Dean: We’re on the one-yard line here.
Kevin: And, I should have told you this six months ago, but the sports metaphors? You want to motivate me? Magic cards, Skyrim, Aziz Ansari.
Dean: What? Yeah, I don’t know what those words mean.
The definitions so you’re not as clueless as Dean Winchester on this Super Bowl 50 weekend:
For those of us who are not sports fans, or at least not sports fanatics, we watch the game for the camaraderie, the food and, of course, the commercials.
My all time favorite commercial is the Mean Joe Greene Coca-Cola ad. They’re revisiting it with Mean Joe and Tommy Okon, the original kid who catches his jersey. Here’s the original:
Look for the new one on Super Bowl Sunday.
Death Wish Coffee is a local company here in upstate New York who won a Super Bowl commercial slot, sponsored by Intuit Quickbooks. Check them out:
Looking forward to all of the new ones!
This is an excellent article that includes commentary, interviews, photos, and a video interview with Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln. The video also includes some behind the scenes antics from their (Norman and Andy) TV Guide Cover shoot.
There are also SPOILERS. You have been warned.
For example, some of the pics show people who are alive that might be questionable when last we saw them.
The Walking Dead Returns With Chaos, Brutality and ‘the Biggest Hardships Ever’ – TV Insider
I will share my favorite part from the article – consider this a behind the scenes spoiler – in the first half of season 6 when Daryl gets his bike and crossbow stolen, Norman said he was pissed; like, really pissed. That’s his bike. No one rides that bike but him!
On a meta note, I can’t imagine that he doesn’t get it back. Classified Moto just custom made that bike for him on the show. Check out these behind the building of the bike that aired/posted when the character was putting together the pieces that Aaron salvaged on screen.
A belated birthday gift from my bestie! Fandom blends from Adagio Teas. My first choice for this morning is The Walking Dead’s Daryl blend.
The blend consists of Mambo, Honeybush Vanilla, Mocha Nut Mate, Cocoa Nibs, and Cloves.
I use about a teaspoon and pour the boiling water over my strainer. I give it a taste and almost always add sugar, two teaspoons. With the mocha and cocoa, I think it would be very nice with a bit of milk, but our house is short of milk at the moment.
What I love most about these teas is that they almost always taste like their description on the tin.
This blend is smooth, enough caffeine to perk me up when I didn’t really want to be perked up, but morning has come, so… The cloves, vanilla, and cocoa give it a hint of the holidays, but not out of place in the cold of January.
Despite being really strong flavors – cloves, vanilla, and cocoa – they are very subtle in this blend, and no aftertaste that I sometimes get with flavored tea. This is also a black tea base, which is my personal preference.
Reviews from at least four more fandom blends to come including The Avengers, Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter.
Can’t wait to try them all!
I started watching Supernatural in the middle of the seventh season. My first episode was The French Mistake. I knew the actors better than the characters. I eventually started marathoning on Netflix. Since The French Mistake was an episode that broke the fourth wall it was easy to relegate it to the recesses of my mind and have it not interfere with the storyline.
Along the way I got to know the characters. The first actress to play the demon Ruby was Katie Cassidy. I really liked her take on the character. No offense against one of my favorite Padaleckis, but I preferred her Ruby to Gen. I mean, I had warm and fuzzies for Jared’s wife, but I really liked Ruby 1.0. I liked her sass and her practicality.
I didn’t realize she was the actress playing Laurel Lance on The CW’s Arrow for longer than I would like to admit. It took me a long time to figure it out. I only watched it haphazardly, if it happened to be on, a few episodes at the end waiting for Supernatural to start. And then Laurel began to be Black Canary. Seriously, one of my very favorite female superheroes. Black Canary and Batgirl. One in the comics, one on the television. And now, Black Canary was going to be on television. I was excited to see her take on this character.
About two months ago (or more), Marty Ingalls died. I looked up his wife, Shirley Jones. I had been a big fan of The Partridge Family in my childhood. I grew up singing their songs. Every time a school bus would pass by it would remind me of that show. Just like everyone else in the mid-70s, I had a crush on David Cassidy and Danny Bonaduce. In high school, I was a huge fan of Shaun Cassidy, David’s younger half-brother. I used to sing along to both Cassidys’ albums in my basement, sitting by the record player, wearing this giant pair of headphones as if I were in a recording studio with him.
Along this Google/Wikipedia trip down memory lane, I read that Shaun Cassidy was the uncle of the actress, Katie Cassidy. I know all of you see where this is going, but at this point, I still didn’t get it; not until I clicked on her link and saw her photo. And then, finally, I recognized her.
Katie Cassidy?!
Ruby? Laurel? Katie Cassidy?!
My mind was sputtering.
How did I not know that Katie Cassidy, one of my favorite actors on two of my current shows was David Cassidy’s daughter?
How did I not know this?
Second generation fan. Or is it the same fan but with a second generation actor? Or is it fan, once removed.
I don’t know which, but I think I like it.
My son collaborated with his Dad (at least his Dad’s debit card) to make me a mini Lego figure of Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead. He designed it himself. Then they both made the poncho on our home printer without letting me see. It’s a superb job. He used mgfcustoms for the construction.
Standing behind mini Daryl is a cup designed by my daughter. My family got me Lindt chocolate truffles and as it turns out, two bags of those fit perfectly into a Trenta sized Starbucks cup that my daughter saved, washed, and decorated.
