LATE BREAKING!

The fourth season of Doctor Who will be released on DVD in the US on...drumroll, please...

NOVEMBER 18*!!!

In fact, this news is so late breaking, that amazon doesn't even have it listed yet! I've received this info from my ever vigilant husband, who strives to keep my Doctor Who addiction at bay with important Who related news (if I get the news, my nervous Who withdrawal twitch doesn't surface). The uber TV show website, tvshowsondvd.com, even had the package art:


Oh, look at Tennant! Why so serious??? I cannot wait. After a rocky start, Season 4 has been fairly good. I'm still in the midst of watching+, so no spoilers please. Go mark your calendars NOW!




*Um, is that date important to any of you? Can anyone guess why I'm so friggin' stoked it comes out on NOVEMBER 18? Think on it a minute...you're smart, so I bet you can figger it out.
+Don't worry:I'll have a full post devoted to Season 4 when I'm done watching it. I know most of you can't wait for that one, but you'll just have to try. ;)

Thanks, Ina!

I made my first ever homemade lasagna tonight, and it was all with the help of my favorite Hamptons resident, Ina Garten! Her recipe for Turkey Lasagna was out of this world! OK, OK, so I left out the goat cheese, but it was still outstanding. (Hey, I don't live in the Hamptons; I can't afford $8.49/lb goat cheese.) The Italian turkey sausage made it lighter than regular lasagna (ie, it didn't just sit in the bottom of my tum like a huge boulder), and the fresh mozzarella made all the difference.

I highly recommend this recipe, and it was very easy. I used to think Ina's meals were more difficult than, oh, let's say, RayRay's, but they aren't! They're just a bit more time consuming...and that I can handle. If you have a few extra minutes to pull a lasagna together, definitely try this out.

P.S. I also recommend checking out Ina's cookbook Barefoot Contessa Family Style. It includes the Turkey Lasagna recipe from above, plus loads of other family friendly recipes that are easy to prepare and that will feed an army. It's also full of wonderful photos, so you know if your meal is on the right track or not. ;) Photos are always so reassuring in a cookbook.

Half-Blood Prince Teaser

Click HERE to get to the HP website. You can then go directly to the new teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Be warned, though: there are frightening flashes of Voldemort throughout. Yes, I did jump a few times...I'm not ashamed to admit it. The teaser is bold, for it focuses not on our hero, Harry, but on young Voldemort...who looks suspiciously like Joseph Gordon Levitt. A British illegitimate son? Yeah, that sounds far-fetched.

Anyhoo...ENJOY!

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

I wish my blog was as cool as Dr. Horrible's.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog is the best thing to come out of last fall's writer's strike. With nothing to do, Joss Whedon, uber-genius who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, penned another musical. (The first being my personal favorite Buffy episode, "Once More with Feeling.") With the help of some friends, he created one of the most awesome superhero spoofs ever. But in this case, the villain is the real hero.

All this talk...here's all you need to know about Dr. Horrible:
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS stars as evil genius Dr. Horrible, and NATHAN FILLION is the pompous superhero Horrible's trying to take down.

You need to find out more about Dr. Horrible! Here are some important links to help you bone up on your Horrible knowledge:

Dr. Horrible Official Site
Wikipedia Info on Dr. Horrible (always the most reliable!)
Tasty Teasers at Youtube

If you don't LOVE what you see/read, um, well you can't read my blog anymore.

Classics Continue to Come to Comics

Randall Flagg. Does that name send shivers down your spine? Does the site of a huge blackbird sitting on a sign post bring thoughts of destruction to your mind? If you've answered NO to either, or both, of these questions, then you haven't read Stephen King's epic masterpiece, "The Stand."

If it's 1,000+ pages intimidates you, Marvel is here to help. The comic book house that brought you the wildly successful adaptations of King's Dark Tower series has announced that "The Stand" comic adaptation will be hitting shelves in September. Issue 1, "Captain Trips," will be available September 10. Look out Nerd Store...Here I come!!! I gots to subscribe to that NOW!

