The Influence of Television

Yesterday I was over at Jim’s blog, Suldog, and he had written this great post about television and his top 5 shows of all time.  I laughed, I cried, I did all the usual things I do when reading one of his posts (including but not limited to: snorting, dropping my jaw in surprise, cackling hysterically, marveling in the way he can spin something small like TV shows into something so well written).

As I was commenting back I realized I’d already typed about 200 words and decided instead that it would make for a good post of my own.  So in piggybacking my own drivel off Jim’s much better written content, here’s a list of my top five favorite television shows and a little description of why based on his rules:

You…

1. Watch every episode

2. Love reruns

3. Can name every actor who graced the screen

4. Have favorite episode(s)

5. Still enjoy even if it jumps the shark

6. Tell your friends to watch

7. Can identify when parts have been cut in reruns

8. Smile and/or laugh just thinking about the show

9. Wouldn’t mind a reunion

10. Find yourself quoting the show all the time

11. Feel the show would hold up through generations

And finally, that the series has come to an end.

With all of that in mind (which I think are a fine set of rules by the way), I’d have to go with:

Sex and the City

Not only have I watched every episode numerous times I own the super girlie, pink velvet boxed DVD set and still watch when it’s on regular TV, just because.  Quoting this show is like part of my personal lexicon, in fact at times I probably do it without even realizing.  There were so many perfectly timed moments, scenarios of friendship, love and sex in the modern day that entire urban phrases were created due to this show.  Ever call someone a Modelizer (a man who only dates models) or a Frenemy (so much a word that MSWord recognizes the spelling)?  Ever refer to the cheating curve?  Ever tell someone they’ve Susan Sharon’d something?  Curious where Bradley Cooper or Dean Winters got their start?  And oh yes you know Dean, he plays Mayhem in those trendy Allstate commercials now.  SATC streamlined so much of pop culture and made the bold move of showing the world just what women were capable of.  Even if they ‘lost their Choo!’ while doing it.  The one caveat here is that there was already a reunion of sorts, 2 movies have been made since the series ended.  I was so disappointed with shifting characters that were Hollywood-ized for big screen appeal in the first movie that I never saw the second and I pretty much pretend they were never even made.

Friends

This one is truly era/generational specific for GenX I think.  As this show aired I was moving into my own apartments and starting to realize what it was like to live and love on my own for the first time, just like the cast.  I discovered how much of a family my own friends really were.  I don’t have to tell my friends to watch though, most of them already own the box set and have all 10 seasons looped on constant rotation.  I’d just like to point out that no one told me life was gonna be this way…

Get Smart / Inspector Gadget (yes the cartoon, because these two are basically the same show)

Okay truthfully I can’t say for sure if I’ve ever seen every episode of Get Smart or if I could quote it on cue, but let me just say that during my nightly bouts with insomnia when I was a teenager I would stay up until 1:00 in the morning most nights just to catch the reruns on Boston channel 38 (I think, might have been 56).  The guy had a shoe phone.  Does it really get much cooler than that?  Also, 99 was really the brains behind the operation and I thought she was super crafty.  As far as Inspector Gadget goes it was essentially the cartoon version of Get Smart so what wasn’t to love?!  I was never really into cartoons but a bumbling fool who has a helicopter hat to get out of tough situations was too cool.  Plus Penny & Brain (the dog) actually solved the crimes (seeing a pattern here?).  I’m quite sure this is the reason I instantly fell in love with the character of Data when The Goonies came out in 1985.

Golden Girls

This is on the list because I’ve recently started watching reruns of this show again and I can’t believe for even an instant that any of my family would have let me watch it when it first came out.  Talk about racy!  Luckily I was only about 12 when it first aired and had no clue what they were talking about.  Of course that all changed as years went on and I loved all of their spunky attitudes and sharp tongues.  Those gals are who I aspire to be when I’m in my 60’s – smart, funny, out of control and still self-proclaimed sexy (okay so I aspire to be Blanche but will likely end up much more Dorothy).  Wait a second, 4 gals living in the same town, dating and generally waxing on about life and relationships?  Sensing a pattern here?  Plus there was Betty White.  And even after not watching it for decades I could still sing the entire theme song from memory.  What’s not to love?  I don’t quote it yet but I guarantee this will end up in the quote rolodex in the near future.

