The 1900 House

I've been watching an intriguing PBS reality TV show the last couple of days the I got from Netflix. It is called The 1900 House and here is the description on Netflix, "A contemporary family is transported back in time almost 100 years, from 1999 to 1900, as they spend three months in a townhouse restored to reproduce the ambiance and amenities of middle-class life in Victorian-era London. This intriguing program, originally broadcast on PBS, follows a real-life human experiment that explores the everyday modern luxuries and technological advances people so often take for granted." After watching the show I am SO glad that I do not live in the Victorian era and here are 10 reasons I love 2009...

1. I am wearing a tank top and shorts right now and in 1900 I would have had on 75 layers of corset, underpants, and dresses.

2. I own many outfits and in 1900 they owned 3 outfits.

3. McDonalds! Life without Big Mac's is pretty lame.

4. The women in 1900 had to make their own pads for that time of the month out of cloth (yuck!).

5. Electricity was just making and appearance in 1900 and I like turning the lights on at night not to mention...

6. The array of electrical appliances that I can use now to get chores done (and if I don't do my chores I am not a disgrace to society).

7. They didn't have shampoo in 1900. Hair was washed with a gross soap or homemade concoctions.

8. I like heating and air conditioning both of which were unavailable in 1900.

9. There seemed to be little time for leisure and if there was time for leisure the available activities were very limited.

10. Lastly, I love modern medicine.

Saved By The Bell -- My One Complaint

(This is Matt posting, just to be clear).

If I had to pick a single TV show that defined my childhood, I would pick Saved By The Bell.  It has a great cast, many famous episodes filled with comedy and drama, and even a couple spin-offs that weren't successful.  I always resonated a little with Zack with the blonde hair and a lot with Screech being a math nerd.

I even have a theory that the success of Friends was largely determined by the success of Saved By The Bell.  Think about it, a group of friends with 3 guys and 3 girls and one famously dramatic couple (Zack/Kelly = Ross/Rachel).  Each show had a tough guy (Slater = Joey) and a nerd (Screech = Chandler).  It all makes sense.  

I watch Saved By The Bell every once in a while in the morning because it's on TBS from 6 -  8 am (4 episodes a day!).  But I'm posting because I have found a flaw in the Saved By The Bell show.  And I'm talking about the show with the core 6 actors, not the spin-offs without Kelly or the College Years or the New Class.  So here's my issue...  

The episode in question is the one where Lisa is doing a fashion show and the drama of the episode centers around Zack and Lisa being interested in each other.  They kiss and Screech gets jealous and Screech ruins Lisa's fashion show.  Anyway, in the end Screech and Zack make up and Zack and Lisa end the show as an item.  So my complaint is that there is no other episode that has Zack and Lisa together!   That's unbelievable.  The writers decided to great this compelling drama where two of the core six actors fall for each other, creating tension between the main character and his best friend, and then they don't continue that with subsequent episodes.  That is an outrage!  It would be one thing if Zack became an item with a random cameo girl, but Lisa is one of the main actresses.  Shame on you, Saved By The Bell writers.  Shame on you.

So yes, Saved By The Bell is not a perfect show.  But it's close.

Felicity

Last night I finished watching the TV series Felicity. I pretty much have had a love/hate relationship with the TV show for the last 3 months of my life. For the uninformed, Felicity was 4 seasons long and chronicled the life of Felicity and friends as they learned what it meant to be adults and attended college in New York City. My favorite part is that Felicity was in college the exact same 4 years I was (Fall 98-Spring 02). I loved seeing the clothes they wore and remembering all of my similar clothes. Felicity is ridiculous and addicting all in one big swoop. I probably swore it off 5-10 times because it got too dramatic for my taste. But, I can never ever turn down a free TV DVD series on loan from a friend. It's such a great time sucker.

My Favorite Commercial

I've been singing this song in my head for the last couple of days.

Wordplay

Matt and I recently watched an amazing movie called "Wordplay" which was recommended by my friend Jerusha and we loved it. The movie is a documentary about people who love to do The New York Times crossword puzzles so much that they enter an annual tournament (which is a very big deal). The tournament is called the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and the winner is crowned based on accuracy and speed. The contestants have to solve 6 puzzles on Sat. of increasing difficulty and then one on Sun. before the top 3 people compete in the finals. The speed at which these people solve puzzles is amazing. Some of the "easy" puzzles were solved in 2 minutes. I don't think I could completely solve one of the puzzles period. Anyway, the movie was well done, a riot to watch, and motivates me to start solving crossword puzzles.

On another note, I have implemented 2 new webtools into my life and I want to recommend them.

1. If you are a blog reader like me, Google Reader makes checking blogs so easy. As the video on the website explains, it's like an inbox for the internet. You choose the websites you want the reader to check and it lets you know when they've been updated. (To all you nerds out there, I know I should have started using this a long time ago but hey at least I have it now.)

2. I've also started making my to-do list online. I can access it anywhere and maybe I won't forget to do things. A good tool that Matt found is called Todoist.

Bravo Delivers Again!

I'm sitting at school right now posting this blog entry. I should be working on grading or catching up with stuff because I was sick for the last 2 days, but instead I decided to post about Project Runway.

The first day I was sick I spent the day on the couch or in the bathroom and could barely move. But, the second day I was able to move around and watch TV so I actually watched the Project Runway marathon on Bravo TV for 11 hours straight. Check out the Wikipedia website for more info. In case you are interested, the new season premieres on Nov. 14th at 10/9 Central.

3 Things I learned while I was sick...
1. Matt is really good at taking care of me.

2. Substitute teachers do not do a good job at teaching math.

3. Burlington Coat Factory offers better deals than department stores. That is according to their commercials.

Top Chef

Well after and invigorating season of cooking, sweating, and working hard to create wonderful dishes, the competitors on Top Chef will conclude their competition this evening at 10/9 Central on Bravo TV (Channel 35 for Urbana Insight Communications customers). The countdown is on and I can't wait to see who wins. Check out the Top Chef website for more information. If for some unforeseen reason you have not been keeping up with this show, you can pretty much catch the whole season on Bravo TV within the next week. They tend to replay a lot of shows! It really is a good show (Matt even kind of likes it)! Bon Appetit!