One vote and the course of history?

I've been watching The Tudors - The Complete Second Season on Netflix (I swear this is not a sponsored post!). I have to sneak episodes since B is not a fan.

He was the one who originally suggested the series as our next show (after we finished The Wire: The Complete Series)...until he remembered 1/2 an episode in that he doesn't like British accents or period dramas. I, however, think British accents are adorable and love period drama. So when he's stuck at work or away on business I break out the Netflix and plug away at the series.

Anyway, I've just begun season 2 and Henry the 8th is trying to break with Rome. Most people know the story, so I won't rehash.

The part that really floored me though, was the fact that during the course of an afternoon they voted on the issue and it was basically done.
I realize that's an oversimplification, and the show is not exactly historically accurate...but I was still pretty astounded by the idea that history was shaped in part by a simple vote.

Can you imagine anything happening now after a single vote?
Or rather, can you imagine anything making it past the bureaucracy that is often characteristic of our government in a timely manner so that a vote could even happen?

Pretty crazy!

5 things I learned from TLC's "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant"

1. If you are a UK citizen, YOU WILL become pregnant at least once and not realize it until you are mid-delivery. You will then be very droll about the entire situation when recounting it for TLC.

2. You can get pregnant even if you have had 1 ovary removed. Oh wait, I already knew that. Apparently most of America, however, does not understand this important concept. Missing 1 out of your 2 ovaries does not guarantee sterility.

3. Neonatologists and or OB/Gyns do not like being on camera. They are all VERY SERIOUS and have a hard time figuring out how to look directly at the lens when they are delivering their information.

4. You can drink, smoke, and generally abuse your body while pregnant and everything will turn out 100% OK. You will then repeat that you would have never ever done any of those things if you had known about the pregnancy at least 5 times during the broadcast. The serious doctor(see above) will also point out repeatedly that serious complications can occur if you do these things.

5. Using the rhythm method is a solid plan when you have irregular menstrual cycles and no desire to become pregnant. When you then do not have a period for several months in a row, you will NOT consider pregnancy as a possibility and will give birth in the bathroom of the fast food restaurant where you work.

Top Chef needs to come back right away..like 5, 4, 3, 2..now!

Top Chef Masters is just not cutting it for me (pun semi-intended)!

It's fun enough, but I can't really root for anyone because they're only around for 1 episode.

I know we're supposed to like them because they're famous, but I like learning about the contestants on the regular version over the course of the season.

Anyway, the real reason I'm ranting about a random cooking show is that the absence of my favorite has led me to watch....Chopped.

Yeesh.

It's really bad.

Ted Allen is kind of terrible as the host.

And most of the contestants are dimwits.

The current episode features an EXECUTIVE CHEF who just poured curry powder over lamb in a saute pan and called it creative. Oh, and authentic.

Sorry executive chef cookoo, but curry powder is neither.

Must have new episodes of Top Chef before I hurt the television..

Life in my cubicle

Sometimes I really feel like I’m working @ the set of The Office.

Today we celebrated the 60th birthday of a co-worker.

We surprised him with lunch and cake in a nearby room.

We don’t have our own conference room or break room, so they booked us time in one of the hearing rooms.
Someone hung up sad little balloons, and pictures of the birthday boy with other staff members.

One picture showed him getting a ‘lap dance’ from another woman in the office.
Apparently she just likes taking pictures that make it LOOK like she’s giving her co-workers lap dances..she doesn’t actually perform.

We didn’t invite the temporary staff members because “There wasn’t enough food.” (There was enough food. The temps now also know they were not invited because it’s all sitting in the fridge).

The birthday boy received gifts. The big gift was a stuffed giraffe. Apparently he mispronounces giraffes due to his accent, and it sounds like “Shiraffe.”
This is so funny, that we have to commemorate the occasion with a pricey doll.

Fake lap dances, mocking of co-workers, and exclusion.
Sounds like situational comedy to me!
Oy vey.

I feel shamed by a tv show!

I think I’ve now mentioned several times that I really enjoy watching MI-5.
It’s not a disaster movie, but it is television series that deals with ongoing potential disasters.
I’ve decided that it counts for both enjoyment and blogging purposes.

One thing I’ve noticed about the show (I’m on season 6) is that it relies heavily upon stereotypes for its ‘bad guys’ roster.

Arabs/Muslims (used rather indiscriminately) are often trying to kill everyone in England, as are corrupt Americans.

As I am neither Arab nor Muslim, I can’t speak to that aspect of the show..although I must note that it must be rather tiring to be portrayed on such a popular BBC production as bomb-toting crazies.

As an American, I can note that it’s been a rather humbling experience. Apparently, Americans are loud, pushy, and lacking greatly in brains.

Although I’m not particularly patriotic, it is a little depressing to see how another country sees my own.

I’m just hoping that things will turn around with the new administration. The first 6 seasons have made ongoing thinly veiled references to Bush (you can guess @ their tone), but the current season is now showing on BBC.

Maybe season 7 will include Americans suddenly becoming much better allies..and I will be able to stop feeling slightly shamed!

Really. Who would't like spy gadgets and cute accents?

I've become a big fan of MI-5 (Spooks in the UK).

It's gotten so bad that I've stopped renting disaster movies, or really any kind of movies so that I can watch every single episode of this show as quickly as possible.

I recently had to put the obsession on hold (graduate school got in the way!).

But as soon as I get the work under control for this last term, I'm heading back to the world of British spy-craft.

I'm not surprised I like MI-5.

Almost every episode is like a mini-disaster movie.

The nice Brits have stopped at least 2 nuclear attacks, several bombings, a few assassinations and 1 fake act of biological warfare.