Chocolate Caramel and White Chocolate; my favorites.
“Jesus said to them, ‘The light will be among you only a little while. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness may not overcome you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light.'”
– John 12: 35– 36
This is the reflection for today’s saint in The Big Book of Women Saints by Sarah Gallick. It is reflected along with the short bio of Saint Eulalia of Merida (292 AD-302 AD).
It struck me profound as it comes right in the middle of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the (Second) Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE. There was only enough oil for the eternal light to burn for one day, and to replenish the holy oil would take an eight day round trip. The oil remained burning until the men returned with a new supply.
For those who know my relationship to fandom, this Scripture Reflection also came one day after the mid season finale of Supernatural. Surrounding Season 11 is the storyline of the Darkness returning to the
Earth. The Darkness is a beautiful woman who rivals Lucifer in power. The television show has her as an equal to G-d. As she is Darkness, the only way to vanquish her is with light.
Obviously this is a fictional story in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, but I did find the coincidence of the timing of seeing the show and reading the reflection scheduled for today as enough to comment on.
We all have our own mental lists to remind us of the wonder of our lives. Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US, and for those of us lucky enough to have our families to celebrate with and enjoy a ridiculously large feast, it is one of those days that we are either awash with feelings or comatose from turkey and napping by mid-afternoon.
So many words to express our thoughts for this holiday season:
Thankful.
Grateful.
Gratitude.
Blessed.
Lucky.
Wonderment.
Humbled.
In less than a week, I turn 49, and then in three hundred sixty-six more days I will be 50. I’m not particularly looking forward to it, although I suppose it’s better than not turning fifty. This might be the impetus to a year long project of not counting down the days, but appreciating the days and the weeks as they pass until that milestone. This might be the baseline to reflect on, but time will tell.
These are the ten things I am most grateful for:
1. Finances – we are still living paycheck to paycheck, as are most middle-class-used-to-be’s, but there might be a light at the end of the tunnel; or at least an even-ing out of our debt.
2. Related to Finances – I’m grateful to our mechanic who let us put our recent car repairs on account so we are able to continue to drive our only car without having the cash on hand.
3. Family – my kids are healthy and doing well in school.
4. I am relatively healthy despite my chronic issues. My knees have even been feeling almost normal most of the time. It’s a welcome change.
5. Writing – I’m managing to write more often and keeping up my quality, I think anyway. Without my regular writing workshop, which was cancelled, I’ve been lucky to give myself one day a week to work in the library for some of my forgotten projects.
6. I am really enjoying my ongoing re4lationship with Jesus Christ. There was definitely something missing from my life despite my belief in G-d and my spirituality, and I have found it with Christ and in His Church.
7. I have so much gratitude that I live near enough to a shrine and a Dominican retreat center where I can go and meditate and pray. Both places offer different things, but both places are also contemplative and recharge me.
8. Friends – My recent reconnection with some friends through Facebook – one I hadn’t talked to in decades, but thought of often. I also connected with my cousins’ family, both in person and on Facebook.
9. Fandom – another layer of friendship that is unexplainable unless you are in a fandom of your own. Kind, friendly, supportive and constructive – fandom is a beautiful thing, filled with beautiful people.
10. You, dear readers. I hold such gratitude for all of you, all of you who read, comment, like, and visit. Thank you.
I really am so blessed.
In Vintage Supernatural, I mentioned how for me, and many others who are fans or in fandom, have a broader relationship with the source material. In other words, when the television show ends for the week, it doesn’t always end for the viewer.
In the case of Supernatural, I am often also on Tumblr, reading the liveblogging and commentary from two of my friends there. It gives the feel of a viewing party, hearing (or reading) others’ exclamations of surprise, their mocking of something unbelievable. They/we applaud the writer, and gush, and we have other fans to gush with. Since I’m the only one in my family who watches Supernatural, this gives me a less solitary experience, and makes it more enjoyable to me.
When I watch The Walking Dead, I watch with my family, so we have that camaraderie and interaction throughout and after the show. I also go online and either read, write or enjoy the new gifsets that seemingly appear as if by magic minutes after the scenes air.
In Vintage Supernatural, I talked about googling the Lizzie Borden House, and discovering its existence.
A similar thing happened in last week’s Doctor Who episode, The Zygon Inversion, they mentioned a town where the action was taking place: Truth of Consequences, New Mexico. It was named after the game show according to Clara, the Doctor’s Companion.
I snorted. Can’t be true. I paused a mere second before googling it, and guess what? It’s real. It exists. Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. I learned something new.
I’ve found that I’ve been searching for terms and actors’ names and previous works while watching the show in real time. I don’t have to sit and wonder who is that guy fore the entirety of the hour. I wait for the commercial, pull out my Kindle, and hit the Google page. I avoid spoilers, but I get my curiosity satisfied without distracting me from the current show.
We simultaneously complain and applaud new technology, but using smart tech for series watching can really enhance the experience and introduce another level of fandom interaction that you haven’t realized you were missing.
I love it!
It’s the best of both worlds.
For anyone else who’s interested in getting another perspective of their favorite show, here are a few of my resources:
Google
Wikipedia
imdb (Internet Movie Database)
Tumblr (search for your television show)
You can also go to the website and specific page for the series you are interested in.
