Summer TV Preview Countdown #3

3) (It's a tie!) Monk & Royal Pains

Monk is saying goodbye. Maybe even to wipes? We can hope.

With this summer comes the 8th and final season of Monk. And, I'm sure, quite a few revelations. Monk may have lost me as a viewer around season 4, but that won't stop me coming back when I have a feeling that a lot of old strings will get tied up this season (well, they'd have to, right?).

My dad and I have some theories about what will happen this season:

Plot line the first
a) Monk will finally confront Trudy's murderer.
b) Trudy's murderer will be killed in some way that is only marginally Monk's fault.
c) Because Trudy's murderer is dead, Monk will start making headway on conquering some of his OCD
d) Monk will be reinstated to the police force
e) Natalie will be paid, in full

Plot line the second
a) Monk will finally confront Trudy's murderer.
b) Monk will fall in love with a secondary or tertiary character
c) This love interest will help Monk get over some of his fears.

In any case, it looks to be a nice little wrap-up. And I'm excited to see how the whole thing concludes.

As for Royal Pains . . .

Concierge Doctor with denial is a hottie.

I caught the pilot of this little gem last week. Frankly, for the most part, USA could take just about any actor and any plot and keep their writers the same and I'd be all over it like iguanas on a warm rock. Royal Pains is slightly different from their usual fare. The camera work is slick and clean. The main character isn't the wise-cracker but the straight man, while his brother is the main comedic force of the show.

The pilot was actually a very nice balance of drama and comedy. And you really get the sense from the show that you'd love to punch some of those rich people right in the face. If that's not good story telling, I don't know what is.

Potential down-sides: Will Americans want to see rich people living high-on-the-hog and throwing away money on fancy cars and postage stamps, particularly in this down-turn economy? I'm not really sure. This is definitely a slow-starter series. And I can see it either being pulled late-season, or becoming a sudden break-out hit. In the case of the latter, the writers WILL need to step it up. This is not really a medical mystery show so much as a interaction drama. We get to sit and watch all these rich people relate to one another and money change hands, but for right now, none of the major characters (save one, the female hospital doctor) have a long-term goal.

It can be truly unnerving to watch these people prance around the screen in their yuppie/preppy suits, acting on whims and not on future plans. So Royal Pains is a waiting game. As it stands though, I'll be tuning in each Thursday to catch it (perhaps even at the cost of missing "The Fashion Show").

Summer TV Preview Countdown #4

Let the countdown of Summertime TV continue!

4) Project Runway (Season 6)

Heidi and Tim weren't sure if you were aware that
they've moved their whoring over to Lifetime TV.
Now you don't have to feel bad when the contestants
design something so bad, it makes you cry.

So here's the thing. I've been an avid PR watcher since season 1 aired while I was in college. The girls in my dorm would gather in someone's room and eat popcorn and critique like mad for an hour and the whole experience was very cathartic. There's something splendid about just being mean about someone else's creative output. This is obviously an emotion that Bravo knows only too well, since they made sure to have an extensive line-up of shows based solely on this premise (Blow Out, Top Chef, Flipping Out, Tabatha's Salon Takeover, etc.). When they sold it to Lifetime TV, I thought they were nuts. But it turned out they were in talks to start up The Fashion Show (and we can see how well that turned out).

In any case, Project Runway will be starting up on August 20th this summer, and despite the change of venue, I remain as faithful as always. I only hope it contains less bitchery than The Fashion Show contains; shouldn't be too difficult.

Summer TV Preview Countdown #5

Alright folks, now that I'm moved back to New Jersey and have most of my stuff in order (and I'm unemployed), the unofficial GG hiatus is over! And we're starting the summer off with a bang to talk about some of the upcoming TV shows (and a few that are already in full-swing) that I'm looking forward to watching. Let the dizzying array of TV-brain-meltiness begin!

5) The Fashion Show

Boy Isaac, for someone who always complains
that the contestants don't use enough color,
you sure do wear a lot of black!

While Project Runway was being shuffled over to Lifetime Network, Bravo was scrambling to recoup their losses. "Let's make a copy of it," they likely said to themselves. "We'll set it in the same city, with the same number of contestants, the same number of judges. But we will change the shape of the runway. We won't give the designers a mentor. And we will make sure that when we critique a design, we will do it in the bitchiest and most inane way possible."

And while the producers were likely squealing with joy at their own "good" ideas, they probably also jumped up and down and hugged. That's my theory.

The Fashion Show is trying. It's trying soooo hard to be the new Project Runway, but despite my initial excitement over this show, it's fallen flat. The guest judges sometimes have no insight into fashion at all, a lot of the designers have NO sewing skills of which to speak, and the challenges are frequently pointless or of little consequence. Not to mention, giving someone immunity for designing a high schooler's t-shirt strikes me as the height of the inane. Bravo isn't even manufacturing drama for the sake of drama here.

Unfortunately, I really like design shows, so although I'm not happy with it, I'll probably continue watching it.

Stay tuned for the rest of the countdown!

Misti's Lists: Top 10 Timeless Educational Games

I'll be frank with you, readers. I was an only child. And as such, on various holidays and birthdays, I was frequently gifted with fantastically complex and fun board games. If only I'd had some siblings or the presence of mind to learn how to drive when I was merely eight so that I might drive myself over to my friends' houses to play with them. Since that was not the case, I was frequently relegated to playing games by myself. Thankfully, the majority of popular games available on the market today and yesteryear are profoundly based on luck. Monopoly, Trouble, Life. They all relied on dice, so it was very easy for me to create an alter-ego to play with.

