Tuning in on Thursday, The 11 Questions Meme, Around the Blogosphere, and The Science-Fiction Experience

Tuning in on Thursday

My movie watching has been rather quiet lately. It is not that we don't have a lot to watch, but the guy tends to turn the TV on and watch random things on there. I am a bit picky. I hate watching shows/movies that have all ready started. I prefer not watching shows that are in like season 5 when I haven't seen anything before. He just watches whatever. We might as well have only 2 channels because we both only really watch The History Channel and The Space Channel. For me this means watching American Pickers, Pawn Stars, Canadian Pickers, and Star Trek. For him it means half the time he has no idea what he is even watching. So, the point is it was another quiet movie watching period.

Contagion: I wanted to see this in theatres, but it never happened. We finally watched it last week and it was good. It had a huge cast of famous people. Movies like this are always a bit unnerving, but that seems to be what is popular. I am glad we watched it. Good, but no need to keep.

Midnight in Paris: This movie has been making the blogging rounds, so when Suey and I were trying to decide on our next viewing experience I suggested this one. We even managed to be on Twitter to discuss it as we watched it. I think we are going to talk about it in a bit more depth, but I enjoyed it. The guy came home after it had been on for a bit and even he ended up watching it. I was very surprised! A keeper.

Any suggestions on what we should watch next?

The 11 Questions Meme

Kat @ No Page Left Behind tagged me. Her questions:

1. Do you have other hobbies besides reading? If so, what are they?
I used to think yes, but lately I am not so sure. I was trying to branch out this year and even all those goals are reading related. I think if we move some of my old hobbies would come back. I would love to have a garden, for example. I have all these cook books that I would love to try, but my kitchen is so small it sort of zaps my creativity. And, really, there are days where I don't get a chance to read at all, so when I have a chance to do something fun picking up a book is my go-to choice.

2. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Dinner.

3. What is a trip that you are dying to go on?
Well, I would like to go to New York, New Orleans, North Carolina, Texas, Australia, Portugal, and a few other places.

4. What book do you want EVERYONE to read?
um, I think more people should read Robin Hobb's books.

5. What is (or what would be) your favorite karaoke song?
Well, considering I go to karaoke all the time, this should be an easy question. I don't actually sing, though. The guy does. I actually took videos the other night with my new phone and they turned out REALLY good! I am not so sure how posting them on here would go over, but there is one on my Facebook should you follow me there. If I actually sang I always say it would be 'You're So Vain' by Carly Simon. I have no idea why.

6. Have you ever had any nicknames? If so, what are/were they?
My grandfather was huge into nicknames. He had one for everyone. As I have two siblings he typically came up with famous groups of three. My father and his two siblings all have nicknames, though. Other than my grandfather I was never really all that big into nicknames.

7. What's your most favorite epigraph?
I have no idea.

8. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Inconsiderate people.

9. What is your favorite game (board games, cards, etc.)?
Monopoly or Clue.

10. Christmas or Halloween?
hm. I was never big on Halloween because I don't really eat candy. I like the whole dressing up thing, but I have yet to live anywhere that actually gets all that many trick-or-treaters. So, probably Christmas.

11. What does your dream home library look like?

Geeky Daddy also tagged me. His questions:

1.What is your dream vacation?
See above.

2. Are you spontaneous or do you like to plan ahead?
It really depends. We do spontaneous things all the time, but then there are also times where I like to have a plan. It very rarely happens, though.

3. Tell us one thing you want to do but don't dare do it.
Sky-dive.

4. What's your biggest phobia?
I don't like bees. I found a nest in the basement two summers ago and it was bad. There were dead bees all over the floor. Even though it was not a success for them, they tried again last year. If the guy doesn't do something to prevent it this year he is going to walk around in dirty clothes.

5. If you were stranded on a desert island-what three things would you want with you? (Not including your laptop or family)
Well, if this was things other than necessities like food, shelter, etc. I would say books, electricity, and running water.

6. Name three blessings in your life.
Family/friends, health, having the fluff ball around to keep things entertaining.

7. What was your nickname in High School?.
Didn't have one.

8. If you could meet the President of the United States, what would you say to him?
Canada has its own problems...

9. If you could be any literary character, who would you be?
Man, I don't know. I really like Mercy from Briggs' series. Let's go with that.

