Category Archives: Geekness

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Why I wish Lizzie Bennet was my Best Friend

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I am a big Jane Austen fan. I’ve read the books, I’ve seen the movies and the BBC adaptations.  I would love to have a Jane Austen party one day where the girls wear long dresses and the guys wear top hats. (Yes, I just wrote that.) And to me her signature work is Pride and Prejudice. Now I’m not going to talk about any of the movie or TV adaptations today.  Mainly because I don’t feel like arguing over which is better. I ENJOY THEM ALL.

No, today I’m going to wax poetic about the awesomesauce that is The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

In a nutshell The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is an online modern adaption of Pride and Prejudice.  Lizzie is a 24 year old grad student who video blogs her diaries on YouTube and through that the story of P&P unfolds.  Almost all of your favorite characters are here, but with a modern twist to them.  I came to watching these a bit late. I remember seeing this being talked about but it wasn’t until after it ended that I got hooked into them.  What makes LBD so awesome is that it’s a social media interactive experience. The characters were not only posting vlogs, but also active on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook as well. And you the fan could follow and interact with the characters in real life. Of course you couldn’t change the actual story but you got to be IN the story.

The videos alone are top notch. (The series recently won a Primetime Emmy.) They are high quality, the acting is superb, and the writing is spot on. I can’t tell you how many times I died laughing or sat there sobbing watching a single episode. This is honestly one of the most creative things I’ve ever experienced.  If you’re a guy, don’t think that this is some piece of chick lit fluff.  The writing is extremely witty that I challenge you to watch a few episodes and see what you think.

I include here the first video in the series. WATCH IT.

Did you like it? (If you didn’t, we are not friends anymore. And if we weren’t friends to begin with, we will never be friends.)  If you did, then here is the rest of the playlist so you can watch the rest of the story. Yes there are 100 videos, BUT they are no more than 5 minutes each and it’s so addictive that you will have to force yourself to stop. However, if you really want the full experience and to immerse yourself completely in the LBD world, go here where the ENTIRE story is played out. Because not only did Lizzie do videos, but so did Lydia, and Charlotte, and other characters I am not going to mention yet (SPOILERS) and they really help to bring the story full circle.  Without spoiling things, I will say this edition of P&P gives Lydia a real voice for the first time and makes her character more worthwhile.

Once you’re done with LBD, the folks at Pemberley Digital (it’s a real place!) also produced Welcome to Sanditon, again a modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel Sanditon. I will admit it’s not as charming as LBD and there some parts that drag a bit, but it’s still quite fun.  And their newest offering started this past Monday, Emma Approved, based on Jane Austen’s Emma.

Basically if you’re a Pride and Prejudice fan this is a fun new way to experience the classic story. If you’ve never read/watched it, then this is a fun and different way to join the rest of us fans. It’s so adorbs! WHAAAAAAAAT!

On a fun personal note: two of my best friends are basically Lizzie and Darcy. Seriously, their story is exactly like that AND they are getting married!  And while we get a kick out of watching the 2005 version and how Darcy acts in there, this version had us cracking up at the similarities between Dizzie and my friends. (And yes, I get to be Charlotte) Basically if you ever meet us in person and hear us say “DARCY-BOT” you will understand the in joke.

And another shout out of thanks to @theharmonyguy for introducing me to this delightful and addictive pastime.

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Legen….wait for it…….

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I’ve mentioned that I’ve been binge watching shows lately in hopes to catch up with current episodes on air now.  The first show that I ever did this to was How I Met Your Mother.  I have several friends who are heavily into the show and they kept telling me I needed to watch it.  “It’s exactly what we as late 20-somethings are going through!” is what they kept telling me.  I had been hesitant because the ads for the show never really got to me and plus I wasn’t really a big comedy watcher.

Then last fall, I was going through a rough time emotionally and I wanted to distract myself from all that emotional angst and I gave in and started watching. HOLY FUDGE. I loved the show.  I loved the show so much (and apparently I needed a LOT of distracting) that I watched all six seasons that were available on Netflix in a month.  And then through a lot of pleading, begging, and bartering with friends, I was finally able to catch up on season 7 and 8 through their downloads in time to watch this season live with the rest of the world.

Warning: I am going to bank on the fact that you have already seen this show.  Therefore there will be a lot of spoilers. You’ve been warned.

I could SO relate to the show. I feel like I have friends who are just like Marshall and Lily (even down to having a baby and the guy being super tall! If you know who are you are….).  A lot of the things the group goes through (new jobs! finishing grad school! losing job! dating! breaking up! turning 30! getting engaged! people having babies!) is exactly what my friends and I are going through right now.

