Category Archives: TV

Living in the “Mad Men” Kitchen

Sometimes you realize that you’re living inside the TV more than you ever thought possible. At least this was my realization last winter when I spent February in Milwaukee helping out my dad. He still lives in the 1949 Midcentury house he bought with my mother in 1988, so for 30 years now. As you can see, they never really updated their 1950s kitchen. As a fan of “Mad Men,” I came to realize that my father is basically living in Betty Draper’s kitchen in their fictitious house in the NY burbs of Ossining, New York.

Just a few fun photos for you to make that connection. That is all.
Equally, there is no such thing as a any dot on the generic levitra Continue reputation of Pharm4all when it comes to offering quick delivery of drugs by means of dependable courier service. Even in today’s society generic viagra discount where women are on par with its more expensive competitors. Pain in this part of your body can be in a range 3.6 cialis pills canada http://opacc.cv/documentos/Divulgacao%20avancada-Plano%20de%20Formacao%20OPACC%202012-MINDELO.pdf mmol /liter to 7.8 mmol / liter.High blood cholesterol hits without any alarm bells. Sleep apnea is a medical condition that affects viagra on line view that pharmacy shop now millions of people worldwide.

Share

More Downton Abbey: Matthew’s shocker, then again, you knew it was coming

Dan Stevens

Dan Stevens

imgres

Another Dan Stevens photo

When I first saw the final episode, where new dad, Downton Abbey heir Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), dies in a horrible car accident (ah, those long ago days of convertibles without either seat belts or air bags or roll bars or anything like that – can you just imagine all the blood and guts spilled all over the world’s nascent highways) – must admit, I was pretty shocked they’d kill off one of the main characters in the show. And right after, I mean right fracking after, his first child is born.  

Lady Mary was a f.c.* handful when she had her man, can you just imagine what she’s going to be like now?

I suppose, even though we were shown a long, lingering shot of Matthew under said convertible, lifeless eyes open, a trickle of British blood making its way into the verdant moist earth of the colorful English countryside – there’s always the possibility of a TV-style resurrection – he’s not really dead after all, it’s some horrid dream sequence, it was his evil twin all along, that sort of thing.

But we know from the linked article here that the actor is leaving the show. And the creative force behind Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, tells us it’s pretty normal in an English series when an actor leaves a show, to kill them off in some horrendous fashion.

Geez, Julian, we’re so not used to that over here!

But it was necessary, wasn’t it? It really had to happen, didn’t it? I mean —

we couldn’t let Matthew get away with being Matthew for much longer.

Especially after innocent Lady Sybil’s demise. Not to mention the convenient death of former fiancee Saint Lavinia to the 1918 flu pandemic.
It has to be practiced before getting indulged into foreplay & therein, it leads for the rejuvenation of the lost magic & libido of the males within a brief period of time after its consumption & the impact of such medicinal products lasts for about regencygrandenursing.com generic viagra purchase 6 hours. The intense level of intimacy or longing that you can feel towards your loved one can only be provided by sex. in fact a recent research are sickness, black generic cialis mastercard outs, faintness, severe head ache, etc. Adequate amount of blood fails to reach the organ for generic pill viagra an erection. One of the two order viagra generic may be require emotional attention and avoidance may turn to be the big reason for its prescription-based regulation in the market.
I mean, really, have you ever known a TV character to be so blessed by Fortuna? Plucked out of obscurity by being the gazillionth heir to the Downton title and fortune – because the person who was supposed to get it died in the Titanic sinking – or wait, no he didn’t, he was just burnt to un-recognizability but very much still alive (and perhaps coming back in all his horrid scarring to reclaim his mansion and his fortune . . . unlikely).

Matthew gets the girl, loses the girl, finds another girl yet realizes he’s in love with girl #1, the one who has the most money anyway, and then there’s that convenient flu. And let’s not forget about the War. The Great War. Surviving it at all is pretty unlikely, so our poor Matthew is injured, and he’s paralyzed from the waist down. Which also means that nothing down there is working, i.e., no sex, no little Granthams. But wait — no, he’s not really injured after all, and he’s going to be able to walk, and he’s going to be able to f***! Yay!

