Live from New York...

Hello. My name is Jen. I have watched Saturday Night Live for as long as I can remember. And I think and hope that my head shall explode this weekend. Not that my head will literally explode, that would be quite the Debbie Downer or even quite McGruber-y. But I have hope that this week could continue the upward trend of this season's SNL redemption. Last week's Jon Hamm's John Ham. Brilliant. Coldplay's multiple performances. Lovely. Adele's performances a couple weeks back just furthered my appreciation for her awesomeness. The Weekend Update Thursday editions..hilarious. After a decade of touch and go I think the show may be back. But then again, I fear my SNL experience with no Amy Poehler. But this week with Ben Affleck and (sigh) David Cook and it being the last one before the election...I have high hopes.

Thunder!

I went for a walk with a coworker on the nature trail at work today. On it, we passed under a big thundercloud just as it made a HUGE thunderclap. And I got all giddy. Then, it started raining a bit. And my giddiness continued. No lightning this time. But....the thunder and lightning season is here! Wahoo!
p.s. Don't be confused, I was actually extremely disappointed to live in Florida for 9 months and not get to experience an actual hurricane. I'm weird like that.

random ramblings and observations

• I am a deranged individual at times, I know this. I can't help laughing and rewatching when someone gets hit by a vehicle on TV or in a movie. And then last week, it almost happened in real life. I was driving home from work and this old man was jaywalking across the road and he didn't see me coming. Luckily, I saw him and slowed to a stop. As I stopped, he finally noticed me and started old man running to get past me - and into the next lane of traffic with another oncoming car. Luckily, the oncoming car was able to stop in time but literally I was seconds away from seeing an old man get hit by a car. And that's when it hit me that it is actually a great fear of mine to see it happen in real life. Maybe that's why I like watching it so much, in hopes I'll never have to witness the real thing. But I really can watch Brad Pitt get hit in Meet Joe Black over and over and over again.
• It is Halloween on Friday. I don't really care about Halloween. What I do care about is the fact that it means that November is this week which means we're really really close to 2009. And that scares me a bit.
• What also scares me a bit is something my friend Jo and I realized yesterday. Next Presidential election, I'll be 30. That scares the crap out of me (along with who knows what is going to happen between then and now)
• I've been over the election for a good long time now. And I haven't begun to peruse the handbook yet. All I know is this: NO on 2. and I'm thinking that the whole high speed railway plan doesn't sound that thought out or absolutely necessary.
• My friend recently posted this on her blog:

5. I've never seen any of the Back to the Future movies, Harry Potter movies, Lord of the Rings movies, Narnia movies, Star Trek movies (or shows), Indiana Jones movies, Matrix movies, Jurassic Park movies or Pirates of the Caribbean movies, nor do I have any inclining of a bit of desire to see them. My friend J might disassociate herself from me for that, but it is true.

I am the friend J that might disassociate and I'm here to say I shall not. I myself have never seen the Harry Potter films (or read the books), I could care less about the Pirates movies, have only seen the Star Trek movie with humpback whales in it (though am actually really excited about the new one. Call it the J.J. factor), hadn't seen the Indy movies until high school, read the Narnia books until right before the first movie came out, never read the Lord of the Rings books (but did find myself a willing participant in the awesomeness that was Trilogy Tuesday), and I only own the Matrix on VHS. But the one that hurts is Back to the Future. That's my true all time favorite/comfort trilogy. I love me some Star Wars...but sometimes you just need a little McFly (p.s. we're almost 6 years away from 2015...where's my hover board?!)

• I'm ashamed of myself as a baseball fan. It completely slipped my mind that the game was on last night. Granted, it was called on account of rain but still. I should have been watching.
• I watched an all day West Wing marathon yesterday. How I miss that show...it was season 3, a real good one. And it got me thinking about a post I did on xanga many moons ago about movie presidents. I still think Bill Pullman in ID4 is the coolest, with a Russian ass-kicking Harrison Ford in a close second, and Kevin Kline in Dave a ultra close third. But TV wise, it's tough to chose between President Bartlett and President Palmer. I still am campaigning for Tom Hanks to play a movie President. Someday my dream will come true.

Countdown

...THREE WEEKS...

NOT SOON ENOUGH. SIGH.

Popped Culture: Music Edition

• Beyonce apparently learned nothing from the great Garth Brooks. Have you heard she's launching an "alternative personality" named Sasha Fierce. She's the personality that comes to life when Beyonce performs. Riiiiiiight. I'm sure she's no Chris Gains but I am sure this is just ridiculous. And I don't actually care much about Beyonce. Although her new song "If I were a Boy" has grown on me (though again, if she were a boy? Is Beyonce (Mrs. Jay - Z) really that unhappy as herself?)
• Oh JT. Are you for real? Have you heard he's retiring SexyBack? The song is a groovy good time that again grew on me. The title is a catchphrase that is kinda still relevant. I mean we all know what you're talking about when you say you're bringing sexy back (it's already been broughten. Oh what! sorry, that was lame) I actually wonder though, what does it mean to retire a song? I mean, I know that the song has surely made enough money to retire to Florida and live a happy life but is that what it does? What if it decides retirement is boring? Will it come back and REALLY bring SexyBack?
• I could care less about the new Guns and Roses album. But what is awesome is the fact that Dr Pepper offered free DP to EVERYONE in the band got its act together and actually finished the album this year. They actually did. Whether the DP challenge is what made it happen or not, still brilliant on the DP. Now, I get a free Dr Pepper. yum.

