Notes From The Brown Mama Underground

Hank Pym Shocked Me

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:33:00 +0000

Yesterday my little one (she's almost three! yikes!) had her first brush with static electricity. Every five seconds from the slide I would hear "Oweee, Owee, Ow. I got a shawkt." Then she asked "Who's shocking me?" I foolishly tried to explain static electricity in terms I thought a really smart almost three-year old could understand. The little one cut me off and said,"It was that Hank mommy. That Hank Pym. He shawkt me!" Spoken like a true child of geeks.

Lesson for this brown mommy, some fantastical explanations for science you have to let stand.

Sunday Sounds: Clazziquai Project-She Is

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 16:47:00 +0000

An oldie, but goodie from Clazziquai for a gorgeous Fall day.

My Twitter Handle Has a Soap Opera Style Growth Spurt

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 14:40:00 +0000

Image via CrunchBase

Much like a child on a soap opera, my Twitter handle has suddenly grown from an infant into a grown-ass adult. When I originally picked my handle Meeshtastic, I has trying to circumvent a Twitter handle with a million creepy numbers after it thanks to my seriously commonplace maiden name. I was also working a corporate job and making sure that my personal was never business.

It's been a while since I flew the cubicle coop and in that time have acquired a handy, new hyphenated married name that no one else on Twitter can claim. Hoorah!

So if you followed me on Twitter as Meeshtastic, don't be skurred when you see MNMcCrary pop up. It's still the same old me all growed up.

Follow MNMcCrary on Twitter and pour a little liquor out for Meeshtastic. She's well past 21 now.

Mindy Kaling Backlash, Limits of Gangnam Style,Southern Strategy Gone Wild(er),White Newsrooms, 5K Cheescake Factory:Friday Five

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:45:00 +0000

English: Actress Mindy Kaling at the premiere party of TV series Parks and Recreation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. A Reaction To The Backlash Against Mindy Kaling (via Racialicious)

Last week mentioned the potential for Mindy Kaling backlash-lo and behold some TV critics have leveled the bizarre charge that Kaling is too big for her britches:

Is she proud of her success? Sure, but she has worked incredibly hard and earned the right to be: she has proved her chops, starting as a writer on The Office at the age of 24 and working her way up to executive producer over 8 years. She wrote some of The Office‘s most well-received episodes, like “Niagara” and “The Dundies,” and directed several episodes as well.

Her Office co-star BJ Novak once told the magazine, “Mindy has long been considered the best writer on The Office, and every actor on the show thinks she writes for them best.” Last year she published a bestselling memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, which received positive reviews and was excerpted in The New Yorker. No one can truthfully claim that she doesn’t have the experience — she has built a name for herself from nothing, and has solid experiencing writing, directing, producing, and starring in one of the most successful TV comedies in recent years.

Would the same be said of a successful, self-confident man? Would the same be said of Chuck Lorre or Lee Arohnson? No — a confident man gets a pass, but a confident woman deserves to be criticized and put back in her place. In an industry dominated largely by white men, Kaling is a threat to the status quo: she’s young, a woman, and a minority. There’s no one else like her in the business right now, which means she has had to work twice as hard and fight to get to the top, and she is no doubt very aware of how much she stands out and how hard she must work to prove herself.

2. PSY And The Acceptable Asian Man (via Racialicious)

In another good dome scratcher from Racialicious, a guest contributor explores what the Gangnam Style juggernaut says about the limited representational space for Asian men in Western media and popular culture.

But even Rain, who was definitely known more for his dancing and his music and a being a romantic heartthrob in some popular Korean dramas, ended up showing up in Western media as a martial artist, and then I realized that Rain–as well as the vast majority of Asian and Asian American men that have ever made an impact in mainstream entertainment–fit into a particular conception that the mainstream has of Asian men and, in this case, that is the butt-kicking martial artist. Despite that Rain wasn’t exactly known for being this sort of actor back in Korea, in the US, that is who he had to be in order to see the silver screen. This most recently happened again with Jay Chou, the actor/filmmaker/song-writing pop star from Taiwan, who, despite having a broad range of talent, comes to the US to follow in the footsteps of the grandfather of Asian martial artists in movies, Bruce Lee, taking up the mantle of Kato in The Green Hornet.

So, it’s clear from the limited types of roles that people of Asian descent get in mainstream media that, for an Asian person to see any success in mainstream media, he or she must fit into one of these acceptable roles. That brings us to PSY: for all his breakout success, there is a good likelihood that he fits a particular role that mainstream Western media permits for Asian men.

3. No One Left to Race Bait (via The Atlantic)

Ta-Nehisi Coates shows how The Southern Strategy is starting to backfire on the Republicans.

As I argued on Tuesday, as a racist appeal becomes more abstract, it doesn't simply become more devious, it becomes less racist, and thus less potent. Inveighing against the 47 percent isn't racist; "Welfare Queen" kind of is; William F. Buckley claiming black people don't want to vote really is; and John Booth mumbling, "That means nigger equality, by God I'll run him through" and then shooting the president in the head is straight white supremacist violence.

The Southern Strategy is often conceived as magic. I would argue that it is better conceived of as another engagement during white supremacy's fighting retreat into oblivion. The "symbols" argument can only work until people decide that the deploying of symbols is, itself, racist. I know people think that Republicans have avoided the Rev. Jeremiah Wright attack out of the goodness of their heart. I would argue that they've avoided it because they (correctly) understand that it would be poisonous to them.

4. 'Bleak' Picture For Minority Managers In Newsroom (via WBFO Public Radio)

NPR's Tell Me More reveals that national newsrooms continue to lack in diversity and equity.

5. Ex-NFL QB Vince Young allegedly spent $5K a week at Cheesecake Factory (via The Grio)

American football player Vince Young. Cropped version of original photo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I'm loathe to tell anyone how to spend their money, but Cheesequake Factory? If you're going to drop 5Gs a week for food, you need to up your culinary game, big style. This is one for the ratchet files.

Former NFL quarterback Vince Young scored a five-year, $58 million contract as the number three overall pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2006. Young was guaranteed nearly $26 million, and the Heisman winner at Texas earned Rookie of the Year honors his first season.

2006 was a long time ago.

