Mindy's Summer TV Awards

Fall TV is in full swing, putting an end to Summer's line up. Here's a quick recap of my favorite Summer 2011 TV programming. (There are a few gems :))

Award for Most Pleasantly Surprised: Awkward. (MTV)
         This show came out of no where and it pleased me so. This witty, clever, high school comedy won my heart and generated a lot of giggles. Imagine: 
Clueless + Can't Hardly Wait + Juno + My So Called Life = Awkward.

Award for OMG Reality TV Moment: Dance Moms (Lifetime)
If ya like dance AND reality TV, then this reality show is for you. And it was NEVER short on drama. Here's one of my favorite OMG moments:
I so hope I get a season 2. And 3. And 8. 

Award for Biggest Crying Moment: The Big C (Showtime)
 The finale had me sobbing. I don't like spoilers, so if you haven't watched or are not caught up on this show, no worries, I won't ruin anything. 
But the video below sums up my finale cry (thank God I was alone): 

Award for Best Finale to Set Up a Movie: Entourage (HBO)
Ari Gold = One of the best TV Male Characters ever. Who knew that there would be such growth and depth and sometimes warmth nestled inside such an ass. The movie better happen cause I sure will miss me some Ari. 

Award for Best Sex on TV: True Blood (HBO)
Damn good season. So much hot man on this show. Wow. Thanks Alan Ball. 

Honorable Mention Summer Smash Hits:
The Glee Project: So much singing! And some drag? Sold.

Platinum Hit (Bravo): Again, so much singing! I loved, loved, loved this show. It's a competition about song writing. Hello! Genius. I really hope this gets a 2nd season too. And props to Jewel who was a very lovely host. 

Big Brother (CBS): I'm a crack addict for this show. And this season was GREAT!

And that rounds out my summer lovin'. 
What shows got you through your summer? Post a comment, email me, I'd love to hear :)


 

A Glimpse : Why Not Some iphone Photos

Just some fun meanderings :)

                  

Super Water Sympathy (happy happy joy joy)

Saturday afternoon/evening I braved the crowds of the Red Revel in Shreveport to see the band Super Water Sympathy.
I was lucky enough to be early and stake my place right at the stage. Perfect placement. 
My husband introduced me to this band. He had randomly seen them perform at Chicky's Boom Boom. He fell so in love that he bought a t-shirt and their CD. He has seen them perform 3 times now. However, the last 2 times, he's been behind a camera for work.  

That's him above at the Revel, shooting the band.

Now on to how much I ADORE this band. Their music is catchy, and cheeky, and the lead singer (Ansley) has a strong presence and an incredible voice. They mostly played songs from their album, Vesper Belle. They added some new original music (always a welcome) and did a couple of covers (TLC's Waterfalls!). Ansley has such a unique voice, you forget the song wasn't originally hers to start with. My highlight of the night was the performance of Fiji Bop from their album. The true fans went into hysterics when the band started this song, I too, got a little teenager happy with my screams. 
I WANT A VIDEO TO THIS SONG!
However, you can see a video to the song You Us Hey here :

Super Water Sympathy is a band you want to see succeed, or at least just hang out with in your garage and drink beer.
I'm very very very pleased I went to see them perform. I hate crowds. A lot. But SWS made it worth the mini panic attack. 
So that's my line, I braved a panic attack to see this band, I think you can at least check out their music on their Facebook page :
Super Water Sympathy
And then buy their CD. It's on itunes! Support local music. 
Support Awesome.

Oh! And here is a pic of me and Ansley. Yes, I was the fan before hand yelling, "Excuse me! Excuse me! Can I have a picture?" 
She was very lovely and kind :)

First Time at 32

 I'm not sure how I ever missed the circus as a kid, but I did. I've never been angry about it, it was just this elusive thing that kids do that I didn't. (I seem to have a lot of those)
However, my husband grew up going to the Circus and loving every bit of it. Just recently my Rob surprised me with my First Trip to the Circus. And it was everything I could have ever wanted it to be.

