Downton Abbey — London Edition RECAP S5 E8

Kay Gardella Memorial TV Review Blog

We’ve time-jumped two months from the unfortunate dinner with Dickie’s devil-spawn. Doesn’t look like he and Isobel will be tying the knot anytime soon, but Rose and Atticus are about to get hitched. That is, if a certain someone doesn’t stop the wedding.  Tune in at your local PBS station, or skip that part or relive the experience over at Happy Nice Time People the folks (like me) who bring you the bestest recaps on the net!

(Hey, when you finish over there, please come on back and look around! Also buy one of my books maybe?)

The Unexpected Ascendence of the Text Message

Politics and Culture, writing/blogging/publishing related

Watch an old movie from the 1920s and you’ll see the telephone was already fully integrated into people’s lives, but it was not yet in everyone’s home. Often there would be a coin operated phone in the corridor or a communal one in the parlor of a boarding house.

But by the end of World War II, certainly any aspiring middle class home had at least one telephone line. We had ideas about phone usage. Women loved to gossip on the phone. Teenagers were positively addicted to it. Remember this from Bye-Bye Birdie:

(To get to that video and read the rest of this possibly life-altering post, please head over to VM’s Blood Diva blog.

The Americans — Attack of the Nymphets S3-E4 “Dime-bag”

Kay Gardella Memorial TV Review Blog

Seriously, anyone else as wigged out (no pun intended) by this week’s episode as I was?  Watching Philip as Jim the 40 something lawyer who likes to hang out and smoke weed with teenaged girls while doing them favors made me more uncomfortable than last week’s dental-play.

My thoughts — and misgivings are posted over at Happy Nice Time People — the folks who do TV right. While you are there you may read some of their other fine recaps including this week’s Better Call Saul recap by yours truly and/or my take on Downton Abbey.

Then come back here, and read some more words! Or better yet, get off the intertubes and read a “game changing” sexy vampire novel, thy don’t you?

Joyce Triumphant — La Donna Del Lago at the Met

Idiots at the Opera, , ,

Let Joyce reign! Let us reJoyce! I’ll stop now but you get the idea.  Joyce DiDinato was radiant and triumphant as Elena in last night’s premiere of Rossini’s La Donna Del Largo. The music might as well have been written for her. She was perfection, and part of perfection is grace– the ability as in Fred Astaire’s dancing to make us believe that it’s all as natural as breathing. And thank you, Met opera for pairing her again with Juan Diego Florez, who sang King James. Last year the two of them were fantastic together in La Cenerentola though illness prevented him form many of the performances.

Daniela Bacellona the mezzo in the trouser role of Malcolm also gave a strong performance and was especially good in her duet with DiDinato, and John Osborn singing Rodrigo was powerful and charismatic.

The orchestra was ably conducted by Michele Mariotti.

But was it all wonderful? Not exactly. Continue reading Joyce Triumphant — La Donna Del Lago at the Met →

Better Call Saul — There’s No Place Like Home

Kay Gardella Memorial TV Review Blog

In this week’s episode we get new insights into everybody’s favorite Grumpy Grandpa, Mike! Also what’s it really like to live in back of a nail salon? Find out more over at Happy Nice People Time where you can view the best and brightest recaps in the universe.

Also please click on ad or two while you are there so they will get the monies (and pay me).

And then come back here and look at more stuff, and maybe click one of the books above on “my picks” so I will a lovely gratuity from Amazon, or better yet, check out my sexy vampire novel which is totally empowering and nothing like that smutty fanfic they just made a movie of.