To Die For

Like cupcakes? Love frosting? Enjoy sampling different flavors? In the DC area?

Then you simply MUST check out Hello Cupcake.

We had a little party at work today, and one of my very culturally aware coworkers had heard of this great new bakery in Dupont. So we got a sampling of 3 dozen of their bestest little cupcakes, and they were UNBELIEVABLE. Mouth watering... there were noises coming from people that weren't what we'd normally expect to hear at work. :-)

They have a ridiculous number of flavors - I sampled 3 today, the 24-carrot, the you tart! and, my favorite, the velvet elvis. A banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting. YUMMMMMMMM.

Do it! Go! Get yourself a cupcake or 3 soon!

Tina Fey, Part Deux

She did it again!

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Back to regularly scheduled programming, literally... The new tv season has started! I've been sampling, I've been catching return favorites. But so far this week, the real tv story for me has been questioning the fate of two former favorites. These are two shows that have given me both highs and lows, good times and bad, so I was looking to their season premieres (both of which clocked in at 2 hours!) to push me either back into the fan camp or over the edge into just giving up.

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First up, Monday night... and the premiere of Heroes season 3 - a new story arc called "Villains."

So how was it? Yeeesh. What an unfun 2-hour pile of televised poo!

At one point, 2 years ago, Heroes was remarkable... filled with wonder and joy as well as mystery and dark foreshadowing as these seemingly ordinary people suddenly realized they were extraordinary, and that they had a job to do. Well, they saved the world, kinda, and now they've been spinning their wheels - both the characters and the writers - for 2 more seasons.

What is really killing this show for me is that the stories just aren't fun anymore. The characters seem to be caricatures - could Peter Petrelli be any more dour and idiotic? could Claire be any more naive and idiotic? could Mohinder be hotter or stupider? - and the storylines now just rely on time travel or "look, he's not dead after all!" tricks of lazy writing to get out of any problems. We've lost the wonder of seeing the world change through Hiro's eyes, and I just don't find myself caring that much about the drama of the Petrelli family (Sylar as secret half-brother? really?) or the "war" that must be coming between the regular heroes and the newly-escaped bad guys.

I was excited to see Weevil (Francis Capra), though I can't for the life of me figure out how "Present Peter" is trapped in his body. I like Mama Petrelli, and I still think last season would've been a lot more interesting if they really pursued the parents' storyline and left behind their idiot kids. And I wish they hadn't wasted the fantastic David Anders last season. And I can not BELIEVE that Mohinder actually did get even dumber and more annoying... and they even paired him with Maya! The most annoying addition of season 2!

Ack. Heroes, you're really close to losing me forever. I am at the point of almost hating this show. But.... there's still that little kernel of hope that they might somehow tell a story that was just as cool as the early eps of the first season.... and feeling such a passionate hate towards the show now makes it really fun to play along on the blogs, sharing Heroes-hate on a Tuesday morning. So, I'm probably going to give it at least another week... what else am I doing on Monday nights?

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The second show "on the bubble" for me? That doctors-and-dramas sudser Grey's Anatomy. I loved the first 2 seasons, but then there were a few years that really made me question Shonda Rhimes' direction and her ability to follow-through with a good story. When they almost killed Meredith in the ferry crash? Ouch. I almost gave it up for good then. But, at the end of last season Shonda seemed to be raising the level of the show back to its good old days again, giving characters more realistic storylines and cutting out some of the really cheesy melodrama.

Last night, I watched the 2-hour premiere, "Dream a Little Dream of Me." (Because of the ridiculously over-programmed Thursday night tv schedule, ABC's shows are weekend deferred viewing for me. For sheer water-cooler value, I've got to watch "The Office" and soon "30 Rock" in real time.)


Guess what? I *loved* it! It was a fantastic episode for my favorite characters -- Bailey, Cristina, Alex, the Chief, Callie, Hahn, and Sloan. There was some great guest star work by Bernadette Peters, Kathy Baker, and Mariette Hartley. The Der-Mer drama was nicely balanced out with Rose's antics, Cristina's rant and then Meredith's request for her support, making it all actually seem like real life. The Chief's obsession with the drop in rankings seemed to be Shonda herself talking to the audience about how the show will do better. And, I don't think George and Izzie were even in a single scene together!!! Instead, they've put Izzie and Alex back into play and those two have such great chemistry I'm willing to see where it goes this time around.

And... best of all... the introduction of Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) as Major Owen Hunk, I mean Hunt, the dashing Army field trauma doc injected a very welcome shot of pure masculine energy onto the show. And Cristina is just licking her lips! (As is, I'm sure, the very talented Sandra Oh, who's in need of a good storyline.) McKidd is such a great addition, I was even able to put aside my smirk at the thought of his reunion with Patrick Dempsey after that insultingly bad rom-com Made of Honor.

Shonda, you have won me back. Now keep up the good work.

Collective Anxiety

Y'all... I'm just not sure how much more we can take. Are you all feeling like I am? Like you can't possibly wait for another shoe to drop?

The news of the last few weeks has just been mind-boggling... are we really facing the Great Economic Collapse of 2008? As someone said on NPR tonight, has reality changed?

I feel like I am completely saturated... it's invading my consciousness on all sides. Not only am I still flipping on PBS or CNN at home and listening to my NPR and Slate podcasts on my commute, but since my job is very much tied in to economic trends we are all just talking nonstop about this stuff at work. And none of us understand it well enough to really figure out how far it will go -- does anyone? -- but we're all getting more and more anxious and angry.

And don't even get me started on the Presidential campaign. Who knows where that could lead!

Granted, I'm sick and I'm still exhausted from all of my major, major work events last week... but I'm feeling pretty darn strung out right now. Like I am just not ready or able to handle any more big news that's so hard to understand - at least not without a good night's sleep in the interim, which is increasingly hard to get. (Anxiety does not lead to good zzzz's.)

Do you have any words of wisdom? Escapist advice? How are you all coping?

Now, to inject a little perspective in this.... I did spend the evening at a program considering all of the incredibly difficult and dramatic events of 1968. That was before my time, so I don't actually know what that felt like. But, learning more about those events makes me feel a little better... at least to recognize that the sky isn't completely falling. At least right now we're not facing shocking violence and mass disorder. (Though the cynic in me says "yet") And, from a historical perspective, seeing that we as a nation and a culture were able to recover and advance beyond such a turbulent time back then still gives me hope that with this, too, we shall overcome.

If I Were An Emmy Voter

It's awards show day! So time for the usual guessing game. It's a tough year - in comedy, both 30 Rock and The Office are incredible and I'd be happy with any awards for either show. And, in drama, Lost is my long-time love but I'm also newly-addicted to Mad Men. So I think I want it more for Lost but would be happy with MM taking home the gold, too. Anyway... Here's how I would cast my ballot, plus predictions on who will actually win:

Outstanding Lead Actor in A Comedy Series:
My Vote: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Will Win: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
My Vote: Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Will Win: Hugh Laurie, House (but I'd be super-happy if the Emmy voters Hamm it up!)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie:
My Vote: Paul Giamatti, John Adams
Will Win: Everyone except Paul Giamatti should just go home.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series:
My Vote: This one's very hard, cuz I like all the actresses. But my pick is Mary-Louise Parker for Weeds. I used to hate MLP and would turn off The West Wing whenever she appeared. But, as Nancy Botwin, she's made me fall in love with her.
Will Win: Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
My Vote: Yikes, I don't watch any of these shows. Critics seem to love her, so I'll vote for Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer.
Will Win: Go for the repeat, Sally Field in Brothers & Sisters

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie:
My Vote: Strong category, but it's Laura Linney, John Adams, all the way.
Will Win: Everyone except Laura Linney should go home.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:
My Vote: I really hope Neil Patrick Harris suits up! It'll be legen...wait for it...dary!
Will Win: Rainn Wilson, The Office.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
My Vote: Michael Emerson! Michael Emerson! Michael Emerson! Give Ben the love he so desperately craves.
Will Win: John Slattery, Mad Men. Which in any other year I'd be happy with, but please please please give it up for bug-eyed Ben!