Lost

Conspiracy theories.  Unanswered questions.  More frustrating plot twists than characters on the show.  “Live together, die alone.”  “You’re gonna die , Charlie.”  “See ya in another life brotha.”  “Freckles.”  “The Others.”  Oh yeah, and there was that time when the Mega Millions was huge right after the end of the series’ run and Matt was picking up tickets.  I told him to play 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 (yes I just typed that from memory, if you’re a Lostie you could too).  Apparently lots of people played those numbers.  And we all won a couple hundred bucks.  Hurley won 150 million playing them on the show but who’s complaining?  We got back our investment 150 times over.  The writing was smart and those bastards kept us guessing until the very end…and beyond.  And of course after my Vampire post you pretty much know how I felt about Boone.  Someone get me a drool bucket would ya?

The one show I didn’t include, and I’m sure many are surprised, is Moonlighting.  I loved that show.  No wait, I love, love, looooooovvvvvvved that show!  Right up until Maddie and David slept together.  In the 80’s no one knew how to write so that there was still tension after the sexual tension dissipated and the show went downhill fast.  But EVERYone was on that show, Whoopie Goldberg, Judd Nelson, Pierce Brosnan and of course, Mark Harmon (who they should have kept around as Maddie’s love interest longer, just sayin’).  I loved that they talked right into the camera, something I still enjoy to this day (brought to even greater heights with movies such as Ferris Bueller) and the rhyming scripts were classic.  But there’s no such thing as reruns and I pretty much wouldn’t watch the last season again so it wouldn’t have been fair to include this one.  It broke the rules.

So do you have favorites?  Shows that cross the great divide of generations and can still tug at you like they did when they were first aired?

Good Television?

Today's topic:

A picture of the cast from your favorite show

I proudly admit that I am a product of my generation. Because of that I’m not going to sit here and try to say that the old classics are some of my favorite shows because, frankly, they simply don’t resonate with me. To the moon, you got some ‘splainin’ to do, or beam me up are not what make me tune in every week.

Oh, and anyone who knows me by now knows there’s (as my Wicked Step Mother would say) ‘a better chance of seeing God as we speak’ than me only posting one picture. Enjoy!

I really can’t begin to express my sadness over learning that Perfect Couples is getting kicked to the curb in favor of a new show with some washed up actor who hasn’t been on TV in 20 years. I’m bitter, and begging another network to pick this show up because it really deserves at least three seasons (I’m looking at you USA!). If someone gave it a chance they’d see the perfectly captured dynamic between these six characters. I think the network execs were just afraid because they identified with the “wrong” couple. Matt and I? Dave and Julia, all the way.

Okay, if we’re being 100% honest here I started watching the new Hawaii Five-0 for a couple reasons. First, the original aired in syndication super late night when I was a teenager and it got me through a lot of bouts of insomnia so I wanted to see if this new version measured up. Second, a favorite actor from another show on this list (Daniel Dae Kim) is in it. Finally…seriously, how hot is Alex O’Laughlin? I mean come on! Now I tune in for the witty humor and to place bets if McGarrett will be in cargo khakis with a navy blue tee shirt or a gray tee shirt.

I was twelve when Moonlighting first aired in 1985, probably didn’t get half the jokes, but seriously couldn’t stop laughing at Bruce Willis. A crime show that was also a comedy. They just don’t write ‘em like that these days, it’s all about psychological mind twists and realistic gore not sunglasses and the limbo in the office. A modern day take on (take your pick) “Taming of the Shrew” or “Beauty and the Beast” it sure was fun. Until the second they killed the sexual tension.

How could I not include Sex and the City? They were a little older than I was when it first aired but it couldn’t have resonated more seeing as though I was a single, hard working, slightly crazy, city girl also trying to find love through many (read: way too many) bad dates, relationships, fix ups, etc. If we’re taking the ‘who are you most like’ quiz I’m coming up as Miranda every time.

There was no theme music. There was only a very loose plot at best. There were about 20 actors no one had ever heard of before. There was a beach in Hawaii and a plane crash. And there was Lost. This show definitely was a love it or hate it type of animal. I know a lot of people who couldn’t get past the smoke monster, and that’s understandable it was a quirky plot line. Theology, Godliness, Heaven and Hell and simple, old fashioned true love made this show great. Well that and an encyclopedia’s worth of unanswered questions.

Remember the one with the Yeti? How about the one with the lesbian wedding? Maybe the one when Ross and Rachel took a break was your favorite? No matter which is “The One”, Friends was the one at number one for me. I was living in one of my first apartments (of course mine wasn’t half as nice as theirs but I’m also old enough to distinguish fantasy from reality ya know?) and going through the trials of love, friendship, family, work and life in my early twenties. It was perfectly cast, perfectly written and perfectly captured my generation’s struggle with adapting in a modern world. They grappled with everything from death and disease to marriage, babies, being broke, getting a dream job, making a fool of yourself, making a life for yourself, love, and so much more over the ten seasons it would take an entire blog to list it all. But no matter what they always did it through humor, and the six of them always faced it together. They were more than Friends, they were family.

