kdlb

The fall tv season is in full swing and my thoughts were more than 140 characters of Twitter!  Beware, spoilers are throughout for the season to date in all of my notes!  My full post and grid can be found at TV season 2011-2012.

New shows that have really caught my eye:

• Ringer, TheCW: I am really enjoying Sarah Michelle Gellar and trying to figure out what is going on between Bridget and Siobhan.  The whole cast is a nice mix, and the clothes are so pretty.  E is not convinced.  The boat scene certainly had the web buzzing at it's terribleness!  But I will definitely keep watching.
• Revenge, ABC: This was a "alternate" that I wasn't sure I'd like.  Then I heard several people saying how wonderful it was and I gave it a chance.  The mystery is interesting even in a flashback sense.  I love having Nick Weschler on my screen again (Roswell).  Again with the beautiful clothes. 
  
• The Secret Circle, TheCW: This was an alternate that I only taped on last impulse, and I'm glad I did.  It's a perfect show to watch on my own... The teens are so young looking (even John Connor, LOL!)  The magic is fun, and I'm so interested to learn more about what happened to the parents.
• Free Agents, NBC: Ok, so we laughed a lot at this show.  Anthony Stewart Head has some hilarious lines.  Basing the show in Portland makes me smile because My Mountain (Mt. Hood) shows up in the beginning and we see tons of PDX-y stuff.  Characters aren't real Portlanders, but it's fun to see what they have done this way.  Hank Azaria is great, too.  Ratingswise, it's not looking like it will stick around, but since it's NBC, it may have more of a chance than the other networks because they don't have as many options to switch out.  Hopefully, they'll give it more of a chance.

Tried, but no cigar:

• Up All Night, NBC: Sorry, Will Arnett, we deleted this season pass already.  Too many unfunny jokes.
• Person of Interest, CBS: Eek.  I had such high hopes.  Too much vengence.  I've got the 2nd episode on the TiVo, and don't really feel like even watching it, although the numbers and computer system is an intriguing possibility.  The filming is really choppy, too.
• New Girl, FOX: It was funny at times, but also a little too awkward.  I'm not sure yet, but I'm pretty sure we are done.  However, I might give it another episode *because* it's already been picked up for the season, so they have a longer time to make it flow better.

Returnarama:

• The Vampire Diaries, TheCW: Excellent! I am so in love with this show.  I can't help but be wishing for a little Damon/Elena-goodness...  Caroline and Tyler are entertaining.  Stefan and Nic/Klaus and their 20s storyline was very cool.
• Fringe, FOX: Oh man, this is so good.  The Anna Torv scenes with both Olivia and Fauxlivia are effortless, I can feel the difference between the characters.  Seth Gabel is fabulous.  But Peter... where's my Pacey?!  My only complaint is that I can't watch it in real time on Friday nights because E games all evening!
  
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS: Wow, this show really came back strong.  I've got E watching too and he didn't watch the end of the first season.  I did miss a few eps and so the whole Larissa O storyline is a little foggy.  I gasped outloud at James Marsters in the first ep, I hadn't been spoiled on that!
  
• Castle, ABC: When crying off and on through a season premiere, I know it is one I hugely am connected to.  Excellent.  Really want the characters to get back to those all-important words from the finale, but enjoying the ride in the meantime.
  
• Glee, FOX: I'm not finding myself connecting to the storylines right  away - a lot of new characters were introduced in the first ep, and then the focus on just West Side Story isn't something I'm familiar with, so I miss some of the broader storylines.  But enough is good that I'm glad to watch it.
• Big Bang Theory, CBS/How I Met Your Mother, CBS: these shows go together in my eyes, both very entertaining and it's fun to watch them in real time versus on dvd after the fact - I don't have to be careful about spoilers with them for once!  Storylinewise, BBT: I'm quite tired of Priya even when she's not on the screen.  And HIMYM, I loved Barney and Robin dancing.  I'm so interested to see if the storyline with Victoria goes any further.
  

Terra Nova: still deciding, only seen one ep so far.  Same with Hart of Dixie, one episode isn't quite enough to decide.  Pan Am seems pretty generic - the sisters are interesting. 

House is coming this week and I really don't care.  E will have to convince me to watch it, although the TiVo is set to record.  Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Chuck, and Bones are all still coming either the end of October or very beginning of November in the case of Bones.

and that's the story!