10. What is your favo(u)rite quote?
Not sure.

Around the Blogosphere

We Be Reading is hosting a Diana Wynne Jones Reading Month. 

If I were to join in I have the following books by Jones:

Deep Secret

Howl's Moving Castle (would be a reread)

Witch Week

Mixed Magics

The Magicians of Caprona

Castle in the Air

Charmed Life (would be a reread)

House of Many Ways (would be a reread)

The Merlin Conspiracy

Reviews: Howl's Moving Castle. House of Many Ways.

Charmed Life. Enchanted Glass.

Science-Fiction Experience

My List:

1. Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (Completed January 6, 2012) (review)

2. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (Completed January 8, 2012)
3. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation Series, Book 1) (Completed January 12, 2012) (review - Part 1) (review - Part 2)
4. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Completed January 21, 2012) (review)
5. Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, Book 1) by Marissa Mayer (Completed February 9, 2012)
6. Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Time to Be Born (A Time to Series, Book 1) by John Vornholt (Completed February 19, 2012)
7. Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Time to Die (A Time to... Series, Book 2) by John Vornholt (Completed February 20, 2012)
8. Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Time to Sow (A Time to... Series, Book 3) by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore (Completed February 22, 2012)

Thoughts: As usual I did rather bad in the reviewing department. I am hoping to read more in the Star Trek series, so I will probably just review them all together later into the year. I forgot I hadn't reviewed Cinder. I will have to do that and think of something to say about The Time Machine, too. I actually read a decent amount of books this year. Some years I am lucky to read one!

Last night I rearranged my bookshelves to have all my fantasy in one spot in preparation for the Once Upon a Time Challenge. I always look forward to it because fantasy is my favourite.

Life, Friday Reads, Tuning in on Thursday, Listening to on Wednesday

Photo Credit

So, today is the closest thing to an anniversary that the charming comedian and I have. It is basically a day to start a new year on. He is working back shifts so we didn't do anything special. Last night (or early this morning rather) I was telling him I looked back on old posts to see the first time I at least tagged that a post contained something about the charming comedian. The following conversation occurred:

CC: You still call me that on your blog?
Me: Yep.
CC: Why? I am not really charming OR a comedian.
Me: That's kind of the point.

Don't worry, I am not really that mean. I did later say something along the lines of 'Just Kidding'.

Anyway, Happy Anniversary to the cc!

Photo Credit

Tuning in on Thursday

For television it has mostly been Star Trek and I did get back to Bones a bit. Our current project is watching Roots because it is the 35th anniversary. I know I have seen it before, and some of it is really familiar, but it has been too long for me to remember the details. It is also Black History Month, so I thought it was a fitting time. I also plan to watch The Color Purple. I read the book a few years ago and then couldn't find the movie anywhere. I finally have it, so hopefully will get to that soon.

I did finally get around to a few movies lately. One I refuse to admit that I watched because it was horrible, but I will admit to 3. 

Just Go With It - The guy really likes Jennifer Aniston, so we usually watch her movies eventually. This one was actually pretty good. She is a good actress and Adam Sandler didn't annoy me so much. His cousin or whatever did, but that is to be expected. I was surprised by the appearance of Nicole Kidman. I had no idea she was in the movie. Oh, and Dave Matthews. The cc wouldn't believe even the credits that it was him so I had to look it up and prove it to him. A keeper.

Crazy. Stupid. Love - I wanted to see this when it was in theatres, but the people we were going to the movies with had all ready seen it. It has been in the back of my mind for a while, though, and I have to admit that we both enjoyed it. I liked how it all came together in the end. I have to admit that I missed a part in the middle, though, so plan to rewatch it soon so I can see the full effect. Isn't Ryan Gosling everywhere lately? A keeper.

127 Hours - I had a vague memory of this movie once I heard that James Franco was in it, but I didn't remember the story it was based on all that well. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the movie because he is stuck by himself. It is hard to make a movie with really only one character. It wasn't terrible and probably captured what happened very well, but I don't think it is something I need to watch again. I would rather read the book. Good, but no need to keep.

Friday Reads

Photo Credit

I am having a quiet reading week. 

I decided to work on this series this week. I read the 7th and have now moved on to this one. It's not the best series ever, but it is good and I do enjoy reading it. It is really all that I have read by James Patterson...

