This N That Halloween Hodgepodge

Wow. It looks like I’ve been AWOL for a … LONG time.

So where have I been?

*cough* *cough* *sniffle* *cough* (suck on a cough drop) *cough* *sniffle* *cough* *cough* *cough*

yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I don’t think I actually coughed up a lung, but it sure felt like it. It’s the annual “changing of the seasons” fall cold – cough, stuffy nose, then runny nose, cough. Not to mention my voice got all scratchy & hoarse as well. Not good for a voice that needs to talk on the radio.

Actually, in the world of This N That, there really hasn’t been much to gab about lately.

Many shows were doing reruns last week because of the World Series, which finally ended. Did my MN Twins win? Oh right, spring training doesn’t start until February (or is it March?). Either way, it’s still too long to wait.

** One of those shows doing reruns last week was Prime Suspect. What the heck was up with that, NBC? It seemed that every night I turned the tv on – no matter the day – PS was showing a rerun. Hey, I love Maria and her wacky ballsy cop character, but even I was a bit sick of seeing the reruns left & right. I can’t see how it really helped the show.

** One show that didn’t rerun is Sanctuary on Friday. Oh, how I loved “Die-Hard” Magnus – in a dress & wedges, no less. She almost reminded me of Maura Isles wearing her Sunday best to a crime scene.

It’s disheartening to see that homophobia is alive & well for a few Sanctuary fans. An impromptu kiss (or two) doesn’t immediately make the character of Helen Magnus bisexual. (even though I really, really wish it was, and that they'd show more) You don’t have to all-of-a-sudden quit liking the character because of that simple kiss. Hell, if I was that shallow, I would have quit watching CSI at the end of season 6 when Grissom & Sara were shown in the bedroom. Instead, I still love Sara – even though I “eww” and “gag” every time the subject of GSR is brought up.
Check out the kiss here:


So, does that kiss imply that Helen is bisexual? Hardly. (yes, I really wish it did, but I know they won't be going there again for a while) It just shows that Helen is an open-minded woman. It was an impromptu kiss (or two) with a woman whom I’m guessing hasn’t been kissed, or allowed herself to feel that kind of emotion, in a very long time. Was it a gimmick for the show? Hell no. This show has always thought "outside the box" and not followed everyone else. Yes, they've done vampires, zombies, and the other cliche 'abnormals', but they always put a Sanctuary twist on it. Some viewers didn’t see the kiss coming (which is actually a great thing). I did. Even though I knew ahead of time that “the kiss” would be coming (because of a behind-the-scenes promo) I could see it in the story line as things progressed. Charlotte Benoit wasn’t a person used to being in life-and-death situations. Helen Magnus is. Helen became a hero in Charlotte’s eyes because of Helen’s heroic efforts to keep them all alive and foil the bad guys. She even tells Helen that what she did was “Die-Hard” and that she was a doctor of “ass kicking”. At the end, when Helen told Charlotte she wasn’t staying, Charlotte acted on impulse and gave Helen a quick kiss. Helen’s reaction shows that it’s been a very long time since she’s been kissed in such a way. After all, we know Helen recently came back from 113 years of hiding from the world. I can’t imagine she had many kisses during that time, since she couldn’t tell anyone who or where she was as to not change the timeline.

Anyway, I digress…for now.

** Hey y’all, it’s Halloween.

I never seem to get into the spirit of the holiday – mainly because I always work weeknights, so am never home to hand out candy. On years where Halloween is on a weekend, I still keep my lights off & hibernate somewhere that’s away from the ghouls & goblins. I just can’t get into the mood for the holiday anymore, it seems. I used to love it when I was a kid. We’d go trick-or-treating around the whole town, which probably took less than an hour (yes, we’re talking VERY small town of about 100 people). I loved getting the cool candy, but always gave the apples and popcorn balls to someone else. Ewww. Halloween is for CANDY, not health food. Good grief. Now I just buy my favorite candy (with the excuse that they’re usually on sale) so I can eat them myself. There’s Butterfinger, Twix, Nestle Crunch, Reese’s Peanut Butter bars (yes, they come in BARS now) and even some boxes of Cracker Jacks. I’m set for the rest of the…month.

At least after tonight – or maybe the end of the week – all of the scary movies will be shelved for another year. Then we can look forward to the barrage of Holiday movies. Oy. The other day I was looking at a list of upcoming Holiday movies that the Hallmark Channel has planned. I think there’s a new movie premiere each Saturday & Sunday in the next two months.


** I got a small start on my Top Albums of 2011 list so far. I didn’t realize how crappy the music releases were for this year. I’ve got maybe a small handful that I’d put on the top 10, but the rest are mediocre hodgepodge.