The consumption of media is a big part of my life. And TV is one of my favorite forms of entertainment. This means I get quite excited as the fall tv season nears - it's the biggest time period for launching new shows, and that means the canvas is pretty covered with lots of options. One problem with this is that networks give new shows a little less of a chance than they might have in the past. I'm crossing my fingers that my old favorites and much-anticipated-new shows will make it.

I've enjoyed making these plans for many years now. (2010 - which I also wrote some posts throughout the year about how things were going, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001). Have you written a post about what shows you are going to watch this fall? Comment, I'd love to hear about it!

As we move into the summer, here's some of the things I'll be watching. (I started putting this list together last week and then promptly forgot, so a few things have premiered already!)

• White Collar, June 7 on USA (season 3)
• Leverage, June 26 on TNT (season 4)
• Franklin & Bash, June 1 on TNT (New!)
• Falling Skies, June 19 on TNT (New!)
• Warehouse 13, July 11 on SyFy (season 3)
• Eureka, July 11 on SyFy (season 4, starting episode 11)
• Next Food Network Star, June 5 on Food Network (season 7)
• HGTV Design Star, July 11 on HGTV (season 6)
• Cupcake Wars, June 14 on Food Network (season 3)
• Futurama, June 23 on Comedy Central (season 7)

Excitedly, I've caught up on Eureka through to the new half season, and I'm pleased to get to watch it in real time. And the guest star line up includes Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton, who could complain at that idea?!

Franklin & Bash and Falling Skies are the newbies on the list - F&B has two great my-age actors, and I have high hopes for FS.

Even with shortened seasons that most of these shows have, it's fun to have this many things during a time period that nothing is on the big networks. Go CableChannels!

I have dark brown naturally curly hair.  With a pink streak on one side.

It's really not for a shock value.  It's really not just me being artsy.  It's really not trying to be individual.

It makes me happy!

It's one more way of expressing my smile as true.  I feel pretty when I'm happy.

Okay, yes, so I do smile when people notice it, and I do like that it gives me a little extra creativity. 

It makes me ME, the giggly geeky creative girl.

History: The change has been a long time coming, my geeky personality had seen several tv/movies that captured my eye.  So I had been trying to find the perfect highlights with a hairdresser and we just couldn't seem to get a real red.  Finally, the end of 2008, I got redder-auburn streaks.  It was too expensive to keep up, so through 2009, I  started dying the same streak spots with my own color.  Then in 2010, found a pinker color that lasts well.  The last few times, I moved a little more towards pinky-purple instead of pinky-red.

What fun!

Last week was "upfronts", where tv networks declared their fall plans, including what shows were officially canceled, and more prominently, what pilots they are picking up for next year.  Seems like a good time for me to review my plans for 2010-11 to see how it turned out.  I'll do a post about what's new on my radar and my full schedule as we get closer to the fall.  A great resource for upfronts is The Futon Critic: 2011-2012 Season Scorecard.

Here's my list:

• Chuck: watched in chunks when E wasn't around.  picked up for 13 eps next season as the "final season".
  
• The Event:  first time I referred to it as "The Crappy Event" I knew I just was too far gone.  I really liked the idea, the actors, but they didn't go fast enough to keep me interested.  Plus, a giant hiatus made it worse.  I hope Jason Ritter gets another show, he was the most interesting part of The Event for me.  canceled, but the whole season was shown.
  
• Chase: didn't even watch the first ep, it got poor reviews and I had too much on my Monday.  canceled.
  
