Summer Reading

I was listening to NPR the other night and there was an essay by someone, her name escapes me, about summer reading. In particular, the choice she made between catching up on New Yorker issues or reading some summer novels, memoirs, etc. It made me think about my own summer reading/viewing. I got out of my car, opened the door to my house and stared at the coffee table. Lying there, in the most accusatory manner possible for inanimate objects, were 2 months of New Yorker issues. I walked past and tried to ignore them. Just like I ignore on a daily basis the 2 borrowed books, the library book (book club reading material, Feasting, Fasting, the 2 borrowed dvds (The Hunting of the President, The Fog of War, the official 9/11 report and Jon Stewart's America. Sigh. The guilt is almost overwhelming. I can barely manage to read Salon, Slate or the front page of the NYT. I come home and know that there are good books waiting to be read. Informative and fascinating articles. I now have a free subscription to Wired and I've only managed to remove the plastic wrap. My free subscription to the digital version of The New Republic? Well, I've printed them out and they too are on my coffee table.

Salvation is on its way - vacation. A 2 week vacation. A 10 hour flight one way. Train rides. T.v. in a foreign language. All of which means that I might get 2 issues of the New Yorker out of the way and maybe a chapter of the Time Traveler's Wife or Saturday read. But first, I have to finish my book club book so I don't have a late fee at the library!

Coldplay

Colplay was in the Seattle area last night. I say "Seattle area" because they played at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn. Auburn is a bit south of Seattle...

The good/great things first:
The band sounded great.
The visuals on the big screens were very clever. It was like watching a concert dvd/music video. They changed lyrics up to incorporate Seattle references. In some ways, very cheesy but I thought it was endearing and fun.
2 (virtually) acoustic Johnny Cash songs - A song I can't remember the title too and "Ring of Fire."
The venue itself is pretty nice - a nicely sloped grass area for us cheapskates.

The bad things:
The traffic and hassle of getting to the amphitheater was pretty extreme. We left Factoria at 7:15 and sat down at the show at 9:15. It really shouldn't take 2 hours. If we had left work early, say at 4 p.m. we may have been better off. Knowledge for next time. The only thing that made it bearable was taking the shuttle (yellow school buses) from the SuperMall. It certainly made getting out of the venue better.
The people on the lawn who believed they needed to stand to see the stage. The reason the lawn is sloped as much as it is is so everyone can see without having to stand up! Fatigue eventually took over and people dropped to their blankets/chairs.

All in all, a good evening. A good band to see live (they seem so nice and earnest). I'm looking forward to the next time they are in town. Let's just hope it's on a weekend so I can sleep in the day after!

Annoying!

There are days when I would love to throttle the IT guy in my office. Two days ago he got snippy with me because I asked for a password he had set up - apparently, he had wanted to give it to me earlier but didn't because I said I didn't need to get into a database until later. He didn't tell me he had the password set up already. I know, it's not that annoying, but wait it gets better. Today, he calls me to accuse me of locking up the computer in his office. I can access it remotely because the database I need to look at is on that computer and not the cpu in my office. I explained politely that I logged myself off his secondary computer yesterday (over 24 hours ago) just as he had instructed. His resonse, "well, there's a difference between logging off and locking up a computer." Imagine that in a condescending male geek voice if you will. I then explained exactly what I did when I 'logged myself' out of the computer. After swearing on the phone, he fixed his problem and then said "never mind."

Grr . . . Argh.

The Veronica Mars Matrix

I've decided to post my VM matrix - the plot recap is good up to the last 3 episodes. I wouldn't want to spoil the season finale for anyone who's catching up right now, so I haven't updated it. I couldn't figure out how to do a table so this doesn't look quite as good as it could...


