Dear Readers,

We have been remiss in our blogging. Terrible, isn’t it? And you’d think that in the summer, we would have less to blog about, but our DVR has been over 50% capacity with new shows, so in the future, expect posts about NBC’s “Merlin,” Fox’s “Virtuality,” HBO’s “True Blood,” and maybe even something about “Glee,” since we never actually blogged about it. And NPH is the guest judge on this week’s “Top Chef: Masters,” so you know we’ll be watching that. Plus, EW put out the top 100 TV episodes of all time, so of course we’ll check out how many we’ve actually seen and if we think they deserve to be in the elite 100. Jaceface has some thoughts about vampires, as always, and Facetrace is always looking for new music and just finished watching a kooky Canadian sitcom from the 90s.

So be on the lookout!

(Practically) Free Music!

I know some of you just skip the music posts, but this is a GOOD BAND,I swear! And, they’re selling their album online for one dollar. You can’t beat that! (Unless you just download all of your music illegally.) But maybe you can spare a dollar for a good band.

Anyways, the band is called Fanfarlo, and they look exactly like I tend to expect bands to look like these days:

Yeah, pretty much. But as I said, they’re selling their album digitally for only a dollar on their website until July 4th. They’re definitely worth a listen to. The lead singer sort of reminds me of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, but I think he might be a little more accessible.

Here are three swell tracks to check out:

Fanfarlo – I\’m A Pilot

Fanfarlo – Luna

Fanfarlo – Finish Line

OurNamesRhyme Tony Awards Awards

Neil Patrick Harris, Everyone.

So, the Tony’s were on last night. The Biggest Night of the Great White Way. And it was a moderate disaster. There were highlights, there were debacles, and there were some HOT MESSES. To recap, I’ve decided to give out my own awards for the evening….

Jumanji is on!

Remember the good ole days, Kiki?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What happened?

The Return of Conando!

Did we all stay up late to watch Conan’s magnificent return to Late Night last night? Oh, is that not staying up late for you? You know, for some people, 11.30pm is kind of a lot. We start to yawn around 10pm or so, but make the effort to keep our eyes glued open.

In any case, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien premiered last night! As a bona-fide Conan fan, any opinion of mine is clearly going to be favorable. I have no journalistic integrity when it comes to this blog. But it was a good first show: he calmed down a bit to win over Leno fans, but still had some wacky fun. I was happy to see Andy Richter, but I think they still need to get back into the groove of it. Conan hasn’t had a sidekick for years, but they’ll get back into the swing of things, I’m sure.

The reviews from other, more reputable, blogs/news sources are all pretty predictable: if they liked Conan already, they thought the show was great (although a little more muted than late night, of course). If they don’t understand Conan and his anti-gravity hair, they nitpick.

FOR INSTANCE: Check out this negative review from Newsday:

“Why, Conan, this constant reference to “LA?” It sounds old and mawkish; no one in Los Angeles refers to Los Angeles as “LA” anymore; it’s like referring to Hollywood as “Tinseltown” or New York as “the Big Apple.” It’s Los Angeles and you work in Universal City.”

Er, what? I’m pretty sure people still refer to it as L.A. It is in no way comparable to calling New York City “the Big Apple.” Notice how the Big Apple and Tinseltown are both nicknames, not shortening of the city’s name. This reviewer was pretty much peeved at most everything, including the set, the backdrop, the pre-taped bits, the monologue. Just go ahead and say it: You miss Jay Leno and don’t know how you’ll live without him. Don’t worry, you won’t have to.

And here’s the opening!

[clearspring_widget title=”Cold Open of the First Show” wid=”4727a250e66f9723″ pid=”4a25392df8b79b4f” width=”384″ height=”283″ domain=”widgets.nbc.com”]

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

“Let’s get Dr. Phil-real here.”

So the 2008-2009 season is just about over, booo. Once jaceface catches up on “Glee,” we’ll probably post about that. We aren’t going to have anything to say about American Idol, because the only episode we watched was the one we live-blogged, and you can clearly tell how much we enjoyed that.

But in other TV news, upfronts were this week! I’ll admit, I had no idea what upfronts were before this week. But I’m learning. Basically, the major networks are officially introducing their upcoming schedules to advertisers, which means this week, everyone in the blogosphere can bitch about what shows were dropped, what shows were added, and how much they hate the idea of Jay Leno at 10pm.

