No Witty Title

Coming to you from my new iPhone. And since I'm not a texted, this is time-consuming. Guess I need to learn the short-cuts.

Done for now.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Very Important Poll!  Help me decide which smartphone to buy. 

I recently read an old Ellery Queen mystery and it gave me an idea for a story.  The idea was for a screenplay, but with NaNoWriMo just around the corner, I'm thinking maybe I should try the novel again.  The problem is, the characters are driving the story and I really don't any idea for a plot.

Then, I nuj posted about a recent outing she had with a bunch of her writer friends.  The excitement and friendship shown in the video is just amazing and infectious!  I miss having that kind of exuberant friendship, and while writing won't bring any of that back, it is something I want to do.  So now I'm thinking about trying NaNoWriMo again.  Or maybe I should just try NaBloPoMo instead and write about my story ideas.  Yeah, I think that's a little more doable for me.

Last Friday I went to see a screening of La Mission at the National Museum of the American Indian.  The movie is of interest to me because it stars Benjamin Bratt and was written and directed by his brother Peter Bratt.  It's about a Latino single father in the Mission district of San Francisco (where the Bratts are from—Peter still lives there) coming to terms with his son's homosexuality.  Both brothers were there to discuss the film after it's showing.  (You can read more about the event here.)

One of the stars of the show, much like Metallicar on Supernatural, was a 1964 Impala.  In one scene, a torn Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt), beats the crap out of the hood of the car, just as a torn Dean Winchester beat the crap out of Metallicar’s trunk in “Everybody Loves a Clown.” 

While the movie is about the Latino culture, there were a surprising number of Wasp-ish baby boomers (myself included) in attendance).  One of my fellow boomers asked, caveating that maybe he really didn’t want to know, if Ben had really had  beaten the car.  Fortunately, a fake hood was used for the beating. Good thing, because the Impala is Benjamin’s own car.  And in fact, some of the scenes of the car’s restoration were real,

I took one picture at the event which turned out so much better than I expected.  (It's a picture of Benjamin, straight on [which I hadn't planned] with a big smile on his face.  And Ben has a great smile.  Even TV Guide says so!) Unfortunately, the picture is stuck in my camera because I didn't have an SD card loaded (I thought I did) and right now I can't find the camera's USB cable. *le sigh*

 

I have a new tv obsession.  Mad Men.  I'd never watched because I thought it was on Showtime or some other channel I don't get.  It's not.  It's on AMC (basic cable, I believe).  The first few episodes of season 3 were on On Demand, so I watched them.  It took me awhile to get the characters straight, and I didn't really know their history, but it was good enough to interest me.

I ordered the 1st disc of the 1st season from NetFlix, but decided I didn't want that downtime between sending the discs back & forth, so I bought both seasons 1 and 2.  I had a Mad Men Marathon this weekend.  Now I'm all caught up.

The DVD extras are amazing.  Every single episode has a commentary.  And several have 2!  Not just 2 people commenting, but 2 completely separate tracks.  Plus there's tons more stuff.  The Supernatural DVDs should be ashamed.

One of the commentaries (by a woman) talks about Jon Hamm, the show's lead.  She says he's a character actor in a leading man's appearance.  I think that's a great description for Jensen Ackles, too.  While he's worked steadily since coming to Hollywood, he's never been a mainstream hit.  I've always held that Jensen's good looks incredible handsomeness possibly work against him.  It's sometimes hard to get past his "like staring into sun" appearance to realize he's such a terrific actor.  But I know he'll eventually break out and become a huge hit.

Oh, and Julie McNiven wins Mad Men's  "most exposed" award.

Best episode of the season.  And good God, Jared was ridiculously sexy!  Even with his shirt on and blood on his face.

I'll be in my bunk.

 It's official  Dean and Castiel are now going steady.

My thoughts.

Just as Glee approaches and Supernatural returns, I have found yet another obsession!  Project Runway.  I watched the 3rd season when that asshole Jeffrey Asshat won and stopped after that.  But this year the contestants seem pretty cool.  And now I'm hooked.  And there's always Tim Gunn.  (Hmm, need Tim Gunn icon.)

I blame it all on my sewing machine.

I stopped by Target last night and picked up the Supernatural season 4 DVD set.  Did the CW skip the repeat of "Sex & Violence"?  I can't believe that skip that episode and keep "Family Remains" in.  Maybe they thought seeing Dean try to axe Sam was more traumatic than listening to Buster bite it.  (Note to CW:  It wasn't!)  Or Sam having sex more than once a season was too much for fangirls.  (That I could believe.)

Elsewhere:

I have entered iconz in both jared_stillness  and jensenstillness  this week, so be sure to vote for me!  Well, not you ongiara , since you actually know which iconz are mine. ;)

In the past few weeks I have been concentrating on real world stuff and not making tiny little pictures  (ongiara calls them shiny little squares).  In fact, I let my "oodles of extra icons" lapse and am now back to only 40.  But last week I felt compelled to "create."  (I put "create" in quotes because I'm not really all that creative.)

Since I hadn't been iconning for awhile, I submitted only 2 iconz each to jared_stillness  and jensenstillness instead of the allowed 3.

