Happy Slapsgiving, or Thanksgiving everyone.  At this time every year the writers of JoeOnTheTube get together in one post and talk about what they are thankful for as far as TV goes.  I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

DarinIsLost-

• I’m thankful for Lost.  It has survived long enough to come to its natural conclusion.  Most serialized TV shows get cancelled before their time and an ending is simply fabricated.  Let’s hope they end this right.
• I’m thankful for being able to pause live TV.  I can start an American Idol results show 2/3 of the way through, skip past all of the filler and still catch the ending right along with the rest of the world.

JoanieCan’tDance-

• This year I am thankful for Psych, How I Met Your Mother, The Office & 30 Rock for making me laugh; All the Real Housewife’s for sharing all the crazy drama; and to SYTYCD for the entertainment. I am also thankful for my DVR. Without you, I would never get to enjoy all of my favorite shows.

Morate-

• The return of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The near-heroic levels of sarcasm on this show warm my heart. It’s been nice to see the Seinfeld cast again too, but Larry’s the true star of the show.
• I’m not sure who gave the programming controls to the Metalheads out there, but I’d like to buy them a shot of Jagermeister. VH1’s That Metal Show and Fuse’s Talking Metal are standouts of the resurgence. Rawk!
• Via Netflix, I’m catching up on Dexter. I totally missed it the first time around due to my lack of Showtime. This show is dark and dirty, and did I mention the main character has very few redeeming qualities? I can see why the networks were so afraid of this show. Dig it.
• The wife is thrilled to have a second helping of So You Think You Can Dance this fall. And, as you married guys know, it’s good to have a happy wifey.

Her & Him-

• HER: Tony’s truth serum induced rescue of Ziva on the season opener of NCIS.
  HIM: I absolutely love NCIS. The season opening was pretty great.
• HER: The Good Wife.
  HIM: Have never seen The Good Wife – don’t need to, I already have one. (Love ya babe)
• HER: Tom DeLay’s broken whatever that finally bumped him off Dancing With the Stars since the judges were apparently too dumbstruck by his ridiculous old man Republican hip shakin’ booty to do it.
  HIM: Ok, I’ll say it, I’m ok watching Dancing With the Stars – the women’s dance outfits are worth the time.
• HER: My husband doesn’t watch NASCAR.
  HIM: I don’t get NASCAR – go straight, turn left, go straight, turn left – um, ok?!
• HER: Phineas and Ferb.
  HIM: Phineas and Ferb
• HER: My daughter has finally outgrown Noggin.
  HIM: Unfortunately, she’s picked up watching videos on CMT with her mom. :-/
• HER: PBS.
  HIM: PBS is now on our radar again.
• HER: There are only a few weeks when the Mavericks and the Rangers overlap. Even fewer since the Rangers blew the last half of the season.  (I’m not saying I’m thankful the Rangers blew the last half of the season. I was rooting for them. But come on, how freaking long can one season be? Oh wait, that question can be answered by the NBA.)
  HIM: Yep, I love watching sports on TV
• HER: Grey’s Anatomy is good again.
  HIM: Grey’s Anatomy is good again.
• HER: That we only have one TV in our house and I am frequently reminded of the depths of my husband’s love. Case in point – last night, he watched Donnie Osmond take home the Glitter Ball trophy on Dancing With the Stars, even though the Mav’s were playing.  I’ll return the favor, of course, when I watch seven football games with him on Sunday. But that’s why God created DVR. Which I’m also thankful for.
  HIM: Yep, I love watching sports on TV

JoeOnTheTube-

• I’m thankful for my wife, who let’s me watch as much TV as I want.  I’m thankful for my newborn son whom I look forward to imparting my love of TV on, but I promise to make sure he goes outside and plays as well.
• I’m thankful that Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal, or Peg and Al Bundy one of the most iconic married couples in the history of television, have found home on two of the best shows on TV.
• I’m thankful for the two best new shows of the season, Modern Family and Glee.
• I’m thankful for HBO and their wonderful shows True Blood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Big Love, Bored To Death, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,and of course the upcoming mini-series The Pacific.
• I’m thankful that AMC has started producing quality television that rivals any other network on TV, including HBO.  Mad Men and Breaking Bad are both amazing.
• I’m thankful that Kurt Sutter created the world of Sons of Anarchy, and took us along for the ride.  As season two comes to an end I can honestly say that I believe it is currently the best hour of TV on.
• I’m thankful for the great people who write for this blog.  You make my life easier, and I really appreciate it.
• I’m thankful for this blog and all its readers.  When I started this thing about a year and a half ago I never imagined that anyone aside from a few of my friends and family would read it.  This month we’ve had over 30,000 visitors, and that blows my mind.  We have some big changes coming up, and I hope that everyone keeps coming back.  As long as you are reading we will be watching.

Hope everyone has a great slap-free Thanksgiving…

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Bilson

KT will bring the cranberries if you bring the pumpkin pie.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: 5.09 “Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap”

Okay, I know it sounds just like a sequel to an action movie, but if it were really “revenge of the slap,” wouldn’t Barney be slapping Marshall?

Anyway.  This is my preference, but I’m not a big fan of the “Slapsgiving” episodes — we spend the whole thing discussing how Barney’s gonna get what’s coming to him and by the end it all just seems mean.  In contrast, slap #2 was spontaneous and we all cheered because Marshall got Barney just as he was being particularly obnoxious.  (That was the one with Barney’s one man show.  You remember.)

So there’s my bias on that part of the episode.  I did love the lead-in where Ted and Robin recovered Marshall’s perfect turkey, though.  And I did enjoy watching Barney’s face while Ted and Robin argued and he egged them on.  And yes, I loved that they reworked the “You just got slapped” song to be a jingle for a (somewhat horrifying) commercial.

Instead, let’s talk about Lily’s dad.  I think at this point the only parent we haven’t met is Robin’s mother  (because Bob Barker is totally Barney’s father), so that’s interesting.  And from what we know, Lily’s mom is fairly normal.  She throws her daughter a bridal shower.  She gets her daughter and son-in-law to watch her cat.  She gets upset when the cat does not survive said cat-sitting.

Obviously, Lily’s dad had to be a freak.

Specifically, he’s a man-child whose attempts to invent board games came between him and Lily’s ballet recitals, art shows, and gymnastics meets.  That led to some fun flashbacks with a cute redheaded girl and some outrageous fake board games.  The nightmare fuel game with killer clowns especially cracked me up.

A few years ago, we learn, Lily came to the end of her rope with him, leading to flashbacks of Lily giving her “you are dead to me” look.  Something about these seemed a little off to me about presenting her fiery look at the end of an otherwise quiet scene, but they were okay.  The glowing eyes and the wind machine kinda made me think of Willow in the Buffy finale.

I do think it’s interesting to see Lily and Marshall disagree on something big.  And I don’t mean that it’s interesting to see them fight — though we saw that recently and that had its moments — but the kind of disagreements every relationship has, over what is or isn’t normal.  How close do you expect a family to be?  (And, wow, Marshall’s weekly video-conferenced dinner with his family in Minnesota was a hoot.  Complete with manikin arms!)  Is it ever all right to cut a relative out of your life?  Maybe so, Marshall agrees after the “gall bladder” incident, but soft-hearted Lily is ready to reconcile instead.

By the way, you know the old line about women tending to marry men who are like their fathers?  I’m amused that Lily’s dad invents board games.  Remember how Marshall always wins games?  Remember Marshgammon from “Game Night”?  Heh.

But in the end, what really matters is that everyone sits down to a nice turkey dinner — provided, I assume, by the bodega downstairs to replace Marshall’s fabulous but ultimately lead paint splattered bird.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  May your turkey be un-splattered and your faces un-slapped!

Another Thanksgiving clip from a favorite TV show.  Slapsgiving: Legen– wait for it, then carve it up, eat it, and go into a food coma– DARY.

Thoughts:

• I think I liked last Slapsgiving better, though I enjoyed Marshall’s fake-out in this episode as well.
• I don’t know how I feel about Barney and Robin basically pretending that their relationship never happened. For the sake of the show, I would love for things to go back to the way they were before Season 4 with Barney pulling crazy stunts and getting his friends into all sorts of shenanigans. But in reality, Barney and Robin would never be able to go back to being Just Friends and I would appreciate it if the writers would handle this situation a bit more realistically.
• Marshall saying grace with his family over webcam = LOLOLOL
• I was intrigued when Ted told Robin he was still in love with her. I know they brushed it off as a ploy to win the Who Gets To Slap Barney argument, but I wonder…
• The last slap better be epic.

1.For this week’s individual task I’m going to look at one print-based, one television-based and one film-based media object. I have chosen the book “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, the television series “Ghost Whisperer” and the film “The Ring”.

“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”

The narrative of the story follows Tvetzan Todorov’s  narrative structure. The story begins with the equilibrium: Harry lives with his aunt and uncle in a little town and leads a fairly normal, although quite lonely life. Then comes the first disruption: Harry discovers he’s a wizard and enters the wizards world by going to study in one of the best schools for magic. This develops into a sort of second equilibrium. Then comes the second disruption: something very valuable and important is hidden in the school and someone is trying to steal it. The recognition happens at the same time, because the three main characters (Harry and his two friend) discover this at the same time. The follows the attempt: they try to break all the protective spells and get to the valuable object before the person, who is trying to steal it. The book ends with an enhanced equilibrium: the object is saved, the villain – defeated, and Harry returns to his aunt and uncle for the summer, only this time they won’t treat him as bad, because now he can do magic.

In the book it is also easy to identify Propp’s character types:

-          Hero – obviously Harry Potter

-          Villain 1 – Harry’s enemy at school Draco Malfoy

-          Villain 2 – the actual villain, who turns out to be one of the professors

-          Donor – the headmaster Dumbledor, who provides Harry with the Invisibility cloak, which aids his mission

-          Helper – again Dumbledor

-           Father – again Dumbledor, who is obviously a key figure and is to a great extent the one moving the narrative

-          The Dispatcher – Harry himself is the dispatcher, getting involved in the quest due to his own curiosity

-          The false hero – professor Quirrel, who eventually turns out to be the villain

The only missing character type is the princess, because the reward for the hero comes in the form of praise and a happier world, where he fits in.

Ghost Whisperer

The series revolves around the main character Melinda Gordon, who has the ability to see and talk to ghosts. Although there is an on-going plot throughout each season, each episode has an independent plot, which again follows Todorov’s linear narrative structure. The equilibrium in the beginning of each episode is how Melinda and her husband and friends live happily and calmly in a town, named Fareview. The disruption comes when Melinda meets a new ghost. The recognition has three parts. The first part is when Melinda finds out what the ghost is haunting and tells her husband and friends, who usually help. Then comes the attempt: to try and find what’s keeping the ghost from “crossing over” and then try and “get him into the light”. Then come the seond and third part of the recognition:  when Melinda discovers what the unfinished business of the ghost is and when Melinda explaines to the living relatives that she has a gift and that their son/mother/father/daughter/friend is a ghost and aids them in talking to each other. Finally comes the enhanced equilibrium, where again Melinda returns to her happy and normal life and the ghost’s relatives have found closure.

Propp’s character types are again present in the series:

-          Hero – Melinda

-          Villain 1 – the big villain who is kept in the shadows throughout the season but becomes revealed in the last episode, and who is usually trying to keep Melinda from helping the ghosts.

-          Villain 2 – the ghost acts as villain for the first ¾ of an episode, until he is understood correctly and helped to find piece.

-          Donor – one of Melinda’s friends, a professor in the local college

-          Helper – any of Melinda’s friends

-          Father – a special ghost, who is called “The Watcher”

-          The Dispatcher – Melinda herself

-          The false hero – in some episodes from season 1, this is Melinda’s brother, who turns out to be helping “the dark side”

Again, the only missing type is the princess, because the reward comes in the form of piece and personal satisfaction for the hero.

The Ring

The equilibrium at the beginning is the normal and peaceful life that the main characters Rachel and her son live. Then comes the disruption: both Rachel and her son watch a tape, which carries a demon and a curse that the watcher will die in 7 days. The recognition comes when Rachel finds out about previous victims of the curse and believes in it. The attempt is when she struggles to find a way out of the curse and tries to find where the tape comes from in order to save herself and her son. The enhanced equilibrium is when she escapes the curse (a.k.a. copies the tape) and she and her son can now return to living a normal life, now closer than ever. The only downside that the enhanced equilibrium has is that the curse isn’t actually destroyed and the plot leaves an opening for a sequel where the curse returns to haunt them.

Propp’s character types:

-          Hero – Rachel

-          Villain – Samara, the demon from the curse

-          Helper – one of Rachel’s colleagues, who provides information about the girl on the tape

-          The Dispatcher – the demon, who gives the 7-days deadline through a phonecall

As we can see we have several missing character types: the donor – basically the hero discovers everything herself; the princess – the reward is the hero and her son’s lives; the father – this character simply is missing; the false hero – also, another missing character.

2. A media object, that does not conform Todorov’s linear structure or most of Propp’s character types is a certain commercial for condoms: A father and his little son are in a supermarket. The son puts a package of candy in the shopping cart. The father takes them out. The boy puts them in again, making and angry face. The father again takes them out. Then the boy starts screaming, throwing things, throwing himself on the floor, kicking. People all around are looking shocked and indignant. The father gives out  a deep sigh and a message appears on the screen “Use Condoms”.

As we can see the plot starts with equilibrium – father and son, shopping. Then comes the disruption – the boy wants candy and starts screaming. The recognition: everybody in the store are staring in shock. Then the commercial ends, without an attempt or an enhanced equilibrium.

This is a sought-after effect, which leaves the viewer with the task to come up with a solution to the problem for himself – e.g. to use condoms and not allow a situation like this to happen. This commercial has been banned, due to the obvious implication that children are something to be avoided. Nevertheless, anyone who has seen it can confirm that, although it does not follow the usual linear narrative structure to the end, and in fact exactly Because of that, it is effective and leaves an impression.

“Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.” – Rose Franken

Last night my family had their Thanksgiving. I wasn’t part of it, just as I haven’t been for the last three years. They only live an hour away, but still I elected not to be a part of it, for reasons somewhat mentioned.⁽¹⁾ I’m sure they had a ton of food, and I’m sure there were laughter, merriment, mirth and good cheer, but had I been there, all of that would have been colored by the many unsavory memories of holidays past. Is my inability to let go? Probably, but it comes to the same thing: I just don’t enjoy the company of my parents and see no reason why the idea of ‘family’ equates to maintaining a lifelong bad relationship.

Here’s what I did instead:

• The dishes.
• Won a battle – and maybe the war – in War of the Fleas II.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾
• Made some cheesy rice⁽⁴⁾ and peas.
• Read a Vonnegut novel while Ashley watched Golden Girls.⁽⁵⁾
• Played with the cats.
• Watched CBS’s Monday-night line-up, including HIMYM’s⁽⁶⁾ Slapsgiving II!⁽⁷⁾
• All while sitting on the sofa with Ashley.
• During which time we would occasionally dry-hump each other.
• And make each other laugh.
• And also make out.
• And she trimmed my man-bush.⁽⁸⁾
• Followed by more making out.
• And making fun of commercials.
• Played a video game while she did her breathing treatment.
• Then went to bed.
• Shagged for an hour.
• Talked for a while.
• Fell asleep.

My night: 1.
Family Thanksgiving: 0.

Suck it family Thanksgiving!

IR A LA PRIMERA TIRA DE SSN

ANTERIOR

Ya lo tendrá…

La canción que canta Aki pertenece a la serie “Como conocí a vuestra madre” a ESTE momentito en concreto …. sweet

That’s four! Can you believe it’s really been two full years since Slap #3? I sure couldn’t. There’s only one remaining, and I’m guessing we’ll have to wait a while for that one too. But I’m moving too fast.

As with “Slapsgiving” two years ago, the slap was only the comedic payoff in an episode where two characters make their peace. In “Slapsgiving,” it was Ted and Robin finally coming to terms with their post-break-up friendship. In “Slapsgiving 2,” it was Lilly and her dad, Mickey (Chris Elliott), who had ignored his daughter for years, pursuing his hilarious dream of creating the next great board game. Lilly finally broke down three years prior, when she gave him her apparently infamous “You’re Dead to Me Look”, which previously had only been reserved for a newspaper stealing neighbor, a bridesmaid who insulted her, and a bodega owner who doesn’t know the difference between decaff and regular. The last straw with her dad? His moving in with his parents forcing them to hold off moving to Florida and sending Lilly’s grandpa back to the steel mill. Yes, Lilly is justified in this, but her anger at her dad really didn’t match up well with the jokes of the three previous looks. If she’d given the other three the death look for little things, she probably would have given it to her dad a long time ago.

Regardless, Mickey shows up for Thanksgiving with his newest board game, “Diseases,” much to Lilly’s surprise. As Marshall tries to calm her down and get her to invite her father in, it comes out that he actually invited Mickey, hoping to get her to reconcile with him. She leaves angry, and it’s not until Marshall realizes how selfish Mickey really is that he goes to get her. But in typical HIMYM fashion, Lilly has realized he’s right, and she returns home and embraces her father.

Now, to the slap! Marshall grants his fourth slap to Ted and Robin after they find his lost turkey at the Port Authority lost and found. They start arguing over who should get the slap, which Barney plays up, realizing he can delay them until sunset, when the gift becomes null. It works for a while as they go back and forth, but finally, Robin gives it to Ted for overcoming a bad year with a good one. Thus starts a very funny chain, as Ted gives it to Robin, Robin to Mickey, and Mickey to Lilly. In the end, Lilly can’t do it either, and Marshall grants Barney amnesty for Thanksgiving. But there’s no way we were going to have a Slapsgiving with no slap, and Marshall lays #4 right across Barney’s face to end the episode.

The slaps were easily the best part of the episode and really redeemed it. Lilly’s relationship and reconciliation with her father wasn’t necessarily a bad story line, but it was poorly executed. It didn’t balance well the normal HIMYM combination of goofiness and heavy character relationships, and in the end, didn’t quite land it. But the Robin-Ted argument with Barney playing it up was classic HIMYM and was absolutely hilarious. The show is really at its best when the characters are involved in some wacky group caper with emotions and character development coming out of that, and the Slap Bet is really the best representation of that. I know there will be more of that sort of thing to come, so I’m not terribly concerned that “Slapsgiving 2″ played the heavy stuff up a bit too much.