Mars
Keith Mars – former sheriff/current PI
Veronica Mars-high school outcast, Lilly Kane’s best friend, ex-girlfriend of Duncan Kane
Backup – the dog
Lianne Mars – had an affair with Jake Kane; left Keith and Veronica after the murder; now in rehab (paid for by V)

Kane
Jake Kane – software millionaire/town’s largest employer; had affair with Lianne Mars
Celeste Kane – loves Duncan; didn’t really like her daughter, Lilly; despises Veronica and the Mars family
Duncan Kane-student body president; member of high school secret society; broke up with V without giving her an explanation; Logan’s best friend
Lilly Kane – life of the party; dated Logan but was seeing Weevil on the side; murdered

Echolls
Aaron Echolls-action movie star; abuses his son; treats daughter like a princess
Lynn Echolls – may have been abused by Aaron (unsure); committed suicide a few months ago
Logan Echolls – spoiled, obnoxious, tormented, abused, obligatory psychotic jackass (according to V); BAD family life; hated V for ‘betraying’ friends, Kanes; Lilly’s ex; Duncan's best friend
Trina Echolls – Aaron’s daughter from a previous relationship; spoiled brat; D list actress

Fennell
Alicia Fennell - works @ Kane softare; dating Keith Mars
Wallace Fennell – new kid @ school; V cut him down from flag pole first day; V’s best friend

Misc
Abel Koontz - confessed to Lilly’s murder
Clarence Weidman – manipulating the murder investigation on behalf of the Kanes?
Weevil – leader of the PCH bikers gang; Lilly’s secret boyfriend (or stalker?)
Sheriff Lamb – took over as sheriff after Keith Mars was voted out of office; laughed in V’s face when she wanted to report her rape; generally incompetent and a jackass


Plot recap:

Lilly was murdered while Keith was sheriff; he went after Jake Kane for the murder. V sided with her dad. Keith lost his job and now he’s a PI. V helps him out and does investigations. She’s become a pariah because Lilly, Logan, Duncan are in the 09er crowd(the popular rich kids) – she was only in because she was dating Duncan. Lilly’s dead; Duncan dumped her; and Logan turned on her for going after the Kane’s for Lilly’s murder (and for telling Lilly that she saw Logan kissing another girl). V didn’t know Lilly had been seeing Weevil. After Lilly’s murder V went to a party to prove that all the talk about her didn’t concern her. Someone slipped a roofie into her drink and she was raped. She tried to report it to the sheriff, but he blew her off. So, she hasn’t told anyone about it. V is on a mission to find out who killed Lilly – she and her dad believe the Kane’s are covering something up about the murder and paid Abel Koontz to take the rap. Clarence Weidman works for Kane Software and his involved in the machinations. Secondarily, she wants to find out who raped her. Logan and V have been going back and forth all year as they ‘hate’ each other now, but they started sharing some good moments together commemorating Lilly. She also learned why he was so angry with her (she bugged the counselor’s office and heard him explaining why he blamed her for Lilly’s death – if V hadn’t told Lilly about the girl he kissed Logan would have been with Lilly and maybe she wouldn’t be dead). V forgives him for hating her. Also, Logan came to V to have her find his mom. He didn’t believe she committed suicide and V was the only person willing to believe/help him. His mom did kill herself but during the course of that conversation she finds out /gets a major hint Logan is abused by his father. Aaron likes to beat Logan with a belt. Logan and V are gradually reaching a détente of sorts. V has a file on everyone remotely involved with Lilly’s murder, including Duncan, her ex-bf. He’s on meds for his epilepsy – it has made him a virtual zombie. Logan told Duncan that V had a file on him and Duncan got very upset with V and suggests that she thinks he killed Lilly. Duncan has run off and can’t be found…

The latest big plot developments: Keith and Alicia (Wallace’s mom) are dating – big deal for V and Wallace since they are best friends. Duncan is missing. Weevil got caught in Lilly’s room at the Kane house – he took a “spy pen” out of her room (which the police didn’t notice he had) – it may have had a secret message from Lilly to Weevil or from Weevil to Lilly or someone else. There is a strong suggestion that Duncan and V are actually half brother/sister – since Lianne and Jake had an ongoing affair. Keith has sent samples for genetic testing. Logan and V kissed in the last 2 eps – major deal since she says she still hates him (probably not true) and he clearly doesn’t hate her anymore. And there is some more kissing expected. With 3 episodes left, she’s going to figure out who raped her and then who killed Lilly…and I should say almost everyone is on the table for the murder, except Wallace, Alicia, and probably Logan (he was out of the country). Almost everyone is on the table for the rape including Duncan and Logan (which would be bad, very bad).