Most of the reporting was pretty standard, except for this story that came out yesterday about Jimmy Kimmel blasting the networks and the advertisers.

“…In a “Jerry Maguire”-like moment of clarity, Mr. Kimmel said, ‘Everything you’re going to hear this week is’ nonsense. ‘Let’s get real here. Let’s get Dr. Phil-real here. These new fall shows? We’re going to cancel about 90 percent of them. Maybe more’..To the ABC advertisers, Mr. Kimmel said, ‘Every year we lie to you and every year you come back for more. You don’t need an upfront. You need therapy. We completely lie to you, and then you pass those lies onto your clients.’”

And everyone went, “Oooh! Jimmy Kimmel is so ballsy! I can’t believe he said that! He’s speaking the truth right to their face! Wow! Exciting!” Except…not.

Well, maybe Jimmy Kimmel is ballsy. I don’t know. I’m not doubting him. But after everyone posted about this, it finally came to light that he’s done this every year. This, apparently, just happens to be the year that all the reporters are blogging and twittering about their every move. The only real news-worthy thing that ever happened at upfronts was when Johnny Carson abruptly announced his retirement in 1991.

I doubt ABC is really mortified of Jimmy Kimmel right now. His late-night image is the casual, former-Man Show, blunt host, and this is just him being that guy. All the advertisers laughed at his little roasting of them anyways, just like the politicians all laugh at the White House Press Correspondents dinner every year. Besides, the ridiculousness of upfronts is probably well-known by all parties involved. Of course a lot of shows won’t make it past the first season, and every year the networks will be so proud of their new shows and how excellent they are and how awesome they’ll do in ratings. That’s the business. And I’m sure Jimmy Kimmel is fully aware of it too.

Will Jacey Actually Do This?

I’m like 60% sold on actually writing a paper for this.

Get to the Point:

Issues at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

November 7, 2009
Hosted by the State University of New York, College at Oneonta
Sponsored by CME, the English Department, and Women’s and Gender Studies

This local symposium will focus on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer phenomenon from multidisciplinary perspectives, including, but not limited to communications, literature and language, history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and women’s and gender studies. The symposium committee invites proposals for individual papers from both established and emerging scholars. Themes may include but are not limited to:

Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Studies
Science and Technology
Parenting, Family, and Relationships
Education and/or Pedagogy
Language and Narrative
Medieval and/or Romantic Elements
Religion, Mythology, and Folklore
Philosophy and Ethics
Imagery and/or Symbolism
Use of Space
Race, Class, and/or Ethnicity
Art Forms, Food, Music, and/or Aesthetica
Weaponry, Battle Strategies, and/or Use of Violence

Essays may also compare the literary connections between BtVS and the
original movie, the Whedonverse in general, or other films and stories
that focus on the vampire myth.

Participants are encouraged to supplement their presentations with
video clips or video montages from relevant episodes of BtVS. For help
creating video supplements, see Dave Geasey, Director of Creative
Media Services, in IRC 104. Please call him at 607-436-3314.

Papers should be 15-20 minutes in length, including video sections.

Please send an abstract, no more than 500 words, via e-mail attachment
in either Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format to Bambi Lobdell or Amie
Doughty at the addresses below. Questions about the symposium may also
be directed to them.

Amie Doughty, doughtaa@oneonta.edu, 322 Netzer, 436-2493
Bambi Lobdell, lobdelbl@oneonta.edu, 322 Netzer, 436 – 3093

Deadline for proposals: September 1, 2009.

Battle of the Starlets: Round 1. Videos Involving Sepia Tones

Evan Rachel Wood vs. Kat Dennings

Professional and semi-terrifying?

leaving that up for the screenshot. Click here for the video.

or homemade and kinda dumb?

WHICH IS COOLER?

“I’m on a Boat”…LIVE

The Lonely Island performed live for the very first time (and hopefully not the last time) on Jimmy Fallon a few nights ago. (I can just picture them sitting around, planning the performance: “How about a guy walks back and forth in the back, holding up a big cardboard boat??”) NBC clearly is pulling out all the stops to get the best guests on the Jimmy Fallon show. Has anyone been actually watching the show? I’m just biding my time until Conan comes back on.

Anyways, it’s a great performance. Behold.

