Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The Mo Show





My friend Morgen at It's A Blog Eat Blog World is now going to be entertaining us with his radio talents! That's right, Morgen is launching The Mo Show - a Blog Talk Radio program! The first episode airs today, Tuesday, June 26th at 5:30 p.m. CT (my time) or 630 p.m. ET. (After 7:00 p.m. ET, you can listen to an archived recording of the show at your leisure.)

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Six Sleepy Things

I was tagged for the Six Sleepy Things Meme by Morgen.

So, here are 6 things I do to go to sleep or while I'm asleep:

1. I always watch TV for a little while. I turn the sound off and turn on the closed captioning so Mr. Incredible can go to sleep. If I just try to fall asleep, my brain starts thinking about too much and wakes me up, but if I watch TV I can trick my brain into focusing on that until I fall asleep.

2. We use a sound machine. Otherwise there are too many small noises that distract us and wake us up. Regular white noise works, but we most often use "hard rain" or "ocean waves."

3. I do a lot of running and kicking in my sleep. I don't ever wake myself up or anything, so I'll have to take Mr. I's word for it, but he says it happens most often if I'm asleep on my back with my knees bent. If he notices me sleeping like that he'll straighten out my legs so he doesn't get kicked. :)

4. I sleep with a pillow between my knees. I also sometimes put one under my stomach if I'm sleeping on my stomach or on my side. It keeps my back from hurting. Or at least I've convinced myself it does, I don't know if it actually helps.

5. We started taking Melatonin a few months ago and it really makes me sleepy. It makes me a little hungover, though, so I only take half. Mr. I. likes it too. But my mom took it, and it made her wired. Weird.

6. I keep a tube of Burt's Bees on the nightstand, because I hate waking up in the middle of the night with chapped lips.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Traveler Recap, Episode 4

Okay. A lot happened, and I'm writing this from memory of only one viewing, so forgive me if I miss anything.

Tyler and Jay are on a train to Maine. They get there and ask the man at the station about the number Will had written on his train schedule. The man tells him that it's a reservation number, and after Tyler greases his palm, the guy tells them that the man that made the reservation's name was Daniel Taft. Who is this Daniel Taft, they wonder? Is Will using that name? Or is Daniel using the name Will?

They are considering this when they spot a bookstore named "Have Books Will Travel." So that's where Will got his name, they think (duh), and Jay goes to the store to ask the pretty girl that works there (Maya) about it. She gets all shifty eyed and suspicious and shuts him down when he questions her, and we see that the store is bugged and there are men listening to the goings on there. Jay tells Tyler he didn't find anything out, but Tyler called information (handy idea) and found a listing for Daniel Taft.

They go the address, which is a slip at the marina. There is no boat in the spot marked "Daniel Taft," but they see a boat named "Maya" and decide to check it out. They find a crapload of guns and stuff. At this point, we see the Hotel Bellhop from Episode One is watching them. We also see another man climbing aboard the boat, and it's not Will. It's just a random guy. They ask if he's Daniel Taft and he says yes, but I didn't believe it. They are so trusting! They're also not subtle or sneaky at all. Anyway, they tell him they were looking for their buddy Will Traveler and he says he doesn't know Will. He tells them to help themselves to beer and that he'll be right back. He slaps a bomb on the boat and locks them in. Jay grabs a gun to shoot them out, and they narrowly escape (again).

A video appears on the news of Tyler talking trash about the President, and Jay remembers Will taping it, egging him on, and smirking. The FBI folks are using this as "further evidence" of the guys' hatred of the administration. The FBI lady (Marlow) wonders why the guys would go to Nell's to try to destroy the video if it was already online and in the open. She's thinking that something's amiss, but she can't get her fellow agents to go along, because they just want to close the case.

Meanwhile, Jay's girlfriend Kim is in jail for punching the photographer, but is released when FBI big boss comes to pick her up. I can't decide if he's truly BAD or if he's just blinded by the desire to solve this thing. He tells her, fatherly-ish, she should go stay with family until this is over.

So. They go BACK to the bookstore to press Maya for answers. She tells them to shut it and takes them outside and tells them "they're listening." She takes them to her home and gives them some story about how Will is Daniel Taft, how he told her about them, how he thought he was serving his country, how she and Will were going to run away together after the mission. Bellhop guy is watching as the Listening Men come careening into the store, then drive away. Maya gets a call that the Listening Men are on the way. She gives Jay and Tyler an old-fashioned skeleton key, says that Will didn't tell her what it was for, only that if they needed to, they could use it to fight back. She sends them away and tells them she'll be fine, even as the Listening Men are breaking down the door.

