Holiday Road.... Top RT Audio for the Holiday Season

     I have been spending so much time in the car lately. It's easy for me to get tired of the radio. I've tried everything (but cassette tapes) to keep me sane behind the wheel. I've put together my top three songs and top 5 podcasts that have been helping me deal with holiday traffic.

SONGS:
     It's that cold time of year again. My current local temperature is about 22 degrees, which makes car travel less fun toff the bat. I need music to get me in the car. A good holiday song will make you forget you're in traffic. A great song will turn your boring commute into a party-like atmosphere , which is great when there is a bottleneck to view an accident on the other side of the highway.

3. Florida Georgia Line: Cruise
"I've got my windows down, and my radio up..."
This 2013 radio staple get me to roll down my windows and relax (if it is above 40 degrees out). I caught FGL in the summer of 2013 touring with Luke Bryan as this song was burning up the country, pop and hip hop charts. It was a near religious experience on a sweltering Labor Day weekend in Pennsylvania  as Tyler Hubbard (Georgia of the aforementioned Line) yelled out "Yeah Girl" to my "Let's cruise" sign. Something about the song on the radio takes me back to that concert and the memories of that weekend. Cruise and other songs about sipping beers, falling in love, dancing in fields, and other summer fun can be found on Here's to the Good Times.

2. Maren Morris: 80's Mercedes
"...Feel like a hard to get starlet when I'm driving...." 
I love listening to this song in the car. It reminds me of summertime, no traffic, and it's very catchy. Maren Morris has blown up the country scene this year, winning Bes New Artist at November's CMA Awards. Her mix of pop, soul and country make her Summer 2016 album Hero on repeat.

1. Tim McGraw: Shotgun Rider
"...No I don't ever want to know... no  other shotgun rider beside you, singing along to the radio."

(c) PipPepPop

PODCASTS:

     Everyone has a podcast these days. All you need are some good microphones, the gift of gab, and an iTunes account. All you need to listen are ears. I have been devouring the following podcasts in no particular order :

5. Shondaland Revealed
     TGIT fans can rejoice! ABC super EP Betsy Beers is back bi-weekly this season and  interviewing her beloved Shonda Thursdays actors. Stars of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal (premieres next month), The Catch (premieres March) and How to Get Away with Murder come to chat about their shows. I also believe this started as a Scandal podcast and expanded out to the other shows. In the news, I have to know who is under the sheet (dead) on HTGAM! I know Betsy will have that interview (and the actor's fashion report) soon. The podcast is on iTunes alternate Fridays with first looks on EW.com Thursday nights.

4.  Buffering the Vampire Slayer
     Real-life couple Kristin Russo and Jenny Owens Young have just completed a watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's season 1. January is the perfect time to jump in on the emotionally crippling season 2. There's some important conversations to be had here about the dialog (mostly from Xander) and situations from the 90's (just yell "The Patriarchy") that are no longer politically correct.  There's also much amazing fashion to discuss (t-shirts under camis and dresses, velour everything, anyone?) Buffy fans new and old will enjoy this podcast. I loved the interview with Armin Shimerman (aka Principal Synder) and hope to hear more behind the scenes tidbits as Buffy turns 20 this spring. Each episode ends with an original composition the ladies have written  about the theme of the episode. I know the upcoming School Hard already lends itself to an easy chorus. The podcast drops on iTunes Wednesday nights/Thursday mornings. Visit the podcast website here.

3. Bitch Sesh- A Real Housewives Breakdown Show
     Hosts Casey Warner and Danielle Schneider are celebrating year on the airwaves with special guest, Bravo's King Andy Cohen. Both women come from comedy writing and acting backgrounds, and they launched the Hulu original mockumentaries "The Real Housewives of Orlando" and "The Real Housewives of Las Vegas." This podcast is all bravo, all the time. The episodes recap all of the Real Housewives franchises (mainstays Orange County, Beverly Hills, NY, NJ, Atlanta, and the less successful Dallas, DC, and Potomac forays.) The podcast is usually found Wednesdays! Catch the crew on iTunes here.

2. Gossip Guys
     Andy Greene and Aaron Davitian have steered the ship USS Gossip Girl for nearly three seasons, and only spoiled one major plotline. If you listed to the "Never Have I Ever" episode, you and Andy will find out who is Gossip Girl.  The L.A.-based pair always have something to say as two guys watching a post-Internet boom teen drama. They push through the party and scheme of the  week, coining phrases such as 'manipiate': a manipulation, usually involving Nate. I've found myself yelling "It's not enough," when they honor Blair's stepdad Cyrus, or "It's a small island," whenever a character unfathomably appears in the next scene after going from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Join the guys as we head into the (personal opinion) turbulent and off-putting season 4. Let's hope next season will end with a "Summer of Serena" movie binge of Blake Lively classics. Episodes usually release Mondays. Spot the guys on iTunes here.

1. The Shipping Room
     If you've ever rooted for a TV couple, this podcast is for you! From The Wonder Years to Chicago P.D. and everything in between (usually 902010 or One Tree Hill), Christine and Tamar fearlessly plunge into important TV relationship topics. Past episodes have been about affairs, pregnancies and engagements. The ladies share weekly listener "Tip 10 Ships" lists and talk with top T.V. writers. Episodes drop on Fridays. Check them out on iTunes.

I'm Loving Every Minute of It...

     I didn't realize until this weekend that I was in desperate need of some new music. In the midst of Christmas songs and country radio, I was yearning for a new sound. I found it yesterday. John Mayer world premiered his new song on Facebook live this weekend and as the lyrics say, "...I'm loving every minute of it..." The simplicity of Love on the Weekend is just that, it's about squeezing more time in with your main squeeze... on the weekend. That's it, just a sample love song. The song is the perfect mix of the ethereal beauty of  Heartbreak Warfare (2009- Battle Studies) and the breezy nonchalance of Wildfire (2013- Paradise Valley), I'm excited to see where Mayer's new sound will take us in 2017. 

