Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Without a Life
Over the past few days, I've been watching the first season of Without a Trace. Well...I also redecorated my dorm room and did six loads of laundry, but I wouldn't exactly qualify the latter as noteworthy.
WaT exhibits rather strong CBSish tendencies and is pretty much by the Bruckheimer. That's not to say that it's a bad show. In fact, considering how long it takes most shows to settle in, the first season is put together amazingly well. The storylines and characters are strong and cohesive, including in the pilot. The show immediately settles in without the rough patches that almost all new shows go through as a rite of passage, not to mention those that perpetually stumble along in a disjointed and half-hearted manner.
As with almost all CBS shows, the casting is excellent, with the requisite older male authority figure, complete with the broody air and dark past and the two men (preferably handsome) and two women (preferably gorgeous) with sparkling and vibrant personalities that complete the team. It's essential that the people are good looking and cheery, since WaT is so heavy at times that I was certain that it would choke itself on self-inflicted gravitas and drama.
WaT feeds heavily on human emotions (as opposed to say...elephant emotions). Each episode recreates a person from the inside out, learning about the tragedy in his/her life (Usually abuse or drugs or any of the other depravities that CBS relishes in showing). We don't see any body parts or the omniprescent morgue that's the bread and butter of the Eye, but it's creepier, like dissecting someone's soul or mind.
The screenwriting is pretty damn good for a TV show, and the dialogue is snappy, sharp, and clever. Overall, WaT almost feels too clinical. Everything is clear cut and you just get the feeling that every element was thought over, thought over again, and fitted precisely into place. Predictability does stifle creativity, but why care when each episode is as solid as a slab of concrete.
Ultimately, I only go for the shows where the cinematography is beyond criticism and the characters are strongly appealing. That's probably why Law and Order and its billions of spin-offs have always turned me off and why CBS, with its camerawork and over-the-top humane saviors of humanity, is my bread and butter. As one critic stated, "Without a Trace is about beautiful people all sleeping with each other". Well...I believe that if they spend all day saving the world and since they're all beautiful, there's nothing wrong with a little fun thrown in the mix. It's all in a day's work.
WaT exhibits rather strong CBSish tendencies and is pretty much by the Bruckheimer. That's not to say that it's a bad show. In fact, considering how long it takes most shows to settle in, the first season is put together amazingly well. The storylines and characters are strong and cohesive, including in the pilot. The show immediately settles in without the rough patches that almost all new shows go through as a rite of passage, not to mention those that perpetually stumble along in a disjointed and half-hearted manner.
As with almost all CBS shows, the casting is excellent, with the requisite older male authority figure, complete with the broody air and dark past and the two men (preferably handsome) and two women (preferably gorgeous) with sparkling and vibrant personalities that complete the team. It's essential that the people are good looking and cheery, since WaT is so heavy at times that I was certain that it would choke itself on self-inflicted gravitas and drama.
WaT feeds heavily on human emotions (as opposed to say...elephant emotions). Each episode recreates a person from the inside out, learning about the tragedy in his/her life (Usually abuse or drugs or any of the other depravities that CBS relishes in showing). We don't see any body parts or the omniprescent morgue that's the bread and butter of the Eye, but it's creepier, like dissecting someone's soul or mind.
The screenwriting is pretty damn good for a TV show, and the dialogue is snappy, sharp, and clever. Overall, WaT almost feels too clinical. Everything is clear cut and you just get the feeling that every element was thought over, thought over again, and fitted precisely into place. Predictability does stifle creativity, but why care when each episode is as solid as a slab of concrete.
Ultimately, I only go for the shows where the cinematography is beyond criticism and the characters are strongly appealing. That's probably why Law and Order and its billions of spin-offs have always turned me off and why CBS, with its camerawork and over-the-top humane saviors of humanity, is my bread and butter. As one critic stated, "Without a Trace is about beautiful people all sleeping with each other". Well...I believe that if they spend all day saving the world and since they're all beautiful, there's nothing wrong with a little fun thrown in the mix. It's all in a day's work.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
borat...sigh
I was dragged to see Borat today. All I can say is that the movie supported my theory that men should wear as much clothing as humanly possible. Period. Especially if their legs look like hairy sticks or if they weigh 500 lbs and are covered in about 10 layers of surrounding insulation. I cannot describe how much I wanted to puke after I watched that scene. Probably more than when I finished my 7 hour extended happy hour tonight in an effort to forget the image of hairy stick and lardo locked in the 69 position. Yeah...
