So, I saw That Film That Started With S, and it was awesome despite the whole “mobile phone confiscation, no idea where you’re going” thing.

Here’s what I told Lisa about it.

Saawariya is certainly not a film to see at home.  A feast for the senses, it explodes off the screen in a riot of colour and sound that’s as enthralling as it is entertaining. 

Raj (Ranbir Kapoor, naively exuberant and utterly endearing) has just moved to Old Town to seek fame and fortune as a singer.  His first encounters are with the ladies of the night, specifically with Gulabjee, something of a street princess (Rani Mukherjee, beautiful and cynical).  She nicknames him Saarwariya after his signature song and helps him find housing with Miss Disa, a lonely old lady whose son left her alone more than thirty years ago. 

Raj comes into Old Town like a ray of light, bringing innocent, simple happiness to everyone he meets.  He plays soccer with the women of the street, trades ridiculous barbs with Miss Disa until she cracks and starts to regard him as a son, and even manages to break through Gulabjee’s world-weariness.  He takes everyone on their own merits, offering no judgements and spreading joy wherever he treads. 

One night he meets Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) on a bridge in the rain.  She is crying, and he expends considerable energy trying to cheer her up.  They become friends, and eventually Sakina reveals to a lovestruck Raj that she is waiting for Imaan (Salman Khan, a renowned bad boy and complete contrast to Raj), her betrothed, to return for her.  Raj is heartbroken, and the rest of the film concerns his attempts to win her heart.  The resolution is happy and sad at the same time, and it’s quite poignant to watch Raj try to remain his happy-go-lucky self, offering hope to others as his is systematically stripped away by Sakina’s ongoing indifference.

Of course, the plot is just the bare bones of the film.  There is light and laughter, song and dance.  Long shots of the town are computer-generated, which heightens the fairy-tale feel of the film.  The town itself, set on a canal, is absolutely beautiful.  Everything is ornately detailed, and the colours are rich and vibrant.  

The audience I saw the film with (all more knowledgeable about Bollywood films than I) loved it.  More than seeing a film, I felt like I was at an event.  There was an interval, and the crowd applauded at the halfway point as well as at the end.  Two guys leaving for refreshments during the break high-fived over how awesome they were finding the film. 

There’s nothing new about the way the plot plays out, but it’s compelling nevertheless.  Gulabjee, the narrator and most compelling character, deserved more of a story arc, and Sakina is perhaps a little too self-absorbed to be totally relatable as a heroine, but Raj is irresistible.  Ranbir Kapoor’s portrayal carries the film, managing to add layers to a character who could have been one-dimensionally naïve.

I defy anyone who sees Saarwariya in a cinema not to get caught up in the film, not so much for the story, but for the spectacle. I have to confess, though: I am a sucker for a good love story, and this fits the bill nicely. 

Are you watching streamed stuff from the US?  Are you downloading from the official station sites, watching clips on You Tube, buying official dvds from ebay before the shows come out here?

You might want to stop that.

The Writers’ Strike is officially on in the States.  Pencils down means pencils down, people, and that is… totally sucking for people who are doing what they love for a living, but have been told by their union that it’s strike time, and can’t in good conscience continue (and I know enough of the people who read me here to know that they wouldn’t cross a picket line, either).  They have a point, but maybe I’m biased.  Here’s a beginner’s guide to the writers’ strike, from the writers’ pov.

Writers currently get nothing at all in residuals for internet stuff (which is sold on iTunes and through official sites for yes, actual money)(as opposed to the pirated stuff, which I can thankfully still watch – hey, the industry is screwing the writers, let’s screw them!), and, even worse, they’re not getting a share of the dvd sales.

Yup, you read that right.  If you finally, FINALLY get a gig on a show like Friends or Dexter or Veronica, and you do the dance of joy, and you think your life is about to change?  Well, no, sorry, it isn’t.  You’re gonna get paid when it shows on tv, once, and then you’re gonna get paid every time it gets replayed.

