152 insights into my soul

TV commentary:

Secret Life- So, I was flicking through the channels, and caught the latest ep of this. Like I'm glad I quit, because the dialogue and "messages" are still awful. But I had a morbid curiosity because it looks like there were a whole lot of changes. Like Amy's mom is gay now?! And her dad is back with Grace's mom? And apparently Bo Duke was having an affair with some chick in Zimbabwe before he died, so Grace has a half-brother? And Madison is blond? Ben's dad is no longer with Stifler's mom and married some random new chick? And who the eff are all these new people?! Like why are there a bunch of girls in schoolgirl uniforms? And there's yet another preggers chick? And the season finale, Jack gets beaten almost to death by some pimp for helping some teen hooker? And Ben's dad and his new wife are also taking in a teen hooker? (I'm unclear on whether they are the same teen hooker) And I had to look it up, but Ashley apparently got shipped off to Italy to go to some school there?

I've always been amused in shows when they write some teenage character by having them going to school in another country. Like who are these kids who get shipped off to a whole other country, usually Italy, to live with some random relative and go to some foreign school? Its, tv, they can make up anything they want, they can't be sent to live with relatives who just live in another part of the US? Is that just too boring to have the character move to like Iowa or something, it had to be something more worldly?

Anyhoo, had the YAG laser thing today. And as further evidence that I'm too young to have had such issues, I think I was younger than everyone else waiting there by a couple of decades or more. I mean, they were talking about their grand children (and great grand children!) and marveling at the wonders of modern medicine and technology! It was weird. In any case, things are clearer in the left eye, so that's good.

So, there's actually a 10 minute director's cut version of Best Coast's "Our Deal":



Heh, since this version has credits I noticed original mini-Coop's (i.e. Amy from SLotAT) name along with Hit Girl, Teen Wolf, iCarly, Troy, and Maeby. And I was like, really? And I totally did not recognize her as the white chick who was hanging out with Troy. I mean, once I knew it was her, it became obvious to me, but the first time through I had no idea!

TV commentary:

White Collar- I guess what annoys me about the whole thing with the treasure is that Neal didn't actually have anything to with the theft. Mozzie is the one who stole it, and all Neal really did was not tell Peter about it. Granted, he had no problem accepting the treasure once Mozzie revealed he had it and was sharing it with him. But still, its a far cry from Neal going back to his old ways. I think he's in a crappy position because he doesn't want to betray either of his friends, Peter or Mozzie. But the show doesn't really dwell on the fact that Neal wasn't complicit in the theft, even though I think its an important point because he was dragged into it. So him wanting to stay with the Feebs isn't really him changing his mind- he already had settled into his current position and being told that the treasure was out there, and it was now his gave him another option. But it wasn't one he really wanted and him entertaining the idea was more about not wanting to let Mozzie down.

I mean, I think one of the main reasons Peter is so hell bent on proving Neal stole the treasure is because he felt betrayed, and Neal never really betrayed him.

Pretty Little Liars- Hmm, so when Aria's dad says Mike was reminding him of his brother, I'm wondering if his brother is a really messed up drug addict, or has a mental disorder? Speaking of the Montgomerys all those dream sequences had me wondering, have she and Ezra been intimate? Because if they had, he could potentially go to jail!

Also, what the hell was Em talking about when she babbled about poker faces and bluffing when figuring out what to do about A forcing her to give Zoey her number? Heh, she actually came up with a good cover the next day, why didn't she do that instead of the whole, "Oh, you forgot something! My number!" I mean, if she had done that the previous night, then her statement about bluffing would make sense, because then I would figure she was bluffing A and making it look like she was doing what A wanted while having a legitimate excuse to give Zoey her number.

TV Commentary:

Secret Life- So Ben proposes to Adrian and she says yes. Interesting, I'm curious if the show has decided to do Ricky/Amy and Ben/Adrian. Which is fine by me, I'm kinda pushing for Ben/Adrian.

Make It or Break It- Argh, WTF Steve?! I thought he was gonna finally man up and show his daughter that there are consequences for her heinous actions. But then he goes and falls for her sobs. He had a chance to redeem himself and possibly let what Lauren did come out in a way that's more favorable for the both of them. But now I'm sure someone else will find out what Lauren did, and that he has now covered it up and it will totally bite him in the ass. Particularly within regards to Summer.

Oh, and as I figured last week, Maeve was totally toast. But it seemed like that would be the only thing that would snap some sense into Kaylee.

