Whew! (quick update)

So sorry; I've been busy with getting last-minute lesson plans together and my brother got married this past weekend, so I haven't had a lot of computer time. More work and family time, and enjoy-my-last-days-out-of-school time.

I will post the wedding pictures ASAP. It was a lot of fun and the ceremony included my brother giving his new wife's young (7?) daughter a ring of her own right after he put one on his bride. So sweet. Lots of dancing, lots of sisterliness, good times.

Minor tragedy: As I spent the weekend at my mom's, we came home Monday to find my luxurious tomato plants once again ravaged by persistent deer combined with poor deer netting. They look so sad and barren, although the lower-growing tomatoes survived. I admit it--I burst into tears and then realized (thank you, DH) that as my first year doing this, I would figure a few things out. Thus we've repositioned the netting and put down more dried blood. Back off, Bambi.

I heard an interesting bit on NPR today that has to do with the Bechdel Rule of TV and movies: A cartoonist, she created one that had a woman saying to her friend, "I'll only watch a movie if it has

1. At least two female characters, who ...
2. talk to each other about...
3. something besides a man.

It then went on to point out major shows (Sex and the City, Grey's Anatomy, and even my new fave, The Closer) that do not do this at all. It comes down to who's writing it. The point was that people like to watch shows that mirror actual culture or else they feel disconnected from it. For example, very few shows exist with "fully realized" African American characters. The article then asked people to make up their own rules. One included something I've mentioned before: The commenter won't watch shows with men who act like complete idiots and have no involvement in their kids' lives. I'd add the henpecked, sassy wife--it's straight out of The Honeymooners. We're not in black and white anymore; can't we update the trends here? If I made up a rule, it would run something like this: In a TV show primarily about teens, there will be

1. no central theme having to do with sex or heavy flirting/petting
2. parents who look more than ten years older than their children
3. a setting somewhere other than Pots-of-Money, CA

What about you?

P.S. We will miss you, Don LaFontaine (aka The Voice of just about every promo you've seen in the last 25 years "In a world...")! Here's something to remember you by, even if it's from Geico:

If You Never Watched Beverly Hills, 90210, Skip This Post

Truly, Papa, just ignore it. You won't like it. It has to do with 90s TV you disliked intensely.

For the rest of you, have you seen this? It's the NEW 90210.



I think the Fug Girls put it best in their post at NY Mag, but seriously, can we please find something new to watch instead of more of the same old crap? At the same time, I may find myself watching an episode or two in order to know what my students are watching, laugh myself silly, and stare in that can't-tear-my-eyes-away, train wreck kind of way. For those of you who admit to having watched Nip/Tuck because it's so completely voyeuristic and trashy (I have, on occasion, for that reason), I think the one chick was on the show, mainly dressed as a Catholic schoolgirl tart who liked to entrap older men in her web of young sexiness. Yuck. I can only assume she'll reprise that kind of role on this new show.

At least they got Kelly Taylor--possible Dylan McKay showing???? Oh, he was sooooo dreamy!