Posted in celebrities, mad men, Television, Uncategorized, tagged mad men, mad men season 5, mad men's vincent karthesier, pete campbell, pete campbell mad men, pete campbell vulture interview, vince kartheiser vulture interview, Vincent Kartheiser, Vincent Kartheiser interview on June 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“I think it’s a testament to the writing over the last five years that they’ve built animosity in our audiences towards a character that has done some pretty despicable things and, at the same time, who has lived a life in a perfectly moral way.”
I haven’t done a gratuitous Pete Campbell post in awhile. I was too busy being completely absorbed by Mad Men’s Season 5. Here Vincent Kartheiser defends his shattered, sneaky alter ego to Vulture.
Posted in horror movies, paranormal romances, Television, writing, writing life, tagged American Horror Story, Francis Conroy, Jessica Lange, paranormal romance, Tate American Horror story, Tate Langdon, writing, writing life on November 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It seems that I pour all of my writing energy into books now. And instead of social networking, I’m socializing. I miss blogging, though. I used to love it. I can’t believe that the whole Dating Amy project will be ten in 2012. Do you know some of those guys I dated still call? Mind-blowing.
I sent my first novel, a young adult paranormal romance (not about vampires), out into the wild a week ago. I had bragged that it only took me two months to write, but then it took me eight months to revise so I shut up.
Writing my first novel was incredibly difficult and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done creatively. I keep pestering more prolific writers (aka ALL of them) to assure me that the first book is by far the hardest and the response seems to be that they’re ALL hard, but I guess I went deaf in that ear.
Having said that, I love my book. It’s sweet and funny and rock and roll, and it rubs up against being almost literary, so yeah.
Speaking of young adults and paranormal stuff I love: Have you been watching American Horror Story?
Anyone who knows me knows I love horror movies. I see pretty much everything. So of course I checked out FX’s fall offering American Horror Story. I watched like two episodes but even the credits had me lying awake at night, so I declared a ban on it, ’cause I don’t need that shiz.
But my writer friends protested, saying I needed to push through because it’s the best new show out there right now. I asked if I could skip to a recent episode because I knew there was a huge event caused by the teenage character I like, Tate, and my writer friends vetoed that. They said I had to watch the whole thing. So I forced myself to get though it and now it’s my favorite show.
It’s incredibly good. It borrows from so many horror movies that it’s an original. Francis Conroy from Six Feet Under is the older version of the housekeeper that is also played by the gorgeous Alexandra Breckenridge–whether you see her as sexy or geriatric depends on the character’s mindset at the time. This is also Jessica Lange’s first-ever television role and it’s perfect for her. Most surprising is the troubled teenager Tate Langdon, her son. Somehow the writers have made him a sympathetic heartthrob, even though he’s a crazy murderer.
I told Mark, one of my author friends, AHS makes the characters so sympathetic and real that it’s tough for me to watch.
His answer: It’s the New Horror!
Posted in celebrities, mad men, Television, tagged amc television, don draper, mad men, mad men between takes, mad men season 5, pete campbell, roger sterling, television on September 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Jon Hamm relaxing between takes
Posted in Television, tagged abc television, desperate housewives, Desperate Housewives ending, Desperate Housewives ending 2012, Desperate Housewives final season, Eva Longoria, television, Teri Hatcher on August 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It looks like Desperate Housewives is ending after this season. I love that show, but it’s probably for the best. It’s pretty much run its course.
Posted in celebrities, mad men, Television, wtf, tagged 2011 emmys, emmy awards, emmy nominations 2011, mad men, mad men 19 emmy, mad men's christina hendricks, mad men's vincent karthesier, nick offerman emmy snub, pete campbell mad men, vince kartheiser on July 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The Emmy nominations came out this morning.
Argh. Vince Kartheiser who plays Pete Campbell on Mad Men got shut out again. What does he have to do to get nominated for an Emmy?
Although Christina Hendricks finally got nommed and Mad Men got nineteen nominations total (including Best Lead for Hamm and Moss, Best Supporting for Slattery, Best Guest for Ida Blankenship and a crapload of artistic nods including two for writing). Yay! Come back, show!
Oddly am pulling for Matt Damon as Best Guest Actor on 30 Rock. He’s really good in that role.
Nick Offerman was not acknowledged in the extremely competitive Best Supporting Actor category for his amazing work as Ron Swansen on Parks & Rec, but he can console himself with the fact that the James Franco-hosted Academy Awards got nine nominations.
It puts things in perspective.
Posted in books, reading, Television, The Killing, writing life, tagged amc the killing, amc's the killing, mad men, meditation, television, the killing, writing, writing life, zen, zen and the art of falling in love on April 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Tragically behind on posting here. Don’t think it means I don’t love you, because I do, I really do.
I’ve been revising the young adult paranormal manuscript I wrote in two months.
Also have snuck in a little reading, socializing and chardonnay.
And TV viewing.
God, are you all watching The Killing on AMC, because if you’re not you should be.
It’s the first show I’ve been excited about since Mad Men premiered in 2007. It’s a completely gripping story about the murder investigation of a teenage girl in Seattle. The characters are as gray as the weather and the acting is fantastic.
Mostly I’ve been working–revising this manuscript at a bakery/restaurant downtown. I love this cafe because there is a huge enclosed courtyard with tons of tables so I don’t have to feel guilty about sitting there for hours; there’s always room for everyone.