Swept Away - TV's Missing It's Primetime

     November has long been known as one of the truly glorious months in television. Once upon a time, this month, along with February and season-ending May were the big months to watch. This tradition dates as far back as the 1950's where Nielsen numbers measured how many viewers watched a program. Data these days breaks it down even more by age, gender and other factors.  These months measured viewership and would eventually determined advertising rates for shows. The more popular a program, the more money they could get. This was long before the "big game" was raking in millions per commercial.

     In today's day and age, we could lose a favorite character at any turn, and long-absent guests are just as likely to pop up in September as they are midway into the season. While I'm still hopelessly behind on all of my shows, there have been a fair amount of times this month when nothing much is going on. Take Election day, Thanksgiving day and Black Friday, all three guaranteed weeknights this month to show repeats. What happens when we head to December?

Image from Giphy

   
     First, The "Winter Finales" will come. Much like the ghost of Christmas past, the WF will leave us on either a satisfying resolution for the year, or utter shock. The idea comes from British shows such as The Office or Downton Abbey, which often end the season with a Christmas themed episode. It's time for Christmas specials (not the special Yuletide-themed episodes like our favorite 90's shows, but events like "Michael Buble's Christmas" and "CMA Country Christmas."  Much to my surprise, Shonda Thursdays  are ending their first part of the season this week with what promises to be a grand,earth-shattering, Winter conclusion. This is a nice way of saying we won't see Grey's Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder or the not-looking-promising for renewal Notorious until Scandal comes a calling, which is about two months from now. There will be a full two months with nothing new from most of our favorite shows. What kind of present is that?

Stay tuned for a post on the best 90's themed Christmas episodes.

Rocky Horror-ish

Image from WiffleGif

     Six years ago, FOX took a chance on the Rocky Horror Picture Show (Subtitled Let's do The Time Warp Again) via an episode of GLEE. I gave it a fairly favorable review at the time (in my defense, the episode had John Stamos), but I could see where the story lacked definition and guts. After viewing the TV movie reboot from a few weeks ago, I still have same of the same qualms. In 2016, "RH" is not much of a shocker. I think that may be the overall problem with the musical. There's something so hokey about the 1975 version that is lost on today's audiences. We're  much more jaded, unlike innocent Brad and Janet. We're not at all shocked when Dr. Frank-N-Furter  (Laverne Cox) stabs beloved rocker Eddie (Adam Lambert) and pushed him out an open window. When Janet (Victoria Justice) begs perfect man specimen Rocky to "Touch-a touch-a touch me" in her skirt slip and bra, she's covered more than Britney Spears on stage in Las Vegas.

Image from Nerdist

     For good measure, the "Time warp" dance was good, but it looked tame compared to 90 percent of the stage performances at the 2016 MTV VMAs. We don't even bat an eye over songs like "Sweet Transvestite." In short, it was a decent production, but nothing really special  because the first "RH" broke the mold. It's too campy to be taken seriously as a  new movie. The beauty of a live performance of Rocky is the audience interaction, which took on a life of it's own. The team attempted to represent this by showing extras in a movie theater watching the scenes from time to time and reacting as an audience at a live show would. For someone not familiar with the musical, it would come off as confusing and odd that they were cutting to people throwing popcorn at a marriage proposal between the Doc and Rocky. I also think they strangely left out a lot of the parts in songs where the audience yells out things to the cast. They could have put these notes on the screen, like the "Hand Jive" instructions for Grease Live. My summation on January's production is coming soon, and looking more favorable every day I think about "RH."

BOTTOM LINE:
     The costumes were as expected, the singing was good, and the casting was adequate. There was one notable exception of Rocky, who seemed to clomp like an elephant one moment, and deftly maneuver around a bed the next. I liked the rendition of the "pool" scene in this version more than in the older movie. Quite honestly, most of that scene should be cut. It comes at a part of the movie when everyone is sensing it's filler. My recommendation is to stick with a live action version being acted out along with the movie. I'll give this version a solid 2.75 out of 5 stars. I bumped it up from 2.5 because of how sad and uncomfortable stroke survivor Tim Rice (the original Dr. Frank) looked as the narrator.

Pushing the Season

This morning I recieved an e-mail that said "Christmas Starts Now" in the title. Note that today is November 1st. Christmas is now 54 days away. Could we wait a week or two before we get taken over by the spirit?  

Buffy Halloween

Image from Twitter.

     Happy Halloween! In honor of the night Buffy the Vampire Slayer one referred to as "Undead for the undead," I'm bringing my favorite Buffy quotable memes from the 3 Halloween episodes. The first ever spookfest was Season 2's "Halloween." Our heroes turned into their costumes and ghost Willow was the only one who could save them. Smartly preparing for season 4's "Dead Man's Party," a simple frat party turns into a murder house, and Giles wears a sombrero. The main lesson here: never paint your floor with the spooky symbol from an old book because it will probably release a demon. Finally in season 6's "All the Way",  Anya and Xander announce their engagement, Dawn has a date with a vampire, and Buddy attempts to protect her sister.


SEASON 2: After Buffy turns from a helpless maiden back to herself:

Image from Pintrest. 

Season 2 (left): Willow testing her friends to see who hasn't turned into their costume.
Season 2 (right): Buffy confronts shopkeeper Ethan Rayne about his spellcasting costumes.

Image from Pintrest

Image from Pintrest

Season 4: Our first inclination that Anya has something against bunnies. It must be bunnies!

Image from Pintrest

Season 4: Buffy muses about her relationship status, when compared to the life of a pumpkin, and feeding her feelings with candy.

Gif from Popsugar

Gif from Whitman's Blog

Season 4: Willow and Oz presenting their couples' costume.

Image from Pintrest

Season 4: Anya goes to get Giles's help and he answers the door in a crazy costume.

Image from Pintrest
This is more of a visual joke

Season 6: Anya explaining her Charlie's Angels Costume. This is followed by the dance of capitalist superiority (dancing with money).

Gif from "Once More with Extreme Prejudice" Blog
Anya on her  "Charlie's Angels" costume

Season 6: Xander and Anya announce their engagement. 

There don't seem to be many memes for this episodes, but Xander tells Buffy he's going to marry that girl. Buffy thinks he means her 15-year old sister and then realizes she is about to be a bridesmaid. This episode is also the one right before the Once More, with Feeling musical episode. 

Image from Panels on Pages

My Murtaugh List: Too Old for the VMA's

Image Courtesy of  Pintrest. 

     First off, let me explain a few things about this post. I was home sick earlier this week and looking for something entertaining on the DVR. So naturally, I chose the MTV Video Music Awards, which has been on my DVR since August 28th. It was not just the cough medicine, but something in my head tipped me off to a very clear fact: I am too old to appreciate these awards any more.

      As you approach our 30's, you begin to list the things you can and can no longer do with pride. An episode of How I Met Your Mother outlines this theory and presented it as "The Murtaugh List." This list refers to the times when Danny Glover mutters "I'm too old for this s**t!" in the Lethal Weapon movies. Ted and the gang make a serious list of things they cannot do in their 30's. Why am I too old for the VMA Awards? Here are a few cliff notes to my list. Firstly, I don't know who about 30% of the people presenting awards. I can identify nearly all of the performers, but I can't say I like most of their music. Secondly, I keep flashing back to previous award shows and comparing things. Basically, I've seen too much.  But I am still transfixed every time Beyonce steps on the stage because I am a child of destiny.

My Murtaugh List for the VMAS: I am too old for...

1. Key and Peele hosting

VMA Hosts via Giphy Image. 

     In their defense, I like Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele. They won an Emmy award this year for their comedy!  But to my dismay, they were playing obnoxious characters as they hosted the show. When I see an award show, I don't want the presenters to be part of the spectacle. They were mildly funny in the beginning, suggesting Twitter hashtags for Rhianna's performance (below) such as getting Tom Brady to deflate the large cloud like structures on the stage. There were a bunch of forgettable correspondents backstage and in the cheap seats that added nothing to the coverage.

2. Rhianna's performance
     When you see the opening performance, you want to be wowed. I was disappointed and vaguely insulted by Rhianna, who received the night's highest honor, the Video Vanguard Award (like a video lifetime achievement). First of all, she and the dancers were dressed in bubblegum pink. Rhianna herself  had a waist cincher with arms unattached and dangling from the legs. They dancers had the aforementioned cloud beanbag chairs behind them, which was weird. The two songs in this first performance were Rhianna's more upbeat songs (We Found Love, Don't Stop the Music). She danced well to her music but there was not much singing. There was little singing. It was more like she was on Lip Sync Battle or emulating Britney Spears.

3. Live voting for best new artist via Twitter.
     When I was a young'n, you had to go to a website to vote.

Gif from Single Ladies' Dance Blog

4. Arianna Grande's Workout
     Unlike many other celebrity "singers", Ariana can sing. But she also is the girl that licked a doughnut and then said she hayy-ted (sic) America. She may be bold, but she is not regional. Her performance presented like a 2016  glammed-up, Olivia Newton-John's Let's Get Physical. It began with a spin bike class and ended with guys in skimpy wrestling unitards lifting barbells.

 5. Kanye West
      I know this guy believes he is the second coming, but I do not understand the appeal. Specifically I took issue with his nominated video, which the same I cannot remember and choose not to Google. Secondly,  He had a long and pointless intro to his music video, still referencing the time her cut off Taylor swift in the middle of her speech. He then proceeded to premier a video that was a rip-off of Flashdance (newsflash, the 80's workout movement is "in" right now). The part that concerns me is whether or not Kanye thinks this is a brand new concert.

Image from Giphy

6. People not showing up to accept Awards
     In the words of Stephanie Judith Tanner, "How rude." Are people like Drake and Calvin Harris so busy that they can't make it to New York for one night to accept an award that may or may not have been voted on via Twitter?

 7. Rhianna's 2nd performance (Rude Boy)
     This time she tried singing! She also had had pants, so this performance was a drastic improvement from the show opener.

8. Leave Britney Alone
It's Britney, and she's boring! I've seen her look better, first of all. She sad yellow bodysuit and very tanned back were not part of her best look. To make matters worse, this mother of two was groping her collaborator like a high school prom date. I daresay that Britney is too old for this, like a sad Vegas showgirl.

9. Using the local NYC scene as part of your performance

Image from Rockoranything.com

     Nick Jonas began his performance in a diner on 34th street (Tick Tock) and ran into the closed street across from Madison Square Garden. The street has a giant tractor trailer stage blocking the crosswalks and cars on hydraulics (not sure why that was important). When the awards used to be presented art Radio City, Eminem bravely implement this outdoor performance method 16 years ago when he led an army of Slim Shadys into Radio City. More recently,  Taylor Swift's 2009 "You Belong with Me" performance had her coming to to Radio City from the subway stop next door (see Kayne incident above).

 10. Rhianna's third performance
      I'm not familiar with this song but it was pretty awful. She began wearing a North Face-style puffy coat with sleeves that looked like an additional puffy coat. I thought for a while there might be a plastic bag on her thighs, but it turned out her thigh-high boot had flopped over her leg and it was not the same color inside and outside.

Are You Busy One Year From Now?

   
     I am the first of all my friends to get excited about a concert announcement. If I really want to go to an event, the furious link sharing, venue debates, and messages that begin. The hype lasts about 2-3 days between the tour announcement and the pre-sale date with comments like "Does your sister want to go so we can get the 4-pack seats?" or "Are we all agreeing that we will stick with this unless the seats are over $70.00?" * If we strike out during the pre-sale it is not guaranteed there will be any trinkets left for general on sale, although I do fondly remember the Maroon 5 ticket miracle in the Fall of 2014.
   

McGraw at the 2014 "Sundown Heaventown"
tour (c)PipPepPop

    With all of this background knowledge, one might ask why I even bother seeing live music. Some people are addicted to drugs or gambling or drinking, but I am addicted to live music!  I am delighted to hear Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's announcement they are re-booting their 2006 Soul2Soul tour for 2017. On top of that, the country power couple is celebrating 20 years of  a as co-parents and marriage champions. What could be better than that news?  Tickets begin going on sale this Friday for concert dates. Yes, this Friday the 20th!