Today, Young is out of the NFL and out of money, according to his attorney Trey Dolezal. The question on the leads of several sports blogs and the minds of many of Young’s fan is – how?

Clay Travis, over at Nasvhille’s WGFX (104.5), may have an answer. Travis is a co-host of the stations ’3 Hour Lunch’ show and asked his listeners to call in if they had information about Young’s spending habits as a member of the Tennessee Titans. Several employees of the city’s restaurants called in with stories of Young’s financial patterns.
Allegedly, Young spent five thousand dollars a week at the Cheesecake Factory during his rookie season.

Thursday Throwback: Isis

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:24:00 +0000

In addition to watching the Wonder Woman TV series when I was younger, I also loved The Secrets of Isis. I don't really remember much about most of the episodes (I was only a year or two old), but I do remember loving watching her transform into Isis. She rocked fresh pseudo Egyptian gear and fake Egyptian jewelry. Super cheesy and super 70s. Just the way I like it.

Knowing what I know now about history and Hollywood, I now request that any remake of Isis to should have Andrea Thomas look like this or this or this. I'll also need them to not do a "very special Asian episode" like this one called, surprise,surprise, "Year of the Dragon." Though I could be down for a redux of the "Bigfoot" episode.

What's your favorite cheesy superhero show from back in the day?

Squee! Alert: New Season of Aisha Tyler's Girl on Guy Podcast

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:18:00 +0000

Between organizing my schedule for NYCC and baking apple crisp with super fresh harvest from Monday's apple picking adventure, my day has been squee! packed.

Now, to top off this massive day of squee!, I'm about to listen to the new season of Aisha Tyler's awesome Girl on Guy podcast with NATHAN FILLION.

Nathan Fillion at the 2005 Serenity "flanvention". (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just had to share.

Food Porn: Torta Màgica from Alex's Cafe and Aztec Nights

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 02:42:00 +0000

After a long, fun morning of apple (and tomato) picking at Riamede Farms in the wilds of Morris County, New Jersey, the toddler, the husband and I had the best lunch ever. After a series of misadventures and closed restaurant doors, we stumbled upon Alex's Cafe and Aztec Nights in Chester. As soon as we walked in the door, we knew that the chances for a delicious lunch were high. After we looked at the menu, the chances for deliciousness became certain.

We weren't wrong.

The hubby had the carnitas torta, I had the chorizo torta and the little one got chicken, "wice" and beans. For those who may not know, tortas are scrumptious Mexican style sandwiches with cheese, refried beans, avocado on crusty, yummy bread with fillings that can range from pork to ham to chorizo to chicken. At Alex's Cafe, the tortas were outstanding. Did you hear me? Greatest. Sandwiches. EVAR.

By the time I remembered to take a picture of my torta màgica, I had wolfed down half the sandwich and my husband had cleaned his plate.

I can describe the tastebud ectasy of this sandwich. The crunch of the lightly buttered, toasted roll, the spice of the chorizo and beans, the acid zing of the pickled jalapeño, the cooling of the cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. Holy Jesus. If I wasn't so full, I would have tried all the Mexican food on the menu.

I would absolutely make the sixty minute drive for return trip to dine there any time. I'll be dreaming of this sandwich until we meet again.

You can follow Alex's Cafe on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and Urbanspoon.

Alex's Cafe and Aztec Nights
52 Main Street
Chester, NJ 07930
908-879-5044
Located next to the Black River Candy Shoppe
Open daily from 7am to 10pm

Thursday Throwback: All American Girl

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 01:13:00 +0000

All the press about The Mindy Project reminded me of another Asian TV first, Margaret Cho's All American Girl. It's unsurprising that Kaling, almost twenty years after Cho's appearance on the small screen is still breaking ground as "the first." Television has stubbornly maintained the primacy of whiteness since its very inception and shows few signs of switching up its monochromatic game. So even though we are almost some two decades past Cho's series, because the business of television has changed so little between then and now, on the surface, The Mindy Project and All American Girl seem to exist in a similar space. Both women are comedians, both are Asian and both are paired with white male love interests. All those surface similarities speak volumes about the television industry's failure to achieve equity and diversity both behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera.

When comedians/writers of color like Cho and Kaling finally make it past the white gatekeepers with their own shows, as leading ladies, their love interests are usually always white men. A huge part of the premise of All American Girl was that Margaret Kim liked to date guys who weren't Korean (i.e. white), much to the chagrin of her traditional parents. Quentin Tarantino even showed up as one of Margaret's flames. In the first episode of The Mindy Project, Ed Helms (of The Hangover fame), shows up as one of Mindy's love interests and the premise of the show is that Mindy has spent her whole life obsessing over romantic comedies. In the pilot, we see a montage of Mindy over the years indulging in her rom com addiction and every iconic rom com that flashes on the screen has white characters and the objects of affection are all white men-as are all the potential suitors in Mindy's own real life rom com.

Last year, on Shadow and Act, Emmanuel Akitobi wondered if interracial pairings in both TV and film were meant to "soften the blow" of black actors in lead roles. Looking at The Mindy Project and recalling All American Girl, I have to wonder if the same theory applies. It's hard to blow trumpets of progress about the interracial pairings in these shows with female characters of color in the lead when depictions of people of color on the whole continue to be so limited. Since we are so few and far between, one becomes suspicious when "the first" is instantly outfitted with a white love interest.

In her book Fade to Black and White: Interracial Images in Popular Culture, Erica Chito-Childs reminds us that the media and popular culture "is still overwhelmingly controlled by whites, in particular a small group of white men, and the representations of interracial sex and couples created emerge out of their everyday realities, experiences, and fantasies" and that inherent to their worldview is a "racial ideology" that reflexively protects white power and privilege "as meritorious and natural and accenting the alleged superiority of whites and the inferiority of those who are racially oppressed." Thus, shows like All American Girl and The Mindy Project are filtered through this gaze of the white, mostly male gatekeepers who have the power to yay or nay what we see on network television. On some level, both shows reinforce the dominate narratives about who ranks highest on the love food chain.