I rode an elephant. I glared at children. I marveled at the lions. My mouth hung open as the performing elephant danced around the ring. I ate a snow cone and popcorn. We bought an expensive, yet wonderful toy. And I saw a man shoot out of a canon and fly through the air 150 feet. It was marvelous. And really, for the price, it was so so so worth it. We spent 4 hours there! It was a long show, with intermission! I was impressed. And joyed. And happy. And in love. I'm a lucky girl. 


And more importantly, I love that I still get firsts. It's never too late to do anything. I probably appreciated the circus at 32 more than I ever could have at 8 or 12. 


Here's some pics, followed by a video!

 Snow Cone in a circus cup....a must!

 An expensive toy that is pretty and scares the shit out of our cat....a definite must

 Man on a motorcycle on a wire....Might be a bit epic :)

 Ride an Elephant with complete strangers? YES Please!

Rob happy at spinning neon colors? Priceless. 

Thursday Night Explosion of Happy on TV

Thursday nights are my favorite. There are sooooooo many amazing shows on in one evening that it takes me the full weekend to watch them all. Let me list : (in no particular order)


It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 
The Office
Community 
Parks and Recreation
Big Bang Theory
Grey's Anatomy
The X Factor
The Vampire Diaries
The Secret Circle


This is quite a load, right? And in a few weeks I will add Bones to that list. The only new show is The Secret Circle. (Damn I have a weakness for teen melodrama, especially when witches and powers are involved.) I won't review this show. It's either on your radar or it's not. I won't try to convince you to watch, it's not good enough, not yet anyway :) 


I'm sure there may be some great other shows airing Thursday nights, but how would I ever fit them into my schedule?!
I say that, but come on, if it's good enough.....I'll find a way.


So I pose a question to you, my loyal followers:
      Is there a Thursday night show that I'm missing?


I'd love to hear what you guys watch. Maybe there's some Mindy Loving Gem out there that I've ignored for some wrong reason. 


Leave your comments below! I really want to know what you guys watch on Thursdays!! Cause sometimes, I'm so self centered that I can't imagine that the whole world doesn't watch the exact same shows as me. Prove me wrong, Please. 


*On a special very exciting note: Gossip Girl premiers tomorrow night. I've missed me some Blair Waldorf. Will she marry the Prince? What about Chuck Bass? Or Lonely Boy? And the positive pregnancy test? *  


Go ahead, laugh. I don't mind. In fact, I encourage it. 

Drive. (Oh you can drive me anywhere!)

This movie wins. Ryan Gosling is a God. A toothpick has never been so sexy. (You'll understand when you see the movie). And if you haven't seen this movie, shame on you. GO!

This beautiful masterpiece delivers on suspense, sexuality without overtness, character, and some thrills. Plus, the score/soundtrack is pure perfection. It reminded me of a throw back to early 90's movies. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, a foreigner. So naturally, he takes a script (based on a book) and presents a story with slow, perfect precision. It's been a while since I've seen a main character with so few lines. Hands down, directed and acted superbly. And that poster?!! Yum. 5 stars *****

Rachael Yamagata

Rachael Yamagata is another singer/songwriter that I discovered back in the day. She had a minor hit and has been on a couple of soundtracks. She's brilliant. I was privelaged enough to see her perform in a small tent at Sundance 2010. I was only 20 feet away from her and cried most of the performance because 1. very surreal moment 2. she was incredible 3. my future husband was with me.  (plus, I got a hug and an autograph after the show!!!)

Rachael has a new album coming out soon (October I think) and I thought I'd share with you guys a new video and lyrics. 

I get a little selfish with Rachael. I want people to know and love her, but I want to keep her all to myself also, maybe more. So it's a special gift :)

"Even If I Don't"

I miss you most in the morning
Most every morning
I wake up thinking
I could call
I could come visit
I could come running
We could relive it

But when I think of all that we've been through
Going back to you
Seems such a foolish thing to do
I hope you know
That even if I don't
I wanted to

All those words
You said at the ending
Were pretty revealing
And I can't forget them
All those ways
We missed at connecting
Despite all our trying
It always came back to
What I couldn't give you

So when I think of starting up again
Or trying to be friends
It seems impossible to do
That even if we can't
I wanted to

Who knows why
Two people perfectly aligned
Should ever have to find themselves apart
I'll never understand my heart

I miss you
Most in the morning
Most every morning
I wake up crying

GLEE! (with Pink hair)

My thoughts on Glee's Season 3 return:


Keep Quinn a badass. Don't change the hair. Repeat: DON'T change the hair. Give her some Tori Amos, circa Little Earthquakes, and let her be awesome.

Everything else was kinda the same. Not bad. Not Fantastical! Just straight up Glee!

New Girl

The tag line reads "Simple Adorkable" and I agree with that. For a pilot, it's a little rocky. But, seriously, any character that randomly sings is a character I will watch again and again. I've been a fan of Zooey since her breakout in the film Almost Famous. Years later she and Matt Ward formed the group She and Him. Since then, I've officially had a girl crush on her. (This girl can SING) I'm rooting for this show to continue with hopes of quirkiness reminiscent of Ally McBeal. I give the pilot a.....
Thumb and a half.  

The Greatest Time of the Year......FALL TV

I love TV. All TV. Bad, good, shameful, embarrassing, reality, funny, angsty....I'll pretty much watch it all. At the end of August, every year, I receive Entertainment Weekly's Fall TV Preview.  It is by far my favorite magazine read of the entire year. (Sometimes Fall Movie Preview can rival, but we'll get to that later)
The day I receive the magazine I head to my local Starbucks and begin to schedule my Fall TV line up. Yep, you read that right, I schedule my TV watching time. This year is off the charts with 13 brand new shows I'm excited to watch. I expect half of these shows to be shit and I will eventually give them up, but the excitement for "new" palpates my heart. 

I'm not gonna give you detailed reviews that bore you. (Don't you hate that? It's TV, not rocket science!) I'm a lover of TV. If you entertain me, I'll watch you. Easy said. Easy done. I'm not a snob, hell, I've watched every episode of One Tree Hill! At times that show is laughable bad and sometimes I actually cry. And I embrace it all.

My First Review :   2 Broke Girls  CBS Mondays
I love Kat Dennings and she is the only reason I wanted to watch this show. I was skeptical by the promos, I tend to dislike laugh tracks, but any beautiful, curvy, funny girl will draw me in. So late last night I sat on my couch with my also skeptical husband and we began the show......and we laughed out loud! Kat's character is sassy and smart and quick witted. She bears a confidence we wish we all had, but is still laced with a perfect vulnerability that makes you want to be around her.  2 thumbs up......for now.    It could still go downhill quickly, but I'll definitely be tuning in next week. AND so should YOU!

Last Week Sum Up Reviews:  Ringer  CW Tuesdays, Up All Night  NBC Wednesdays, Free Agents  NBC Wednesdays
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of my all time favorite shows. Of course I was going to watch Ringer (its stars TV vet Sarah Michelle Gellar). And it was, watchable. I fear it might be too soapy for some, but I do feel it's potential. I love when SMG plays bitchy (Kendall anyone?) and she does have a bitchy character. So my final verdict: We'll see. I'm tuning in, but please keep it fresh and don't weigh us down! 1 thumb up.


Up all Night: Just watch it. Just watch it. Three comedic genius are blessing our TV screens every Wednesday night. Watch it for laughs and I bet some tears. And where else can you hear "Our baby is so f***ing cute!"  TWO big thumbs up.

Free Agents: It may it lost behind the glory of Up All Night, but potential is there. I had some laughs. Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn are also a comedic geniuses, but we'll see if they can shine after a month. I'll tune in again....1 thumb up.


Below is a scrap of my TV line up. the little *indicates new TV.