Feels like a lifetime since I've written an actual entry with words that aren't all soap related. Michael Jackson's funeral broke my pop culture heart. Brooke Shields almost made me cry. So did Usher, but it was MJ's daughter that just broke me. It took me two whole days to recover. It reminded me that while I and others like me go on and on about Jackson's place in music and his stasis as an icon/legend, what is really important here is that three young kids just lost their only parent, a family just lost their brother and a son. No matter how you may feel about Jackson as a person or as an artist, you can't deny that this just ain't right. No kid should have to grow up without parents. No parents should outlive their kids. I have a request for the American media, which I know, will be ignored, but for the love of God and all things holy and right in this world, please leave MJ's kids alone. I fear now that we know what they look like, they will be hunted as badly, perhaps worse than their father was. I know this will be ignored because I sense of custody battle brewing for MJ's two oldest kids and the media cannot resist the drama. These three kids have earned the right never to be heard in public (if they so choose) again. That said, anyone else think Paris looks like a young Rashida Jones? Just me. Okay, I'll shut up.

— Would you like to watch a clip from the never before seen thirteen episode of Dollhouse? Sure you do.

— The Swell Season, otherwise none as the duo featured in Once, is set to release their follow up. And all is right with the world, but I heard these two broke up in real-life, so this ... should be interesting.

— I've said it before and shall say it again. Vanity Fair always has the best photo shoots. Here is a glimpse of shoot recreating films from the Depression era.

— In case you haven't seen it yet, a new interview with Crystal Chappell recounting her time on GL.

And here begins a whole lot of shallow pretty...


Jason Batemen in Details. If you would have told me in 1985 that I would think he was hot when I was old, I would have told you you were insane.

Next up, new Mary-Louise Parker Esquire photo shoot. Yep, she's making pie.



( Cue fantasies .. HERE! )

And now for the Otalia section of this post. Yesterday, Jessica Leccia returned from maternity leave. Will now discuss spoilers and speculation freely under this cut, so beware...

( It's a Beautiful Day in Jersey )

And finally for your YouTube Moment of Zen... a Jackson video. "Can You Feel It" is one of those MJ songs I completely forgot about until his death.

I loved this song as a very young kid. Back in 81, we all thought this video was CUTTING EDGE. The special effects... AMAZING. I remember thinking, "Michael created fire and rainbows... I buy it." My father had this album on vinyl. I wish he still did.

In the middle of an Alias rewatch (well, if I can finish up Torchwood that is) and the best part about the series, besides SpyParents, are the blooper reels. Jennifer Garner has the most infectous giggle. No matter how many times I watch these, I always giggle. Today, started out with some crappy news (plus, you know MJ's funeral), so I did this to make myself feel better.



( Stop Is What I Mean.... )

This will probably be the last recap until Natalia comes back. Not much to say about this episode, except I giggled and cried, sometimes at the same time.



( Yep, Exactly Like That! )

I present Otalia's love theme 2.0. Nothing like Madonna to sing my pain for me.

This post is where I try to explain my feeling for current turn of events on Guiding Light. Some of my feelings might surprise some. This post is probably more for me as a try to sort through things like "character motivation" and "story arcs" in an attempt to fanwank my problems out of existence. Will it work? Probably not. Bottom line is I don't want a show that I've watched and loved for eighteen years to end like a bad blowjob ... with a really bad taste in my mouth. I will do everything in my power to make all my problems with the plot twist, hereby referred to in this post as "crazy baby math", morph into something bordering on like. At the very least, not seething hate. Well, at least no one got raped or blinded by shards of broken glass. That's ... something isn't it? Right. Right? All I know is I feel so sorry they are making JL come back earlier from maternity leave .. for this.



( As subtle as an ax to the face and just as pleasant )

Yes, it's back and a few days early! Technically, this is Wednesday night fangirl fight, but since it is a short week in the U.S. and it's Canada Day today, I thought, well, it's almost Friday. Close enough. This week's fangirl fight might make some of you hate me, but I am expecting that. Believe me, even I don't know who I would vote for. I might have to flip a coin. As usual, please adhere to the following rules. Just be nice. That's all I ask.

Rules of Conduct:
1. The gist:
Imagine yourself at a friend of a friend's party. You mingle with other guests, strike up some conversations, and generally get along with everyone else even if they might not share the same opinions as you do on everything. You don't go ripping on people for having a different view of something, jumping up and down on the couch and calling them stupid. Same rule applies here. Be respectful, agree to disagree when differences present themselves, and never ever make things personal.

2. Don't be a jerk:
Don't start your comments with words like "this may offend some people", "you're so wrong and ...", or anything similar. Nine times out of ten, those words precede a snotty correction directed at another someone else. It's rude, don't do it. Don't talk down to your fellow commenters, don't lecture them, and don't state your opinion as fact.

3. Don't harp on why the other choice is so terrible
Don't build your opinion of your choice up by tearing the other down. If you spend one sentence on why your pick is awesome and fifteen sentences on why the other choice is horrible .. that's what I'm talking about. "I picked X and now I'm going to rant about why Y SUCKS!"

4. Don't bring other fights to this post
I realized that a few people brought debates going on in other people's comms and journals about the poll to comments here. Please don't bring fights going on elsewhere here. Stick to debating comments left in this journal.

5. DON'T ATTACK FANDOMS!
For the love of god, do not single out any fandoms! Do not resort to grouping an entire fandom block into a bunch of adjectives. Don't call fans of something you don't like stupid, childish, dumb, etc. Do not. This last point will get your ass BANNED from ever commenting on my journal again. I'm serious.