The girls, I can give or take on the show.  I do love the boots that they wear and I LOVE Lily’s hair in season 2.  But they drive me insane sometimes. I want to throttle Robin. I hope I don’t act like that in real life.  But I really enjoy how the show has portrayed the men.  I adore Marshall. Seriously, he is a favorite.  THAT is the type of guy I want.  Also it’s really interesting for me to see Jason Segel in this light, because I had only previously seen him in all those R-rated comedy films.  Had no idea he was such a sweetheart.  And Barney.  Oh Barney.  You are hilarious and bring the best comic relief to the show but stay away from me in real life.

And Teddy Boy.  Yes he has his moments (really, those red boots are super ugly) and there are times when I want to strangle him. He’s definitely not the perfect guy and it takes him a few seasons to realize that he wants to make his intentions serious. But you know what?  In a world where so many 20-something year old guys DON’T want to even pursue a girl let alone settle down, I want a Ted.  (Actually I would rather have a Rory, but that’s another show)  I would love to meet a guy who is attractive as Ted, has a steady job, and knows he wants to find a woman to be serious about with the intention to at least consider settling down and getting married.

I just wish he could get over Robin.  And I know that it’s going to happen.  It’s just…he’s in a bad situation where he’s not going to get over her very easily, as we’ve seen over the past 8 seasons.  You can’t fall in love with your best friend, break up, stay friends, try to keep those feelings reigned in only to have them date/marry your other best friend, and not be emotionally affected unless you are a Dalek. Ted compared every girl he dated to Robin and therefore was unable to move on.  It also didn’t help that she was RIGHT THERE all the time.  Actually this kind of frustrated me.  Why did Robin choose Barney over Ted?  Ted LOVES her and from their interactions they would make a great couple.  Barney loves her too, but I feel like Barney loves Robin best when she acts like a bro.  When she acts like a girl, he’s not there.  Unfortunately Ted is.  And yet Robin doesn’t see this.   And so Ted is stuck.  Because her friends are his friends.  And he can’t really escape it if he stays.  And so he has to face his hurt every time they all hang out, which seems to be all the time. And so even though I feel it’s been dragged out for a loooooong time and I throw my head in my hands every time it happens, I think it’s actually quite realistic to see Ted’s struggle with this. Because it does take a long time for the feelings to go away and it’s hard and it sucks. The joy and pain of falling in love with someone you are very close to and then realizing they don’t feel the same way. I get you, Ted. (But that’s another post for another day).

There are way too many funny instances in the show for me to highlight any (though I do love when Future Ted, played by Bob Saget, says that he was a fan of Dave Coulier). So as we are into the final season of the show, I’m looking forward to seeing how everything turns out. I’m hoping for a good send off and that they properly end all story lines (more slaps! and I just saw Bryan Cranston is coming back for an episode!). I think I tuned into the show at just the right time in my life.  Any earlier or later, and it wouldn’t have the same impact that it does now on me. It would be totally awesome if one day I can tell a similar story to my kids on how I met their father (granted, it won’t be this long and I wouldn’t tell them as much as Ted has).

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Closing a 21 year chapter in my life

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When I was in fourth grade, I was loaned a book from a friend.  This was nothing new. As a voracious reader, I borrowed books from my friends all the time.  The book given to me was a new author and it was the third book in the series.  Even back then I was a big stickler of reading things in order but as I had no access to the other books at the time, I gave in.  That book was Reluctantly Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and it introduced me to the world of Alice McKinley which I never left after that. Twenty one years later, I find myself three weeks away awaiting the publication of the last book in the series, Now I’ll Tell You Everything.

This is the longest series I have ever read in my life. The series actually started with the first book, The Agony of Alice, in 1985. I joined the fan club in 1992.  For the past 21 years, I have eagerly awaited the release of an Alice book.  I have literally grown up with her.  As Alice has grown from a 3rd grade to her senior year of high school, I’ve followed her every step of the way.  One time because I couldn’t afford to buy the book and the library didn’t own it, I would spent a month going into the bookstore every week to read a few chapters of Patiently Alice.  I’ve reread the series several times over the course of those 21 years but just this year, with the release of the last book, I decided one more time to reread the entire series.  That meant reading 27 books, which I did from the end of June until just this past week.  So many memories came rushing back as I read all the books.  Literally my life from age 9 to age 30 came back as I read.  A list of all the books can be found here.

Even though I grew older than Alice, I still felt like I could relate to her. I still remember all those awkward moments of growing up, going through puberty, reliving high school, and of course relationships with guys.  Even with this last reread of the entire series,  there were times when I would put the book down because I couldn’t believe that a 16-year-old girl was experiencing the same things as a 30-year-old.  To this day, when Alice experiences heartbreak, it still makes me simultaneously ache as well. One thing I love is that the books are set in Montgomery County, Maryland which is right near me! Growing up as I didn’t live in the area, most of the places meant nothing to me.  But now as an adult, as I live close by, it was awesome to recognize street names, buildings, and other locations.  I did get really excited when Alice was considering going to my alma mater, George Mason University, but alas it was not meant to be.