I am still making my way through this book. It is very interesting and I am learning a lot of stuff. I am not entirely sure it is all stuff I had a pressing need to know, but she presents it in a very readable way.

Kobo had this for 99 cents. I don't really know much about it, but I had to get a new phone and joined the Smart phone revolution. I started this book just to see what the e-reader is like on my phone. I will still probably use other methods, but it wasn't that bad for when I am somewhere and I have only my phone to use...

Photo Credit

Listening to on Wednesday

Thanks to Deanna from Polishing Mud Balls I have been listening to NEEDTOBREATHE tonight. They are actually not that bad... I have their newer CD, The Outsiders, playing. I have never heard of them before, but they seem to have more than one CD...

Here is an example of their music: 

Then, did you see that Walk off the Earth has a new video up? I think they are well on the way to being famous. They signed a record label and we heard this song on a commercial today! Yay for Canadian musicians!


More Meme Fun!From Lisa at Books.Lists.Life:

1. Could you eat the same thing for lunch every day? What would it be?
Probably. I hate cooking, so I am pretty simplistic. It would probably be pasta, but then, that can be lots of different kinds of things...

2. How many library books do you have checked out right now?
um, 10, I think.

3. Do you feel strongly about specific music? or more of a music in general type person?
I am a music in general person. I usually have it on in the background when I am on the computer or whatever.

4. What is your favorite brick and morter retail store?
I am not much for shopping either. Probably the local second-hand bookstore. For the guy it is easily Canadian Tire.

5. What is your favorite online store?
Book Depository.

6. What is your favorite moment of heartstopping romantic tension? (Book, movie, music, tv, real life, art, anywhere.)
Oh, wow, I don't know. I don't really think of things like that. See the beginning of my post? That's about as romantic as it gets...

7. What is the first book you remember reading?
Green Eggs and Ham!


8. Are you creative in any way? How so?
Not really...

9. Not counting your family, pets, and vital personal documents/pictures, what one thing would you save in a fire?
My postcard collection. I have old ones that came from my family, people have given me plenty, and then I have all the ones I have received in the mail from friends and family.

10. What is your favorite type of vacation (museums, beach, cabin, mountains, theme parks)?
Oh, that is a hard call. I love museums, but then on the other hand I enjoy theme parks. I prefer to do be doing something when I take a trip, so sitting on the beach doesn't really interest me.

11. What is the most surprising or unexpected thing you've done in the last 12 months?
hm... Well, two days ago I got a Smart Phone. That shocked me!

--------
Then, since I was doing it I decided to answer the questions from Fizzy Thoughts. The questions originally come from Trish at eclectic/eccentric.

1. What is your favorite piece of art?
I have no idea... Art is not something I have really paid a lot of attention to...

2. What literary character do you think would make an awesome world leader?
um... hm.... This is a bad question from right now because I am in a cranky political mood, so I will pass.

3. What color do you think should be outlawed from clothing?
Anything really really bright. It is hard on the eyes.

4. Hats. Yes or no?
Yep!

5. What contemporary novel should be added to the high school curriculum?
A Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

6. What book featuring real people do you think could work if the characters were switched to animals?
These questions are hard! Anything I can think of other people have all ready said and I don't want to copy, so I have no idea.

7. Genetically designed humans. Hell yes or absolutely not?
Hell no!

8. What book would you like to see get parodied a la Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?
NOTHING! Ruins a perfectly good book...

9. What book would you absolutely hate to see get parodied?
The Time-Traveller's Wife. I very randomly really enjoy that book.

10. TV. Awesome source of entertainment or horrifying time suck?
I don't really watch that much TV.

11. What literary character should immediately jump off the page and into your bed?
Something else I don't really think about! The sad thing is that the first thing that popped into my head was Skulduggery Pleasant... But, well, he's a skeleton, so that's a bit disturbing!

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 12

Television

Bomb Girls - This is a Canadian mini-series set during WWII. It is 6 parts and we watched the first two the other night just to see what it is like. It is actually rather interesting. I am just a bit disappointed that it is a Canadian show and it about the American war experience, but that is pretty much to be expected. I do still enjoy shows that centre around the female experience and the women that built the bombs during the second World War.

The Muppet Show: Season 1 -  I am trying this again. I have yet to make it to the end because of various problems, so I am determined to this time around. I have watched about 5 episodes lately. 