Twilight Updates

OK, OK...so I have one more vampiric post before I'm done...for now. Just a few specific Stephenie Meyer updates before I shut down for a few. Here we go:

• G4 will cover the Twilight phenomenon on their Day 2 coverage of ComiCon '08. That will be on TODAY (July 25)--check your local listings for time specifics. There will be some clips, and maybe even a cast member or two will stop by.
• A new Twilight TEASER (still not full length) trailer is now available on Yahoo. Click HERE to revel in its bloody glory.
• If you're in the C-U area and love the Twilight saga, you MUST check out the Pages for All Ages "Breaking Dawn" release party! I just received intel from my Pages informants that there will indeed be a release party: August 1 at 11:00 p.m. There will be trivia contests, costumes are encouraged, and it will be sold at midnight, 30% off SRP. In your area, check out your LOCAL INDEPENDENT bookseller before running to B&N for the release party. Yes, I won't be getting the 40% off from the big store, but I'd rather support my independent book store (and former employers).

ComiCon '08

One of these days I'm seriously going to need an intervention: a NERD intervention. But no one has come to save me yet, so I must not be that far gone. (What will it take: playing D&D?)

Part of being stuck in a hotel in the ATL meant that I was unable to watch G4's coverage of ComiCon 2008. But thanks to the wonder of reruns, I'm able to get caught up on Day 1 right now. Husband thought I was joking when I said I wanted to go to ComiCon, but when you read the list of AWESOMENESS below, you'll know why I really wanted to go...or you'll just get in your car to start the intervention post haste.

What is ComiCon you ask? ComiCon is the nerd convention of the year: comics, sci-fi movies and TV shows, toys for both, movie trailers, superheroes! It's held in San Diego every July. (And you know what San Diego is Spanish for, right? I thought so.) Here are some highlights from Day 1 of every nerd's summer destination:

• Olivia & Kevin!!! My favorite American TV hosts (as opposed to my fave Brit hosts from my previous post) helm G4's ComiCon coverage. I love them so much. We would be best friends if we ever met. I just want to invite them over to my house, cook them really good food, and chat. Seriously, if you haven't met them yet on Attack of the Show, you haven't lived.
• Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. The Twilight cast made a panel appearance at Day 1. I wish I could've been there. As you all know, I cannot wait for this movie adaptation of the hottest Y.A. books since a lil chap named Harry Potter.
• Rocky!...Oh, excuse me, Dwayne Johnson. He showed up at Day 1 to push the Disney remake of Escape to Witch Mountain. See? Even kids can have fun at ComiCon!
• Corey Feldman??? He stopped by the G4 cameras to tell us...sigh...that Lost Boys 2 has officially been assigned straight to DVD release status. Balls. I was so ready to chomp some popcorn at the theater for that one.
• An Elvis impersonator dressed as a Stormtrooper. Seriously, folks, could it GET any better!?! He had a prime spot behind the lovely Olivia during one segment. Oh! He's on again as I type! That's two segments...he must know just to follow Olivia around.
• True Blood. Vampires, HBO, pushing the envelope. Sounds grand to me...now if I could just get HBO at my house. Oh, yeah, it stars Oscar winner Anna Paquin and created by Alan Ball, the man who helmed HBO's Six Feet Under.
  
• And movies, movies, MOVIES! Watchmen, X-Files, more Batman talk, Robocop remake (gag), J.J.'s newest effort, Fringe (J.J.'s ALWAYS at ComiCon), WOLVERINE (sniggety, sniggety!), Terminator with everyone's favorite bat, Bale, and more.
• Want more? Check out the following websites:
• ComiCon's official site
  
• Entertainment Weekly ComiCon coverage
  

Ant & Dec to Conquer the U.S.?

Weeeeell, not with this vehicle. My favorite Brit TV hosts, Ant & Dec, have landed their own show on ABC, who has apparently been courting them for quite some time. The show, "Wanna Bet," sucks my...well, you know. Ant & Dec are absolutely darling: they're funny, cute, and never take themselves too seriously. They've helmed countless Brit variety/game shows, had Robbie Williams on one of their shows, and held their own better with Simon than Seacrest could ever hope to.

"Wanna Bet" is such a waste of their talents. It has F-list celebs vote on whether or not some idiot will accomplish the task they claim they can do (ie, one guy said he could tell the artist and name of 4 out of 5 CD's by licking them...nice). The "celebrities" on the panel include such greats as Tom Green, Harland Williams, George "I'll-do-any-game-show-you-throw-at-me" Takei, Monique, and Corbin Bernsen.

