lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Move along, nothing to see here...

7:06 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me!

Monday, October 30, 2006
Ava Lorraine Prins
Oct. 28, 2006
3:02 pm
6 lbs. 11 oz.
20.5 in.

4:16 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me!

Thursday, October 26, 2006
Because I apparently have all the time in the world...
...let's do the followup to my first new TV shows post.  One caveat:  we still haven't gotten around to watching "Friday Night Lights" yet (there are four episodes sitting on our Replay), so I'll have to weigh in on that one later.  I had been putting this post off until I had watched those, but at this point I figure I'd better just do it already.

The formerly "Too soon to judge (after only one episode)."
UGLY BETTY (abc thu.)
I mentioned in the comments of my other post what I found lacking with the pilot:  predictability, cringeworthiness, a serious lack of funny for what's supposed to be a comedy.  And a lot of that still holds true for the most part, but the show's also grown on me.  I don't LOVE it, and it's still not a great show, but in a few episodes it's managed to be entertaining and kind of cute.  I can see watching it as a sort of fluff show to balance out some of the harder-edged, more serious dramas I like.  Yeah, it's trying to have this dark mystery thing going on in the background, but I just couldn't care less about that part (and don't think it fits with the rest of the show), so I can easily just kind of ignore it.
HELP ME HELP YOU (abc tue.)
The best way I can put this is:  Ted Danson bad, supporting characters good.  Not that he's a bad actor or anything, it's just his (main, unfortunately) character (the psychiatrist) is the least interesting with the least funny storylines.  His group therapy patients' lives are where the show can actually be funny (though unfortunately still hit and miss), and they need to stop underusing them, especially Charlie Finn, whose odd delivery I love and who was the best part of the funnier-than-it-ever-got-credit-for FOX sitcom "Life on a Stick."  Yes, you heard me right.

Love, love, love!
HEROES (nbc mon.)
Seriously, what an awesome show.  I look forward to this on a weekly basis more than any other new show this year.  It's terribly intriguing and feels more like a movie than a television show (both qualities not unlike a certain other one-word-title show in its third season on ABC).  It has a perfect blend of interesting characters, suspense and mystery, and comic relief.  I'm simply shocked it's doing so well in the ratings -- it's so good it should have died a quick death.  :-P  Thank goodness for flukes.

Moot.
SMITH (formerly cbs tue.)
Cancelled after a mere three episodes, I was interested to see where it was going -- but not that  interested, honestly.  Rooting for the "bad guys" in something like Ocean's Eleven  isn't that hard because they never, you know, cold-bloodedly killed innocent people like these guys did.  That was perhaps just a little too hard to swallow.  Hopefully Simon Baker can find himself a new gig.

Medium.
THE NINE (abc wed.)
Got crazy-good reviews, which the pilot almost  lived up to.  Subsequent episodes have dragged a little bit more, doling out info of what happened during the 50+-hour bank robbery standoff too slowly (like, almost non-existently) if you ask me.  I'm continuing to watch because I really want to know what happened, but it may not matter for long with the ratings it keeps getting.
BROTHERS & SISTERS (abc sun.)
Better than I was afraid it would be, but still a bit too dull.  It's very difficult to make a really good family drama that doesn't bore.  We had one;  it was called "Everwood."  This isn't exactly a replacement.  At least not yet.
30 ROCK (nbc wed. -- soon to be thu.)
The pilot was very disappointing (I heard it was much funnier before they replaced Rachel Dratch with Jane Krakowski -- what a surprise).  The episodes since then have been better, with Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan proving they are THE funny here.  But the jury's still out on the show as a whole.  If only all the episodes could be as Jane-Krakowski-less as this week's...

Hate, hate, hate.
TWENTY GOOD YEARS (nbc wed. -- though not for long)
I'll admit the only reason I watched this in the first place was for Jeffrey Tambor.  I needn't have bothered.  I'm surprised I actually made it through the 1.5 episodes I did.
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Monday, October 23, 2006
"And now we play the waiting game...
Eh, the waiting game sucks.  Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos!"
Yup, still no baby.  And, yes, we're getting very impatient.  We've been talking to the baby, trying to convince her to come out already, but so far she seems quite content to just stay put and frustrate Mommy and Daddy.  :-P

So all there is to report so far is still just lots and lots of mild contractions that don't result in anything.  In fact, I'm getting so used to them that unless there are some other labor signs that go along with it, I wouldn't be surprised if I don't recognize real labor until I'm a ways into it.

For now here's a picture from my due date on Friday.

1:00 PM || I want to be a comment. Post me!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Austin City Limits alert.
Because I don't trust myself to remember to post this closer to the actual time, I'm gonna do it now.  According to the PBS website, 'round about November 4, the episode of "Austin City Limits" is going to be Sufjan Stevens and Calexico.  Now, I personally care about Calexico more than Sufjan, but I'm still curious to see a live performance by him and I know I have blog readers who are fans and might not know about this yet.  So there you go.  And if you aren't as familiar with PBS programming as you might be (i.e. that it can be kind of screwy), a program that the site lists as "Nov. 4" could air locally before that date or as much as a couple weeks after, and on any day of the week.