Other Notes:

• Slap puns still haven’t gotten old on this show.
• I will buy Slap Bet if they make it a gag gift. No joke.
• Ted saying he still loves Robin for a slap: hilarious.
• “You sonofabeech!”

Michael’s Score: 73

Tangled Up In Wires Grade: B

Rarely are sequels a good idea, and it’s even a more rare occurrence that they are better than the original.  These are both true in the case of last night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother.

The premise was simple.  Lily was cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and Marshall found the greatest turkey ever, but he left it in the cab.  He’s very upset, but when Ted and Robin bring it back from the port authority Marshall is so excited he gives them one of the most generous gifts ever, his fourth slap.  All they have to do is decide who’s going to slap Barney and it must be done before sundown when the meal begins.

As the two of them decide and argue about who’s going to deliver the slap to Barney while he sitting in the slap-throne there is another knock at the door.  It turns out to be Lily’s dad, Mickey Aldren played by Chris Elliot.  At this point we get some back story about why Lily hates her dad.  Turns out that he always aspired to create the next great American board game.  He was so obsessed with it he missed Lily’s childhood.  When he moves back in with Lily’s grandparents and her grandfather is forced to go back to work at the steel mill it is the final straw and Lily gives him her “you’re dead to me” stare.  We see the other times she’s given the stare as well, once with one of her bridesmaids at her wedding, once with the neighbor across the hall who stole her paper, and once with the bodega owner who gave her regular instead of decaf coffee.

Marshall wants to get Lily and her father back together.  He thinks that every family should be like his.  Marshall is the one that invited Mickey to Thanksgiving and when Lily finds this out she leaves.  As they wait for her to come back they all play Mickey’s new board game Diseases.  Robin and Ted are still arguing about who gets to slap Barney.  Barney is egging them on in hopes that he won’t get slapped at all.  When Mickey’s game explodes goo all over the turkey Marshall loses it.  He tries to give Lily’s “you’re dead to me” stare, but he can’t do it as well as she can.  Marshal leaves to find Lily, and it turns out that she’s in the bodega.  She realizes that she wants her father in her life, and they go back upstairs to enjoy Thanksgiving.  First the slap has to take place.  Robin eventually gives in and let’s Ted do the slapping, he gives it back to her, and she gives it to Mickey who in turn gives it to Lily.  Lily can’t bring herself to slap Barney so Marshall declares there will be no slap this year.  Just as Barney is untied from the slap-throne he stands up and Marshall delivers a huge slap that send Barney to the floor.

Thoughts and Observations:

• “YouuuuSonOfABitch.” This is the second time that Lily has delivered the line.  I’m hoping it becomes her new catch phrase, because it is funny when she says it.
• What did you think of the commercial for Micky’s new board game, “Slap Bet.”  I really wasn’t impressed.  It should have been funny, but it just wasn’t.
• I love that Ted lied about still being in love with Robin in order to get the slap.
• Some great slap puns: “This once pure fruit has turned into a poisoned slapple.”  Eric Slapton.  Slap Diem.
• Slap Bet Commissioner might be the greatest job in the world.  You can change the rules at your own whimsy to suit yourself.
• Only one slap left?  Do you think we will wait a long time to see it or will it come quickly so that another slap bet can take place?
• The board games Mikey Aldren created: Tijuana Slumlord, Car Battery, Landmine Lunge, There’s A Clown Demon Under Your Bed, Sleepy Tombstone Maze, Dog Fight Promoter, Diseases.

Worst Show: The Cleveland Show (Episode: “Ladies’ Night”) – I watch The Cleveland Show afraid that if I miss it, they will finally have a funny episode.  I’m still waiting for that funny episode.

The Power Rankings: (may contain mild spoilers)

10.  How I Met Your Mother (Episode: “The Playbook”) – While I enjoy Barney’s single shenanigans, I’m still slightly bothered how the Barney/Robin relationship which the show invested us all in has dissipated so quickly.

9. Parks and Recreation (Episode: “Hunting Trip”) – This is slowly becoming my favorite show on NBC Thursday nights.

8. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Episode: “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System”)

7. Glee (Episode: “Ballad”) – Not as good as last week but still a step in the right direction.  I don’t think I can truly love this show until the two pregnancy secrets are revealed (especially Terri’s)

6. Community (Episode: “Environmental Science”) – Andrea and I sang “Somewhere Out There” at Sing Sing Karaoke at around 5 AM in the morning inspired by this episode.

5. The Mentalist (Episode: “His Right Red Hand”) – Like sci-fi shows, crime procedurals have mythology episodes and with The Mentalist, any episode that involves Red John is infinitely better than run-of-the-mill episodes.