Because the industry is so ethnically challenged that actors of color in leading roles are still a rarity on network television, I wonder if Kaling will receive the same kind of backlash that Cho received as she instantly and inevitably shoulders weight of collective representation. Kaling and Kerry Washington are the only women of color in leading roles on network series that I can think of right now. (Jada Pinkett-Smith's Hawthorne was on cable and was cancelled after three seasons)

As much as I loved All American Girl and root for Mindy Kaling's success, the television industry and popular culture on the whole, are set up to create particular outcomes for shows like these. After all this time, how can it be that Cho, Kaling and Washington are still firsts? Even though Kaling is the creator and the writer of her own show, she still stands in the shadow of the same television landscape that spawned and spurned All American girl. This unchanging landscape is persistently white and continues to ensure a slow drip of firsts that fit very neatly into the expectations and ultimately the whims of whiteness.

NOTE: A useful contrast to both these shows is Issa Rae's The Mis-adventures of an Awkward Black Girl.

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My Obsessions: Collection Intervention on SyFy

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:32:00 +0000

Howie from S1 of Collection Intervention( photo courtesy of Syfy)

The programming brain trust over at SyFy have brought me to my knees with Collection Intervention (CI), which is (as every TV critic has noted) essentially Hoarders but with nerds who have yet to succumb to perilously bad hygiene. Instead of homes brimming with mummfied cat carcasses and twelve foot layers of rodent feces, CI homes are filled with the cool toys you had when you were a kid and the ones you probabaly still drool over at every con. Folks who are fans of History Detectives on PBS will recognize CI expert/host Elyse Luray who presents the perfect balance of "you need to just sell that shit" and "no judgement only love." When I watched the first episode all I could think was, "Oh my gosh, they really need a full time therapist on this show." Luckily, in later episodes the therapist shows up and is greeted with tepid resignation by most of the ~~hoarders~~ collectors.

For me the most fascinating collection came from Howie, a collector who was an amalgam of Jeff Albertson from The Simpsons, Trent Reznor and Butthead(check the voice). He had an incredible collection of fringe, horror and pop Americana with pieces from people like Ed Wood, Andy Warhol, and R. Crumb. He also had an intense personality and severe control issues. He hated every fiber of the therapist who showed up, but I think it would have been criminal to go into his home without one.

I also loved the Consetta the Star Wars collector. Her devotion to a microscopic Wicket figurine was stunning to to say the least. She wept. I mean my girl wept like somebody at funeral for a beloved human being not an Ewok. It was strangely fascinating, familiar and disturbing to behold. I wish I could find the clip online. So much love and devotion for this little guy:

The bench for for the cast of characters on this show is so deep that it can only get weirder.

I know I'm not alone in my obsession with this show. Who else is watching?

Cross-Post: Colorblind Racism, Voter Suppression and the Southern Strategy

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:41:00 +0000

Over on my ITYC Radio blog, I do a "Thursday Think Tank" post every week. In these posts I usually share videos featuring a range of topics that have given me pause for thought and reflection. I wanted to share this past Thursday's post, because it relates to a discussion about voter suppression the panel had on today's Melissa Harris-Perry Show.

During the discussion, MHP flashed a map showing all the former Confederate states that currently have laws on the books to suppress the vote and Judith Brown-Dianis from the Advancement Project made the point that these states are essentially using the rhetoric of colorblind racism to make a legal argument that they don't have explicitly racist measures to suppress the vote anymore and therefore, their current neo-poll taxing cannot be judged by their shady racist history of trying to stop black people from voting. Chilling.

Keep that in mind as you watch Professor Ian Haney Lopez discuss colorblind racism and the Southern Strategy in the video below:

CROSS-POST: Thursday Think Tank: Ian Haney Lopez on Colorblindness and The Southern Strategy

In honor of the Democratic National Convention's final day, this Thursday Think Tank video comes from, Professor Ian Haney Lopez, who delivered the 16th Annual Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society in 2011.

In the lecture (which begins at the 28:11 mark), Professor Lopez discusses the "systematic dismantling" of the gains achieved by the Civil Rights Movement and how the "Southern Strategy" is really a version of colorblind racism.

The efforts to suppress the vote during this election season have been sited as part of the continuing legacy of the Southern Strategy in the 21st century.

Find out more about the issue of voter i.d. laws and alleged voter fraud here.

Find out what the voter i.d. laws are in your state here.

Find out if you are registered to vote in your state here.

Sunday Food Porn: Lentil and Farro Salad

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:10:00 +0000

My farro and lentil salad!

Sometimes being a mom means forgetting to eat or waiting six to seven hours between meals. I woke up this morning and immediately jumped into the organizational grind, wolfed down 1/4 cup of granola and rice milk, kept grinding, took a walk to the playground, came home, made a grocery list while drinking coffee, went to the market and then came home to more organizational grinding.

It was at that point that I realized that I hadn't eaten or hydrated for hours. Wonderful.

Since I'm determined to try to eat like I have some sense, I decided to make a salad. I'd been sitting on a bag of farro for a minute so I decided it was time to bust it out. I wanted a lentils so I figured why not a farro and lentil salad? While the cup of farro and the cup of lentils were cooking in salted water (I cooked them separately), I chopped red onion, green pepper, red pepper, and carrots and tossed them with cooked farro and lentils (green). I whipped up a honey/apple cider vinaigrette loosely based upon this Martha Stewart recipe for White House Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette. (I didn't have shallots so I used some whole grain Dijon mustard instead). I tossed some of the vinaigrette into the warm-ish salad and promptly wolfed down a big bowl with 2 huge glasses of water.

Either I was really hungry or I really put my foot in that salad because that ish tasted like magic and unicorns.

Feel free to give it a try and let me know what you think!

*NOTE: I salted the water for both the farro and the lentils so well that I didn't add any extra salt any where just a lot of pepper. I also cooked the lentils so that they stayed whole but tender, the farro was very tender too (about 30-40 minutes in 3 cups of water). The next time I make this dish, I'll add tons of fresh herbs and try a different vinaigrette.

Looking For Some Reasons To Re-Elect President Obama?

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 18:06:00 +0000

Barack Obama (Photo credit: jamesomalley)

Check out the site 90 Days, 90 Reasons for some compelling arguements for four more years from a broad cross section of citizenry.

One of my favorite reasons comes from author Sherman Alexie:

REASON 30: BECAUSE THE LIBERAL MESSIAH DOESN'T EXIST.

