Monday, May 22, 2017

2017 showed no mercy in television land this year.

Shows I was surprised to see cancelled: Chicago Justice. Last Man Standing. 2 Broke Girls. Castle. Outsiders.

Show that I'm extremely sad to see cancelled: Baby Daddy. Bones. Bates Motel (even though we knew going in).

Shows that really don't effect my mind at all, but also got cancelled: The Vampire Diaries. Reign. Rosewood. The Great Indoors.


Shows I'm happy to see renewed: Lethal Weapon. The Middle. The Big Bang Theory. NCIS: New Orleans. The Night Shift. New Girl (even if it is only for a final season).

Shows I'm happy to see renewed (that I catch on Netlix or Hulu.... or "here and there" re-runs): It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Drunk History. Fuller House. Grace and Frankie. Peaky Blinders. Santa Clarita Diet. Stranger Things. Supernatural. Vikings. Young & Hungry.

Shows that everybody else is happy to see renewed: This Is Us. The Walking Dead. Grey's Anatomy. How to Get Away with Murder. Modern Family. Once Upon a Time. NCIS. Kevin Can Wait. 13 Reasons Why. American Horror Story. Scorpion (I'm assuming I would be happy about this given that I hadn't given up at the beginning of this past season.... I just can't with Paige).

Shows that I don't watch, but for some odd reason am happy they were renewed: The Mick. The Blacklist. Criminal Minds. Chicago Fire/PD/Med. The Originals. Lucifer. Ash vs Evil Dead. iZombie. The Man in the High Castle. Mom. Outlander.

Shows that I meant to watch, but never did, and now I'm pretty sure it's my fault that they got cancelled: Imaginary Mary. Impastor. Sleepy Hollow. Grimm. Timeless. Scratch that, it's been un-cancelled. Emerald City. Salem.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

I'm not big on being an adult.

Picture it: Yesterday, May 15, 2017. A hot and muggy afternoon. A young peasant girl (aka, me) on the brink of insanity (I can't turn my brain off for five seconds) and with hair resembling that of Marv from Home Alone (#humidityproblems).

She along with her mother drives to a unfamiliar place to talk to people whom she had never met. It was scary.... and pricey. There they were, swapping stories and life circumstances for hours and just like that (like, 3.5 hours later) they walk out, never to be heard from again.

And by never being heard from again, I mean I totally called and have to go sign papers today. Oh yeah, somewhere in that story I forgot to actually get to the point.... I bought a car.


Well ok, that's not 100% accurate, because I'm actually in the process of buying a car and there's going to be payments made on it, so it won't technically be "mine" until that time. Except, I still have to pay for it and I'm the only one that's going to be driving it so it is mine? I don't know. All I know is I had a slight panic attack and now I have a different car.

I still have my original car, but it won't be around long (and that makes me incredibly sad).

We've been talking about having to get a different car for awhile now (*insert my sad face right here), and we knew that it was going to have to be sooner rather than later.... our poor little Betsy just isn't going to make it through another winter. But she's been a good ole gal and I have plenty of memories with her.... and she has more than quadrupled times infinity her value in the fact that we've had her for ten years, we've had to replace the radiator and water-pump and she only cost us $48. Yes, that's right and not a typo.... $48.

Now she's ready for retirement and while that makes me very sad (like, tear-inducing sad), I had to move on (against my will.... even though I knew it had to be done).

And while Betsy is enjoying her first day of semi-retirement, her replacement has stepped up to the plate to show us what he's got. Yes, Betsy wanted her successor to be a boy. A younger boy with far less miles life experience on him than his predecessor, but with a shiny purple body and a tire warranty skills of his own.

He knows he has big shoes to fill and I just hope that he can step up to the plate. Now, if you'll excuse me I have some mourning to do, some excitement to feel (kind of?), and some driving to do/papers to sign. And while the process and readjustment is far from over, I know that within time, we'll all adapt.... probably.

Oh yeah, and since he's a spicy little quesadilla (2011 Ford Fiesta) I named him.... Ricardo.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Grace and Frankie.... and Coyote.

I started watching the Netflix Original Series- Grace and Frankie- last night.

I've been trying to find a new show to get in to, but can't really find anything that holds on after awhile. Good thing I always have my good ole trusty fallback- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (my go to show for literally every occasion).

I'm not the only one that does that.... am I? You know, start a show that you're really into and think that you're going to "binge-watch" but you eventually lose all interest in everything and by the time you feel like picking it back up (if you actually do want to pick it back up) you kind of have to start over, because it's been so long you forgot what's going on?


I'm still on the same episode of The Walking Dead that I stopped at months ago. I started watching it back in December and quickly binge-watched the first season.... and then I quickly lost momentum, because the last episode I watched was actually on Valentine's Day. I checked out at: Season3, Episode13.

And then there's Breaking Bad. If I'm being perfectly honest I started watching this show, because I have a serious crush on Aaron Paul.... ok fine, I have a crush on Jesse Pinkman. Back in February I quickly binge watched the first season and one episode of season two and haven't picked it back up since. I checked out at: Season2, Episode2.

