NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 26: Actresses Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee, Anjelica Huston, and Debra Messing attend the NBC Entertainment & Cinema Society with Volvo premiere of 'Smash' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on January 26, 2012 in New York City. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

When iTunes showcased the pilot of Smash the new NBC show, I was reluctant. I was afraid that it was going to be a Glee knock off. However, I was surprised by the pilot, it showed real spunk and it was about more than the music. The characters are actually interesting and show is actually fun to watch.

While Glee is all high school melodrama, Smash is about the adult world of getting a show on Broadway. The work is takes to get a script, music, casting and funding are things that the audience takes for granted when we see a musical show. To “peek behind the curtain”, so to say, is interesting and enriching.

The performances by Katherine McPhee and Megan Hilty (who is from Bellevue, WA! yeah Washington!!!) are amazing! While I profess that I do not watch American Idol, I kind wish I had watched the season with Katherine, she is amazing and captivating to watch. Megan gives a stunning performance as Ivy, the girl cast as the lead in the musical Marilyn. She pulls off Marilyn to a t!

And while I wasn’t the biggest fan of Will and Grace when it was on tv, I loved Debra Messing and I am really happy to see her back on tv! Debra does a great job of playing the artsy but driven playwright. I was a bit nervous that it was going to be a bit Will and Grace like, considering that Tom, her co-playwright is gay. However, I was pleasantly surprised that they were not campy at all in their relationship and in their working relationship either.

Angelica Huston has always been a favorite actress of mine and I am pleased to see her in the role of Eileen Rand, the producer. Watching Eileen struggle to get funding while going through a rigorous divorce is ballsy. Watching her learn to fund the show without the help of her husband, who usually did it, give me a sense of pride for women everywhere. Seeing her grow into what she wants to become has helped keep me coming back each week.

So, if you are sick of the high school melodrama, but enjoy a good musical, make sure to check out Smash on NBC.

Related articles

• NBC Renews SMASH for a Second Season (collider.com)
• TV: Why Smash is better than Glee (20poorandfabulous.com)

Finished Trollblood Armor Close-Up

Days 4 & 5 so far have been a little bit on the slow side. I just wasn’t as into painting these last couple of days due to a death in the family. But I worked on it a little bit and finally got some stuff done.

Day 4, I worked on the Brown Ink  wash and let that sit over night. I wasn’t sure about the wash,  because it came out a little bit darker than I thought it should have, but I let it sit overnight and figured I would see what happened in the morning.

The final armor product

Day 5 included the final highlighting. I was still worried about the effects of the Brown Ink wash. Once I started to highlight the armor with Quick Silver, it started to look a lot better.

So, now it’s just drying while I started to primer my army: The Legion of Everblight! This is proving to be a bit difficult, since I live in Washington State and the rain had been off and on for days. I don’t have a place to primer them, except outside, but since it’s been raining like crazy, it’s been a bit of a pain in the butt. However, since there have been a few sunny spots, I am taking advantage of them and primering what I can!

Next up for the Trollbloods: leather work painting. This might be a bit of a challenge, as there seems to be a lot more highlighting for leather work. Highlighting isn’t my strong suit, but I will just try my best and do what I can!

Primer - Day 1

Previously I wrote that my husband and I are taking a journey into the world of Hordes from Privateer Press. I was really excited about it, but I was very nervous about painting the figures! The first figure I ever painted was a larger Protectorate of Menoth figure, which had larger areas to paint in. These figures are tiny compared to it! So needless to say, I panicked a bit. But after a few quick text messages and a quick counseling session from my friend Tim (who happens to be a pro at painting these things!), I felt a bit better!

So I started by primering the model pieces and then I let them dry overnight. That was day one. Not the most exciting thing to look at, but it needed to be done. I was told the best primer to use was black, as the colors tend to “pop” a little more against the black background. I wasn’t totally convinced of this at first, but the people who told me this had painted more armies than I had, so I shut up, listened and did what they said. (I’m glad that I did.)

Skin Colors - Day 2

Day 2 brought on the skin color painting. So I took each of the model pieces and painted the Trollblood Base Color, which is a pretty blue. This was pretty easy and I felt pretty good about it. This photo shows the black primer with the blue skin paint. And yes, the color do “pop” more on the black background, so I was very glad that I listened to wisdom. I did all of the skin base colors on all the model pieces and let them dry over night as well. I wasn’t sure if I would like painting with the blue, but for the trollblood skin base color, this is a great pick.

Day 3 (so far): Armor Base and Shading

Armor Base and Shading

The armor base called for a dry brushing technique, which I had never used before. Thank God the Hordes Primal Book explained what this is. (Basically, you put the paint on the brush, wipe most of it off with a paper towel and brush the left over paint on the model in a nice back and forth motion.) So, I did that for the armor base. After that dried, then came the shading. This was the part I was most worried about. I was told previously that my shading and highlighting weren’t that great when I did the Protectorate model. (Granted, it what the first model I had EVER painted, but still.) So I was a little nervous. I started shading just as they showed in the Primal book, but it really wasn’t looking like I wanted it to, so I went back to the dry brushing technique and it turned out MUCH better! The rusty look in the photo above is actually the shading that I did and I am really pleased with how it turned out. To me, when I used the dry brushing technique, it looked more realistic than just outlining the areas.

That’s what I have done on the Trollblood Project so far. Tune in later, so see more painting action!

DSC00021 (Photo credit: mutant)

I just bought my first Warmachine Horde army. I am really excited to get them painted and play them. I played a quick demo game of Warmachine and really liked it, so I am pretty excited to start playing it on Monday nights at our local game store, Wandering Havoc.