I did quite poorly in jared_stillness.  One icon got 0 points and the other a measly 2.  It made me wonder if I've lost whatever icon-making mojo I might have had.

The jensenstillness  winners were announced today.  OMG, I got 1st place!  I actually jumped when I saw the results!  Hee!  This is the first time I've ever gotten first place in either stillness icontest.

I really need to stop getting my icon-making validation from placing in these icontests.  I should get my glee from creating something I'm happy with.  After all, some of my favorite iconz (especially the Jensen ones) never got one single vote.

So, thank you flist for bearing with as I gloat revel in my glory wonder how this happened. :D

Man, this job is seriously interfering with my play time.

I'm not sure what's going on with me.  I owe several comments and replies, but can't seem to find the energy to say anything.  My icon muse has left the building.  (Well, whatever muse I had.)  I've been working on some icons for jared_stillness  and jensenstillness , but while I've got the "basics" done, I can't think of anything to make them special.  "Worse" is that LJ has informed me my "extra icons" subscription is running out and I'm not even in the mood to renew it.

Perhaps it's because I've actually been accomplishing a few things at home.  Or perhaps it's because I"m trying to concentrate on posting elsewhere.  Or maybe I'm just tired. 

Anyway, that's how it's going.

Pick your five favorite TV shows (in no particular order) and answer the following questions. Don't cheat!  (I.e., don't look at the questions under the cut until you've identified your 5 favorite shows.)

1. Supernatural
2. M*A*S*H
3. Law & Order, seasons 6-9 (the Benjamin Bratt years)
4. Legend of the Seeker
5. Glee (Hey, it's coming! And I couldn't think of anything else)



( My picks... )

You know what really frosts my cookies?  "Elite" icon communities.  You have to apply to the community, submitting your top 5-10 icons.  Then the admins will decide if you are good enough to be allowed to join.  WTF??  Who's to decide what's good and what isn't?  More times than not, my favorite icons in icontests only get votes from me, while the winning icon does absolutely nothing for me.  (That's not to belittle the winners.  Obviously their icons are well liked.  It's just that I don't always see what's so awesome about it.)

I guess people just need to feel special.

I have finished watching season 2 of the "3 (or so) years later" retrospective.  (I'm continuing with the viewing, just not posting about it since no one seems interested.)  I can't tell you how many times the title card startled me.  That's startled me in a good way, as I miss its awesomeness.  There better not be any more angel wings flapping in the season 5 title card or I will be mighty pissed.  You hear that, Kripke?!?

I suppose this means I need to post a season 3 banner.  I think I'll just use one I've already made, as I'm not really in the mood to make a new one.

I'm still watching my Supernatural marathon, but since I'm not seeing much of anything new, I'm not sure it's worth posting a review.

Earlier this week, one of my favorite guys from high school found me on Facebook.  (It took me a little while to realize who it was.)  I was pretty tickled.  Then, when I went over to his page, I saw posts from 2 of the most popular girls on his... are they still calling them walls?  I also saw a post from someone closer to my own status;  however, she is much more confident than I am, and has long put those social tiers behind her.

Today, one of those uber-popular girls friended me.  Yes, I know I'm suppose to let go of those old high school foibles, but tell that to my gut.  Oh, I'll friend her back.  I just got a bit of a kick out of it.

Actually, keeping up with these folks via cyberland is preferable to going back to a class reunion.  (I've only been to one, my 5th, and only because I just happened to be home when it was held.  My mother and I had a huge fight about it--she wanted me to go, I didn't.  We both ended up in tears.  Literally.  I ended up going.  And was one of the first people to leave.)

No Exit

Wow, only 6 episode into the 2nd season, and it's Kim Manners's 3rd stint as director.  Other than that, I got nothin'.

The Usual Suspects

Jeepers.  I don't have anything new to add here, either.  Still love it.  Still would like to see Linda Blair return.

Crossroad Blues

Did you know the collection of scenes played on the season 2 DVD menu screen contains two (or three, depending on how you count) scenes from season 1?  The first scene is of Sam loading his pistol, followed by Dean (in Emo!shirt not less) cocking the shotgun (I think).  Those are from "Shadow."  Then we have Dean protecting couple #2 from the scarecrow in "Scarecrow."  Turns out those scenes were from this episode's recap.  Who the hell puts recap scenes into a season collage?? 

I call foul!  I want season 2 scenes on my season 2 DVD set!  Fire the editor!

I think I noticed something else, too, but don't remember what it was.  I thought about writing it down, but I didn't have anything to write with; and I wasn't motivated enough to get up off the sofa to find something.  So, meh.

I have been keeping up with watching Supernatural episodes, just not with posting about them. Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh yeah,

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things

This was not a good skin episode. For some reason I was kind of distracted by everyone's complexion. And not just Angela's. Maybe Shannon had the week off. And when Sam was watching porn, I noticed Jared's arms were blotchy. Maybe it was a reaction to the pain meds he was taking for his broken hand. Or maybe he'd gotten sunburned and was peeling.