All of the violence and gratuitous killing off of main characters (yes, gratuitous. It's not necessary to kill off nice nerdy members of the team and make me cry) has made me think a little bit about why I enjoy the show.

Other than the aforementioned mini-disaster aspect.

Some of it is the gadgets. Some of it is the accents. I find both fun.

But I think at least a little of the appeal is the team dynamic and gender dynamics.
All of the MI-5 agents struggle with lying to their friends and family, the constant danger etc.
The female characters certainly show emotion, but they aren't given to panicking or becoming hysterical.
As for the male characters, its nice to see even some stodgy British spies cry. I like that MI-5 is one episode at a time providing a rather nice template for strong men who feel.

While the show is not without faults (we get it..terrorists can come from the Middle East...thanks for the memo), I'm sticking with it until my grades start to suffer.
And probably even after that point.

What if I wanna watch a show about a singer AND a superhero?

Disney Launching A Boys' Channel

13 February 2009 1:35 AM, PST

Saying that it plans to focus on "tween" and younger boys but include girls, the Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced the creation of Disney Xd, which will combine a cable channel offering sports and action programing with a website offering games, music and social networking. Until now, much of Disney's specialized cable programming for the 6-14-year-old set has been aimed principally at girls, with such shows as Hannah Montana, Kim Possible, the High School Musical specials, and the upcoming Jonas Brothers series. And just as Hannah Montana features a character who lives a double life as an ordinary teen and a famous rock star, Disney Xd has a show in production called Aaron Stone about a boy who leads a double life as a crime fighter.

I stole this directly from the imdb.com news sheet. More on this later..

But what if you're me? I would want to watch both a show about secret singer (if I didn't hate Miley Cyrus) AND a show about a secret superhero.

Excuse me for being into both singing and superheros.

Arranged marriage tv show? Hm.

Ok, not sure how I feel about this new tv premise.

Granted, other than Top Chef I'm not that big into reality tv.

(OK, minor fib. I also watch Top Model. It's my non-feminist cheat show! I'm addicted..although I kind of hate Tyra..still can't turn away).


Anyway, CBS is apparently developing a tv show where unmarried people from 25-45 are fixed up by their friends and families and married.

The tv show will then chronicle their post-marriage ceremony life.

I don't know if I like this idea.

It places a lot of emphasis on marriage.
(think: Single at 30? Old maid alert!)

It places a lot of emphasis on heterosexual relationships.
(I didn't see commitment ceremony thrown in the description..)

It also kind of mocks a rather ancient cultural tradition that is still
practiced in a number of countries by a number of different faiths.

Good or bad, arranged marriages exist. Don't you think the practice
deserves a discussion with a little more..depth?

MI-5 love

Breaking my own rules..kind of.

MI-5 is definitely not a disaster movie.
It's not even a movie..it's a tv series.

But I think it might be my new obsession.
I don't have time, and I kind of don't care.

The boy DVRd an episode for me to try,
and then I found out I can watch most of the
episodes for free on Netflix! Woohoo.

Cute accents, high tech gadgets and (relatively)
cute Brits running around.

No carnage, but definitely lots of impending doom.
Also a surprising amount of feminist-ish plotlines.

So far: 1st episode dealt with anti-choice bombers,
and the 2nd episode has a domestic violence subplot.

Might be blog worthy after all.

Mad Men

Ben and I just finished watching Season 1 of Mad Men. Set in the early 1960's, the show is set in the fictional advertising agency Sterling Cooper. While Buffy will forever and always be my favorite television show (disaster junkie and feminism all in one place..just like my blog!), MM is one the best things I've watched this year, and maybe even ever. While I could rave about the show for ages, I can't help but also comment on the show from a feminist perspective.

From the first episode it is clear that the office of Sterling Cooper are filled with a hazy film of cigarette smoke, racism, and sexism. The show confronts all of these things head on, but sometimes the 'we're sending a message that this is bad' can be a little heavy handed. Honestly though, it's amazing to see how much leeway the creators have been given in showing the attitudes of white upper class men in the 1960s,because it's a far from flattering portrait. Yet, the main characters manage to convey interesting and important things about marriage, adultery, class, and women's health with boozy abandon.

Several of the main characters (Don Draper, Sterling, Pete Campbell) are married; yet they have dalliances with the secretaries, affairs with women they meet in bars and restaurants and a barely contained disdained for their coddled suburban wives. All three men also seem to genuinely feel love and affection for their partners, and the women they believe to be oblivious and satisfied with their lives of house cleaning and shopping are often working just as hard to maintain the illusion of happiness and calm. A few of the men at Sterling Cooper are unmarried, but only one, Sal, is visibly struggling with his homosexuality. In one episode he and a client send clear signals during a meeting, have dinner and then Sal flees the restaurant when the man makes an obvious advance. At the office he audibly oggles the other women, but it seems clear that he does so out of habit and to fit in at the homosocial environment.

One of my other favorite (ie interesting..not necessarily good favorite) parts of the show is the interactions between the secretaries and the ad execs. Joan, the head secretary is supposed to be the shining example of the modern 60s woman: she's carefree, she's sexually independent, and financially secure. Yet despite her seemingly careless affair with one of the partners, Joanie is a husband hunter and her financial security is partially dependent upon her ability to inveigle the men around her. She plays the 'game' like a pro-brazen, in control and sexually confident, yet she can't see beyond a narrow conception of femininity and her role in the office. Joan is on birth control, but she she probably allowed the doctor to make disparaging remarks about her morality and sexuality in order to obtain the pills (she sent Peggy to the same doctor and he made very gross comments).

Anyway..tapped out for now..but more on MM later!