Having never watched the Ali G show or any of Cohen's other brainchildren, I still knew what to expect (Hanging out with guys for lunch every day will do that to you). Sure, the jokes were crass and offensive, but this scene was just horrendous. I like some innocent humor and slightly off-color humor once in a while, but this was just over the top. The fact that some people rated Borat as their favorite movie of all time and its more than favorable reviews disturbed me just a little bit. Is America moving in a new direction that I'm simply not aware of? How can stuff like this possibly be inspiring? Borat was rated higher than Gladiator on IMDB and Rotten tomatoes. WTF?
How can we possibly live in a culture that rates racist jokes and fat naked men higher than soldiers getting their faces chopped off with an ax and wearing short skirts? What has America come to? Why must we exchange gratuitous violence and incest for Jewish jokes, female jokes, and more incest? What happened to blood and honor? Ah well. I suppose it's all for the people.
Having never watched the Ali G show or any of Cohen's other brainchildren, I still knew what to expect (Hanging out with guys for lunch every day will do that to you). Sure, the jokes were crass and offensive, but this scene was just horrendous. I like some innocent humor and slightly off-color humor once in a while, but this was just over the top. The fact that some people rated Borat as their favorite movie of all time and its more than favorable reviews disturbed me just a little bit. Is America moving in a new direction that I'm simply not aware of? How can stuff like this possibly be inspiring? Borat was rated higher than Gladiator on IMDB and Rotten tomatoes. WTF?
How can we possibly live in a culture that rates racist jokes and fat naked men higher than soldiers getting their faces chopped off with an ax and wearing short skirts? What has America come to? Why must we exchange gratuitous violence and incest for Jewish jokes, female jokes, and more incest? What happened to blood and honor? Ah well. I suppose it's all for the people.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
politically flavored cheesesteaks
The most hilarious cheesesteak place ever...deep in the heart of South Philly and across the street from Pat's, an equally famous place.Walking along Geno's, the first thing you notice is entire walls covered with police badges from every town, city, and cornfield in the country. Smack in the middle is a picture of some police lieutenant who was killed by Ali Mujahedeen or Muhammed Jafar or whoever in 1981...I really wonder which way the owners voted in the midterm elections. Geno's is famous for putting up a sign that stated: We do not serve customers who don't speak English...talk about neoconservative.
The cheesesteaks themselves are slightly dry, with no sauce. I can't say that I was too impressed. Try ordering in the Philly lingo. Default is wiz. There's wiz with/without, American with/without, and Provolone with/without. Glory to cheese wiz and onions...Then again, since Oprah, Nsync, Michelle Kwan, and various other celebrities have been to Geno's, maybe this dry rendition of sad cheesesteaks ought to be right.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
gelato heaven
I have never had such scrumptious, mouth-watering, divine gelato in my life. CapoGiro Gelato Artisans have two spots in Philly and more than three hundred flavors...since I'm going to be here for five years, I should be able to taste all of them if I try one every five or so days:)On Friday night, I got the Chocolate Scuro, which is the dark, rich, and bittersweet chocolate. It is the best chocolate I have ever had in my life. I was groaning so much while I was eating it that my friends got slightly worried...it was better than anything I've ever experienced...
Anyway, it's a must visit place in Philadelphia. Here are some of the intriguing/mouthwatering flavors:
Pear with Bourbon
Avocado
Honeysuckle
Caped Gooseberry
Mexican Chocolate
Burnt Sugar
Pomegranate
Apple Cider with Clove
Blood Orange
Mascarpone and Fig
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
losing my head and everything in between
Oh dear God, what the fuck is wrong with me? I went to the bookstore an hour ago to look around. In front of the cash register, I reached into my bag and realized that my wallet was missing. More frantic groping came up with nothing. I raced back to my room, swept over everything in my desk, only to find no wallet. Then it was a mad dash to the bookstore and realizing that someone must have stolen it.