     When I looked to see where my local shows would be, I discovered the last stop on the tour is at Brooklyn's Barclays Center (sigh). (For various reasons, I have had bad associations with attending events at the center, but that is a story for another time). The date of that tour-ending show? It's October 27th of next year! Let me remind you, we haven't even passed this October 27th yet.  I'm a bit shocked the tour would announce dates over a year into the future. While I can't see this show going in sale yet, I have reached the point in my life where I like making plans, but I don't like paying for tickets and arranging my entire October a year from now around this date.  I enjoyed seeing Tim (or Timmy McGee as my friends lovingly call him) in 2014, and I committed to that show 2 months out, which is more than reasonable. I'm certainly not going to "Live Like You Were Dying" and commit to pricey concert tickets a year in advance.


* I wish I was joking about the prices. The cheapest concert tickets I purchased this year were $20.00 lawn seats for Daruis Rucker (during a ticket discount sale) and it rained on our uncovered lawn seats. See my recent piece on the difficulty to even procure concert tickets and the accompanying skyrocketing prices.

The ABC App is #Winning

I have been hearing a lot of hype for the newly updated ABC app. I finally got my phone updated last month, and I have been exploring it in-depth. ABC certainly delivered! I can watch current episodes of my favorite shows, and older shows.  I have thus far:

1. Binge watched Samantha Who? on my phone, and I  finally saw all of the unaired episodes.
2. I'm planning a Desperate Housewives or Dinosaurs binge soon.
3. I finally discovered Sports Night! More thoughts to come on this....
4. I fell in love again with Brothers & Sisters!
5. I vow to finally view My So-Called Life to see baby Claire Danes and Jared Leto.

Fashion or Foe: Today I Became a Fashion Victim

(c) PipPepPop

     Yesterday was my worst hair day of the year. Today, I focused so much on trying to make my hair "on fleek" (as the kids call it), that my wardrobe took a hit. Suddenly the mornings are cold and as low as 40 degrees when I wake up. Naturally I decided a long sleeved gray shirt and boots were necessary for keeping warm at work. Upon quiet reflection,  I'm struggling to figure out why I was so against black pants this morning. They might have helped keep me in a more neutral palate. I could have made my legs appear like one long, sleek line. I wore black pants yesterday and I didn't think I could pull it off  two days in a row.  Daringly, I went for a bold burgundy cropped pair of pants. I thought the crops would be safely tucked into my boots, but they were not. The pants puffed over my suede below-knee boots and created a very unattractive weird knee bulge. My knees looked larger than when I had a strengthening brace under my jeans due to a  partial tear in my ACL. It didn't help that the crops were just a tad big on my hips so they kept slipping down. I'm seriously considering burning these pants because of today's bad associations. I vow to stick to skinny jeans, tights or leggings tucked into my boots from this day forward.

At least I had a great hair day...

Welcome to the BH....

     As promised, I re-watched the first episode (of a 2-part premiere) of Beverly Hills, 90210 and have listed my unabashed thoughts below. Please note, I am seeing this after many years and using a  "I've seen too many 90's teen movies" lens.

Image from Quotesgram.com

Meet the Twins/
Entering West Beverly High: 
1. I immediately yelled Whoa Joey Lawrence! when I saw Brandon Walsh's hair.
2. Did I miss it, or did they explain that Brandon and Brenda are twins?
3. Why did they move there?
4. It sounds like Brandon was more popular than Brenda in Minneapolis. I'm sticking with this theory.
5. The opening credits: Why are the paparazzi with business suits? Do kids in BH really drive to school with surf boards in their cars? They're a bit far from the beach.
6. Locking your car remotely was a big deal in 1989.
7. Some girl is wearing a way too short mini skirt to school. Where are her parents?
8. Is there really a high school radio station playing everywhere? This explains She's All That.
9. This is the Buffy the Vampire Slayer school! Torrance, CA shout-out!
10. Why is Steve cool???? Why did Kelly date him? Was she that hideous before the nose job? 
11.Like the boys in the Gossip Girl pilot, Andrea takes the public bus to school. This means she is poor and the whole story will probably change in the next episode.
12. Did anyone sit at legitimate lab desks in high school? We had desks and a counter space ran the outside of the room facing the walls.
13. Is Spanish 2 entirely in Spanish? Even my college level French classes had English components.
14. Steve might be a racist to the Spanish teacher.
15. Newspaper too serious at this school.
16.  Andrea is wearing a men's double-breasted suit jacked instead of a blazer. Tragic!
17. They just went on about pool parties around the year and the cheerleader is wearing a long-sleeved sweater in California, in September.

The Parties:
18. This house party is the start of all my unrealistic expectations about high school.
19. Again, where are the parents?
20. Who has cater waiters at a teenag party?
21. David Silver is the patron saint of nerds: post Anthony Michael Hall and pre-Superbad) and he dressed like Duckie in Pretty in Pink. 
22. Steve has rape culture written all over his forehead fr the first few minutes.
23. I honestly think Steve had no possibly to be redeemed.
24. Steve is so lame, and also the jerky jock. How is this possible?
25. Brandon met the poor little rich girl. she seems to have two personalities (shy loner and throwing stuff in the pool) and I don't believe there will be any payoff to this relationship.
26. Drunk Steve being driven home by 14-year-old David just makes me mad.
27. Steve will not redeem himself. I hate him.
28. Kelly chalks ID's. It is the worst thing I've even seen and I once witnessed someone trying to chalk an ID.
29. Why does the Spanish teacher dance in the hall with headphones? Why is the principal interested? Why is the plot to Clueless showing up before Clueless is written?
30. What 15 or 16 year old is allowed to stay out util midnight? Even with parents, Brenda and Brandon  have way too much freedom.
31. This club looks like a Paula Abdul video people in mesh shirts or and tuxedos grinding on each other.
32. All the girls get turned away from the club except Brenda. This reminds me of The Baby Sitters Club movie where Stacey and Claudia go out with 17 year old Europeans and they are only 13. Thirteen!!
33. Only teenage girls order pineapple colada drinks in a non-tiki bar!!! Red flag, bartender lady!
34. This "nice guy" is a total liar. 

