There's just something about team sports that is so inspirational that by the end of the show, you're rooting for the players like they're your best friends. And an even stranger phenom, once you get started, you'll keep watching even though you don't know any of the names of the Z-list actors in the show, you're just rooting for the team to win! 

So imagine my horror when despite my weird TV show addiction, it took me so long to discover this gem of a show - Friday Night Lights.

(sidenote: Dalton Ross and Michael Ausiello of EW, I am deeply humbled)



I'm sorry pals if I've been going on and on about the show that I just finished all 3 seasons in one sitting (which means every single day, ep by ep and burning the "midnight oil" just so that i can catch up to the current season) but it truly is one helluva show.

And I must admit that I will now need to revise my top 5 fave shows to include this. Let me ponder on which one I should give up before making it formal.

OK I digress. Back to the topic.

I "tried out" one episode of FNL thanks to Taylor Kitsch (my latest crush). I wanted something to fill the emptiness that the summer hiatus for all my TV shows have brought about, and since I love Taylor, I thought, why not check out his show?


(Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins 33, in all his glory. Yums.)



And I got hooked. Promptly.

How much do I love the show? Let me count thy ways:

1. The quintessential small town charm
Set in the fictional town of Dillon (but filmed in Austin, Texas), it focuses on a small football-crazy community, the kind where everyone knows everyone, and people just go to the same places to hangout, eat and chillax. It's almost like Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls but more realistic. The sets on GG were just too pretty.

2. The football
OK firstly I know nuts about American football. Soccer is what we follow in this part of the world. But watching the show is like learning a new sport altogether. Now I know abit about what the quarterback does, I know that there are positions like the running back, the tailback. They train in terms of defense and offense. And can I just say the games are just pretty darn exciting. I find myself wanting a "Dillon Panther" sweatshirt and ring just for the sake of it.

3. Coach + Mrs T
Who is this dude called Kyle Chandler? I imdb-ed him and I still have no clue who the freaking hell he is, but can I just say that he is one fucking hell of an actor. He's like the Sandy Cohen of the show but 10,000 times better and I find him just amazing to watch. His wonderfully woeful, wounded eyes deserve acknowledgement in the credits. They convey a whole lot more than his lines and I feel for this man. His scenes with his wife Connie Britton (also friggin' amazing) are just brilliant. The chemistry these two have, makes me want to grow up and find my own Kyle Chandler.

4. Non-stereotypical characters
You know how when you watch any show, there's bound to be stereotypes within the given genre. The black kid who loses his temper in the first scene is definitely the trouble-maker, the one who's from a crap family and who doesn't give a damn about consequences. The trailer-park white trash girl with the stripper sister and drunk mother is the definitely the slut of the high school. The perfect head cheerleader with the star quarterback boyfriend, the perfect loving-family and straight A results will be the poster-girl of the school.

But the weird thing about this show is that it really does start out like that, making you think, OH, WHAT'S NEW. And then really quickly, within the first few epsidoes of the season, dispels every single stereotype you can ever have in your mind. Nothing is predictable and set in stone. (can't reveal spoilers, just in case any one actually wants to watch) It goes against norms and somehow it works wonders.

5. Amazing writing
I don't really know if you can attribute it to the writers but i think this is one of the very few dramas out there where the actors get to improv on the job. They get a whole lot of freedom to actually include stuff that they think is suitable for their characters. I've also read in interviews that the producers love keeping it real, in all senses of the word, that means no rehearsals before they start shooting and very often using the first take to keep the rawness, the reality and the feelings of the characters intact.  (barring bloopers of course)

OK i could go on and on, but i just wanted to share about this really good show that tugs at your heartstrings. There's so little of that Hollywood commercial crap and so much of the smalltown-heart that makes this show so awfully awesome. So, if you do get a chance to see it on StarWorld, try sitting through one ep, and maybe you'll fall in love with Dillon too.


p/s pals, here's Minka Kelly, whom I call poor man's Leighton Meester. She doesn't really look like Blair completely but certain angles, she's a deadringer.



 

Coria, a finalist for Roland Garros in 2004 and formerly ranked third in the world, said he had been considering stepping down from the sport for months.

"I didn't feel like competing anymore," Coria said in statements published on the Argentine Tennis Association's Web site. "I've made the decision I will not play again."

Coria won nine titles during his career, reaching his peak in 2004, when he lost in the final of the Roland Garros to Gaston Gaudio, catapulting him to third in the world rankings.

Coria's decline began a year later after he won the Umag tournament -- his last title."

Apparently WIKI says it's due to a condition called service yips. sigh sigh sigh. Will miss ya CORIA!!!! :( :( 

well, i don't really know where to start, but i just wanted to rant, to let this day be known as the day I averted a 'disaster'.

let's just say that while i felt slightly irritated, pissed, disappointed and most of all, duped, last night,  a change in perspective set me back on course and while it may have sucked finding out the truth in the wee hours of the morning, i realised it's way better than not realising it.

it may seem a little cryptic now, but there are so many things i can't pen down in words, mainly cos it's too personal.

but in a gist, i guess i have the knack of sieving out the assholes from the haystack.

i'm not feeling too bummed out cos i think a huge part of me is actually numb. i'm beginning to be able to compartmentalise so much better and feelings are just like on-off switches these days. i just turn them off and in about 12 hours, i'm back to full-functioning order.

i'm sure i will be laughing about it in the next week or so. for now, i'm just miffed at that momentary lapse of judgement where you let your guard down, you falter, you give in. i'm just angry with myself for actually letting up, for going soft, for being nice so that people can swoop in and take advantage of me once again.

but still, no regrets. it was fun while it lasted, and i'm sure the people around me had way more fun laughing about it.

who knew, that something that started out of nonchalence, actually made a slight dent in my life.

c'est la vie.


