I'm Still Here

It’s looking like I’ve abandoned this blog again, hasn’t it?  I promise, that’s not the case.  I’ve just been really busy doing not much of anything news worthy.

Honestly, I have been devoting almost all my free time to getting my reviews from Epinions posted at Carstairs Considers.  Even limiting it to 10 or 11 a day is time consuming.  It doesn’t help that I’m starting with the oldest ones, which need a little editing.  Plus I have to recreate The Bottom Line and make them into Haikus.  That’s a lot of work right there.

Have I mentioned how happy I’ll be when that’s all over and done with?

Other then that, life goes on.  Commuting to Burbank still.  Running once or twice a week plus playing ultimate Frisbee.  Sunday, I played some disc golf instead of ultimate, which was a nice change of pace.  Plus I enjoyed hanging out with those friends which I don’t see nearly enough.

Yep, that’s pretty much my life right now.  Just a thrill a minute.

Weekly TV Recap for February 16th

Once Upon a Time - I was listening so far, and when they finally told us where Gold was headed, I knew.  I’ve been right all season that Rumple’s son is Henry’s dad.  That’s going to be an interesting twist.  And is Gold slowly losing his memory?  Meanwhile, I like how they worked out Tiny’s issues and even gave us a look at James, the evil twin.  We’ve only seen him briefly before.  Hope we see more of him as time goes on.

Castle – Loved it.  Mainly it was the sub-plots, but there were so many funny scenes and bits in the episode.  My favorite had to be Castle trying to get the earrings back from Gates.  Yes, I like the more serious stuff, but I love the all out comedy episodes as well.  And I love that the cast can do both so seamlessly.

Survivor - I did recognize several more of the favorites when I saw them in person.  I do feel sorry for Franchesca being voted out first again.  But really, some of those people need to get off my TV already.  I want Phillip gone and I want him gone now.  He's trying to play the Boston Rob card.  We'll see if it works out for him or not.

Arrow - I'm not a fan of the island storyline, so the fact that this one was almost all island certainly didn't thrill me.  It did explain why the first mentor has turned on Oliver, however.  And I'm wondering if having the tech girl know about the Hood's true identity as Oliver is going to be a major plot point.  She is a guest star, after all.

Necessary Roughness - So far, they haven't completely turned me off with their gay professional athlete storyline.  But we'll see how next week goes.  This may be what I need to turn me off to the show.  Honestly, I don't know if I will watch when it comes back in the summer even without this.  It will probably depend on what I am doing for work.

Big Bang Theory – Did they just give Raj a girlfriend?  That would be a pretty big development.  Overall, I loved how the various character’s relationships worked themselves out over the course of the evening.  Amy’s gift to Sheldon was great.  And Bernadette’s hiding place for the Xbox was pretty funny as well.

Suits – They just keep ramping up the drama.  What was a fun show last season has been much more serious because instead of just the case of the week, every episode has had huge stakes for our characters.  Right now, I’m feeling sorriest for Rachel.  I’m not sure if Louis really blew her chances of getting into Harvard or not, but she should go.  Of course, if she did go, that would mean her leaving the show, which I don’t want to have happen either.  So I guess you could say I’m conflicted.  And that 5th year?  Don’t care for her at all.

New TV on DVD Review:

Scarecrow and Mrs. King - Season 4

Word Association For Feb 15th

Time for this week's word association.

1. Massage :: Relaxing
2. Financial advice :: Save money
3. Guide :: Leader
4. Packing :: Heat
5. Trombone :: Big Parade
6. Water cooler :: Show
7. Delivery :: Present
8. Smoke :: Neighbors
9. Cane :: Candy
10. Suitcase :: Vacation

What I Read in January

Been patiently waiting for my monthly what I read list?  You're looking in the wrong place.  It's now posted on Carstairs Considers, which blogger has decided to let me post at again.

Weekly TV Recap for February 9th

Castle – It must be February sweeps because we’re hearing about Beckett’s mom’s murder again.  Actually, there isn’t much forward movement they can make until they arrest the Senator and put the entire thing to bed, but this was a very good episode.  I knew what Beckett would do in the end, but I did believe the struggle along the way.  Well written and perfectly acted.

White Collar – Mozzie as a taxi driver.  I like it.  And I enjoyed the jazz along the way, too.  It was nice to see them go back to a stand alone episode, especially one this fun.

Arrow – I really don’t care that much about the back story, but they are definitely ramping things up in the present.  What exactly is his mom up to?  And Laurel’s riff with her dad is interesting.  I buy it completely and like it.  Things are going to be much more interesting before the end of the season I can tell.

Necessary Roughness – So, I wonder what the new owner will be like.  It will certainly seem strange to have the Pitmans off the show by the end of the season.  (At least that’s where I’m assuming they’re going with this.)  And the show seems to be more football than client of the week so far this half.  I’m feeling sorry to TK and actually liking him for trying even if he is failing.  That’s a huge difference from earlier in the show, and I do appreciate that.

Big Bang Theory - That was a riot.  Penny and Sheldon both being at a loss for words over the same thing was just so funny.  Raj and Howard's mother was pretty funny, too, although I really wish we hadn't seen her walking through the doorway so many times.  She's much better yelling from off screen.

Suits - How did Jessica even form a partnership with anyone like Hardman?  The guy is a complete jerk.  But he makes a great villain.  I really want to know how they are going to defeat him.

Nikita - I don't know why I didn't see the fact that this guy Nikita was trying to rescue would turn out to be a villain.  Still, she and Michael seem to have hope now, which is a good thing.  And I do think they are ready to start working through their feelings about Nikita cutting off his hand to save him.