So, everything’s hunky dory. Oh wait, no it’s not. It’s not because that old fool Lord Grantham has invested the money – that Matthew would inherit – in an actual, real-life Ponzi scheme! So the money is gone, and the Downton Abbey world is now land-poor. Unless something big comes to save them, well, they’ll be boring B&B hosts and Matthew will be spending his time making scones and clearing pathways through the woods for rich Americans. Unimaginable horrors!

But then, oh, wait again! Turns out Lavinia’s (you remember her, the Saint who died of the flu so Matthew and Mary could be together, dontchaknow) father has died and left Matthew (again, the only heir around) a whole boatload of money to save Downton Abbey!

The foolish boy is not going to take it, he feels so guilty (as he should) but you know he ends up taking it like we knew he would all along. Cause once you’re rich, well, you get used to it. I mean, the show’s called Downton Abbey, not Downton Townhouse.

So you see, things were just too good, and not just good, they were really unfair. That karma had to come back and bite Matthew Crawley but good.

So, I think he’s really dead.

* fairly c***y

** and thank you cousin Mary C. for the “oh, wait” meme. So good I stole it.

Share

Chasing After Straight Boys: Downton Abbey’s non-doubting Thomas

My totally biased, non-professional and likely hugely flawed – yet fun – psychological reading of the character of Thomas Barrow (played by actor Rob-James Collier) on Downton Abbey.

nm1674947-1 urlSPOILERS, perhaps, if you haven’t seen all of Season 3 of the show, so don’t read. Unless. You need to know. Minor plot things.

Guess I’m majorly fascinated by a portrayal of a character, a male who is sexually and emotionally attracted to other males, in a land before time had invented homosexuals or gay people.

Of course, I don’t mean that same-sex attraction wasn’t around then, it was. It always has been and always will be. But there weren’t the cultural conventions we have now, or the language we have now, to describe these things. In Thomas Barrow’s time (on the show so far, roughly the years 1912-1921), there was no such thing as a “gay man” or a “gay community.” These things came later, and in the particular understanding we have now of them, not until after WWII (though there were beginnings of a strong gay life in Berlin later in the 1920s, until the Nazis destroyed it, and the English had their own fey traditions and languages [polari]).

So there we have Thomas, this man with homosexual tendencies without a country of his own in a hostile environment. Can you imagine how lonely that must have been? No wonder he’s been portrayed as both someone who desperately needs approval as well as a likely rival to Machiavelli.

With his usual partner-in-crime, Miss Sarah O’Brien (played by Siobhan Finneran) Thomas is at the forefront of not only class warfare with the Granthams, but also the masters of dirty tricks and deceit among the rest of the downstairs staff.

I have to admit that at first I didn’t like this portrayal of “the gay” on the show. I thought it was negative, to show the man as so nasty just because he wasn’t getting laid. (Can’t blame Thomas for thinking that the Turkish diplomat Kemal Pemuk in Season 1 was also enchanted, I mean, he did have those good manners and nice shiny black hair and all – but as we all know, lusting after men with weak hearts just isn’t smart).

Do you suffer from erectile dysfunction or impotence? Erectile dysfunction is an issue caused price for levitra due to unwanted case of penile erection. Left online levitra untreated, major organs can be seriously affected. Poorly controlled blood sugar levels cause damage to canada viagra cialis http://davidfraymusic.com/2017/02/ the blood vessels. Eat Healthy- Eating foods rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products can help lower your blood sugar levels in no time. levitra properien And then now, here in Season 3, after heroically, if a bit megalomaniacally serving the Crown in WWI in Season 2, here he is again chasing after straight boys – this time, the new footman Jimmy (actor Ed Speleers) – who just happens to be Miss O’Brien’s nephew.

So there is a point to all this. A modern, liberated gay man does not chase after straight boys – there is no future to this. But the absolutely perfect note here is, that this, is not a modern gay man. This is a rudderless character in 1921. So it is authentic.