4. Friday Night Lights (Episode: “A Sort Of Homecoming”) – I’m really getting tired of Landry getting attractive girls but the end of this episode was just sad.

3. The Big Bang Theory (Episode: “The Adhesive Duck Deficiency”) – Episodes where Penny and Sheldon spend most of the episode together >>> all other episodes

2. Curb Your Enthusiasm (Episode: “The Table Read”) – Leon (JB Smoove) completely stole this episode! “I Danny Dubersteined the shit out of him!”

1. Sons of Anarchy (Episode: “Service”) – The only thing that bothered me about this episode is that conflicts that have been building all season got resolved a little too smoothly (unless some people are playing possum). For all the praise I’ve given Katey Sagal (Gemma), Ryan Hurst (Opie) has been equally amazing.

How I Met Your Mother Season 5 Episode 9 Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap

Watch s05e09 How I Met Your Mother, 5×9 …

November 23, 2009

Top Chef: Culinary Olympics

How I Met Your Mother: Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap

The Venture Brothers: Self Medication

The Big Bang Theory: The Vengeance Formulation

Castle: Love Me Dead

White Collar: Threads

Monday.  It’s a short week this week and thank goodness it really is a short week this week.  I got up this morning and got myself ready for my day today.  Heather had herself ready to go for the day along with the kids which I really appreciated because it made my  Monday morning that much easier.  I got up and got myself together for my day and ate breakfast with everyone.  Then Heather took off for work and I took a shower and joined the kids and we watched “The Early Show” on CBS.  We found out that they are recalling all the drop-side cribs in the country and I have to say that I think that recall is RIDICULOUS!  I’m not trying to downplay the deaths of people that are involved or say that any child’s death is not important, because they are.  But, to recall all drop side cribs is a little over the top.  How about telling all these parents to take two wood screws and screw the sides of their cribs in.  There – problem solved!  Kid can’t fall between the slats when it doesn’t move!  Anyway, we had a discussion about it and before I knew it, it was time for me to be off to work while the kids were off to school.

I got to work and prepared myself for a half day.  That really wasn’t such a bad thing.  I had some time this morning to finally get caught up on some paper work and really start to work ahead for the quarter.  I even had some time today to actually practice string bass for the winter concert.  This afternoon I was able to work on some things in my classroom and then get things ready for the winter concert including moving around some lights on the balcony in the auditorium to make sure that the chorus (that is now in the pit orchestra area) is properly lit up for the concert.  I got a lot accomplished in a very short amount of time.  I was shocked at what I was able to get done and how quickly I was able to do it.

I got done with my day and headed out and came home.  Heather was out driving and I helped the kids with their homework for a little bit.  Ruth cleaned up the kitchen and I worked on some things upstairs and then worked on my blog and helmets in the basement.  Heather and I got into a little bit of a tiff when she wasn’t home by quarter after five and there was no rhyme or reason as to why there was no plan for dinner.  We went back and forth on the cell phone and finally had to have dinner at “Wendy’s” on Front Street.  I took the kids with me and we met there and then came home.  Heather dropped Austin off to Scouts and then I went downstairs and watched my usual Monday night shows including “How I Met Your Mother”, “Accidentally On Purpose”, “Two and a Half Men”, “Big Bang Theory”, and “CSI Miami”.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 4 of Chapter 18 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry……Chapter 18 (Part 4):  While in the middle of the Gordian Reach Den was waiting to be loaded into a troop transport with a soldier that he was talking to.  The soldier was ound and had lied in order to get into the military.  He survived a unit that had over seventy-percent casualties.  He was being interviewed with his thoughts on Den’s thumb camera until an insurrectionist who was undercover, blows away a bunch of soldiers with a pulse carbine.  Including the trooper he was interviewing.  The insurrectionist walks right towards me and everyone was yelling at me to run, yet I cannot becuase I am too scared.  But then a kid jumps in front of me and takes a shot to the gut that was meant for my head, saving my life.  The shooters gun jams and the security takes him down.  I then squat down wit hthe kid and ask him why he did it and his reply was that I’m so little.  Den said he assumed that the shield had equated small stature with youth.  Den said he thanked the child before he died and the child told him to tell his mother he loved her.  Yant said that was sad, but then said there was more because the shooter was human and he was a fourteen year old child as well.  he asked one of the security guards to tell his mother he loves her.  Den then said that these are the stories that people know about from the front lines.  That shows that killing isn’t grand with children dying and mother’s hearts being broken all over.  Zan said he was sorry and Den said they all are.

Monday, monday!  How was everyone’s weekend?

Today was supposed to be productive.  It really wasn’t.  :)  I did get somethings done – but not nearly enough.  Blech.

Breakfast was pretty filling – Eggs a la Grandpa, some center-cut bacon, orange juice and a piece of toast.

It was a nice treat to have a nice filling breakfast.  After breakfast I had to make a stop at the grocery store for some necessities for the week.   I really enjoy going grocery shopping.  And, i was very good about not getting anything too “dangerous” for the apartment.  Nothing too snacky – only good for you things.  It was a successful trip.

Lunch was another Lean Cuisine.  Mmmmmm.  Not the best, but it worked.

After unsuccessfully searching for an online political science class that I need, it was off to club practice.  Where I almost just walked out right then and there.  Lame.  I’m trying to convince myself that I need to stick around for the kids – which I do.  They need another coach on deck to make sure they’re safe and so someone can work with them.  But, I’m about done with the club as a whole.  At least my choice is a good one.  :)

Dinner was some BBQ chicken pizza with a spinach salad and applesauce.

We put the pizza together with refrigerated pizza dough, two chicken breasts (pre-cooked), BBQ sauce, some mozzarella cheese and sharp cheddar cheese.  Put it all together and cook according to the pizza crust’s directions.  It was simple, fast and yummy.  A perfect combination.

And, to finish it off, some Caramel Praline Crunch yogurt blends.  Yummy!

I scream for ice cream.

Well, the hubby and I have some TV to catch up on – including some Monday night TV.  A slap will be occurring on HIMYM.  Love it!  :)

And, here’s Jackson to say “goodnight”.  :)

Like a Stonewall.... kind of.

How I Met Your Mother brings back the Slap Bet gag as Ted and Robin use Marshall’s fourth slap on Barney. The gang celebrates Thanksgiving with Lily’s estranged father.

Read more: http://prime-time-sitcoms.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_i_met_your_mother_episode_9_recap

“Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap”

November 23rd, 2009

I’ve been having a back and forth with other critics over the past few weeks about the current state of How I Met Your Mother, as there’s a general consensus that the show got rid of Barney and Robin before its comic potential had been fulfilled but a disagreement over whether this is all part of a broader plan. And, on Friday, co-creator Carter Bays did an interview with Michael Ausiello that managed to do absolutely nothing to settle this argument. On the one hand, Bays noted that this could just be one part of a larger journey between the two characters, which seems encouraging. However, on the other hand, he also said the following:

“None of us wanted to see Barney wearing a sweater-vest and going to bed-and-breakfasts,” says Bays, adding that it makes sense the relationship would “flame out fast” given that “neither of them, at their core, really wanted to be tied down.” Bays also believes that, deep down, viewers prefer single Barney to attached Barney. “It’s one of those things where you can give people what they think they want, or what they really want.”

It’s one thing that Bays is remaining coy about their future, but for him to have internalized what I feel is a close-minded and limiting audience reaction to the character is highly problematic for me. The show didn’t give Barney a chance to adapt Single Barney into Attached Barney so to judge so quickly is so short-sighted that it is either a misquote or a sign that my faith in Bays/Thomas is lower than it’s ever been.

And while “Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap” seems built to regain my trust and sympathy by tapping into the show’s most slaptastic mythologies and by actually giving Lily and Marshall a story of their own, it does nothing to deal with my overall concerns about Barney as a character (proving a wash in this area) and disappoints by feeling like a strange mash-up of sentimental and comic that feels far less organic than the original “Slapsgiving.

Accordingly, How I Met Your Mother remains “on notice,” even during this holiday season.

The reason this episode does nothing to do with Barney’s character is that he remains in a supporting capacity. Barney, as a caricature with no sense of emotionality, works so long as he isn’t asked to be the center of attention. Like with last “Slapsgiving,” the slap itself is less about Barney (who simply sits paralyzed by fear, this year trapped by not knowing who is going to slap him as opposed to not knowing when the slap is coming) than it is about Ted and Robin arguing over who is going to slap him. As a result, Neil Patrick Harris simply gets to play the combination of mortal terror and savvy disruption as Barney tries to get them arguing to the point where neither of them will dole out the slap before the imposed deadline of sundown. The result is a performance and a character beat that doesn’t fall short because it has no aspirations: Barney is specifically compartmentalized outside of the dramatic side of the episode, and there’s nothing wrong with this.

However, ignoring the fact that this story would have been just as interesting if Robin and Barney were still together (where Ted and Robin could have still brought the turkey as roommates and her right to the slap could have been about getting retribution for their fights), the real reason that this story doesn’t work is that Ted and Robin have nothing to work out. While the first “Slapsgiving” put a nail in the Ted/Robin relationship (if not the friends with benefits potential) for good in the midst of the slaptivities, providing an emotional depth to the episode, this year’s Ted and Robin story was ultimately pointless. I kept waiting for something to happen to make Ted and Robin’s conflict more explicitly about either Barney (for Robin) or something at all (for Ted, who hasn’t had a real story all year) so that it would have some sort of impact, but it never did. I don’t mean to so clearly cry out for some continuity, but at least start listing off the various ways that Barney has wrong Ted in the past, or bring up Robin’s relationship with him long before the conclusion of the episode. As good as NPH was in the various reactions, especially when Ted and Robin were arguing and he was popping up between them, the only time their argument became interesting was when Ted tried to lie and claim he was still in love with her: at that point, as played out as that card is, it was at least something to give the storyline a point.

