Check in Thursdays: Week 17

Jennifer: Oops...posting a day late. I was busy pulling a quad muscle at softball...
Watching... Catching up on pretty much everything, including Suburgatory, Mad Men, The Vampire Diaries, New Girl, and Smash.
Listening... Ravens & Chimes - Division Street. I actually went to high school with the frontman, Asher Lack. We didn't run in the same circles but I was in a couple of classes with him. I went to a math/science high school but interestingly there are actually quite a few alumni who have made it big in the arts/entertainment world. Two of the guys in Das Racist were a few years below me too.
Reading... I'm starting a new book! Emily Alone by Stewart O'Nan.

Mira: I just plain ol' forgot..
Watching... NFL Draft apparently.
Listening... The Wanted "Glad You Came."
Reading... uh... um... time to start reading something! Will have an update next week? :)

Check in Thursdays: Week 16

Jennifer: It's crunch time! Not a lot this week.
Watching... I'm not a Julia Louis-Dreyfus fan or anything and I generally don't like political shows but Veep looks like it might be pretty funny. Yay for a free year of HBO! (After which I might consider cancelling cable altogether...)
Listening... Some interesting covers of the Flamingos "I Only Have Eyes for You." This song still reminds me of that episode of Buffy where Buffy and Angel are possessed by a couple from the 50s.
Reading.. Trying to finish Death Comes to Pemberley before it's due back at the library. Will probably fail.

Mira:
Watching... catching up on Revenge. Except what we thought was a new episode last week turned out to be a full season recap.  Grr!
Listening... nothing worth mentioning.  But Russ manages to get "We Are Young" by fun. and "Rumor Has It" by Adele stuck in my head at least once a day, sometimes more.  Sigh.
Reading... nothing! But starting next week I can start reading again!!!

Check in Thursdays: Week 15

Jennifer:
Watching... Looking forward to the premiere of Girls on HBO, which has been getting quite a lot of good buzz as the anti-Sex in the City.
Listening... More picks from All Songs Considered! Hot Chip - Flutes. I don't go clubbing or anything but if I were, I think this would be the kind of music I'd want to be playing. Also, I've never heard of this guy before, but I loved this: Peter Broderick - Colin.
Reading... Still working on The Marriage Plot and Death Comes to Pemberley. Oh and I finished 1Q84! I liked it quite a lot but was slightly disappointed that quite a few plot threads were not at all resolved. It didn't ruin the overall effect of the book though, which is just so rich and weird.

Mira:
Watching... my final Netflix DVD movie in a long time -- One Day.  With the return of this movie, we have officially cancelled our DVD subscription.
Listening... Probably the song I've heard the most recently is Puff Daddy's "I'm Coming Home" because Russ loves the song and it is his ring tone.  Plus, I misplace my cellphone at least twice a day so we keep having to call my phone to find it.
Reading... NOTHING. Still knitting!

Check in Thursdays: Week 14

Jennifer:
Watching... Don't Trust the B* in Apartment 23. I watched the free preview on Hulu and it was actually pretty entertaining. I have no idea where it's going to go but Krysten Ritter is outrageous but funny as the aforementioned bitch, and her sidekick is, of all people, James Van der Beek playing James Van der Beek.
Listening... New song by the Dirty Projectors - Gun Has No Trigger.
Reading... There are a ton of Jane Austen sequels out there, but this one, Death Comes to Pemberley, piqued my interest because it was written by P. D. James who's a very respected author. (I haven't actually read of any of her other books, though I have been intending to read The Children of Men which the movie was based on.) It's a murder mystery!

Watching... catching up on The Voice and caught up on Fairly Legal.  Love Fairly Legal.
Listening... jumping on Jenn's bandwagon. fun. does really annoy me because of its weird ass name that I cannot accept.  But I love "We Are Young" cuz it reminds me of other songs by other bands I like such as Mumford & Sons and Blue October.
Reading... nothing, I have no time to read! Need to knit up a storm!

Check in Thursdays: Week 13

Jennifer:
Watching... Mad Men returned this week after a very long hiatus. This show is a bit weird for me -- I think it's excellent and one of the best shows on TV right now, but at the same time, I sometimes find it a bit of chore to watch because it can be very deliberately slow and there's always this lurking sinister feeling in the background for me. Oddly enough the show can actually be really funny too though. Bonus: Game of Thrones returns this Sunday!
Listening... The Flaming Lips with Bon Iver - Ashes in the Air. Interesting collaboration, described by Vulture as a "razzle-dazzle, chillwave-inspired death march." Love it.
Reading... I got 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami back from the library! I'm going to finish it this time!

Mira:
Watching... I saw Hunger Games as promised!  Not going to write a review until Jenn watches (tomorrow).  But I was satisfied. :)
Listening... A couple of pop songs: "Glad You Came" by The Wanted. "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars.
Reading... Nothing, but want to reread Hunger Games  as soon as I get a chance. Realize that I haven't read it again since I blew through all three books 2.5 years ago. Now that I don't have the movie to anticipate, I can reread and not be disappointed.

