Tag Archives: Commentary

08.12.16
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Commentary #37: Thoughts on “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”

John Oliver - huffingtonpost

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Disclaimer: This post contains strong language.

If you haven’t seen the hilarity and truth-bomber that is John Oliver and his show Last Week Tonight, I highly encourage you to do so.

Here’s the link to Oliver’s channel on YouTube:

Oliver started out in stand-up comedy. You may also recognize him from the very funny show Community.

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In July 2006, he joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as its Senior British Correspondent.

Admittedly, whilst watching The Daily Show, primarily in college, I didn’t like Oliver.

At all.

I thought he was immensely annoying!

John Oliver - ecuadortimes

Image Credit: ecuadortimes.net

Fast forward just a few years:

My, my, how things have changed.

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Oliver is fucking BRILLIANT.

He struck gold with HBO.

The show started on April 27, 2014.

The best way I can describe the show’s popularity:

Meteoric.

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If you take a few minutes and just casually scroll through the uploads on his YouTube channel, almost every single episode has at least two million views.

Two MILLION.

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And then, if you find his EPIC Donald Trump video, behold:

TWENTY-EIGHT MILLION views.

Yup, 28 million views since it was uploaded five months ago.

Wow!

Aside from his humor and parodies, he’s a major truth-bomber.

Since Al and I started watching Last Week TonightΒ every week, about a year and a half ago, part of me has immediately wanted to pack up, leave southeastern Virginia, and head straight for New York to beg for a job on his staff.

I love what he does:

Researches the shit out of a topic, and then makes fun of it. With facts!

John Oliver - imgur

Image Credit: imgur.com

Last Week Tonight airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 11:00 p.m.

New episodes are uploaded to the YouTube channel on Mondays.

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Here’s the links to a few of my favorite episodes:

Let me know what you think!

Did you watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart?

Do you watch Last Week Tonight?

If you haven’t seen it, do you plan to start watching it?

If you have watched it, let me know what your favorite episode is!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

08.11.16
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Book Review #15: “The One and Only: A Maryellen Classic”

American Girl Maryellen - amazon

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“I’m drawn to the 1950s for lots of reasons – everything from the fashion to the increasing sense of freedom and modernity that builds throughout the decade.”

~Sara Sheridan

I couldn’t agree more with Sara’s quote above.

I was so excited when Maryellen Larkin was announced as the first BeForever exclusive character in the spring of 2015. I loved the cover of this book immediately. Her outfit is on point, and the stories were set in Florida. Sign me up!

I was slightly disappointed when I learned the setting was Daytona Beach (I have significant bias toward Miami, and the Gulf Coast – St. Petersburg, etc.), but nonetheless, I knew I wanted to read the books.

As mentioned in my book reviews about Melody Ellison recently, I’m deeply attracted to the time period of the 20th century between The Great Depression and the end of the 1970s.

Maryellen’s first book immerses you in a world where Maryellen, or Ellie, is trying to find her place in a huge family – One of six children!

That wasn’t unusual in the 1950s, which the author explains brilliantly at the end of the book, with the time of optimism, a stronger economy, and the baby boom.

Although the book carries quite a sunny disposition throughout, there’s always some conflict or issues sprinkled in. This one addresses the ending of World War II, the Cold War, and scenarios around friendship, bullying, and prejudice.

Maryellen’s character had me laughing, as well as shaking my head. Being stuck in the middle between two older sisters and then a younger sister and two younger brothers, it’s natural she would feel a bit underappreciated and vying for her parents’ attention and being in good graces with her siblings. As an only child, this is something that I did not have to deal with growing up!

Despite several missteps and misadventures along the way, Maryellen is bright, determined, and compassionate. There’s a new girl at the start of school, and Maryellen decides to be the bigger person and show compassion toward her, when her other friends tend to be stuck in the past.

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The first story wraps up around Christmastime, which had a strange effect on me. It was a good ending, but closing the book made my mind instantly flood with memories.

I thought of my childhood Christmases that were divided between Virginia and Florida.

I thought of the times and memories with my grandparents.

My dad’s dad is still alive, still doing well at 90. I want to go visit him again, very soon.

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So many memories.

I’m very excited to start reading volume 2 – The sneak peek promises several surprises!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

 

07.31.16
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Commentary #36: “July TV Show Photo Challenge” (Day 31)

Image Credit gettingthroughanxiety

Image Credit: gettingthroughanxiety.wordpress.com

Favorite Season Finale

Wow, I can’t believe it. We’re at the last day of July!