Happy 90210 Day!

Image courtesy of Tumblr.

Today is the 26th anniversary of the first airing of FOX's seminal teen drama,  Beverly  Hills, 90210. Teen twins Brenda (Shannen Doherty) and Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestly) were forced to move from boring old Minneapolis to West Beverly, where they clearly did not fit in. But as most adaptable teens, they "kaught up with the Kardashians*" pretty quickly. Like two frenemies showing up to the formal with the same velvet cocktail dress or a pal stealing your boyfriend, the sun-soaked 10-season show has many memories a-flowing. It also sparked a lifetime movie about the behind the scenes gossip.  In honor, I will be reliving and live blogging the premiere episode later this week.
Stay Tuned!

Image courtesy of TV Guide article. 

* In the 90's, one would have said "kept up with the Joneses".

Annalee, Annalee, Don't You Know I'm On to You

     Tomorrow is episode 2 of the new season of How to Get Away with Murder, and we might have finally reached the point where getting away is not a forgone conclusion. See the above blog title, also part of a Gavin DeGraw song, for a clear explanation. It's the third year of Professor Keating's (Viola Davis) law class, and the show has finally begun adressing our burning questions as Annalise discovers a dead body and her house on fire (who handles her insurance claims, seriously?)

Answers to Real Life Questions:
1.  How do the Keating 5 stay in law school with all of the murders?
     - These kids are barely holding it together mentally, and their GPAS are revealed at the bottom of the whole law class. The new dean points out to Annalise that she is favoring these sucky lawyers and like a protective mama bear, Professor Keating defends them.

2. How does Annalise keep bringing in money with one big case a semester? How does she find time to teach her sections of Intro to Law?
     - Annalise has an expensive retainer, and she is a good lawyer. Yes, she probably makes some bank, but teaching classes has to cover some of the bills, even if it's just covering her house repairs from all the murders. She is a great teacher, but she has other obligations (lying to the police, court, convincing people she didn't murder Nate's wife)  and missed a chuck of teaching classes last year because she got shot in the stomach (at a crime scene). As per her conversation with the dean, the school is aware Annalise has become a terrible educator. She is removed from the into classes and as a last ditch attempt, convinces the dean she should run an innocence-project based law clinic.

Image from TVLine.

3. Why didn't Frank shave sooner? 
     - Actor Charlie Weber was an Abercrombie model. He is a hottie with a body. Why has he been creeping around with a beard? Oh right, he is a murderer.

4. Is Oliver now part of the group (The Keating 6)?
     - Oliver has seen some things. He was diagnosed as HIV positive,  kidnapped by a would-be murderer, and then he got his boyfriend's acceptance from Stanford pulled. Yes, he is all in, digging up dirt on Annalise to secure his place with the group. Can he come back from the dark side? Can wicked Caleb really be the good one in this pair?

5. Is Annalise a murderer?
     - The fliers in her classroom seem to suggest that she is.

More Questions:
1. Why won't Wes move out of his terrible apartment? 
     - There have been kidnappings, murders, and some seriously bad juju there. It must be very cheap.

2. What happened to Caleb Hapstall?
     - We last saw the police going to arrest Caleb after Annalise proved in court his sister and brother/cousin could not have murdered all of their parents. Did he go to jail? Did the Keating 5 come to watch his trial and figuratively dance on his grave?

3. Did the police give up on trying to wrap up the murder of D.A. Sinclair? 
     - The original setup showed that Katherine Hapstall must have killed her in a murderous rage, but with Katherine's case blowing to pieces and her innocence, did anyone believe Annalise and crew were scot-free?

4. Why is Wes so cruel to Laurel?
     - It's unclear what happened after last season's car kiss, but Wes has turned a cold shoulder on Laurel and found a (relatively normal) girlfriend. Laurel still hasn't heard from Frank since he disappeared. If anyone should be massively upset, it should be Laurel.

Image courtesy of Tumblr. 

5. What's up with Bonnie?
     - Bonnie has been too quiet. Any minute, she may turn into her Paris Gellar character from Gilmore Girls and go off about chastity belts and Harvard. She has some issues that clearly have not been dealt with (her father raping her as a child, helping Asher cover up  a murder, nursing Annalise back to mental and physical health) and her weird unspoken tension with Frank, who has now disappeared.


6. Are we going to get closure on Wes's father being shot right in front of him?
     -This was my question from moment one of the season premiere.  Also see question 1 as it relates to this matter.. Wes needs something good in his life after losing Rebecca and being driven to the point of agreeing to shoot Annalise.

7. Will there ever be a Scandal crossover?
     -I can't be the only one shipping this crossover.  Just picture it, another day at Middleton University when the next presidential debate turns deadly. Annalise represents Cyrus, because, Cyrus must have done it. Or, Olivia and Huck come in and cleans up political scandals and bodies.

8. Will Annalise and Nate finally be happy?
     - Nate came all the way to Memphis to visit Annalise and her family in the season finale. They adored Nate, and he put up with it. Now that they're both widowed, they could be together. There is a good chance this turns toxic. See #10.

9. Is Annalise over the 'Frank caused the car accident that killed my baby' news?
     - There is no answer yet, but let's go with a hard pass. Perhaps Frank is the dead body found at casa d'Annalise? This leads to...

10. Who is the body at Annalise's house?

Emmy Fashion- 5 Best

As usual, Emmy dresses are one of my favorite parts of Fall. Here are my 5 best!