The major problem is that for a niche show like Farscape or Trek (god, Trek?  Goldmine!) or Veronica, the major sales point is dvd.  Cult shows make their money from dvd sales.  They don’t get replayed, because people in the main didn’t love them, but nutters people like me buy them.  And buy them, and buy them.  You’ve (almost certainly) seen my dvd shelves.  If I like it, I buy it.  I can’t keep to appointment television, so I just go “Yes, I like that show, I’ll pick it up and marathon it.”  And the writers get nothing from that.  Which sucks (enough to make me look in horror at my shelves, and not watch them while the strike is on.  But not ever enough to make me toss them.  Straight to Hell for me).  I mean, yeah, there are actors and producers and directors and the companies that invested in the show in the first place, but every single show that I love or that you love started out with one guy at a computer thinking “what if,” and working from that to a spec script.

Even if that guy gets totally shunted into the background once Ackles and Padalecki and Bell and Cross and Hatcher sign on, he was there first.  Every week’s tv we see had a table of eight to ten people sitting around, spitballing ideas, putting words into the mouths of every character we see on screen.  I mean, Joss never wrote every word of every show he created.  What the hell is Jane Espenson getting paid when I buy my Buffy dvds?  Because I love her eps, and if I could cut the Marti Noxon ones out, I would!

It’s hellish hard to get started in the industry, no matter how good you are, and like any industry, beginners deserve a guaranteed level of compensation for their work when they’re coming at it so grateful to have a job that they’d take, I don’t know, free tickets and the glamour of seeing their name around?

I’m not comparing myself to Pamie in this, but about half of my close friends are writers, and everyone has that dream of making it, even if they dream of making it medium.  And the industry is taking advantage of that right now.  So it’s pencils down until things get worked out.  Pamie is working her arse off.  She’s just nabbed a new job as a staff writer on Samantha Who  (Christina Applegate vehicle), and everyone on staff loves it, but they’re all off.  She’s Strike Captain.  Lots of stuff to read about here: http://www.pamie.com

So if you’ve some time, scroll through some Pamie.  She’s awesome and she’s strong.   And even though I’m not always pro-strike (I don’t know, I sometimes think from the other side it must feel like negotiating with terrorists)(yeah, I’ll hand in my lefty card at the next meeting) I can’t help but support what she’s doing right now.  I’m dead proud of my internet community sometimes, so I am.

Yeah, that looks stupid. It is stupid, actually. I mean, they’re supposed to be all about words, and they’re shortening four perfectly good words, making them one? Um, yeah.

So, I’m doing that, as you know if you read your email, but I thought I’d best write about it here after nagging people to come read the sites. If you’ve got an idea or some sort of whipping implement to keep me motivated, this is the place to talk about it.

Well, here or at livejournal – I’m going to see which is easier to use to run this whole thing as a sort of open forum. I’m doing the writing, but there are elements of Idol about it, too. Seriously, you guys, want to play this one with me? I think I need the support network at this point. Once I get going, Ill be fine, but to get started…

And so, click here, click there, come ride the roller-coaster with me, because I’m too chicken to go by myself.

Ok, so I went to see Shamo’s latest play the other night.  In all fairness, I should probably call it Helen’s play, since she did the translation and directed, and all, but… Shamo organised my comps (don’t tell Lisa!), so his play it is.

It was all Greek, and my notes in the first few minutes say stuff like “Ooh, how Wilde!” and “Relax, buddy, don’t recite!” and “Ahhh, there’s the requisite metric tonne of hubris we need to get this show on the road!”

Ok, so that last part’s exaggerated: I just wrote “…and there’s the pride,” but that’s official Wen’s Green Pen shorthand for the longer thought.

Shut up.

It was a lot of fun, and I kind of managed to forget that they were obviously going to end badly – aside from the chorus who (sorry) I really didn’t like (sorry, but ladies?  Actually getting INTO those dresses is a good first step if you’d like to stay in them.  Also?  Stop singing.) (No, really, stop.), everyone was very entertaining, though the direction was a little heavy-handed in places.

Helen very cutely sat in the audience, three rows back, dead centre, leaning forward in her seat and reciting along with the lines.  Lou reminded me that, when Shamo directed The Clouds, he did the same thing in the back row with us.  Must be a directing thing.

Anyway, click the link to read the review, as usual.  It’s up at The Program, but I’m using this forum to say oops, I mis-spelled Helen’s surname: Slaney, not Stanley.  Mea Culpa.

