Picks & Pans

There’s nothing like two hours of Grey’s Anatomy to make a girl feel better. Lord help me, I do adore Patrick Dempsey. I don’t love him, that would be stupid to say, I’ve never met the man, but I do adore him -- he is so completely adorable. Patrick and his second wife Jillian have a daughter named Tallulah Fyfe, born in January 2002. On Live With Regis and Kelly the other day, he revealed that he and his wife are having twin boys. I am thankful that the next generation with have two McDreamy's to swoon over.

What are you watching on TV this new fall season? Not all the new shows have been on yet but I’ve caught several.

I’ve only seen the pilot of Vanished but I enjoyed that, I’ve got another on DVR to watch. I LOVED Studio 60! The team of Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford is brilliant, the writing is quick and witty and I care about all the characters already. Definitely a must-watch. I was disappointed with Justice, I had high hopes for Victor Garber's new show. In the pilot it seemed like everyone was overacting, and seeing what really happened at the end of the show wasn't as dramatic as it should have been, since the lawyers had figured out it out EXACTLY. Standoff is OK, it might grow on me, and there aren’t any conflicts with watching it so I will probably continue. I’m a big Ray Liotta fan and was happy to see him on TV, the pilot of Smith was fast-paced and slick, I’ll be back for more of Ray. Last night I tried to watch Shark but after Grey’s Anatomy I couldn’t focus on it and I got bored and didn’t watch the ending. I’ll give it another shot.

What am I missing that I should be watching? These are just the new shows, I’m still watching Grey’s, MI-5, Nip/Tuck, NCIS, Bones, Lost, Criminal Minds, CSI (original & NY), Crossing Jordan, Las Vegas, Numbers, Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives and Without a Trace. Yes, I do have a life off my couch! I tape most things and watch them when there isn’t anything else on. D is out of town for a week so I have a lot of time on my hands.

When we were on the houseboat we watched both Underworld movies, which if you aren’t familiar, star Kate Beckinsale as a vampire who kills werewolves with kick-ass weapons while wearing a skin-tight patent leather cat-suit. Yeah, you get the idea. A little too much violence and not enough substance for me, but they were good escapism flicks. We also made the grave decision to watch Colin Ferrell’s The New World. JE-SUS - that was the slowest movie ever made. Three quarters of the way through they finally get to England and the story goes from unbearably to only excruciatingly slow. There was some terrific cinematography and we appreciated the attention to detail with the Indian tribe at the Jametown settlement, but it was told from a blade of grass’ perspective. Unless you are suffering from severe insomnia, do not rent this movie.

On to books. While on vacation I finished reading Brenda Rickman Vantrease’s The Illuminator. As with many books I’ve read, the story started out strong and I cared about the characters, but by the end the author had apparently run out of ideas and tries too hard to wrap things up too quickly. In the end I felt the book was about how shitty it was to live in the late 14th century in Europe, especially if you are a woman. If you’ve read The Birth of Venus, it reminded me a lot of that. I also read Jasper Fforde’s first Thursday Next novel, The Eyre Affair. The premise of this book intrigued me, and while there were several clever plot points, in the end it wasn’t meaty enough for my tastes. With characters named Braxton Hicks and Jack Schitt (I kid you not), it was hard to take anything that happened very seriously. But, if you are looking for a quick easy read with a literary twist, you might enjoy it. I also re-read Anita Shreve’s The Weight of Water. I didn’t realize that I had read it before until I started, but I didn’t remember the salient point (who dunnit) so I still enjoyed it. I just started Sarah Waters’ Affinity and I’m finding it hard to get into. This one, like Tipping the Velvet, which I read last year, is another Elizabethan lesbian novel, only this one takes place in a prison. I’ll do a full review once I’m done.