But this entry is not about those Parker Brother juggernauts. My own parents always tended to gift me with something very different. My house was a haven for fun educational games which encouraged intellect and skill. And I want to share a list of my favorites with you. The items listed below are both fun and classic. They may be simple or have few pieces, but can create fabulously complex games. And most importantly, many of them are things you can do with children who have just started grade school.


10) Fluxx

I am sure there are people out there who don't consider Fluxx to be terribly educational. And for the most part, they're right. But it's certainly a lot of fun, and it does have that wonderful side effect of telling folks that sometimes, life just isn't fair! Aside from that though, here's a great way to talk to your kids about goals and rules. Why are they different now than before? What do you have to do to accomplish this goal. A crazy card game for those of us with ADD.

9) Bananagrams

Bananagrams is Scrabble for people who don't like interacting with others. You can play in a group, but it's just as easy to play this game by your lonesome. Use Bananagrams' 144 letter tiles to create your own free-form Scrabble board. It's actually a LOT of fun to play. There IS however a lot of luck involved in which tiles you pick. But what better way to learn more about spelling and arranging words? Even the carrying case is in the shape of a cute banana.

8) Carcassonne

To be honest, I'm not really sure how well Carcassonne translates for younger audiences. But for anyone older than 12, this is fun tile-based game requiring strategy and risk-assessment. There is an element of luck about it, but it's much more about interaction with others and your ability to understand complex land values.

7) Boggle

Boggle! One of my absolute favorite word games! Boggle combines reading, spelling, and pattern identification with speed (though you can get rid of the timer if you don't feel like being competitive). Extended boards are available for more advanced players. Younger players can expand their vocabulary and also start learning about prefixes and suffixes. And when the Boggle grid starts feeling too confined, you can take the letter dice out and use the dice to make your own word games.

6) 24

You don't even have to go out and BUY 24 to play it. Just get yourself a piece of paper, choose 4 integers and get cracking! The point of the game is to use basic math operations (+,-,/,*) with the numbers to get a result of 24. Older students can also use powers and roots or larger numbers. This is among my favorite math games and it can be dressed up or dressed down for any age.

5) The aMAZEing Labyrinth

When people think "Labyrinth", a lot of them think of David Bowie, or that weird, frustrating marble game where you have to get your marble through the maze. This puzzle game is far more intriguing than even David Bowie. Use the tiles to set up a grid board of hallways and items. with one extra tile, you push the halls around to get your piece to the treasures. This game is great for developing your spacial skills. There's a little bit of luck and a whole lot of logic. Depending on how the pieces are arranged, the game can range from very simple to maddeningly difficult.

4) Set

This game is great for pattern recognition. You've got 12 cards on the table and all of them are different. Can you find 3 where all their characteristics are similar or different. This is also a great game to help teach very basic skills for understanding "same" and "different". As kids get older, you can adapt the game to be more challenging by relying on speed.

3) Once Upon a Time

You have a kid, and they love stories at bed time. Actually, they love stories ANY time. How about a game that gets them to use their imagination and lets them make their own story in the process? Once Upon a Time is a card game that has a number of motifs and themes classic to fairy tales and fables. Each card has an element of a story; either a plot point, a character, a location, and so on. Your job is to use all your cards to create a cohesive and entertaining story. Kids as young as 6 will enjoy making their own stories. You can help your kids out by writing down their stories as you go along so they can read them at bed time in the future!

2) Mancala

A simple game but not for the faint of heart. Also not for very young children as there are a lot of small pieces. I've played Mancala with a variety of different rules, and each new set of rules requires a different adaptation to win. Try to get all the marbles in your own bank, and steal the marbles from under your opponent's nose. No luck here. All skill.

1) Quarto

Quarto is not only a fantastic game to exercise your mind. It's also beautiful. With 16 carved wooden pieces and 1 wooden board, minimalism is the idea here, and although the set can be heavy to carry around, it's a nice addition to a trip to the beach. Consider Quarto when you're concerned about getting sand in your Scrabble set. Quarto's 16 different pieces (like Set) are all different. They are light, dark, tall, short, round, square, solid, and hollow. Your job is to get any four in a row on the board with a similar characteristic. The catch? You choose the piece your opponent places on the board and vice-versa. You can teach the basic concepts of this game to children as young as 5 or 6. And by the time the child reaches 9 or 10, you can begin to introduce the concept of strategy. A gem.

So, enjoy these games. Go out there and better yourself! Click on the links below to go to the Amazon product page. And if there's any game you think that I'm out of my mind to have excluded, put it in the comments! I want to know what else is out there!

Fluxx
Bananagrams
Carcassonne
Boggle
24
The aMAZEing Labyrinth
Set
Once Upon a Time
Mancala
Quarto

5 Scientific Reasons Why the Zombie Apocolypse Could Actually Happen.

This link helpfully gleaned from my friend E. Please read the link before continuing onward in this post.

5 Reasons on 5 consecutive pages.

I have some arguments concerning these. Particularly number five which suggests that toxoplasmosa would turn us into zombies. It only makes rats into 'zombies' because the organism is trying to get into a cat. What would be eating us that the toxoplasmosa would want to be inside?

And the article has a whole bunch of this "...Yet." stuff in it.

Also, because it's apparently innevitable, you'll want to send a card to all your loved ones before they turn and you can't say you care anymore.
If you were a zombie...