Star Trek: The Next Generation - We were hooked up with the seasons of this show. The guy has been skipping around watching favourite episodes, but I want to eventually go back and start from the beginning. I have always figured I have seen every episode, but I am curious if I have missed any. We actually watched the very last episode last night because I always rather enjoyed it and the guy had never seen it before.

And, just because this is a bit boring, here are some more Walk off the Earth videos:

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 11 and Friday Reads 4th Edition

I simply forgot to update my blog yesterday. I don't even have an excuse! Today is a snow day for the schools but so far there is very little snow. Casey is sitting in the window watching it fall, though. It is one of her favourite activities. She is in her glory as it is because some nice person dug all of her toys out from under the couch.

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 11

This was another quiet viewing week...

Television

BBC Sherlock Holmes Season 1 - I started this show back in December, but I just kept failing to get back to it. In the end I watched the first episode 3 times. I was supposed to review this in more depth with a couple other people, but not sure what is going on now.

Once Upon a Time - We finally caught-up in this show. I am still really enjoying it! We watched 1 episode one night and the other 2 another. I am looking forward to the new episode on Sunday! 

Friday Reads 4th Edition

I finished my other short story collection, so I decided to see what this one was like. I am not even sure where it came from, but it fits in with the Science-Fiction Experience. I have only read the first story so far.

I have owned this book forever! I am happy that I am finally getting around to it. This is for a buddy read with Ana from things mean a lot. I think this is the first time I have ever read any of Kingsolver's non-fiction, but she writes really well.

I cannot remember for sure where I heard of this book, but when it arrived for me at the library the other day I decided to see what it was all about. It is easy to read a bit of it here and there.

Reading this book right now is just silly because I have so much else on the go, but I am actually quite enjoying it. I have been reading it slowly for the first little while. 

I did get a chance to read a  large chunk of this yesterday. I started it at the beginning of the month, but then it was sort of sat down and not picked up again. It is a really good book but there is only so much time in a day and I read too many books at a time.

I did actually read some of this since my last post, but I STILL haven't finished book 1. I am not sure why I am reading this book so slowly. I think the key is not to keep putting it down because then it takes me forever to get back to it. I am enjoying it, but it is not knocking my socks off... I will hopefully get back to it soon.

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 10 and Friday Reads 3rd Edition

Hi! I hope that even if you are not interested in the actual content of this post you will at least pop by to offer your impressions on my new template. I am very excited about it! It was designed by Alex at Le Canape. I think she did an awesome job and that it really suits me. I have been rearranging things a bit, but if you have any suggestions feel free to chime in.

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 10

This was actually a quiet viewing week...

Movies

Horrible Bosses - You know how everyone has celebrity crushes? Well, the guy is a huge fan of Jennifer Aniston. If she is in a movie I know that I eventually will have to see it. This worked out well when I wanted to see Marley and Me, though. I wanted to eventually see this one anyway, so I was glad that we sat down and watched it the other night. It was funny, but I expected better. It could have been a lot better than it was, though. There was not as much humour and laugh out loud moments as I would have liked.

Valkyrie - This was actually on television the other night. I am not a huge fan of Tom Cruise, but I like movies set during World War 2.  It was actually rather good. I wanted to see it when it came out, but forgot about it for a while there. I actually recommend it and would like to watch it again without the commercials.

Friday Reads - 3rd Edition

Hypothetically... I haven't had much time to read this lately and I really need to get back to it.

Also hypothetically... 

I am reading this now. My audio book plans have taken a vacation because the guy's mp3 player broke and he borrowed mine. He was at least nice enough to wait until I got this from the library. If I was a big audio book listener it would probably be a big deal, but where it was still relatively new I am good for the time being. The guy can't handle not having music, so I was nice.

I was hoping to at least finish this book tonight, but I went to see a play that my friend was in earlier, then I had to shovel the driveway, and now the guy is coming home early from work because of a heating issue in one of the apartments. It is mainly because we are both a bit concerned about the space heater they are using in the meantime...

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 9

New Fall Shows

I was so excited to watch Once Upon a Time last Sunday and then it wasn't on until partway through because of  a football game. I have it to watch, but I just haven't had a chance to since. I am really disappointed because I had waited all day to be able to watch. So, that's it for newish shows and I didn't even watch it. 