• House: watched all season.  Liked some storylines, towards the end I was less happy.  renewed for next season, probably as the final season and without Cuddy.
• Castle: watched obsessively all season.  SO GOOD.  renewed for next season.
• Hawaii Five-O: watched initial eps but later in chunks when E wasn't around.  Pretty good.  renewed with good ratings.
• No Ordinary Family: watched 5 or 6 episodes and just wasn't feeling the writing.  I liked the storyline idea, and the characters and the actors.  But it just wasn't strong enough to keep me tuning in.  canceled with poor ratings.
• Running Wilde: watched and enjoyed.  It actually got better as episodes went on.  Watched all episodes (9).  canceled with 4 episodes unaired - hopefully can see these on DVD.
• Undercovers: watched and gave up after 4 or 5 episodes.  Actors were gorgeous and I really wanted the story to be as bright and shiny.  It was a poor fit for the timeslot and network, IMO - billing it as having sexploitations and then putting it on at 8pm really took away the option of sexy storylines. canceled with several unaired episodes
• The Whole Truth: watched and gave up when I heard it was canceled.  E didn't enjoy it at all, but I really wanted to give the great actors a chance.  Seeing Rob Morrow in such a diff character than on Numb3rs was more hilarious to me than the storylines.  canceled very early on, 7 eps weren't aired!
• Bones.  This season was not my favorite.  I mean, it's still a good show, but I don't jump and sit down to watch immediately anymore.  I left eps sitting to watch in bunches instead.  renewed for next season but with most likely a shorter episode order to accommodate Emily's real life pregnancy.
• The Office.  Watched a few episodes and then deleted the season pass.  It got stupid, IMO!  renewed for next season.
• Human Target.  Watched and the writing didn't feel as good as last season.  Music really drew me in last season and Bear McCreary's absence this year really was felt.  Trying to bring in women wasn't very successful either.  Too bad, I had high hopes.  canceled.
• V.  watched in a big marathon and enjoyed it.  A little more gimmicky than first season.  canceled but the whole season was shown.
• Mr. Sunshine.  midseason replacement and we felt it got better as it went along.  canceled with 4 unaired episodes.
• Big Bang Theory.  wasn't on my list for last year, but we got caught up on DVD and then started watching.  Very great, totally our kind of show!  renewed for next season.
• Fringe.  wasn't on my list for last year, but we got caught up on DVD and then started watching obsessively.  Very good show, I'm so happy we gave it a chance.  renewed (surprise!) for next season.
• Glee.  wasn't on my list for last year, but I started watching without seeing any of season 1.  With friends to catch me up, I enjoyed this a lot and now am watching first season too.  renewed for next season.
• Leverage, Warehouse 13, White Collar. watched, loved, will keep watching.  The seasons are offset, so we'll be watching these over the summer and into the beginning of the next year.
  
• Eureka.  wasn't on my list for last year, but we are catching up on DVD to be caught up for next season when it starts this summer.

Following in the footsteps of my last few birthdays, I put together a playlist to play on my birthday extravaganza - fancy way of saying "out-for-the-day-with-E" :)

I divided them up into the original list and then the extras I didn't make it to, with definitions of why each was included. WHAT FUN! I did get to use an iTunes gift card from Christmas, and had a pretty huge wishlist on iTunes waiting for me... I also had the added enhancement of @astoldbyjen (as told by jen) Glee tracks :)

I hope you find some music inspiration in my choices!

My music collection is mostly all digital.  iTunes says I have over 2500 songs right now.  That's everything, including holiday music and a bunch of WOW albums that may not have been listened to yet.  It's awesome to be able to listen wherever I am in the house. 

Home Sharing!  The newest version of iTunes/iOS have a new feature that makes home sharing easier.  The great thing about this is that you don't have to have the music synced ONTO my iPhone to listen.  Note: To use home sharing the same way as me, you should have iTunes 10.2.1 and iOS 4.3 on your iPhone.  I have a Mac, but it should work the same way with Windows. 

Setup:

• in your iTunes menu, under Advanced, click "Turn on Home Sharing"; sign in to your iTunes account, and "Create Home Share"
  
• on your iPhone, go to Settings.  Scroll down and tap iPod; under "Home Sharing" put your iTunes account username/password.

To use on your iPhone:

• go to the iPod app, and click More, then Shared (it's a little house with a music note).  Select your computer name, and it will connect to that library.  Now you can pick any item that's on your computer and play them over the iPhone speakers.

Similarly, you can control the music being played on iTunes (through speakers attached to that computer) with your iPhone using the Remote app. 

• in your iTunes preferences, click on the Sharing tab.  Check the "Share my library on my local network" and you can pick all or some of your music.
• on your iPhone, download the "Remote" app from the App Store.  (It's created by Apple Inc. when you search)
• To use: in iTunes, start some music or podcast playing.  Open the Remote app on your iPhone.  Notice it connects to your music library and you can pause, go through tracks, change the volume, etc.  Also, if you don't have music playing yet, you can start a song or playlist directly!

