finished Ep 4. So far I do like it. I like that Sookie has her own “power” and doesn’t need to always be saved by Bill. And I love her friend Tara – she cracks me up! I like Bill so far. But I will have to say Angel and Edward Cullen are both way hotter :)

…while I vehemently disagree with the notion of a “big bad wolf” due to my love of all things wolfy (Red is a lying skank…) I have loved this cartoon since I was a wee lass!! Caught myself bopping to the tune today for some reason so searched for it :) Hopefully its allowed to stay up…

Last night I finally started watching the new show NBC show “Merlin”. I had (the first) 2 episodes recorded from Sunday night. I love pretty much all stories Arthurian. But I also get offended when they go way off original story unless they do it well. It’s such a great, multi-faceted story so please don’t F it up is all I ask…

Now, ‘do it well’ to me means “Excalibur” (1981 movie), “Camelot” (broadway in 60s plus 1982 play broadcast on HBO w/Richard Harris – LOVED IT – I know all the words to all the songs!), Camelot 3000 (12-part comic series 1982-1985), “King Arthur” (2004 movie). I’ve read “Le Morte d’Arthur” by Sir Thomas Malory and “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White. I’ve seen or read most versions of this story, good, bad or just wacky (have you seen George Romero’s 1981 ‘Knightriders’ with Ed Harris? I have! And loved it :)), as I LOVE this story. In just about all forms. Although when I went to see “First Knight” with a friend and, within the first few minutes said out loud “THAT’S NOT TRUE!” (she curled up and pretended she didn’t know me,) I realized there are some versions that should not be made (no offense to either Sean Connery and Richard Gere who I normally love just not in this movie.) Oh, and the JFK stealing of the whole Camelot/”one brief shining moment” theme = vomit-inducing….

But back to Merlin…I have enjoyed this TV show so far. They have shown 2 episodes and I have watched both. They have totally F’ed with the “history” but that’s OK. Hard to keep re-telling the same story I guess. Movie & TV writers seem unable to come up with new concepts (a new 90210 and Melrose Place…really??) but if they can re-tell a classic in a new way, and maybe get new people (kids even!) interested in the old classics (maybe even read them!), I am all for that.

I read they are gearing this story to kids. With all the killing, that seems like a bizarre choice…but ok…I say just make the show and your audience will be created. Merlin and Arthur are young – late teens(ish)? Arthur has started off as a kind of a jerk (the QB) and Merlin is the good, nice guy (the geek). Guinevere is a lady-in-waiting servant (pretty girl who will get the guy) who seems to like Merlin so far but that’s probably just as a really good friend as it plays out more. And Uther is the jerk dad to Arthur. So, yeah…geared towards kids/teens. But then throw in some stabbing, jousting, killer snakes, scary killer witches and death and we have got ourselves a good show!

The characters and how they meet, interact, etc. are mostly completely wrong from ‘history’ but again, as long as it is enjoyable, I don’t mind. So far, they have Merlin, Arthur, Uther, Morgana (Morgan le Fey) and Guinevere. Lancelot has ALWAYS been my favorite character so a story without him seems very odd. But then, maybe they will incorporate him (and the other Knights of the Round Table.) Hard not to since he was an integral part of the legend. My love for that character and all of his strengths and faults is probably due it’s own posting sometime (after I re-watch & re-read all my favorites!) :)

I’ve been sucked into both eps shown so far. So I will definitely keep watching. The only recognizable actor (to me) is Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) Since the show is called Merlin, they are gearing this to the Merlin character so lots of magic, etc. They are clearly going after the Harry Potter crowd (there is a dragon voiced by John Hurt plus they showed an extended trailer for the next HP movie during the premier ep.) That’s OK – I like that story too. But the Arthur legend is so, so much more than a fantasy story for kids. So far, no might for right; undying loyalty for your brothers-in-arms, betrayals of those you still love so much, etc, In my opinion, the original story is too dark and convoluted for kids or TV but I’m sure the writers can play with it and make it work. And I will take what I can get on TV with Jack Bauer and Chuck Bass gone! So far they have had a decent amount of sword-play and jousting to keep me happy :) I go to the Renaissance Faire solely to watch the jousting!

So if you any affinity for King Arthur, Arthurian legend, Merlin or fantasy, I suggest checking this show out and seeing what you think. I’ll keep watching unless they really offend :) Fun TV for the summer. But really…if you like this legend and haven’t seen or read any of the above mentioned interpretations, you should check them out. And send me any that you have!