The show was so bad...but I'll watch it again to support my two Brit friends. What they really need to do is let Ant & Dec do their hit show "Saturday Night Takeaway" here in the U.S. That would be the shiz!!! I would totally watch every Saturday. But, U.S. programmers are so stupid they would probably land it on Wednesday nights. Whatevs.

So Much to Do...So Little Time

What up??? I have so much to blog about, that I don't know where to start! The week in the ATL sucked, and what made it worse was things were constantly popping up that I needed to share with all of you (all five of you?). I've had to try to remember everything to write about, so there will be many posts today. I think my fingers are already starting to burn, because they are going across the keyboard so quickly. Wow-wow-wee-wah!

Let's start with this...the Twilight cover. A lot of the Twilight faithful HATE it: Edward's too pale, Bella's too sexy, his chest looks like "a hairy powdered donut." (Seriously, someone said that...check out the L.A. Times article to see the quote.) But what do YOU think!?! Lemme know!

Better Than the First

Well, I thought it was anyway. The action started quicker, there was no lull at the end (ie, no batcar chase through Gotham), and downtown Chicago stole the show. Actually, we all know who stole the show...you don't even have to see the show to know who stole it. Yes, yes, Heath was impeccable. Absolutely wonderful: you didn't even know it was him half the time. Just out of this world great...and it will make you miss his acting genius even more after you see this.

I don't want to say more about The Dark Knight, cause I might lapse into some spoilers. Just go see it: I think you'll really, REALLY enjoy it.

I'm off to the ATL for a five day teacher's conference, and I miss my house already. :( I'll get back to you all next weekend...

What are YOU Doing Today?

No jokin' around, there should really be only ONE answer*.

*Unless you're like me and going to the American Idol concert tonight and didn't want to drop that bomb til right now. Seriously, I am. Sweet Baby Heath will be seen tomorrow before I leave for the ATL on Sunday.

I HATE This Guy

Self-proclaimed "biggest polluter in the world"...and proud of it!?! Is it time to vote yet?

Twilight Sizzle

After just finishing Stephanie Meyer's third installment of the Twilight saga, Eclipse, and while getting psyched for the August 2 release of the fourth book, Breaking Dawn, I have little else to do but look forward to 12/12/08. Again, that is the release date of the film Twilight. If you enjoy the books as much as I do, and if you're looking forward to the films as much as I am, go to the film's official website for the New York Comicon Sizzle reel. It's got some behind the scenes action and interviews. It was well worth the five minutes of my time it took up, cause now I'm even more stoked!

Go to www.twilightthemovie.com, and click on the Video Gallery. It should be the third video image on the screen. Have fun!

The End of Times?

Two floods in five days??? It might happen tomorrow. Two floods in a month were bad enough! So, fair readers, I'm sorry to be so boring as of late, but a flood-ridden basement leads to high anxiety and stress! I can barely focus on completing the third installment of the Twilight series before the fourth one comes out August 2! And, I haven't even had time to watch Hellboy before being able to see Hellboy 2 (yeah...you know I am!). Stupid rain. Stupid flooding. Now we just need some frogs plaguing the skies...That'll be another sign of the upcoming apocalypse.

One of Those Days...

It all started out well...got up, did my Biggest Loser workout, did some extra time on the elliptical while watching Smallville--I was feelin' GREAT! Went to Best Buy, and Night at the Museum was only $7.99, so I snagged that up. I was so excited to make Indian feast and watch said Ben Stiller family friendly flick...then it all went to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks.

The rain, rain, rain came down, down, down...

• Street completely flooded--water-up-to-my-knees-flooded. Called the cops three times and left irate message on public works answering machine...I'm sure that'll help us.
  
• Water seeping into basement faster than we can get it out--another three inches easy.
• Street still flooding and now water is leaking through basement windows. And my tomato plants, which were thriving, are completely under water.
  
• Now sewage in the basement? It definitely smells, and not like roses.
• Rain finally stops...water finally pretty much cleared from basement (though we could've used the help of the mop squad above).
  
• No homemade Indian, called in Mexican instead, and we still get to watch NATM...or do we???
• The frickin' disc doesn't work!!!
• And, I didn't get extra salsa with my Mexican I ordered
• AND, more rain expected at 4 a.m. I'm so nervous I don't think I can sleep.
  

