Dancing Around the Four Sides

The Season 2 Person of Interest gag reel. :D

PERSON OF INTEREST s2 GAG REEL from j_reese on Vimeo.

And yet again -- we couldn't get something like this for the last season of House? Seriously? I will never not be pissed at TPTB for that.

Shoo bop de skiddly pop, la la la la poom. #deeptweet.

— Jonny Lee Miller (@jonnyjlm) May 24, 2013

I really need to pick up some Elementary icons ...

Also, yay New York Rangers!

Warm, cloudy, and VERY humid.

Elementary (CBS) received the EIC President’s Award for its continuing, in - depth integration of substance use and recovery into its storyline and characters. This honor recognizes specific productions that incorporate these accurate health and social issues messages above and beyond single episodes or multi - episode story arcs.

-- 17th Annual Prism Awards, 4/25/2013

I thought House had won one of these, but according to IMDB, the answer is "no." Nominated three times, but no cigar. Hm.
ETA that IMDB is WRONG, as pointed out by felis! House won in 2007 for TV Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline. :D

What else? This is an absolutely delicious wine. We're baking bread this weekend. Must begin transplanting because the tomatoes are growing taller and taller. I'm sure there's stuff I'm forgetting, but oh well.

Cloudy skies and light rain, finally, which really lent atmosphere to spending the afternoon watching Take Shelter, which is absolutely one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Just ... wow. Scary as hell, with strong elements of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (although there are no aliens in this film), Peter Weir's The Last Wave and Picnic at Hanging Rock, and Nicholas Roeg's classic Don't Look Now, this is just an amazing, amazing work. I cannot recommend it highly enough -- this was filmed in and around Elyria, Ohio, and it is one of the most real portrayals of small-town America out there. There are no villains here, none, and it's up for grabs what the movie is really about -- is Curtis, the protagonist, having "real" apocalyptic visions? Is he having a mental breakdown? Whether you think what's happening is real or not, one thing is very clear -- the system is hosed and people are falling through.

Anyway -- the cast is great. Michael Shannon as Curtis, Jessica Chastain as his wife, Tova Stewart, the most adorable little kid ever, as their daughter, Shea Whigham as Curtis' scared and confused best friend, Kathy Baker as Curtis' mother -- all outstanding. I did think it dragged just a tiny bit in the middle, but that was my only complaint. See this movie if you get the chance. ♥

Sunny and warm, but it feels like the humidity has dropped considerably. We got some unexpected rain yesterday afternoon -- a downpour that lasted for about five minutes and some rumbly thunder.

( Cut for a lot of blather about the 'House' S8 DVD ...  )

Anyway. Started reading Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry last night, and so far it is quite good. Must do some more housely things today. :D

Ugh, slept v. badly last night. The one-a-day drug I take (anastrozole) can have a side effect of hot flashes, and they seem to come and go in cycles. One month I will have almost none; the next month they come in waves. Also, I think that perhaps Chango is becoming afraid of the dark, because when I turn out my light to go to sleep, she comes to my side of the bed, anxious and wanting comfort. She is nine years old, so I guess this is to be expected to some degree. Last night I got up and found an old nightlight we have and plugged it in -- that seemed to help, so it'll be interesting to see what happens tonight. (She's fine during the day, btw.)

May put down the Steinbeck for a while -- it's a decent read, but the biological collection methods of 1940 were horrific, to say the least. As just one example, they caught a sea turtle, ( cut for graphic description ...  )

Anyway. Watched the Tony Awards last night and was happy to see Nina Arianda win for lead actress in Venus in Fur. She was in Born Yesterday last year with RSL, and was nominated for that role also. So that's a good thing. :-D

Hazy sun, warm. Pruned tomatoes a bit yesterday; Chango helped by barking enthusiastically at two squirrels that were chasing each other in the trees. Still reading The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham -- Maugham traveled to the United States in 1910, and here is a short bit Maugham wrote later in life about visiting the American novelist Henry James (who was also just visiting the U.S., and who felt quite uncomfortable in his native land), and about how James insisted on accompanying him to an intersection to catch the streetcar from Cambridge to Boston:

I protested that I was perfectly capable of getting there by myself, but he would not hear of it, not only on account of the kindness and the great courtesy which were natural to him, but also because America seemed to him a strange and terrifying labyrinth in which without his guidance I was bound to get hopelessly lost ... The street-car hove in sight and Henry James was seized with agitation. He began waving frantically when it was still a quarter of a mile away. He was afraid it wouldn't stop, and he besought me to jump on with the greatest agility of which I was capable. ... I was so infected by his anxiety that when the car pulled up and I leapt on, I had almost the sensation that I had had a miraculous escape from certain death. I saw him standing on his short legs in the middle of the road, looking after the car, and I felt that he was trembling still at my narrow shave.

:-D

Still pleased and excited over last night's Sherlock, and very much looking forward to the next season, whenever it arrives.

Also, ( some last-moment musing and speculation on 'House' ...  )

Whatever happens tonight ... it's been an amazing ride. Not a valediction, but a valentine. ♥ to all of you.

Sunny and warm, a little breezy. There were big lines of thunderstorms all around us last night, but alas, we got no rain. Oh well.

Happy-making things:

1) Season 5 of Doc Martin starts tonight on our PBS station. Yay Doc and Louisa!
2) Season 2 of Sherlock starts tomorrow night on our PBS station. Yay John and Sherlock!
3) Hilary Mantel's sequel to Wolf Hall has come out, and there's a brilliant review in the Guardian by Margaret Atwood. I've already placed my pre-order on Amazon. Oh, I'm looking forward to this one!
4) The fourth volume in Robert Caro's biography of LBJ was released last week, and I just may drive over to our local Barnes & Noble tomorrow to pick it up.
5) I have been reading a book a friend sent me, called Wesley the Owl, and it is really good. :-D
6) House on Monday.

There. I'm sure there are more, but six things make a post. *g*

Sunny and warm. Found a tiny caterpillar chowing down on the basil last night; chucked him out of the yard and moved the plant. Hoping this solves the disappearing-herb problem. *g*

mer_duff is doing an awesome Writer Q&A at sick_wilson. Go! Read! Ask questions! :-D

Also in the fandom realm, menolly_au has written a couple of post-ep ficlets for "Gut Check" that I really liked -- Duncan and Turnabout. They are well worth a read. :)