Two Degrees and Separation

PHILLIP PHILLIPS!!!!!

Dude, I was so happy when they announced his name.

What a pretty great finale, right?

I will say, though, as super happy as I was that Phillip won, I felt really bad for him. They literally called his name, handed him a trophy, took away his trophy, shoved his guitar at him, then expected him to sing his coronation song, “Home.” Poor kid made it through a handful of bars before his voice cracked and then he lost it. His eyes filled with tears, his mouth filled with confetti, and he just shrunk back from the mic and played his guitar while taking some much needed moments to himself. He couldn’t even finish the song – just before it was over, he took of his guitar, walked off stage and went straight to the open arms of his family. It was really a very emotional and powerful moment. I mean, I know it’s televised for all the world to see, but this was such a public private moment that I felt bad for watching it unfold. If they would have just given him some time to himself to process it all before expecting him to sing a song… that would have at least been polite. He just looked so overwhelmed. It was painfully endearing, but just so very awkward to watch in that I wish they would have just given him some time to feel the gamut of emotions before forcing him to sing for the masses.

The finale on a whole was pretty solid. I very much enjoyed the guys and Neil Diamond singing (well, the guys sang… Neil Diamond kinda just talks out all his lyrics). I thought Skylar singing with Reba was cute. Phillip singing with John Fogerty was AMAZING (j’adore JOhn Fogerty, yo). Jordin Sparks OWNED her duet with poor little Hollie. The Jennifer Holiday/Jessica Sanchez version of “And I Am Telling You” was CUH-RAZY. Like… I was convinced Jennifer Holiday was possessed or something. That woman had crazy eyes and looked like she was bouts ready to eat her microphone and/or Jessica. Aerosmith was great. J-Lo’s songs were good. (I zoned out during Rihanna… my mom was making us caramel corn and that was way more interesting than Rihanna’s performance… at least to me.)

For me, though, the most AWKWARD part of the whole night was Ace Young’s marriage proposal to Diana DeGarmo. First of all… it was beyond cheesy when he name-dropped the brand of the ring (I get that it was product placement, but that was not very tastefully done.). Second of all, it was hella awkward watching the whole thing unfold. I mean, I am super happy for them (I liked both of them on their respective seasons… I even met Ace by some random happenstance at a Starbucks in LA back in 2006 – I tried to attach a picture, but my computer won’t let me ), but it was just a little awkward. I mean, it was super cute and adorable (yay – she said yes!), but it was awkward. Right?

ANYWAY

I’m super happy Phillip won. I will totally buy his albums and try my damnedest to see him in concert. I think he’s a great performer and I like his style of music a lot.

Yay Phillip 🙂

Well… I’m off to read and write some. I gotta get up early to pick up a friend from the airport – woot.

Have a good one

What a crap finale.

That doesn’t spoil anything for anyone… I just wanted to start this off by being completely honest. While there were a few great moments in the finale tonight, on a whole I was unimpressed and flat-out upset with some of the plot points.

(NOTE – my internet is still actin’ a fool… I will link out to videos and audio clips as soon as I can!)

So… for the last time for Season 3 (SPOILER ALERT for Goodbye)

The show opened with the original 5 Glee club members (Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Artie and Rachel) singing “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” and it cut between the present and the Season 1 pilot. My heart instantly went AWWWWWWWWWW and I not so secretly hoped the whole episode would give me the same kind of feelings that this little scene did. It was so special to see just how far these kids have come in 3 seasons. I got all nostalgic for Season 1 and I was ready to open my mind and heart to embracing this Season 3 finale.

Sadly, this feeling would not last for the entire episode.

Mr. Schue gave the kids their final assignment – Goodbye. The graduating kids were supposed to sing songs for the non-graduating kids, while the underclassmen were to sing songs for the seniors.

Each senior got a chunk of the show specifically for them:

KURT – Kurt walked down the hall musing how much he grew over the past 3 years. He spent some of his freshman year in the closet and in the dumpsters. But, now he’s out, has friends/is friendly to others, and has dreams of getting out. The very best part of the episode was when Kurt meets up with his dad in the auditorium and his dad gives him his graduation present. Burt, Tina and Brittany did the Single Ladies dance, and it might have been the greatest couple minutes on television ever. Like the opening number, this scene cut between Burt’s version and Kurt’s original Single Ladies dance from “Preggers” (Season 1, Epsiode 3). Mike O’Malley deserves ALL THE AWARDS for completely committing to the choreography. Ohmygoodness, I laughed so hard I almost choked on my Subway chocolate chip cookie.

Kurt and Blaine also had the most minute of talks discussing the potential downfalls of a long-distance relationship. Blaine brought it up, even though Kurt didn’t really want to talk about it. Blaine kinda gave Kurt an out if he wanted to not do a long distance relationship. Theboys brought up The Notebook. Kurt said he’d like for them to end up like the couple in The Notebook and that he wants to end up in a nursing home, telling stories about his first love. BUT, unlike The Notebook, Kurt wanted Blaine to be there with him and for both of them to remember everything.

You surely know by now that I ship Klaine so hard that you can call me Captain Smith. I will go down with this ship. As I mentioned in my glee-cap last week, Klaine hasn’t kissed since “The First Time” (which aired November 8, 2011). So, all I wanted this episode was a Princess Bride-level kiss for Klaine. Every other couple kissed last week… in this episode of saying Goodbye and with Kurt potentially leaving his boyfriend for the bright lights and big city of NYC, I wanted a Klaine kiss. Simple as that, right?

NOPE. No Klaine kisses. Besides them holding each other’s hands while talking about not breaking up because of distance, we barely got any Klaine contact. This epically stable couple spent a majority of the episode staring at each other from at least 3 feet away. They gave knowing looks, but that’s about as far as we got with them. Blaine handed Kurt a handkerchief when he was about to walk across the stage to graduate, but that’s all. Even in the last scene, when everyone was together to say Goodbye to Rachel, Kurt and Blaine were physically separated by Puck.

