Friday, April 26, 2013

Scandal is salacious

In catching up on television I've not been able to watch, so far I've nailed two seasons of Homeland, an assortment of movies like Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Transformers, Captain America, The Avengers
and two seasons of Scandal.
I like many of you have seen the promos for Scandal but never watched the show. One of my co-workers told me last year it was good but I didn't have time for it. Of course as the shows I love go off the air (Fringe), it creates openings (Vampire Diaries).
So, I watched the two seasons of Scandal over the past few days and I must say I'm torn. The first seven episodes were great. But this romance between the President and Olivia doesn't do it for me. It seems to be all about aggressive booty calls and not real emotion.
I'm probably one of the only people who was happy that the President found out about the voting scheme and was pissed off at everyone. Yeah. It was over between him and Olivia. I found the relationship stereotypical and old. The flashbacks to before the election were dull. I fast-forwarded through them.
WARNING SPOILER



I don't understand why the judge tried to assassinate the president. She thought he wasn't legitimate? Damn right. And it didn't bother her when the V.P. was trying to get her to resign. In fact she framed another man for the crime that she committed. It would have made more sense if the V.P. or someone who would have benefited from his death was the culprit. The attempted assassination was a great storyline and it was well done that it looked like it was the evil businessman and yet it wasn't. But picking the judge didn't make sense and was a weak ending. Ok, the president killed her (by pressing down on her abdomen?). I knew he was going to kill her but thought he'd smother her with a pillow.

It is interesting that the show runners have sustained a single story line for 29 episodes -- the affair between Olivia and the President. Considering I'm a fan of Gray's Anatomy, I am surprised by the clever twists and turns of the plots but the emotion and genuine friendship I feel on Gray's is not present on Scandal. It's like you have to trade emotion for smarts.
I'm also surprised by the series of speeches that they make on the show. It reminds me a lot of Coach's diatribes on Glee without the snarky-ness.

Anyway, I recently added the show to my DVR list. Since it's on ABC I probably don't even  need to record it because they make 5 episodes available.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Boston Bombers will not ruin community spirit

It's taken me a few days to process what's happened in Boston.
I know everyone in the country has been affected by the horror. I feel a particular attachment to the city chosen to terrorize and the event used as vehicle to kill people.
In the mid-1990s I lived on Hemenway Street in Boston, about 1.5 miles from the bombing site, when I went to graduate school. I also lived in Somerville, about 7 miles from Watertown. Boston is a metropolitan area of many small cities. It's interconnected by the T and was hard to distinguish between Boston and Brookline or Cambridge and Somerville.
In my first year there I covered the Boston Marathon for the Wellesley Townsman. My job was to interview folks as they got to the top of gigantic hill near Wellesley College.
I don't remember what I wrote but I do remember the experience. As a runner, I understood the value of the exercise but I had no desire to run a marathon. I didn't run my own marathon until 10 years later and I chose a course with very few hills.
I loved my time in Boston and made great friends. It's an amazing city full of intelligent and compassionate people.
It's particularly bothersome to me that the bombers chose a marathon event to target for mass casualties. My husband and I talked about it today. When we saw the carnage at the Boston Marathon finish line I immediately thought of my husband and daughter waiting for me at the top of the last hill at the Detroit Marathon finish line last fall. I ran the half and my family members were there to cheer me on as I ran the last few hundred feet. I gave my husband and my daughter a hug and my husband whispered for me to finish strong. Strangers standing nearby yelled encouragement to me and it lifted my spirit. It really does. It's like you are running this event and you want to do well for other people other than yourself. You feel like these people have faith me and you don't want to let them down.
I told my husband that I didn't want to stop running half or full marathons. I didn't want these bombers to scare us from accomplishing our running goals.
My husband told me he and my daughter would be at every finish line of every race I ran. He said he'd be looking around for suspicious activity and making sure he didn't stand near any abandoned bags.
That may sound silly but it did make me feel a bit relieved. Thousands of people  take part in running races every weekend. I'm sure the bombers didn't think about the terror they'd strike in the hearts of runners world wide but they did. They didn't just violate the city of Boston but also damaged a sport that many of us do to maintain fitness and good health.
I hope that marathons continue unimpeded and with the joy they give the runners and the community folks who come out to cheer us on and support us in our brutal pursuits. The best part of a marathon is running by people who are unrelated to you and yet are cheering you on toward your victory. It's one of those selfless acts and it's particularly upsetting that the three people who died, Martin Richards, Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu, were bystanders watching the runners and cheering them on.
They were there to support family or friends or just to enjoy a wonderful community event.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Showtime's Homeland good but rubs me wrong way

While I can't walk on my foot 22 of 24 hours, I am getting seriously caught up on Showtime's Homeland.
I just finished season 2 and am torn by the events in the finale.
Actually throughout the season Carrie embarrassed me or ticked me off.
I loved it when Sol said she was the smartest and dumbest person he knew because she sometimes took DUMB to a new level.
She is still seriously unstable and made very irrational choices. Yes, they often paid off and she was always right. Carrie always solves the case even if she has to use crazy to get there.
I was very disappointed at the end that she was giving up her career for Brody.
Why do television shows have to do that? I can't be the only viewer who is not attached to the Carrie/Brody hookup. I do not see love there. I see weakness. I see a lustful affair that will burn out when they discover who each other really is.
That's why I did like the very end with Brody on the run and Carrie returning to her job. I could not watch a full season of Carrie/Brody on the run.
Now I guess she'll work on the inside to protect Brody and find the real terrorists.
I was hoping she'd take an interest in government assassin Peter. I liked him although he couldn't control Carrie anymore than anyone else.


Monday, April 15, 2013

Homeland rivals Vampire Diaries for my interest

While recovering from foot surgery I am getting my fill of televisions series I have wanted to watch but not had the time.
So far I've watched the entire first season of Showtime's Homeland and it's pretty amazing. Every episode is different and exciting.
I'm not a keen of characters with mental illness but Carrie is a good mix of mostly sane and insane creativity.
I do wonder how they will stretch out the Sgt. Brody character much past the first season. It would be ridiculous for him to become president.
Anyway, this is a fabulous show and well worth the investment.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

New Parent Survival Guide will be free tomorrow

The New Parent Survival Guide will be free tomorrow on Amazon from midnight to 11:59 p.m.
Get your copy during the 24 hour sale.
Thanks for your interest.

Additions to YA novel sample Cursed now online

While I am at home recovering from foot surgery I plan to finish YA novel Cursed and its sequel or two. I am very ambitious, perhaps too much so. My husband always says my eyes are bigger than my stomach.
He's not so much talking about food as he is my expectations.
I envisioned this story running 7 parts with some story lines continuing book to book with independent plots for each book.
Cursed is about 60 per cent done and I hope to have it finished in a week or so. That may sound fast but I am stuck on the couch with an elevated foot and have now been doing rewrites for five hours straight. The sad part is it's been five hours of rewriting Chapter One.
Which brings me to the reason for this blog. In addition to the prologue for Cursed, I have posted Chapter One.
Feel free to send feedback to monicawolfsonwrites@gmailcom
Happy Reading.

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