If you’re looking for something meaty to sink your mental teeth into, Omniprop’s production of The Bacchae is just what you’re after.  A new translation of Euripides’ work (by Helen Slaney, who also directs), this play has it all: elder statesmen warning of dire consequences, a prideful king facing his comeuppance, a vengeful (and nattily-dressed) God-in-human form taking vengeance, and, of course, the diaphanously-clad ladies of the id-driven Bacchae itself.

The God in question is Dionysus, played with decadent charm by Jan Mihal.  The people of Thebes have been saying nasty things about his mother (it’s a long story), so Dionysus has driven the women into a mad frenzy of lust and violence.  This sets up a conflict with Pentheus, King of Thebes (John Kelly, uptight and be-suited), who has been arresting Dionysus’ followers wherever he finds them.  Pentheus, despite the warnings of Tiresias and his grandfather Cadmus, denies Dionysus’ godhood, and arrests the God himself.  Of course, all hell breaks loose.

All the elements of a tragedy are here, but the translation allows for a surprising amount of comedy.  Dionysus’ costume and Mihal’s droll manner seem lifted directly from an Oscar Wilde play, while Pentheus’ descent into madness allows Kelly’s excellent comic timing to shine.  Tom Atkinson adopts an everyman Aussie accent to describe scenes of depravity that had the audience giggling even as it gasped, and a klutzy Teiresias ensures the opening exposition never drags.

This sense of fun makes the play’s tragic ending all the more shocking.  Cadmus and Agave’s final scene of grief could easily have jarred, or seemed histrionic, but Seamus Magee and Dani Matthews deserve credit for handling difficult material excellently.  Magee’s palpable anger and despair play beautifully against Matthews’ happy oblivion in some of the most moving moments of the performance.

The set is excellent – a multi-level platform acts as a mountain, and is used to great effect by Dionysus and Pentheus as they vie for dominance.  Kelly and Mihal move up and down the steps in an intricate dance of thrust and parry as visually arresting as anything The Bacchae has on offer.  A spot shines through the backdrop, a great effect providing a literal veil through which we see past events acted out as messengers speak to us.

Omniprop was founded by Classics students, and they bring a modern take to ancient plays with the confidence that comes from being able to translate the works personally.  The Bacchae is by turns ridiculous, overwhelming, and shocking, but it is always captivating.  The cast turn in strong performances, and I highly recommend the show.   

Have been a liiiiitle bit absent lately.  I realise that I am, at this point, essentially apologising to the void where regular readers should be (AIMS), but courtesy dictates, and all that.

I figure that, in the spirit of better late than never, I should probably start updating on The Proper Use Of The Fabled iPod.

Yes, as advertised, I am finally using the iPod as promised: as an aid to regular exercise.  It’s like having a high-tech, specially-selected mix tape in my pocket!  Especially since it is, in fact, a high-tech, specially-selected mix tape machine.  I used to read on the treadmill, but I’m much, much happier listening to music and zoning out.  If I take off my glasses I can’t even see the time, and I’m starting to learn which songs will take me to the twenty minute peak-hour limit on the machines.

The six day working has left me feeling tired, so I decided I’d energise with regular workouts.  Paradox?  Sure.  Fun?  Hell yeah.  I paid upfront (thanks, Jean!), so the usual problem won’t occur: I won’t be ditching because I know I’ve not added funds for direct debiting and I feel guilty.  I’m currently kicking arse with a minimum of three quarters of an hour on the cardio equipment (I try for longer on the cross trainer but it depends how busy work’s been), plus weights every second night.

Should work, you’d think.  Grin.

Anyway, recorded here for posterity, and in the spirit of playlistism, is the full field of fun songs for working out to.  I’ve already cut Muse’s Darkshines and Blondie’s Call Me – they just weren’t working out.  Plus, I tacked the Silverchair song on at the end, having only just picked up that album.  (And loving it unconditionally, by the way.)

White Stripes – Icky Thump

Nine Inch Nails – Sin

Muse – Supermassive Black Hole

Arctic Monkeys – Mardy Bum

The Basics – Rattle My Chain

Bodyjar – Hazy Shade of Winter

The Ataris – Boys of Summer

The Cat Empire – Sly (which might go, actually)

Foo Fighters – The Pretender

Nine Inch Nails – Head Like A Hole

JT – Sexyback (come on, after Nails it’s just funny)

The Basics – Just Hold On

White Stripes – Blue Orchid

Muse – Starlight

Veruca Salt – Seether

Barenaked Ladies – It’s All Been Done

ACDC – If You Want Blood

Silverchair – If You Keep Losing Sleep

I also ditched Deliverance, by The Mission (or by Ministry, I keep forgetting.  I know the album cover’s blue).  It had a good beat once it got going, but boy, did it take it’s time.  It was over six minutes long, and with lines like “and the apple tree will bear its fruit in the gardens of Avalon, forever and again,” I just got over it.  Smile.

