The Final Procrastination

All of my housemates are getting excited. Near the end of the quarter, without fail, our place is always spotlessly clean, organized, and smelling of freshly baked goods. This is my form of procrastination. Instead of studying for the final or writing that last paper, I take it upon myself to do all the things that I normally avoid. An unmade bed or a Lean Cuisine meal usually are enough for me. During finals week, I will try reorganizing the kitchen and make a four course meal. It's like the dread of doing any of the things I need to do turns me into this different person. Procrastination is weird in that way.

Everyone has a story about procrastination. This recently came to my attention when I finally went to an overdue meeting with my advisor and all that I learned was that she was suffering of an addiction to Angry Birds. While some of these stories are more extreme than others, procrastination is something that unites us all. It's not really that surprising with websites such as Stumbleupon or Tumbler that practically encourage procrastination. Everyone is told how bad procrastination really is. The countless proverbs and bumper stickers that encourage carpe diem, doing today instead of putting off until tomorrow etc, further emphasize how bad procrastination is. In my experience, however, procrastination, while stifling to what needs to be done, actually accomplishes more than we think. 

Smash: Hit or Miss

Spielberg's newest enterprise, "Smash" a television show on the behind the scenes drama of Broadway, has been getting a lot of hype lately. Some call the show Glee for adults, while others have nothing but praise. After watching the first two episodes, I have to say that the show falls somewhere in between the two. The plot focuses on the development of a new Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe and the people involved in the productrion. Although the original songs about Marilyn are enjoyable, the show itself is fairly predictable. One of the major plotlines is the fierce competition for the main role of Marilyn between seasoned blonde Broadway veteran, Ivy, and green but talented waitress, Karen. This show would be a lot better if the character of Karen wasn't such a cliche. Hailing from some small Midwestern town, she is hoping to make it on Broadway using her waifish charm and talented voice. While Katherine McPhee (Karen) can sing reasonable well, her acting skills pale in comparison to her co-stars. I can already picture the rest of the season: Karen and Ivy will continuously try to upstage one another in hopes of keeping the main role. At least one of them, if not both, will at some point sleep with the stern British director. In the end, some internal/personal issue will hinder one enough for the other to take the lead and become a new star on Broadway. This is the basic plotline for most musical dramas such as this.The show failed to entice me to tune in for the rest of the season.
This is not to say that the show doesn't have some really great things going for it. Academy Award winner, Anjelica Huston, is entertaining to watch as newly divorced producer. Debra Messing and Christian Borle play the hit-making writers of the show whose own personal dramas are more frankly more interesting than the predictable compeition between Karen and Ivy.

I am pretty disappointed at the lack of originality in the show but the premise of a Marilyn musical is enough to entice any theater junkie. Rather than the interest in the shows original plot and characters, the fascination with the Marilyn Musical is what will bring viewers back to this show every week.

To All Cat Owners

To all the cat people out there.....you have been warned


Day 983 of My Captivity

Madonna, Romans, Cheerleaders, Oh My

I just witnessed Madonna's halftime show for the Super Bowl. I don't even know if it could classify as a "show". Usually a half time show has a consistent theme or color scheme or something that ties it together. To me, it seemed like Madonna tried to cram a thousand different allusions, themes, and ideas into 10-15 minutes of music as she attempted to do dance moves that no 53 year old should attempt. There were Romans, vikings, cheerleaders, Cee-Lo, acrobats, a marching band, Nicki Minaj, a church choir, and LMAFO, to name a few. The whole things was just ridiculous. From the beginning when Madonna, dressed as some sort of Roman-Viking hybrid, pulled in by a myriad of Roman soldiers, to the end, as the words "World Peace" flashed on the stage, all I could do was tilt my head in confusion. In my opinion, the Super Bowl curse of the half time show carries on.