The guys are at the train station, and Jay calls Kim. She cries and they talk, then her Dad gets on the phone and tells Jay to leave her alone. This worries Jay because Kim and her dad don't get along. What worries Tyler, though, is that he sees his car parked in the train station parking lot. His car, the one he left in NYC before the bombing. Jay's like, "no way," because the car is a different color, plus, that's nuts, but Tyler is sure. Then we see someone get out of the car, and it's WILL. Jay screams to him, but just then a train passes by and Jay and Tyler can't see any of what's happening on the other side.

What's happening on the other side is: Will's going to bolt, but a white van comes screeching up, Bellhop shoots at the van, but they snatch Will up and drive away, Bellhop shooting all the while. The train passes, and the guys see Tyler's car still there, but no Will. Then they see Bellhop, and Bellhop sees them. They are wigging right out, and rightfully so.

Manic Monday, Heat



Today's Manic Monday word:
Heat.

Don't know why, but this is what came to mind when I was thinking about today's word.

A few years back (5? 6? Something like that) when Memphis was finally getting an NBA team, there was discussion about what we would call the team. It wasn't that long after the Houston Oilers had moved to Tennessee and changed their name, so I guess people thought that the Grizzlies would change their name too. They didn't. But anyway, I remember people suggesting names for the team, and the arena that would be built. We knew that FedEx would be sponsoring the arena and one of my favorite names suggested for it was "FedEx Hub," which I thought was clever, but apparently the powers that be disagreed (is that too inside? The Hub? Maybe only Memphis people who either worked or know someone that worked at the actual FedEx hub would find that particularly amusing) and named the building the far-less-funny FedExForum. But my absolute favorite suggestion for the team's new name was Memphis Humidity. Cause when they played the Miami Heat, we would finally answer the eternal question...

p.s., and absolutely not at all relevant for today's word, but when Memphis was trying to get the team, one of the competing cities was Louisville, Kentucky. KFC was going to have naming rights for their arena, and one of the names mentioned was KFC Bucket. I don't know if that was official, but I loved it.


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Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Sadie's F.A.Q.

updated: 1/23/2013

Your roommate's name is Pebbles? Seriously?
No. Not seriously.  Which is why for the most part I now refer to her as "P." Also, she's not my roommate anymore, because I moved away from Colorado. :(

Why in heaven's name did you call your ex-husband Mr. Incredible? Is he that awesome or something? If so, why is he your EX-husband?
Updated answer 11/21/08: His awesomeness (or lack thereof) has nothing to do with it (clearly). I called him Mr. Incredible for two reasons. 1) I didn't want to use his actual name, and 2) He looks like Mr. Incredible. Seriously. More than one person commented on that before I had ever seen the movie. Of course, maybe we should choose something new. Or just not talk about him at all.

On your two links lists, what's the difference in "the stalkees" and "the peeps?"

"Sites I Stalk" are sites that I regularly, perhaps even obsessively, read. The sites in the list of my peeps are people whose blogs I read, that are also people that I either know in real life or have communicated with via email or we have mutually read and commented on each other's blogs long enough to have become a peep of mine. It doesn't mean that the bloggers I stalk aren't wonderful people, it's just that I am a fan of theirs and they don't know me from a bump on their asses.

Where have you been?
Updated answer 1/23/2013: Resting. Getting divorced. Getting married. Changing jobs. Doing lots of things. I've still been reading blogs, and I've been around. Just wasn't posting much.

You have a store? What's that about?
Often, when watching TV or talking with friends, someone would say something funny and I would say, "Someone should put that on a T-shirt!" So I did.

Your cats? Have a blog?
Yep. It started as Merlin's, but when Dobby joined the family, it seemed only fair that he should get to help. They're so busy napping and eating that they don't blog much anymore.  Or, really, ever.

Are you still unemployed?
No, not anymore. The job I got in December 2006 that was supposed to last a couple months lasted nine, just long enough for me to move to Colorado and start my new, permanent, job. Update 11/21/08: Which I then left. And now have a different new, permanent, job. That I may soon leave. Catch a pattern here? Yeah, me too. Update 5/20/2009:And now I have a different new, permanent job, back in the legal world. Update 9/23/2009: And now I'm in a different job. Sigh. It is permanent, but I hope to find something different soon. Updated 11/23/09: Dudes. New job! woot!  9/15/2010: New job. A real one, that I like. Yay! 1/23/2013: SAME JOB.  It's a miracle.

You only shave one leg a day? Really? Why?
The hair on my legs doesn't really grow fast enough to require daily shaving, really just every-other. So if I shave them BOTH every other day, on those days my shower is extra long. This way, I shave one leg per day and every shower takes the same amount of time. I shave the right leg on Monday (starting the week on the right foot), Wednesday, and Friday, the left on Tuesday and Thursday, and both legs on Saturday and Sundays. Update 11/21/08: This pattern can be different depending on how often my legs are bare and also if anyone else will see them. If you know what I mean. And I think you do. 1/23/2013: I shave both legs nearly every day now.  That way if I miss a spot it's no big deal b/c tomorrow I'll get it.

You know a lot about sports for a girl.
Um, yes I know some stuff about sports, especially college basketball. My girl-ness is not relevant. There are other women that know more than I do, and probably more than you do. So bite me. And them. My favorite team is, of course, the Memphis Tigers.

Wow, you watch a lot of television.
Yes I do.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Manic Monday, Friend



Today's Manic Monday word:
Friend.


Seems fitting, since this is a blogger's meme, to talk about blogging friends. And even more so since the creator of Manic Monday is Morgen, one of my earliest and bestest internet bloggin' buddies. Our cats, oddly enough, brought us together, as his Daphne had an understandable crush on my Merlin, and the rest is history.

Blogging has introduced me to friends like her, her, her, her, and her; and allowed me to better get to know people I knew from other online spots, like her (btw, "her" looks really funny when you type it that many times).

But blogging has also allowed me to meet people in real life (or at least on Google Talk), people who have become my friends, people who make me laugh, people that make me feel better when I feel like crap, people that I wish I'd met a long time ago... They have been amazing, funny, helpful, and I appreciate their friendship and support.

Blogging has also allowed me to keep up with (and reconnect with) friends that I've known for years. Including the one friend that I haven't laid eyes on in literally years, who read this blog before she knew it was mine.

And my best good friend. Love you.

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Traveler Recap, Episode 3

The episode starts off with Jay wandering around a flea market, looking to buy some new clothes. He is absolutely horrible at being subtle, he doesn't blend in at all, and as he is paying for some jeans, the portable TV the guy in the booth is watching has a photo of Jay and Tyler. Jay looks freaked, and of course the guy notices, so Jay drops money for the jeans and leads the guy on a chase-ish through the market (they're not running or anything). Then Jay gets in his car, the guy sees him and gets on his cell phone. So their car is spotted.

Jay gets back to their hotel and tells Tyler they've got to get going. Tyler's chopping his hair and has a bottle of red hair dye. He says it's the only color they had, but Jay doesn't want to use it b/c it wouldn't make them very inconspicuous. And then he says maybe the hair color is a good idea. Oh, and also they see on TV that Bad Guy from episode 2 was found dead, and they know they left him alive, and they are, therefore, in deep shit. Next, in the car, they have NOT colored their hair. It was a little trick. They argue about where they're going next. Tyler wants to make a run for the (Canadian) border, but Jay wants to go back to New Haven so they can find proof that Will Traveler existed. Jay says he and Will stored some of their stuff before they left. Tyler wants to know how come he didn't know that, and Jay tells him they stored their stuff at Nell's, and Tyler doesn't want to see Nell. Jay says no matter what happened between Tyler and Nell, it's not as important as what they're dealing with now. Duh. Of course Jay wins the argument.

The FBI comes busting in the hotel room and the guys, of course, are gone. They see the empty hair color bottle on the counter and phone in that the suspects' appearance has changed. The FBI folks meet and discuss their next move. The Mean Boss wants to send the two smart agents (Marlow and Borjes) to go to the border and watch. Agent Marlow, though, thinks they should go to New Haven. FBI boss thinks she's crazy to think the guys would go back there, but she says at least they'll get some interviews. He lets them go but says they only have 24 hours.

During all of this (and spread out through the episode), Kim (Jay's girlfriend) is getting ready for work when she sees a news reporter broadcasting from outside her apartment. She goes out to get in a taxi and is mobbed by photographers. She gets to her job at an art gallery and is met at the door by her boss. He tells her that he's not firing her, and as soon as all this is straightened out she can come back to work, but this isn't exactly the kind of publicity they need. She gets a box of her stuff from him and goes to a coffee shop to mope, as her life really sucks right now. She goes through her work stuff and finds a disposable camera. She grins, packs up her stuff and leaves. During this scene, I noticed someone watching her from outside, but they didn't make a big deal of it. So she goes to a photo shop and stands outside watching the developed pictures drop in to the basket, and there is at least one with Will Traveler and the boys (again, she is being watched). She is quite pleased, of course, because now she can prove Will exists, Jay will be exonerated, and she will save the World. She pays for the photos and puts them in her purse. As she leaves the store, a guy bumps into her on the street and apologizes. She's too happy about the photo to care, though. She gets to the FBI and tells Mean Boss that she has a photo of Will Traveler, and of course it's not in her purse when she searches through it. Duh, pick pocket. She is sad, realizes that Mean Boss Guy doesn't believe her and leaves. Later, frustrated, she assaults a New York Post photographer that's going through her garbage.

Jay and Tyler are going through boxes in a basement (Nell's basement, we presume, correctly). They realize even though the boxes were stored there only 3 days ago, someone has beaten them there. Will's stuff has been made to look like it's Tyler's and also the boxes now include things like the blueprints to the now-exploded museum, casualty estimates, and other bad stuff. They are so totally set up. Nell appears, and she and Tyler make ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend faces at each other. They decide to burn the stuff, and Jay goes to light the grill. Nell and Tyler bicker a little and then make out. This reminds Tyler of a time they were making out in the library and he saw Will go into a study carrel. It was odd b/c engineering students don't normally have carrels in that part of the library or something. Nell gets a phone call that the FBI is interviewing Jay and Tyler's friends, and they leave, telling Nell just to ask for a lawyer to delay the FBI and then to tell the truth. The FBI shows up pretty quickly afterwards, she asks for a lawyer, but they notice the giant fire burning in her grill, and call in to other FBIs that the boys are in town.

The guys walk into the Yale Library (gaining access using Nell's student ID) and they look so obviously suspicious. They really need to learn how to be subtle. Anyway, of course some guy at the counter notices them and presumably notifies the authorities. They find Will's study carrel, but it doesn't have anything in it, all the carrels are empty, the semester is over. Then, very luckily, Tyler notices a footprint on the desk, so they climb up and look in the ceiling, where they find a huge wad of money, a GIANT gun, and a train schedule. They figure Will left it there to come get if he was able to survive the bombing. Just then the FBI arrives and the guys put the gun on the ground and run. They get chased to some back room, but Jay pulls back the book shelf and there's a secret door there. What? Exactly. Anyway, it goes into steam pipes or something, and Jay tells Tyler he used to break into the library after hours. To study. Geek. Anyway, they're off again, to get on the train to Maine, b/c of the schedule Will left behind.

The pick pocket hands over Kim's photos to the Super Bad Guy (played by Neal McDonough) from the end of the last episode. Super Bad Guy comments that "Will Traveler left us quite a mess. You know what to do?" Pick pocket nods and walks away. Later Super Bad guy is talking to someone else and they note that the "entire collection" was destroyed in the bombing. Are you sure, everything? Yes, everything.

So we see some guy you can tell is bad cause he's very slick looking. Someone comes in and slides a painting across the table. It is the painting of the signing of the Constitution. Or maybe the Declaration of Independence, you know the one with all the white haired guys standing around wanting to sign something. Anyway, the bad guy says that the painting was destroyed in the bombing, and he can't "move it." So he's a stolen property seller guy, I guess. And then the person who brought the painting says he just wants to know what he has. And we see who it is, and it's..... Will Traveler. Not dead and burned to a crisp at all.

The end!

Traveler Recap, Episode 2

A friend of mine fell asleep before the end of the 2nd episode of Traveler, so I recapped it for her. Then she missed the 3rd episode so I recapped THAT for her. Then I thought it might become a regular thing. And then I thought, why not share the recaps with you? If you missed the pilot you can read a recap that I didn't write here. Here's Episode 2:

Jay and Tyler sneak through the woods to to Carlton's house (Tyler's Dad) and Carlton introduces them to a bald guy who looks like a Bad Guy. But Carlton tells them that he hired a firm that is excellent at covering up bad scandals, and that half of the country's congressman own this firm their careers. So Bad Guy wants to give Tyler and Jay polygraph tests, which they take even though they don't want to. During the questioning he asks Jay if Jay blames the government for his dad's death (Jay doesn't answer), and he also asks Tyler if he knew that Will knew Carlton (also doesn't answer). Tyler also talks about how one time Will showed him how to make a tiny little explosive to break into a friend's apartment, but it was just a prank. Bad Guy tells them that he thinks they should leave the country and go to Switzerland until this is all straightened out, and they agree, even though Jay really doesn't want to b/c he doesn't want to leave his girlfriend.

