soooooo now that alias is back...

What did you think?

Throughout the episode I kept wondering... She's about to pop out a baby, why is she putting herself in a mission? Why is she getting on the plane? Aren't you not supposed to get on the plane during the 3rd trimester? And aren't newborns not supposed to be on planes, too? Something about the air pressure?

The theme of the episode was how many security regulations can Jack and Sydney break today?

Oy.

And -- not surprising AT ALL -- Vaughn's back. I'm glad at least they want to end the show with him in it, I suppose.

SOOO glad this is the final season.

Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand @ the Tweeter Center

First off, Camden, NJ actually is pretty scary. Because of the event there were tons of cars with kids and police directing everybody, but the area just looks ominous. I know that they're trying to "improve" the waterfront area and while it can definitely be done (look at NYC's Times Square for an example) I think they still have a long way to go...

Anyway, as for the actual show, I really enjoyed it. Strangely enough this was my first large arena seated concert (having done most of my previous concert-going in the small towns of Ithaca and Rochester, plus a handful of club shows in NYC and Philly) and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The arena was nicely laid out...lots of seating but a good view even from the back (and from my height of 5 feet tall). Most shows I've been to I end up sitting in the balconies anyway.

We missed all but a few minutes of the opener, the Cribs, so I can’t say much about them. Franz came on first and they were pretty much exactly as I had expected. Really high energy, really fun, and really British (well Scottish). I was proud of myself because I recognized pretty much all the songs they played, though I’m not as familiar with their new album. Loved "Take Me Out" and their closer "This Fire."

Then Death Cab came on, and honestly, I hadn’t been sure of what to expect from them live, especially at a large venue. Their style of music is pretty opposite from Franz Ferdinand in terms of energy at least, and it’s hard to tell how that kind of musci translates live. Will it just sound like the recording or will there be a little something extra? I’m happy to report that the latter was true. Ben Gibbard’s voice is so good that it more than filled up the arena and their performance was just really spirited, even in the slow songs. I was super excited to hear "Company Calls," "A Movie Script Ending," "The New Year," and "Transatlanticism" but in general I think I was little underwhelmed by their set. I think the thing with Death Cab is that they have so many albums already and I like so many of their songs that it was kind of hard to not be disappointed. I was especially sad that they didn’t play "Marching Bands of Manhattan," which is my current favorite from their new album. I guess that just means that I have to go see them again! Oh, and their set and lighting scheme was really cute.

avalon high

So I finally got to spend an afternoon doing one of my favorite things ever -- reading teen novels at the bookstore. Obviously it's way too embarrassing to actually BUY these teen novels, but I can't help it; I loooooove reading 'em! Anyway, this trip to Barnes & Nobles uncovered a new novel by Meg Cabot (author of The Princess Diaries and The Mediator series): Avalon High.

Somehow ALL of her heroines come off having the same personality -- Meg's -- so this one was no different. Ellie (or Elle or Elaine) is exactly like Mia and Meg in action, looks, and voice. Ellie has a pet cat who she doted upon. She was tall to the point of gangly, brunette, and really smart. It was cool because Avalon High takes place in Annapolis, which is only 15 minutes away from me and in my county, Anne Arundel County! So it fun to "recognize" what she was talking about. (ie. Ellie's parents' favorite restaurant Red Hot & Blue) It was also an enjoyable read because this book was a spin on teen-historical-fiction. Meg Cabot built off of the story of King Arthur-Guinivere-Lancelot's love triangle and based it into high school teenaged romances.

All in all, a fun and easy read. And it's nice to have non-trashy-chick-teen-lit. :-)

American Idol take 5

I've been a little slow getting into American Idol this season. It was just on too often at the beginning and I couldn't keep up, but now that we're into the Top 10 I'm going to try to start watching weekly from now on. I do have to say that last night was pretty underwhelming in general though. I thought songs from the 21st century would bring out some good songs but instead there was all this stuff I didn't recognize. I guess my music tastes aren't exactly mainstream and I definitely don't know country, but I thought there were some odd choices last night. People have been telling me that this season is really good but last night I didn't really get that impression. Let's hope upcoming weeks are better?

The rundown:

Lisa - Thought it was pretty bad. I don't really like "Because of You" (even I think Kelly Clarkson is pretty awesome in general) and she didn't make it any better. Some of her performance was pretty horribly off-key.

Kellie - Not too much into country, but I thought it was alright. I remember her from the early audition shows and she's kind of just...too much.

Ace - Sucked. I'll admit to actually liking this song ("Drops of Jupiter") back in the day, he just sounded whiny and annoying and really, he's not hot.

Taylor - I guess I just don't get it. I'd never heard of the song and I'm not sure what his style is and I'm so confused I can't tell if his vocals are good or not. And dude looks like he could pass for like 40.

Mandisa - Another song I'd never heard before, but she's got a spunk, great voice, and a great stage presence. She was kind of shouting a bit by the end though.

