Dear people who come to read our blog I want to say 2 things a) thanks for popping by and do stop by more often and b) I think an apology is in order.

Let me elaborate! I pride myself on staying current with all the TV’s coolest things (that must be the Bull/Cow in me that is the dedicated consumer). Anyhow I think an apology is in order I still dont understand how this persona managed to stay under my radar for so long. Do you know who I am talking about?

Ross Matthews of the Talky blog fame or more correctly Ross the Intern from the Tonight show with Jay Leno. Goodness gracious me that guy absolutely and inexplicably cracks me up! And I think his dog is the most precious thing (well after my dog and cats).

I don’t know why I have this new found affection, it might be due to the fact he reminds me of my Estonian dancing buddy from England (now if there is one person who can shake his booty to Enrique Iglesias then it is my dancing buddy darling) but nonetheless I don’t understand how everyone does not know about this guy. His Talky blog is OMG… I mean yesterday he showed us how to clear sinuses… Helloooo! But my favorite one by far is when he talks to a pet psychic… it had me in stitches!

Now when I think about it I have this dreadful job interview today and instead of going corporate I should apply to be the Intern’s intern. I mean I have all the qualifications – I am excellent with dogs, I do not mind grossness one bit plus I can locate a restroom (for when you have to you know go as in “go”, blog buddies will know what I am talking about) in a 5 mile radius.

Hilarious, a bit gross but never boring thats Ross Mathews for you, do check it out, he will tickle you pink.

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Happy Stephen Fry Appreciation Day!

After Berta’s executive decision which declared Monday a Stephen Fry Appreciation Day, I’ll continue this tradition with a post about Absolute Power.

Absolute Power follows the exploits of Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe the best “sultans of spin” in London (I’m not alluding to Alistair Campbell or Peter Mandelson). The one thing that’s truly exceptional about this show is the fact that writers actually had contact with PR. As a fact bender myself, I can honestly tell you that this show can be a PR manual or, at least, a how-to of sorts. This is why I truly like it! So what can you learn if you watch this show?

Anything Can Be Spun – Whether it’s a country like USA or Bin Laden family wanting to buy British Airways, no subject is impervious to good spin.

French People Are Not Frogs – It is just plain rude to address French citizens as Frogs. If one requires addressing a non specific French person one should say “Perfidious Frenchmen”. Oh yea, this can be applied to women as well, apparently they are just as perfidious as men (I’m all about Political Correctness).

Insulting Royals Is Not Rude – Apparently the royals are here to be insulted. That is one of their primary purposes. However, if the uncivilized banana republic you spawned from doesn’t have royals, like mine, it is jolly good fun taking a piss at one’s president.

Language Is Fun – Saying “Make fun of Georgie the Decider” in previous sentence would have been so much easier, but why should one say anything with six words, when it can just as easily be said with twenty five?

Sex Heals All Wounds – No, I don’t mean have sex all the time (well … yea, that too), but any scandal, large or small, can be diminished by a good (or bad) sex tape.

Ugly Duckling Effect – Anyone can become popular, they just have to be whored up. Get yourself a good stylist, a designer and Bob’s your auntie!

Reality Show Is Good - Stars believe they are above us mere mortals, so they have to go on reality shows to show they are just like us. More down to earth the show is (like showing one’s snatch or wang dudle), closer they feel to their fans.

Admit and Explain – People (or Sheep as they are better known) love a good honest apology. Whether you are Crazy Homicidal Pedophile or just plain old Politician, good honest to God admittance of guilt (with a few references to The Almighty himself just for good measure) and a plea for forgiveness can make any scandal go away.

John Tickle is a real person – Apparently!

Prentiss-McCabe Syndrome – If nothing else works this is the ticket out of any and all scandals. Syndromes include: misplacement of moral fiber, loss of faith, ambition and will to live.

Love Them, Hate Them – You have To See Them!

You can also hear the radio show here.