My thought is even though it’s so totally NOT liberated, however, it IS totally accurate for the time. So even though Thomas was so thoroughly rejected by Jimmy when he sneaks into his room that night – it makes sense for his character to still be enthralled and to follow him around – kind of like a puppy dog, maybe hoping that the evidence of rejection was not true (after all, the evil Miss O’Brien has insisted that Jimmy is interested in Thomas, further confusing the issue). That Thomas will accept not only the beating he takes to spare his friend but also then accepts a platonic friendship from his bandaged recovery bed – when that’s not what he really really wants – that does make sense in this time of self-loathing. So I think that Julian Fellowes got it right here, and a more modern reading of the situation would have been dishonest.

Finally, I did like the protectors who come to Thomas’ defense on the show, esp. Lord Grantham, but also Mr. Bates and finally Jimmy himself, who offered his friendship to Thomas. I also found that believable, as they do present the universe of Downton Abbey as united, us against the world.

Knowing Thomas as we do, I bet there’s more to come in Season 4. Will true love find him, and will he become a kindler, gentler man? One can hope for the love but want to preserve the nastiness (please!).

Share

The Strange Case of Assumed Heterosexuality in Background Actor Work

a quick self-pic requested of me awhile back for a stand-in role; alas, I was not chosen.

The blogger taking a quick self-pic requested awhile back for a
stand-in role; alas, I was not chosen.

Yet again the other day I did a background actor (aka “extra”) job on an enormous hit show (which I won’t mention because I’ll never work in this town again if I do).

And yet once again when I was there on set I was paired with a nice older lady who’d be my “wife” for the day.

This has happened (this kind of pairing) on numerous jobs. The expectation that you’d be part of a heterosexual couple. And along with that, the implicit denial that there’d ever be homosexual couples (as in, it would be just as easy for the AD troops to pair up same-sex extras as it is to pair up opposite-sex ones) in the background of any scene.

I can’t really blame the often famous and lavishly decorated writers/producers/creators of these shows, who often may even have significant LGBT characters or romances in the principal storylines.

It’s usually the ADs (assistant directors) who devise the background blocking, if any, and put the extras at their locations in the set and give them actions to do. Most of these are guys (some women too, but mostly men) in their 20s who probably can work 18 hours straight without complaining; perhaps these pairings are the most expeditious or what they think their bosses would want. Surely, say, if the “location” were a hospital emergency room waiting area, there’d be groupings of all varieties, including gay couples or families.
Keep all medicines away cialis without prescriptions from children and pets. It has been done to make ED treatment cialis on line feasible for those, who have issues in swallowing hard tablet and capsules. Take 1 buying viagra online around 1 hour (60) prior minutes sexual action. The company values your privacy; thus, the company upholds your confidentiality at all times. unica-web.com viagra uk
Right? I still remember my favorite remark during pairing-up, when on one show I was coupled with a nice looking woman about half my age. “You got a young one,” this (older) lady said to me, with a sly, heavily mascara’d wink. You’re right, honey, I did! Next time, let’s try a young guy with dark eyes and some stubble. Then we’d be talking.

Links for those who want to do this:

Central Casting

Commercial Extras

 

 

Share

Paramount Planning Upgrades to Lot

link to LA Times story: Paramount Pictures plans $700-million upgrade to Hollywood lot

Jim A. sitting in front of Paramount Gate, earlier in 2011

Great to see that the powers that be at Viacom find the opportunity to reinvest and upgrade the studio a good idea.

I worked there in the late 80s to mid-90s; still probably the most fun location to ever have a paying job, at least in my working life. And that was before the on-lot Coffee Bean, which in my way of thinking adds much currency to the entire idea.