In the end, for the episode to claim that the whole “Slapsgiving 2″ storyline was all an effort from Marshall to bring everyone together (which makes no sense considering that he raised it before Mickey arrived, and thus before they needed to be reconciled in any major way (Major Way! *Salute*) ) is patently false, and a bit of broad overgeneralizing that the show is normally above. I thought Chris Elliott was engaging as Lily’s inappropriate board game-obsessive deadbeat dad, and I like that Lily was finally given a storyline, but it failed to connect with me both a) because we had never been introduced to it in the past and b) because Lily was kind of unsympathetic throughout. It may be a symptom of the fact that Lily has been somewhat mean all season, but the “You’re Dead to Me” look and her unwillingness to forgive her father lacked emotional nuance. The episode didn’t know if it wanted us to take Lily’s hatred seriously (in overdoing his faults to the point of sending Lily’s grandfather back into the steel mill) or to view it as frivolous and silly (like with her newspaper stealing neighbour or her bridesmaid), mixing Lily’s pride and love for her family with being overemotional and bitter. So when the episode eventually tells, rather than shows, Lily’s moment of realization that the convenience store owner was actually dead to everyone, it’s like we’re so disconnected from Lily’s emotions that any real value in their reunion is lost, a problem only compounded when it gets lumped in with the slap towards the end.

Of course, the episode had its charms. I thought Marshall got a lot of great content in the episode, whether it was the fake arms in his Sunday dinner webchat or him retelling the story of he and Mickey’s meeting so that it wasn’t him who was balling his eyes out. And Mickey was worth it if only for the endless parade of board game concepts (Tijuana Slumlord, Car Battery, There’s a Clown Demon Under the Bed, Landmine Lunge, Diseases, Dog Fight Promoter, etc.) And even though it could be seen a mile away, the premise of the slap bet hasn’t lost all of its charm, and seeing Jason Segel rip into Neil Patrick Harris remains as entertaining as ever before.

But the episode struggling trying to both use an existing mythology (the slapping throne was a nice addition) and create a new one (with Lily’s father) in the same episode, and both suffered as a result. The two storylines never meshed together as organically as they did in “Slapsgiving,” and the Lily side of things needed more time and focus to allow us to connect with her emotional journey. It wasn’t an unfunny episode, but it didn’t live up to the mythology it tapped into.

It’s not a slaptastrophe, but let’s just say I have my slapsgivings…as in misgivings, not the pural of Slapsgiving. Note the lack of capitalization.

Cultural Observations

• You’d be amazed how instinctively I added the repeat/salute after “major way” above. No delay at all.
• Of the various new slap phrases in the episode, I think “Slape Diem” was my favourite.
• They’re onto the last slap, and I’ll say this much: it needs to be an event on its own. Don’t worry about other storylines, just give us an epic slap episode worthy of the occasion.
• It used to be that Lily’s different hair was what destroyed any realistic flashbacks, but wigs could at least pretend: Hannigan’s new chest, however, is far more conspicuous.
• And yes, as everyone saw, the 1990s Board Game commercial version of Aldrin Games’ Slap Bet, complete with kids slapping the elderly was a whole lot of fun, especially the 90s commercial interpretation of “You Just Got Slapped.”

I honestly don’t know. How I Met Your Mother is Neil Patrick Harris being a womaniser, and the woman from American Pie being her typecast self, a quirky, stupid tomboy. It makes no sense, and is very poor television.

Saying that I’ve watched 4 episodes. It’s good moving wallpaper.

Happy Birthday to the Mother and the Brother, 44 and 11 respectively. It’s been a nice day, with a nice cake. With a new computer and the sale of a treadmill and a rowing machine.

I’ve also decided I might Podcast, because it takes much less effort to speak than it does to write. It makes more sense, because i’m always somehow attached to an audio-editing program, with some microphone, or some instrument. It’d be nice.

Nice is a boring word, but there’s a good few people over the last few days who’ve been really nice to me and they deserve to be recognised. It’s a shame I’m not as nice as they are, so I’m not going to say who they are. But they know. Unless they don’t. But if they don’t know who they are, they’ll have amnesia, and this blog will be a small problem in the diary of their medical problems.

Catch you later blogreaders.