Have I scared you all away? Ha. The only thing you really need to remember is just don't be a dick and you will be fine.

The Battle of the Super-Cute Dimples.

( Killed By Dimples ....Lethal! )

And pointless post starts now. If you need proof that my mind always comes back to Gossip Girl, whatever the subject, the only thing I could think of the minute I saw Natalia wearing a headband was Blair Fucking Waldorf. I think headbands and pregnancy (scares) go hand in hand.



As for actual comments about today's show, I don't have much to say other than I love Blake. Love her in a way I haven't loved her since the mid-90's. I love when Blake is Blake - nosy, inappropriate, babbling, awesome. I heart Blake forever for uttering this: "Who gets married without sleeping with someone .... *laughs*.. Right... you do..."

I still enjoy the show, but I've gone from loving it-loving it to hating it-loving it. The snark rolls off the tongue so fantastically, it makes me smile, but then it makes me sad. We were so close to having something good here, so close, but then they had go and fuck it up with not!kissing and pregnancy. When an entire fandom is hoping for a miscarriage, there is something gravely amiss with your writing. I wouldn't mind the pregnancy plot twist if we had more time to deal with it, like, if the show WASN'T JUST CANCELLED. But since we have limited time here, there is no possible way we can resolve all the shit that needs to be resolved by September without it feeling rushed and tacked on. For a storyline that took over a year to build, it just renders the time and care put into that process kind of meaningless. That's the part that hurts the most.

The other part that kind of hurts is I would probably be taking this entire turn better if these two were shagging like rabbits. Aren't pregnant women supposed to get horny as hell? Look at all the opportunity we squandered by not making with the sexy time. Wouldn't it have been hilarious if Natalia attacked Olivia because of OUT OF CONTROL HORMONES? "I don't know what came over me. You just smelled so good. And I just ... had to have you. Why are you looking at me like that? I... god.. I can't ..." *attacks Olivia again* Man, I should write for soaps.

But all this is just one big excuse for this fantastic moment of zen. Leighton Meester. Singing.

The last 40 seconds of this video where a dozen dirty fics are born.

So.. Otalia...

( Spoiler Alert and General Crankiness....AND ICONS! )

And now to cleanse the palate. Gossip Girls being gay in Rolling Stone outtakes

It's a little sad that these two are gayer in these photos than Otalia get to be on the show, isn't it?

This is an obligatory Michael Jackson "gone too soon" post. I apologize it is so late, but losing two of my childhood idols in one day rendered the pop culture part of my brain paralyzed for two whole days. I still haven't fully processed this, but I shall try to put some of my frenzied thoughts into some sort of understandable flow.

Let's start with the personal. Like so many people my age, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was the first record I ever bought .. on vinyl. If you were alive in 1982, there was no escaping Michael Jackson or his music, but I am not sure anyone really wanted to. For my money, Jackson's "Off the Wall" and "Thriller" are perfect pop records, both sounding like a product of their times, yet timeless. The criminally under appreciate "Off the Wall" (which seriously, I think is BETTER than Thriller) is dance-pop-disco masterpiece. I don't think I can count how many times in my life I've heard "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" at a dance club and it NEVER fails to get the room dancing. And more than once, I've heard the room let out the collective "OH SHIT" dance floor gasp because they know the dance floor is about to be torn up. Not bad for a song that is thirty years old. The landmark/watershed "Thriller" was an experimental fusion album, pop-rock-syth perfect cocktail of early 80's awesome. People forget that a song like "Beat It" with heavy rock guitar licks by Eddie Van Halen and sung with an R&B funk style is something that just wasn't done in 1982 when the two genres were still very much separate.

I'm sure music historians will debate Jackson's place in music history for the next few years, but I know one thing for sure, they just don't make people like Michael Jackson anymore. In an age when music careers are lucky to last five years, Jackson's lasted forty. He released his first single as a member of The Jackson 5, a pop culture phenomenon in their own right, in 1969 and he never looked back. My mother knows Michael Jackson songs. My grandmother did. The generation after me will know his songs. His reach spanned age, color, borders because the music was just that good. I don't care who you are, you know the words to at least one Michael Jackson song. Can we say that about any music artist in recent memory? He was the last of a breed of musician we just don't see any more and that makes me sad.

Despite his personal problems, which the news networks here in the U.S. do not let you forget for five minutes, I want to focus on his music because that is ALL he owed me. Jackson leaves behind a music catalog that in the pantheon of pop is virtually unmatched (The Beatles are the only ones who beat him as far as I'm concerned). I judge music by two scales, the music's effect on me and the music's effect on the masses. I may not like a song or record, but if I see people grooving to it with in the middle of a good time, I can't help but smile even if I don't get the appeal personally. Jackson's music positive effect on the masses is undeniable.

After people got over the shock of Jackson's death, an interesting thing started to happen all over the world, spontaneous Michael Jackson dance streets started to pop up as people collected in mass and just danced to his music. This, more than anything I could ever write, is a testament to his power as an artist and the ability of his music to unite the masses in peaceful celebration. I know that this sentiment sounds as cheesy as hell, but watching these videos of the mass MJ street dance parties restored my faith in humanity, just a bit, if only for a moment and re-enforced my belief that the power of a good song can really make a difference. You never feel more alive and more connected with humanity then when you are in the middle of crowd dancing your ass off.

Michael Jackson Flashmob Street Dance Party - San Francisco

Toronto || New York Subway || London

( And a few other MJ related, pop culture blah-blah )