And now for the obligatory DW commentary:

Is it me or does the game have way more couplings this time around? I mean, you always had Lu Bu/Diao Chan, Zhu Rong/Meng Huo, and Zhou Yu and Sun Ce and the Qiaos (I forget which one was married to which?) and later Cao Pi and Zhen Ji and Zhuge Liang and Yu Ying. I mean, SSX and Liu Bei were married, but the game didn't highlight it as explicitly as the other couplings. Though in this one they specifically mention it and show them actually together for a scene. I am curious though, now was SSX upset because she was felt her husband's grief upon learning Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were dead? Or was it because she knew that meant he would be going after her family since its the Wu's betrayal that caused their deaths.

But I digress. I guess since as I just mentioned two of the Suns had spouses who were also PCs, did they bring in Lian Shi so Sun Quan wouldn't be left out? Also, its interesting that in the previous games, I thought they kinda paired Guan Ping and Xing Cai since they're the son and daughter of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei respectively. I mean, they had her protective of Liu Shan, but he wasn't a PC. But now that he is (and Ping dies at Fan Castle), they're together. Guan Yu's other son, Guan Suo is also a PC now, but he gets his own gf in Bao Sanniang. And man are they sickly sweet on each other.

Of course, Guan Suo is portrayed as kinda girly, but still a ladies man- in fact when you're going around Fan Castle before the actual battle, one of the soldiers you talk to is all, "What's that in his hair?" (referring to some sort of fancy comb or bow or whatever) and they're all, "Should we tell Guan Yu his son has something funny in his hair?"

Anyways. the last faction, Jin has its own coupling with Sima Zhao and Wang Yuanji. Interestingly enough, I've only seen Meng Huo, Sima Zhao and Lu Bu fly into a rage if you defeat Zhu Rong, Wang or Diao Chan, respectively. I haven't seen that with the Qiaos, though that may just be because I haven't seen them in a stage with their hubbies. Nor have I seen Cao Pi and Zhen Ji together- in Story mode, they're opponents, as the only time she's in a battle is when she was still married to Yuan Shao's son and Cao Pi steals her away. In conquest mode, I've faced Cao Pi as Zhen Ji, and they do have an amusing conversation whenever they fight, all lovers quarrel like. Though I do know Zhuge Liang is pretty chill if you take out Yue Ying.

But yeah, I don't think the reverse happens, i.e., the chyx don't get pissed if you take out their husbands/bfs, which is kinda chauvinist. Also I'm kinda curious about Cai Wenji. As far as I can tell, she's not attached to anyone- again, it seems like all the girls are someone's girlfriend or wife, but she doesn't seem to be anyone's. I mean, Xing Cai's not exactly attached to Liu Shan, but she's definitely fond of him.

Oh, and while I do like Zhong Hui's character design (and the flying swords thing is a cool weapon) his voice doesn't match his look for me. Its very annoying and nasally. I was expecting something more boyish sounding (though no less arrogant than his current voice). But I guess they already have a lot of boys (Guan Ping, Guan Suo, Xiahou Ba, Liu Shan), I suppose they were trying for something different and it just didn't work.

So, remember this post I made last year where I remark on this list of the 66 most underrated women of 2010? So one of the things I remarked was my surprise that of all the girls from SLOtAT, it was Renee Olstead who made it to the top 10 of that list. I mean, I do find her kinda cute, even all the way back on that Still Standing show where her parents are that one guy from a Knight's Tale and Jami Gertz.

But apparently she's the latest "celeb" (I know, you're still thinking, who?!) to have private nudie pics of her leaked on the internet for all to see. Ah'm skeptical though! I mean, unlike other candids where some actress/singer chick was taking nekkid pics of herself in the bathroom to send to some jerk-ass, a couple of those pics are kinda hardcore. So I'm wondering if some of those are just lookalikes. In any case, I'm sure her bosses at ABC Family aren't too happy at such an event

TV Commentary:

Secret Life- I suppose this really is my guilty pleasure show, as without it, what else could I be completely incredulous about and rant on here about my incredulity? I mean, is there a character on this show that isn't a big baby or a ridiculous a-hole? ( spoiler cut )

TV commentary:

Degrassi- So today was the first ep with Lizzie from LWD playing transgender Adam. Although I guess that's kinda a spoiler, since they don't actually mention that she's a transgender in that ep, and you're to believe that "Adam" is actually a dude, even though "he" just looks like a girl pretending to be a guy. Which I suppose she is. But I guess for people who don't read spoilers, they prolly thought it was a tomboy at first, and then were extremely confused when they referred to her as Adam. In any case, did this ep take place in bizarro world? ( spoiler cut )