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie:
My Vote: All those Founding Fathers were great, but I give it to Stephen Dillane as TJ, in John Adams.
Will Win: Tom Wilkinson as Ben Franklin, John Adams.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:
My Vote: Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
Will Win: Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men. Just cuz I have to prepare for disappointment and know that Emmy will have to give something to either this show or Boston Legal, contrary to any evidence of good taste.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
My Vote: Sandra and Chandra of Grey's are both reliably strong even in a show that's become mediocre. I'd love to see either one win.
Will Win: Candice Bergen, Boston Legal. See above.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie:
My Vote: Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun. I didn't see this movie, but I'd like to see it win something. This seems like a good category for it.
Will Win: Alfre Woodard, Pictures of Hollis Woods. I'm just betting Emmy voters like that Hallmark Hall of Fame brand. I like Ms. Woodard, and I hope this gave her better material than her year on Desperate Housewives.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series:
My Vote: So much 30 Rock love! I'm gonna go with Will Arnett as Devin Banks, 30 Rock.
Will Win: Rip Torn as Don Geiss, 30 Rock.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series:
My Vote: Robert Morse, Mad Men. This is a good category for a win, if it means Michael Emerson can win above!!!
Will Win: Robin Williams for Law & Order:SVU. Can't you just see it? Ick.

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series:
My Vote: (J-Lo! How exciting! Mrs. McCluskey, aka Mrs. Landingham-God, is nominated!!!) My vote, though, is for Edie Falco as Congresswoman CC on 30 Rock.
Will Win: Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock. Give the Emmy to Jack's mama!

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series:
My Vote: Diahann Carroll as Mama Burke on Grey's. Her scene with Sandra Oh was one of the best of the season.
Will Win: Ellen Burstyn, Big Love. HBO's gotta win something.

Outstanding Individual Performance in a Musical or Variety Program:
My Vote: Jon Stewart, hosting the Oscars
Will Win: Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report. (Count me as one of the people who thinks the Report is overrated, btw. I prefer The Daily Show any day.)

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program:
My Vote: Tom Bergeron, Dancing with the Stars
Will Win: Heidi Klum, Project Runway (which I've still never seen and don't really have any interest in)

Outstanding Miniseries:
My Vote: John Adams
Will Win: see above

Outstanding Made-for-Television Movie:
My Vote: A Raisin in the Sun
Will Win: Recount (which I have at home from Netflix to watch today, maybe I'll have a more informed opinion tonight)

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series:
My Vote: The Daily Show, with Real Time with Bill Maher a close 2nd
Will Win: Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special:
My Vote: Kathy Griffin: Straight to Hell
Will Win: The Kennedy Center Honors

Outstanding Reality Program:
My Vote: Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
Will Win: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Outstanding Reality Competition Program:
My Vote: The Amazing Race, followed by Top Chef
Will Win: Project Runway

Outstanding Children's Program:
My Vote: Just guessing here.... The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Will Win: High School Musical 2

And finally, the 2 biggies....

Outstanding Comedy Series:
My Vote: Really, any except Two and a Half Men would be fine with me. I'll go for the one I most consistently loved last season: The Office
Will Win: 30 Rock

Outstanding Drama Series:
My Vote: Oh, favorite show of all time, will you regain the Emmy love? Or is it Lost forever?
Will Win: Mad Men, and I'd celebrate that, as well.

I'm Mad About....

Thanks to a very 21st century consumer combo of Netflix, iTunes, and onDemand (cuz I can't seem to follow a real tv schedule anymore), I have become a HUGE fan of AMC's critical darling Mad Men. I'm working my way through season 2 now, so don't spoil me for some of the later episodes!

If you haven't heard yet from the growing and glowing critical praise, Mad Men follows the professional and personal lives of the team at Sterling Cooper, a competitive and slick Madison Avenue advertising firm, in the early 1960's. As the main characters compete with each other for clients' attention and for professional one-upsmanship, let alone for office trysts, the show takes us back to a time long before PC - either political correctness OR personal computers. The views on gender, race, family connections, business ethics, even the prevalence of drinking and smoking do help remind us how far we've come - in some ways - and the show's producers, writers and designers have done a fabulous job recreating the look, feel, and tone of such a specific moment in time and place.

The cast is pretty impeccable, too:

-Elisabeth Moss (aka Zoe Bartlett) is doing great work as the cypher Peggy Olsen and the fabulous Christina Hendricks brings amazing life to the screen as Joan Holloway, Peggy's opposite yet probable equal in terms of the ways women could get ahead at the time.