Anyway, so that happened, and I’ll update here in the spirit of the old LiveJournal, with the pain and the suffering and the doing of penance.  I’m only on cardio tonight, though, so that should be penance enough in and of itself.  At least with the weights the endorphin rush kicks in while I’m on the crosstrainer, instead of halfway home.

This week’s special bonus shoutout points go to Benny, because the Ataris and Bodyjar covers are the best things EVER.

Well, Iron Chef Birthday Cookoff ’07 is upon us, and chefs are pacing impatiently in their stables, keen to kick off. It’s Friday night, and prep begins when work ends tomorrow.

The list of dishes just keeps on getting longer, to the extent that I’ve had to retype the thing three times, and it doesn’t look like letting up any time soon. Every time I think I’m done adding to it, I look at my ingredients list and realise that, with the addition of just one more thing, I can have a whole other dish.

I mean, waste not, want not, right?

The list at this stage is as follows:

Starters:

Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls

Three Cheese Risotto Balls

Spinach and Chorizo

Spanish Omelette

Gingery Chicken Wontons

Hot and Sour Soup

Salsa

Mains:

Overnight Lamb

Salt-Crusted Whole Fish

Roasted King Chicken

Hot and Sour Cambodian Beef Salad

Spicy Meatballs Buff Loves

Gnocchi

Nonna Chicken

Pesto Pasta

Sides:

Damper Loaf with pilaf

Assorted salads

Dippy carrots and bread and doritos

Desserts:

Chocolate Mousse

As you can plainly see, it’s getting out of control already. The guest list includes Lou and perhaps Scott now, so that’s what, Kim, Adam, Aims, Ben, Buff, Des, Wen, Mum, Lou and Scott, and if Ev turns up, that makes eleven. Which is good, because we’re not planning to make tasting sizes of any of this stuff.

Damn, I’m hungry just looking at the list.

I’ve got to prep my risotto balls by making the risotto tomorrow night, and Ben’s already got his time frame worked out. I don’t think it’ll matter if we stagger some of the foods, since: lots, but I have no idea when I’m going to get it all going. The overnight lamb needs to go on at about five in the morning, but that’s fine – I can stuff it Saturday night and chuck it on obscenely early.

Everything else on my list is pretty easy, I think. And if Ad comes round early, I can enlist his aid.

This is a competition, but we can share the grunt work, right?

I’ve sent everything interesting from my kitchen to Aims’ car, where it will sit until tomorrow, when she can be bothered unloading it.

For the uninitiated, here’s a list of what I can remember sending. I’m not kidding about that “half my kitchen” thing. You don’t have to read it to be impressed with the length, is all I’m saying.

Five platters

Four decorative plates

Seven ramekins

Eight dip bowls

Four Chinese soup bowls with spoons

Two odd-shaped bowls

My bowl of individually wrapped choccies

Bamboo steamer

Four Analon pots

One Tefal pot

One ten dollar pot

Roasting tray and lid

Interesting spices

Vinegars and Sauces

Kevin (the cleaver)

Shun!

Microplane grater

Garlic Press

Mezzzaluna

Mini chungers

Small whisk

Two chopping boards

Bread Knife

Tea leaves

Teapot

Two mixing bowls

One large, one small basin and donger

Wine glasses

Butter

A lime

Clothing

Colanders

Measuring cups

Metal measuring thing Kim gave me

Ladles

Wooden Spoons

Long handled dessert spoons

Oven Mitts

Let’s all just take a moment to think Aims is awesome to take all that over for me. Let’s take another moment to be impressed by how much my family indulges my “I can’t cook without my equipment!” pretensions. Aren’t they awesome?

Am packing the last bajillion things I forgot to give Aims, and going to bed. I love a Faux Feast, and adding the competitive element (and the fact that I get to make lists and scoresheets and other brilliant stuff) really only enhances it. Huzzah, Buffman! Best! Idea! EVER!

OK, so you’ve probably never heard of Justin Gimblestob.  If you’re Aims, you probably have him confused with that other American journeyman we watched play at the open one of those really hot days two years ago (that was Phil Goldstein).

But he’s good mates with Andy Roddick; he’s the one who had a bet with A-Rod about how many times he could dive for the ball in a match a few months ago.  He comes off as a good guy all the time, and he named this year’s US as his last tournament before retiring.  Of course, he drew Roddick for his first match.

It was a match everyone knew he couldn’t win, so he’s gone out on a first-round loss, which is a shame,  but it’s also kind of awesome that he could finish against Roddick.  They always seem to have fun – I’ve rarely seen better-natured tennis matches in the multi-millionaire era.

Last night’s was no different – between serves a bunch of military guys in the audience got up to leave.  Which, rude, but Gimblestob refused to serve, claiming later that it would have been disrespectful.  The umpire wanted to ping him, but Roddick granted him the first serve.  Which is Rafter-y and also speaks to their friendship (and the fact that the match never hung in the balance).

They did their post-match conference together, telling jokes and having fun, and though they’re at the opposite ends of the spectrum talent-wise, they both came across as genuinely nice guys.

So, bye, Gimblestob!  Your name’s a bitch to type, but that dive you deliberately and melodramatically took at the French cracked my shit up.  Awesome.

You wee scamp!  Check you out, just like old times, getting down with Cap’n Clenchy and The Mac Boy (Mac Boy Pro: in your latest movie at a bargain price!).

Aw, man, that was fun (see also: “let’s do that again!”).  Come on!  The guy in the turbine?  The helicopter and the flipping car?  Kevin SMITH?!?  And all that stuff with the truck and the fighter jet, and then he looks, and he laughs (as he does all the time, actually; anyone else think BW is having the time of his life?), and he pulls out and cocks his gun, all “Ok, that’s. fucking. enough.”

Wen:  No!  YES!  HA!  This is awesome! (loud chuckles that would have seen me kicked out of a cinema).

I’m happy with the representation of the chick, too – yeah, she was there, needing resucing, and all, but she was still tough as nails – and she’s totally been watching her dad’s films.  Hee.  Headbutt, gun, cue Olyphant rolling his eyes so hard his head moves, all, “Are you all RIGHT over there?”  World’s most put-upon baddie.

Hilarious.  Love.  Can’t believe it’s taken me so long to watch it.

AHA!  After much filtering and clicking and undertaking of the Herculean task of trawling 26,000 dvds to seperate the wheat from the chaff, I’ve found that there actually is some alphabetisation to be found.  You just have to filter by three different things before it’s even an option.  Interestingly, S is by far the winner, with 1091 titles to A’s 815 (and the nearest rival).  S is often defeated by B at my place in both cds and dvds, with M running a close third.

Yep, this is what I think about.

And so, my wish list.  Some of it is rounding out already begun collections, and some of it is just embarrassing.  Which just makes it funny.

A

Adventures of Brisco County Junior

If you’ve never seen it, you just won’t get it, and there’s not that many ways to explain it.  Bruce Campbell (sans hand-chainsaw, unluckily) and that chick who played a whore on Melrose (um, the blonde one Kimberly set Michael up with in some convoluted plot which saw him and Jack Wagner fall in love with her), and good times for all.

Alias

I’ve only got fifth season to go.  And, of course, that last dvd of fourth which refuses to play for me.

Alias Smith and Jones

I’ve been waiting on this one for a while – everyone else likes Morecombe & Wise, but I always thought these boys were funnier.

Alex Mack (The Secret Life Of)

Awesome!  Alex Mack is on dvd!  Well, of course she is; she is really, really powerful, you know.

Andy Richter Controls The Universe

This is awesome.  Never seen it?  You should buy it for me, then come round.  Andy has a boring job and some terribly annoying co-workers, and sometimes takes funny flights of fancy…

Angel

For completeness’ sake, I think we need from season three onwards.

B 

The Ben Stiller Show

It was all crazy skits and randomness – but I only ever managed to catch a couple of eps on The Comedy Channel before it sank in favour of some terrible Australian thing with Charlie Pickering (who isn’t funny).

