Tuesday, March 23, 2010

What's to come.....

As some know, my household contains two ferocious beasts I captured in my Indiana-style adventures. One runs this territory as the aggressive, no holds barred, claw-wielding beast while the other lays back in the shadows, preferring the strong silent method - to assess and not assume, to be calm and not easily excitable. There are days where the protagonist leaps to capture its prey and his brother reaps the benefit of the his companion's work.

Sounds like a NOVA special huh? It is.... but not what you think. Minijag and Logan are my two babies... two felines that is. They do not come from African grasslands (although some days I wonder), instead they were both the result of something unfortunate - offspring of pregnant alley cats with the likelihood of a good lifestyle = slim. Providence united us and what an experience we've all had. They both amuse me, torture me and love me and I wouldn't trade any of their antics for anything else.

So why am I gabbing about them as if I am the old hag that lives in the dark house on the corner of Elm and 7th, the home to seventy+ cats, yowling a constant ringing to passerbys? I'm not that crazy lady, I promise - but I also promise that their interaction with one another stands tall amongst many the evening sitcoms. Their frolicking may not be as interesting as say 30 Rock, but deserves credit and even a comic strip they do (you must say this mimicking Yoda). You may not giggle at the thought of me writing this comic strip but a laugh is quite expected when I tell you I hope to draw it also!

For as long as it takes, I plan on learning how to draw! Okay, nothing miraculous, but I dedicate myself to trying hard and to at least give it my best. I certainly could just ask someone to complete this portion for me (as I know how many artists?!), yet selfish as it seems, I would like this to be mine(s) :) And much, much credit is due to Lee, a good friend, who has been encouraging me to get a move on as we've been exchanging hypothetical stories on how this would play out.

I have the first draft complete; all I need now are fluid hands to paint the picture.

Wish me luck (I need it)!!!

For something cute - here is a video of how awesome pets can be:



Danae signing off!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

90210MG! Emily Valentine in male form!






9021Oh I’ve seen this plot line before. Yes I know that shows recycle plots all the time. And it is inevitable that when you bring a show back that hasn’t been on in ten years you will have some of the same plots. But as I was watching the back from the dead 90210 Tuesday night I saw hints of Emily Valentine stalker action in Annie’s drug dealer boyfriend Jasper. Now, if you didn’t watch the original 90210 then you have no clue who Emily Valentine is. In short, she was the girlfriend of main character Brandon Walsh who went crazy, psycho stalker on him and when he tried to break up with her she called his house NON STOP and wouldn’t accept that they were broken up. Fires were threatened. That poor float. Check out the video.



Well 90210 came back Tuesday night from its winter vacation. The show was eh at best. I’m not completely in love with the reboot. They are trying though, so I’m trying to love it the way I loved original 90210. In short the story lines were guy lies to other guy so that he doesn’t get with first guy’s ex-girlfriend that he still likes. Second guy then acts like a dick to girl which makes girl go back to first guy for solace. First guy almost feels bad enough to tell girl but then doesn’t. Second plot line was guy and girl who went through ridiculous crap to be together are finally on date and it sucks. The girl’s solution is to show up at guy’s house naked. Of course guy likes it. Third plot line was parents of main characters deal with a supposed crush on husband by one of his coworkers. Turns out the woman didn’t have a crush on husband, just generally needs a man. So wife befriends woman and tries to set her up with yoga teacher only to realize teacher may actually like wife. Fourth plot line is newly sober girl tries to deal with being sober and deal with her friends who have no clue what it’s like to be a former drug addict. She finds acceptance from other classmate who just so happens to be a former drug addict, and also a lesbian. I guess we all know where that plot line is heading. Fifth plot line is group of friends try to frame drug dealer jerk who has made their lives crappy but it backfires and one of the friends gets busted by accident.

But back to what got me started on this post. The major plot line from the show was that Jasper is now crazier than we once thought. Not only is he still a drug dealer, and obviously a genius because he figured out they were trying to frame him with coke in his locker and got it in the other guy’s locker before being caught, he is breaking into Annie’s house and blackmailing her to remain his girlfriend. See, way back near the beginning of this season Annie ran over some guy with her car. She sped off and never told the police. The man was found and it became a big deal but no one ever knew it was her. Due to other circumstances Annie was shunned by all of her friends and found her way to Jasper. He loved her and became her “first.” Well, turns out the man that Annie ran over was his uncle. Now he is blackmailing her saying that if she breaks up with him he will tell the police it was her. That is where he has crept into Emily Valentine territory. Hell, he broke into her house and left flowers on her bed. He destroys someone’s car window when she tries to make him mad. He makes her kiss him before she leaves. Next thing you know he’s going to rape her. I see it coming.

I don’t think this whole plot line is going to end with a float fire and Jasper coming to his senses that he’s crazy and needs some professional help like it did with Emily. Since it is 2010 and “teen shows” have to be more salacious than the next I’m sure it’s going to get pretty gruesome. Like I mentioned before, there may be a rape in the future. There may be a serious beating and Annie ends up in the hospital. Or you never know, the show may surprise us and Jasper gets his sooner than we think. The only thing I’m sure of is that Jasper will get his in the end. The bad guys always do. I’m just curious as to how. So of course I will keep on watching this reboot and hoping that I find even just a sliver of Emily Valentine in there.



Over all I give this episode only 3 frames. The potential for Emily Valentineness gets 5 frames, but based solely on it's individual showing, it stays at 3.


Well head on over to the forum and talk about how you feel about this new 90210. Does it even hold a candle to the original? Discuss it further there.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Netflix (again!)

Due to the sickness (no worries, I won't pull any Daybreaker mess on you), I'm only updating this last minute. I swear, next post will be on a CURRENT movie. So I then deduced that since I'm a johnny-come-lately with the Netflixin (but a hardcore advocate and recruit.... don't I get some sort of commission or something?), I'm going to share with you what's up next in my queue.



Dexter Season 1 was a recommend by a good friend of mine. She knows my type of preferred viewership; mystery, murder, thriller, drama, dark, some humor, twisted and cleverly written. According to some of the reviews I've read and considering that the star of the series, Michael C. Hall, won a Golden Globe & Screen Actors Guild Award for this character, I'm convinced. The only downside, as with any series, is if you didn't start from when the show commenced, the task to catch up is daunting. Although not impossible with the availability with Hulu and Netflix. Starting a series, say Lost for e.g., NOW is terrifying. If Philadelphia continues to have snow like we've been having and a snow week was possible, there is hope. Regardless of how or when, you may be labeled "obsessive" or "crazy" but no one ever said you were sane. Dexter is now going on season five. Am I a tad fearful? Will those who arrive at my domicile cringe at me having not have moved for 48 hours, crumbs still on my shirt (snack for later), hair looking like Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd (see below) and hissing upon a foreigners entrance? Maybe. But I have a feeling all will be worth it. There are 12 episodes per season, roughly 44 minutes without commercials, for four seasons, amounts to roughly 35 hours (a workweek). Doable, completely doable.... Pray for me...

Here's a short summary about the series that I took from imdb.com: "During the day, Dexter Morgan is a jovial employee in the Miami Metropolitan Police Department's crime lab, but his meticulously crafted life masks his true nature. In reality Dexter is a disciplined and murderous psychopath (a self-admitted "monster"), and he slakes his blood lust at night by carefully killing the serial killers he tracks down during the day. Based on the novels (Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter in the Dark) by Jeff Lindsay."

For your viewing pleasure, Mrs.Lovett:


I'm interested in what marathons you readers have had. Movies, shows, games.. What length of time was committed and what was the source of your attention? Personally, I don't have too many, but X-Files was something I could watch for hours *cough, days* and playing Mario 64. Let me know by posting below, on the main j1studios.com page or on the forum.

What have you invested hours of your life to and ended up looking like this:



Danae signing off!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Sick time TV

I have seen my fair share of day time programming. And yes, I tend to watch Maury, Jerry Springer, court shows, and just recently Wendy Williams. Well I was home sick this past Tuesday and stayed true to my usual programming. I started my morning with reruns of Cheaters; then went back and forth between Maury and Wendy Williams. I unfortunately slept through half of Jerry Springer because those people were a mess. Well, they usually are. Then it was half of Maury and a rerun of TMZ. Next up Days of Our Lives, then some People’s Court, and then more Maury. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m telling you this. I’m sharing this because it leads me into my rant on day time talk shows.

Of course I could go on and on about court shows. I do frequent Divorce Court and Judge Mathis. On occasion I will settle in for some Judge Joe Brown. And I do love my Judge Judy. But court shows don’t always provide the flair that talk shows do. Yes they can be funny but most of the time I’m just frustrated at how stupid most of these people are. If you say you watch the judge’s show all the time then you should know don’t put someone on your phone bill, or always get it in writing. It will never be different for you.

I don’t want any judging about watching Jerry Springer. Everyone knows that they have watched it and laughed at it. I don’t care if all those people on there are paid actors. It’s funny and that’s why I watch it. Jerry Springer is a genius. He has been on for something like 15 years. He knows what people want to see and he gives it to them. If people didn’t really want to watch this crap then he would have been cancelled a long time ago. Face facts folks, you watch it, I watch it, everyone watches it. It’s not going anywhere until Jerry wants to quit.

My recent addition has been Wendy Williams. I use to listen to her from time to time when she was on the radio. When they finally started showing her talk show in Philly I didn’t watch it. What made me start watching it was the show The Soup. When the host, Joel McHale, would make fun of the show I just had to see if her show was really as crazy as he made it out to be. Sometimes it is. What I like about her is that she knows who she is and she is exactly that. She doesn’t try to amp it up or tone it down for television. I appreciate that. Her show is fun and she has some good guests and performances.



That brings me to my staple in my day time TV watching, Maury. He usually has to the same five topics on his show: paternity tests, lie detector tests, bad ignorant ass little girls, look at me now that I’m hot, and anything caught on tape. There is the occasional other show thrown in there but those are the main five topics you will see. The most seen is the paternity test show. I always find that I am shaking my head the hardest at those shows. This leads into my main rant of this entry:

Why do these girls on Maury always start downing the men that they are saying are their baby’s father? Clearly they were some kind of special at one point that you wanted to have sex with them. I always think it’s funny that the first thing they go after is how if they have a son the baby has the same small penis as the supposed father. Um, duh. Of course a baby is going to have a small penis. And if this man had such a small penis what were you doing having sex with them repeatedly? Obviously they knew how to use it so why make fun of it now? Also, when these men say that they think they aren’t the father because the girl slept around, they could be lying just to back up why they don’t want to be the dad. But girls, don’t think that when he is proven to be the father that it proves you weren’t sleeping with all these other men. It just means that he was the one to get you pregnant. I think Maury should do lie detector tests on all of the females that are accused of sleeping around so that the man can have some validation if they really were cheating. I have some helpful tips for the women that go on Maury to determine paternity of their children. A) Don’t start spouting off that you are a million percent sure that he is the father. Especially if you know you slept with other people in at least one month before or after you think the baby was conceived. Nine times out of ten he’s not going to be. 2) Be honest. If you slept with other guys just admit it outright so you don’t look like a whore later if he is proven to not be the father. C) DON’T RUN OFF THE STAGE! Do you know how stupid you look running off the stage after it’s shown he’s not the father? The answer to that is very stupid. 4) If he isn’t the father of your children, apologize for the mistake and keep it moving. And E) If the first guy isn’t proven to be the father don’t come back on the show 10 more times with all these other men. Come back one more time with all of the men. You may think it looks bad that you have all these men there at once, but it will look a lot less bad then repeatedly coming back. And again, go back to tip number one ladies. Okay you really thought that first guy was the father. Well, if you were proven wrong don’t come back and say you are 1000% sure of this new guy too. Just say you think he may be the father and let it be especially if you know you slept with other guys.

(Sorry for the poor quality of the video. But you get the point.)


But I digress. So the next time I’m home from work for whatever reason you can be sure that I will be watching a mix of all of those shows and enjoying all of them. I know I’m not the only one. Go to the forum and discuss your favorite daytime TV programs. I want complete honesty too.

Until next time kids, this has been Hava!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Netflix is keeping me up!

I happily joined Netflix roughly a month ago and now have a plethora of mind numbing action, horror, drama, comedy and dare I say just a smidget of romance available to me. (I'll not dare offer that last one up as a review often). My list consists of a minimum of 75 films I've noted due to either positive reviews or some interesting context. Here are some of what have I seen so far....

25th Hour

25th Hour

The star is a solid actor having played in Fight Club, The Italian Job, The Illusionist, American History X (in the queue!!) and Red Dragon. Montgomery (Ed Norton) has 24 hours until he is due to serve a seven year prison term. Relayed is the turmoil he goes through in facing what is to happen to him once he's incarcerated and the road to arriving at that grim reality. His childhood buddies, Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Frank (Barry Pepper) are part of this countdown along with his girlfriend Naturelle Riviera (Rosario Dawson). The unique relationship between friends creates anticipation as to what he has planned when they gather for their last evening out together. Montgomery's disturbingly calm reserve is not unlike him but the circumstance dares you to wonder how he plans on leaving the world as he knows it. A deceivingly exciting film. Gets a four out of five frames.



Trainspotting

Trainspotting

Saw this on a list of films that were cult classics and decided to give it a shot.

Mark (Ewan McGregor) and all his friends have a common vice: heroin. Each with all their own passions and oddities, they go about with their theories on how typical society are as drones in their 9-to-5, two-parent, three and a half kids families, not really living a life, jut following the trend of what's expected, lifestyle. A false sense of immortality must exist as they are reckless and irresponsible. There are some amusing (and terrifying) "highs" and also an ending to entertain. Nothing is glorified and it is most definitely not a sight for everyone. Yet I found it not as depressing, thank goodness, as Requiem for a Dream. This gets a three out of five frames.



(500) days of Summer

500 Days of Summer

I told you I would save you from romance cutesy mess but this is different. Anyone that knows me knows I am not your average girl. If a romantic comedy has been seen by me it must've either been highly recommended or I was drugged. This isn't a romance story (although it contains romance) nor a comedy (and yes, has some funny scenes) but it is a story about what so many relationships go through; one wants one thing out of the exchange and the other desires something quite different. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays Tom and Zooey Deschanel who plays Summer Finn, the roles played are not what's expected. Can't give too much away as you need to see to appreciate. The joy and frustrations are what we can all relate to in some way. The composition of scenes and artistry of every transition is laudable. Highly recommend and I give this a four out of five frames.




Any film recomendations??? Let me know via email or on the blog.

Danae signing off!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

SNOW DAY! Wait, the news is on?!




So if you live in the PA, NJ, DE, NY area right about now you have TONS of snow outside your window. Most likely you had off from work Wednesday and if you are even luckier you have off today as well. Well, I'm one of those lucky people to not have to go to work. So I think that I can just hunker down in front of the television and catch up on some good ol' day time TV. Maybe watch my soaps, some Ellen, any court show. Silly me though. How could I have thought I would get to see any of that when there is all this weather going on outside my door.

If you haven't guessed it I'm referring to the constant snowpocolypse coverage on all of the major networks. It's like they read my mind on what I wanted to watch today and they did the exact opposite. Who really wants to sit there and watch the news ALL DAY LONG report on how much snow is falling from the sky? We have windows. We can see what's going on out there. How much can you really say about the weather? Now, I can understand a weather and traffic update every hour. I will even accept every half hour. If something major happens then you can break into my regularly scheduled programming to report on it. But I don't think you have to blather on repeatedly about the same thing and talking to the same people.

Now I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't just switch to a cable channel and call it a day. Well, I did. But see, that's not the point. Not everyone has cable. And there isn't always something to watch on cable. Today, it was slim pickings for a while. Also, when you have your heart set on watching your soap, mine is Days of Our Lives, or watching Ellen, beautiful Channing Tatum was supposed to be on today, you are let down when you turn on the channel and there is some fool news reporter standing outside in this blizzard talking about how cold and snowy and windy it is out there. Um, duh!

We get it CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX! You don't have to tell us from 5am to 8pm about what's going on outside of our houses. We all went out and shoveled the snow to no avail at some point today. We all can look out the window at what's going on out there. I'm letting you know now all major networks that if I'm subjected to the same thing today someone will be getting a very angry email. I am lucky enough to have off from work and I would like to watch my Days of Our Lives and my court shows on FOX. If I am deprived of this for a second day I cannot be held accountable for my actions. I might just have to go outside, pick up a stick with a spoon like apparatus attached to the end of it, and start throwing snow around with it, ultimately leaving a clear path from my door to the sidewalk and then to the street. I know. It could get serious.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video.



Enjoy the snow everyone! Until next time kids, this has been Hava!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

the LOST and found....

So I know some of you had to have seen the Season 6 Premiere of Lost. I know it's only been on hiatus for a century but the addict that = us, can't stay away nor stop thinking about it. Just writing this has me maddened enough to re-watch all five seasons and the season six premiere, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!

There are numerous theories about exactly what last night represented. Although I like "smart" shows, when it comes to recalling even the most minor elements of what I've just seen, I fail miserably. (Thus why I must go back to watch the first five seasons again, dare I say all within three weeks?) I do not have many theories as I'm lucky to remember my name, Hava is it.... Wait, where was I? So I repeat, while I don't have many theories, yet the one I was convinced of post-experience was that the bomb that Juliet set off, split them into an alternate reality. The idea that every decision you make changes things and those results can branch out into an alternate set of circumstances. Another very popular opinion was that the bomb set off exactly what they desired: to go back in time with the plane never having crashed (this being confirmed by Juliet's "It worked"). We are seeing the past and what happens when/if the plane lands while simultaneously seeing the Flight 815 occupants still in the island after the explosion. So what's next for the now lucky Hurley and the seemingly misplaced Desmond. Are they still destined to be on the island? If so, what will bring them back and why are they destined to exist there?

I'm so excited to find out (hopefully) answers to so many questions, one of which is: why Jacob/"unknown dude on the beach that people are calling Esau" have this rivalry/animosity and what do they want with everyone?

This link brings up some really good theories. One guy's summary (Ryan McKee) was awesome - how do you sum up five seasons in a paragraph? He tried and it's an admirable attempt!(Don't know if correct but what is correct when it comes to Lost?)

http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/02/03/lost-season-6-theories-wtf-is-going-on/

Here's one of the numerous promos for season six:



Any credible theories guys? I'm going to aim to watch at lease the first season by next week!!!

Go to the forum to advise: are you Lost or do you have the answers?

Danae signing off

sources: www.youtube.com
www.insidetv.aol.com