At the end of the Suisse Mocha moment, when Dean turns his head towards Sam, his left eye his horrendously bloodshot. Not sure it it was due to the Single Manly Tear of Pain, or his contacts. (I understand Jensen just had lasik. No more being able to take a drink whenever I notice his contacts. Guess I'll have to find something else to fill the void.) Oh, and I'm remarkedly ok with the boys not touching.

Poor Jared. It just his day, week, whatever. First he breaks his hand, then he rips his pants. That's what you get for working out too much. Lay off the weights, dammit!

Simon Said

Again, not much new to add. I remember all the outrage of Andy using his skillz to talk a woman into having sex with him against her will. (The same goes for women who are possessed. Then again, this is all from TWoP, and we know how nutty those folks are.) Besides, who says the woman in the window had sex against her will? Maybe they had sex without Andy talking her into it.

Is that dam really as high as it's depicted, or was it digitally enhanced? Man, it was scary!

Well, that's all for now, kiddos. Even though I have 2 more episodes to discuss, I have work to do. Crap.

Before I watched "Bloodlust" last night, I watched the "In My Time of Dying" commentary.  If nothing else, it really dramatized the difference between young innocent-looking Sam and mature, toughened Sam.

Something I forgot to mention in the previous season 2 re-reviews:  I sorely miss the title-cards of yore.  Season 2's was the best, what with the fire and the amulet-thingie turning into the A.  I realize season 3's title-card featured the "Key of Solomon" (later known as "devil's trap") from Bobby's ceiling, but what was with the lobster in the middle of it?  (I finally noticed the lobster on Bobby's ceiling during this summer's re-review.)  And season 4's title sequence, with the angel wings flapping?  Lame-o!  (I guess I'm not a big Castiel fan; which I'll explain when I get to season 4.)

I do believe I squealed for joy when Dean and Sam entered the coroner's office in their lab coats.  I'd forgotten that scene occurred in this episode.  It was like seeing an old friend again.

I really enjoyed Dean relaying his story about how he embraced the hunter's life at 16, especially in light of the 18-year-old "I'm a hero!" Dean we saw in "After School Special."  Nice character consistency.

And even though I admitted to Gordon being a nut-job in the hiatus from hell review, I still think he may have been onto something with that whole "Sam Winchester is the anti-Christ" shit.  [And where is my "The anti-Christ is really dreamy" icon when I need it?]

Yes, it's still "3 years later" not 2. I saw the episode in 2006. It's now 2009. 2009 - 2006 = 3 (just in case you didn't know).

Ya' know? Sometimes hi-def is not such a great idea. In a couple of daylight scenes I noticed the makeup of Dean's forehead scar. Kind of distracting.

Does anyone else have trouble with the "recap" on the DVDs? Starting with the season 2 set, if I don't specifically set the "recap" to "on," I start with "Now." For every episode. It never stays set to "on" (unless I go immediately from one episode to the next). If I turn the player off and come back the next night to watch the next episode, I have to set it all over again. Very annoying. Especially for a recap as awesome as "Everybody Loves a Clown."

This is the last episode in which we see the "young, innocent" Sam. After this episode, there's a hardness to him. (Of course, it's probably just because Jared started sweeping his hair away from his face; but if I want to meta about it, I will!)

I think we all know how much I loved Jared portrayal of Sam's guilt and grief in the last scene. This time, I finally got Dean's reaction. Until now, it had just been dramatic posturing. Last night, I finally realized Dean's lashing out at John—for putting a horrible load on his shoulders; for leaving both of them; for Sam's guilt. I know everyone else came to this realization a long time ago, but I've never been the brightest bulb in the box.)

Very satisfying viewing.

***hearts so much***

It's interesting how quickly the episode flies by.  There's always something going on.  No filler.

I really concentrated on the final scenes last night.  John's "let's not fight" speech to Sam, the gentleness in his face.  I think that's when I started tearing up.  Then his talk with Dean.  (And OMG! The shots of Jensen's face!  *faints* [I've tried several times to make an icon of that face, but it never turns out right.  Maybe because no matter what I do, it's nothing compared the magnificence of the real thing.])

This confuses me:  John tells Dean not to worry, then tells him he has to save Sam, and if he can't, he has to kill him.  Um, that's a pretty damn big thing.  Certainly something to worry about.  Oh John.  Even when trying to make peace with your sons, you're still an ass.

I remember the first time I watched the episode, when YED said John needed to sweeten the pot, I remember thinking it was something, but it wasn't  John's soul.  For the life of me, I can't remember what it was.  (I probably mentioned it in my review shortly after the episode aired, but that was at mrstinkles , and that account's been deleted.)

Oh, and then the final final scene!  I love how Sam is holding Dean up.  Obvioiusly, he ran to get Dean and helped him to John's the room.  Then, the way the camera shifted between Sam and Dean, showing each one separately.

Remember the shock of the ending?  The screen goes dark before the doctor pronounces the time of death.  I remember just sitting there in absolute shock.  I don't think I moved for another 5 minutes.  The next day I was  in denial, thinking that John wasn't really dead.  Go figure.  Real grief for a fictional character.  And one I don't even like at that!

What, you thought I'd use a different icon?