SO… thanks for nothing, Glee writers. What have you got against Klaine? (Speaking of TPTB being against Klaine… remember how I said that Fox was supposed to give us Klaine merch since they were voted Best Couple in some online poll? Well, HERE IT IS. They share the spotlight with other Superlative winners… you might not know this, but that is Season 2 Kurt and Season 3 Blaine. They may be Best Couple, but these ugly pieces of merch are the ONLY things that Blaine appears on in the Fox/Glee strore. They are also in the Thunderclap, but that’s IN a book, not on a book… I’m not buying any of this. Nope.)

But I digress.

OH, and remember how Kurt KILLED his NYADA audition a few weeks ago by singing “Not the Boy Next Door”? Yeah, he didn’t get in. I was super sad about this… especially because (1) it didn’t appear that Kurt applied anywhere else and (2) there was no Klaine scene after he found out, so we don’t know how Blaine took the news, what Kurt’s plans are now… really we don’t know anything about Kurt’s future because apparently Glee is The Rachel Berry Show (and frankly, I am sick of it.) I at least wanted a scene where Burt told Burt he didn’t get in. More Papa Hummel, please. ALL THE TIME.

MERCEDES – She didn’t get a huge to-do. BUT, we did find out she got a contract as a background singer for an indie label in LA and she’ll be taking courses at UCLA. And Samcedes is adorable. #justsayin

MIKE CHANG – I’m fairly sure he’ll be in Chicago in some dance company. I think. I honestly kinda blanked out during his scene because I was probably super frustrated about other plot lines. (Sorry Mike Chang… I love you.)

SANTANA – You could tell she was a tad jealous of everyone else’s plans. She got a scholarship into a cheerleading program in Kentucky, but decided she wanted to go to New York instead of going to college. Her mom (Gloria Estefan!!) was not super happy about that, but she wasn’t super mad either. She gave her daughter a check and told her that it was her college savings and that she should use it for NYC. Good for you, Santana. Get out of Ohio… and maybe get a new girlfriend. I mean, I like Brittana and everything, but Brittany isn’t graduating (seriously… a 0.00 GPA?). Santana shouldn’t stick around in Ohio to watch Brittany go through Senior Year 2.0. shrug

QUINN – I was never a fan of Quinn. I was glad she stopped being crazy and could walk again. But, I never really liked her. I always thought she was too much into herself and her own social standing. This episode she seemed to be really clingy and affectionate toward Joe and Artie (they must have bonded a lot off screen, friends-wise, when she was in her wheelchair), but she kissed Puck and told him that she loved him because he was her first. She helped him study for his European Geography test. She also had a nice-ish scene with Sue. Quinn tried to give back her Cheerios uniform, but Sue refused and said it was to be retired. They shared a hug and Quinn said she was going to miss Sue. In a very un-Sue moment, Sue had tears in her eyes (Sue, I think your Jane Lynch was showing…) as she hugged her in a sort of motherly fashion. Quinn is off to Yale. And apparently she’s good enough friends with Rachel Berry that she bought Rachel a metro pass from NYC to Connecticut. Aw, how nice.

PUCK – Oh, Puck, how I love you so. Poor kid still thinks of himself as a loser. Coach Beiste and Quinn helped him study for his Euro Geo test and guess what… he got a C-! (Or, a Puckerman A, as he called it.) So, the boy is graduating! He sang Glory Days and it was nice. It is still unclear if he is sticking around Lima or will be going out to Cali to start his own pool cleaning business. Maybe he and Mercedes can kick it in LA.

FINN – Oh, Finn. I actually liked your character for a few minutes during this episode. That hasn’t happened much this season, so props to you, Cory Monteith, for making me care about Finn again (even if only for a little bit).

One of the other highlights of this episode, for me, was when Finn went into Mr. Schue’s office to get his Thunderclap back from the glee teacher. Mr. Schue didn’t write anything meaningful in it, but both men kind of expressed what the other meant to him. I loved that they finally had some closure regarding Mr. Schue planting a packet of weed in Finn’s locker in order to blackmail him into joining Glee club in the Season 1 Pilot. Finn wasn’t even pissed when he found out… instead he told Mr. Schue that he was cooler than he thought. Nice.

Finn had his heart set on 2 things – getting his dad’s standing changed to an honorable discharge from the army and getting into Pace. Guess what same 2 things Finn did not accomplish by the end of this episode… yeah. I was not surprised with either of those outcomes. Obviously Finn was not going to get into Pace (sorry, bro) and it was going to be damn near impossible for him to clear his dad’s name.

HOWEVER, Finn totally brought it during the last scene. He picked Rachel up in his truck to bring her to their wedding but instead brought her to the train station. (I should say here that Racherl did get into NYADA… I will explain my thoughts on this in her section. Trust me, I have many thoughts about this.) In his truck, he told her that she could not defer for a year (like she planned) and that she was to be on the 4:25 (?) train to NYC to meet with her dads and find a dorm room. He told her that she has to surrender and go live out her dream. He also broke up with her. Yeah… that was kinda intense. He asked her if she was 100% sure about marrying him. She wasn’t, but he was 100% sure about marrying her, which is why he dumped her so that she could go to NYADA and be the star that he knows she is. There was a lot of ugly crying (on Rachel’s part), but I’m kinda glad he did what he did. He didn’t want to hold her back. AND, to keep her from following him, he signed up for the army. So, while she’s in New York, he’ll be in Georgia at Fort Bennington (I think that was the name of it…). I thought this was BRILLIANT. (Yes, a rare moment of awesome in an otherwise epically MEH finale). For the record, I still think Finchel is endgame (though, I would be tickled pink if somehow Jesse St. James got into NYADA next year and he and Rachel had a bit of a go… only for that to end super messy and then Finchel can happen again, I guess.).

RACHEL – UGH.

I hate how Glee is The Rachel Berry Show and everyone else is a supporting played in her life-long soap opera of getting everything she ever wanted while everyone else’s dreams and chances for solos swirl down the drain.

Rachel literally got everything she wanted (well, I guess except for Finn…). She was Prom Queen (didn’t get nominated, but somehow won). She got into NYADA (she choked on her audition, then annoyed the hell out of Whoopi Goldberg’s character, but still got in). She’s going to NYC (without her fiancé and gay bff, but hey… she’s Rachel Berry and is going to be studying Broadway near Broadway and that’s all that matters). And she’ll eventually get Finn back too (I’m fairly sure of this.). So, go ahead and ugly cry, Rachel, because EVERYTHING’S COMING UP BERRY. (Feel free to insert the music from “Gypsy” here.)