Now that I've remembered to tell you, I  just need to manage to not forget about it.  :-P
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Thursday, October 12, 2006
Baseball playoffs.
Of course, as long as the Cubbies are out, I don't care immensely about the playoffs, but I do like to follow them and have someone to root for, or at least against.  During the first round, I had the Padres to root for (um, they lost), the Dodgers with Greg Maddux to root for (yup, lost also), and of course the Yankees to root against (sorry, Liz ;-)) -- who actually managed to oblige me and collapse in a pretty spectacular way.  So here's who's left:

NY Mets
St. Louis Cardinals
Oakland A's
Detroit Tigers

I'm not sure there could be a more lackluster lineup for my taste, but if I'm to find some way to care, here it is:  I can root against the Cardinals (sorry, Steve ;-)).  And I can root for the Tigers for the simple reason that they seriously stunk it up last year (and for years before as well).  Thus they earn the coveted underdog status and my allegiance along with it, somewhat unenthusiastic as it may be.

In much more enthusiastically... allegiant news, I very greatly need the Cubs to hire Joe Girardi as their manager.  Because he's awesome.  And already a Cub at heart.

Also, it snowed here last night.
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Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Somebody's birthday is coming up (and not just our child's).
Josh joins me at 27 on Sunday.  Here are some things you may get for him if you still need things to get for him.

"The Weird Al Show" - The Complete Series, on DVD
Weird Al - Straight Outta Lynwood  CD
Viva Voce - Get Yr Blood Sucked Out  CD
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Monday, October 09, 2006
Baby hiccups.
9:28 am
2:08 pm
6:34 pm
11:10 pm

Freakishly regular, huh?
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Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Time for another rousing round of Guess That Baby Hair!
Rather than have y'all guess something like our baby's actual birthdate, instead you may guess what kind of hair -- light or dark; thick, thin or none -- our child will have when she's born.  Just for the heck of it.  If you aren't as familiar with her parents' hair as you could be, mine is thin and blonde and Josh's is thicker and dark brown.  Ready... set... GO!

And, okay, feel free to guess other things as well if you want:  birthdate (due date reminder: Oct. 20), weight (the baby's, not mine ;-)), whatever.  Have a blast.
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Tuesday, October 03, 2006
No, I have not forgotten about that other love of my life.
This is a beautiful week in television, what with the premieres of "Veronica Mars" (tonight!), "Lost," and "Battlestar Galactica."  But this post is about the new shows.  I haven't gotten around to watching all of them yet (some of them haven't even premiered yet), so there will likely be another entry on those down the line.

Favorites so far.
JERICHO  (cbs wed.)
Not sure where it's going in the long term, but it's sucked me in and I want to find out.  Also, love Skeet Ulrich and Gerald McRaney.
MEN IN TREES  (abc fri.)
I've never been a fan of Anne Heche, but here she actually doesn't bug.  And I'm a sucker for the small-Alaskan-town premise -- "Northern Exposure" is one of my favorite shows.  (I'm also a sucker for James Tupper, but let's not be too  too shallow here.)
SIX DEGREES  (abc thu.)
With its mixed buzz, I was surprised how much I liked it.  And it's always nice to see Campbell Scott every week.
STUDIO 60...  (nbc mon.)
Still a bit high and mighty for my taste, but I think that's just the way Aaron Sorkin is.  Haven't seen last night's episode yet, but the second was better than the first, and that's a good sign.  I like the banter.

Middle of the road.
VANISHED  (fox mon.)
This started early, so I've been able to watch a good number of episodes.  Not the greatest show, so I'm mainly still watching for the doling out of clues in the fairly convoluted mystery.  At least as long as I have time to, which won't be that long.
STANDOFF (fox tue.)
Ditto except for the ongoing mystery thing, which doesn't exist here.  I just kinda like watching each week's hostage situation and how they deal with it... which is weird, because I don't do the procedural thing (well, except for "Numbers").
JUSTICE (fox wed.)
Wait, another procedural?  Um... yes.  And this one is the best of the bunch, I have to say.  Actually, I like it enough that it almost made my "favorites" list, and I can't even put my finger on exactly why.  Except Victor Garber is awesome (as usual) and I like the end gimmick of showing us what really happened.  I'd like to find a way to keep watching it, even if it's just on DVD after the first season's over.

Eh.  (A.k.a., tried and rejected.)
THE CLASS  (cbs mon.) -- # of episodes before giving up: 3.
RUNAWAY  (cw mon.) -- # of episodes before giving up:  2.
KIDNAPPED  (nbc wed.) -- # of episodes before giving up:  2.
SHARK  (cbs thu.) -- # of episodes before giving up:  1.

If you're curious why I didn't like any of these I can tell you... if not, I won't take the time.

Too soon to judge (after only one episode).
UGLY BETTY  (abc thu.)
HELP ME HELP YOU  (abc tue.)

Will watch but haven't yet.
HEROES  (nbc mon.)
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS  (nbc tue.)
THE KNIGHTS OF PROSPERITY  (abc tue.)
SMITH  (cbs tue.)
THE NINE  (abc wed.)
30 ROCK  (nbc wed.)
TWENTY GOOD YEARS  (nbc wed.)
BROTHERS & SISTERS  (abc sun.)
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