Big Love

I don’t know – it’s stupid and soapy, and Bill Pullman has three wives (one of whom is Chloe Sevigny!), but it airs on SBS here, and it seems interesting.  Plus it’s way easier to pick up the dvds than it is to be in the same place at the same time each week and watch it as it airs.

A Bit of Fry and Laurie

Well, if I’d not been mainlining QI off You Tube, I probably wouldn’t want this.  But Aims loves Laurie, and Fry is my new tv boyfriend (because he’s so snarky!  I love it!), so let’s get caught up on the old stuff.

BlackAdder The Third

I’ve got the other three (go 3-for2 at Borders!) but this one wasn’t there.  It’s the one with the prince (Laurie again), so it really is a must-have.

Brothers and Sisters

I didn’t want to love it – in fact, I didn’t even watch it when it was on free-to-air, because I loathe Calista Flockheart.  Then came the recaps, and my unfortunate addiction to same.  Now I have to buy it, because they’re not recapping in order, and I… don’t want to spoil… them…

Buffy 

Again, for completeness.  We’ve got all the way up to season five (inclusive).

C 

Charles in Charge

Oh, come on.  You know you still remember all the words to the song.  And are now singing it in your head.

Chris Isaak Show 

I love CI primarily because I’m a girly girly girl, and he sings sooky songs.  What a lot of people don’t know, however, is that he’s also hysterical.  He did a doco of his Baja Sessions album, which I watched three times, and he had a self-named tv show, in which he ran around with pretty women, whined about having to work so hard, and cracked me up.

Clone High

I don’t know.  I hear it’s a must-see, and the voice actors are all people I’ve heard of.  What can I say?  Easily led.

D

Danger Mouse 

Not so much a theme song as a list of adjectives, but you know what?  It was still awesome.

Daria

I’ve been waiting to upgrade my vcr copies of this to dvd for years, now.  She’s snarky and bored by everyone, she’s in love with her best friend’s hard-rocking brother, her sister is a princessy fashionista… it’s comedy gold, people.

Degrassi Junior High

OK, so it had a tendency to run Very Special Episodes, like, once a week, but is was still great.  And thank me – I’ve just swapped the theme song in your head from CIC to this!

Dexter 

Yeah, we’ve seen them all, but I loved this one so hard I need to own it.  Hopefully there will be a blooper reel in the extras… Dex cracking up over body parts would make my day.

Doctor Who 

Any of it.  All of it.  I’ll even take the Pertwee.  I love Baker and Eccelstone and, well, even Tennant is growing on me.  Hi, I’m a nerd, right here.

Dresden Files 

He’s a noir-ish wizard-cum-detective in Chicago.  What more do you need to know?  OK, ok, he’s got a pet ghost in a skull, a pretty cop love interest you might remember from Grey’s, a hockey stick that fights evil, and revolving door tertiary cast of hotties in peril.  Still not interested?  I don’t even know you any more.

E

Eureka

Heh – this is a nutters show.  A small, hidden town in the middle of the mountains where all the inventions come from.  A community of geniuses and alien technology and borderline magic – and I’ve only seen three eps, but it’s worth looking into based solely on them.

Everwood

Berlanti has gone onto bigger and better things, but he came to a lot of people’s attention over this one.  Treat’s wife died (and did random vo and ghostly appearances for a while), so he moved his son Cute Ephram and his daughter Tomboy up to Everwood, a little t0wn in (I think) Colorado, where CE could fall in love with Annoying Amy, who didn’t deserve him.  The best of it was the town doctor, Amy’s Dad, who was a cranky, cranky bastard, and hated Treat’s Hot Neurosurgeonny Practice opening across the road from his.  Made me cry even more than Grey’s, which is saying something.  Perhaps not something good.

F

Flight of the Conchords 

Not actually available on dvd yet, but I want it so much I’m pre-empting.

4400

Yes, this belongs here, and I don’t want to hear it – I alphabetise according to the spelling of the number if you wrote it out in words, ok?  I have the first season of this, and I watched half the pilot before I understood that I was too drunk, and needed to concentrate.

Freaks And Geeks

Another of the “barely glimpsed on foxtel” shows they dumped for those two fat kids from Snakes On A Plane or the ninety-billionth season of Frasier.  This was smart, and funny, and deserved better treatment than it got.

Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Yeah, today I am conducting the Earworm Orchestra.  Sorry.  You can’t tell me you don’t want to relive this one.  Yo, home, smell ya later.

Friday Night Lights

Oh, how I am gagging for the dvds of this show.  It’s not aired here, but I loved it from afar, and plan to love it even harder in my lounge.  Which sounds gross, doesn’t it?  So, it’s Nikki from Spin City, and Kyle Chandler, the bomb squad guy from Grey’s, and there’s a football team, and some hotties, and a kid who gets paralysed less cop-out-ly than the kid in Varsity Blues, and it’s all… televisual perfection.  Clever, and moving, and really well played.

G

Gilmore Girls

Even though it went downhill so fast they could have charged for tickets, I kind of loved it til the end.  And while Lauren Graham deserves bigger and better success (certainly bigger than the ill-fated Studio 60), Alexis Bledel should hope she invested her money wisely.  Based on her Sin City performance, she’s not going to be the next breakout star.  Kudos to the show for spotting The Ginormatron (also known as Super Action Sammy) and Peter Petrelli, and writing them off the show so they could go on to much, much more fun fare.

Greg The Bunny

They can sing and dance, and they don’t need pants.  Seth Green and Sarah Silverman, with the Dad from American Pie, and a bunch of puppets.  Sounds odd – is odder, but also eighteen types of awesome.

Grosse Pointe 

This was a show about making a soap, and there was the Blonde One, and the Catty One, and the one who couldn’t have been more a parody of Ian Zeiring if they’d tried (which… they may have), and the Hot One, and the Dorky One (who was also Big Red) who was in love with the hot one, and in turn beloved of the Stand In Guy (who you might remember from everything).  They were stupid, and they were funny, and they must have cut a little close to the bone for the studio, because they got shut down right quick.

Growing Pains

I don’t even know why it’s on the list.  Seriously, it typed itself.  It’s insidious like that.

H

Heroes

Even if Kring’s going to break my heart, I’m going to enjoy the ride.  They’re all so hot, and so inspired by classic literature!  Plus, Veronica’s joining the cast next season.

House

I lose patience with appointment viewing very easily.  I lost patience with House, but I know it’s better than I’m giving it credit for.  Plus: Hugh Laurie!  So we’ll pick these up when they’re on special.

I

Invader Zim 

If I don’t get a taco soon, my head’s gonna explode!

J

Joan of Arcadia

I was one of about fifteen people who loved this.  The mother was Mary Steenbergen, for sobbing out loud!  She was not meant to be the heart of the show, but she was, searching for faith post Jason Ritter’s paralysing car accident.  The dad was the guy who did Big Tony’s voice on The Simpsons, and also The Only Honest Cop In Town.  Oh, and there was Adam, the boyfriend, who was incredibly sweet and funny, and Grace, the tomboy best friend who just flat out rocked.  Oh, and there was something about a chick who talked to avatars of God in there, too.

K

Kids In The Hall

Dave Foley did not spring, fully-formed, into News Radio.  His sketch comedy show.

M

Melrose Place 

I think this has come around to cool again – it’s ok to like it.  But I’d buy it anyway.

Monk

Missed the bus on this one, but hear it’s good enough to bother catching up on.

Monty Python’s Flying Circus 

It’s not dead, it’s pining… for the fjords!

My So-Called Life

Young Claire Danes and Jared Leto, little bit angsty, whole lotta fun.

N

News Radio 

Because of Dave, and Andy Dick, and Abby from ER.  But mostly because of Patrick Warbuton as the evil boyfriend, and Jimmy James, who you might remember as Milton from Office Space.  That guy’s incredible!

90210

If I’m going to be buying Melrose anyway… but just the first few seasons.  I’m not interested in a world without Brenda.

Nip Tuck 

What can I say?  They’re doing two for three at JB, and I hear good things about the trash factor.

O

Oz

Violent.  Really violent.  I’ve got to have it.  Plus, half the cast of Dexter is in it.

P

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose

Heh.  Oh, hey!  I just rememebred where I know that chick from – this!  The principal turns up in stuff.  And the big guy, too, he was in ER and Men In Trees.  And Parker is in some Stargate and some CSI.  Yay!