The Birthday Cake

I come from a non-religious family. My father falls somewhere in between agnostic and atheist. My mother went to a Baptist missionary school in Japan but read novels during chapel. I have no problem with religion; everyone is entitled to their beliefs, I just don't have a need for it in my life. My in-laws however, are a different story.

I had been dating my husband for a year and was invited to attend a holiday gathering of his extended family - aunts, uncles, cousins - the week before Christmas. The food and drink was plentiful, everyone was in good spirits. Then my future mother-in-law pulled me aside to show me the cake because there was something amusing about the writing on the cake. I look down and see "Happy Birthday Jessus." I hear my mother-in-law go on about how the person at the bakery got the name spelled wrong and gosh, isn't that just the funniest thing you've ever seen. I'm too busy trying to process the fact that there is a birthday cake for Jessus, I mean Jesus. I'm also wondering why my dear boyfriend neglected to mention this to me. No matter, I go on with my socializing. After everyone has had dinner, we are all gathered back into the kitchen. My boyfriend, now husband, is nowhere to be found. Seems he conveniently was out of the room. I soon found out why, with the lights dimmed, a candle is lit on the birthday cake, and a rousing version of 'Happy Birthday' is sung. Happy Birthday Jesus.

During the car ride home, I tried asking a few questions about the celebration. "Do you do this every Christmas?" "Is there always a cake with candles and singing?" The answers to those questions turned out to be yes. I stopped my interrogation and decided that every family has their own rituals and I would have to adjust. My willingness to accept this tradition has not stopped the voice in my head from saying "but it isn't even His real birthday!" I figure it's better to keep my mouth shut and save all the snappy, snarky comments for political discussions.

Jon Stewart

I read in Salon and saw the headline on The New Republic that Jon Stewart went too easy on Senator Rick Santorum the other day on "The Daily Show." I didn't watch the show that night and I only read the Salon War Room bit on it. However, it strikes me that we are in desperate times if political commentators are berating a comedian for going too easy on a politician while interviewing him on a fake news show. On Comedy Central.

It is a sad day when we are looking to a comedian to do the hard work of explaining why certain views held by politicians, like Senator Santorum, are the antithesis of what it means to live in a democracy. I know that Jon Stewart reaches a wide audience, I know people prefer to listen to him present the news instead of the networks or the cable news channels. He tells it like it is. I know it must be disappointing to hear him go easy on someone that he can't possibly agree with, but he's not a reporter, he's not a news anchor, he's not a political pundit. Instead of criticizing him for the job he did, perhaps more journalists could do a better job of exposing/explaining the views held by Senator Santorum and his brethren and why some of those views are damaging to this country.

The Virtues of Veronica Mars

I have to thank a very good friend of mine for introducing me to 'Veronica Mars.' "Thanks" is not the right word though. I now have a full blown obsession with the show. It can't be healthy. Let's just say that I would lie awake for at least 2 hours after the last few episodes wondering what was going to happen next. I didn't do that for "Lost." Not only would I stay awake pondering the future of a tv show on UPN, yes, UPN, I became addicted to Television Without Pity. In fact, TWoP is like crack so if you have a problem with that sort of thing I wouldn't recommend starting.

In an effort to recruit new fans to the show, I created a plot/character summary (matrix) that I gave to friends to get the up to speed. I will spare you the details. Needless to say, I created quite the nifty character matrix and then provided a plot summary up to the penultimate episode of the season. I think I've convinced a few people that they need to start watching. I'm very careful to avoid the gushing over tv characters. It tends to be offputting for most people.

What was the point of this blog? Oh right, the virtues of Veronica Mars. It's noir with a sense of humor, it's smart, it's got good acting, it has attractive cast members, it makes you wish you could have come up with the same snappy comebacks in high school. In short, it's fabulous. UPN is repeating episodes this summer, Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. CBS is also showing 4 episodes. The new season begins on September 21st. Do yourself a favor and start watching.