Back in my room, I promptly cancelled all of my credit cards and ATM cards, then called my dad to deal with my missing driver's license. I guess I sounded like I was on the edge of a gigantic breakdown, because he was ubernice and supportive. I tried to figure the stupid DMV stuff for ten minutes, then my dad asked me if I had looked on my bed and around the room. Of course, my wallet was in the second drawer from the top of my desk. Then I did have my mental breakdown and started sobbing like there was no tomorrow because in my utter stupidity, I keep my brass rat in my wallet and I thought I had lost it. Apparently men don't like hysterical and teary females because my dad told me that he wanted to go back to watching his basketball game.
I have never felt so relieved. or stupid. ever. Jesus Christ. Maybe I'll even find that swimsuit that I lost a few days ago. I'm just beyond annoyed because I'm so careless with everything. It was even worse when I was little. Sometimes, it seems to me that my subconscious wants to be careless . I could fill a mausoleum with everything that I've misplaced over the years (if I could find them). Good God. And maybe I should appreciate my parents more for putting up with me.
Back in my room, I promptly cancelled all of my credit cards and ATM cards, then called my dad to deal with my missing driver's license. I guess I sounded like I was on the edge of a gigantic breakdown, because he was ubernice and supportive. I tried to figure the stupid DMV stuff for ten minutes, then my dad asked me if I had looked on my bed and around the room. Of course, my wallet was in the second drawer from the top of my desk. Then I did have my mental breakdown and started sobbing like there was no tomorrow because in my utter stupidity, I keep my brass rat in my wallet and I thought I had lost it. Apparently men don't like hysterical and teary females because my dad told me that he wanted to go back to watching his basketball game.
I have never felt so relieved. or stupid. ever. Jesus Christ. Maybe I'll even find that swimsuit that I lost a few days ago. I'm just beyond annoyed because I'm so careless with everything. It was even worse when I was little. Sometimes, it seems to me that my subconscious wants to be careless . I could fill a mausoleum with everything that I've misplaced over the years (if I could find them). Good God. And maybe I should appreciate my parents more for putting up with me.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
getting over tv
TV is bad...really bad. There's no really good show on, but I watch anyway. I've even branched out into romantic dramas. I basically watch Grey's Anatomy and Six Degrees on ABC, and CSI:Miami, NCIS, and NUMB3RS on CBS.
Grey's Anatomy is a new thing for me...it's ultra ultra sappy, and I'm really starting to get tired of pouting Meredith, indecisive Meredith, stupid Meredith, and all of the other Merediths. I guess I like the show because there's decent acting all around, and there's slightly more depth there than I'd normally expect from so much pointless drama. The Cristina character is fun too...sometimes I wish I were more like her. Six Degrees is a new show on ABC. While it's not groundbreaking, it's not bad either. The stories weave together better than expected, and the substories with Campbell Scott and Bridget Moynahan are really good. The whole show itself is slightly kitschy and sappy, but it's not bad. I like watching shows that pretend to be realistic without actually being realistic, because reality is not all that great and exciting.
Haha...I laugh when I watch CSI:Miami, because I basically watch it because it's so trashy. As many of my friends would say, it's just eye candy. The filters are impossibly bright yellows and oranges, so the show is a overly bright and happy and fake version of Miami (Miami so does not look anything like that in real life). To be on the show, apparently you have to have score at least a 9 out of 10 on the beauty scale of life and look good in either a) swimsuit if you're female or b) flamboyant suit if you're male. It's just a lot of fun to watch. There's a lot of slo-mo shots to enhance the drama and utter stupidity as well as fancy split screens and the like. It's all about what's on the surface.
Anyway, I watch these shows even though they're not that good. It's almost like a fake alternate reality that I can immerse myself in for 45 minutes. That's not good either because let's face it, nothing on TV is real. It's just so much easier to watch imaginary people going about in their imaginary lives instead of actually thinking and doing things in my real life.