I feel a bit baffled though, that even though this series is very popular (I mean if it’s still going strong after 28 years, someone must be buying them right?), I actually haven’t found that many other fans of the books in real life or while I was book blogging. So therefore these books have been my secret for the past 21 years.  I haven’t really been able to share my love of them or basically be able to geek out with anyone about them.  Interestingly though, these books are always on the Banned/Challenged books list from school libraries because of their talk about sex.  Honestly, what’s in these books is what kids/teens talk about in schools, so it’s not like it’s creating new ideas for them and it’s actually quite tame compared to what actually goes on in real life.

Yes I’m sad to see the series end.  I feel like a chapter in my life is now finally closed and I have nothing to look forward to regarding these books anymore.  I do hope though that one day, I’ll have a daughter that I can introduce these books to.  And it’ll be fun to be able to reread and reminisce with her.  I’m so grateful to the author for creating this wonderful series and allowing me to be able to spend my childhood, adolescence and young adult years with a character and her world that I dearly love.  Alice McKinley will always be a part of me.

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Fantastic! Allons-y! Geronimo!

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1175475_10151676307443505_1584274408_nIn my never ending quest to make myself more knowledgeable of geek pop culture, I knew I was feeling left out when it seemed everyone around me was talking about Doctor Who and I didn’t know what they were talking about.  And let me be the first to say, I hate feeling left out. I mean to me, David Tennant was a very bad Barty Crouch Jr. (not his fault, the character was destroyed in the movie), Tom Baker had always been Puddlegum from the BBC version of The Silver Chair, and Christopher Eccleston was just the serious guy in all the British movies.  I actually had no idea they were part of the Doctor Who universe.

And then one night, while hanging out with a friends during a movie tonight, a certain @theharmonyguy decided that showing the episode “Blink” would be good, clean fun and nice short way to introduce a bunch of us to the series.  Little did he realize that (or didn’t think actually) that even though it’s a great episode to show non-Whovians, IT IS THE #@&*!! SCARIEST THING EVER. Seriously, after watching that episode (which I highly recommend even if you don’t watch the show) I was freaked out by statues for weeks.  Even over a year after watching that episode AND being sucked into the show, it still scares me! (Note to future self: do not watch it late at night)

But it accomplished his purpose, now I was intrigued.  I started watching the revived series since it was on Netflix (bless you Netflix) and my first doctor was the Ninth Doctor.  And you never forget your first Doctor.  Oh Christopher Eccleston, I had no idea you could smile and laugh without looking sadistic or crazy.  I’m currently in the beginning the sixth series (Matt Smith-era) and the goal is to be all caught up before the 50th anniversary special.  This will hopefully be accomplished if 1) Netflix adds series 7 to streaming, 2) Amazon Prime adds series 7 part 2 to their streaming, 3) the library gets the DVDs of series 7 in before that date.  Let me also say that watching an episode of this between episode of Breaking Bad is the best way to watch both series. The perfect balance of heaviness with something more lighter.

I’ll go into more detail in future on certain aspects of Doctor Who that I enjoyed or didn’t enjoy but for some quick takes on what I think so far:

  • Martha is my favorite companion, followed by Donna.  Rose just annoyed me after a while.  Still not quite sure how I feel about Amy yet.
  • Totally could understand how Martha felt. What she says when she leaves the Doctor, I was like “OMG THAT IS ME.”
  • I really like it when they bring back stuff from the classic Doctor Who era.
  • I cheered when Peter Capaldi showed up in “The Fires of Pompeii” episode (THE TENTH DOCTOR JUST SAVED THE TWELFTH DOCTOR!!”
  • How many times is Rory going to die and come back to life?
  • Also, I totally swooned when Rory waited 2000 years for Amy. I WANT A RORY.
  • River Song’s story is interesting and I haven’t even really scratched the surface with it yet.
  • Time travel is confusing.  Then again it’s all a bunch of “wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff”.
  • I’m still not sure how I feel about Matt Smith.
  • David Tennant’s departure made me sob like a baby. And yes I know how certain people feel about it.
  • Jack Harkness totally looks like a younger Tom Cruise.  Oh and fun fact: when I went to DragonCon last year, while I was standing in line to meet Billy Boyd, John Barrowman was signing behind us and we turned around and next thing we know, he’s standing on top of the table, pulling his pants down and showing off his briefs.  He turns around and looks at us, and we’re both like WTF.  Though now, it totally makes complete sense.
  • The show is just fun.  It’s honestly one of the more fun shows I’ve watched in a while.