I am beyond upset that Rachel got into NYADA. I might have been able to stomach it if Kurt would have gotten in too… but for him to nail his audition and not make it and her to epically choke and still make it is frustrating for me, as a viewer of this show. Kurt’s had a hard 3 seasons… the kid came out, got bullied, his dad had a heart attack, he got assaulted/threatened, he lost the lead in the musical b/c of his own boyfriend, he lost the Senior Class President election because of Rachel stuffing the ballot box, didn’t get a proper solo at Nationals either year, and then didn’t make it into NYADA even though he did a flawless audition. Rachel had 3 boyfriends, the lead in the musical, had a shit-ton of solos, was in a bunch of clubs, was engaged to Finn (Oh yeah… Kurt can’t even get engaged if he wanted to b/c gay marriage is illegal in Ohio… so, there’s that), has two dads that love and support her, got reconnected with her birth mother, and still got into college even though she bombed so hard on her audition.

So… you can see why I’m rooting for Kurt. He has to overcome so much adversity. Rachel basically gets stuff handed to her via the writers. I don’t know why… she’s not very likable.

I will admit that I was happy she got dumped. Really, it was for the best. She gets to go to school in New York. NEW YORK. I would have given anything to go to school in New York (I have 4 or 5 rejection letters from NYU, Columbia and one of the SUNY’s, in addition to a Teaching Program I applied for in NYC… it was my dream to go to school there, okay?). So, she can wipe away her ugly creys, suck it up, and kick ass at NYADA. She best succeed there. If she got in and Kurt didn’t, then she best EARN her spot there.

And that’s basically what happened. People graduated. There was not enough Klaine or Mike Chang. Oh… there were songs. Let’s see…

Mr. Schue sang “Forever Young” (snooooooooze fest)
Kurt sang “I’ll Remember” (meh)
Rachel sang “Roots Before Branches” (ugly creys)
The underclassman/Mr. Schue sang “In My Life” (this was pretty solid)
Puck sang “Glory Days” (I love Puck. And this song.)
Somewhere in the middle of the show, the seniors sang a song to the underclass man… I will post a link later.

So yeah…

I was underwhelmed with the Glee finale. The only reasons I’ll stick around for Season 4 are (1) Darren Criss… I’m assuming he’s still going to be on the show as Blaine b/c Blaine will be a senior next year and (2) the music. The songs are catchy. Glee music is a majority of what I listen to these days (besides Broadway, really…)

Shrug

What did you think of the finale? Did you like it? Did you cry? Did you laugh? Did you wish it was different? Are you as sick of all things Rachel Berry as I am?

Le sigh.

(END SPOILERS)

Well… I’m off to work on my script. I’m on Page 81!

Have a good one… or at least try after than fiasco of a Glee finale

This is going to be a super short post, but I just had to express my epic love of the BBC’s Sherlock. The finale of Series 2 aired tonight on PBS and I was legit yelling at my television for the bulk of the episode. Mostly I was screaming “OH MY GOD, THIS IS INTENSE.” And then near the end of the episode, my mom and I were debating whether someone was actually dead or not. Luckily I was right.

If you don’t watch Sherlock (the one w/Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman), do not pass Go, do not collect $200.. stop what you are doing now and find it and watch it. Like, now. It’s so good. It’s so smart and dark and the music is AMAZING.

Just, watch it.

Please.

Have a good one

I will be furious if Jessica wins American Idol next week. America already voted her off once this season… I think it would be ridonkulous and wrong if she won this whole thing.

#justsayin

I actually yelled at my television when Ryan announced she was safe. She seems like a really nice girl, but I just haven’t really seen her connect with her songs the way Joshua and Phillip did/do.

SO… I will be voting for Phillip Phillips next week. I have been since the get-go this season, I’m not stopping now.

I’m gonna go buy Phillip’s songs on iTunes (Well, “Beggin'” and “We’ve Got Tonight” at least) and then work on my script.

Have a good one

Did you watch the show tonight? Holy hell, friends… Phillip and Joshua NEED to be in the American Idol finale next week like I need air.

Joshua killed all three of his songs tonight. Like, SLAYED them. The Etta James song the judges picked for him was flawless, his rendition of “Imagine” was gorgeous, and then his version of “No More Drama”… ohmygoodness. My heart was pounding. Like, seriously… pounding. The way he just pours every ounce of himself into each and every song is ridiculous. He connects with every word – you can see it in his eyes. (THIS is one of the major reasons why he has separated himself from Jessica Sanchez. Both of them belt it out like whoa, but the way he interprets his songs is completely different then how she does it. Jessica sings songs, but she doesn’t connect to them. It’s all about song choice… and while Jessica manages to sing her songs pretty decently, Joshua FEELS his songs, and in doing so, lets us feel them too.)

Joshua deserves not only to be in the finale next week, but that kid should win the whole thing.

That being said, Phillip Phillips needs to be in the finale too.

I was BEYOND excited when he started singing “Beggin‘”. Dear Lord, I love the original version of that song, but Phillip Phillip’s take on it was mesmerizing. This was my favorite song of the night, by far… while I loved Joshua’s “No More Drama” a lot, I LOVED “Beggin’.” He was just in the zone … it was so up-tempo and fun. I just really love this song. So much. This might have been one of my favorite performances on Idol ever, to be perfectly honest.

While I wasn’t super over the moon with Phillip Phillip’s second song (Matchbox 20’s “Disease”), I was DYING (in the best way possible) while he sang “We’ve Got Tonight.” You could tell the kid was nervous, as he sat on that stool and rubbed his hand up and down his thigh. But, boy, when he opened his eyes (which didn’t happen often, but enough), you could tell he knew what he was singing. His performance was one of the most vulnerable and intimate moments on that show and I seriously hope it helps him earn a spot in that finale next week. LIke Joshua, Phillip Phillips manages to really get into those lyrics and interpret them as if they were his own original thoughts. You can tell which songs he seems to really believe in and those that he doesn’t (I.e. all those duets he was forced to sing).

Joshua and Phillip Phillips are artists. Jessica is a singer. We have plenty of “singers” out there… we need more artists.