Older Shows

I have had all sorts of hopes, but I did not get around to any of the older shows I have been watching lately either. I was supposed to have watched Sherlock Holmes and I really want to watch Bones, but it just hasn't happened. Hopefully this week!

Movies

The guy has been a movie mood lately, so these are just the ones I have bothered to pay attention to lately. He has watched more.

16 Blocks - This movies stars Bruce Willis as a washed-up alcoholic cop. I wasn't super thrilled by the movie choice, he always seems to play the same role, but I have to admit it wasn't entirely bad. It is basically about a guy who is a witness and is to testify in court in order to be freed from his own life of crime. Bruce Willis has to take him 16 blocks to testify, but things do not work out as easy as all that... 

The Invasion - I wanted to see this movie back when it was in theatres, but then never got around to actually watching it until now. It was a science-fiction movie, so it was perfect for the month of January to coincide with the Science-Fiction Experience. It was also rather good. The guy says it is a new version of The Body Snatchers. I am proud to be able to say I have even heard of that movie before. I haven't seen it, though...

28 Days - I had seen this movie before, but the guy hadn't. We have combined our movie collections, but really do not branch into each others all that much. I always really liked this movie for some reason, probably Viggo Mortenson, and I think he enjoyed it for the most part.

Mercury Rising - Yeah, more Bruce Willis. The guy watched some interesting movies that I would have watched other than this one, but this is when I tuned in. Again, not a terrible movie, but mainly because I thought the little boy in it did a REALLY good job. Bruce basically just played himself...

Gothika - Now, this movie was strange. I didn't really know if I was going to like it, but it was actually not that bad. I seem to like movies and books that are tied in with mental institutions and this was no exception. It was another one that I thought looked interesting when it came out and then never got around to watching it. I think the guy liked it, too.

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 8

New Fall Shows

I haven't really watched any of them but I had to do a bit of a happy dance about Once Upon a Time returning this weekend! I am really excited because I have seen tid-bits here and there about what to expect in the coming episodes.

Older Shows

Bones - I started season 4. I love this show. It is really nerdy goodness. I wanted to watch more but we had a bit of technological problems and it sort of killed most of our watching recently. I am hoping to get back to it this week, though.

Big Bang Theory - I watched a bit of the 4th season of this show, too. It really is the funniest show on television, but I am a bit unreliable about actually watching it. It was also on as a marathon around Christmas so we saw lots of the older episodes. I love Sheldon I must admit. But really, the whole cast works really well together.

Movies

I call them movies, but really they are concerts. In the last little bit we have watched an Alice Cooper concert, a John Lennon tribute concert, and a Rush concert. We always get a few for Christmas. They were all really good. The John Lennon concert annoyed me because apparently John only had one child. It is really unfortunate that everything is centred around his one wife and nothing else seems to matter. Apparently he also didn't belong to this very famous band because the pictures skipped from before to happy days with his wife. That time in-between just didn't happen. Otherwise it was enjoyable! The Alice Cooper is entertaining just because it is Alice Cooper... And the Rush was my favourite, but it is sad that Geddy Lee can't sing the same way any more.

Star Wars Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back: I educated the guy on these movies, but we never finished. I can't believe he had never seen them before! We only made it through part of this movie before, so we finally watched the rest so we can move on to my favourite... 

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 7

Yes, this is a day late. I am impressed I am getting a chance to post period. I think it is because I am trying to avoid dealing with the snow that is falling at the moment. It was supposed to be just a nice covering, but we are reaching shovelling levels. I have about a million things I should be doing, but I am just going to pretend they don't exist for the moment.

On another note, I would like to thank everyone for the Christmas cards! I feel a bit bad because this is the second year in a row I didn't. I will have to try and actually get them out next year. Also, I apologize for not visiting all the blogs for Virtual Advent. I will try and get a chance in the next few days.

Now, I should get this post finished so I can do the other things I really should be doing.

New Fall Shows

New Girl - I have every episode of this show so we can watch it, but we just never seemed to find the time. We finally had a bit of time the other night and caught up on the episodes we had missed. I honestly can't decide if I like this show. It is just a bit strange... We will have to see in the New Year if we keep it up. I still think I would have liked it better if the casting hadn't changed after the first episode. 

Movies

Jim Henson CNN People Profiles, 1999 - I was looking for something on YouTube and this came up. I figured I would check it out and it was actually rather interesting. I enjoyed watching Henson grow-up in the show-business world and I actually learned a lot. It is still a real shame he died so young.

Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas - It might have actually been this movie that lead me to the special above. I hadn't seen it in years and I think they mentioned it on Tor.com. I had to track down a way to watch it. It's a great little movie and a perfect holiday film. If you haven't seen it, you should. It is from 1977 and includes the voices of all of your favourite Muppets. 

The Smurfs - The other day I 'cleaned' the channels off the TV. There were some coming up that we didn't actually have. Needless to say, I seemed to have found a few channels. This movie was playing on one of them and I decided to give it a watch. I really enjoyed The Smurfs when it was on television, but not enough to flock to the theatres to see the movie. It was cute. The only problem I had with it was the cat vomited in one of the scenes and I was eating lunch at the time. 

Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol - If you follow me on Facebook you may have noticed where I said I started to watch this movie... I just thought it was terrible. I am thinking I only like this classic tale if it has a Muppet or cartoon character in it. So, I turned it off partway through to watch:

Muppet Christmas Carol - I love this movie! It is one of the movies I make sure to watch every Christmas. I introduced people to it over the years. It is just a fun movie and a great holiday tradition!

And, I did forget some movies last week where I hadn't posted the week before. They were:

Grown-ups - I REALLY wanted to see this movie at theatres, but we never made it. I thought it had an amazingly funny cast and would be fun to see. It was! I enjoyed it and am glad I finally got a chance to see it. It is not my favourite movie ever, but sometimes you just need to laugh.

The King's Speech - I don't get it... I am starting to think that I never agree with the Academy. It wasn't a terrible movie, but I found it boring at times and the cc stopped watching entirely. I actually wound up shutting it off about halfway through and then watching it by myself a few days later.

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 5

Older Shows

NCIS - We are just about at the end of season 5. Finally! It is not that I don't like the show, but there is lots of other things that I would like to get to one of these days. I am starting to think we were not planning well when we decided to re-watch all the seasons. It is a huge commitment that has lead a few times to having to watch episodes again because someone fell asleep during them. We stopped watching the other night because I was getting cranky and in need of something else.

Bones - I finished the 3rd season. It was actually pretty short, so didn't take very long. I am really enjoying this show! I don't have my own copies, though, so I have been holding the seasons up at the store and saying *hint hint*. I have seen them for relatively cheap lately. I will resume watching soon, but with the whole getting tired of NCIS I decided to take a break for a bit with this show.

Big Love - As I mentioned in my post on Love Times Three, I was curious about this show and decided to give it a watch. I only sort of heard of it before because we don't have the channel it aired on. I am about halfway through the first season and it isn't terrible, but it isn't the best thing I have ever watched before either. I probably will watch the entire show one day, but in the meantime I am thinking there is some other stuff I would like to watch more.

New Fall Shows

Once Upon a Time - The guy was at work when this episode aired, so I waited for him. We finally watched it last night and I continue to love the show! It is fun that the show continues to explore favourite characters from my childhood and there are still many more characters to be introduced. I look forward to next weeks episode!

Grimm - After watching Once Upon a Time, we decided to catch-up with this show, too. I have seen the third episode 3 times now. The guy fell asleep twice and I don't think he was home one of the times. I told him last night that I refuse to watch it again, so we were moving on. I enjoyed this episode much more than the previous one. I am just not a big fan of bees... I was particularly interested in this episode because it centred around 'Bluebeard'. The show continues to have a couple problems for me, mainly the lack of female characters in roles other than the victim, but otherwise it is interesting. For those that are interested I was just recently introduced to the Grimm Guide. This is very useful because I was baffled after watching the third episode what tale it was based on. This site answers those questions for you!

Movies

Murder by Death - I never know what to watch when it comes to movies, so just like with music I have been borrowing ideas from the lists provided to Debi for her Happiness Project. In this case it is a movie recommended by Pat (deslily). When I saw it had Peter Falk and Alec Guinness in it I knew I had to give it a watch. It was a lot of fun! I am very glad I was able to track down a copy. I am sure we will watch other movies off the list if we can track down copies.

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 4

Older Shows

NCIS - We finally have returned to our re-watch of this show. At the rate we are going we may get to season 8 in this century. There is just always too much else going on, so we are slow. We should have watched the 8th season and then gone back and re-watched everything that came before it. Something along those lines! We continue to enjoy the show, but I want to see something new...

