Thursday Top Threes: Addicted

M: Every once in a while I come across a tv show/book/song that I quickly get ridiculously addicted to.  Name your top three!


Mira:
1. Korean Dramas: When I come across a fun one with likable characters, there's no stopping me on my rampage to finish the series.  Most recently I watched one called You're Beautiful (available on Hulu) -- started on Sunday, 13 November, finished on Thursday, 17 November.  16 episodes, each over one hour.
2. Hunger Games: I waited until the final book of the series, Mockingjay, was released before starting the full series. Purchased all 3 while traveling in Italy, started it at the Roma airport on the way back home. Got through 2.67 of the 3 books by the time I landed in Baltimore. It was ridiculous; no wait, the books were simply ridiculously good. I think it's time to reread them. :)
3.  Alias, seasons 1 and 2: This show got really bad the longer it dragged out, but it started SO strong. I started watching the show well after the 2nd season had already started and I think I went through the first season of episodes so quickly to catch up.  In fact, the only way I could stop my spree of watching 4+ episodes in one sitting was by stopping in the middle of the episodes; if I watched to the end of an epeisode, I would automatically start the next episode because of the cliffhangers at the end of each episode!

Jennifer:
1. Downton Abbey: So so good. Series 2 has already aired in the UK but isn't coming to the States until January and I CANNOT WAIT!!! On first glance it seems like your standard British costume drama but it's just so...juicy. Love it!
2. Skins (original British version): I started off not really being sure what to think of it, but I ended up just devouring episode after episode. Even when the characters were incredibly frustrating and the storylines were repetitive and stupid, there was still just something about this show that kept me hooked.
3. Harry Potter: Obvious choice but the first three books had already been out by the time I got into it and I sped through them in like a week. The last book was the only one I've ever gone to buy the day it came out.

[Mira: Sorry again for the delayed publishing -- my fault yet again. I had started drafting the post early but then of course with the Thanksgiving festivities I completely forgot to FINISH the post on Thursday. Must do better. Only a few weeks left of Thursday Top Threes!] 

Thursday Top Threes: Blogging

J: It's been a busy fall and our blog output has been pretty low. What are the top three things that you've been wanting to blog about but haven't gotten to? For our readers, what do you wish we had covered?

Jennifer:
1. The Magicians and The Magician King by Lev Grossman. Influenced by the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, but for adults. It's darker and grittier but still a lot of fun.
2. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. This jumped pretty high on my list of all-time favorite children's books. (Actually I listened to it on audiobook!) It's part mystery, part science fiction and key elements include Manhattan, a game show, and A Wrinkle in Time. No wonder I loved it!
3. The Sing-off. I'm obsessed with Pentatonix. I can't get over that there's only 5 people in the group. Their bass and percussion are insanely good. They better win!!

Mira: 
1. A few TV shows that hooked me last season: The Good Wife and Hawaii Five-O.  They're both shows on my must watch as soon as possible list (vs. sits on my DVR for weeks list; or gets watched simply to make room for more recordings list).
2.  The X-Factor: I'm a few weeks behind on this show right now, but I have a few favorites that truly impress me each week that I watch it -- in particular, Drew!
3. Catch up movies: Actually most catch up movies for me are movies I got to watch on plane rides.  I don't get to the movie theater all that often, so when I have super duper long international flights with the individual media centers available, I end up watching movies the ENTIRE flight.  Most recently, I referenced a few I watched in a previous post: Midnight in Paris, Something Borrowed, and Bridesmaids. I had meant to blog about them and then never got around to it. 

Sorry for the day late Thursday Talk post -- I (Mira) obviously need a weekly reminder. Oops!!!

Thursday Top Threes: Hobbies

M: Top three most interesting hobbies from books, movies, or TV.


Jennifer:
1. Building rockets from October Sky. Engineering FTW! (Actually, even though I'm an engineer I've never had many engineering-related hobbies. But I love this movie!)
2. Fashion design from Gossip Girl. Hated Jenny (so glad she's off the show) and I wasn't into her designs or personal style on the show but fashion design is a pretty cool hobby. I really want to learn how to use a sewing machine!
3. Roller derby from Whip It! Actually I don't understand roller derby and I don't think I'd want to do it, but the movie makes it look really fun.

Mira: Ooh, I love Jenn's number 3 answer!
1. Kono on Hawaii Five-0: Surfing, which isn't surprising for a show in Hawaii... I guess Blue Crush could be cited here, too, but I know I could never do it but it seems like such an interesting culture and outlet.
2. Cliff from Bring It On: Song writing.  There are probably a ton of characters I can attribute that to, but I enjoyed his goofy lyrics and dorky commitment to it. And it was what made his character special. :)
3. Clare from Time Traveler's Wife: Paper making, which is more her career than a hobby, but something that sounds fascinating in general for anyone to do. How does one even get into doing that?

Thursday Top Threes: Misfits

J: Top three characters that just don't belong on the TV show they're on.

Jennifer
1. Ann Perkins on Parks and Recreation. I really love Rashida Jones and think she's actually really funny but the show just doesn't really know what to do with her: one of the few flaws in an otherwise fantastic show that's really firing on all cylinders this season.
2. Matt on The Vampire Diaries. I guess they've tried to get him more into things this season with the ghost storyline and whatnot but poor guy just isn't that interesting. I'm still secretly a Matt/Caroline shipper though...Tyler is freaking me out.
3. Drew on Parenthood. It's not so much that he doesn't belong as that the show often forgets that he exists.
Bonus: Jai on Covert Affairs. Sometimes the character doesn't even really seem like he wants to be there.

Mira:
1. Zooey Deschanel on New Girl. She has a little too much personality given the extreme lack of personality of the rest of the characters. I think she needs to be on a different show, that's better.
2. Puck on Glee. I'm not quite sure why they dropped Trouty Mouth this season and kept Puck on with the lamest storylines ever.
3. April on Gilmore Girls. The show would have been better had she never been in it. :)