So, it was Glee Tuesday and we got two brand spankin’ new episodes.

That being said, this will likely be the shortest Glee-cap you’ll ever get from me.

(SPOILERS for PROPS and NATIONALS)

Props

I’ve seen the Klaine Halloween clip too many times to count, so I was pleased that this opened the show. This is basically all the Klaine we got for the whole two hours tonight (which I will touch on later, toward the end of Nationals…)

I loved that Tina was such a huge part of this episode. I love Jenna’s voice so much and it really is a shame that her character (TINA COHEN-CHANG!) has been put on the back burner for 3 seasons. It was nice to see/hear her get 1 1/2 solos tonight for once. Girl can SANG. Her bumped head-turned AU was quite comical. I laughed heartily at Puck-as-Blaine making heart eyes at Finn-as-Kurt. Quinn-as-Sugar was a riot! OMG, I laughed so hard. Also, Blaine-as-Puck… though he had no lines (and I’m super biased), I thought Darren had Mark Salling’s body language down to a science. (Same goes for Kurt-as-Finn… Chris Colfer nailed that. Like whoa.)

My mom thought Tina-as-Rachel was guest star Charice from last season… it took me a few minutes to explain that it was Tina-as-Rachel.

The most important story line in the “Props” episode for me was NOT Rachel trying to get another NYADA audition, but Beiste and Puck’s plot lines. Coach Beiste FINALLY left her husband. I was really scared for her, holding that knife over the sink (and saying that she slept with one under her pillow…). I mean, I sleep with a 33″ aluminum softball bat next to my bed, but that’s for piece of mind. Her character did that because she was scared – not only of her husband harming her, but of her own love for the husband who harmed her. It was so intense when she was confronting Cooter… and then Puck. Dear Jesus, I just wanted to reach through my television and give that kid a hug.

That scene in the locker room between Puck and Beiste where Puck was telling about how his parents weren’t super supportive and how he was worthless and turned out like garbage just about broke me. I don’t cry while watching television, but I could feel some tears prickling up… I was so thankful when Beiste wrapped him in a hug because he just needed someone to show that they cared about him. And then their duet of “Mean”… le sigh. I’ve been listening to it on repeat for days now anyway and ain’t gonna stop any time soon. That song is just really great (I like Taylor Swift a little bit, okay? Geez. Those lyrics are important to me… “Someday, I’ll be livin’ in a big ol’ city and all your ever going to be in mean.” That means something to me. Like, more than you know.)

And then the episode ended after a Rachel/Tina duet.

OH – Sam Evans in this episode. OMG. Between his Darth Vader and Christopher Walken impressions, I almost fell off the couch.

NATIONALS

And the New Directions were off to Chicago to compete at Nationals against a team from Orgeon and Vocal Adrenaline (from Akron, OH… which KILLS me, because I lived in Akron, OH for a majority of my life. Oh, goodness.).

The Troubletones sang “Edge of Glory” (meh), Rachel sang “All Coming Back to Me” (Celine Dion power ballads are my jam… but I HATE when one person sings the whole song at a show CHOIR competition), then everyone sang “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (dude… I forgot how much I love this song). As I mentioned above, I am super biased w/regard to Darren/Blaine… so of course I was trying to watch him the whole time. I liked in their last number that Blaine kinda got to dance a bit with Kurt…

The NYADA lady (Whoopi Goldberg) showed up in the middle of the New Directions performance, so I’m sure Rachel will have a better shot at getting into NYADA now. At this point, I don’t really care anymore.

Vocal Adrenaline went next and sang two songs – both with Unique on lead. They sang Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” (I friggin’ LOVE this song… omg) and then they did “Pinball Wizard.” No show choir should ever sing this song ever because The Dartmouth Aires NAILED this song on The Sing Off. So, no other show choir (either real or fictional) should ever try and sing this song in competition ever again. Mmmmmkay?

And so, the New Directions won Nationals. (I was watching w/my mom, and she actually clapped when they won because she was so surprised. Then she asked me if it was a dream sequence 🙂 )

Oh… Lindsay Lohan, Perez Hilton and Rex Lee (though he didn’t play himself) were the Nationals judges. This was horrible casting. LiLo looks like a skeleton and somehow managed to lose all acting skillz she had in such gems are Mean Girls and The Parent Trap, while Perez had no skillz to begin with. (And he looks like a skeleton now too… yikes bikes.) But, I love Rex Lee.

The kids won, they were welcomed with open arms by their school upon their return. Emma decided it was finally time for her and Will to have sex (this was out of nowhere and kind of off putting… and by “kind of,” I mean “a lot”). Finchel kissed. Tike kissed. Britana kissed. And Klaine… well, they barely even stood by each other throughout the second half of the episode.

Klaine tangent. OKAY, so what’s the deal with this? It’s been established that Klaine is one of the most stable couples on that show. Usually we’re stuck watching Finchel or other random hetero couples make out on that show… but tonight, Britana got a full-out kiss, complete with a dip. But Klaine? Nada. I’m sure the whole of the fandom was like “Buh-what the hell, Fox?” Do you know how many episodes have had Kurt and Blaine? Thirty-three. (It would have been 35, but Blaine was not in “Comeback” or “Spanish Teacher”) Do you know how many episodes they’ve officially been a couple? Twenty-six. (I did count “Spanish Teacher, even though Blaine was not physically in the episode…) Do you know how many episodes we’ve seen Klaine kiss each other? Two. And do you know how many episodes are left until Kurt graduates from McKinley and is more than likely leaving his helmet-haired boyfriend in Ohio while he’s off taking NYC by storm? ONE.

The numbers just don’t add up.

At all.

If there isn’t a Princess Bride-level Klaine kiss in next week’s Season Finale, then something is seriously wrong with Fox and the Glee writers.