[clearspring_widget title=”The Lonely Island (5/12/09)” wid=”4727a250e66f9723″ pid=”4a0c486a131fffe3″ width=”384″ height=”283″ domain=”widgets.nbc.com”]

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Star Trek: The Musings

Traceface and I saw Star Trek, obvs. And it was as awesome as everyone says it is.  We don’t really feel the need to write a real review, since pretty much every blog on the internet has already done that. So instead we’ll offer random observations and quips that are totally meaningless!

Your Handy Guide to the Next Two Weeks

Good gravy, it’s finale season already?? How did this happen so quickly? I’ll be sad to see mainly repeats and reality shows on tv for the next few months, but it’s been a great season. And for your benefit and ours, a quick rundown on what is the what for finales:

Already Happened:

“Chuck” (April 27th): All reports point toward awesomeness. Will it be enough to bring it back for a 3rd season? I’d say yes, if only for the brilliant ad campaign to have everyone buy a foot-long sub to save the show, because no matter what happens to “Chuck,” NBC just made advertisers really really happy. Nice synergistic marketing there.

“Heroes” (April 27th): Since jaceface and I both gave up on this show, I got a quick recap from a friend who still watches. Still not planning to start watching again.

“Scrubs” (May 6th): This ending was completely awww-worthy if you’ve invested enough in the characters. Although I think it suffered in the switch to ABC, a nice wrap-up for the series finale.

“Dollhouse” (May 8th): AWESOME. A+ TO INFINITY. A SEASON-LONG CRESCENDO TO AWESOMENESS. But the ratings suffered like mad, so I’m not getting too hopeful. But a second season would be so interesting, Fox! Sigh. Lost cause. Go Twitter about it, I guess.

Still To Come:

“House” (Mon May 11th): Blah blah lupus Amber Cuddy blah no more Kutner.

“Lost” (Wed May 13th): I’m preparing myself for two hours of greatness and I will not be disappointed.

“Bones” (Thurs May 14th): 4 seasons-worth of waiting…

“Parks & Recreation” (Thurs May 14th): Hasn’t there only been like four episodes?

“The Office” (Thurs May 14th): Oh, you know.

“30 Rock” (Thurs May 14th): {see above}

“Gossip Girl” (Mon May 18th): Please regain steam and become awesome again?

“How I Met Your Mother” (Mon May 18th): I’ll refrain from making a ‘legendary’ quip.

“Reaper” (Tues May 26th): Totally underrated show, and sadly, probably on its way out.

And One Premiere…

“Glee” (Tues May 19th): Ryan Murphy’s (“Popular,” “Nip/Tuck”) new show on Fox looks like “Popular” for the 21st century, now with more singing! Count me in all the way.

And those are the ones that matter. Did I forget a show you like? Start up your own blog, then.

Hey, the Tony Nominees Were Announced!

It’s the most wonderful (re: political) award season of the year! The 2009 Tony Nominations were announced yesterday, and you know what that means- I have opinions about it! Let’s talk about them.

There’s Hope Yet!

NBC just posted a few previews of upcoming fall shows, and this one looks pretty damn good! Joel McHale, Donald Glover, and Chevy effin’ Chase? Kudos, casting department. I am looking forward to this!

[clearspring_widget title=”Community – Featurette” wid=”4727a250e66f9723″ pid=”49ff1d92746ae3c4″ width=”384″ height=”283″ domain=”widgets.nbc.com”]

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

I posted too soon! Two more songs…

Shot in the Back of the Head – Moby

Remember Moby? Of course you do, he never really went away. But he just released this single, and David Lynch directed the music video..

And I just found this song by a guy named Blake Miller:

Tomorrow Sorrow – Blake Miller

He’s only 22.  I’m only 22. I have this blog. He has this music career.

For Your Ears

Need something to listen to? Ch-ch-check it.

‘Strictly Game’ – Harlem Shakes

‘Jerk It’ – Thunderheist

‘Lalita’ – The Love Language

‘If I Had A Heart’ – Fever Ray

‘If I Had A Heart (Fuck Buttons Remix)’ – Fever Ray

p.s. I don’t usually ever use the adjective ‘fierce’ unless I’m talking about a tiger I saw at the zoo, but Fever Ray (aka Karin Dreijer Andersson, one half of ‘The Knife’) is effing fierce: