magicdog

I did! I also liked the movie overall - although I was annoyed at not knowing if Aunt Debbie survived her cancer or not.

Just got through watching "A Family For Christmas" on Hallmark and thoroughly enjoyed it! I think it's the best movie of its type: a likable well made TV movie with a likable cast, good pacing and writing - even though the plot is ripped off from "The Family Man" but with the genders reversed. Essentially, a hot shot reporter, Hannah Dunbar is living what most would say is the American Dream: she's a competent and well known TV reporter who lives alone in her cool (if sterile) SF apartment, with an offer to make the move to a major Network job in NYC. How did she get here? She chose not to marry her college sweetheart, Ben since her career was more important to her. Of course 10 years later, it's Christmas time and she's all work and rather lonely. She can't help but wonder, "What if?". A mysterious Santa grants her wish, and we see her life if she had chosen to marry Ben. One thing I do like about Hannah's alternate life is that it isn't the nightmare like some "what if" movies tend to make them. Her husband made a good living while she could be a stay at home mom with heir two daughters. Her kids aren't bratty (almost normal in fact), her husband isn't cheating on her or mean to her or the kids. They're both very connected to their suburban community. They have what appears to be a great marriage and life together. The comes the ending, which I also found a bit refreshing - essentially reminding us that we can't change our past, only the future.

I used to work with a guy who told me there was a store in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood that sold beepers/pagers. The store was called a "Beeperia".

Got an update: Weisman confirms via Twitter the show is in "pre-pre-production." I take that to mean he and the writers are trying to pick up where they left off so we know what storylines will be coming up and what loose ends to tie up from the second season cliffhanger. Don't expect a trailer at least for a year. The character designs will remain the same. There was a mention on Reddit that the show's run time would change - either episodes would be longer or shorter. Weisman dismisses this. The length will remain the same. There was some discussion on the speed force and if the concept existed in the YJ universe. I remember on other sites, Weisman confirmed there was no speed force here and mentioned why should there be one since Superman doesn't get his powers from a "superpower force" . It was also mentioned that the speed force was depicted on speedsters as lightning which was never shown when we saw YJ speedsters. The most compelling of the news seems that the show will not air on CN. I'm not surprised at this, most speculate Netflix will carry it - perhaps exclusively. So far no mention of any TV networks that would carry Season 3.

Decided to go down the path of 60s garage band music and I found myself listening to a lost tune called, "La Do Da Da" by The Blue Things (1966). Turns out it was originally written and recorded by Rock & Roll pioneer Dale Hawkins back in 1958 but seemed to get covered a lot by bands in the 60s.

New pet peeve: disingenuous recipients of charity or assistance. My newsroom is covering a story about a local dentist who offers free dental work in exchange for the recipient to pay the kindness forward. On live TV, the reporter asked the woman in the chair how she planned to pay it forward. Her response? "I'm gonna tell everyone else about this free dentist stuff!!" I also got a contact in Baltimore who told us about his mother's church collects winter coats for the underprivileged every year. He used to donate annually until he noticed used coats turning up in the trash every spring! It seems the recipients have come to expect brand new free coats at that time of the year and don't see the need to keep the coat they received so they casually toss them. My favorite incident was back after Hurricane Katrina and several refugees were bussed into our city. The local church sent representatives to greet them and hand them bottles of water and snacks after their long trip. One of them shoved the bottle of water away and demanded a Coke!! I do believe in offering help when needed but there are days when I wonder how often it's squandered by people like this.

Is it ok to repeat on a previous pet peeve? My townhome complex must have some new renters (the complex is about 60/40 between renters and owners) because there's more dog poop recently in the immediate vicinity. It's a rule to pick up after your pets and being a responsible pet owner, I clean up after her. But all along the walking path of the complex all I see are poop piles!!! I'm physically ill seeing this over and over again! Big piles, little piles, and tracked messes from some poor schmo who stepped in it! Why is it so damn hard to clean up after your dog??? The worst areas are the ones with the waste containers. The area always smells bad no matter what the weather and half the time the owners leave the poop there figuring, "Eh, close enough". I have brought this up to the HOA but they said without photo proof of the offender, there's not much they can do about it.