Obama has been a terrible President for Native Americans, for us Indians. Well, he hasn't been terrible. He's been disinterested. Even inert. In writing this little essay, I tried to think of one great thing Obama has done for Indians.
And I couldn't think of one damn thing.

So I called up some of my Indian friends and family, a mix of Democrats and Republicans, and asked them, "Hey, what has Obama done for Indians?"
The answers ranged from "F**k-all nothing" to "Not much" to "There must be something, let me think about it."

More than a few Indians, Republicans and Democrats, said, "He hasn't done anything for Indians, so I'm not voting for him."

That made me wonder how many folks vote for a president primarily based on their own needs and wants. Or vote against a president based on one's other wants and needs.
And, yeah, I'm also one of the liberals who think Obama has often been a too-moderate wimp steamrolled by hateful Republicans. And, yeah, I dream of some third-party progressive messiah who can save us from Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, the Ghost of Ayn Rand, and all of these current Democrats who are getting their asses handed to them by the Ghost of Ayn Rand.

But that liberal Messiah doesn't exist. Will never exist. Or rather, can only exist in the organic, free range brains of utopia-believing left-wingers.
Of course, I never actually believed that Obama was going to change the country. When he was elected, I didn't rush into the streets and sing "Don't Stop Believin'" with ten thousand other liberals. I'd already been fooled by Bill Clinton into singing "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow."

Yeah, I'm cynical. Yeah, I'm bitter. Yeah, I'm disappointed and hurt by Obama.
But you know what? To love him, I only need to believe in 51% of what he does. And, hey, I'd guess I believe in 63% of what he does. So he hasn't done anything for Indians. You know what? I don't care nearly as much about that as I care about what he has not done to Indians. And has not done to poor people. And has not done to gays and lesbians. And has not done to the environment.

And, most important, I care about what he doesn't plan to do to the country. He's not going to end capital gains taxes or estate taxes. He's not going to gut public education. And, this is the big one, he's not going to put right-wing freaks on the Supreme Court.

Anita Blake and "Heteroflexibles," 1% Brooklyn, Hype Lady of the DNC, History of Gangnam Style, Sad White Babies: Friday Five

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 20:29:00 +0000

Issue 1 cover. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. GBLT Characters in the Anita Blake Series
Laurell K. Hamilton's treatment of LGBT folks in her ~~interminable~~ long-running Anita Blake series is not as progressive as one might think. Sparky over at Fangs for the Fantasy breaks down the trouble with heteroflexibility.

English: The Brooklyn Bridge, seen from Manhattan, New York City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2. Brooklyn Is the Second Most Expensive Place to Live in the U.S.
As if folks who live in the NY tri-state area needed more proof that Brooklyn has been overrun with the 1% Nation, Colorlines has graphs, charts and data showing just how expensive the borough has become.

Logo for the Kotaku, copyright Gawker Media (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3.Way Before “Gangnam Style”, Gangnam Was Very Different
Now that Gangnam Style has hit critical mass, Kotaku offers a brief history before the hype.

4. Sad White Babies with Mean Feminist Mommies
Jessica Valenti, the founder of Feministing, has identified a new media meme that she calls "sad white babies with mean feminist mommies." Valenti has a great Tumblr site with a host of pictures that illustrate the tired trope. Hat tip to Sociological Images.

5. The Hype Lady of DNC 2012
Last night during President Obama's DNC speech, the camera cut to a lady in a yellow jacket who was more hyped than vintage Flavor Flav at a P.E. show. Technical difficulties sabotaged my gif making ability, but if you start at minute 34:10 of video below, you won't be sorry.

Thursday Throwback: Rock the Vote

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:41:00 +0000

Rock the Vote (Photo credit: Crazybananas)

It's hard to believe that it's been 21 years since the genesis of Rock the Vote. Since that time the organization has registered over 5 million young people to vote. This year, the organization has mobilized a Road Trip to register the young'uns across the country and shows no sign of slowing down.

So in honor of the final night of the Democratic National Convention, I present some "vintage" Rock the Vote videos from the 90s.

Find out more about the issue of voter i.d. laws and alleged voter fraud here.

Find out what the voter i.d. laws are in your state here.

Find out if you are registered to vote in your state here.

UPDATED: True Blood Season Finale: Save Yourself (from this mess of a season finale)

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 03:37:00 +0000

Lot's of people's mama's have said, if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all.

It is in that spirit that I bring you my summation of last night's season finale:

Just kidding (sort of). I'm going to post my full finale fury tomorrow as I'm on a massive deadline.

In the mean time, hit me with some of your impressions of last night's ~~fiasco~~ finale.

UPDATE:
When Jane Bodehouse, proclaimed in grand, giddy drunken form "I have no idea what's going on," it was the most meta-moment in True Blood series history. Good old Jane neatly summed up everything you needed to know about this mess of a season finale. I'm not going to lie, I had the most microscopic glimmer of hope that the writers would dig deep and leave us with at least a really good episode. Silly me. They left us with the exact piece of dreckatude my inner bitter cynical adult expected they would. I guess I shouldn't really complain too much as the finale was at least consistent with the rest of the awfulness that preceded it.

All throughout the season, I've been listening to the audiobooks of the the Southern Vampire Series, trying to understand what prompted writers to go so far off book. I can understand the impulse to want to improve upon the text and to bring your own twist to the stories, but when you make pointless changes in service of nothing, I have to take issue. If the tweaks had been well done, I wouldn't be complaining, but often (really after about season three) the writing became spotty and inconsistent.

The big Lilith build-up of the season ended with a resounding "Ehhh" for me partially because I find Bill's character about as interesting as a dog licking its bits. In the book, he had a little more to him, but he was still a supremely drippy leading man. Eric was wonderful on the show until he got sprinkled with fairy dust and lost his mind to Sookie. Lafayette was wonderful until they reduced him to a two-dimensional sass-bot. Alcide was a fantastic piece of casting. Pam was wonderful until she swallowed the spirit of Missy Anne. Tara could have been so much more. I could go on, but my head is oozing.

The only thing that will get me through another season will be if it is the last season-then you kind of have to watch. Other than that, the joy of the kindred souls in Maria J's weekly Google+ live thread and knowing that a few people who read my weekly posts enjoyed them were the only things that dragged me through this season in one piece. For that momentum, I thank you all.

Until next season?

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True Blood: Sunset (on this entire season please.)

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:36:00 +0000

What in the name of all that is holy and Billy Hufsey was that episode?

I would love to sit here and attempt to break down what I watched in utter disbelief last night, but I don't know where to begin. How exactly do you capture a random series of events that moved along like an out-of-shape pensioner painfully huffing up a flight of stairs? How do we square all that has happened in the series thus far with what happened last night?

One minute Bill looks like he's the vamp with the master plan, the next minute he seems to be the sole subscriber to his own acid-flavored hype.

Lilith is either a hallucination or an actual being with the worst pube-toupee known to mankind (folks in Maria J's live thread last deemed it "the worst merkin ever.")

Bootleg Hermione and Eric love to sex each other down at the strangest times.

As if there wasn't enough time wasted with Terry, Arlene and the freaking Ifrit, now we have some clunker of a Lifetime movie with Andy, Holly and her knuckled-headed sons. Really? Why are you setting this up with one episode left in the season? (Throws up hands and walks out)

Lafayette has been reduced to a sass-bot. Appearing only for brief bon mots and laughs.

Tara has a weird crush on Pam, which I find just strange considering the "master and servant" set up of their relationship. I want Pam and Tara to win, but considering the way the writers have handled them all season and how they handle their LGBT characters in general, leaves me skeptical anything good can come of their relationship.

Alcide and his daddy win for worst storyline set-up as well. Thanks for slapdashing us with a possible story for next season. Kind of. Maybe.

Which brings me to the real reason I'm so salty about last night's show.

How the hell are you going to introduce the mama of all faeries and just kill her off like that? How? Why do you waste Erica Gimpel as a cheap, barely a plot there device? I was furious. Nobody puts Coco in a corner. Oh wait, apparently Coco does not just go in a corner she gets drained and turned to faerie dust.

To make matters worse, she was just another death in what seemed to be let's kill all the POC night. Really? As I said before, I'm so disappointed with how the how piece of the story has been handled. Just a shame.

The home stretch is here and I'm totally dejected. I'll be watching the season ~~finally~~ finale (which I'm not so quietly wishing was the series finale) with no expectation whatsoever.

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Thursday Throwback: UK Musical Imports the 80s/90s Edition

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:45:00 +0000

Wee Papa Girl Rappers (Photo credit: jeroen020)

I had to bring the music back to this week's throwback as the afterglow of the 2012 London Olympics Closing Ceremony has faded. I sat in front of my television rapt with joy and squee as some of my favorite U.K. artists graced the international stage. I shouted into my Twitter feed like a breathless Twihard when George Michael, in shaky voice and fine physical form, belted out his anthem "Freedom 90." I sang along loudly to "Spice Up Your Life" much to my husband's chagrin. From Madness to Spice Girls, this musical Anglophile was past thrilled with most of the music (be gone Jessie J) presented during the Closing Ceremony. Even Bob Costas' asinine commentary (and NBC's wretched coverage) could not detract from the fierceness of Annie Lennox and the classic British quirk of The Pet Shop Boys. It was all the perfect pre-game set up for Brasil's 2016 presentation-which was off the chain. That's a whole other post though.....

All the great UK music that night recalled some of the other UK artists who crossed the pond and lept into my tween heart way back in the ~~80s (some 90s)~~ the day. Here's a little rundown of some of my favorites.

Five Star
Loved me some Five Star. Those grainy, corny videos on Video Music Box were everything after school. A combination of The Jets and the Jackson Five, Five Star hailed from Romford (outside of Essex). Their album Luxury of Life spawned two of my favorite hits "All Fall Down" and "Let Me Be the One."

Hannah Pool from The Guardian did an adorable Q&A with Stedman Pearson from the group in 2008 doing every Five Star fangirl around the globe very proud indeed. In Pool's story, Pearson revealed that the typical greedy parent-enger nightmare unfortunately became a reality for this group of singing brothers and sisters. During their attempt ot crack the American market, their dad/manager bankrupt the entire group and left each one of them penniless. A bummer ending for such a vibrant pop group.

Wee Papa Girl Rappers

If you've ever heard "We Rule" by the Wee Papa Girl Rappers, it is probably still stuck in your head as you read this. A twin sister act, Naff and Cruddy combined dancehall, hip hop and pop to an infectious result. Even though, they were way bigger in the U.K. than here in the U.S., "We Rule" will always live on in my own personal Billboard Top 200.

Loose Ends
Loose Ends in my little mind was part of everything that was cool about the U.K. Their clothes, their sound, their look-everything spoke to me about this band. Their 1983 album A Little Spice just vomited classic tracks. "Hanging on a String", "Stay A Little While" and my personal favorite "Dial 999." If they want to reunite for a little concert in Central Park, maybe Fort Greene Park, I'd be in the front row.

Omar

One of my major musical crushes, Omar is silken of voice and lovely on the eyes. He's talented in the Prince kind of way and my appreciation for his music has only grown with age. Such a big star in the U.K. was he, like one of my other musical idols Donny Hathaway, Omar sang the theme song for a hit TV show. For Hathaway it was Maude and for Omar it was the Lenny Henry vehicle Chef (one of my favorite Brit-coms btw. I love you Everton!) He made a bunch of albums on the classic Gilles Peterson founded U.K. soul label Talkin' Loud, including my personal favorite There's Nothing Like This. Your education in baby-making music is not complete until you have listened to some Omar. Just saying.

Mark Morrison

For some reason my second trip to London, some time in the late 90s, coincided with Mark Morrison's arrest on gun charges. Go figure. Apparently, Mr. Morrison is free and still making music, but this will always be a classic banger with much Afro-U.K. flair:

My list of U.K. artists that I love is massive and I could turn this into a series quite easily (hmmm), but I'll leave you with this post for now.

What would your closing ceremony have sounded like if you filled it with your favorite British artists?

The comments section is open...

True Blood: (Everything is)Gone, Gone, Gone (except for all that dust under Sookie's bed)

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:44:00 +0000

I really should have taken the time to watch this episode again since I was on a 20 minute delay thanks to my talkative toddler who thought interrupting every bedtime story I tried to tell was what was hot in the streets last night. To top it off, instead of slinking off to his Xbox, the husband decided that talking over the TV and rattling a pita chip bag while I tried to watch the 20 minutes I missed, was the move to make last night. All those shenanigans just pulled me right out of last night's episode and added to my confusion about what the hell was happening.

Here's what I did get:

Lafayette upped is fashion game in the most spectacular way (bedazzlement, jewels, fresh headwraps!). His amazing ensemble in last night's episode confirmed that the old Laffy is mercifully back for good.

Hoyt was serious as hell when he told Mama Fortenberry that he quit this Bon Temps bitch and had Jess glamour his ass (with his permission for once) so he could move on with his life. It was a really nice scene with some good acting from Ryan Kwanten, Jim Parrack and Deborah Ann Woll.

Mama Fortenberry is made of magic and sourpuss dust. ("Cheet-o headed tramp." I rest my case)

Jason is an ugly crier (as those in Maria J's True Blood live thread established last night)

Sookie needs to dust.

Russell was not going to sit down quietly for long with his bumped pompadour and magi-ccent. He wants to see the sun and he knows that Sookie's blood is the way to do it.

Luna is on her way to some serious mama rage damage and all Sam will be able to do is watch or help her destroy.

I still love/hate the problem-filled duo of Pam and Tara.

This season is going to puppy-tail chase back to it's regularly scheduled trope of "Everybody Loves to Save Sookie." Clearly Eric and Bill know that Russell's plan is to drain Sookie and Bill has already made the choice to do everything in his power to save her. (including killing innocents like Molly)

Cirque du So-Fae was the worst plot device ever. Claudine and Claude could have been used much more effectively.

Here's what I didn't get:

Sookie's status as a fae-bearing Stackhouse. She can be impregnated or is impregnated? How can they know that she'll definitely spawn fae offspring?

Why the fairies would make this deal with the vamps. To what end?

Bill's reason for killing Molly.

How Bill found out that Lilith was a specially effected, psychedelic, Great Oz-style light show.

Whether or not Salome is the Great Oz behind all this or if she really believes.

So that's me on last night's episode. As Grace did so brilliantly last week in the comments, please feel free to enlighten me with your own pet theories about where this rickety train is going to crash in the season finale. See you next Sunday......

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Friday Fright: Muoi: The Legend of a Portait

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 01:27:00 +0000

Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As many OG NFBTMU readers know, I love horror movies. More accurately, I have a love/ hate relationship with horror films. Being something of an old-fashioned horror purist, I prefer supernatural, atmospheric horror films to torture porn ones. I'm not even a huge slasher film girl (though I do enjoy the original Halloween and the original Friday the 13th movie). What all that means is that my Netflix cue is filled with a combination of old 70s Satan-y supernatural movies like The Devil Within Her (starring Joan Collins from that Dynasty) and To the Devil a Daughter (Christopher Lee and Richard Widmark!) and weird thrillers like Neverwas and ghost story plodders like Don't Look Now. I think you get the picture right?

So last night in celebration of my last night of momcation before the grandparents redeposited the wild toddler, decided to watch a movie. I sat in front of the Xbox flipping through the horror movies expecting to find nothing but torture porn when I stumbled across Muoi: Legend of a Portrait. I'd never heard of the movie, but the caption intrigued me more than any other film in the line-up had.

A novelist travels to Vietnam hoping to research a local legend involving a painting of a girl named Muoi in this atmospheric horror film.

Hoorah! Atmosphere. I hit 'A' with cautious optimism.

Then I saw the Korean characters and knew I was in for something that could at the very least freak me out and disturb me deeply. The last Korean horror movie I watched A Tale of Two Sisters, freaked me out for days and gave me nightmares. (Skip the crappy U.S. remake called The Uninvited and watch the real deal). Muoi did not disappoint. I jumped on my couch, clutched my invisible pearls and contemplated turning on more lights in the house. Though the plot is a little murky in spots and you pretty much see what's coming, the scares don't feel cheap and it all comes together nice and creepy in the end.

When it was time for bed, I actually was hopping around the house like a skittish cat. I actually locked my bedroom door before I went to sleep. Don't judge me. This is the same girl who went to see The Strangers with friends and barricaded herself in the bedroom. That night, every little noise woke me and I don't think I got more than four hours of sleep.

Anyhoo, Muoi was worth the celebratory last night of momcation viewing. Check it out. With all the lights on........

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Thursday Throwback: Eartha Kitt as Catwoman(with a Dark Knight Rises review for good measure)

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:44:00 +0000

Last night the hubby and I finally saw Batman in IMAX. It was a 7:30pm show and a pretty full theater that included 2 kids between 5-8 and at least 2 kids between 2-3. *BLINK*

For all of the hype and build up, I actually walked away feeling a little meh about the movie. Out of the three films, I really liked Dark Knight the best. Heath Ledger turned that Joker role out and from a story perspective, the second film was the strongest. Batman Begins had the unfortunate task of pulling along a big block of wood called Katie Holmes and the burden of being an origin story redux. Not a bad movie, but not as good as the first second one.

Dark Knight Rises was a good movie. A little too long and a little too talky in parts, but a good Christopher Nolan movie. It's interesting because I don't even think of Nolan's Batman series as superhero movies. They're not fanboy-ee in the same way as Iron Man, Captain America, and The Avengers. Nolan is not a fan like Favreau and Whedon. Nolan falls into the "if Maya Deren did Wonderwoman" camp if that makes sense. He made a different kind of action/superhero movie. That said, I think that the Dark Knight trilogy is dense and I may appreciate Dark Knight Rises more with a little time and another viewing.

One person that pleasantly surprised me in Dark Knight Rises was Anne Hathaway. Though she was serviceable in Brokeback Mountain and adorable in The Princess Diaries (I do quietly love those movies), I was not convinced she could rock Catwoman. Well she did her thing. I'm not sure that Nolan does the greatest job with the women in the Dark Knight movies, but Hathaway stretched his limits and turned in a really good Catwoman. I liked her a lot.

Tom Hardy as Bane had a tough act to follow after Heath Ledger's Joker. I think he's an amazing actor and the fact that he delivered such complexity and cuckoo with only his eyes and his voice is a testament to his skills. I was feeling the Mr. Magoo on auto-tune voice. Loved it. It's the perfect pre- "I'm about to snap on a slow-burn" voice. Aside from that, Hardy all jacked up and shirtless offered much candy for the appreciative eye.