Image from StyleBistro.com

5. Claire Danes (Homeland) in gold Schiaparelli

     I'm a sucker for a gold dress. so much, in fact, that I wore one to my high school prom. It was not as glitzy as Ms. Danes, but it had some sparkle. The gathered fabric in the center of the skirt can be a funny thing for some women, but it looks regal on Danes. Her legs look sensational under this fabric. I wish the necklace hung a tad higher, because it blends into the dress a bit. I really do like this dress, but Danes looks pretty awful. Her skin tone seems to clash with the dress for some reason. It's like a fake tan gone wrong. Her hair looks like it effortlessly fell into place around her shoulders. B-

Image from LaineyGossip.com

4. Shiri Appleby (UNREAL) in blue Diane Von Fustenberg

     They don't call DVF a classic for nothing. It's sleek and sexy without being too revealing.This dress is s beautiful shade of blue for the Fall, not too "ocean" and not so dark that the detailing gets lost. Ms. Appleby has only dressed up once in the series so far (for an award show), but it's nice to see her wearing a gown that could hold its' own against the contestants on the fake reality show "Everlasting." Ms. Appleby has had long hair since her Roswell days (I'm jealous) and it literally shines on the red carpet.  B+

Image from StyleBistro.com

3.  Julie Bowen (Modern Family) in white Lela Rose

     As Claire Dunphy, Ms. Bowen doesn't dress up much in her day job. This white dress looked flawless against her skin and was elegant and simple, perfect for a black tie affair or a beach wedding. Some may call it safe, but I would pinpoint it as more "retro" in a classic 1930's meets Cleopatra style. Her T.V. daughters, Sarah Hyland and Ariel Winter went a much more bold route in their clothing choices.  The hair is nicely blown out in a fresh anti-bob, which I hope to achieve most mornings but end up failing to accomplish. A-

Image from Tom and Lorenzo Blog

2. Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) in red Alexander Wang

     First time Best Actress winner Maslany plays a series of clones on a daily basis. She is used to changing her appearance, but she looked beyond fierce at the Emmys.  She is rocking the color red, and she understands the "less is more" value. It's a simple halter-style top with a tasteful cutout into the cleavage area ( a rarity) and a barely-there midriff cutout. The bottom flows straight down, grazing the hip area. Best of all,  a simple up-do lets her diamond earrings show through and take the spotlight. A

Photo from Tom and Lorenzo Blog

1. Priyanka Chopra (Qunatico) in red Jason Wu

     The thing that drew me into the dress is that it's done in this year's popular color, Red-carpet Red. Aside from that, I love the flow and lines of the skirt, how it wisps down to the ground at a variety of angles and lengths. The top is fresh take on the one-shoulder dress with multiple straps, and a cutout wrapping around to the back. The crowning glory on this dress is how wonderful it flows when Ms. Chopra spun around. This photo from US Magazine shows her in a full twirl. If I have my vote, every bridesmaid dress should be this beautiful. Her hair also had to be up to show of the magic of this dress! A+

Consumer Frustration

 Thanks to Memegenerator for the image. 

     I'm not the type of girl to badmouth a brand, so I will refer to the brand as "the company." Somehow I ended up on the company's e-mail list earlier this year. I suspect it might be from signing up for an online contest they sponsored. Here is a word to the wise: read before your opt in for anything. As part of these check-mark boxes,  as you are probably agreeing to receive e-mails you don't want or need. I realized during the summer I was more likely to pick up their products in a local store and would not need to order from their website. Therefore, I unsubscribed from their e-mails.

     But, apparently I was not unsubscribed. The direct word UNSUBSCRIBE on the e-mail did not bring me to a new page or a confirmation like all of the other websites and newsletters I've unsubscribed from in the last few months. The e-mail blinked blue for a second, then returned to normal. I would describe it as like clicking on a giant button that turned out to be just a picture of the word UNSUBSCRIBE. Naturally, I e-mailed the company and asked them to take me off their list via their customer service e-mail. I got a response back that this was an issue they could not address, and I would have to call them to get myself taken off their e-mails. Just between us readers, I found it ridiculous that I had to call someone to ask them to stop e-mailing me. E-mail was invented to make calls less necessary! I decided I would just delete the e-mails when they came in, but I was still getting one every day or two.

     Finally, I had enough. I called the company today.  The very sweet and thorough rep and I were on the phone for almost 25 minutes explaining the simple situation. (I was getting e-mail I did not want. I could not make it stop. The e-mail customer service said it was beyond their control.) By the end of the phone call, I had told the rep more information that I would tell a first date. Let's keep put fingers crossed I'm one e-mail less by next week.I am aware these are first world problems, but  they are still annoying.
   
     How much "junk" e-mail can I be expected to sift through each day? It's bad enough I get physical junk mail and unsolicited phone calls, but let's all agree we should be able to control who e-mails us!

Tale of the Aging Actress

Gif Courtesy of BuzzFeed

     Early 2000's Rom-Com queen actress Kate Hudson is in a new movie, Deepwater Horizon. The 37-year-old actress is playing "the wife" of an oil rig worker in the Gulf of Mexico. Based on a true story, the rig exploded and spilled oil all over the gulf in 2010. Hudson plays Mark Walhberg's wife, and it means she is sitting around being worried, a la Helen Hunt in Cast Away or Kathleen Quinlan in Apollo 13. Does this mean now that she is under 40, Hudson can't hope for any more great and juicy roles? This is quite absurd. Comedienne (again a sexist term) Amy Schumer's "Last F**ckable Day" sketch explored and poked fun of the moment when a women has to begin wearing long sweaters and taking roles like "The mom." Schumer brilliantly remarks on this double standard as Tina Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus shipping Patricia Arquette (48) off on this journey.

     I also remote flipped to the Jennifer Garner-led movie Miracles from Heaven. It was sad, but at least it was a role for a woman in her 40's. Sadly, it was a bit contrived, as Garner played another trope, a mother of a terminally sick child fighting for medical care. This was also a true story.

     At the end of the day, how do we fix Hollywood? Who says that late 30's or late 40's is too late to have a rich, fleshed-out female character? How do we get more women on screen as more than a wife, a mom, a daughter, or bimbo? This is not an easy fix...