 

Is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses?
Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career
Of laughing with a sigh?--a note infallible
Of breaking honesty--horsing foot on foot?
Skulking in corners? wishing clocks more swift?
Hours, minutes? noon, midnight? and all eyes
Blind with the pin and web but theirs, theirs only,
That would unseen be wicked? is this nothing?
Why, then the world and all that's in't is nothing;
The covering sky is nothing; Bohemia nothing;
My wife is nothing; nor nothing have these nothings,
If this be nothing.

Alex took over the voiceover duties from Mer this week, so it rocks my socks, cos i <3 Alex.

Took this from the GA writers' blog and I couldn't have said it better:

"I adore Alex, always have. And this was the perfect time to have him narrate the show, since he’s just learned that Izzie is dying. When Alex is venting to Meredith in the on-call room-- Oh man, but  I’m telling you –  we ALL teared up on set when we were shooting Justin in that scene. He’s just tremendous. We don’t get to see Alex Karev be vulnerable very often, so when we finally do… It is so worth it. Especially when he says that this wasn’t how he wanted to make a baby with Izzie... Love him. Couldn’t love him more in that moment."

I also really love Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt as well, he adds a very raw but powerful force to the cast. The man just came back from Iraq and he's tough as nails on the outside but wounded and vulnerable on the inside. The chemistry between him and christina is way more intense than any of the many many couples in the hospital.

I guess the Mer/Der romance is wrapping up pretty nicely and i thought the whole elevator scene was really appropriate.

Still, the line that striked me most,

"You say you're dark and twisty. It's not a flaw. It's a strength. It makes you who you are."

+

Incidentally i just started watching this new series called Trust Me, helmed by two actors i really love, Tom Cavanagh (from Ed, who really aged alot) and Eric McCormack of Will and Grace. It's abit like the modern day Mad Men, also about ad agencies, the sexist nature of the industry and a whole lot of bromance going on there. Love it for the two actors, but not so sure it's going to make it past season one. fingers crossed.

 

• I left CLEO.
• For those who don't already know, I'm with Mediacorp Publishing.
• Still not sure if it's the right decision, but I'm going to try to roll with it for now.
• Completed my last bachelors, and boy was it a good one even though I wasn't in charge of striptease this year.
• Too many pictures that I need to post but I'm too lazy to do so.
• Went to Sunset Bar and Grill for De and my farewell, tried level 10 chicken wings but could only finish half. Level 5 was still manageable.
• Prior to that had another farewell at Cuscaden after EB preview. Ended up playing GH till 5am.
• Finals party was held in Zirca this year, and erm, from what i can rem, it was a great after-party. :)
• Now that I'm a week into my new job, I really miss the girls sorely. :(

I'm sitting here at coffee bean on a weekday evening, writing thank you cards to the girls in the office. To say I'm feeling sad is an understatement.

Maybe I'm being all emo about this but I can't help but feel that everything is about to change.

Leaving CLEO is prob e last thing I thought I would do seeing as how I almost died trying to get in. But I guess when ur time is up, it just is.

Still not sure how everything will be at the new place, but I'm sure I'll survive. I just have to.

Right now, I just have to make sure I don't fall.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Such is life. There are ups and downs, busy frenzied moments and quiet, restful ones.

For the former, the adrenaline rush makes you just go,go,go with your gut feel, impulse and instinct. You seem to forget that you need to breathe.
The latter makes you overanalyse everything, makes you mull over every small sign that comes your way. It even makes you pay attention to the rhythm of your heartbeat.

I guess this weekend seems to be the latter where somehow everything just whizzes by but yet I seem to be operating in slow-motion, like in a Wong Ka Wai movie.

I spent a lot of time catching up on movies and I watched a whole bunch of them on my laptop in the comfort of my bed. Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Definitely Maybe, Breakfast at Tiffany's were all fab films.

I really liked Slumdog for the way it was filmed. How Danny Boyle made even the slums appear so romantic, full of colour and life is beyond me.
But Milk made me tear more than anything. I'm a sucker for biopics and I can't believe someone had to fight so hard just to be accepted as the social norm.

I'm dying to watch Revilutionary Road but I decided that since it's Vday weekend, I shan't try to dampen my own spirits by watching something depressing.

I guess it was a rather reflective weekend, trying to find meaning in my current life.

One of the lines I rem from VCB is "unfulfiled love is always the most romantic" And I can't help but think how true it is.

With something that could have been, it's often romanticised in your mind, it could have been really sweet, happy etc etc. There is a certain hope and possibility. But with fulfiled love, it actually means you've tried, fought and failed. Absolutely nothing romantic about that.

So is it better to have loved or better to have loved in the mind? One's a clear dead end, and the other's a 'pandora's box' full of possibilities.

One can only begin to wonder.

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