- January Jones, a dead ringer for Grace Kelly, has a very tough role to play... the pretty blonde housewife who somewhat willingly remains ignorant of her husband's infidelities and gets caught up in the kitchen table gossip of their affluent suburban neighborhood. But Ms. Jones plays it well, hinting at poor Betty Draper's hidden misery and her growing resentment of her marriage and the way her life has ended up. In season 2, I'm starting to fear that resentment is going to be directed more and more at her kids, but we shall see how that plays out.

-Vincent Kartheiser plays Pete Campbell, the overly-entitled young rich kid who can't seem to figure out his own worth -- does he have intrinsic talent or is his only value in his blue blood connections? Kartheiser was never one of my favorite actors back when he played Connor on Angel, but he perfectly captures Pete... the slimy, slippery weasel that you love to hate... and feel sorry for when you see his occasional glimpses of humanity.

- Roger Slattery (aka "that kinda smarmy guy" in everything from Ed to SATC to Jack and Bobby to Desperate Housewives) is fantastic as Roger Sterling, the ambitious, aggressive guy with his name on the wall. He represents the "old boys" generation riding on their glory of the war and behaving as if they were kings of the world while keeping the forces of the next generation at bay.

And what can I say about Jon Hamm as our hero/anti-hero, Don Draper? He's perfect. Manly, moral, and upright in some scenes, mysterious, shady, sleazy in others. I'm only midway through season 2, and so far he's a man with his tail between his legs, as the relationships in his life (with wife Betty, with underling Pete, with his colleagues Roger and Duck) are reshuffling themselves and he tries to figure out how to stay on top. And, oh yeah, he's just about the hottest guy on television.

This show has quickly become my new favorite, and I would love to see both of these Mad Men - and the show itself - take home Emmy gold on Sunday!

Tina Fey Nails It

In case you missed it...

Blech

I'm still here, no worries.... but I'm right smack dab in the middle of my annual hell-week (kinda hell-2-weeks) with a huge event and board meeting in a few days. Stress is my middle name! And this year seems a little tougher than normal... perhaps because the whole outside world is feeling so uncertain right now, and it's starting to trickle down into the kind of work I do and into everyone's psyche overall. The economy, the election, the world, yadda yadda... it's a strange time.

And it's been a weird week overall.... drama, frustrations, complaining, uncertainty, and a family scare that I didn't even know was a scare until after the fact. Having adult conversations with your parents can still be really hard if they don't feel like sharing.

Sitting here tonight, knowing that I have to stay in to be accessible work-wise and that I need a restful evening to sort of decompress.... it's still hard to come to the realization that a baked chicken breast for one with a side of frozen veggies eaten in front of the computer may be just about the most depressing and lonely thing ever. Blech big time.

And in other news, holy cow, this Ike stuff is downright scary. The Weather Channel folks (I'm an addict when there's a Big Weather story) are even showing their panic this time. I swear, I just heard one of the on-location people give the following advice to anyone who hasn't evacuated: "No one is coming to rescue you. Look around and find something that floats. Strap yourself to it, and try to ride this out."

Wow. That's perspective. I wish everyone in the Gulf area the best of luck and hope that they've gotten out... it certainly makes my problems seem like a piece of cake.

Don't Look Behind You

As I think I've shared before, bad horror movies are one of my favorite guilty pleasures. And now that I've upgraded to Comcast Digital, my OnDemand bill shows just how much I'm enjoying spending boring Sunday mornings - or stormy Saturday afternoons - watching some of the latest spooky offerings. Since the trend these days seems to be American remakes of Asian horror films, featuring the occasional B-list movie actor or former tv star obviously working for a paycheck** to keep their other projects going, all 3 I've seen lately fall into that category:


First up, Shutter. I admit, this one grabbed me because I've always had a little soft spot for Pacey, aka Joshua Jackson. I never saw a single episode of The Creek, but I have liked him in other movies over the years and I'm intrigued by the new J.J. Abrams show coming up. Anyway, yes, this is the movie about haunted photographs. Pacey (whatever, he had some actual name in this movie) and his beautiful new wife move to Japan where he reconnects with old buddies to work as a fashion photographer. (Note: one of the buddies is played by David Denman, aka Roy from "The Office," and this is yet another appearance that makes me think that David Denman is secretly in about 1 of every 3 movies made. Look for him, he's everywhere!) The loving couple's new life - and his high-gloss job - starts out a little rocky, though, cuz a ghostly woman starts appearing to them first on a lonely road and then in all of their photographs. Who is she? Why is she haunting them? How can she affect both digital and film cameras - even Polaroids??? While the premise of spectral photos gets a little overdone, the acting is a little cheesy, and the film has that cold, blue Asian cinema look and feel to it that's not my favorite, I actually liked the way the story turned out. It had a logic and a good emotional arc, along with a couple of good spooky moments. I give it a B-.