Grey's Anatomy is a new thing for me...it's ultra ultra sappy, and I'm really starting to get tired of pouting Meredith, indecisive Meredith, stupid Meredith, and all of the other Merediths. I guess I like the show because there's decent acting all around, and there's slightly more depth there than I'd normally expect from so much pointless drama. The Cristina character is fun too...sometimes I wish I were more like her. Six Degrees is a new show on ABC. While it's not groundbreaking, it's not bad either. The stories weave together better than expected, and the substories with Campbell Scott and Bridget Moynahan are really good. The whole show itself is slightly kitschy and sappy, but it's not bad. I like watching shows that pretend to be realistic without actually being realistic, because reality is not all that great and exciting.
Haha...I laugh when I watch CSI:Miami, because I basically watch it because it's so trashy. As many of my friends would say, it's just eye candy. The filters are impossibly bright yellows and oranges, so the show is a overly bright and happy and fake version of Miami (Miami so does not look anything like that in real life). To be on the show, apparently you have to have score at least a 9 out of 10 on the beauty scale of life and look good in either a) swimsuit if you're female or b) flamboyant suit if you're male. It's just a lot of fun to watch. There's a lot of slo-mo shots to enhance the drama and utter stupidity as well as fancy split screens and the like. It's all about what's on the surface.
Anyway, I watch these shows even though they're not that good. It's almost like a fake alternate reality that I can immerse myself in for 45 minutes. That's not good either because let's face it, nothing on TV is real. It's just so much easier to watch imaginary people going about in their imaginary lives instead of actually thinking and doing things in my real life.
the other side of the fence
To supplement my average stipend, I've proctored a few times the past week. On Tuesday, a professor desperately needed a proctor at the last minute and I happened to be there. Unfortunately, I thought he was a graduate student. I guess he thought that it was a compliment, but he still laughs at me every time he passes me in the hallway. There were only two students, so that was fine, and what was even better was that they weren't allowed to ask questions (weird), so I just sat there and did my homework.
On Thursday, I proctored two sections of another exam. This time, the students did ask questions. 99% of the time, they were just too lazy to read the entire question themselves and wanted me to explain. What the hell is up with that? MBAs. Go figure. At first, I was absolutely terrified about answering questions since I didn't TA the class and I hadn't even looked at the midterm. Then I realized that either they hadn't read the question properly or I couldn't give the answer, so that made things much simpler.
Afterwards, the professor was extremely nice and took us out to eat at an even nicer place. It's one of those places with exorbitant prices that serves miniscule portions. Apparently he'd been a professor here since 1985. Ha ha ha. I guess there is some feeling on superiority when I'm standing in front of a class and I'm the youngest person in the room...it's something that I've thought about before and joked about with other people. Entirely weird, but maybe fantasies do come true.
On Thursday, I proctored two sections of another exam. This time, the students did ask questions. 99% of the time, they were just too lazy to read the entire question themselves and wanted me to explain. What the hell is up with that? MBAs. Go figure. At first, I was absolutely terrified about answering questions since I didn't TA the class and I hadn't even looked at the midterm. Then I realized that either they hadn't read the question properly or I couldn't give the answer, so that made things much simpler.
Afterwards, the professor was extremely nice and took us out to eat at an even nicer place. It's one of those places with exorbitant prices that serves miniscule portions. Apparently he'd been a professor here since 1985. Ha ha ha. I guess there is some feeling on superiority when I'm standing in front of a class and I'm the youngest person in the room...it's something that I've thought about before and joked about with other people. Entirely weird, but maybe fantasies do come true.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
horrible pick up lines
Courtesy of bald guy in bar:
A) So...my best friend is still really good friends with his ex-girlfriend...would you ever date him?
B) My best friend broke up with his ex a few months ago. Do you think he should throw her stuff away or keep it?
To other Asian girl I'm with (3 inches taller and 30 lbs lighter) and me:
C) Are you guys best friends or something? Because you both look exactly the same.
A) So...my best friend is still really good friends with his ex-girlfriend...would you ever date him?
B) My best friend broke up with his ex a few months ago. Do you think he should throw her stuff away or keep it?
To other Asian girl I'm with (3 inches taller and 30 lbs lighter) and me:
C) Are you guys best friends or something? Because you both look exactly the same.
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