This gave me a chuckle, so I thought I’d share. Courtesy of Gothamist: The stellar acting career of Troy McClure.
Category: Television
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Laughs o’ Mine
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Catching Up
For some reason it seems like I haven’t had the time to post as much lately. Maybe it’s because I’m busy, but maybe it’s because all my food-related writing is going to Gothamist Food, and the rest of my life isn’t as much fun to write about with all the food stripped out of it! Not sure.
Then again, I had a good weekend. It started off poorly, but improved steadily, thank God. Friday night, after a busy week, I decided that I needed a night in (see, Dad, I am maturing, at least slightly). Armed with Young Adam (after all of Hugh‘s pimping, I figured I should see it), and two DVD’s of the first season of Six Feet Under, I headed home to begin my first experiment with cooking tofu at home. I had gotten a recipe from Whole Foods, and as the tofu was marinating in its garlic and gingery bath, I popped in one of the DVDs, sat down, and noticed that there was no sound coming out of the TV. I switched discs. I cranked up the volume. I unplugged, replugged, and even tried a new cable. Nothing. Then I noticed that not only was there no sound, but there was nothing on the display panel. Cursing under my breath, I headed to the internet to find out where I might send the thing to be fixed, knowing full well that I’d probably spend less buying a new one. Lo and behold, I discovered that several other disgruntled consumers had encountered the same exact problem with the Toshiba SD-1700 — after about a year and a half, kerblooey for no apparent reason.
Cranky and hungry, I extracted the tofu from its marinade, and proceeded to follow the recipe I had printed out. I eagerly tasted the results, and got . . . salty, garlicky sponges. Very sad. Still hungry, I settled in to watch TV, amusing myself with The Apprentice, What Not to Wear, and other random crap. I returned to finish up the dishes and saw . . . the biggest fucking water bug/roach/whatever the hell it was crawling across my counter. I let out a surprisingly girlish gasp, grabbed the Raid from under the kitchen sink, and sprayed the shit out of it. After calming myself, I sprayed more Raid in every crack and crevasse in the kitchen, scoured all exposed surfaces, threw out the tofu disaster, and drifted off into a disgusted and fitful sleep.
I was awakened at 8 am on Saturday by a clap of thunder so loud that I thought that either my building had been struck by lightning or that we had been bombed. So much for sleeping in. I will admit, though, that things greatly improved from then on . . .
I’m too tired to finish at the moment. Hopefully these graffiti photos I took will tide you over until I can finish the update. Stay tuned for a dinner party, a trip to Winnie’s, shopping, and foodie (you see, I told you it got better)!
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Into Character
It’s plug time again, but this time it’s for a reality show. No, really. Well, kind of. AMC, the American Movie Classics channel, has put together its own breed of reality show called Into Character. In each episode, a movie lover gets to live out his or her favorite movie scene by going through a two-week intense preparation, and then the scene is re-shot, staying true to the original. My friend Riaz is the Executive Producer and Director, and I had the pleasure of attending the premiere party for the first episode last night, in which a fan got to reenact a scene from Rocky. He trained intensely for two weeks, got a crash course on South Philly from some locals, and even got to meet three potential Adriennes. The show was very well-done and entertaining — a must for any movie fan. It airs Wednesdays at 10pm on AMC. Congrats, Riaz — and we look forward to seeing you again now that you have a little more free time.
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Schadenfreude in TV Land
Now, I’m not a big TV watcher these days. Sure, every now and again I’ll flip on the tube for a little while, but I’m usually doing just that — flipping. Maybe I’ll stumble upon a good movie, watch something on the Food Network, or even succumb to the guilty pleasures of MTV reality-show trash. But recently, I have stumbled upon a great show — Significant Others, on Bravo. I almost wrote about it yesterday, but then thought to myself, Laren, why the hell are you plugging a TV show? On the subway this morning, I was reading my New Yorker that arrived yesterday, and they reviewed the show. They seem to love it as much as I do. That’s it — I’m plugging the show.
The show centers around three (now four) couples in various stages of marriage who have entered couples therapy. It is split between their time in the therapist’s office and clips of their daily lives — the things that are actually driving them to therapy. Why do I like this show so much? Aside from the brilliant, improv comedy and amazing talent, I’m pretty sure it’s schadenfreude. Maybe it’s the reminder that couplehood can be just as painful as singledom. I definitely love the theme song (a speed-rock version of the Partridge Family’s “I Think I Love You”). Then again, maybe it’s just because it makes me laugh out loud — for those who have heard me laugh, you realize how loud this can actually be. Who knows? Just go watch it tonight at 9:30. It’s hysterical.