Dance Academy

While browsing through my Netflix instant watch suggestions on my TV, I discovered something super duper exciting. (Jenn, you should get excited, too!)  An Australian TV show from 2010 called Dance Academy!  It's a show following a small-town girl, Tara, as she gets into a highly competitive dance school.  What better combination than teen tv drama, dance, and Aussie accents?  I've only watched the first episode so far, but I'm already extremely excited about the show and can't wait to watch the rest of it!!!!

It's like Satin Slippers (book) in TV form!! Yay!

Check in Thursdays: Week 12

Mira:
Watching... Catching up on Once Upon A Time and following all the crazy NFL off-season craziness. Peyton to Denver! Tebow to the Jets! Saints scandal! --- BUT, totally hoping that this time next week I can say that I saw The Hunger Games movie!!!
Listening... I feel like I'm jumping on a bandwagon, but this is a song that's started popping up on the radio that also has some really awesome cover versions of it. Original: Gotye - Somebody I Used to Know.  Covers: Walk The Earth (one group all on one single guitar! sooo awesome!), Pentatonix (acapella, and winner of last season of Sing Off), Ingrid Michaelson (hopefully she'll cover this when I see her in concert in May!).  Based on the newest preview for the next Glee episode, I believe they are singing it on Glee soon, too.
Reading... NOTHING.  All I have time to do these days is wedding stuff. So I am reading the RSVP spreadsheet and my knitting pattern.  I do want to re-read The Hunger Games, though. *After* the movie, though.

Jennifer:
Watching... Surprisingly Bent, a new midseason NBC sitcom with Amanda Peet, is getting some pretty good reviews, so I'm planning to check it out at some point.
Listening... I have two new young adult audiobooks on the queue: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher and Chime by Franny Billingsley.
Reading... Still plodding along with The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. This probably sounds weird, but I read while blow-drying my hair. So basically I only get in about 15 minutes of reading every day...

Check in Thursdays: Week 11

Jennifer:
Watching... Community is back tonight, yay!
Listening... I find it interesting that this band fun. (yes, the period is in their band name) is all over the place with We Are Young. I thought that they sounded familiar and it's because the lead singer used to be with the Format, a band that I was into back in college. Their song The First Single is still one of my favorites.
Reading... The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. I guess it's only natural that authors wrote characters that are English major types because they were probably English major types themselves but I generally find the way these characters think to be rather foreign.

Mira:
I'm back!
Watching... GCB (Good Christian Bitches/Belles).  So far this show is entertaining enough; its craziness kind of reminds me of Desperate Housewives.  I am having major issues resolving the fact that Leslie Bibb's character and Kristen Chenoweth's character are supposed to have been in high school together, meaning the characters are the same age?!
Listening... There's this song that I've heard a couple of times on the radio and though I'm confused by the topic of the song, it's rather catchy: Young the Giant's "Cough Syrup."
Reading... I've been gone for 3+ weeks, and I actually read a book off my shelf! (Resolutions 2012!) The Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee. It's a book about Hong Kong during WWII, after the Japanese invaded, as represented by one couple during the war and another couple 10 years later. Was a really easy read and a very interesting story.

Check in Thursdays: Week 10

Jennifer: Apparently this week is good intentions but no execution week?
Watching... I recently discovered that the UK version of Skins is on Hulu. I started series 5 (the third generation) awhile back but fell behind so I'm looking forward to catching up.
Listening... Finishing up the audiobook of The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. Can't wait for my library to get the third book on audio!
Reading... Still working on books from previous weeks. I did borrow The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides from the library yesterday, we'll see if I have time to actually get to it.


burkie (filling in for mira):
watching...reruns of Psych, in preparation of the new season.  i've only watched this show sporadically, but it's always amusing.
listening...Songbones, by grayson capps.  i discovered him when i saw the travolta/johannsen movie A Love Song for Bobby Long, which i rather enjoyed.  the movie is set in new orleans, and capps is a new orleans musician, and this cd definitely relects local color.
reading...nothing, really.  still doing research on Scotland  :)

Check in Thursdays: Week 9

burkie (filling in for mira this week):
watching...the NFL Scouting Combine.  i know, football geek.  who watches this stuff?  i do.  the college seniors run 40-yard dashes, bench press 225 pounds, broad jump, vertical jump, and run drills.  thrilling stuff  :)   and, the Oscars.  it was just over 3 hours this year, so good time-wise.  they didn't perform the songs, so that cut down on it.  billy crystal returned as host and seemed get get better as the night went on after a meh start.  i assume they'll want to find a host who can skew younger, though last year's experiment was a disaster (more on franco's part and the weak material, i thought).  i'd love to see ellen host it 'cause i like her.  i only saw one of the 9 best picture nominees (The Help).  frankly, i wasn't that interested in seeing most of them.  a weak group of nominees, in my opinion.
listening...Buddy Miller.  good stuff.
reading...about Scotland, getting ready for my vacation in May  :)

Jennifer:
Watching... Recently reviewed (and liked) Awake. Also the season finale of Top Chef (blah) and the new season of Amazing Race (same old, same old, but not necessarily a bad thing). On a side note, I didn't watch any of the Oscars. I saw 0 of 9 Best Picture nominees this year. How did I manage to watch 9 of 10 last year?
Listening...Regina Spektor - All the Rowboats. (Actually I'm a bit guilty of taking most of my picks from All Songs Considered...)
Reading... Still working on books from previous weeks, almost done with 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. It's getting weirder and weirder...