This place is so good that even though some of my friends think there’s an identity thief who works there–someone has taken their credit card numbers and used them and all signs point to this place–they still go there and just pay in cash. The croissant-like caramel pecan rolls and Cobb salads are that delicious.
On my way home from the bakery I pass a thrift store that gives proceeds to the homeless. All the books there are $2 each.
I picked up one called Zen and the Art of Falling in Love. A review on Amazon hilariously complained that it didn’t tell you how to hook up with the hot guy at work, but this book is so not about that.
More significantly, it got me, the most restless woman in the universe, to sit down and meditate.
I’ve had meditation recommended to me a lot, especially since I used to live in L.A., but I never got it before.
Now I do.
You experience being in the moment. It’s very heady when you’re done. I never realized how much I was living in the future or dwelling on the past.
This stuff is pretty amazing.
Happy Easter and good vibes to all of you! Also, The Killing is on tonight. You can also watch it at amctv.com.
Posted in bucket list, mad men, Television, wtf, tagged amc tv, betty draper, mad men, mad men 2012, mad men coming back 2011, mad men delayed, mad men returning, mad men season 5, matthew weiner, roger sterling, slate on March 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The most recent terrible news for Mad Men fans is that the series won’t be back before March of 2012.
The holdup is apparently product placement, more commercial time (ironically) and cutting two to six major characters. Ugh.
Slate did a humorous blog about which characters should be cut, though.
Also my mini bucket list of things to do before Mad Men comes back is feeling less urgent.
Posted in bucket list, mad men, Television, tagged amc, mad men, mad men 2011, mad men season 5, mad men season 5 starts, mad men season five, television, when is mad men coming back 2001 on March 22, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Super annoying. It seems that negotiations for Mad Men continue to be delayed and that the writing for Season 5 hasn’t even started yet.
According to the New York Times:
Production would normally start around this time for the next season of “Mad Men,” but AMC has not struck a new deal with the studio that makes the show, Lionsgate, nor has that studio struck a new deal with Matthew Weiner, the series’s acclaimed creator.
Mr. Weiner has said he wants the show to continue, and AMC has pledged that it will definitely return, so the delay is largely due to a disagreement about money.
“By now, the writing staff should be humming along, maybe about a month or more into work for a summer premiere,” he said. “Unless Weiner is secretly manufacturing outlines in preparation of some crazy all-night writing sessions with his staff, it might be time for fans to grow concerned.”
I guess on the bright side it gives me more time for my Mini Bucket List which I vow to have completed by the time Mad Men returns. Honestly, I’d rather have a start date for the show, though.
Posted in celebrities, gossip, Television, tagged charlie sheen being replaced, television, two and a half men on March 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I pride myself on not taking easy shots at people, especially if they’re in trouble, so I haven’t mocked Charlie Sheen much. I think he’s actually a really gifted public speaker and probably a smart guy. I hope he gets help.
Anyway, the gossip columns say there’s no way the network is letting the incredibly lucrative Two and a Half Men go, but are just going to replace Sheen. That sounds right to me.
Here are the actors they’re rumored to be considering:
John Stamos
Jerry O’Connell
Christian Slater
Jeremy Piven
Donny Osmond
Brad Garrett
Dennis Miller
Emilio Estevez
James Spader
Matthew Broderick
Judd Nelson
Anthony Michael Hall
Macaulay Culkin
David Faustino
Will Arnett
Dane Cook
Rob Lowe
Andrew McCarthy
What do you think? It’s hard to believe some of the more movie star-ish ones would take a job on a really badly written sit-com (and is Macaulay Culkin old enough? They want a forty-something.)
Posted in celebrities, Los Angeles, music, Musicians I've Known and Loved, Television, tagged 2011 grammys, arcade fire, arcade fire suburbs, bad romance, barbara streisand, barbra streisand, chris brown, grammy awards, grammy awards 2011, grammys, justin bieber, kris kristofferson, lady gaga, mick jagger, music, rhianna, rihanna, valentines day, what's my name on February 14, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Like Lady Gaga, I'm coming out of my shell musically
That’s how I felt watching the Grammys last night. I enjoyed them with the unjaded enthusiasm of a kindergartener.
See, I know who these people are because of their reputations. Rihanna is the woman who got beat up by Chris Brown on the way to the Grammys two years ago, Lady Gaga is the one who wears meat, Arcade Fire is the group that was a trending topic on twitter for a week when their last album came out.
But I had no idea about their music. At all.
Last night I reluctantly caught the last hour and a half of the awards, positive I would literally not know one artist. But of course on came Mick Jagger, Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson and I was able to recognize the others like Rihanna ’cause, you know, they’re superstars.
And to the surprise of nobody but me, I recognized the songs they performed because I’ve been to movies and the drug store in the past five years.
I loved lat night’s Grammys. It doesn’t bother me who’s overrated or underrated because I’m so out of the loop that I have no personal feelings on the matter. And Rihanna and Gaga are really good. After the show finished with a performance by Album of the Year winners Arcade Fire (who I correctly identified as being the band from the Where The Wild Things Are trailer), I hit up iTunes.
I’ve listened to “What’s My Name” and “Bad Romance” on repeat all morning. They’re really good!
Prediction: This Justin Bieber kid is gonna be huge.