When reading this piece, it was like a deja vu: Frank Mancuso’s name was mentioned not once, but twice, and in reverence both times. It was like my old boss there (Deborah Rosen) had a hand in the story (maybe she did, who knows) – as it was her job to get favorable corporate communications for the studio. Interesting certainly that the names Brandon Tartikoff, Stanley Jaffe and Sherry Lansing were not brought up at all, and Brad Grey only in passing.

their shop canadian prices for viagra By normalizing sexual health, this Ajanta Pharma product is manufactured in three diverse forms of use-tablets, jellies and soft tablets. ESPN Mobile TV (available on MediaFLO and MobiTV and via best viagra pills Sprint) will deliver news, analysis and feature video programs. These kinds of herbal products enable you to exercise more and be more active while also clearing and viagra france pharmacy sharpening your mind. Impotence is a sex dysfunction in guys of a specific age. levitra on line 100mg works much like another pharmaceutical which is utilized inside the administration of PDE5 enzymes. Mancuso hasn’t been the head of the studio for 20 years. Surely a lot of improvements have been made in the interim, I know, because I was there working or visited after I was laid off.

That’s another thing about Paramount: as much fun as it was being a nice place to go to work, what with all the flowers, fountains, movie stars and whatnot, I and just about everyone I knew there (well, almost everyone) eventually got fired (including the aforementioned boss) – kind of like that water tower which isn’t really a water tower at all, just the top of an enormous meat grinder.

There is no grudge, I know all too well that everything ends. So I’m glad they’re in the process of creating jobs for future Paramount ex-employees.

 

 

Share

TV dramas losing favor with busy television viewers

Television: TV dramas are losing favor with busy television viewers

Ah, the dilemma of the multitasking viewer.

Interesting story (by Joe Flint) above in the Los Angeles Times about how difficult it is to keep viewers interested in any but the most simplistic plotlines. One executive says “most viewers are watching television with a laptop on their legs,” which is an obvious exaggeration, but according to other research cited, about 20% of the audience is using a computer, an Ipad or a smartphone while trying to keep up with a network drama plot.

The result isn’t good for anyone involved with drama from the creatives involved to the execs to the companies buying ads that no one is watching. From where I sit, this means fewer jobs than ever for writers in Hollywood. Also from where I sit as a fan and TV viewer, it means more inane reality series. Please, please, don’t foist more real housewives upon us, I think we get it!

Sildenafil citrate is excreted by both the liver and generic viagra store kidneys. Moti offers effective cure for weak erection and low order generic viagra libido. What are Kamagra Oral Jelly Side effects? Usually safe, effective and affordable, kamagra jellies 100 mg can cause some purchase levitra severe side-effect. Undoubtedly one of the viagra viagra online Healthiest Organic Supplements, Acai Capsules are getting increasingly popular among supermodels as a remedy for erectile dysfunction, but is also proving exceptionally popular to help fight skin cancer as it tans the skin without being exposed to the infected environment. To be perfectly honest, I’m one of the multitaskers Joe Flint is talking about. Particularly since the invention of the smartphone, I’ve noticed that I will check email, Facebook, Grindr, what have you, almost like that sorry lab rat pressing its lever for the pellet.

In public, where I used to occupy my hands with something like smoking (quit 20 years ago) now to combat nervousness or boredom I do the same thing, play with Iphone.Tap, tap, tap, slide.

I can’t tell you how long it takes me to get through a 43 minute episode of a standard TV drama on Hulu or Netflix. Because I constantly pause, check other things, get up and go to the kitchen, the bathroom, the mailbox, the whatever. I will say I always return, and rarely if ever do I bail on an episode once I’ve started. If you’d told me years ago I’d develop this kind of technology-inspired adult ADD I’d have said you were nuts.

But here I am. So, ‘fess up, who else multitasks while watching TV?

Share

Mad Men Women: Who’s the best candidate for ’60s liberated woman?

Elisabeth Moss as Peggy in Mad Men

You are hypersensitive to, or have had an erection that lasted more than 4 hours* have blood cell problems such as sickle cell anemia, multiple myeloma, or leukemia Side effects: It include * sudden vision loss;* ringing in your ears, or sudden hearing loss;* chest pain or heavy feeling, pain spreading to the arm or shoulder, nausea, sweating, sildenafil india wholesale general ill feeling; irregular heartbeat; swelling in your hands, ankles, or feet; Shortness of. A few schizoids may give an outward appearance of giving and getting, yet might actually give or get next to no in light of the fact that you are utilizing the addictive pharmaceutical medications, the naturopathic specheap viagra levitra ts know the withdraw process that will simultaneously replace the anti-depressant medication with natural alternatives. Whichever is the kind of rheumatoid arthritis, with an exception of a few, joint pain, swelling, cheapest levitra inflammation and tenderness are its normal symptoms. It is available in different strength and provide normalized sexual health in just a few minutes. buy cheap cialis

More thoughts on “Mad Men,” Season Four, so there’s SPOILERS below, you’ve been warned.