Before Dan Humphrey, Penn Bagley Wrote 'The Bedford Diaries'

Image from Clevvr

     It's the start of a brand new school year, so it's time to reflect on a teen drama from yesteryear. About 10 years ago, the WB premiered The Bedford Diaries, a soapy drama about students in a sexuality seminar at a Columbia-like University. I haven't been able to find the 8-episode series anywhere online, but I'm pushing to get it on the CW Seed. The show was scandalous and provocative by 2006 standards, but fairly tame to what kind of dialogue passes on TV today.

     In typical WB fashion, this show launched the careers of Penn Badgley, who was cast the following year in/as the CW's Gossip Girl and Scott Porter, who went on to play Jason Streets in Friday Night Lights, and later, George Tucker on the CW's Hart of Dixie.  The show continued the career of Gilmore Girls bad boy, Milo Ventimiglia. The students were led by their wily professor, played by Matthew Modine, and the delightful Audra McDonald played another professor at Bedford College. If anyone knows where to watch this, please let me know!

SPOTTED: Nicktoons Take Over Story NYC

My 90's Nicktoons T-shirt (c) PipPepPop

     I'm bringing the 90's back! A few weeks ago, we officially celebrated the 25th birthday of the Nicktoons. These cartoons^ were a 90's staple on a growing network dedicated solely to kids. In that spirit, NYC's coolest store/gallery/startup Story launched their "Remember When" collection in August. It runs through September 18th! Definitely take a chance and come see it! I had a great time there.

More About Nicktoons:
     These animated shows were an important part of my friends'  after school and weekend viewing. Plus, they were shown on a cable network dedicated solely to kids! The Nickelodeon network began in 1977  under the name Pinwheel to show programs to kids ages 8-17. The Nicktoon cartoons were sometime about regular kids trying to make sense of growing up. Some shows were about as my calls them "sweaty animals." But they all made us think in new ways and gave us lifelong memories such as Ren & Stimpy's "log" song and Tommy Pickles' quest to meet a King Kong-like Reptar. If you can't stop rehashing the days of Nicktoons, check out EW.com's 25th anniversary oral history of Nicktoons.

The Store- (c)PipPepPop

 More about Story

     If you want to "Remember When," story is the place for you. The store looped some of coolest tunes (the Cardigans, the Wallflowers and the Spice Girls).  Check out my snaps from the store to see more. The airy space is set up a bit like a school with post-it style noted printed on the walls with more information.  Fun zones include a school themed set of desks and lockers, a locker room area, and tables of some of the coolest 90's gear around. The collection is primarily curated with Nicktoon characters (everything from flip flops to jumpsuits to coasters). But, there some great 90's books and materials out there. Have you wanted a slap bracelet or a Seinfeld coin purse? They're all here. I left with a way-cool Sweet Valley High covered  notebook.  There's some great Saved by the Bell nostalgia there as well, and a Lance Bass sampler with a bass fish stitched in. Grab your Caboodes and Dr. Pepper LipSmackers and get ready to play in the Double Dare human hamster wheel (pictured below). To cap off the experience, there was a "slime yourself" photo booth that created an online GIF and printout of you getting digitally smiled. The best part is there's no mess. 

Snaps from the Store @ Story (c) PipPepPop

     If you're up for a "wow this is hard" guessing game, take this MTV.com Quiz to guess which musicians guest starred on Nick or Disney Channel shows. Please note this is a hard quiz. If you are close to 30, you will probably get more wrong answers than right answers.

^ The main Nicktoons include (but are not limited to):
Rugrats (1991-2004)
Doug (1991-2004) *Technically sold to Disney in later seasons)
The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991-1996)
Rocko's Modern Life (1993-1996)
AHH! Real Monsters (1994-1997)
Hey Arnold (1996-2004)
The Angry Beavers (1997-2001)
Cat Dog (1998 - 2005)
The Wild Thornberrys (1998 - 2004)
Rocket Power (199-2004)
Spongebob Squarepants (1999- present)

CMA Fest- Like the Awards But With More Music

     A month ago, ABC showed its broadcast of June's CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock. The event kicks off summer in Nashville with a week of events and concerts. Basically, it brings today's biggest country stars on one stage in a stadium for the coolest weekend-long country music festival.This event  began in 1972 but has taken off in the last few years as country music has become entirely more mainstream. There are various CMA events in Nashville and many opportunities for up and coming artists to show off their talents (but that's not getting airtime yet). I've been to a few CMA-sponsored songwriter events and they are fantastic and highly recommended. This link is for my video of Brett Eldredge playing a CMA event on the cusp of his first single "Don't Ya" taking over the radio. 

     CMA Fest has become a big deal in the last few years. Tickets for the 2017 fest are already on sale for next June. The T.V. airing of the concert is part of ABC's lead-off to the CMA Award nominations, which broke last week. Please note, Jason Aldean has been snubbed. Yes, this huge concert is just a halfway point in the year between CMA award shows. For November 2nd's 50th anniversary awards show, we can look forward no further than usual duo Carrie Underwood and  Brad Paisley. 

Not CMAs, but some country awards won by Dierks Bentley (c) PipPepPop

Not CMAs, but some country awards won by Dierks Bentley (c) PipPepPop

CMA Fest Best Performances:

1. Luke Bryan

Luke began shaking his booty for his new song "Move", which is always reason to celebrate. But during another song, he showed off his guitar skills only to be shown up by banjo god Keith Urban. Keith then guitar battled and jammed with Luke's band. 

2. Lady Antebellum  and Cam

Lady A has been taking a bit of a hiatus this summer while they spend time with their babies and pursue other projects, but their moving collaboration with Cam was delightful. The trio joined Cam on her ballad "Burning House" and brought tears to our eyes.

3. Carrie Underwood

Carrie greeted fans while performing this spring's "wife-turned-murderer" ditty, "Church Bells." For her newer single, she soloed on the harmonica and explained a crime for the ages in the "Chocktaw County Affair." 