I really enjoyed this challenge – Many thanks to B.G. and Carla! They created this challenge together, and I’ve heard that there are more challenges in the works!

If you haven’t already, please go check out their blogs – Getting Through Anxiety and The Melodramatic Confessions of Carla Louise. They’re both talented writers, and they blog about awesome things!

Okay, now to wrap up the challenge.

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This one was really, really hard. I had to dig deep.

The season 1 finale of GleeΒ – Season 1, Episode 22 – “Journey to Regionals”

It was harder than I thought to find good photos for this post. The two I found show the climax – Their performance at Regionals, with all Journey songs.

I remember loving this episode, singing along shamelessly at Mom and Dad’s. It aired on June 8, 2010.

I fell in love with Glee with the pilot episode’s rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” so I was thrilled when I learned they were doing more Journey songs.

To this day, the CD based on this episode is one of my all-time favorites. When I need a pick-me-up, I pop this one in my car and turn the volume all the way up. It’s so worth it.

I couldn’t wait for season 2 to begin.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

07.30.16
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Commentary #35: “July TV Show Photo Challenge” (Day 30)

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Saddest Character Death

Like yesterday’s post, this was almost too easy. When I was first reading the list a few weeks ago, this one popped into my mind almost immediately.

Glee - hercampus

Image Credit: hercampus.com

Glee – Season 5, Episode 3 – “The Quarterback”

Saying goodbye to Finn Hudson, and honoring Cory Monteith, who played Finn.

Cory died on July 13, 2013, as a result of an overdose of alcohol and heroin in a Vancouver, British Columbia hotel room.

I still remember getting the CNN News Alert on my iPhone. I had to read it twice, and then I burst into tears. It was all over Facebook. Someone else tagged me in a link to one of the articles, and I just remember feeling incredibly sad for his family, Lea Michele (who played Rachel Berry, Finn’s girlfriend, on-screen, and was also Cory’s real-life off-screen girlfriend), and the entire Glee community.

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When his death was announced, I knew an episode like this was coming. I spent most of Thursday, October 10th preparing myself.

Al offered to come over to my apartment that night and watch it with me, even though he didn’t watch the show. I thanked him, but declined. I wanted to watch it alone.

I set up my full box of tissues, comfort food, and favorite blanket on my futon before the episode aired. The tears started well before the episode did.

Glee - billboard

Image Credit: billboard.co

Glee - eonline

GLEE: The McKinley family of the past and present join together to remember and celebrate the life of Finn Hudson in “The Quarterback” episode of GLEE airing Thursday, Oct. 10 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Β©2013 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Eddy Chen/FOX Image Credit: eonline.com

Glee - autostraddle

Kurt (Chris Colfer) wears Finn’s letter jacket. Image Credit: autostraddle.com

Glee - glee-wikia

Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) attempts to comfort Rachel (Lea Michele) in the choir room. Image Credit: glee.wikia.com

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I thought the choices of music for the episode were good, overall:

“Seasons of Love”

“I’ll Stand by You”

“Fire and Rain”

“If I Die Young”

“No Surrender”

“Make You Feel My Love”

Every cast member had their emotions running high, for obvious reasons. Finn was on the show from the beginning. Seeing his character sing helped me fall in love with the show in the first place! You could tell that everyone was literally singing their hearts out. Singing for Finn.

This is one episode that I haven’t dared to watch again. Not yet.

I’ve seen some of the clips of the songs online, but until recently, I would start to tear up within seconds of the song / video starting.

I can’t believe it’s been three years since he died. Wow.

Santana’s (Naya Rivera) rendition of “If I Die Young” still haunts me. It’s a tear-jerker in general when The Band Perry sings it, but when she sang it, solo, it hit me straight in the heart.

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Glee - screencrave

Image Credit: screencrave.com

Finn Hudson

1994-2013

“The show must go … all over the place … or something.”

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Thank you, Finn Hudson.

Thank you, Cory Monteith, for helping bring Finn to the world.

You had an amazing voice.

You were funny.

You were human.

I’m so sad that you left this world so early, but you will never be forgotten.

Rest In Peace.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

07.29.16
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Commentary #34: “July TV Show Photo Challenge” (Day 29)

Image Credit gettingthroughanxiety

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Worst Finale Cliffhanger

This one – It was almost too easy.

The Flash - screenrant

Image Credit: screenrant.com

The Flash - collider

The Flash — “The Race of His Life” — Image: FLA223b_0092b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen and Candice Patton as Iris West — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Image Credit: collider.com

The Flash season 2 finale started out pretty good. But, by the end, I was furious. My jaw was open, watching in disbelief.