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Following post does come with a disclosure – I cannot give too many details about my previous place of employment. It is not a matter of me being snooty, hoity toity and all-important, far from it, my job was anything but. But I did work for some high-powered people so I simply do not want to put my foot in, sort to speak. In case I might (heaven forbid) consider going back to PR.

Absolute Power was an interesting series for me to watch as I saw it twice - once before I had any PR experience and then after I had some PR experience under my belt.

Absolute Power is a comedy about Prentiss McCabe PR agency in London. Our ingenious Mr. Fry plays a character named Charles Prentiss, who apart from having an ego the size of England is also a PR guru extraordinaire. To him moral fiber is something you have for breakfast to get your bowels moving.

His employees are fetched to do his bidding, which includes anything from making sure their clients do not come off as drug addicts (which proves a bit difficult as the said client sniffs constantly) to staging faux muggings that make their client hero for the day by the press.

The first time around I thought the series was at best preposterous and at worst ludicrous. Little did I know. Although I have never been forced to stoop that low, I did have my moments some of which include: calling a client a horse’s hoof (it was meant to be a compliment tsss); being send off to pacify a naffed off hack (the reason was he was less likely to shout at a fresh-faced girl namely me) and being chased around the office by my boss with a fur coat (as I have great dislike and distaste for fur things that were once attached to innocent animals). Yup I cannot believe I wrote it either but there you go.

What I find fascinating about Absolute Power (apart from the fact it is bloody good fun, witty, sharp and snarky just how I like it) is Mr. Fry himself. It never stops to amaze me what a fan-bloody-tastic actor he is. On one hand you have a man who writes a letter to a little boy about the importance of brushing his teeth regularly just because the little boy’s sister asked him to. On the other hand he plays a character that invents a disease to put a positive spin on his client’s wife beating ways. And he makes it believable! Even an old snarky cow like me immune to any possible PR load of bollocks cringed in disgust a few times. As I said bloody good actor that Mr. Fry.

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• You can survive a plane crash

• There are mysterious islands that can cure any ailments.

• If you do get stranded on an island chances are you are not the only people there.

• There are monsters lurking in the jungle.

• Redemption is normally a good thing. Redemption on the island however means you will die soon.

• Never use 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 as lottery numbers. You might win money but shit will happen to your family.

• Invisible people? They do exist.

• When traveling by plane do pack a brush. In case the plane crashes and you don’t survive someone might need it.

• When traveling by plane pack a suitcase full of knives – you never know when you might have to skin a boar. That is if they let you on the plane to begin with, knives and all.

• Skills and things that might come useful if stranded on a deserted island fishing/gardening/swimming/guns/knives/backgammon/cards/pregnancy tests/ping pong table/golf clubs

• Polar bears can inhabit tropical islands.

• There is a reason to push the button.

• If you decide to stop pushing the button all hell will break loose and sky will turn purple.

• Food can drop from the sky.

• You don’t necessarily lose weight if you only eat fruit.

• Dynamite can sweat.

• Cant open doors? Blow them up, that is why God invented sweating dynamite.

• Statue of Virgin Mary is never just a statue of Virgin Mary.

• Do not have unprotected sex on the island; you will end up a) dead or b) pregnant.

• Some are prone to flashbacks. Some are prone to flash forwards. Only Jack is prone to both.

• If stranded on an island with monsters, bears and strange people trying to kill you it is a good idea to hide guns/information/hatches from your fellow survivors.

• If Desmond starts to follow you around, its time to write your will brother.

• How to get rid of boring characters? Bury them alive.

• 6 weeks hiatus in the middle of the season is a very bad idea.

• To start a new season in February is even worse idea.

• Acceptable and commendable – mind-blowing season finale; unacceptable and contemptible – 15 crappy episodes before that.

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I just wanted to share with you all (or y’all as Britney would put it) some of my favorite blogs related to all things TV, pop culture and shows near and dear to my heart.

Ask Ausiello - Ausiello - the king of TV scoop

Watch with Kristin - Kristin - the queen of TV scoop

Pop Candy blog - the goddess of pop culture Whitney Matheson and one of the reasons why I started watching Veronica Mars

Televisionwithoutpity - your ultimate source of all things TV

The Futon critic - you can find anything you need for your ultimate viewing pleasure with up-to-date schedules galore

TV Tattle - excellent source of TV News

Cracked - the most hilarious TV lists of all time

TVsquad - I love me some Tvsquad, great source of news and other interesting tidbits

TV Blend - great source of your favorite shows recaps and news

TVaddict - love it, especially your favorite TV quotes and be a critic section

Tuned in - Poniewozik’s blog in Times, always a good read

BuddyTV - there are plenty of news, but also soap recaps for all of you soap opera lovers

TV with MeeVee - if in doubt what to watch on any paticular evening check out their picks plus there is an interesting Q and A with Jamie Bamber

TV Gal at Zap2it - always an interesting read

TV Barn - love the commentaries

Popwatch at EW - another great pop culture blog

PopbuzzUK - up-to-date news about UK pop culture

The Stage - another great UK TV blog

Slash film - excellent movie site

All things related to your favorite TV shows:

Approaching Lost - great source of all Lost related things

Watching House - all things House from news to recaps and some excellent Hugh Laurie pics

Bettyalamode - all things Betty

Heroes fanatic - excellent source of all Heroes related stuff

Watching Grey’s anatomy - recaps and news about Seattle Grace

Supernatural scoop - dying for some Supernatural spoilers? Look no further

Watching Jericho - the site for my favorite resurrected show

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Ok, not really, but almost. This December, SciFi Channel plans to premier a miniseries “Tin Man”. In this distopian version of E. Frank Baum’s “Wizard of Oz”, evil yet alluring sorceress (Is there any other kind?) Azkadellia governs her magical kingdom with the help of Gestapo-like stormtroopers. Meanwhile, industrial cities of the kingdom are degenerating into chaos while nature itself becomes evil and corrupted.

Main character is a Kansas girl named DG (Sic!) who gets sucked into tornado and thrown to O.Z. She is played by actress Zooey Dechanell who appeared in a bunch of things I never saw, but who is totally cute and reminds me on Alexis Bledel. DG will try to overthrow the rule of evil sorceress with the help of Roland Deschain-esque gunslinger named Tin Man and absent-minded scientist with only half of brain. This last one is played by Alan Cumming, actor I greatly appreciated in “Bernard and the Genie” and even more in “Reefer Madness”. Oh, and there’s also a psionic lion. Psionic lion? Psionic lion!

So, in the one corner we have quite an intriguing concept similar to Michael Swanwick’s novel “The Iron Dragon’s Daughter” and the aforementioned “American McGee’s Alice”. On the other hand we have SciFi Channel, whose catastrophic “Flash Gordon” I already lamented.

Anyway, the official site of the series is quite interesting. Sure, you’ll also need the latest Flash Player, but the “Enter the O.Z. Experience” link is worth clicking.It is a quasi-interactive tour through the series’ concept artwork. There are some nice images there, especially the Art Deco cityscapes and frozen cave filled with floating caskets of long-dead heroes of the kingdom. Even if “Tin Man” will suck – which is quite possible – I always appreciate new sights in fantasy.

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There is no accounting for taste, we all know that. And I should definitely shut up on the subject of taste since some of my objects of fancy left my best friends reeling in shock… however instead of just making a boring list of plain old hot guys I have decided to give it some thought and come up with a list of guys our respective mums would fancy. Mind you I did a bit of research (read - I have spoken to my mum) so I have come up with the following list of guys that probably tickle our mums fancy. Goodness gracious me, that does sound a bit filthy doesn’t it? But anyhow with age comes experience and wisdom so perhaps they might be seeing something that us females in the 18 to 35 demographic might be missing. But don’t worry there are some plain old hot guys in the list, so there will be plenty of eye candy.

James Gandolfini aka Tony Soprano – the first guy my mum has mentioned. I personally can understand the appeal to an extent what with him being a mob boss sorry that should read having his waste management business. Maybe being a mob wife would have its charms plus there are all those lovely Italian pasta lunches to look forward to. On the sex appeal scale however this one is a mystery. Although it did solve a mystery why I have a bit of strange taste in men.

Hugh Laurie aka Greg House – now this one is a bit obvious. I do think my favorite curmudgeon is rather scrumptious. Me thinks it is a combination of motherly instincts, faith that he can be reformed plus an extensive medical knowledge that makes Hugh Laurie such an interesting and lets be frank hot prospect.

Denzel Washington – well Denzel is one of my mum’s longest standing crushes although she will only admit to it under duress. I do understand, Denzel is after all Denzel. But it does depend on the role he plays, mum loved him in Fallen but hated him in Training Day (her exact words were why did you make me watch that, its so off putting).

Patrick Dempsey aka Derek Shepherd – another doctor on the list and a bit obvious doctor at that. Must be the whole Mer-Der drama and his tormented suffering, him saving her from drowning, being an excellent brain surgeon plus he is extremely good looking with that floppy hair of his ( I do wonder how long does it take the hairstylist to make his hair look like that?) A bit of an obvious choice but there you have it.

Terry O’Quinn aka Locke – my mum is not sold on Sawyer you see. No amount of my exclamations “will you just look at him” did the trick. My mum isn’t exactly sold on Lost either no matter how hard I tried to sell it but on those rare occasions she did watch it Locke was the only one who piqued her interest. Must be the whole faith-redemption thing. Plus he would be able to hunt for food on a deserted island so he must appeal to some primal urge in her.

George Clooney – I have to admit George wasn’t my mum’s choice. But George is George and he appeals to women of all ages so he should be listed. I find his looks a bit off putting to be honest as he reminds me of someone I don’t like much, but I do like his movies. Not that Out of sight drivel, but the recent ones.

Stephen Fry aka Jeeves – I’m afraid this one is my fault entirely. I have been watching Jeeves and Wooster last week and she caught me giggling. As the series was on the telly years ago she does remember it plus I have been waxing lyrical about Stephen Fry for days now, I guess it has rubbed off on her. A man who can cook, is nifty with an iron and can solve any conundrum? The appeal is obvious.

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You know how the slogan goes Geek is chic? Well to celebrate the geekness within and to present some eye candy for the ladies (myself included) we are going to take a look at the hottest geeks that are gracing our respective TV screens. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with plain old hot, but nowadays as we all know you need that bit of extra to tickle women’s fancy. And who better to tickle our fancy then one of the men listed below.

Masi Oka aka Hiro Nakamura in Heroes

Now here is the ultimate geek. Goodness gracious me, just look at that face, how can you simply not be transported with delight? Ok he is more sweet then sexy, but still Hiro rules. And he doesn’t even need that blasted katana to appeal to my inner geek.

Christopher Gorham aka Henry in Ugly Betty

Geeky as he may be, lovely Henry is definitely sexy. Although I was not entirely sold on that whole scene in medieval restaurant (honestly a paper crown tsss that’s laying it a bit thick don’t you think) still English have a delightful saying along the lines I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for farting. Very unlady like but there you have it.

Jared Padalecki aka Sam Winchester in Supernatural

Ah now the lovely Sam Winchester is definitely kick ass, well you have to be when you are a demon hunter, if you weren’t you’d be in trouble. Sam is definitely the geekier of Winchester brothers. But when you think about it that is actually the perfect combination - a bit of geek with a kick ass twist.

Sendhil Ramamurthy aka Mohinder Suresh in Heroes

O la la Suresh definitely hot although a bit on the serious side. But I am glad they have finally let him out of that blasted apartment he started to look a bit like Keanu Reeves in Matrix, grey in the face with a bit of a greenish tinge. I personally would rather see him sweating.