4. Hank Williams Jr., Chris Janson, Justin Moore
I've seen 'Ol Bocephus before and I was not particularly excited about it. But these guys had a very upbeat (an not overly redneck) 'ole ruckus on stage with a full brass section backing them. Rolling Stone called Hank the top act to see at the fest. 

#NailFail- Don't DIY Fix a Gel Mani

The Claw of Shame (c) PipPepPop

     I got a gel manicure last week for a wedding. It was great! To clarify, it was as great as a gel manicure can be. It lasted about 5 days before the inevitable chipping began. This time, it was my thumbnails. They began losing chunky pieces right at the end of the nails, which is a nice change from the usual way I lose a gel manicure (pieces begin peeling away from the cuticle edge- ouch)! I thought I could solve my nail problem the same way I fixed my toes.  I touched up my big toes with a slim pink line on the edge with a glossy gel-like topcoat to seal in the new paint. Spoiler alert, I could not achieve this lofty beauty goal.

     The gel manicure itself is a fickle beauty routine. It essentially gives you quickly dried nails with a strong topcoat. It lasts more days than a standard manicure and is less mess  than some more invasive nail procedures. The only downsides are the potential skin cancer in your hands from the UV light (I always slather sunscreen on my hands before going to the salon), and the sometime painful process of removing gel from your nails. I've perfected the art of the gel home removal, but sometimes it's more of a science. It depends on the amount of layers the technician has placed of gel and color on you hand, and sometimes pure luck. See below for more details.

My other nail obsession: nail polish stickers (c) PipPepPop

    Back to my story.  I painted a think pink line on my thumbs (see above) and considered letting it dry. But, I worried the new polish would sit on top of the shiny gel layer like goop. I reached for my handy gel-like nail clear coat and swiped away. Here's where things went haywire. The clear coat looked good for a few hours, until it dried and became almost brittle. My shiny thumbs now have cracks in the top coat and my gel mani is officially DOA. They are very scratched and rough to the touch now. With some handy internet research, Allure taught me that a regular polish can be liquid-based for up to 24 hours. If done correctly, a gel-like coating can be applied to a regular manicure, but it's all a game of chance. So, I may have inadvertently made my mani worse by mixing a hard cover with an improperly dried top coat. Alas, I may need a break from gel for a while. I'm sticking to easy-to-remove metallic polishes for the fall.

Cleaning Gel off Your Nails: Step by Step
1. You will need: acetone-based polish remover, cotton swabs, tinfoil, a nail file, a small wood nail poking stick (a dowel with a sharp end) and patience.
3. Roughly scrape the nail file over the top of our nails to begin breaking up the gel.
2. Soak the cotton swabs or cotton circles (my fave) in a few drops of nail polish. They just need to absorb some of the remover or they'll drip.
3. Cut or rip small rectangles of tinfoil for the next step.
4. Wrap the soaked cotton around each nail and set with small foil caps.
     The closer your fingers look like little aliens. the better.
5. Sit for at least 20 minutes. Let the acetone soak. It will get in your nose.
6. Polish will be ready to prod with the wood stick it starts to separate from the nail bed.
7. Hopefully your polish is very loose and comes off clean from the nail with one jab with a wood stick. If not, repeat the process.
8. If you have given up, I found a battery-operated foot pumice can help at getting stubborn bits of gel off your nails.

I'm Finally Binge Watching The Middle

I'm baaack friends! I was hoping to get back to writing last week, but I'm fighting some neck pain that makes writing more difficult. Alas, I begin to write slowly. I have been taking some summer time for sun, fun, and comedy binge watching!

Image from ABC.com- The Wisdom Teeth

      I was looking for something to put on Hulu while I wound down to go to sleep, and I settled on ABC's The Middle. The Patricia Heaton (Deborah from Everybody Loves Raymond)  and Neil Flynn (The Janitor from Scrubs) led sitcom embraces everyday life to a somewhat extreme point, but the family is ultimately likable. Frankie Heck and her husband Mike live in Indiana with their three kids, Axel, Sue and Brick. Axel and Sue have gone off to college and teen Brick (Atticus Shaffer)  thought he was finally getting comfortable as the only kid in the house. Sue and Axel are far from ready to leave the next, and pop in often from their school, which is less than an hour away.

     This basic premise brings me to the 7th season finale, "The Show Must Go On", which chronicles Brick's 8th grade graduation. Brick's graduation is almost eclipsed by Sue's sendoff to a summer job at Dollywood. Frankie quickly realizes the stars on the calendar must be there for some important event she forgot. Quickly, she tries to make Brick's graduation day special. Brick shares with the family he was going to be one of 15 acts singing in graduation. This would have completed his "hero's journey" because he lost out at being valedictorian. Then, the teachers had a drawing to only pick 9 acts to perform and Brick lost out.

     Suddenly, the very passive Frankie jumps up to protect her son and get him on the stage for graduation. Mike talks to the principal first and gets nowhere, lamenting that everyone thinks their kid is a star these days and he's not buying it. He doesn't even know if Brick can sing. Frankie  meets with the principal, explaining that she's not one of those  parents that marches down to the school and complains but she needs to make a stand this time  for this kid, because he's the youngest and he's always getting shafted. She rants about the "fuzzy math" that led to picking 9 acts. Long story short, all 15 are allowed to perform, and it's the longest graduation ever. Brick surprised the family by singing a beautiful song while his friend played the ukulele.  Sue has to make a quick exit to make it to Dollywood and the whole family piles in the car to see her off to Tennessee. As summer begins, Sue succeeds at playing a grandmothery hostess part at the theme park restaurant, and Axel meets the girl of his dreams. The whole episode was endearing, quotable, and reminded me a lot of real life. It's so hard to find a sitcom these days that resonates with everyday problems. Bravo!

Other Episodes That Rocked this Season:
1. Find My Hecks:
Frankie installs a chip in the kids' phones to track them when they go to parties.
2.  The Lenai:
Frankie has a beautiful new porch and loud neighbors move in next door.
3. The Wisdom Teeth:
Frankie babies Sue and Axel when they come home to have their wisdom teeth out.