I was *really* bored a few weekends ago, so I decided to order up One Missed Call. This one stars Shannyn Sossaman and Ed Burns (clearly phoning it in, yikes) in a movie about haunted cell phones and demented voice mail messages. Yes, seriously. It's like the opposite of watching thrillers from the '80's and thinking "wow, this whole movie wouldn't even exist if the characters just had cell phones and could call for help." No, instead, this whole movie wouldn't exist without cell phones. And the story, as you might expect, is pretty darn weak. Some young co-ed gets a weird voice mail message in which they hear their own death, that death comes true, and then the dead kid's phone calls the next kid and leaves another death message, and so on. There's a backstory to explain the haunting, but it sorta feels like an afterthought. This movie seems to want to be "Final Destination" with its scenes of attempting to cheat death, but it's just not that cool or fun. And the actors seem half-asleep - Burns even more than usual. Blech. My grade: D.


Last night, I spent 90 minutes with Jessica Alba and her new-found sense of sight in The Eye. I liked this one! Jessica Alba has been blind most of her life and decides to get a corneal implant, but once she opens her new eyes she starts seeing scary, scary stuff. Mostly images of ghosts and people dying in fires. Lots of good thrills, and I jumped from the couch more than once. Parker Posey earns a paycheck as her caring older sister, and Alessandro Nivolo (who was so hot in that indie flick "Laurel Canyon" a few years ago) plays the doctor/therapist who's supposed to help her adjust to seeing again. In the case of this movie, the character story - regaining her sight and how it affects her mentally and emotionally - is very closely tied to the spooky stuff, so the overall plot holds together a lot better than most of this genre. Alba's pretty good in this (better than she was in that horrible Hayden Christensen movie "Awake") and comes off very believably as a woman frightened, confused, angry, and determined to fix the situation. My grade: B.

So, readers, any recommendations on scary movies I should check out next? I avoid the "torture porn" genre - Saw and the like - completely, but I could go for a good/bad ghost movie any day.

**I have actually known an Academy Award-winning character actor in my life, and around the time I met him he appeared in a really schlocky horror movie just like this. And he was only in it for about 10 minutes! We asked him why someone with his resume - not only the Oscar but also a passion for theater - would do a movie like this, and he said it was simple. For those 10 minutes onscreen, he was paid SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS. That made it possible for him to keep working doing theater and indie stuff for another few years and not have to worry about the mortgage or kids' tuition, etc. It really is a business, after all.

Things That Start With B

Don't worry... this isn't going to be a post about Bristol Palin (poor girl). Instead, it's a quick recap of how I spent my very enjoyable Labor Day weekend...

...Barbecue - hooray for an end-of-summer cookout and fun conversations about books and theater and stuff.

...Baseball - I finally made my way over to the new Nats Park, and it's great! Even better cuz the Nats won, 8-4 over the Braves! Check out my fun pics of the Park below.

...Back-to-School Shopping - Yep, it was time to refresh the wardrobe, and with Onyah's encouragement I dropped a butt-load of money on some really great stuff. (Patent-leather and plaid shoes, so cute!)

Ah, the three B's (other than beets, bears, and Battlestar Galactica), a great way to spend the long last weekend of summer that I wish was even longer. It's so hard to believe we're already in September... but that means soon the weather will turn and I can start wearing all my new fall clothes!

Check out the Park:

This little kid is 7 years old, and he played both the national anthem and "God Bless America" on his trumpet. Great!

We had great seats - we splurged for the $33 level tickets, and they were worth it. I'd totally do it again!

That's a mighty big grassy W. Pretty cool.

Alas, even though he started out in the lead, poor Teddy hasn't won yet. But he's a good sport!