Not too mention I started Dexter for the second time (I originally watched it back in 2014? 2015? and got all the way into the last season.... and then gave up) back in January and promptly gave up for the second time. I checked out at: Season1, Episode8. In March I started Young & Hungry, binge watched the first season and randomly gave up, but I have the intention of picking it back up, whether I do or not is yet to be seen. I checked out at: Season2, Episode18.

We even decided to give Hulu a try and I started the show Drunk History in early April and was surprised by how hilarious the first of it was. And then.... well, you know. I checked out at: Season2, Episode5. I switched back to Netflix (though we still have Hulu) and thought that I would watch that show 13 Reasons Why that everyone has been so hyped up about. Yeah. I checked out at: Season1, Episode5. Decided to watch The Following again, since I watched the entire first season when it debuted on tv, but I lost it somewhere in season two. I guess that has been in the last month or so? I checked out at: Season1, Episode8.

And let's not forget The Blacklist. I checked out at: Season2, Episode14. I started Bates Motel when the new season started streaming on Netflix (I had already watched seasons 1-3) back in January. I checked out at: Season4, Episode1. I don't even remember when I started and stopped Once Upon A Time, but.... I checked out at: Season1, Episode18. And I've been watching and trying to get through Burn Notice (I LOVE Bruce Campbell) for the last two years and can't seem to make it no matter how hard I try. I checked out (for now) at: Season5, Episode8.

Then last night I decided I was going to start the show Rectify (and didn't even make it through the first episode). I checked out at: Season1, Episode1.

It hasn't been a total loss, I did binge watch Santa Clarita Diet back in February and again last week. Yes, I watched it twice and I have no regrets (and I'm super happy that it's been renewed for a second season). Shows I actually did get all the way through: Stranger Things, Sirens, The Ranch, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (WAY more than once), Fuller House, Baby Daddy.

After I gave up on Rectify (fairly quickly) I decided to try out Grace and Frankie. And while I've heard great things about it, I really only decided to start watching for one reason and that reason is.... Ethan Embry. Let's be honest, I was pretty in love with him back in the late 90s-early 00s and continued loving him (#SweetHomeAlabama), but didn't have access to watch him in most of his projects and then he took some time off. But now, he's back and I'm pretty happy about it.

There are currently three seasons streaming on Netflix and it's been renewed for a fourth season, so I'm hoping that it stays as hilarious to me as the first three episodes are. For now, it's cracking me up and I want to watch more. The best part so far?

Coyote: "Mallory, I'm sorry, I don't even remember what I did that night. I remember it involved the police and I was arrested and some bad things happened, but I don't remember what." Mallory: "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Coyote: "Yes, I was on a toxic combination of tequila, cocaine, and non-stick cooking spray." Mallory: "Fine, you ran your car over my mailbox, scared my kids, and stood in my front yard yelling- don't marry Mitch, Mal, it doesn't have to be me, just not him, at the top of your lungs and at that point he and I had already been married for SEVEN YEARS." Coyote: "Wow, that is bad."

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Deepwater Horizon.... the largest environmental disaster in US history.

The movie Deepwater Horizon dropped in September of 2016 and I watched it for the first time in January of 2017.

I wanted to watch it, because it's a true story (a legit true story, not one of those "based on a true story" that didn't really happen) and I remember when the "Deepwater Horizon Explosion" actually happened back in 2010. I remember watching the news coverage on the "largest accidental oil spill in the world" and the "largest environmental disaster in US history."

The coverage was expansive and the ongoing battles that followed were insane. But there's one thing that they seemed to have forgotten along the way.... while this was such an environmental disaster on such a massive scale, they somehow forgot along the way that people lost their lives. When the Deepwater Horizon explosion took place it not only left this massive environmental disaster, but it also left 11 men without their lives, 17 others injured, and countless lives forever altered.

You see, along the way, they made it strictly about money. I'm not an idiot, I understand that the entire thing cost MASSIVE amounts of money to deal with (the costs are upwards of somewhere around $54 billion dollars) and the loss of it for others was extreme, but that's not really what it all should have been about. There were people out there on that rig. Real, good, hard-working people just out there trying to support their families and make it.

And the film Deepwater Horizon shows you that. It not only tells the story of the disaster and things that could have possibly prevented it along the way (a very important story within itself), but it also told the story about the people. The people who were affected to their very cores.

As well it should.

I watched Deepwater Horizon for the second time. And while I knew what was coming, I was still in no way prepared for it. It had as much of an emotional impact on me the second time around as it did the first, if not more. The performances of Kurt Russell, Mark Wahlberg, Dylan O'Brien, Gina Rodriguez, and John Malkovich cut you to the core and it really shakes you into the realization that yes this happened and yes, it may have been almost eight years ago, but the effects are still as large and looming as ever.

In loving memory of: Jason C. Anderson (age 35), Aaron Dale Burkeen (age 37), Donald Clark (age 49), Stephen Ray Curtis (age 39), Gordon L. Jones (age 28), Roy Wyatt Kemp (age 27), Karl D. Kleppinger Jr. (age 38), Keith Blair Manuel (age 56), Dewey A. Revette (age 48), Shane M. Roshto (age 22), and Adam Weise (age 24).