#justsayin

I have a theory that Fox/the Glee writers are more prone to show Britana PDA instead of Klaine PDA because woman/woman is much more palatable to the masses than man/man. I mean, think about it… for years (nay, decades) in television and film, we the audience have been much more exposed to women than men. Women’s bodies are an ever-present entity in our popular culture. If there is nudity in a film, it’s almost always a woman… her butt, her breasts, etc… I mean, Titanic (PG-13) had a bare-chested Kate Winslet posing for a drawing. But, if you show a man’s penis, that gets you a one-way ticket to an R rating (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, etc…) To be fair, nudity is just one aspect to a film’s rating. Language and violence also contribute to the ratings. However, I can’t think of any PG-13 movies off the top of my head that have male nudity in them. So… think about that for a minute.

To stereotype, male audiences are likely okay with naked/partially nude women or woman/woman relationships because they get to objectify/look at women’s bodies. Women likely tolerate seeing other women’s bodies and/or woman/woman relationships in television shows/films because it’s nothing we haven’t seen before (I mean, hello… we see boobs every day whether we want to or not. That’s just how it is when they are literally right there all the freakin’ time.). HOWEVER… it would appear that (to stereotype again) men are uncomfortable seeing other men’s bodies and seeing men showing affection for other men. Why? Do they feel threatened? Do they feel uncomfortable? I don’t know the answer to this… I’m a woman. (Though, studying “the male gaze” was part of my Film Theory & Criticism courses… so, I do have some educational background on this topic.) It would seem that on a whole, male audiences are more receptive to man/woman and woman/woman interactions/PDA than man/man. Is *this* why Glee shies away from Kurt and Blaine doing much more than maybe holding hands or hugging? Is Fox/Glee trying to appease the male demographic that they likely don’t have to begin with? It’s 2012. Get over yourselves and try and do these characters justice.

Did you know Fox/Glee had a Poll on Facebook where fans could vote for their favorite couple and then Fox will supposedly release merchandise with said couple on it? Klaine won… by a lot (the next closest couple was Britana). Klaine had over 40,000 votes (I believe) while Finchel had maybe 3,500. You can be damn sure I’m going to get some Klaine merch. Fox better keep their word on this.

(end Klaine tangent)

And then at the end of the episode, Finn and Rachel presented Mr. Schue w/the Teacher of the Year award. Awwww. Cue Queen’s “We Are the Champions” (such a solid song, man), and then roll credits to the promo…

I can’t believe next week is their graduation. What I did like from the promo was Papa Hummel doing the Single Ladies dance on the stage (right?!) and there appears to be a Klaine discussion… likely regarding if they will/will not do the long distance thing. Kurt said before (and in the promo said again) that he’s never saying goodbye to Blaine. YOU BEST NOT, KURT.

(end glee talk)

In other news, I’m super bummed that Maria got kicked off of the Dancing Show I wanted William to leave. Sigh.

Well… I’m going to go work on my script. I’m on page 67. buh-what?!

Have a good one

I’m typing this from a Mac, btw.

I love Apple products, but at the same time, I want to continually throw all of my Apple products against the wall.

I have a PowerBook G4 (10.4.11) and as of today, have an iPhone 4.

I CAN’T FRIGGIN’ SYNC MY iTUNES FROM MY COMPUTER ONTO MY PHONE BECAUSE THE iPHONE 4 WILL ONLY SYNC WITH iTUNES 10.0 OR HIGHER.

The 10.4.11 system cannot run iTunes 10.0 (or whatever the hell it is) or higher.

SOOOOOO… while my Dell/PC-loving siblings can plug their iPhones into their computers and sync whatever they want to sync, I (THE ONLY MAC USER IN THE WHOLE FAMILY) can’t even use my iPhone with my Mac properly because my Mac is sooooooo old that it doesn’t have the capabilities to handle the needs of the iPhone 4.

To this, I say: FUCK YOU, APPLE.

I have been on countless message boards today trying to troubleshoot this, but am finding the same thig everywhere… it would appear I need to upgrade my computer.

Well, guess what? I can’t afford to do that. I know I need a new computer, but TIMES ARE TOUGH, YO. A new computer isn’t exactly a priority right now, since my present Mac works just FUCKING FINE. (Also, for the record, the iPhone is a hand-me-down from my brother… I couldn’t afford one when they came out. But, he got a new phone, so I get his old one. That’s how I roll.)

Sorry about all the curse words… I’m just super pissed about this.

So, instead of being able to transfer the thousands of songs from my computer to my iPhone, I can only access 10 songs because I only bought 10 songs on iTunes ever. (How to I have so many songs? By putting my friggin’ huge CD collection onto my computer… it took FOREVER. And now I can’t put any of those songs on my phone because technology is stupid.)

I think it is extremely unfair for Apple products not to be able to work with other Apple products. I’m sorry I can’t afford to drop a bajillion dollars for the latest Apple technology. My super old iPod and Mac are working just fine… why would I replace them if (1) they are still working and (2) I can’t afford to buy new technology as fast as they are making it.

So… I am going to continue to troubleshoot. I think what’s going to happen is I’m not going to sing a solution and I will be stuck with just 10 songs on my phone instead of potentially thousands.

THANKS FOR NOTHING, APPLE PRODUCTS.

P.S. If anyone knows how to sync music from a PowerBook G4 10.4.11 to an iPhone 4 w/o having to upgrade the system/buy a new computer, please let me know!! (Thanks 🙂 )

So,

I’m sure you saw by now that the President said in an interview that he supports gay marriage.

WOOT.

I’m straight… why should I care so much about this?

Why SHOULDN’T I care so much about this? Equal rights for American citizens is super important. It makes me sick knowing that marriage equality is still an issue in this country. What the f**k is so wrong with a person loving another person so much that they want to get married? If you don’t support same sex marriage, then don’t marry someone of the same sex… SIMPLE AS THAT, FOLKS.

Honestly… what is the big deal with a guy marrying a guy or a woman marrying a woman? You know what ruins the sanctity of marriage? People who get married on a whim. People who divorce each other. People who cheat on their spouse. To me… if a group of people are fighting so hard to have their relationships recognized as legal, they aren’t going to ruin marriage. It’s the people who claim marriage is only between a man and a woman who are ruining marriage. It’s 2012. Pull your misinformed heads out of your asses and focus on the economy and education and clean energy. Gay marriage should be legal – the fact that it’s not is just silly at this point. Silly and sad.