I purchased the Legion of Everblight. I liked the story behind it and I thought the miniatures were cool looking too. I am not the most skilled at playing heavy strategy games, but I really want to try it out and do the best that I can. I plan on posting pictures of the step by step process of working on my army. But first I have to start on my husband, Brad’s army!

Brad bought the Trollblood warpack and since the store had the paint right then and there, I will be painting his army first. So, I plan on showing a play by play of prepping, painting and eventually playing with the Horde armies.

So, I hope that you will enjoy my play by play of the introduction to Warmachine!

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Let me preface this by saying that I am a HUGE Bravo TV junkie! I love the Real Housewives, Tabatha and etc. I can’t get enough! However, Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was gut wrenching, but good. Abuse and addiction were the main topics during this season and it was hard to watch at times, but it was comforting to watch as well.

The hardest parts were with Taylor Armstrong, a battered wife. Anyone who has been in an abusive relationship can relate to Taylor and the struggles that she went through. When I heard that she was publishing a book about her experience with abuse, I knew I had to read it.

Hiding From Reality was an amazing book. This book not only discussed her issues with abuse, but also the emotional trauma left behind. Even if you have never been abused, but struggle with self-esteem and social anxiety issues, you can relate to this book. I will be honest when I say that there were times in reading the book, that I felt like I had written it myself. This book really talked about her self-esteem and coming back from the cycle that she had perpetuated. And let’s not forget that she dealt with most of her emotional break downs on national television, that takes guts! This book was poignant and full of hope, not just for abused women, but for women struggling with self-esteem and self-worth.

Cover via Amazon

If (no rumors yet, just a pondering of mine) Hollywood were to make a movie out of the storyline of the Lich King from World of Warcraft, who would you pick to play Arthas?

I am currently reading Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden and it is really good! I think this storyline would be awesome made into a movie. However, at the same time, I really don’t want Hollywood to mess it up, as they are known to do. So, here’s the question I pose to my fellow WoW players: Who do you think would make a good Arthas?

My personal picks are: Alexander Skarsgard and Wes Bentley are my two picks. Let me know what you think!

Since this year’s election seems to be clouding everyone’s judgement, vote nerd! My vote is for Whovian. Who are you voting for?

Wes, Jason, Vern, Richard & Brad (my hubby) gaming.

Being a nerdy gamer girl, I tend to have more guy friends then gal friends. This is pretty normal in the realm of NerdLand. There are some awesome benefits to having gamer guy friends:

1. They don’t care if you don’t look perfect. You don’t have to have the latest fashions on, or your makeup just perfect to hang out with your guy friends. They aren’t comparing if you look better in that outfit then they did or etc. Granted, every girl should look her best, but they don’t care if you don’t every once in a while.
2. You can be blatantly honest with them and they won’t read into what you said. There are no “secret” or “hidden” meanings in things when you are honest with them. They don’t try to “read between the lines” like women do.
3. You can finally make all those jokes that you can’t make with girls. Such as joking about the size of your “Deck” of WoW or Magic Cards. All those funny innuendo jokes that you have been saving for years are suddenly cool now! Or you can say things like “he, he, he said hard” and stupid dick and fart style jokes.
4. They have sturdy shoulders. You can cry on their shoulders and they can deal with it. They might try to solve the problem, but most times they just let you cry.
5. They typically don’t sleep much. This is good when you have insomnia and need to talk to someone because you can’t sleep! Because, guess what? They are awake too and mostly gaming, so you can game with someone!
6. Guys are typically, “what you see is what you get”. In a world of trying to be someone else, or poserdom, this is refreshing. I think this is probably the best of all the benefits, because I can just let my guard down and be myself as well, it’s not always that easy with women.
7. If you have kiddos, like I do, gamer guy friends make great “uncles”. The gamer guy friends that I have are all “uncles” to my two girls and will laugh and play with them as well. They don’t treat my kids like a nuisance, and they take the time to game with them as well.
8. Guy friends make you laugh. Let’s face it girls, sometimes you need a good laugh and watching them act like animals or slap boxing each other is funny! Plus, sometimes, they say the funniest things. (or make inappropriate gummy bear scenes)

So, if you have have some great gamer guys in your life, make sure to thank them! So Ryan, Wes, Richard, Tiki, Tim, Dan, Brian, Craig, DJ, Coby, Nate, Alex, Jason, Vern, Brett & Solomon: Thanks for keeping it real and real funny!

If there are benefits that I missed, please let me know and I will add them!

When Once Upon a Time frist came out, I watched the pilot like everyone else. I wasn’t sure what I thought about it, so I stopped watching it. But after a few weeks of hearing the buzz of what a great show it was, I decided to give it another chance. I am SO glad that I did!

What I have come to love about this show is the mesh of what’s happening in our world and what happened in the storybook character’s world. I also like the little twists within the stories, such as Prince Charming being betrothed to King Midas’s daughter before even meeting Snow White. Oh, and Snow White being a bad ass thief is pretty cool too! This is yet another Adam Horowitz hit and let’s face it with his credentials, he’s on a roll!

If you haven’t checked out Once Upon a Time, you can catch up on Amazon!

Knits for Nerds from Amazon.com

A Google + friend, Rilana is a pattern contributor to this awesome book: Knits for Nerds. As a Nerdy Knitter myself, I can’t wait for this book to release!

I mean, look at the cover, it just screams, buy me and knit me!!! (Okay, well at least it does to me!)

I am really excited about this book, because I have been working on a lot of nerdy knitted items for people and I am really glad to see a insurgence of nerdy knitting patterns, because there just aren’t enough out there!

This book releases on February 21, 2012, but knitting nerds like me, that’s going to be hard to wait for! Make sure to preorder your copy and give us nerdy knitters and especially pattern creators like Rilanna some nerd love!