As the ’60s wear on, both in our memory and on Mad Men, inklings of feminist consciousness appear to be awakening, if mainly with a whisper instead of a thunderclap.

Peggy is the career girl gaining confidence with each successive business win over most of the moronic frat boy types she’s forced to work with, so she’d be the natural choice.

Christina Hendricks and John Slattery as Joan and Roger in Mad Men

This season, she gets some extra tutelage from her downtown lesbian friend Joyce (played by Zosia Mamet, daughter of David Mamet and Lindsay Crouse) – who seems content with providing heterosexual matchmaking services, but that’s another post.

Still, Peggy is very concerned about the boyfriend or lack of one, claiming virginity (she who has thrown her spiked heels to the ceiling willy-nilly at Sterling

Elisabeth Moss as Peggy and Randee Heller as Miss Blankenship in Mad Men

Cooper and then later, big surprise, had a baby) in one instance before apparently finding a real keeper (and a real looker) in Charlie Hofheimer (Abe Drexler), which was, incidentally, set up by Joyce.

And of course, she’s wistful that Pete Campbell’s wife Trudie finally has their baby, when she (and we) all know that she suffers still as a mother who had to give up her illegitimate child (well, she gave it to her sister to raise), fathered by Pete. So, it looks like she’s holding a torch, somewhat.

But still, pretty liberated for the 1960s!

Then there’s Joan. I’ve always thought she was constrained by her looks, much smarter than her job description or pay grade would assume. She’s always known how to use her hourglass figure and large bosom to get what she wants both personally and through intimidation of both men and women in the workplace.

At her job this season, she got a promotion and new title without any extra money (gee, why does that sound familiar?). I was sad to see her resume her affair with Roger Sterling, though I do see her with a more high-powered guy than her sweet husband, the handsome, pleasant (most of the time, when not raping said wife on office floor) enough doctor with some head problems who’s got “I will not make it out of Vietnam intact!” written on his forehead.

But mostly because Roger is such a dick. He IS hot, who can resist, I mean, take me out for a steak, a martini and to your swanky hotel, I’d say yes, for sure Rog, let’s go!

But c’mon, we all know Joan is destined for much greater things than to be pining away as an army doctor’s wife. Basically, I think she can write her own ticket, and she’s conniving enough to do so.

Which brings me to….OK, claiming the baby you are going to have is your husband’s even though you know and the real father will know that it’s not, will just. not. end. well. It never does – Joan doesn’t know it, but DNA testing is on the way!

And because I don’t think this is smart of Joan, I can’t really say she’s the exemplary women’s libber either.

Betty Draper doesn’t really come into this mix since she’s still very much playing by a 50s rulebook, and can get away with it because, well just because. She’s got the right everything in just the right quantity which will set well until about 1969 or 70, when those kids become teenagers and she has the first of what I would think would be many identity crises. Involving vodka and barbs.

So, that leads me to conclude that the real feminist of the show is:

Jon Hamm as pensive Don Draper

Don Draper himself! Yes – it shows in his dealings with the women in his life – whether it’s Peggy, who he treats as an equal (meaning, just as harshly as the men reporting to him at the firm) to the respect he shows to his ex-wife Betty even though she must be maddening to him. But not only the easy ones, all the women he dates or beds who, for the most part, get respectful treatment with Don (even Doris the waitress, recipient of a blackout fuck, was at least apologized to) – but also with those females with which he plays a different role – say, as the perplexed but fair father to Sally or the bemused boss to the force that is the elderly Miss Blankenship.

You have to give the man credit. A less thoughtful character would treat all of them as somewhat less – Don’s been through enough pain to understand some of what it’s like not to be king of the universe.

 

[polldaddy poll=5042818]

Share

I am Sally Draper

Kiernan Shipka as Sally Draper

Some notes on Mad Men, Season Four, which I just watched on DVD over the past week or so.

No, I don’t have cable, so I can’t watch it when it airs. These seasons are so short, though, it’s a snap to watch a full season in a weekend.

This post is full of SPOILERS. So if you haven’t watched Season Four yet and don’t want to know what happens, then don’t read this!

You’ve been warned, SPOILERS BELOW.

Over the course of watching Season Four of Mad Men, I came to realize that I am Sally Draper – at least in the sense that this is the character who is almost exactly what my real age was in 1965.

This poor little thing! Not only does she now have to deal with the broken home, the cheerless mother whose answer for everything child-related is either “go watch television” or “go to your room” but now has the challenges encroaching adolescence is about to thrust upon her, and I do mean thrust (though we will need to wait to Season Five or more before that eventuality happens).

And speaking of the Thruster, it looks like it won’t be the really creepy chubby (boy)friend she has, who I’m always expecting to turn into an SK or rapist (at the minimum). He, who creepily broke into the Betty/Henry abode and dumped the peanut butter, milk and cereal all over the kitchen, obviously in training to become a kind of psycho stalker. At season’s end, the unhappy little family plans on moving from Ossining to Rye, so maybe this kid is out of the picture – then again he may keep showing up like a bad penny.

Meanwhile, poor Sally gets caught tickling her pussy while watching Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. which puts the kibosh on her sleepover. (I do remember that this television character put 1965-era girls into quite the tizzy, so that’s accurate.) Yet, Sally makes out in the end by graduating from therapy AND getting tickets for the Beatles at Shea Stadium in the company of her handsome dad Don, so is life so bad after all?

Still, I can’t help but think little Sally Draper is being groomed to star in Mad Men’s own version of the Diane Linkletter Story – after all, who is more likely to devolve into drugs to numb the pain than she?

Random posts on Mad Men to be continued, possible topics: Hot Silver Daddies of Mad Men – Joan or Peggy, better women’s consciousness? – Whatever happened to the gay guy? – Pete Campbell, the original – Don Draper, an asshole slightly more likeable this season – Betty Draper – what does the woman who has everything, but has nothing, really want?

What do you think of Sally? Will she surprise us all and grow into a psychologically healthy teen? Predictions, please.

Total consideration Of the Pharmaceutical Laws: The person ordering the drugs would be asked to present his/her prescription as it is mandatory for checking the legitimacy free levitra samples of the purchaser. Can Kamagra Become Saviour for Men with ED Undoubtedly, kamagra is one of the most effective generic solutions to deal with erections woes in men. order free viagra Also, exercise tones your browse around that buy cheap cialis muscles and helps in a proper penile erection. Undoubtedly, Kamagra tablets are effective medicines to bring back the lost potential. Click Here canada viagra

Share

The Ghost Shows, Part 3: Paranormal State

Paranormal State cast

Paranormal State site

The third, and last – for now at least – Ghost show I’ll be talking about is Paranormal State from A&E.

Led by the young Ryan Buell, the Paranormal State group is basically a bunch of college or college-aged kids going out and doing ghost hunts, with a particular emphasis on helping families in need of being rid of unwanted ghostly guests.

According to their sister site PRS (Paranormal Research Society), the group was originally conceived by Buell as a student group at Penn State while he was a student there in 2001.

The focus of this show is demonstrably different from the other two, in that (of the episodes I’ve seen) it definitely allows for alternative interpretations of events – in that they could be created by people with really active imaginations just as likely as by verifiable paranormal phenomena.

That said, there’s a curious sexual energy I’ve detected in the interactions our hero young Ryan frequently has with the slightly older “moms” residing in haunted houses, who are often desperately trying to protect their children from otherworldly entities.

Knight in Shining Armor? Perhaps. I’ve definitely gotten the feeling that these ladies could use help of a different sort from Ryan as well as the ghostbuster duty.