The minute it ended, I looked at Al and I said, “I DID NOT want THAT to happen!!”

I was disgusted. Everyone knows, by now, that going back in time or disrupting the timeline will screw things up, usually in a huge, royal, honking fashion.

Argh.

I tried to understand why Barry went back to save his mother – I really did. But now, because of that on action, it will literally change everything. And I’m so sad. To me, it was really selfish and self-centered of his character to do that.

Oh, well. I’ll still watch season 3, but begrudgingly. This episode will always piss me off!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

07.28.16
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Book Review #14: “Never Stop Singing: A Melody Classic 2”

Melody - amazon

Image Credit: amazon.com

“The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that a dreamer has his eyes closed and a visionary has his eyes open.

~Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963

If you haven’t already, I would recommend reading my post titled Book Review #13: “No Ordinary Sound: A Melody Classic” before diving into this review.

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Melody’s story continues just as the New Year of 1964 is rung in.

Along the way, she tries to answer her pastor’s “Challenge to Change” as a 10-year-old would. She decides on fixing up the neighborhood playground. With the help of her friends, family, and community, Melody learns many lessons throughout the winter, spring, and summer.

While Melody learns about leadership and community involvementΒ in Detroit, the story also followsΒ the oldest sister, Yvonne, in the South, plus a family trip to Birmingham, Alabama. The rich history of the year 1964 is interwoven – The passage of the Civil Rights Act, Freedom Summer, and the disappearance of Β civil rights workers James Chaney, Β Andrew Goodman, and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner.

It was a good mix of tragedy and triumph in the book. Like the first volume, once I started reading, I couldn’t stop!

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I originally wasn’t planning on buying, or reading, the third volume. The BeForever series has the two classic volumes, and the third is designed to be a “choose-your-own-adventure” style read.

However, after reading the “sneak peek” at the end of volume 2, I’m definitely interested! It sounds like a great adventure – No pun intended.

Plus, one of the characters is named “Ms. Stricker,” which I think is awesome!

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I’ll leave you with one other quote that struck me.

“As far as I am concerned, freedom summer never really ended.”

~Victoria Gray Adams

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4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

07.28.16
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Commentary #33: “July TV Show Photo Challenge” (Day 28)

Image Credit gettingthroughanxiety

Image Credit: gettingthroughanxiety.wordpress.com

Favorite Season Finale Cliffhanger

I hadn’t really given much thought to season finales and cliffhangers, but I found one!

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ATTENTION!

SPOILER ALERT!

There are some details in this post that may be spoilers.

If you haven’t watched The Big Bang Theory season 8 finale …

STOP NOW!

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Okay. You’ve been warned.

Here we go!

TBBT - cinemablend

Image Credit: cinemablend.com

TBBT - ibtimes-co-uk

Image Credit: ibtimes.co.uk

TBBT - etonline-com

Image Credit: etonline.com

The title of this episode was “The Commitment Determination.” It aired on May 7, 2015.

By way of the title, the season finale focuses on everyone’s relationships – Sheldon and Amy, Leonard and Penny, Howard and Bernadette, and Raj and Emily – But all in different ways.

Everyone is facing certain obstacles: Howard and Bernadette want Stuart to move out. Leonard tells Penny that, while drunk, he kissed another woman while on the boat in the North Sea. Raj is having a tough time with Emily’s idea of having sex in a graveyard.

Amy wants to take a break from Sheldon. No surprise there – I would have been immensely frustrated too, on the fifth anniversary of their first date, when Sheldon is debating watching The Flash instead of focusing solely on her. So sad!

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Surprisingly, I teared up at the very end. Right after Amy tells Sheldon that she needs to step back and reevaluate their situation, Sheldon is seen, alone, at his desk. Then, he looks at his Gollum statue, as he opens the drawer and pulls out that symbolic black ring box.

“Well, Gollum, you’re an expert on rings.”

“What do I do with this one?”

End of episode.

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Maybe it was because this episode aired about halfway between my own engagement and wedding. I can’t really explain it, but in spite of all the emotions, I liked this finale / cliffhanger.

I couldn’t wait for season 9 to start!

Did you watch this finale?

What’s your favorite season finale cliffhanger?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

07.27.16
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Commentary #32: “July TV Show Photo Challenge” (Day 27)

Image Credit gettingthroughanxiety

Image Credit: gettingthroughanxiety.wordpress.com

Best Special Effects

This one was really difficult to narrow down. There are so many shows that I watch or have seen that use amazing special effects!