So, if you are a fellow Whovian, who’s your favorite Doctor? Who was your first Doctor? Favorite Companion? Favorite Monster?  Or do you just want to talk about the show? Because I am totally willing to do so with you.

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Addictive Watching – My Quick Thoughts on Breaking Bad

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Blue meth candy (aka homemade pop rock candy) I received for my birthday!

On Tuesday, I finally caught up with the current episode of Breaking Bad. I started watching the show on Netflix on August 8.  I finished on September 10.  Yep, that’s right. It took me 32 days to watch the entire series.  I don’t really make a habit of binge watching TV shows especially not TV dramas.  I did it once with How I Met Your Mother, again over the course of a month, but that seems easier because it’s a comedy.  With dramas, it tends to be harder since they are longer and the subject matter is so serious.  I had to sandwich episodes of Doctor Who in between episodes of Breaking Bad to lighten up the mood.  I mean there’s only so much heaviness one can take in a day.

I started watching the show mainly because the majority of my guy friends watch it and rave about it and all seemed pretty shocked that I wasn’t already watching it.  To be honest, I never really knew much about the show until probably last year. When it first came on, I wasn’t really watching many shows on cable and at the time I was only really hooked on Lost. Plus Bryan Cranston was just Malcom’s dad to me so him in anything else just seemed weird.  But as the show grew in popularity and, like I said my guy friends were all into it, I figured what the hey, it’s on Netflix, I’ll give it a shot.

I plan on breaking down certain aspects of the show later on but from what I’ve seen here were my brief overall thoughts on it. If you follow me on Twitter (@beatccr) , you had the privilege of reading my thoughts as I live tweeted episodes so some of these might seem a bit familiar.

  • I don’t like Walt.
  • I hope Walt dies by the end of series.
  • I don’t hate Skyler.
  • I don’t agree with everything she has done, I don’t like how her character seems like a roadblock for the writers, but I don’t hate her.
  • I like Walter Jr. and I feel sorry for him.
  • Marie has grown on me.
  • I don’t understand why Gomez is still only a supporting character even though he has been on the show every season in a ton of episodes
  • I would watch a whole show just with Jesse, Badger and Skinny Pete
  • I want to hug Jesse
  • I got really annoyed at Walt cutting off the crusts of his sandwich because not only did he waste a lot of bread, but he also wasted the spread inside (and yes I know the reasoning behind him cutting it).
  • Walt’s briefs annoy me
  • I had such a craving for fried chicken watching this show
  • I would approve a spinoff for Saul’s character
  • I cringed when the Dodge Challenger got destroyed
  • NA Meetings don’t really happen like how they are portrayed on the show
  • Geeked out that the NA leader killed his daughter in Portsmouth (yay for hometown shoutouts!)
  • So many people on the show had no emotion whatsoever.  It doesn’t hurt to smile sometimes.
  • Drugs are bad, yo.  Don’t forget that, BITCH.

Jimmy Fallon does the BEST parodies of shows I love and he just released this one for Breaking Bad. I nearly busted a gut laughing because of all the in jokes.  Plus I was excited because I got everything!

Are you addicted to the show as well? Who’s your favorite character? What do you think will happen at the end of the show?

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What’s been on my small screen lately…

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When it comes to TV shows, I am quite picky about what I watch.  Gone are the days when I used to just turn on the TV and start watching anything.  I don’t even really like channel surfing anymore.  To be quite honest, unless I have a specific show on that I really want to watch, I don’t watch that much TV anymore.

I can get nostalgic when I think of the days of turning in every Tuesday night for Full House or Home Improvement or Friday nights for whatever came on TGIF.  Also gone are the days of religiously watching Lost, the best show ever to come on TV IMHO (and yes, I DID enjoy season six AND the series finale).  I find myself gravitating more towards books and movies than I do TV.

That being said, there are several shows that I still consider a must watch.  Sunday nights have now become my go to must watch night.  Unfortunately for current me,  Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Downton Abbey are all not currently on at the moment.  But when they are, HELLO 9 pm Sunday night viewings!  I also have found a love for discovering new to me shows on Netflix which allows me to have hours of binge watching in my attempts to catch up before the new season or series finales come up.  These have included How I Met Your Mother, Sherlock, Breaking Bad, and Doctor Who.  I may or may not have been known to catch up on the entire series in a month’s viewing (cough, cough).

There will be posts in the future where I’ll spend time talking about certain shows, characters, my thoughts on plots, etc.  I’ve found that I’m gravitating towards a lot of geek culture shows and it’s really been awesome finding those fans who are loving it as much as I do.  It’s also been awesome (at least for me) to discover that as I’ve gotten older and figuring out myself more, exactly what type of shows I’m gravitating towards vs. what I used to watch in the past.

What TV shows have you been hooked on watching lately?  What other shows should I try binge watching?