This is the coolest thing ever!  Amy (@amysnotdeadyet) turned me into a cartoon!  I'm a little weeble version of me.  I thought it would be lots of fun, so we did a trade - a cartoon for a shawl.  I made her a soft cotton version of the Wren Shawl in a beautiful purple-blackberry color.



Amy talks about her process in her blog post: Weeble Wednesday: Kristine Beeson

I took a few pictures wearing one of my favorite new outfits to give plenty of inspiration, wearing my own Wren Shawl to make it even more special and "me". 


Amy added a lot of features to really bring the drawing to life, like the iPhone that really is usually in my hand, and knitting needles, and of course the pinky-red streak in my hair and shiny shoes.

Cartoon-Kristine is now part of the design on the Yarnings Podcast site, where she greets you friendily from the sidebar.

I enjoy finding new bazaars and craft shows because it's all about finding those perfect local gifts for people.  I saw The Columbian, our local paper, mentioning the Check 'em Off Green Holiday Event at the Marshal Center, and so we stopped in for a look.  The event page is on reusing.blogspot.com.  My Christmas list really wasn't ready enough to buy things, but I really enjoyed some of the ideas I got.

The featured creators in The Columbian's article was Rock Candy Art, and they had some neato bags and purses made out of reclaimed vinyl or chip bags or gum wrappers - really cool idea.

I felt some super soft t-shirts from WearYourVeggies, I'd love to wrap some babies up in their organic cotton shirts!  From Goldendale, WA.

I really like the idea of Bug Baby designs - they had reusable sandwich and snack bags that closed with velcro.  They were adorable!

The most interesting items to me were from GiftSAC, with their burlap sac bags and purses.  The owner, Chris, chatted with me for a few minutes and we learned we'd both be jurying for another market together in a few days, so that was really a nice connection.  She mentioned how one of her bags was the perfect size for a file folder, and that's exactly the size I need right now for carrying around my lists and comp book.  I think I'm going to get myself one!

I made an Etsy Treasury of the some of the vendors I saw and some other local Vancouver shops: It's a Green Holiday in Vancouver

As we are several months in to the current TV season, it felt like a good time for a brief recap. This has kinda been a slow season so far and we've watched more shows on Netflix to fill our evenings.

2 shows on my list were already cancelled: Undercovers, which I had high hopes for but they lost me by the 2nd ep; The Whole Truth, and I hung onto it for more eps than I should have because I enjoyed happy-Rob Morrow.  (for ratings and cancellation info, I read tvbythenumbers and http://thefutoncritic.com/)

I really tried to get into No Ordinary Family, but by ep 3, it was too much family drama instead of super-y stuff. I gave up on Chase before it started and we never started back in on The Office.

But I did give Glee (FOX, Tuesday) a chance when I wasn't planning on it, thanks to several friends encouraging me that I should be able to jump in even w/o watching season 1.

As for new shows, The Event (NBC, Monday) has definitely kept me interested. It's not bounce-up-and-down excitement like I had for Heroes the first few seasons, but still quite good. Hawaii Five-O (CBS, Monday) was one I started to enjoy first ep and then set it aside - I did a marathon last week and caught up, and I'm really enjoying it.

Our only half hour show is Running Wilde (FOX, Tuesday), and that really has been funny. Ratings are low, tho, so it's hanging on my a string and that's too bad.

When it comes to returning shows, Castle (ABC, Monday) is my fav this year so far. They've done a great job keeping it good even with Castle having a girlfriend. On the other hand, Bones (FOX, Thursday) has gotten stale for this same reason (Booth having a girlfriend), and the cases are keeping my interest as much. House (FOX, Monday) surprised me because I wasn't thinking I'd enjoy the new relationship on the show but they handled it better than expected. Chuck (NBC, Monday) is better to me when watching in a chunk of eps, so I waited till I had a nice pile - still 2 eps behind right now, they've certainly had the array of guest stars!

Human Target got bumped till Nov 17 and V isn't until January, so I have no input on them yet!

On Netflix, we've just finished the whole series of Alias. We are watching Big Bang Theory from last season while we eat dinner downstairs (and taping the current series). The same taping idea for Fringe, we'll be watching season two next now that we are done with Alias. The Vampire Diaries first season is high on my queue for after Fringe.

I had higher hopes for this season, but I am happy that a few shows are still keeping me excited to turn on the TiVo :)