Smash, yeah I watch it.

The highly promoted season two of Smash starts February 8th.  However, if you are on iTunes, you can download the season premiere for free. That is, you can download the first half.  On Feb. 8th NBC plans to open with a 2 hour premiere, which leaves me to assume that what is available to watch now, is only half of the Feb. 8th show.

It is clear that the writers/creators are starting to clean up the loose ends from season one.  Everything from the reason Rebecca left the Bombshell, where the money came from to put on the show, and all the personal stories of every primary and secondary character.  With season two, it looks as though the writers are integrating the musical numbers into the plot much better.  Last season's random duet in Time Square was, um, random.  The musical numbers themselves are lovely, including lyrics and choreography.  It was the placement of the numbers that was off putting.  It needed to be more like Tetris, with everything coming together, and the pieces fall into place.
The series is already filled with talent, and premise, but falls just short in the execution.  Using the theater entertainment field, which is no doubt competitive as setting it highly workable.  While my junior high theater experience has left me with luke-warm memories,  I can certainly remember feeling bitter when I lost the Stage Manager position to a younger student. I have to imagine those emotions are amplified, when you are attracted to a co-star, and/or sleeping with and ex-flame, cheating on a spouse, using the IRA(?) to fund an off-broadway production, or trying to sabotage a major production.  Point is, the competitive and drama filled setting is the perfect stage for this show.  In addition, it allows for plenty of special guests, temporary characters that can be woven in and out of plot lines, and showcase cross-overs.  It really can provide seasons of good plot lines.  Where Smash again falls short is its effort to get all these plots out at once.  Nevertheless, t is looking like season two is trying to focus on the smaller, and more attempting the "less-is-more" approach. Which I think will work out better for the over all chemistry and flow of the show.

two cents given

Road Trip

It is a late post, but a difficult one.  How to put four weeks of cross country driving into words and pictures for the entertainment of others is a daunting task.  Nonetheless, this past summer I got to spend 30 days on the road, just me and my husband.

1. Crater Lake, OR - It is what it sounds.  It is a volcano with a lake at the top.  We camped at the National Park and slept like lambs.


















2. Coastal Red Wood, CA - We stayed the night here as well, and was by far my one of the
highlights of the trip. We met some nice people,
and got to run around
in the woods
like kids.

From here we drove through Sonoma and wine country.  We stopped by the petrified forrest, which was a little underwhelming.









3. Lake Tahoe, UT - We stayed the night here too.
We had a great fire and played Skip-Bo way into the night.














We had a break- in into our cooler (filled with water only).  The local critters got their shits and giggles making noises and freaking me out in the middle of night.  Moreover, I did not want to leave our site to pee.

4. Salt Lake City, UT - While to drive was lovely and the city itself was nice.  We did stay at a hotel
at this stop, as we were intending to visit my bestie's house the next day in Colorado Springs, and wanted to not smell like 'the road" and must.

 Salt flats, Jon really wanted to just drive off the road and give them hell. Alas, no.

5. Colorado Springs, CO - We cheated and stayed at a hotel here too.  We got in the area late, and decided to meet my friend early in the AM - We also saw a double rainbow, so I took a pic and bought a lottery ticket

6. Somewhere outside Salina, KA - We drove most of the night. From Springs to Michigan, we wanted to make the best time.  We slept at a Loves Truck Stop and hit the road early, and made it to Michigan by midnight the next day.

how many bugs?



        ... and we grabbed pizza in St. Louis

7. Michigan (2 weeks) We mainly made the drive for my sister's wedding.  It was important that we be there mainly because I was the officiant.

...and of course the reception, where my family and I closed down the hall and moved the party to my sisters for a huge fire and four wheel flipping with my ex-bro-in-law. It was a blast!

While in Michigan = We saw friends, family and went to Cedar Point.  Additionally, we both Jon and I got sick.  Jon unfortunately had to work for a week while we were their.  We did have to skip some of

our plans (like the Renaissance Festival), however, we powered through.

8. Homeward Bound - On our way home, we stopped in Chicago and ate at a local diner

We also stayed at a hotel that evening, I was still running a fever and needed the bed and shower.  The next day I woke up refreshed and drove the next two days

Corn Palace - Boring

                                                  Bad Lands











                                                 

           Mount Rushmore
                                                                                 

Devil's Tower...

...and a pasture full of friends

               







9. Next stop was Yellowstone, where we camped again.  With all the beautiful scenery we saw, this moment overshadowed the moment

10. After another night in the back of Black Betty we spent the day driving through the park.  In addition, we stopped by to see Old Faithful.

11. Somewhere is Montana - This was the best night of our trip.  This was a lovely, secluded, free National Park.  We were right on a river bank, and we had enough light when we arrived to explore and play in the flora.  It was amazing and a great cherry for our treat of a summer holiday.

The stars were A-mazing, I am grateful I got to see it in my lifetime.

Some of my favorites

for obvious reasons

I highly recommend a good road trip once a lifetime.  It is unsetting to think that all this wonder and landscapes are all so close.  

The time for Television in now

There has been a shift recently that I am excited to watch, literally.  Television seems to be where the talent is lately.  The intention of the question "what do you watch?" has moved from film to television.  As a historian I tend to think this is part of an entire culture shift in response to the past decade of financial struggle and technology advancements.  Meaning, people are staying home and investing in home theatre systems, which provide more economical and customizable options than going to the movies.  Additionally, keeping costs low for the whole family.  With DVR, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and iTunes; everything is right at the consumers fingertips.  People are staying home and watching television.  Again, I ask what are you watching?
I have become immersed in watching season after season of show after show, I simply cannot get enough.  My latest obsession is Archer on FX, right up my ally when it vulgarity, without trying too hard to offend me. Homeland of course. despite its often farfetched storyline, the acting and editing makes a wonderfully acted, suspenseful, and riveting drama.  Same with Mad Men, which in my opinion was meandering a little, but this past season roped me back in.  We cannot forget one of the best new concepts, and that is American Horror Story.
First, AHS is brilliant in that it gets a reboot every season, giving the viewer variety, and preventing the show from extending plot lines too much.  Second, I like that they keep many of the same actors from season to season.  Not only, do we get attached, but we get to see them explore new roles. I have to assume as an actor, that is a dream.  Third, hello Jessica Lange!  Underrated or not, for my generation and younger, this work will be her legacy.  Even though she has clocked many of years in the industry. Lastly, way to push the boundaries out of the box.  It is oddly refreshing to look forward to being creeped out once a week.  It also reminds me to set the alarm and sleep with the phone net to my bed.
Finally, I must comment on HBO's underrated show The Wire.  Wow, I am ashamed to admit that I did not give this series a watch until now.  The acting, the casting (especially of Idris Elba, who'd you think is American for one) the writing, directing and editing is A-mazing.  Not to mention we meet Omar, the best written character I have seen in years. Season three is my favorite, and season four is he hardest to watch (in that it features children and their struggles). The chemistry between the characters keeps the flow of the plot moving from season to season, under realistic premises.  Moreover, I developed a relationship with these characters, including the ass holes, which oddly I learned to like too.
I could continue for hours on these wonderful shows that are not fitting into the run of the mill shows networks have been spitting out for the bast decade.  In that, we may finally be seeing the end of the "reality television" that is over produced and not really reality, and more of the work of writing, acting, and directing.  I love television, and have appreciated good television, and up until recently television was underwhelming.  Now, screw the theatre, people smell and get shot there.  I want to watch Boardwalk Empire, or The Killing, have a beer without on my 52" flat screen with 7 speakers of surround sound that I can pause when I have to pee.