While you marinate on my Dark Knight experience and potentially contemplate your own, I'd like to remind you of my favorite Catwoman ever-Eartha Kitt. Eartha Kitt is epic all on her own and in the cat suit, she shared her smolder and sex appeal with a national audience unaccustomed to seeing a black women presented as a sex symbol.

If Hollywood wasn't so limited in its scope and Eartha Kitt was around today and Anne Hathaway's age, she would have made a KILLER Catwoman. She spoke ten languages and had that air of nonchalant sophistication that would have made for a perfect glamourpuss jewel thief. So pour a little champagne out and remember the OG of Catwomen. Miss Eartha Kitt.

True Blood: Everybody Wants to Rule the World (in which we can see Alcide and Eric full monty)

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:26:00 +0000

English: Logo from the television program True Blood Français : Logo original de la série télévisée True Blood (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have to start this installment of my True Blood rant with a thank you to the writers, producers, directors and HBO for embracing equal opportunity frontal nudity. At the top of the show we got a quick shot of peen courtesy of the Authority's latest bite of dinner. It would be fantastic to have that visual generosity extended to Alcide and Eric. Just a friendly suggestion. Keep up the good work.

Back to the show. I must be honest, I actually paid attention to this episode. The story started to at least move. Somewhere. Though by the episode's end, I could not tell you what in the holy hell was happening. We'll get back to that later.....

Last night we finally saw the end of the insufferable Ifrit intrusion, and just as I thought, it had nothing to freaking do with anything else that has happened thus far in the series. I just didn't get it. All that time and Scott Foley wasted on this storyline was pointless. Didn't get it at all and I'm glad it's done.

Lafayette is back in full LaLa and I love it. "I don't know if it's Nelsan Ellis (swoon) or the writers (not bloody likely) creating a level of resistance to Lafayette's being surrogate Tara-doormat to Sookie, but it's clear that Laffy is way to independent for that ish. That little bit simmering tension keeps Sookie in line and I love it. Welcome back Lafayette.

I loved seeing Robert Patrick as Alcide's Daddy. He's such a great character actor. (thanks to Melissa on Maria J's Google+ True Blood live thread for digging up his name when my old lady memory lost his name in a Geritol haze) Finally the whole pack storyline gets more interesting. I'm hoping they'll have him help Alcide take the pack back and maybe run it alongside Martha. Hell, just let Martha run the pack. That would be awesome. On a random note, what the hell was up with the awkward musical interlude when Alcide was in his car driving to see his daddy? It was super corny and made me think that they're trying to put the simmer on Alcide's sexy by making him realllllllllllly drippy. Don't do it. We like our wolf sexy not sappy.

Jason and Andy. Lord those two are so simple. I did love seeing Andy come into his own as an officer of the law. Pretty funny stuff. Jason and poor silly Hoyt was touching to watch too. Bud and his sugar mama, The Dragon, you kind of saw coming. That said, using the whole "obamas,"human supremacist story as a critique of real world conservative politics has been pretty ham-fisted. The nuance and finesse to pull it off just is not there. Real talk.

Finally. Bill. Eric. Salome. ~~Bootleg Hermione,~~ I mean Nora. What the hell? I was so confused with the Bill/Salome hard f**king scene. Between Stephen Moyer uncomfortably shifting on the bed to conceal his midsection, and the weird jump cutting between Sookie, Lilith and Salome, I just didn't get it. Did he taste something in Salome's blood or was it Lilith? Why is he all, Bret Michaels "give me something to believe in" now? Why is AsKars so fine? What is going on?

If you have some insight about what happened at the end of the show last night, please let me know. I was confused. The not-trailer for the last three episodes of the series were equally baffling. As I said last night in the thread, it's three episodes too freaking many and gotdammit I'll be there to watch all three.

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Thursday Throwback: The Olympic Edition: Greg Louganis

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 02:40:00 +0000

Courtesy of About.com

In the spirit of the Olympic games, NFTBMU would like for readers of a certain age to recall those Olympic games where Greg Louganis crushed his competition in the sport of diving. I totally had a crush on Mr. Louganis and watched all of his diving competitions during the Olympics in the late 80s.

Greg Louganis, Mission Viejo, Calif., 1984 (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

Louganis is the second diver and the only male diver in history to win diving events in consecutive Olympic games. He won gold in both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.

In 1995 Louganis came out as gay and HIV positive having written a book about his life called "Breaking the Surface."

Some of us will also remember the 90s Showtime movie about his life based on that book that starred ~~A.C. Slater~~ Mario Lopez.

Today, Louganis is an outspoken anti-bullying advocate and is a mentor to the 2012 US Olympic diving team.

And he still fine.

Courtesy of Joe Pugliese Photography

True Blood: Somebody That I Used to Know(Made Me Watch This)

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 03:03:00 +0000

Thank you Sam Trammell and Nelsan Ellis for making this episode less painful. I loved seeing Sam channeling Luna. It was so much fun to watch and you can tell that Trammell as an actor was having a great time doing those scenes. The same goes for, Nelsan Ellis, who writers finally let channel some of that classic Lafayette independence and sharp wit that has been missing since that iconic AIDS burger moment from season one. Both actors provided sweet relief from the cracked out vampires, annoying black human supremacists (Really Ruby Red?), fairy angst, ante bellum leit motifs, awkward werewolf sex, and fire monster nonsense. I just can't make heads or tails of what's going on so I'm just finding joy in all the little moments that remind me of how much fun this show can be to watch. Everything else outside of those moments, as usual, has my phaser set to "unenjoyable."

The most unenjoyable thing about the series to date has been this weird quasi, ante bellum slave/mistress dynamic going on between Tara and Pam. Not. Feeling. It. At. All.

Last night the writers doubled down on their fucked up ante bellum leit motif by letting Pam ride in full on Miss Ann mode only to have her hand deliver Tara the kind of petty revenge fantasy that not so secretly haunts many white people's dreams. Because you know the first chance us Negroes get we're going to make sure we enslave all the white people we can. The big payback. *blink*

I know that some folk thought that little dish served cold helped Pam turn some kind of corner, but I just didn't buy it. I was not impressed. Pam is still in full Missy Anne mode to me.