I thought the worst days were supposed to be during the school year. At least the Cubbies won.

I'm Just Curious...

If Tom and Katie can have a baby, and Keith and Nicole can have a baby, why didn't Tom and Nic have babies together? Just a question...It's a good thing Nic and Keith named their little girl Sunday, cause there are WAY too many Mondays running round nowadays. I should know: I'm a teacher.

And, judge me if you will, but I think Katie has the cutest hair ever and Suri is one of the cutest babies ever. There's just soo much cuteness in that family! I wonder if the other Su-baby will be as cute. Hmmm...

Post 4th Food Coma

Dude, I am still full from yesterday. Why did I just eat those Rachael Ray strombolis I made for dins? I couldn't even eat FREE popcorn at "Hancock" this afternoon, so why did I think it was a good idea to eat strombolis? I mean they're still wicked delicious, but it was a bad idea. I think I have a tum the size of Homie now: it's just large, rotund, and out there. If you take away Homer's bottle of alkihall, I look exactly like the picture to the right...except I'm still sitting up...barely. That's the way I feel anyway...so much for those four pounds I lost over the last couple of weeks. Oh, well: I guess that gives me something to strive toward over the next two weeks.

I think I'm going to go collapse. I hope I make up in time to do church announcements tomorrow.

4th of July=GORGE FEST!

Hello, happy readers, and Happy 4th of July!!! I could barely roll myself to the lappie-laptop, because I have completely eaten my weight in 4th of July family favorites: Ina's potato salad, spaghetti salad, turkey burgers a la Dave, Mimi's-better-than-KFC coleslaw, homemade chicken & noonies, plus a whole host of others. I had the honor of helping with the food this year, and I'm pooped on top of being about to pop.

It's also my dad's 60th birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Jim Bob--the BEST dad the world's ever known. (Yeah, I might be a little biased, but I don't care.) We had a small party, since mama's sickie. :( Hopefully he'll get more celebration time for this monumental birthday later.

TCM, my favorite movie channel, is celebrating the 4th by having a Hitchcock festival. ??? Whatever. It doesn't make sense to me, it does mean I've gotten to watch snippets of Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window today. Niiiiiiiiiiice!

The only thing left to do is watch some awesome 'Paign fireworks...and get completely frustrated with the lack of traffic organization out of the Land of Parks. Last year it took us two hours to get out...wonder how long it'll be this year. :)

Hope this day has been patriotic for you and filled with food, fun, and family. And, remember, if you haven't played whiffle ball today or listened to Lee Greenwood or Neil Diamond, then you're not American. ;)

P.S. How many times have you seen Lady Liberty from behind? Exactly. That's why I chose this frame from our recent NYC trip to include on this patriotic post.

DC=History

Well, tomorrow being Independence Day, I feel I should chat a bit about our trip to DC. And, hopefully, no one will misinterpret my wit and think I have a misogynistic husband. ;)

I found myself choked up several times in our nation's Capital... especially so when in the presence of the Vietnam Memorial. Maybe it's because my Uncle Clarkie, who fought in Vietnam, should still be with us and isn't thanks to Agent Orange. Or perhaps it's because it was a war in which so many lives were taken that shouldn't have been. Or maybe it reminds me too much of the senseless fighting we're participating in today with no good excuse. Whatever the reason, or combination of reasons, it left me in mournful tears and with a lump the size of a peach in my throat. The memorial is hauntingly beautiful and simplistic. Even so it's still one of the most moving things I've ever encountered.

I never thought I would enjoy wandering around monuments to wars and presidents, or seeing old crinkly pieces of paper with the words that make up the fabric and foundation of our country, but I really, REALLY liked it! It's almost as if our nation's history actually lives and breathes in DC. The Kennedy Center was also a stunning building, and one in which we got a personal, private tour, thanks to advertising employee, and food connouisser, Jacob. I loved the JFK bust in the main foyer, even though not-misogynistic husband hated it. Arlington National Cemetary was another place where I got a little choked up, especially when gazing upon the tribute to the Challenger crew. That moment in 1986 is still burned in my mind's eye, even though I was only 6 when it happened.

The trip was excellent, but there is still so much more to see in DC! I want to get back to visit the Smithsonian, gaze upon some art, and go back to the Holocaust Museum (the visit was cut short, thanks to an unforseen illness in moi).