Meanwhile, the girlfriend (Kim) is being questioned by the FBI. She's explaining that Jay didn't do anything wrong, she knew Will Traveler, etc. Finally, main FBI guy takes her back to her apartment and it's all torn up from being searched. He tells her that this will be her life until Jay is found.

So Jay and Tyler get in the car with Bad Guy to go to the private plane to fly to Switzerland. They are driving down a back road when a police car approaches. Bad Guy tells them to stay down and out of sight and gets out of the car to talk to the police officer. When the officer walks past Bad Guy and comes toward the car, Bad Guy puts two bullets in her back. The guys realize that Bad Guy is Bad, and so they run out of the car, through the woods, and hide in the small airplane hangar. Bad Guy finds them there, and he and Jay wrestle and fight, Bad Guy has a big old gun with a silencer. Tyler finally gets it together and smacks Bad Guy unconscious. Bad Guy wakes up in the hangar, tied up, and Jay and Tyler are asking him who is he, who does he work for, and Tyler wants to know if Carlton knew about this.

Also, the FBI is trying to find Jay and Tyler, and raid three of Carlton's homes. However, the one they are in is off the grid and the FBI doesn't know it exists. Later, they find the car the boys abandoned and discover the nearby property owned by Carlton's company. And head off for it, but we know that the guys are already gone.

Bad Guy tells Tyler that Tyler has much bigger things to worry about than Carlton. Bad Guy's cell phone rings, and Jay makes him answer it. The voice on the other end says, "Do you have the packages?" and Bad Guy says, "It's done."

I'm not sure what they do with Bad Guy, I might have missed it if they killed him or just left him, but the guys are driving off in Bad Guy's car. Tyler wants to go back to Carlton's, and Jay realizes that Tyler has no idea how to function without his Dad and stand on his own two feet. Jay tells him that it's just the two of them now, and they can't go back. Tyler nods and they drive off.

At the end, a cell phone rings and we see the face of a man answer it (played by Neal McDonough, so you know his role will be big). The person on the other end says that Tyler and Jay are dead. The man says "Good," puts the phone back in his pocket, and walks into the Department of Homeland Security.

The End.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Summer TV Update

In my last Summer TV post, I forgot to mention that Big Love starts soon. It airs on HBO, beginning June 11 at 9/8 pm. I love Big Love. You can catch up on old episodes right now, especially if you have HBO On Demand, and they're also on DVD. Who'd have thought that a show about polygamy would be so good? Goes to show you never can tell.

There also a show on FX-- Damages. It starts July 24 at 10pm ET and it stars Glenn Close. It's also about lawyers, so that's always fun. Entertainment Weekly calls it the Prison Break of legal thrillers. Sounds like a good one to me.

Traveler already started, but you've only missed a few episodes and you can watch them for free online. I read that it will only last like eight episodes or something, so it's not a major commitment. And so far it's pretty good. At least if it's conceived as a mini-series, we might actually get all the way through it and solve the mystery before the show disappears.

OH! And Starter Wife. It's a mini series that's already started, too, but only one episode and they're re-airing it like crazy on USA til episode 2 airs Thursday night at 9/8.

Update: The Starter Wife premiere is on again Thursday June 7 at 5pm ET (then the new episode is on at 9pm ET). You can also watch it online. http://www.usanetwork.com/ Looks like on Thursday the 14th, they're repeating the premiere AND this week's episode before the new one. It appears that will be the regular deal, they'll replay the episodes every Thursday before they air the new one. The finale airs on June 28.

Friday, June 01, 2007

How I Met Your Mother

If you don't watch How I Met Your Mother, let me tell you, you should...

And now you can, at your convenience. One of the BEST episodes (the "slap bet" episode), is on the HIMYM official MySpace page, in its entirety. You can also watch the "World's Greatest Couple" episode there.

Watch it, it's funny.

Also, you really should be watching So You Think You Can Dance now. And I expect you to be catching up on Heroes over the summer (watch it online for free!), and of course Friday Night Lights, which is also available online here, and is being re-aired on Sunday nights on NBC.

Come on, people, get with it.