But, I wanted to showcase a series that I haven’t highlighted yet.

Sherlock - crimemuseum

Image Credit: crimemuseum.org

Sherlock - ew

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Sherlock - pbs

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If you haven’t seen Sherlock, it is an amazing show!

I struggled with it, at first. Each episode is 90 minutes long. Al and I would attempt to watch just one episode, and I would fall asleep!

However, once I made it through the first season, I was amped. I wanted to see more!

The premise of the show is aΒ modern adaption of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories, and it’s basically brilliant.

We just watched the Series 4 promo, and my jaw hung open the whole time. I don’t think I can wait until it premieres! I’m ready now!

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The special effects are awesome, among other aspects. My mind is usually blown in some way by the end of each episode. Since each episode is 90 minutes, it’s definitely a bit of a marathon. But trust me, it’s completely worth it!

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The last time I checked, everything was still available on Netflix streaming.

Series 4 is scheduled to premiere at some point in early 2017.

Have you seen Sherlock? What do you think?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

07.26.16
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Commentary #31: “July TV Show Photo Challenge” (Day 26)

Image Credit gettingthroughanxiety

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Favorite Sci-Fi Show

I’ll admit, science fiction hasn’t been my favorite genre.

However, thanks to my husband, I’ve been warming up to it over the years.

As I was researching this post, I realized there are quite a few sci-fi shows that I have enjoyed, within the last six years or so:

  • Firefly (2002-2003)
  • LostΒ (2004-2010)
  • Fringe (2008-2013)
  • The multipleΒ Star TrekΒ series (We’re working through VoyagerΒ (1995-2001) now, which I like a lot, but TNGΒ [1987-1994] is my personal favorite.)
  • The Outer LimitsΒ (1995-2002) [Broadcast on the aptly-named Comet channel through our antenna.]
  • Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (1997-2002)
  • Futurama (1999-2013)
  • Jessica Jones (2015-present)
  • The FlashΒ (2014-present)
  • Buffy the Vampire SlayerΒ (1997-2003)
  • The X-Files (1993-2016)
  • Doctor Who (1963-present)
  • The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)

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However, there is one that stands out.

Quantum Leap - soram

Image Credit: soram.co

Quantum Leap - avclub

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Quantum Leap - theredlist

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Quantum Leap!

My husband introduced me to this show via Netflix. He was old enough to remember watching several episodes while it was on the air (1989-1993), as well as when it was picked up for syndication.

For me, I’d never heard of it. I recognized Scott Bakula from other shows, but that was it.

I quickly fell in love. I like the concept of time travel, and mash that with history and historical fiction, and you’ve got me hooked.

We stopped watching it on a regular basis because some of the episodes are very sad and depressing. There was one particular episode that made both of us cry!

However, I want to pick it up again and finish the series, one episode at a time. Sad, or not, it’s a really good show!

Have you seen Quantum Leap?

What are your thoughts?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚

07.25.16
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Commentary #30: “July TV Show Photo Challenge” (Day 25)

Image Credit gettingthroughanxiety

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Favorite TV Cop

Oh, man. If you couldn’t tell already, I really, really like shows with cops!

But, I gotta go with a girl for this one!

Benson - bitchmedia

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Benson - pinterest2

Image Credit: pinterest.com

Benson - pinterest

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Pictured: Mariska Hargitay as Det. Olivia Benson Image Credit: pinterest.com

Benson - usanetwork

Law & Order: SVU #07015 “Manipulated” 12-16-2005 Director: Matt Earl Beesley DP: Geoffrey Erb Scene 41 (Int) Interrogation Room (behind the scene) “Stabler & Benson interrogate Tessa” Chris Meloni (Stabler) Mariska Hargitay (Benson) Rebecca De Mornay (Tessa) Betty Buckley (Attorney Walsh) photo credit: Will Hart / NBC Universal Image Credit: usanetwork.com

Olivia Benson, portrayed by Mariska Hargitay, from Law & Order: SVU.

She’s as tough as nails. She’s a bad-ass. She can be ruthless!

But, she’s also human. She suffered a lot, which led her to become a cop.

Read her backstory – It’s fascinating.

I love her character! I’ve laughed with her, and definitely cried with her. Seeing her on the screen has heightened my interest in criminal law and law enforcement.

Do you like Law & Order: SVU?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth πŸ™‚