Robert Crais’ Suspect Signing

No, no, there was nothing shady about the signing.  He was signing his new book entitled Suspect.

I’ll freely admit that every year when he comes out with a new book, I remember I planned to read more of his books.  And then I promptly forget again.  But since this was a stand alone, I figured I was safe to go get it.

The signing was Sunday morning before the Super Bowl at Book ‘Em in South Pasadena.  I made it to the early service and then headed down.  I got there after it had started to a standing room only crowd.  He talked for quite a while, read a chapter, and then started signing books.  It took a while because he actually talks to everyone in the line.  Considering this is a NYT’s best selling author, it’s one thing I really appreciate about him.

Unfortunately, since I have read so few of his books so many years ago, we didn’t have much to talk about.

But I’m glad I got the book.  I finished it yesterday and absolutely loved it.  If you want to know why, check out my review over at my new review blog.

Word Association for February 6th

Here's this week's word association.

1. Baked :: Dessert
2. Excited :: Exclamation
3. Print :: Media
4. Obstruct :: Justice
5. Bladder :: Control
6. Matrimony :: Marriage
7. Car :: Drive
8. Reconstruct :: Scene of the Crime
9. Lenses :: Glasses
10. Best for last :: Great Finale

When Ultimate Worlds Collide

Most weekends, I play ultimate Frisbee twice, once on Saturday and once on Sunday.  And I’m the only person who plays at both games.  That is until this weekend.

Since the Super Bowl was Sunday, my Sunday afternoon game was going to cancel.  And they were looking to play a game Saturday morning.  I suggested they joined us, and they did in a big way.

While the Sunday afternoon game can swing from just a few to enough for 7’s plus subs, Saturday is rarely more than 4 or 5.  When everyone showed up, we had about 9 on one side and even played 8’s for the second game.

We played Saturday versus Sunday, with me being on Sunday.  Ironically, my roommate was on that side as well, and he’s only ever played with the Saturday crew once.

I really wasn’t sure how this was going to go since Saturday is very, very laid back.  Sunday is usually pretty laid back as well, but we do follow more of the rules.  Fortunately, the Sunday crew respected that and adapted to the new rules.

We wound up playing 3 games to 10 and playing for about two and a half hours.  I was so tired and sore by the time we finished.

We started out the first game behind, but managed to come back and win.  We never did come back during the second game and lost by a wide margin.  That set up the third game.  Some people left at that point, and we were down to six on each team.  Everyone was moving slowly, but we were just a step ahead of them.  Actually, more than a step ahead since we won the 3rd game by about as much as we lost originally.

A highlight for me was several scores in the first game thrown to me by one guy who doesn’t pass to me very often.  Lowlight?  I had about 5 opportunities to score and win the final game, and I dropped every one of them.  We lost that point, but we did win on the next one.

Everyone seemed to have fun.  There was talk about some people coming out again the next Saturday and Sunday (a couple actually have already played on Sunday).  If these games continue to merge, it will be very interesting.

Weekly TV Recap for Feb. 2nd

White Collar - Elizabeth telling Neal to lie was powerful, but I really was expecting her to explain what was happening when Peter figured it out so quickly.  I know the show likes to find ways to keep drama in their relationship, but this one feels a bit forced.  However, I loved her at the tasting and I loved Jones and Mozzie.  I swear, any scene with Mozzie brings out the best in everyone.

Arrow - Wasn't that big a fan of this episode.  The drugs and the reactions just weren't my thing.  However, seeing the next chapter of his life on the island was certainly interesting.

Necessary Roughness - Am I actually coming to care for the football players?  I was more interested in that storyline than I was the case of the week by far, maybe because that was pretty much the only thing that wasn't.  Sigh.  Why do I keep watching this show?  I must give up my obsession with all things USA Network and cut the one show they still that I don't enjoy.

Big Bang Theory - So, a couple of the scenes with Kripkey were painful instead of funny, but overall I loved this episode.  I was thinking recently they hadn't done any good Sheldon and Penny scenes recently, and this one got two of them and they were so sweet.  And the revelation about Sheldon and Amy was a little shocking.

Suits - A little more about Rachel.  And you know, I hadn't even noticed that she was of mixed race.  The conflict with her dad was interesting, but the ending of the episode is jaw dropping.  Where are they going from here?  Oh, and Donna is by far my favorite character.  Her scenes always make me laugh.

Nikita - They are really using this situation with Michael's hand to work on several characters, and I love it.  The depth of character was something that was missing early in the season.  They are definitely firing on all cylinders now.

Come on, Give Me Some Detail

There is a fine line in a unsolicited book review request between too much information and too little information.  Here is an example of too little information.

I got your name from the list of Amazon Top Reviewers. I’ve written a book, TITLE REMOVED I noticed from your Amazon profile that you frequently review books. If you think you might be interested in reading my book and posting an honest review of it on Amazon, I’ll gladly send a complimentary copy if you’ll reply with your preferred digital format (pdf, MOBI, ePub). There is no obligation, of course.

Really?  That’s it?  Based on the title, it might have been speculative fiction or a non-fiction political prediction or who knows what.  I mean, really, I have no idea what the book is about, so I have no idea if I would enjoy it or not.

And, as is a constant theme when looking at these requests, at least pretend you know what I review.  Either way, the book doesn’t look like my typical mystery.  So really, you are probably just wasting your time anyway.

Now I’m not looking for a detailed plot summary or anything.  But a sentence or two would certainly help me know if I am interested or not.  Without that, you are just going in my folder to be mocked later.