Some honorable mentions that were close to making this list but I had to bump include Burn Notice, 24 (the first 3 seasons), Biggest Loser, Melrose Place and ER (the first 6 seasons).

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Catch up on anything you missed  30 Photos, 30 Days
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But I Got a Great Meal Out of It

Most of you know that I was a huge fan of the television show Lost. For six seasons I stuck through the weird twists and turns and I even tried to accept the (apparent) dissonance of last night’s finale, but something about it being over like that makes me more than a little sad. There will be no more answers to questions; the melody is unfinished and the lines do not rhyme. But, ah, that is classic Lost and I suppose I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now before I lose everyone with paragraphs of babbling about a series finale that many of you were not addicted to like me, I should probably explain what that show has to do with the title. Earlier this month my friend Ginger started up this new gig over at ‘Would You Like Fries With That?’ called The Dish. Each month she will post a recipe created in her very own kitchen and challenge readers to come up with their own version. So for last night’s finale that is just what I did.

Food was a huge part of the show as a whole -- how they hunted for it, picked it, where they happened to find a bunch of it, who’s food it was -- and two items in particular were frequently mentioned: boar and mango. Since they were deserted on a tropical island, it was fitting. My mom came over to watch the finale with us last night so we definitely planned to have some mango, but the boar? Well I picked up Boar...’s Head deli slices of course!

I knew I wanted to do something funky with the mango and suddenly it hit me -- The Dish! I knew that mango would be a perfect ingredient for Asian Inspired Noodles and I started pulling stuff out of the cabinet to create on the fly. When it was complete it had a Polynesian flair and I am calling it:

Sweet & Salty Fruity Noodles
1 package ramen noodles
½ a ripe mango
a good sprinkling of coconut
fresh cilantro
a sprinkling of dry basil
cubed meat (or other preference, we used pork)
water chestnuts*
bamboo shoots*
soy sauce (low sodium)
agave nectar
sesame seeds

(Sorry to say there are no measurements because I just kind of tossed it all together or in the bowl until it looked right and tasted good.)

*I forgot to get these but plan to do so next go round!

Cook ramen as directed, omit seasoning packet. Drain & run under cold water for a minute or so.
Chop, bake, dice, slice, open everything else. We kept all things in separate containers so each of us could add to our own liking.
In a shaker pour about 3 oz soy sauce, 1 oz agave then shake, shake, shake your booty until its blended well. Taste for yumminess (should be an even balance of salty/sweet).
Chill (preferably in the yard with a good book).
Mix it all together in your own bowl, pour a drizzle of sauce over and eat immediately.

Thanks for the challenge Ginger, if it wasn’t for you I never would have conceived of this yummy meal; it was a perfect compliment to our night of getting Lost one final time.

And in other news…

When my mom got here last night she came in carrying my manuscript. All of my “test subjects” have now read the book, given me their ten cents (and multiple pages of notes) on what could be further revised, edited, and what works well. Since I’m done painting for the time being, the next couple weeks are all about final edits, kick ass query letters and crossing of fingers that this baby gets picked up before I start writing the next one in November.

Wish me luck with the book and get over to The Dish for more Asian Inspired Noodle Bowls!

Week(s) In Review: A Pictorial Adventure

So where have I been, yes that would be the question considering that, unless we’re connected on Facebook, no one has heard from me in weeks. I don’t call, don’t write. Yeah, ‘dropped off the face of the virtual Earth’ (yet again) is pretty accurate. But I have done some amazing and fun stuff in my electronic absence.

And the train continues to roll so rather than sit here for ages typing out all the details of my recent misadventures in construction, paint, music, old friends and pastry, it occurred to me that a nice array of photos is surely a much lazier way to share the information.

And retain it for that matter. See? Really I’m just thinking of your time. Yeah, that's it.

So without further random babble from me, here is essentially a month in review…

A whole bunch of these got painted, glazed, varnished, etc. over the past couple weeks for Chucka Stone Designs, and more will be done this week (plus I might actually finish the furniture pieces this weekend, amazing!)

I hosted a week long giveaway over here that I enjoyed promoting.

This holiday came and went & Matt and I thankfully didn’t feel pressured to celebrate (because it is a silly tradition started just to make people feel bad who are single and obligated who are together so the card, chocolate, flower and jewelry industries can live on for one more day. OK. Jumping off my soapbox now…) But my mom sent us this card and it was very sweet of her!