Secret Life- Wow, an ep where Amy wasn't a total frakkin krant, does this also take place in bizarro world?! ( spoiler cut )

The Closer- ( spoiler cut )

Lie To Me- ( spoiler cut )

Ah, I was wondering why those 80s style Firefly credits were sans Simon. I guess because he had his own thing going with Badger and Saffron. (Ha, I did not remember young Simon was played by Zac Efron!) Speaking of Zefron, is it me, or is that chick in that new movie of his kinda cute? Weirdly enough, I saw her on some made for TV movie on sci fi on Sunday with Tiny Lister, Gaby from Xena, and Kelly Kapowski's hubbie on White Collar.

Wait, there is a Supernatural Anime coming out? That's kinda hilarious. Hmm, their anime selves do at least look somewhat similar to them. Speaking of anime, heard they're coming out with a new season of Black Lagoon. I'm only partially aware of what's been going on in the manga, but it looks like this new set of episodes is based on the second Roberta storyline. Which means it should be chock full of action!

Anyways, so I got back to the ATL on Saturday. Heh, I stopped at a truck stop to use the pissah, and while walking around, I was amused that in the "Safety" section of the store, along with things like flares and reflectors and other roadside emergency things, they also had batons and miniature baseball bats, I guess for self defense from car-jackers and highwaymen? That night, had dinner with the usual suspects at Lime.

Sunday, saw Toy Story 3 with C-note and the ex-roomie. You know, I've never actually seen the first two movies. But I figured I could jump in without being too lost, since even never having seen Toy Story 1 or 2, I'm still familiar enough with the characters since I'm a weirdo freak like that. I enjoyed it, I thought it was pretty good.

Afterward had an early dinner at Longhorn, where the hostess looked like Taylor Swift. She had "Love Story" Taylor Swift's hair with "You Belong With Me" Taylor Swift's glasses. Talk about wicked mad cute!

Ugh, came back to work today, and I'm still playing catch up. Had to quickly figure out what happened over the weekend for the morning meeting, start making a bunch of purchases that showed up in my inbox now that its the new fiscal year, then had to do an interview before lunch, among other things. Also have a new thing on my plate that I don't have time for right now. Did get to leave early since I had an appointment to take my car in for an oil change. I'm also leaving early tomorrow for a doctor's appointment.

Owel, just set up another interview for Friday, and got a whole new stack of resumes to go through, which means more phone interviews to do.

Watching Secret Life as I type this. I knew Adrian wasn't gonna go through with the A-word! Oops, spoiler alert! But whatever, this is written by one of the people who did 7th Heaven, like they'd really have a character have one of those! Anyways, me thinks Ricky doth protest too much about never wanting to marry Amy. Even if it seems like he's this close to nailing her little sister.

Hmm, from the preview of tomorrow's Pretty Little Liars, it looks like they are making Toby like in the books. But what's up with all these shows tomorrow? PLL at 8, White Collar, MIOBI, and Warehouse 13 at 9, and Covert Affairs at 10? There's nothing on Wednesday, couldn't one of those shows be on then instead?

More TV Commentary:

True Blood- ( spoiler cut )

That iphone 4 commercial with the girl with the braces not wanting to smile, she's all "really?" when her dad says not to worry, she looks pretty. He has to say that, he's her dad! Well, I assume that's her dad. I guess it could be some creepy pervert.

Hmm, so Guyism came up with the 66 most underrated women of 2010 list. Though you'd think they'd come up with some more flattering pics of them! Anyway, I applaud them for picking more than a few "geebs-famous" chyx. I do find some of their choices... interesting.

I always remark on the top 10, but let's do top 20:

20) Alaina Huffman- I first saw her on sci fi channel's "Painkiller Jane" as the chick who wasn't the T-X. But, she's also Black Canary on Smallville and the medic chick on SGU.

19) Kaya Scodelario- Effy from Skins! You know, I've never actually watched the show, even though it seems like it would be right up my alley.

18) Noureen Dewulf- I think her cred stems from "West Bank Story", but I remember her from things like Matthew Mcconaughey's assistant in "Ghosts from Girlfriend's Past", and playing a hot delivery girl who was really an assassin/spy in that episode of Chuck when the boss' giant fish went missing, or from her bit part in Ocean's 13, of which there were many "geebs famous" people playing bit parts. (Like Mohinder's Wife)

17) Yvonne Strahovski- speaking of Chuck, Sarah (or Sam! Oops, spoiler alert!)