Popular

Another one of those things that only I’ve seen, Popular was about the blonde and the brunette facing off over anything they could think of.  Luckily, they started with that premise, stuck the main characters to it like glue, and went for total, TOTAL anarchy with the rest of the cast.  I’m quite serious.  This was a show in which dressing up in a frock comprised of a million bitty lights was totally acceptable.

Project Runway

Only the first season, and only because I can’t help loving the bitchiness.  And also Tim Gunn.  He makes it work, people.

Q

Queer as Folk (US)

It’s awful.  But I love it anyway.  I can’t seem to stop.

R

Rescue Me 

I just want to see Denis Leary acting seriously.  It compels me.

Robot Chicken

I’ve seen all but about five eps of season two, but I need to own it.  I love Robot Chicken.  It is the king of random comedy.

Rome 

Szab told me it was good.  So I’ll pick ‘em up and have a look-see.

Rowan Atkinson, Live

Tricky bit of floor, that.  Deceptively flat.  Grin.  I still use that.

S

Samurai Jack 

He’s got to go back… or forward… in time… to save the world… or something.  I don’t know.  That’s why I need the dvds!

The Sarah Silverman Program 

She’s a bit hit and miss, and she walks a line that can easily turn me off – “I can be racist because I’m so left I’m doing it ironically” palls a bit (a lot) after a while, but when she’s good, she’s hysterical.

Saved By The Bell

Another one that gets in for nostalgic purposes – not as good as Parker Lewis, but still kind of — awful.  Never mind.  I’m striking it from the list.

Scrubs

Season Six is available for pre-order.  Huzzah!

Shakespeare Retold 

Didn’t watch it; read about it later.  Some were awesome, some were so-so, but all starred high-quality British actors, and… Billie Piper.

Sopranos 

I’m only missing Season Six, Part Two.  Of course, I forget all the things I’m supposed to remember, which are what makes the show so clever and well-made, so it looks like a marathon for me when I pick these up.

Supernatural 

El Deano and The Ginormatron are awesome.  And hot.  And the car out-acts both of them.  And they need to just kiss, already.

T

Teen Titans 

I don’t REALLY understand why Robin is there – but not Batman.  But it’s fun anyway.

30 Rock 

Um, yeah.  I have a thing for stuff Tina Fey does, and I heard good things about this.

21 Jump Street 

Come on.  I don’t really need to explain this, do I?

24

I don’t know why I never got into it before: Keifer Kicks Arse?  I should be totally there!

V

V

Ah, I remember it well.  With the aliens, and that scene in the chair, and… I guess I don’t remember it that well, after all.

Veronica Mars 

Well, there was the rape storyline, which strained credulity (because Veronica was way too smart to go off alone, considering that she’d recognised that she’d been drugged), and then the petering out of the series, which angered everyone.  I liked that Veronica’s actions actually had consequences for once (and for her father, which was appropriately painful and lesson-teaching for her), but poor old Lamb got a horrible send-off, and Logan got progressively sappier and further away from his character, which… sucked.  And I’m not even going to MENTION Piz.  But I still want the rest of the dvds.  Even when it’s bad, this is still very good.

W

Weeds

Well, I liked That Chick on The West Wing, so I’ll give her a go in this. It’s critically acclaimed, and whatnot, so it can’t be too bad…

Whose Line Is It, Anyway?

I love it all, the Clive Years and the Drew Travesty.  It’s all good, because Ryan is always there, like an enormous beanpole of pure funny, and so is Colin, the self-deprecating Canadian who thinks up things like “We’ll miss that Hickory Daquiri, Doc” well beforehand, but presents them as off-the-cuff.  Awesome.

Will & Grace 

I’m not proud… or tired.  I don’t know.  I just want these.  I want to see what happened, and I want to catch up on all the ones I missed in the middle so I could see the one where she met Harry Connick Jr fifty-odd times.  Argh!  They should have called it Jack & Karen and ditched everyone else, but I can see where Deb Messing’s hair maybe held everyone in thrall.

They have over 26,000 titles on dvd – and that’s just the tv series they offer.  So I’m playing.  I’m going through them, making a list.  But they don’t have an alphabetical option, so I have to go by release date.  It makes it hard.  I’ll alphabetise when I’m bored making the list, but thought I should tell you: stay tuned for Wen’s Ultimate Christmas List.  grin.