Archive for May, 2012

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Song of the Week – The Smiths

Posted May 31, 2012 By dorolerium

I can’t remember when I first heard of The Smiths, quite possibly in the 80s when they were first making music and I was alive.  They completely embody the things I love about music from that era, so imagine my horror when I discovered that a bunch of my friends had no idea who they were!  So for those of you who have never heard of The Smiths, I bring you one of their most popular songs, Panic.

Also, every time I hear this song I think of Chris Pontius skating around London in his Union Jack underwear :)

Filed in Music | Tagged: ,

TV Roundup – May 28, 2012

Posted May 28, 2012 By dorolerium

Today marked the last week of any of my shows, the Revenge finale aired and I watched the Scandal finale from last week.  From here on out, it will be getting caught up on shows that I’m super duper behind on!  If I’m lucky, I might be able to get my TiVo to below 80% full by the end of the month, lol.

Revenge
Hold on to your hats kids, cuz this one was CRAZY!!!

A couple of episodes back, Emily found out that her father was actually murdered by a dude they are calling the White Haired Man, and that this was orchestrated by Conrad Greyson.  She’s been working towards exacting revenge on this guy, but Nolan gets captured in the process and Emily offers herself in his place.  It ultimately works out that  Nolan gets free, and Emily is in a position to killed the WHM.  However, she has this flash back to her father saying how much he loved how she loved everyone and everything, so she doesn’t kill the dude.

When she gets home, Daniel confronts her about the kiss she had with Jack towards the end of the last episode, which he found out about from Ashley who was spying on Emily. They split up, with Emily saying neither of them is what the other thought they were.  She plans to tell Jack the truth about everything, cuz she thinks things are close to being done.  However, if you ever watch this show, you know that the shit is just about to get crazier!

Charlotte does some other weird stuff to try and get Declan back, but ends up alienating him further and this doesn’t go well for her during the rest of the episode.  She ultimately regrets what she’s done, which was to expose a girl for having a relationship with a teacher at her last school.  It was mean of Charlotte, especially cuz the girl and Declan weren’t even interested in each other.  Silly kids!

Emily goes to tell Jack the truth and Amanda is there…pregnant with (presumably) Jack’s baby.  It kind of ruins everything for Emily and she leaves really upset.  Meanwhile, they are setting the show up for Daniel and Ashley to have a relationship next season, which I’m not entirely in favor of.  I like Daniel with Emily, especially since she may not be with Jack after all.  Although Jack seems to be having second thoughts about Amanda anyway.

The WHM blows up another plane, this one with Victoria and Lydia on it.  They say at the end of the show that everyone on board has died, but Victoria has as many lives as a cat and I wouldn’t be surprised if she survives this one.  Charlotte is really upset by it though, and takes a ton of pills, and we’re left to assume she is dying when Conrad finds her.  He also seems to be responsible for the blowing up of the plane, in a round about way.

The very end of the episode leaves us with Nolan informing Emily that her mother isn’t actually dead after all.  I guessed a few episodes ago that this was the case, they’ve been hinting at stuff having to do with her mother and I started wondering about it.  I’m curious to find out who this mother is, because she seems to be involved somehow in the conspiracy and Emily is probably going to go looking for her.

Needless to say, I’m kind of anxious for the premiere of season 2 in the fall…how are we going to wait that long!!!

Scandal
At the end of the last episode, Gideon was stabbed in the neck by the VP’s chief of staff, Billy.  Unfortunately, Quinn does this really stupid thing, the thing you are taught to not do, which is taking the weapon out of the wound.  Had she not done that, I think Gideon would have had a chance.  But this is a lesson to everyone again – leave the knife, or scissors, in the wound!

Quinn calls Olivia because she doesn’t know what to do.  Olivia brings the team to clean up the mess, because the police can’t be involved without everyone finding out who Quinn really is.  There are a lot of hints in this episode, like that she is an invented person, which we already knew.  Sadly, we don’t actually find out her true identity, but she’ll probably end up being in witness protection or something.  Since Scandal has been renewed for a second season (hopefully a full season this time around), we’ll undoubtedly learn more about that.  Maybe her identity will end up being one of the scandals in the next season.