It’s not fair to force your intolerant viewpoints on an entire sect of people when it really has nothing to do with you. All the politicians and citizens who are anti-gay marriage (more than likely) aren’t in a same-sex relationship. Who are they to tell same-sex couples how to conduct their lives? That doesn’t make any sense… (much like all these male politicians trying to tell all us lady citizens about OUR health care or lack thereof… but I digress)

Separation of Church and State, right?

RIGHT?!

It surely doesn’t seem that way when it comes to the gay marriage debate. I was watching a local Fox affiliate tonight (American Idol was on, yo…) and the anchor woman said something about “President Obama announced that he supports the gay marriage.”

Read that quote out loud to yourself.

Your reaction was probably similar to mine… “buh-what?!”

“the gay marriage”

Who writes your copy, anchor person?!

Anyway… I am happy the president voiced his support of gay marriage. Sure, I bet he’s trying to get the youth vote… well guess what, he’s got my vote. He done HAD my vote, but this just helps solidify it. I’m proud to have a President who supports marriage equality. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

You know what else made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Phillip Phillips and Joshua Ledet on American Idol tonight.

HOLY SHIT. Their second solo performances were AMAZING. Like, my mouth was hanging open.

Phillip Phillips sang a Damien Rice song. Now, I know a few of Rice’s songs, but I never heard “Volcano,” but oh my goodness… Phillip Phillips moved me with that performance. Those lyrics were just… I can’t even put it into words. All the feelings man, ALL OF THEM. The way he ended that song… my jaw dropped and I picked up my phone to dial his numbers then and there, but there was still 30 minutes of the show left before I could vote. His voice kills me, and that was probably the most perfect song he could have sung tonight. It was so haunting… and beautiful… and man, I have chills thinking about it right now. Jesus. That moved me.

You know what else moved me?

Joshua Ledet’s version of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.”

That boy took us to church and back… I was just shaking my head in my chair the whole time. That kid puts so much of himself into every performance and tonight was no exception. His voice is so powerful and they way he emotes just takes you to another place. I don’t know how he does it, but bless him and all his cows because his performance tonight was a gift to watch. Shit. Watch it and feel something.

Oh, and Jessica Sanchez can just go home. I wish female artists didn’t feel like they just have to belt everything. I thought both her songs tonight weren’t right… that Etta James song was WAAAAAAAAAAY to inappropriate for her (come on… a 16 year old singing about a late night hook up?) and that Dreamgirls song should just be banned from all singing shows. Jennifer Holiday and Jennifer Hudson killed that song. No one ever needs to sing it ever again in the future of singing.

My dog is currently standing on top of my feet right now, so I should see what she needs…

Have a good one.

So… prom.

I’m just gonna say right off the bat that last year’s prom episode was far superior.

That being said… here’s what happened tonight on Glee.

(SPOILERS for those who have yet to see 3×19 “Prom-A-Saurus”)

NOTE – I will link out to videos/audio as soon as possible. My internet is still slow as molasses and it’s hard to update my blog without my Internet crashing

The show opened with Rachel feeling super sorry for herself. (This was a theme throughout for her throughout most of the episode, unfortunately.) She was in her room, packing up her dream box now that all of her dreams have come crashing down. She choked on her audition last week. She has no backup plans for college. Basically, she’s screwed because she put all her eggs in one basket and then that basket got run over by a steamroller that was being driven by REALITY.

But I digress…

Through her voice over, we find that Rachel is somewhat thankful to be part of the crowd (i.e. not special) anymore. She’s going to focus on prom and her prom dress. Way to go, Rachel. I did appreciate the bit in the auditorium where she was dressed as Barbra Streisand/Fanny Brice… even doing the exact same iconic Barbra pose.

Rachel walks into the bathroom to find Becky posing in the mirror. Becky wants to be Prom Queen, but Rachel tries to prepare her for that not being the case. Becky calls Rachel a failure as she leaves.

After the “glee” title card, we find Brittany in Figgin’s office (he addresses her as “sexy teen trollup” – because that’s appropriate…). He tells her that she’s done pretty much nothing as Senior Class President and that she’s failing all her classes. She’s doing such a bad job that he says he might discontinue the presidency in following years. Brit says she’s been accepted to Purdue… not the university, but the chicken factory. Oh, Brit.

Brit decides to step it up w/prom duties, so she meets with the prom committee. She shoots down their idea of “Castles in the Clouds,” and “Stairway to Heaven” and tells them they are going to have “Dinosaurs” as a theme because of the Bible/the coexistence of caevmen and dinosaurs. Yikes bikes, yo.

Meanwhile, in Sue’s office, Becky reprises her Grease xylophone preface to Sue’s announcement of Prom Court. Nominees for King are Rick the Stick, Brittany S. Pierce and Finn Hudson. Nominees for Queen are Missy Gunderson, Santana Lopez, and Quinn Fabray. (no1curs, yo)

In the choir room, Mr. Schue announces that the New Directions will once again be the entertainment for the prom. Brit then announces that the theme is Dinosaurs and that Santana and Quinn will count the King/Queen ballots. She also says that there will be a ban on hair gel since it didn’t exist when dinosaurs did. Blaine laughs at this… the look on his face screaming “oh, she must be kidding,” but she’s not. She tells Blaine she doesn’t like he looks and he’s kind of dumbstruck.

In the hallway, Rachel tears down a Finn/Quinn Prom poster (with the same aural cue as last season when Quinn tore down the Lucy posters…), and then confronts Finn about how she’s mad at him for campaigning w/Quinn again. She says this year is going to end up like last year – with Finn getting all the attention with the blonde cheerleader and her having nothing.

After the commercial break, we see Quinn and Joe at Quinn’s physical therapy. The girl is up and kind of walking. She falls over at the end, but she was up and out of her wheelchair. Joe is so happy and supportive, but Quinn tells him he can’t tell anyone about her being able to walk.

Back at McKinley, Becky is walking the hallways while her glorious Helen Mirren voiceover tells us that Becky thinks she should be Prom Queen. Sue tells Becky that she needs to stop being such a terror – Becky has been destroying xylophones and knocking over people’s lunch trays. Sue tells Becky she didn’t get the votes because she’s a bitch with a bad attitude.