Bones - I have been watching the 3rd season of this show recently. It was a short season, so must have been the year of the writer strike. It continues to be good so far and I am looking forward to seeing what else plays out in this season.

Community - We watched the first season of this show on NetFlix, but they didn't have the second season on there. Now that we have it, we have been watching an episode here and there. The episodes are also shorter, so they fit in when we don't have a lot of time for longer watching.

House - I actually watched the new episode of House last night just to get a feel for what is happening in the show. It's interesting, to say the least. I haven't been watching because I haven't entirely watched the season before it. I should have by now, but I have been busy with Bones and NCIS. If I have it on, the cc will watch House, but he is not a big fan.

New Fall Shows

Once Upon a Time - This show was sadly not on this week. I am looking forward to the next episode!

Grimm - I haven't had a chance to watch the new episode yet. I have plenty of time to catch-up because I think this show is on a bit of a hiatus for the next little while.

I continue to be behind in shows like New Girl, The Secret Circle, and A Gifted Man. I really must stop watching Bones long enough to catch-up!

Movies

We were going to watch a movie the other night, but I couldn't make up my mind what to watch. Any suggestions?

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 3

Older Shows

Bones - I finished the second season of the show. I think I am going to take a break, though. This is the fastest I have watched a show pretty much ever and there are other things needing my attention. I really enjoy the show so far, though, and have even started the first book by Kathy Reichs. It is very different so far! I am not sure I would have read it otherwise, but someone I know has the whole set and I figured I would see what I thought.

NCIS - We are still on the same season of this show we have been on for a while. At this rate I should have asked for something else for my birthday and saved NCIS for Christmas. It will be after the holidays before we watch it, anyway. We tried to watch it over the weekend, but just when we would get around to it the cc would have fallen asleep.

New Fall Shows

Once Upon a Time - We continue to both love this show. It is so much fun! I love fairy tales, so it just stands to reason that this would be the show for me. I am still surprised that the cc enjoys it, too. We are looking forward to episode 4 on Sunday.

Grimm - I am all caught up in this show again. I really enjoyed the 'Little Red Riding Hood' and 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' story-lines for the first two episodes, but then I was a little confused with the third episode. I had never read a Grimm story with bees before. I guess it does exist, but I hate bees. It was not my favourite episode of television ever. I hope they get back to more recognizable tales next week. I still don't love this show, but it is enjoyable enough.

Movies

No movies again this week. We have been too busy to watch much of anything together. This weekend is going to be hectic again because I am FINALLY getting a new kitchen floor. I imagine there will be pictures because I am very very excited. I absolutely despise the current floor. It is likely 15 or 20 years old. We had flooring picked out, but it meant either a new fridge or renovating the cupboards. The guy would like to avoid renovating the cupboards. I hated the new fridge option. So, we just got entirely different flooring...

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 2

Older Shows

Bones - I am going back and watching the first season of this show at the moment. I am really enjoying it! I have watched this show over the years, but not religiously. I know the basic storyline, but it is nice to go back and watch it from the beginning. This is what I have been doing instead of reading. Although, I am actually reading tonight. I just paused to write this post. Anyway, good show! I have access to the whole show, so I am looking forward to it!

NCIS - The guy and I continue our rewatch of this show. I actually cannot remember if we have watched anything since last Thursday. We were busy on the weekend and then the guy worked backshifts, so I don't think there was much time for it. Regardless, we are still on season 4.

Does anyone still watch Glee? I really liked the first season because I enjoyed the music aspect, but the teenage angst was getting to me. Is it worth checking out what I missed of the second season and starting in on the third?

New Fall Shows

Once Upon a Time - It is official. I love this show! We went away on Sunday to stay overnight in a hotel and I made us return to said hotel just so we could watch the new episode. I am terrible at keeping up with shows, so this was very impressive! The guy likes it, too, which is surprising. I tell him all the time if he actually read he would read the same sort of stuff as me. He doesn't believe me, but I am right! (Well, with a few exceptions... I highly doubt he would read young adult no matter how appealing it might seem. That being said, if he didn't know it was young adult he would probably pick it up...) Anyway, this show has huge potential. It is fitting that one of the stars left another one of my favourite shows, House, and found her way to this one.