There’s a big worry that the President is going to resign because Billy releases a bunch of information about his affairs, but Olivia helps resolve that by getting Mellie to come back into the relationship and say she’s pregnant, blah blah.  Things get resolved, and everything is back on track.

The biggest bomb of the episode is learning that Cyrus was actually responsible for Amanda’s death!  We don’t know at this point if he was working with Billy on it, or if he just needed Amanda to go away because she was going to screw up the Presidency.  However, we do know that the talked Olivia out of having a life with the President, got her to put things back together, so it’s quite possible he will do whatever it takes to keep himself in the white house.

All in all, I can’t wait for next season!

Filed in TV | Tagged: ,

It’s Monday! What are you reading? May 28, 2012

Posted May 27, 2012 By dorolerium

This is a weekly meme run by Book Journey!

Post the books completed last week, the books you are currently reading, and the books you hope to finish this week.

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme that was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).  It is hosted at Martha’s Bookshelf for the month of May.

*****

I was so busy last week that I didn’t get the chance to post about my reading week, so this covers two weeks worth!  Which isn’t actually that exciting.

The best news is I’m running a giveaway right now through the end of the month, so please check out the details here!

Books completed last week:
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – John Le Carre: This was basically my introduction to the spy genre, and I liked the book.  I might read more by this author in the future!

Books I’m reading this week:
The Reluctant Queen – Jean Plaidy ~ Page 50: We’re having a War of the Roses week on Royals soon and I thought it would be an excellent chance to read some more Plaidy!

Books ongoing:
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte ~ Page 310: No Jane progress, I was just way too busy

Books I acquired this week:
I bought a BBQ cook book this week, but that’s all I got in the book department.

What I watched this week:

  • Fashion Police, The Soup, Chelsea Lately,  The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, 1 girl 5 gays, The Ellen Degeneres Show, The Graham Norton Show
  • Keeping Up With The Kardashians
  • Modern Family
  • The Big Bang Theory
  • Scandal
  • Revenge
  • SavageU
  • The Big C
  • Community
  • Thor
  • Captain America
  • The Avengers

 

Filed in Books | Tagged:

Sunday’s Sizzler – Shemar Moore

Posted May 27, 2012 By dorolerium

There are few things I like more than a really good looking man who loves to take his clothes off.  Luckily for all of us, Shemar Moore is one of those men.

Shemar Moore 1

Shemar Moore 2

Shemar Moore 3

Apparently this man just doesn’t like to stay dressed – you will see no complaints from me!

Filed in Sunday's Sizzler | Tagged:

Week In Review – May 26, 2012

Posted May 26, 2012 By dorolerium

Mischief personifiedThe last two weeks I:

  • Gave myself more free time to read and catch up on TV
  • Took some more awesome puppy walks, several with various friends
  • Hosted my first BBQ of the summer! It went well – even though I had to volunteer some of the guests to put the grill together…that thing was a bitch!
  • Had a fabulous dinner of Indian food, followed by superhero movies
  • Saw The Avengers!!!
  • Had an awesome visit with some great friends from out of town
  • Went to even more dinners with fabulous people – I spent a lot of time out!
  • Spent an evening in a bar in downtown Denver that I hadn’t ever been to before…it was interesting
Filed in Life | Tagged:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre

Posted May 25, 2012 By dorolerium

Title: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Author: John le Carre
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Genre: Spy Thriller
Pages: 379
How I Read It: Paperback purchased by me.

Synopsis: “It’s the oldest question of all, George.  Who can spy on the spies?”