The FINAL season (sob) of Tuesday night crack began. (Yeah I know he’s not on the show anymore but he was my favorite character and he did make an appearance in the first episode this season. Plus he’s hot, so there.)

We had a chance to catch this guy’s act live, and solo for the first time, which was so much fun! We were right at the edge of the stage in the Red Room at Café 939.

Then I started doing a whole bunch of this. (Thanks for the video still shots This Old House)

Of course that job is in central Mass so that meant I was in this a lot. Don’t worry, my car wasn’t recalled. Baby drives great.

Even though painting and plaster is a great workout it was good to do a little of this in addition to keep loose. Climbing ladders requires a certain level of already in shape-ness so as not to fall asleep on the sofa every night at 10:00. Oh wait…

I have been helping to clean out the family house which desperately needs to be finished and sold. My Aunt, mom and I spent six hours in this room getting it to look this empty. I wish I were kidding. But it is done now and so we celebrated with subs (hoagies, wraps, whatever you call it in your neck of the woods -- sandwich filling in a long roll). I took this round table home and it is now gracing my back hall under the window; it looks perfect with the bench on the other side, since they are a matching set.

Of course Thursdays have still been all about this. Wouldn’t miss that for anything!

Had a chance to catch one of my mom’s favorite performers, Seth Glier (on piano), this past Friday night. I can see why, wow this kid has talent!! At only 21, he has a long career ahead of him. (He plays SXSW every year so if you’re near Austin, TX go check him out!). Plus he remembered my mom on sight by name, asked her later what she wanted to hear and made a point to come over and apologize that he didn’t have time to play it after the show was over. Now that’s class.

And now this morning I’m finishing coffee and writing. Not to mention eating one of these; purchased after dinner with friends in Davis Square last night. Yum!

The month in review has now commenced. Holy crap, can’t believe it’s just about March already! Bring on the warm weather, yippie!

Broken Thought Process Thursday

Yup, it’s Friday. Hey, it’s my theme I do what I want!

There is a fine line between determination and insanity. Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again hoping to get different results; or something close to that. He was clearly onto something there. I wish he were alive and well, it would be nice to ask him to move on over here next door to one of my neighbors and share that pearl of wisdom because although they might not be insane just yet, they are quickly driving me there. Come to think of it, they are not driving much of anywhere.

For the past two weeks, every day, at multiple and various times throughout the twenty four hour period, my neighbor has gone out to their car and tried to start it. The car makes that cheg-cheg-cheg-cheg-cheg sound as if it is about to start but it never turns over. I almost feel bad for them, they must imagine that the car fairy comes at night and sprinkles magic motor oil all over the hood in a blessing for their success the next day. What would be the explanation for trying it every morning otherwise? Now, I am certainly no genius like Albie but it sounds to me like perhaps it is time to call a tow truck and go have a starter put in. I don’t know though, just a thought.

Hearing this occur every morning makes me want to quote the movie Mallrats:

“That kid, is back on the escalator again!”

OK well I am going to go take a nine hour break from typing so I can get out to my kitchen reorganization job out in Ayer. Today we are working on the two kitchen junk drawers and the “it used to be a broom closet but is now the toss it in there and hope it doesn’t fall out when the door gets opened” closet. Can not wait to get before and after shots of this job for all of you to check out. Its so liberating to toss stuff and get it into a more organized manner. Well at least for me, I hope it feels the same for the client!

Back now. Hope everyone had a fantastic Friday!

Yup, definitely all about pizza for dinner tonight. So now I have to decide if we are going to make the trek out to Revere beach to get our favorite from Bianchi’s or if we should just stick close to home and do a margharita from Nicola. Ooh choices are so fun, especially when it comes to good pizza.

Oh my, I am pretty sure that was just a really booming rumble of thunder. Perhaps we will stick close to home and forego the beach tonight after all. Decision made.

I don’t know if any of you are Lost fans but we started renting all of the episodes again from season 1 on and let me tell you, I have even more questions now than before going back to re-watch them! There was a whole lot of information, situations, circumstances or subtle nuances that I completely forgot all about. Plus some characters they got rid of that really bummed me out to see them go. We have three left until the end of the season, it is pretty likely that will be tonight’s activity of choice unless I can convince Matt to play a little Rock Band of course.

Speaking of, I think it is time to go tap the pads for a few before Matt gets home. This is about as broken a thought process blog as possible. I like this theme, think I’ll keep it up. Hope everyone enjoys their night!