Wenworth Miller aka Michael Scofield in Prison Break

Oh yes, Michael is the hotter one of the Scofield brothers. And he has a whopper of a brain I mean what normal person would be able to memorize every nook and cranny of that blasted prison. And even though we are all perfectly aware the tattooes are fake, well still just look at him.

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Today’s Blast from the Past section will be devoted to taaaadaaaa Dynasty.

I know, I know this section is getting naffer by the minute, however naff as it may be Dynasty was never boring.

Krystle with her larger then life shoulder pads and sequins, Alexis with her bitch slapping ways and a beehive and then there was Steven who after plastic surgery completely changed his appearance and went from Al Corley to Jack Coleman (to young ones born after the glorious decade of 80s he is probably more familiar as HRG from Heroes).

Dynasty was a soap opera that run on ABC for 9 seasons and it was the story about Carringtons, the wealthy oil family from Denver.

Goodness gracious me Dynasty was all about drama. What I find funny about these soap operas is how any explanation seems reasonable enough after a while. People return from the dead, sometimes they look the same, sometimes their appearance changes completely but could we, the faithful viewers, be heard complaining? Nah, of course not.

What is even funnier how whenever networks need to boost the ratings someone falls in or out of coma/suffers from amnesia/gets shot at in a Moldavian massacre. See I can’t even believe I just wrote that, but you know it did make sense at the time.

But I think Dynasty was best known for Krystle/Alexis catfights. Now that alone was worth watching, these two bitch-slapped each other like nobody’s business which coincides with the fact and this is an interesting tidbit – it was during one of these catfights that word bitch was first used on US prime time television.

Also Steven aka Jack Coleman was first openly gay TV character in a prime time TV show. So Dynasty naff as it was, did break new boundaries.

I do remember I was completely absorbed at the time. Then after Dynasty ended 2 years later the network came up with Dynasty: the Reunion and the whole purpose of that exercise was to tie up loose ends. I did see it eventually and you know what? I kept asking myself what did I find interesting to begin with?

But there you have it, me thinks I’m not far off when I say Dynasty was a guilty pleasure for a good number of us in the 80s.

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Image details: The Brit Awards 2003 Show served by picapp.com

I have made an executive decision that every Monday will be Stephen Fry Appreciation Day. Why is that so you might ask? Well since I am one of the writers on this blog I can do that. But
reasons are many:

· with winter coming Mondays are bound to be wet, cold and
dreary so we all need something nice to cheer us up and you do not get lovelier then Mr.
Fry

· life and work of Mr. Fry is so exceptional and varied that it means I will not run out of topics to write about

· I have a bit of a crush on delightful Mr. Fry

· I have ordered Moab is my washpot and it will take 4 weeks to have it delivered (that’s what you get when you live where I do tsss) so I have to kill some time until then

· He is far more interesting topic then lets say Lindsay Lohan or any other well you know I don’t want to be rude but there is an appropriate term.

So the idea is we will run Stephen Fry Appreciation Day until we either get

a) bored (which is highly unlikely) or b) until Mr. Fry agrees to answer our little Q and A (which is also a bit dubious since he is such a busy man).

And for our little Q and A we will accept questions from his fans and members of his group on Facebook so it will be more of a communal effort. I will have some questions of my own of course and hereby I solemnly swear my first question will not be “what is it like?” (I might be blond, but I’m not THAT blond after all).

This also coincides with his latest blog which left me

a) in stitches as who but lovely Mr. Fry would draw a parallel with smoking and hitting yourself on the head with a parsnip (which I have been doing for quite some time now tssss I know horrible and I should stop) and

b) excited as he is in the States making another documentary yay!

So anyhow if you have any ideas what piece of Mr. Fry’s work you would like to see covered feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments section below and join us every Monday for Stephen Fry Appreciation day (tea, coffee, cigarettes, chocolate all optional).

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