The man he knew as “Control” is dead, and the young Turks who forced him out now run the Circus.  But George Smiley isn’t quite ready for retirement – especially when a pretty, would-be defector surfaces with a shocking accusation: a Soviet mole has penetrated the highest level of British Intelligence.  Relying only on his wits and a small, loyal cadre, Smiley recognizes the hand of Karla – his Moscow Centre nemesis – and sets a trap to catch the traitor.

*Synopsis taken from the book

My Review: Despite my willingness to read almost anything, I haven’t really ever read much in the spy genre.  The closest I come is usually something on the mystery front, cuz sometimes there’s some spying involved there.  However, I saw the movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy when it was out over the winter, and decided I would like to read the book because I enjoyed the movie so much.

There were parts of the movie that were kind of confusing to me, this is a convoluted plot and due to the length of the book, some bits got lost in translation.  I was really happy to have a lot of that cleared up through reading the book, and the semi familiarity with the plot also made it easier to understand pieces of the book.  So that in itself makes this a great movie adaptation, in my world.

I think the message I got out of this story is that the life of a spy is both dangerous and confusing.  We already know the missions are dangerous and you can’t trust people in the field, and it’s a little disheartening to realize you can’t exactly trust people at home either.  When all of your superiors and colleagues are suspects, where can you really turn?

This was also a good ensemble cast – we focus on a variety of characters, even though George Smiley is a well known guy among the works of this author.  I like this approach to the story, because we get the chance to grow to like a variety of people, not just Smiley, and it also doesn’t depend on having prior knowledge of that particular character.

Since I had seen the movie, I already knew who the mole was, so this was more of a watching and waiting kind of situation for me.  I still found it interesting to see the process they went through to eventually figure out who the villain is, and some of the things that I didn’t understand in the movie made a lot more sense when I read how it all played out.

I liked this introduction to John le Carre, and I bet I’ll be reading something else of his in the future.  Smiley is a likeable hero and that in itself provides motivation to learn more about him!

Read this book if: I thought this was a good book.  That being said, I think it’s a bit more male oriented than a lot of what we all normally read, less romancy and more action.

My Rating: 3/5 – Two thumbs up, fine holiday fun!

Filed in 2012, John le Carre | Tagged: ,

Teaser Tuesday! May 22, 2012

Posted May 22, 2012 By dorolerium

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser:

It was October.  The leaves of the trees were already turned to bronze and there was a strong smell of autumn in the air.

I loved such days.  Isabel and I often rode out with some of the boys and I usually found myself with Richard.  He was looking better; he was becoming very skillful in all the martial arts, and I admired him more than ever because I knew he had to make an extra effort to equal the others.

~ “The Reluctant Queen” by Jean Plaidy, p. 18

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The Avengers

Posted May 21, 2012 By dorolerium

Written and Directed by Joss Whedon!!!The Avengers

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, & Scarlett Johansson

My Review: I don’t know a whole lot about comic book heroes, all of what I do know I learned from watching movies and reading Wikipedia.  However, anyone who knows anything about me can attest to how much I absolutely adore anything Joss Whedon, so there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to see this movie.  I even watched all the other movies that sort of lead into this one, just so I could be prepared!

I went into this movie with all the back story movies fresh in my mind from watching them over the weekend, which in hindsight was a good idea.  Although I don’t feel like you necessarily HAD to watch those movies, it helped quite a lot.  Like the brief reference to Jane Foster only made sense because I watched Thor the day before.  And the whole goal of the movie was really just one big reference to Captain America, possibly the dullest superhero I’ve seen in a very long time.

My adoration of Joss Whedon aside, I did quite enjoy this movie.  RDJ as Tony Stark was as funny as it always is, and he alone can make me watch a movie I may not have been interested in otherwise.  I was also a bit amused by the idea that Nick Fury half expected all these people to get along – you get a group of super humans together and there are bound to be some ego clashes, not to mention physical fights.

I would have liked this movie regardless of Joss’ involvement, but I think him being at the helm pushed it over the edge for me in terms of getting me to the theater and loving the movie.  I’ve been wondering for a long time what Joss would do if given a full budget, and I can say it didn’t disappoint.  He managed to get me to enjoy a superhero movie enough that I will likely see it in theaters a second time – I haven’t done that since The Dark Knight!  I can definitely say that Joss Whedon made this movie for me, I probably wouldn’t have seen it in theaters had it not been for him.

There were a couple of things that I’m guessing Joss had direct involvement with that really made this movie for me.  First, I went beyond tolerating The Hulk to actually liking him.  Hulk is one of my least favorite characters because he’s just so dull and has somewhat pointless mayhem.  I’ve got a theory that Joss had a big hand in humanizing the Hulk, and it was just what that character needed.  Additionally, Mark Ruffalo was just fantastic and by far the best representation of Bruce Banner in the last decade.  I was actually really surprised by how much I adored that character, and I kind of hope they do a Hulk movie with him…although we so do not need another Hulk reboot anytime soon.

Second, and I’m positive Joss was one hundred percent responsible for this, was the inclusion of both Alexis Denisof (Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse) and Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse), who are Whedon alumnists.  It’s quite possible that the friend I went with was the only other person in the theater who recognized Enver as a Whedon man.  This is one of my favorite things about Joss – he reuses actors he likes, who are people I can’t help but like because he creates such amazing characters.  I appreciate that he made the effort to do this, especially in a movie where his main cast was already basically established, with the exception of Bruce Banner.

So, I’m looking forward to (hopefully) a sequel, since they did set the end of it up for something new.  Assuming that’s the case, it’ll be a little while because each of these main characters (Ironman, Captain America, & Thor) all are rumored to have their own movies coming out in the next couple of years.  If nothing else, I think this means very good things for Joss in the future, and of course I love that!

See this movie if: You either like comic books, summer blockbusters, or Joss Whedon.  I think this movie would appeal to most people, honestly.

My Rating: 4/5 – Borderline amazing!

Six Degrees of Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
It’s so easy I’m not even going to run this one for you!

Filed in Movies | Tagged: ,

TGIF: A Book Blogger is Born!

Posted May 18, 2012 By dorolerium

I just recently found out about this awesome meme hosted by Greads!  Basically, a question is asked, we answer, and all chat with each other about it!  Totally awesome!

This weeks question:

A Book Blogger is Born: What made you decide to start your very own book blog?

I started this blog back in November 2007.  I totally didn’t realize I’d been blogging that long until I looked in my archives!  Although I started on WordPress.com, I eventually moved to hosting my own blog due to the freedoms it offered me.  A lot of things have changed in the blogging world since then in terms of what’s available when you use a free platform, but I’m happy where I’m at.

Blogging for me was an evolution of my ultimate goal, which was to do more remembering and documenting of my book reading.  I also wanted to encourage myself to read more than I was all those years ago.  I originally started documenting my reading by writing it all down by hand, which just wasn’t working so well.  After that, I briefly considered putting my reviews on a private location online, but decided I wanted to participate in the community aspects of the whole thing.

I didn’t realize when I started that the book blogging community was so robust and full of so many awesome people!  I love what this has ultimately turned into, and I adore the chance to participate with so many different kinds of bloggers.

Filed in Books | Tagged:

Welcome to summer giveaway!

Posted May 18, 2012 By dorolerium

Botanic Gardens 011I think I can speak for everyone when I say I’m soooooo happy that summer is finally here!  I’ve been anxiously awaiting warmer weather so I can read comfortably on my patio, and have been thinking about what new outdoor furniture I might need!

To celebrate this awesome fact, I’m holding a giveaway for a book I read recently PLUS an amazon.com gift card!  Just use Rafflecopter via the info below to enter for a chance to win The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (author of The Lovely Bones) and a $15 gift card to amazon.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to anyone who lives somewhere that Amazon will ship to!  It’s going from today through the end of May, and the winner will be notified sometime in the first couple of days of June.  Good luck!!! 

Filed in Books | Tagged:
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