16) Mary Elizabeth Winstead- I agree, MEW is quite underrated and thus belongs on this list!

15) Sarah Shahi- Also very under-rated! I mean, who remembers her character on Alias, or watched Life? How has she not been in more stuff?!

14) Peyton List- Wow, three actually under-rated chyx in a row. But hey, at least she's moved on from guest spots on crime procedurals (she was even on SVU twice, as a young gymnast, and then a young socialite who gets raped and murdered by Trey Atwood) to shows like Mad Men and Flashforward. I guess the latter was canceled though!

13) Francia Raisa- Adrian from SLotAT, she was in one of the "Bring It On"s and two "The Cutting Edge"s. How have there been four "The Cutting Edge"s?! I mean, I liked the original (hey, Moira Kelly was hott!), but if you told me back then it would spawn not one but three sequels, I'd be skeptical!

12) Autumn Reeser- Another extremely under-rated actress. I think she has a new show coming out this fall TV season, and she's reprising her role on Entourage this current season. Hopefully they'll have her back on Human Target, because the team is too much of a sausage party currently. Owel, her TV roles are fine, if only she could be in better movies than "Lost Boys 2: The Tribe" or "Smokin' Aces 2" or "The American Mall". I guess she did have a bit part in "The Girl Next Door" along with fellow OC alum Olivia Wilde. But that was way earlier in her career. She should be moving up, not down!

11) Alexis Dziena- hey, I always thought she was kinda cute, even if she looks like an underage Russian hooker. (HOTT!)

10) Tori Praver- actually, I'm not familiar.

9) Jessica Gomes- that one swimsuit model chick who's like a mix of everything! Okay, just Singaporean and Portugese. But you don't see too many of those!

8) Renee Olstead- I always thought her to be "geebs-cute" and all, but wow, I'm surprised she's on this list. I mean, if you told me the top 10 had to have a SLotAT girl, she wouldn't have been the one I expected. I guess she is under-rated in that way.

7) Isabel Lucas- the Pretender chick from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Hey, I thought she was pretty hot in that, particularly in that ridiculously skimpy dress.

6) Kelly Carlson- Kimber from Nip/Tuck! I always thought she was kinda hot. Has she been in anything besides Nip/Tuck and "The Marine"?

5) Nina Dobrev- Definitely under-rated. But now that she's moved from Degrassi to the Vampire Diaries, she should start getting more play.

4) Rachel Taylor- The other Transfomers chick, the one who's not Mrs. BAG. (Megan Fox marrying BAG the other day. cliffv('What's up with that?!')) She was hot, but I disagree with this list's assertion that she was hotter than Megan Fox.

3) Elsa Pataky- I know the name, but I know nothing of her.

2) Olga Kurylenko- Pretty hot and under-rated. It seemed like she was going somewhere with roles in that one Bond movie with the funny name and "Max Payne" and "Hitman". Okay, I guess the latter two weren't so great.

1) Camilla Belle- She's hot, yet she's hardly in anything. Well, that's not true- "10,000 BC", "Push", and "When a Stranger Calls" (the call is coming from inside the house!), but who actually watched those? I think the only movie I've seen her in all the way through is "The Chumscrubbers". Oh, I guess there's also "The Quiet", with Elisha Cuthbert, but how can you have a movie where they play cousins who live in the same house and there's no hot lesbo-incest? bbv('That is total BS!')

TV commentary:

Lie To Me- ( spoiler cut )

The Good Guys- ( spoiler cut )

Secret Life- ( spoiler cut )

TV Commentary:

Secret Life- Dammit, I wish I could quit this show. But it makes me so incredulous that if this show wasn't on, I wouldn't be able to make posts about how incredulous I'm feeling after watching. ( spoiler cut )

Hey, looks like long necked cute commercial chick is in a new commercial!

The Good Guys- Second ep in, its still a funny action show, though the whole "x minutes/hours ago" could get old, even if its used for comedic affect. Or to act all slick and clever, though there were a couple of times where they coulda just had things go straight, instead of having something happen and you know why its happening, rather than have it happen first, then they explain to you how things got that way. There's nothing wrong with telling the story in a straight line rather than circling around on itself every few minutes.

But hey, its Slater from Community. She's cute! As is Sock's demon gf.

Just watching Lie to Me off the DVR right now (aren't there supposed to be less shows on now that its summer?). And is it me, or does Howard Hessman kinda look like a skinny Ricky Jay in this ep?