Here's a wishlist for Season 3. I agree with most of them, however I'm not crazy about Jason Todd possibly returning as Red Hood. One of the things I liked about the YJ universe was that they didn't always stick with events that occurred in the mainline universe. The fact that Red Arrow and Arsenal (and the previous Guardian) co-exist separately is one example of many in which we get to see different interpretations of the characters. I'm not a huge comic book fan in which I know every single detail about these characters or catch every little easter egg planted in this series, but I can still very much enjoy it. Jason Todd, from what I've read up on him was meant to remain dead and never be resurrected, and again, I'd be fine with that (despite my enjoyment of "Batman: Under The Red Hood" movie). If anything it'd be a reminder at the dangerous work these kids are involved in. Perhaps there could be some soul searching or second guessing for characters like Dick or Tim or Barbara being part of the Bat Family. Greg Weisman stated previously that no speed force exists in the YJ universe and that's fine with me. I prefer Wally be elsewhere before he returns. I'm open to seeing more characters, but there is a risk of the JLU effect in which there are so many heroes that's it's hard to provide adequate characterization for them. I'm also guessing that the events of the video game that was released in conjunction with the show is also considered cannon as was the tie in comic.

I love this Volkswagen commercial which brings back an old Schoolhouse Rock tune: Zero, My Hero.

I agree but I do think the character whined a little too much about wanting a normal life. I cheered when Grams finally yelled back at her, "You're not normal!!". There were opportunities in which she could have renounced her powers but chose not to. That would indicate she had resigned herself to her witchy destiny, and while there would be days she would be upset over it (who hasn't been upset over more regular aspects of their lives like their spouse or job?) she ultimately would come to terms with it and not keep crying about being "normal". At least those sentiments should have been banished after season 2 or 3.

That's not entirely true. Even animated shows can suffer if the writing isn't up to par or the focus shifts. Danny Phantom suffered in season 3 due to losing writer Steve Marmel. The underlying storyline he was working on during the first 2 seasons suddenly vanished with no resolution (among other questionable things that occurred during the final season). Butch Hartman's other show, Fairly Oddparents has been running for nearly a decade and is completely unwatchable since the characters devolved into caricatures. Even The Simpsons has run its course IMO. The key is having a showrunner and/or writers who love the characters and the premise. If you hate the characters, they inevitable result is the characters becoming unlikeable and the show collapsing in on itself.

To be fair, it made sense since Paige didn't grow up with her older sisters and was for all intents and purposes, a stranger. I'm not saying they couldn't love one another or work together but there is a difference. I also agree Prue should have remained alive and Paige turning up later. I never heard this! However, I think the sub par writers/show runners would have probably made it into a Bewitched type show. Besides, wouldn't it have been redundant since the Halliwells were already living that witches amongst mortals lifestyle?

As if Sasha and Malia are enrolled in the DC public school system. I don't know what school Barron attends when the family is in NY, but I don't doubt he'll go to a private school. However if he were to be home schooled, that would be fine too. Many of our early presidents were home schooled. Although if he were already home schooled, I would think Melania would have chosen homeschooling as her personal First Lady advocacy rather than anti - bullying. Re: Trump & security clearances: Hoax.

Aww, I've generally liked Tom Hanks! Bosom Buddies being a big reason for it. Have you seen his early comedy "Bachelor Party?" Funny stuff. I don't think he's done enough comedies in his career. As far as "coming of age" genre films, I agree most come off as aspiring Oscar bait, but rarely have I enjoyed them. I loved "Meatballs" (which I think qualifies as such to some degree) since one of its storylines dealt with a camper (Chris Makepeace) who tries to fit in and finds his strength as a long distance runner while bonding with Bill Murray's character.

Same here - but FWIW, the actors did appear together in an episode of The A Team back in the day - essentially as former spy partners who had since become enemies (though not using the character names from the original show). I also half expected the two of them to appear in cameos in the recent Man From U.N.C.L.E. film, but they didn't. Pity.