On another note, I keep getting this feeling that my beloved ASkars is kind of phoning it in this season. Maybe it's because I'm struggling with how the whole Lilith thing is playing out, but I'm just not feeling that Eric-ness from him so much this season. I blame Sookie.

Speaking of Sookie. Cry me a river. It didn't take long for that narcissistic turtle to shell right back up into her world of "me" did it? Sookie is just tiresome. Though I am perversely intrigued to see how they do this big "that vamp killed my parents" reveal.

Finally, if someone can explain what's motivating Bill this season, I'd love for you to drop me some context clues. I'm fresh out of them and I can't make heads or tails of what Mr. Compton's end game might be.

I freaking be back next week. Dammit.

Thursday Throwback: Cross Colours

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 02:40:00 +0000

When I sat down to write today's throwback, Cross Colours popped into my head. Don't ask me why.

Visons of Kriss Kross and early TLC danced in my head. A few pictures, a few laughs at the loud colors and general ugliness of the clothes-I thought that's the angle I'd go, until I dug up a "Behind the Garment" story about the company from deep in the L.A. Times archives.

Late deliveries to Merry-Go-Round, litigation from Spike Lee, bankruptcy, Ferraris, Karl Kani-am I the only one who didn't know this story? This 1994 piece in the Los Angeles Times from their 'Loose Threads' section breaks it all down:

Cross Colours was the model of a progressive company. Women were in prominent, well-paying, decision-making positions. The work force was probably the most integrated in the business. Jones and Walker hired inner-city teen-agers who promised to wean themselves from drugs and gangs. They put on a benefit with KPWR, L.A.'s leading urban music station, that raised $50,000 for job training. They gave $200,000 in clothes to the Common Ground Foundation, a dropout prevention program in Watts.

They opened "Red, Black and Green" warehouse stores in Pomona, Compton and Downtown. Their store next to Larry Parkers diner in Beverly Hills was Jones' prototype for an "urban Gap" chain. In December, 1992, Cross Colours moved again, this time to 150,000 square feet in the City of Commerce. By now there were around 300 employees.

In an article in the California Apparel News, the bible of the West Coast garment business, Jones predicted that Cross Colours would book $100 million in women's line orders alone from Merry-Go-Round in 1992. That same month, Cross Colours surpassed Williwear as the largest African-American-owned business in the industry.

In 1993, Black Enterprise magazine named Threads 4 Life, Cross Colours' parent corporation, its "Company of the Year" and placed it 10th on the magazine's list of 100 top black firms, ahead of Black Entertainment Television and the parent company of Essence magazine. In 1994, Fortune magazine wrote that Jones and Walker were among "America's smartest young entrepreneurs."

Today, Cross Colours has all but disappeared, its manufacturing and warehousing operation shuttered, its vast staff a thing of the past. Creditors, including the Bank of New York and L.A.'s Imperial Bank, are picking over the bones. According to Ben Siegel, an attorney involved in the process, secured creditors might see a return of 50 cents or less on the dollar.

"Failures are common in the apparel industry, but not as high profile as this," says Wical, "not with these extremes of success and failure." In three years, a company that had captured the imagination of the industry and embodied the best hopes of a community went from start-up to $80 million in sales to liquidation.

I never wore Cross Colours so I had no idea it was a black-owned company. Karl Kani rose out of the ashes of their collapse then after Kani, every rapper in the world had a clothing line. There would be no FUBU, Roc-A-Wear, Phat Farm, or Apple Bottoms had it not been for Cross Colours.

Even more stunning is the fact that people are still really into this brand. I mean really into it. Fan blogs like this one and sites selling "vintage" Cross Colours Robot shirts for $85 a pop. (I can't front though, the Robot shirt is pretty fly).

I even found an Etsy site pimping old Cross Colours gear. As much as All Hip Hop tries to pray it away, people are trying to bring back Cross Colours on the stealth tip.

Looking at it now, there are some pieces that are kind of cool and that recall the painted homes of the Ndebele in South Africa or the Stephen Sprouse stuff from the 80s.

All told, it's a fascinating story about the commodification of hip hop culture, black people in the fashion business and so much more. Quietly, I'd love to see the Cross Colours story realized as an over-acted, over-wrought, BET original movie. But that's just me......

True Blood: (Getting Lifted) In The Name Of Lilith

michelle@brownmamaunderground.com (mmccrary) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 00:53:00 +0000

Russell Edgington. Karoke. Magic.

Denis O'Hare is playing Russell even bigger than he did before. It's as if they gave him the script this season and he said "This is where we're going? Bet. Let's go." and he freaking went. It's so fun to watch an actor of his skill just play. So magical. Another skilled actor handling her business is Dale Dickey. To hear her say "woof" is worth the price of admission alone. She lets me have it every time she walks into the frame. Her energy, her low, growling voice, and her intense delivery are everything. Both Dickey and O'Hare reminded me (as did Michele Forbes when she played Maryann) of when I used to really enjoy watching True Blood from start to finish and how fun this show can be to watch.

I really needed both Martha and Russell as reminders last night since everything I've been grumping about all season was still in full effect and even more pronounced in this episode. We bounced around between so many juggling balls that I felt as though I was watching a series of shorts packed into one hour. There were vampires getting lifted on Bourbon Street, Sookie trying to zap the fae away, Terry's Smoke monster, Hoyt and his new "human supremacist" friends (as someone called them in the G+ live thread last night), Tara and Pam, LaLa, Jesus's daddy and his ever pregnant wife, etc. It was A LOT y'all. While I was about 80% entertained, I was 20% WTF yet again. By the end of the show, I felt like that Lilith blood had me wide open too.

So many interesting characters and plot possibilities are being left behind in favor of this staccato slide into the season finale. Sadly, the joy of watching the show is not only interrupted by this rushed, choppy storytelling, but also by these weird social justice FAILS that pop into the writing because someone thinks it's "edgy." The whole "only Muslims do suicide" thing last night? Really? Just pointless. Little quips like that seem to be hardwired into every episode make the joys of Martha and Russell far less enjoyable.

All that said (yet again), I'll be back next Sunday.

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