Televisuals: Modern Family and Cougar Town

So, I've spent the last month in Naas. I was on placement in the hospital there and living across the road in an old rather dilapidated but not uncharming Res which had cable tv (yay!) but no internet (boo). On weekdays I was confined to using my handy little meteor internet stick but when I came home on the weekend I made the best of my free unlimited 54Mbps broadband and downloaded enough tv to keep me sane.

It's probably best at this point to explain that I watch ungodly amounts of tv. Not on the actual tv, but online. Right now the weekly roster consists of 90210, Bones, Brothers&Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Glee, Gossip Girl, House, How I Met Your Mother, Mercy, One Tree Hill and Private Practice. It's astounding I ever get anything done, when you think about it. But being in Naas left me with the unpleasant dilemma of being unable to watch these as usb internet just isn't up to the job. So I decided to branch out and see what I could find. I remembered watching an episode of Dexter that happened to be on my ipod one very boring day. It seemed like a good enough show and I was 3 seasons in arrears. Excellent. Plus it turns out you can download entire seasons at a time of shows that have been around for a while. Perfect. I did that, watched all 3 seasons in a month and am now hooked. Ahhh eztv, how empty my life was before you came into it.

On the subject of tv: When I first saw the ad for Modern Family it struck me that this could be a bit of an Arrested Development substitute: the quirky character traits, the closets full of skeletons, the awkward semi-incest, the voiceover. Comedy gold. So when I got back from Naas I promptly procured all 8 episodes aired to date and had myself a bit of a marathon. It was every bit as good as I'd hoped. A little bit weird and funny as hell. Not unlike Arrested Development but toned down and more market-friendly. Sadly The Bluths were a little before their time. I mean, nowadays I don't know a single person who doesn't love their Arrested Development boxset like a first born, but at the time it can't have been so popular or the studio big wigs wouldn't have axed it. Let's hope Modern Family has a little more longevity. Also Look! It's Al Bundy, the later years




Also Cougar Town. It's not fantastic, but it's entertaining enough if you find yourself with too many hours in your day.

Holidays are coming

Last night I watched The Late Late Toy Show for the first time in years. Back in the day it was a sacred annual ritual up there with the best of 'em. You'd have your bath, get into your jammies and snuggle up with the family to see how long you could hold out this year. Inevitably by the end of Part One your eyelids were drooping, and you could barely keep it together through the ad break. Then the next morning the disappointment would hit as you realised you'd missed a whole 50% of the toys and entertainment. You weren't big yet. There's a photo of 7yr old Rosie in her favourite Winnie The Pooh dressing gown, head falling off the couch, limbs akimbo, dead to the world in front of The Toy Show. It's amazing my parents even allowed it to happen (those were the days when tv was only allowed on weekends and even then it was just half an hour a day), but they couldn't fight The Toy Show. It was an institution. Then in 1999 Gaybo hung up his Santy hat and Pat Kenny took over. After that I never watched it. Pat didn't have any charisma, the kids didn't like him, the whole thing just faded into awkward cringey-ness. Plus I was 10 by then and bordering on too old for toy show.

Last night though, it all came flooding back. Of course this time I stayed up til the end, and it was accompanied by a nice glass of wine but still, it was at its core the same Pre-Christmas bonanza I remember from my youth. I laughed, I coveted, I cringed at some of the acts. It was just like the good old days. Because this year Pat Kenny was nowhere to be seen. Ryan Tubridy was in charge and he did a damn fine job.

There were Billy Barry Kids, mini Irish dancers, Westlife, Jedward, Junior Culchie of the year, a hilarious kid named JohnJoe, christmas cheer and of course TOYS. My favourite of which I'm not sure can be called a toy really, but it's a portable dvd projector and it looks awesome.

So if anyone's looking for an expensive gift idea for, say, me...
(Ok I was going to put a link to where you could buy one but attempting to do so nearly crashed my computer, so never mind!)

Mega pain in my ass

Damn you MEGAVIDEO for your well curated archives of excellent quality videos. You tantalise me with HD versions of practically every episode of virtually any show in the world that stream at incredibly high speeds. I'm all lured in and then you slap a big fat restriction on viewing time? Why so mean? Ok, I get why. It's so I'll upgrade to having to pay for MEGAVIDEO and getting unlimited access. And my GOD it's tempting sometimes. Like when you're just getting into an episode and all of a sudden you're locked out. Or when you're *this* close to the end but that final 5mins pushes you over the limit. It is SO tempting not to wait 54 minutes, to hit that 'Premium' button and continue watching. But lucky for me I don't have a credit card, so even on those days when my tv addiction causes me to act recklessly I physically can't buy a subscription. Thank goodness for that. Cos quite beyond the fact that I can barely afford bus fare after paying for credit and internet (damn no-broadband-Naas forcing me to buy USB stick web access), the only time I get any work done at all is when MEGAVID forces me to stop watching. Without the limitation I would turn into a freakish mole, spending all my time in bed watching seasons and seasons of ever more awesome shows. (I know I'm not far off but right now I think I still count as normal)

Time for me to go do something life affirming. I still have another 40something minutes to use up...

Feeling in the mood?

This post is the one I had in mind when I decided to create Recently Used. I watch a lot of movies, probably too many, but there are surprisingly few I watch more than once or twice. Usually because they're intrinsically linked in my head to a given emotion or state of mind. Here are 10 of my favourites:


- You've Got Mail: Whenever I'm sick I want to watch this movie. Meg Ryan just pulls off cute 'n' sniffly so well in that scene near the end it makes me feel like some dashing man will come and visit ME with a bouquet of daisies. The perfect swine flu movie.

- Things We Lost In The Fire: For when you want a really proper cry, the kind where big fat tear drops stream down your face and you look like you've been in a fight afterwards. Not pretty, but oh so cathartic.

- Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist: Good for belly laughs and Indie music. Guaranteed pick-me-up.

- Before Sunrise/Before Sunset: For when you're
in the mood for romance and beautiful European cities (and you've got 4hrs to spare)There's something slightly voyeuristic about the real-time shooting that gets you all wrapped up in the dialogue and it's a good 'un for restoring your faith in humanity.

- Heathers: This is good when you're feeling teenage and want a bit of love, a bit of hate, a bit of murder, a bit of suicide, a lot of bitchiness and of course some Christian Slater. Nicely 80s without being too John Hughes about it (not that I don't love a bit of The Breakfast Club when I want feel-good-factor), it's like a cooler, weirder Mean Girls-what's not to love?

- Dan In Real Life: This movie makes me feel cosy. Of course I've never actually HAD the type of family get together they have in this movie but somehow I still manage to feel nostalgic for them from time to time. Pancake breakfasts, romps out in the country air, big games of Hide 'n' Seek and of course some romantic intrigue to keep things interesting. Delicious.

- Into The Wild: Last week I was lonely and discovered this film is the greatest possible antidote to loneliness (aside from, you know, finding some people to hang out with). So if you ever find yourself in Naas with no friends, no credit, no internet and tears in your eyes... watch a guy give away his life savings and live by him self in Alaska for a winter. At least you're less alone than him.

- Breakfast At Tiffany's: Needs no introduction. It's hard to think of a mood NOT to watch this in. Except maybe restless, cause once you start you have to see it through.

- Juno: Continuing on the theme of movies I watch whatever the weather... Most especially, though, this is for those days when merely wearing plaid and cons isn't enough to satisfy the alt kid in you.


- The Descent: For when you want to scream. I'm not sure I have a favourite scary movie, but if I had to pick one this would definitely be a contender. It's the one to watch on Girls' Night In. Grab a pillow and a friend and prepare to freak out.