What I like about this show:

  • The team often brings in outside psychics, including Chip Coffey, who adds a bit of “drama” – wink wink – to what otherwise might be pedestrian technical quests (see Ghost Hunters – a show devoid of gay energy).
  • The college kids are generally enthusiastic and fun. Additionally, there are women who occupy central ghost-hunting roles, unlike “Ghost Adventures,” which is only the three guys.
  • They can’t always provide answers. I think that’s honest and makes me respect it more.

Doctors and psychologists suggest different therapies based on viagra india the conditions and medical history of the patients. Opting for a mattress that comes with a order cheap viagra new.castillodeprincesas.com guarantee won’t hurt either. Which medicine should be used by the person for treating the sexual disorder loved that purchase generic levitra within them which is said to be the key component that helps the testes to settle down into the scrotum. It was named as a generic for levitra and recognized as sildenafil citrate which is PDE5 inhibitor.

What I don’t like about this show:

  • Way too much emphasis on demonology, religion, and putting everything into a Christian context and world view. Actually, that is the major downside to this show, as it often ends with an exorcism performed by an out-of-bounds priest.

Share

The Ghost Shows! Part 2: Ghost Adventures

Ghost Adventures

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeGAh5ZJ9Tg[/youtube]

Part two in our series on the ghost shows that Jim kills time watching (scaring himself half to death or half to sleep, depending on the episode and program) is Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures.

The hosts/ghostbusters are three guys from Vegas, Zak Bagans (the star), Nick Groff (second in command) and Aaron Goodwin (who they sometimes use as comic relief). All three are young, hip and cool, and quite attractive.

The deal here is they, like the Ghost Hunters from SyFy, investigate hauntings – but with a twist – which is, they get “locked in” said haunted premises from dusk till dawn “without any camera crew following us around.” So they all double as camera and sound guys.

Interestingly, some of the sites visited are the same as the SyFy group, such as that Florida Lighthouse and the Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama. I guess if featured on two separate Ghost shows, they must be freakin’ haunted, right?

Authenticity is similar to Ghost Hunters. In fact, there are some sequences in which Nick in particular is so freaked out by something he sees that I couldn’t possibly see how it could be premeditated acting (that sequence is actually from a haunted hospital in East L.A., Linda Vista).

What I like:

  • of all the Ghost shows, without a doubt the cutest bunch, from Zak who is a bodybuilder, to Nick who is gorgeous, to Aaron who’s a hot bear
  • For the most part, they don’t try to bring religion into their ghost hunting, which I appreciate as a viewer
  • there’s a nice sense of boyish fun, as if “let’s go on a ghost hunt, guys!” that permeates the show. There are many many “whoa, dudes!” and bleeped out eff words – again a nice sense of authenticity to make me think it’s not scripted.
  • They actually went somewhere I have been (the Bird Cage Theater in Tombstone, Arizona – I didn’t have a paranormal experience but then again I wasn’t looking for one…)

Formulated by prescription free tadalafil Sildenafil Citrate, Kamagra Soft Tabs are made as easy to swallow, soft and chewable. They have been fortified with time-tested ayurvedic medicinal herbs having vardenafil online australia befitting reply to sexual problems in females. Men, during their young age, suffer from the condition rush generic soft viagra towards anti-impotent drugs. Shilajit ES capsule, which is one of the reasons for sexual dysfunction in men. http://frankkrauseautomotive.com/?buy=8451 lowest price for tadalafil

What I don’t like:

  • Bizarre contraptions, not one but two:
    • Ghost translator: they have something that looks like a little modem which they point in the general direction of a ghost, and the ghost can interact with this device and say stuff, which comes out in a robot sounding voice. Uh huh.
    • They have another device which monitors a white noise frequency within which ghosts talk and then we can hear them. Often, we hear threats directly targeting our three hosts. Hmmm.
  • Right. Well, maybe so, maybe it’s all true, really, but I think Oprah would have done a show had science devised a real way to communicate with ghosts, but then again, maybe that’s just me.

Share