Meanwhile, on the stage, Rachel sings “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” then is joined by Kurt and later Blaine. (side note – they usually don’t perform the full-length song on the show, and this was no exception. However, they totally cut out my most favorite part of this version of the song… the verse where Kurt sings about “be My Valentine” and Blaine sings “we’ll be playmates and lovers and share our secret world”… I know why they didn’t use this chunk of the song in the show tonight [it was a Rachel moment, not a Klaine one…], but their part of the song was the most powerful and contextually relevant with regard to the canon of their relationship. Epic le sigh.)

While on stage, Rachel vents about how she doesn’t want to go to prom. Kurt also doesn’t want to go because of what happened last year (he got voted Prom Queen and was humiliated). Blaine says he doesn’t want to go either because of the hair gel ban. He’s worried the static electricity from balloons and taffeta will cause major hair problems.

So, in glee rehearsal, Rachel announces that they (she and Klaine) are throwing an anti-prom at a hotel (she also invited Becky). Puck is the only one who says that he’s in with her plan because he’s likely not graduating either. Santana calls Rachel out on throwing an anti-prom because she’s avoiding dealing with all the crap she’s going through. Santana calls her petty and selfish and says that she (Santana) will be at prom with her girlfriend and the other seniors.

In the hallway, Quinn and Finn hang more posters. A girl from prom committee approaches Quinn and says she’s an inspiration and deserves to win. Quinn gives a creepy as hell speech about her injury (which is obviously now a big ol’ lie since we know Quinn can walk again) and Finn tells her as much. Finn says she’s wrong to use her injury to get votes.

After the commercial we arrive at prom. Mike Chang reads the mind of the audiences when he expresses his love for dinosaurs. (Also, Mike and Tina FOREVER, yo.)

Brittany sings “Dinosaur,” marking the second time she’s sang a Ke$ha song infinitely better than Ke$ha (see also “Tik Tok”). She sings and dances while flanked by cheerios who are wearing these ginormous dinosaur masks (bobble heads?).

At the punch table, Sue tells Finn that she put Visine in the punch (gross). Finn asks where Quinn is, and she suggests looking in the bathroom. Finn goes there and sees Quinn standing up at the sink. Finn calls her out on lying to everyone. She just goes on about how she wants to walk up on stage when she accepts her crown. Finn is pissed… like Hulk pissed. He yells at her how she has everything and that Rachel has nothing (i.e. he’s at prom instead of with Rachel at her anti-prom because of Quinn). Finn says what we’re all thinking… “Same old Quinn.” GOD, does no one on this show ever learn from anything? (The answer is yes – Puck does… but more on that in a bit.)

Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, Puck and Becky walk into their hotel room and Becky immediately says they should play strip poker, get wasted and that she brought condoms with her. Kurt points out that he and Blaine are gay, and Becky retorts that won’t stop her. This is looking to be one super lame anti-prom

At the for real prom, Santana sings “Love You Like a Love Song” while Samcedess dances. (They see Shane dancing and Mercedes waves at him… he doesn’t look bitter at all since he’s also dancing with someone.) I’m glad Samcedes happened this season… I buy it more now than in the finale last year. During the song, Finn “dances” with Quinn (omg, she needs to stand up now). Mike Chang dances by himself off to the side while Tina sings backup. (MIKE CHANG, LET ME LOVE YOU DOWN.) Back to Finn and Quinn… Finn tells Quinn to stand up (THANK YOU, FINN). She refuses. Joe walks up and Finn accuses him of knowing Quinn can walk. They exchange shoves but are quickly broken up by Sue who reminds us that she already threw Finn out of one prom (last season) and asks if he wants that to happen again. Then Sue calls Joe Jar Jar Binks. (I did laugh out loud at that line… not gonna lie.)

Back at the super lame hotel party, they are watching Tabitha Takes Over and Kurt expresses his discontent that anti-prom sucks. He tells his boyfriend that he will go to prom if Blaine wants to go. Blaine is still upset about Brit’s no gel policy and says that Kurt hasn’t seen him without enormous amounts of hair gel. (Um… remember when you got super drunk at Rachel’s house party last season, Blaine? Somehow your hair broke free of it’s gel-confinement and it looked just fine, my friend… JUST FINE.)

Finn shows up at the hotel just as Rachel steps out of the bathroom to show everyone her prom dress (which is beautiful, I’ll give her that much…). He tells her that prom sucks without her and it sucks without everyone else too. Finn gives them all a pep talk and Rachel, Kurt and Blaine leave with him. Puck stays behind with Becky.

Finchel and Klaine show up to prom right as Artie, Sam, Mike, Rory and Joe launch into the uber cheesetastic, yet RIDICULOUSLY catchy One Direction song “What Makes You Beautiful.” (side note – I have been listening to the Glee version of this song non-stop since Friday. It might be my favorite Glee song of all time. Yep… I said it. Boy bands are my Kryptonite. Add the Glee cast and I’m basically done for.)

Brittany immediately stops Blaine and tells him that he can’t come in because she can tell/smell that he’s wearing hair gel. Blaine looks like he got punched in the stomach as he glances over at Kurt. Kurt just kinda pats him on the shoulder and tells him he can do this. Blaine then walks off (and sadly is not seen again until, like, a few minutes before the show ends… buh-what?!).

Then we get to watch the Glee guys sing “What Makes You Beautiful” and it’s like “Friday Part Deux.” Everyone is screaming and swooning for the boys. It’s adorable. There’s some choreography. At the end of the song, Sam lifts Artie out of his wheelchair. This was one of my (few) favorite parts of the episode.

Back at the hotel, Puck is down to his boxers and socks… obviously bested by Becky who is aces at Strip Poker. Becky confides in Puck that she’s pissed about the whole Prom Queen thing. Puck, being the awesome guy he is this season, puts his clothes back on, and (beer box) crowns himself Anti-Prom King and Becky Anti-Prom Queen. Becky is legit happy about being crowned. They leave the hotel together and head to prom. (Btw – I love Puck this season. Like, so much. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… he’s had the biggest character arc of all since Season One and I dig it.)

Coming back from commercial, we find Rachel and Quinn in the hallway. Rachel apologizes to Quinn about being mad about the Finn/Quinn prom campaign. Rachel tells Quinn that Quinn means a lot to her and that she’s her idea of the perfect person. Rachel is proud to call Quinn her friend (even though Quinn really hasn’t been the greatest friend/person to her these past few seasons). Rachel also tells Quinn that she voted for her for Prom Queen (insert knife and twist, yo).