Why would Static be off the table? In the show it's mentioned he's the only one of the runaways to continue in the hero mode, while the others "retired". I'd love to see him active on the YJ team (bonus if he's voiced by Phil Lamarr but not required). Agreed. In fact, I'd like to think Nightwing took his leave of absence so he could try to find out what really happened to KF. If Wally comes back, then there will be new complications: will Artemis have moved on and be dating someone else? Will she like being back in action and not so eager to go back to retirement with Wally? Would Wally want to stay retired but give assistance to fight Darkseid? Would he take up the mantle of The Flash and let Barry retire and raise the twins his wife is expecting while Bart can be the new Kid Flash? I'd also like to see more of Zatanna (I think she got a bit of the short shrift last season), and I definitely would like to see Red Arrow and Arsenal again. Did Red Arrow Roy settle down with Cheshire and little Lian? Is Arsenal's thirst for vengeance causing him to flip his top and make him more unstable? I'm also curious if Jason Todd will return as Red Hood or if he'll remain among the dead in this universe. From what I've gathered (I'm no comics expert by any means) Jason Todd was meant to stay dead in the comics and his revival was not the plan in the mainline universe. I wouldn't mind if he remained dead in this universe since it's a reminder of the dangerous work the kids are involved in.

To be fair, R&R was derided by most people over 30 at that time. I do remember he read the lyrics to Gene Vincent's, "Be Bop A Lula" like a storybook (with nursery type music to boot!). I thought it was quite funny. I remember him too! I didn't realize he was 98!! Wow!!

I disagree - at least in the beginning of the series, Andy was a bit of a Mulder knock off. In the pilot he was open minded about the occult/wicca and believed there was more to what the average [mortal] sees. I do agree that Bane and Prue becoming an item could have been interesting if done long term, but being human he would have been vulnerable. Not to mention being a [reformed] criminal could have complicated things.

The Christmas music channels are already up and running on Dish. Been running for about a week now.

I've been in similar situations myself - I still don't understand it either. They act like abused spouses who think the abuser apologized and therefore everything's fine. Sick! I'd be very concerned for my safety. He might decide to take it out on you in the future. Have you seen an attorney? You may have to take this to the next level if you can't find work elsewhere and this nut keeps making your work life miserable. Keep recording everything you can and document beyond documenting. Either the rest of management is like this or this guy is related to (or sleeping with) someone with juice who's making excuses for him. Speaking as a woman myself, being referred to as a girl doesn't offend me in the slightest. I've known adult women who refer to their friendship groups as "the girls".

True. Perhaps the families will be involved in the tech industry, or perhaps green energy (although the latter didn't work for the Dallas sequel series). Or political families with lobbyists fighting for one cause or another.

I work in TV news and it's not so much a prompter mistake as it is an assistant producer mistake. APs are the ones generally who write the scripts and are supposed to review them (reading them out loud if necessary) to make sure they're accurate and flow well. Obviously someone forgot to do this and hopefully got called out on the carpet at the post show meeting. I have to deal with sloppiness like this too. News anchors also preview the scripts but they don't always know the facts of a news story since it's the responsibility of producers and their crew to do that.

For some reason when I catch the show on ION, I've been seeing the last season or so. Only yesterday they rolled back to episode one. I'd forgotten how much rockier the relationship between Shawn and his dad was when he first came home. I'm glad they've improved over the seasons.

It's not your imagination! I remember finally seeing the earliest episodes and they were very "isolationist". They didn't seem to want to have anyone encroaching on their Ponderosa ranch. It wasn't long before they were toned down and made more welcoming to strangers. I liked The Big Valley (and was excited when a big screen adaptation had been in the works but scrapped shortly before shooting began) and I think in some ways the Barkleys were more interesting than The Cartwrights. I used to think the two shared a universe for some reason; maybe because it wouldn't have been implausible for two powerful families in the 19th century west to do business with one another.

Are we supposed to take the government's at its word? From the photos I saw, it doesn't appear to be millions worth of damage either. Much of it just looks like a house before a flip. They certainly don't spend millions on those projects. Without actual video showing them trashing the place in real time, I can't believe they did it. I personally think any actual damage was done by the informants to make them look bad.