I still have not caught up in Grimm, The Secret Circle, or A Gifted Man. This can easily be blamed on my recent obsession with the first season of Bones. On another note, the book I am reading tonight is the first book in L.J. Smith's series that The Secret Circle is based on. I am not very far in, but I might as well be reading something entirely different. The show is hugely different than the books... I still do want to get back to the show and the other shows I supposedly watch!

Movies

No movies this week. If I hadn't had a bit of a Bones evening while the guy was working back shift, I don't think we would really have watched anything this week...

What did you watch? Anything of note?

Tuning in on Thursday

We tend to tune in for movies and television on a mostly regular basis. I posted a general look at what I have been watching a couple weeks ago, but I thought I would talk a bit about what I have seen since.

Older Shows

NCIS - We are up to the fourth season on our rewatch. One of these days we will make it to the newest season that I received for my birthday. We didn't watch it on television religiously, so I am rather curious what happened! We can only watch so fast, though, and other things have been vying for attention.

House - I received the newest season on DVD for my birthday. I still haven't sat down and started watching it. I have had other things going on. The guy will watch it, but it is more my show than his. He isn't big on needles. My thing is anything to do with eyes... This also means I haven't watched any of the season airing on television. I have been hearing it is gone in a strange direction, though.

Bones - I decided to go back to the beginning and watch all the episodes of this show. I have made it through one. Very sad! I really like this show, but I just never remember to watch it unless I happen to catch it on television...

New Fall Shows

New Girl - I haven't watched this show since episode 3... I have episode 4 to watch, so maybe tonight we will at least watch that one. I am not even sure how far behind that makes us. I have to admit I REALLY liked the first episode, but then there was a cast change and I was a bit disappointed...

The Secret Circle - I have also fallen behind with this show. Did I mention I am really bad at keeping up with things? I have all of them to watch, but I just haven't got around to it. We might have to pause on NCIS and catch-up on a few things!

I have also fallen behind on Pan-Am and A Gifted Man. I really suck at keeping up with things!

Once Upon a Time - I LOVED this show. The first two episodes were awesome! I love fairy tale retellings and this has been a lot of fun so far. I think the guy even likes it. He doesn't really say because he is basically forced to watch it! I cannot wait for more!

Grimm - There has only been one episode of this so far. It is another fairy tale-type show. I am intrigued, but I can't say I loved the first episode. I look forward to the next one to see what I think of it. I think I will keep watching no matter what.

Movies

The Three Lord of the Rings Movies - I watched these and then decided to join in for the read-along of The Fellowship of the Ring. I am thinking I will have to rewatch the movies after finishing Return of the King in November. This is only the second time I have seen the extended versions of the movies. I have to admit it had been so long since I had seen the older versions that I probably missed a lot of the changes. It was still great to watch them. It was the first time that the cc had seen the extended versions. It gives me a good basis to compare and contrast the books as I reread them.

Jane Eyre - I finally read this book, so it was perfect timing for seeing the new movie. It was actually pretty good. It wasn't amazing and probably not my favourite movie ever, but I thought it was true to the book enough to be worth a watch. There were a few scenes that were cut out I would have liked seeing, but nothing major. It was a perfect Gothic movie for this time of the year, actually. I am glad I finally read the book and watched the movie.

Rebecca - When I read this book last year I knew I was going to have to watch the movie. It is the Alfred Hitchcock version and you can actually watch the entire thing on YouTube. I was very happy to have the chance to watch this! It was really good, I must admit. I think it perfectly captured the atmosphere and the mood of the classic novel. I am going to see about tracking down a copy to own.

Seven Year Itch - The guy wanted to watch this movie because of the classic Marilyn Munroe scene where her dress flies up. Overall, nothing amazing, but not a terrible movie. It is about time I got back to watching classic movies after doing rather well with it earlier this year. I have many more that I want to watch!

Volcano - I had actually seen this before, but the guy was home sick from work and he was having a movie night. I didn't see everything he watched, but I did watch this one. It is pretty good Tommy Lee Jones movie. It was nice to see the little girl from Now & Then. I loved that movie!

Bad Teacher - We actually watched this last night. It had its good parts, but overall I think most of the good scenes were in the trailer. My favourite Cameron Diaz movie remains The Holiday. That was actually on television the other night and it was nice to get a chance to see parts of it again. I will have to get my own copy at some point.