Chris - I caught his performance of Fuel a couple of weeks ago which I thought was pretty awesome. This week, though, of all songs, he chooses CREED? That just about ruins all rock cred he ever claimed to have. I'm still willing to give him a chance though.

Katherine - I suppose she's good but I hate Christina Aguilera and her performance was just boring to me so I fast forwarded through most of it. Not sure why all the judges seemed to like it...

Bucky - More country. Thought he was being drowned out by the arrangement but otherwise he was alright I suppose. But um, we don't need another country American Idol.

Paris - Yet another eh song choice. She also has a great voice and stage presence though and her Beyonce moves were kind of funny.

Elliott - Is this guy the dark horse or something? I haven't heard a single thing about him all season but I liked him a lot.

omg. i hate the oc.

I'm still a few episodes behind oh my gosh. WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH THE SHOW?! It's terrible, terrible, terrible.

I need to stop watching NOW. *sigh*

But I've made it this far and I can't seem to just give it up. :-\

jenn will be proud of me...

After putting this off for AGES, I have finally, finally, finally watched all of Season 1 of Veronica Mars!!! And oh my gosh, it was just as good, if not better, than I imagined it would be! SOOO good. Seriously, if this is a show you have even for a split-second contemplated watching, follow those instincts and watch it!

I'm officially a big Veronica-Logan fan. Ohmigosh, am I a Logan fan. *sigh*

Now I just gotta wait for Season 2 to come out on DVD so I can fully catch up. :-)

the 24 writers are evil

This is a little late but I just watched this week's episode of 24 and the writers are officially evil. I mean, I know that the show is all no-holds-barred when it comes to killing characters but seriously, just because you "run out of story" for a character doesn't mean you have to kill them! First Michelle gets killed for the shock factor and now Tony too??? And man, what a cheap way to do it. I mean, of all people, LYNN gets to go out with honor but what does Tony get? NOTHING.

WHY COULDN'T THEY YOU JUST LEFT THEM ALONE?

Top Chef

Due to the bombardment of ads for this show during episodes of Project Runway, I decided to check this show out, and surprise surprise, I like it. Obviously I'm a sucker for reality TV, but this one was even more natural for me to pick up because it's about cooking. I love Food Network and anything to do with food, and this has the same format as Project Runway, which I think is really excellent. It doesn't really lend itself as well to television as Project Runway though, because the viewing audience really had no idea what the food TASTES like so it's hard to judge for ourselves. It does make you really really hungry though.

Anyway, this isn't going to be a full review, just a rundown of some random things I notice/found out about the show:

- Last week Miguel's "Duo of Beef" kind of made me laugh because last week my group at work went out to lunch at Fox and Hound and one of my coworkers ordered the "Two Meat Combo." Haha, Miguel's dish looked and probably tasted better, but yeah, I'm strange.

- Stephen has a degree from Cornell (hotel school I'm assuming) and was probably there around the same time as me. He carries a Manhattan Portage messenger bag, which I find pretty hilarious.

- Cynthia (the crazy one) has been a personal chef for Jay-Z and Beyonce.

- I always wondered how one becomes a food critic. Gail Simmons, one of the judges, works for Food & Wine magazine and apparently has a combination of culinary training with event coordinating experience. My second irrational dream job after working for TVGuide, definitely being a food critic.

the new teen fiction

Though Mira and I aren't exactly part of the target around for teen lit, we still avidly read them. They're light and quick and fun. The latest trend on the teen lit scene are books that have been dubbed "Sex and the City for the younger set." Gossip Girl, the A-List and other series like them feature rich young socialites in glamorous New York and LA settings. This isn't great literature by any measure. All of these books are pretty unabashedly superficial, which is fine for what they are: trashy guilty pleasures.

Today I noticed that the New York Times has published an article about these books (registration may be required to read). I thought it was an interesting article, which says that all the sex isn't so much the problem as the fact that these books have their characters be too adult and not young adult enough.

And you know, I kind of agree. I think the books are fun but I do wonder about real pre-teen and teenage girls reading this stuff. I mean, I grew up reading Sweet Valley (which is the definite predecessor to this new breed of teen girl novels) but even those books could be sincere at points and stil stressed things like family values and had it's fair share of standard coming-of-age topics. In these new books, the characters are mini-adults. College used to be the time where you could act like an adult but not have all of the responsibilities but now it appears that the time for that has been bumped back to high school.

So yeah, hopefully young girls aren't turning to this stuff as something to aspire to. There are lots of alternatives out there, like Cynthia Voigt and even the Traveling Pants and Princess Diaries books, that are probably more relatable but still fun to read.

mindfrack

Just finished watching the Battlestar Galactica season finale which was, like, the most mind-blowing thing I've seen in years. I can't even formulate thoughts right now.

But amidst it all, go Chief and Cally! There is ALWAYS room for shipping. =)