Dude.

So, I was looking something up on www.UrbanDictionary.com and one of the random definitions it had was for DUDE. and it was one of the greatest and also most true things I have ever read.

DUDE = basically the pop culture equivalent of a comma.

Seriously dude how totally true is that?

"the ultimate present"

Today we got a catalog in the mail "Wine Country Gift Baskets" and it brought a smile to my face as I was reminded of this moment:





Michael: Ryan wants everything in our company to be about emails and ims, but I think he is forgetting about the original instant message…letters attached to baskets of food.


*****

Michael: In the last year we have lost seven clients to the big chains. These gift baskets are a ticket back into their lives. We’re going to show up at these businesses unannounced and we are going to win them back.
Ryan: With gift baskets.
Michael: With peanut brittle. With macadamia nut cookies. With chocolate turtles. With raspberry jam and a little bit of fat and salt. Because you know what? That’s what people like.

*****

Michael: Gift baskets are amazing Phyllis. Gift baskets are the essence of class and fanciness. They are the ultimate present that a person can receive.
Andy: What about cash? With cash you can buy whatever you want, including a gift basket. So, it’s kind of the best gift ever.
Jim: What about a gift basket full of cash?
Andy: Yes! Cash basket!





and in case you were wondering, gift baskets are surprisingly well priced. Who knew. I'd totally accept a gift basket...I'm just saying.

"ouch, that hurts the soul" vol. I

To steal from EW.com's popwatch blog "Things that make me want to die inside" I present my own "Ouch, That's Hurts the Soul" posts. Here's a way to start it off.

I just read this on TV Guide.com

"ABC FAMILY to bring 10 Things to the Small Screen"

http://www.tvguide.com/News/ABC-Family-Developing-20114.aspx

Terrible. Absolutely wrong. And I thought the Miley Cyrus "7 Things" song was bad enough.

No One Can Top This. I miss Heath.

sigh

I just looked at the calendar and noticed the date: October 8. And do you know what thought crossed my mind?

"Hey, it's Matt Damon's birthday!"

And then I remembered what a loser I am...or more appropriately...what a loser I was in my late teens to have memorized such a thing. But lord knows I still love this guy.

Oh the blessings of the celebrity crush.

Happy Birthday Matt Damon

oh christmas tree oh christmas tree

Well, according to Target, it's been Christmas for a couple weeks now but today I got to create a flier at work to send to companies about having their holiday parties here. And I got to google image search a Christmas Tree. In October. With a jar of Halloween candy on my desk. Just strange how quick this year is flying by.

Just for a little taste of how I spend my time at work using Publisher, here's the finished product.

Weekly TV Round Up (little late)

Well, last week was a shortened TV Week thanks to the V.P. Debate. The debate was pretty good...I only got to see the end but both seemed to hold their own...but I was a little peeved to get my shows back for one week and then get denied a new episode for 2 weeks. Seriously, why not just wait to premiere until after the debate? But I digress.

MONDAY

• HIMYM has really hit the ground running this season. I was worried about the gimmicky-ness the Regis Philbin guest star would offer but there was no need to worry. It fit in perfectly in the absurd world. And how amazing was the spoof "Fifty Million Dollar Heads or Tails" and the fact that jobless Marshall was watching. Underpants ratio=brilliant. One should watch this show simply for the sheer amount of awesomeness that is coined in each catch phrase. True Story.
• OTH went all slasher movie at the end there. I mean seriously, there are not corn fields all over the Carolinas. But the beauty of Deb smashing psycho nanny in the head with the "no more dan" victory bottle of champagne was great...as was dan actually finishing the job. They actually unknowingly worked together to help their family. And Nathan's dream of playing basketball got his hopes up and then crashing back down after being offered the coaching job instead. The GM of the team? The racist best friend of Gerry Bertere on Remember the Titans. Hard to believe it's been 8 years since that movie...
• Heroes. Lots of potential. Looking forward to where we are being taken this season.

TUESDAY

• Fringe was great. Pacey is in for real now. I should really start referring to him as his new character name I suppose... But anyway, I am just loving all the different relationship dynamics...and the awesome F/X. Fantastic.

WEDNESDAY

• Bones+Office=good TV. Interesting twists for sure and as my friend put it: "I'll never look at my stapler the same" And I'm actually starting to like Cam and Sweets as characters.

THURSDAY

• The only new show was Ugly Betty and I thought it was one of the best episodes they've had in a very long time. for realz. Betty kicking a puppy. Amanda singing Marc a lullaby as Betty took his job. Good times all around. Good to see it getting back to season one glory.

SATURDAY

• SNL. It had really gone downhill the last few years. I watched the season opener (Michael Phelps hosting...obviously I am in) and got a few chuckles from the Palin/Clinton cold open and the Phelps diet but besides that...eh. Caught a little bit last week. This week, I missed the first 20 minutes but recorded the rest and surprise! Found myself laughing. A lot. Especially at the Mary Poppins bit. Supercalifr....will never be heard the same :) And good ol Weekend Update. I wonder, who's taking Amy's spot when she goes on maternity leave? Will Seth go the old skool route of solo anchor a la Chevy or Norm? Or will we get a whole new team? I still worry about the whole cast in general without Amy Poelher...she's still in like every sketch and makes everything funnier. Who's stepping up when that baby pops out?

only in the valley

Heard today on my way to work. Note: Heard on multiple radio stations' traffic report.

"motorcycle vs. farm tractor collision"

in case you were wondering, there were injuries. only in the valley