Puck and Becky walk into prom, arm in arm, with their beer box crowns. Puck tells Becky, “Game on, beautiful” and Becky distracts Sue while Puck spikes the punch. Becky asks Puck to dance and he tells her, “Thank you for making my dream come true.” (I just wanted to hug Puck this who friggin’ episode, oh my goodness.)

Santana and Quinn are off in a room tabulating the Prom King and Queen votes. Santana was pissed Brittany didn’t get King and she didn’t get Queen, and Quinn laughs when she realizes she won by one vote. Quinn laughs because she realizes she doesn’t feel anything/any different with knowing that she was voted for this position she’s trying to get for the last 2 years. She then asks Santana if they want to make a difference. Hmmm… I wonder what that means. (Not really… this whole episode was 100% predictable from beginning to end. Ugh.)

Coming back from commercial, we got a POV of someone getting weird reactions to their presence. When the camera lands on Kurt saying “Oh my dear God,” we know it’s got to be Blaine. And is it ever… boy is gel-free and has a bit of a fro going on. (Basically, it looked like Blaine was that kid from Jurassic Park right after he got shocked off of that perimeter fence… you know what I’m talkin’ about.) Brittany sees Blaine and tells him he can go put gel in his hair. Blaine looks relived and goes to leave, but Kurt stops him and says that he’s proud of his boyfriend for being product-free. (Blaine’s still cute with his fro, guys… and he could seriously still lay off the gel. Or at least, the shellacked look. The Glee people should just take a cue from Darren’s upcoming movie Imogene and style Blaine’s hair like THIS. Right? Yes.)

Prom court announcements happen up on stage and Joe wheels Quinn out when he name is called. (Ugh, stand up already, geez.) Figgins asks “sassy gay student” and last year’s Prom Queen Kurt Hummel to crown the new King and Queen. Finn gets named King (Fro Blaine cheers… adorable). Figgins says that the queen is once again a write-in. Kurt’s face drops with fear that it’s him again, but it’s not… it’s Rachel. Looks like Santana and Quinn wrote her in last minute. (Aw. Gag me.)

King Finn and Queen Rachel dance to Santana and Quinn singing “Take My Breath Away.” As they dance, Rachel asks Finn if this was a joke like Kurt last year. Finn gives her a pep talk and tells her she’s amazing. On the dance floor, Tina and Mike dance and she cries because she’s sad it’s all ending (aren’t we all, Tina? Aren’t we all?)

Quinn (finally) stands up mid-song (such a friggin’ drama queen, ugh) as she sings with Santana. Everyone gasps and Sam says, “It’s a Prom miracle.” (You know what’s a prom miracle? That I made it through this episode without falling asleep and/or throwing something at my television.)

As Finn and Rachel dance, she seems change her self-loathing attitude that’s been hanging over her like a rain cloud and says “Maybe anything is possible.” (I take this to mean that her NYADA chances aren’t over. But that’s just me…)

The only good part about this last chunk of show was the awkward poses of the glee kids and their dates on a dinosaur. The Klaine one was obviously the best one. Kanyeshrug

And that was prom. It was epically MEH in my opinion. I liked all the songs, but was very, very underwhelmed with the whole of the episode. With the exception of Puck, Blaine’s hair and the prom pictures, this episode sucked as much as their anti-prom.

Next week is Nationals. (And another episode… in fact, I think the other episode might be first. All I know is there are two episodes next week and I am pumped and sad at the same time. I can’t believe Season 3 is almost over :/)

And I guess that’s it… I’m going to go listen to “What Makes You Beautiful” a bajillion more times and hope that next week’s episode(s) doesn’t suck as much as this one did.

(end spoilers)

Have a good one

I have watched American Idol since season one. Like, FAITHFULLY since season one. I think I’ve maybe missed 3 episodes ever.

While I think Joshua deserves to win, I am pulling for Phillip Phillips to stick around until the finale because he is the best thing about this show this season.

Phillip Phillips is my American Idol because he takes the music (and ONLY the music) seriously. When he’s doing his solos, he’s 100% into his song. He’s either playing his guitar or twitching around sans-guitar on stage. Regardless of what is in his hands, his mouth is up to that mic, his eyes are dancing with secrets and song, and he’s sharing music with all of us. That kid chews up lyrics and spits them out with such passion and grit… it’s mesmerizing and uncomfortable at the same time. The way he contorts his face is often awkward and his face turns so red you almost think that he might pop a vein or something. He feels the music and then shares those feelings with the rest of us. While his songs may not have been the best tonight, nor the most showy performance, they were real. And to me, the simple act of expressing feelings through song is waaaaaaaaaaay more effective than lounging on the floor surrounded by candles (*cough* Jessica).

Phillip Phillips is my American Idol favorite this season because he doesn’t need a bajillion backup dancers or stupid props on stage with him. Phillip Phillips gives us music because music matters to him.

You know what doesn’t matter to him (at least, so it seems)? Doing a little song and dance for the man. I thought his duet with Joshua of “You Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” was the funniest thing I’ve seen on television in a while. Those two boys were so uncomfortable during the first half of that song, it was awkward watching them… I can’t imagine how awkward they were feeling. But, part way through the song, Phillip started eyeing Joshua, as if he was acknowledging the awkwardness of it all… and then it got funny. Phillip broke into smiles here and there, and then when he reached out at the end of the song to put his arm around Joshua, I lost it. I was doubled over in my chair. Phillip Phillips takes music seriously, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s being forced to sing and dance for the man… and he’s obviously not buying it. *That’s* what makes me support Phillip Phillips. He’s in this for the music… he *won’t* just shut up and sing and dance for the man. He makes weird faces. He jokes around. He’s sarcastic. FINALLY… someone who isn’t willing to just bend over and take it for the sake of staying on the show.

But, Joshua is a close second favorite for me… that boy can SANG. Did you see his performance of “To Love Somebody“? SHIT SON, THAT WAS AMAZING.

Well… off to work on my script 🙂

Off from work tomorrow!

Have a good one