Monday, September 22, 2008

It's Monday, and that means...

Another new episode of Gossip Girl! I was reading The Daily Intel at New York Magazine for some nuggets on my favorite prime-time soap and saw a link to this interview with Josh Schwartz, the show's executive producer. It's a little spoilery, so don't read if you want to remain completely surprised by the show this season.

Shout out to my friend Lilah Krazinpitski (how'd I do on the spelling?), a fellow fan of the late, lamtented Josh Schwartz show The O.C. Give GG a try, Lilah! It may lack Sandy Cohen's eyebrows, but it makes up for that with plenty of headbands and ridiculously bright outerwear.

Friday, September 19, 2008

A librarian who reads

I get antsy if I don't have at least one book to read at any given time. Currently, I am still slogging through The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, an exhaustively researched, persuasive, but regrettably rather dry non-fiction work by Eric Ives that I started nearly a year and a half ago. Nevertheless, I am determined to finish it, and it shouldn't be long now as I've reached the point where Queen Anne has been imprisoned in the Tower of London.

While attending AALL last summer in New Orleans, I picked up Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America by Andrew Ferguson. I started reading it this week and am enjoying his chatty tour through Lincoln-centric spots in America.

But back to my compulsive need to always be reading...a new resource for book recommendations (new to me, anyway) is Goodreads.com. You post what you're reading, review what you have read, and can see recommendations from friends.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Favorite song right now

I'm loving "Life in Technicolor," the first song off Coldplay's most recent album, Viva la Vida. I listen to it every day as I walk to the subway on my way to work.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Countdown to The Office!


The fall television season is finally starting, and I couldn't be happier. I can't say that last year's writers strike shook me to the core or ruined my life, but I didn't like it much either. The prospect of a full season of brand spankin' new TV fills me with giddy anticipation.

We (i.e., me and my dog) are enormous fans of The Office at my house. The theme song is even the ring on my cell phone. I just saw this New York Magazine interview with Ed Helms, who seems a nice, intelligent fellow.

If you're like me and enjoy whiling away free time with online content, NBC's official site includes Office webisodes, blogs from Creed and Dwight in character, and the opportunity to buy all sorts of Office-themed items. I am dangerously close to getting a t-shirt. Lucky for me, my office is very close to the NBC Experience Store.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Don't shake this man's hand!

Unbelievable and so hilarious.


I like how he keeps trying to talk after everyone starts freaking out. Sounds like he's saying "Yesterday, yesterday," as in perhaps, "Yesterday I caught The Poseidon Adventure on AMC, and starting thinking about that time on set when I walked in on Shelly Winters in her dressing room trying on new brassieres, and well, my wife wasn't home and one thing led to another. Boom! I live another four days." Or something like that.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Gossip Girl!



Much to my delight, another season of Gossip Girl started last week. It was a long, scandal-free summer without this show.

One of my favorite things to do during TV season is read show recaps the next day to see what editors and fans were thinking, and if it lines up with my reactions. The most fun Gossip Girl recap is from New York Magazine. Entertainment Weekly finally ponied up a full TV Watch this year. I'm often surprised by how snarky the reader comments are on the TV Watches (the ones for Grey's Anatomy can get especially nasty).

My reactions to last night's episode are as follows: Rufus is still completely uninteresting to me, as much as I loved Matthew Settle in Band of Brothers. Same goes for Vanessa -- she is so annoying, and has no apparent life outside of waiting for one of the Humphrey's to need her for coffee and/or Doc Marten wearing abilities. What purpose does her character serve? As always, Blair was my favorite. I'm enjoying watching her with her new royal boyfriend. He's cute and courtly, but I don't completely believe he's as peachy as he seems. Chuck continues to be improbably sexy.

The craziest storyline is Nate's descent into being a male prostitute! I did not see that coming, although it might have been revealed in the spoiler section of EW's recent cover story on GG. Sweet, nice, slightly stupid Nate, I hate to see you reduced to being a man whore!

Lastly, this little piece of news made me squeal internally. Leighton Meester and Blake Lively (Blair and Serena, respectively) are going to be on 30 Rock!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Marilyn Monroe


Vanity Fair's current cover story is on Marilyn Monroe and a the tawdry, distasteful wrangling over her "secret" possessions. I love Marilyn and always feel a little depressed when reading something like this. Dead celebrities become as picked over as a chicken bone and in her case, I've always felt like no one with an emotional attachment was looking out for her best interests.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Gaaah

I'm late in posting this (and since almost no one reads my blog except maybe my mom, then no one cares) but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been pushed to next summer. Maaaaan! I was so excited for November.