Putting together an Easter basket of books

Part of the fun of the spring season is in celebrating the holidays that go with it and Easter,along with Passover, is only a hop or two away on the calendar.

Like most gift giving holidays, a lot of the focus for presents is on the kids and rightly so,but it would be nice for adults to join in the unwrapping festivities as well. Also, depending on your dietary issues, maybe picking out a treat that's inedible might be a welcome relief.

Naturally for me, my mind turns to books as the ultimate best gift to get and picking out a pair of current lit that are as suitable as a new pair of spring shoes sounds all so right. So, here are a few of my Easter literary basket suggestions(or Passover presents) to get the eggs rolling there:

A BOUNTY OF BINCHY:

Despite the passing of beloved author Maeve Binchy, we still have a few new books from her to share and enjoy such as A Week in Winter,her final novel and the soon to be released Chestnut Street, her last short story collection.


Some of the stories in Chestnut Street are connected to St. Jarlath's Crescent,a section of Dublin previously used for Minding Frankie, with folks such as Dolly, whose seemingly perfect mother loved by all has a few hidden faults to unearth and Madame Magic, a fortune teller of dubious distinction that does have the power to brighten up the lonely life of local gossip Melly.

Binchy's heartwarming style of story telling goes well with all seasons but I find that spring time reading of her work really hits the spot like a warm cup of tea for the soul:

GOOD UNDER GLASS:

For a touch of serious with your sentiment, award winning writer Julia Glass has a number of great books,beginning with her stylish debut novel Three Junes that earned her the National Book Award in 2002 and her latest work, And The Dark Sacred Night.

There is a connection between these two books,as the leading man of ATDSN,Kit Noonan feels discontented with how his life has gone thus far and decides to seek purpose by learning the true identity of his father who was a character in that previous book.

Kit's emotional journey opens up a few wounds for some of the people he encounters like Lucinda Burns,who still mourns the loss of her son Malachy and wonders about the choices she made regarding him, doubts that she shares with Fenno(another pivotal character from Three Junes),who knew Malachy well.

The title of the book comes from the classic lyrics of  "What a Wonderful World" and judging by her prior performance, Julia Glass' newest tale promises to be just as inspiring as that song is to many generations:

WORLD OF WORDCRAFT:

Even if you're more into science fiction or mystery, there are plenty of good reads around fit for holiday gift giving such as Max Barry's Lexicon, where words are literally weapons as Emily Ruff discovers when she is being recruited as a "poet" for a secret society that uses language as a means of attacking their enemies in most lethal ways.

Just as mysteriously engaging is Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore,last year's cult hit by Robin Sloan. 

Displaced web designed Clay Jannon finds himself fitting in all too well at the strange book shop he finally manages to find employment in and almost against his will, starts to decipher the strange codes found in the oddly titled volumes "borrowed" by an eccentric group of clients who frequent the store at very late hours.

Clay is encouraged by his friends(including the possibly new love interest in his life) to figure out what is behind the bizarre contents of the high shelved tomes and with the help of a digital map of the store and some very creative connections, this casual inquiry turns into something more amazing than he ever expected it to be. I happen to be reading this book at the moment(ironically enough,in ebook form) and it does make me want to visit a book store to peer at the hidden wonders inside,a very good sign of quality indeed:

 You can create all sort of book combinations,depending on the interests of your intended recipient, and place them in a nice basket with lovely substitutions for the standard Easter candy fare; bookmarks, book plates and literary quote magnets will  charmingly replace jelly beans, chocolate eggs and Peeps as sweet treats for your home library.

That doesn't mean you can't have some actual candy as well but it is good to have options,particularly if you're a grown-up who likes to embrace that childhood joy when the situation calls for it. The main benefit of books is that it captures that magic for you over and over again,without any chance of disappointment and it is better to be happy when the opportunity arises either in life or on the shelf:

The cowboys are getting serious competition on TAR:All Stars,Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. upping the stakes and giddy for Game of Thrones!

It's been a pretty tight race so far for the repeat contenders on The Amazing Race: All Stars, with the Country Singers being extremely lucky in arriving last at the Pit Stop for a non-elimination round.

However, the ones who really had a run for their money this time were the Cowboys,Jet and Cord. Just like their earlier run on TAR,they've become the team to beat and for this leg, Leo and Jamal were determined to beat them to first place-it was literally a fast and furious foot race to make to the mat. Jet and Cord weren't thrilled to be second but took it in stride,yet they are on notice that they have one team in particular that's hot on their heels:

The game is on for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the pursuit of Deathlok(how I love that J. August Richards has become a major part of this show!) leads the team closer to the mysterious Clairvoyant.

 While that enemy's true motives are still unknown, some of Coulson's crew tumble onto the fact that Melinda May is reporting to someone on the sly,which makes them suspect her of being a double agent.

 However, it does seem that if she has a secret boss, that person might be on their side as it turns out that the Clairvoyant is actually working from within S.H.I.E.L.D. and I wouldn't be surprised if this story line is somehow connected to the new Captain America movie being released this week. At least we're getting episodes on a regular basis at the moment,instead of waiting a couple of weeks,and I do like where this is going:

As many of us are chomping at the bit for season 4 of Game of Thrones to begin(which it will this Sunday), I am sure that the big question amongst those who haven't read the books is "who survives the season?"

 Well, I can't say even though I have read A Storm of Swords(the second half of that book comprises this whole season) and hate to spoil the fun. I will tell you that all of the dark karma reaped by The Red Wedding and other horrible things done to the Stark family will soon be catching up to the Lannisters and unfortunately affecting my favorite of that bunch,Tyrion.

Not going to get into it further but I am not making a pun when I say that this season will be very big for that small of stature man. If it plays out as well as it did on the page, folks will be insistent that Peter Dinklage gets an Emmy award for this season,mark my words. In the mean while, who else will live or die shall be yet to be discovered and discussed, which is the true pleasure of watching this show if you ask me:

RANDOM NOTES:

SHAMELESS: The fourth season finale is this Sunday and I have to say,despite my only getting into this series recently, that the loving chaos of the Gallagher clan is as addicting as any of their bad habits are. Looking forward to the next go-round and hoping that at least Fiona finds some light at the end of her tunnel:

The Year of Freddy Fear isn't fooling with The Dream Warriors

Welcome once again to the latest installment in our Year of Freddy Fear and this fine spring day takes to part three of the NOES series, 1987's The Dream Warriors.

The story line here has the "last of the Elm Street children" being stalked in their sleep by Krueger and dying in ways that look like suicide, causing the adults around them to take their talk of a lethal boogyman as psychotic behavior which lands some of the remaining few in a mental institution.

 The teen suicide theme in the script(first developed by Wes Craven and Bruce Wagner,with rewrites by Frank Darabont and the film's director Chuck Russell) did concern the studio and it was somewhat watered down, with what stayed in being considered enough in the fantasy field to slide under the radar. That subject was just beginning to raise it's head in the social discourse at the time and using it as a murderous metaphor was tricky yet it's another example of horror reflecting the real world terrors of it's time.

The leading lady of this fear fest is Kristin(Patrica Arquette), whose neglectful mother is all too quick to ship her troubled daughter out for treatment which turns out to be a good thing as she meets an adult Nancy(Heather Langenkamp,reprising her now iconic role).

 Nancy is now a social worker who is just starting her new job at the very same mental hospital and assigned to help Dr. Neil Gordon(Craig Wasson) with his pack of sleep deprived and panicked patients.

 She knows full well what the trouble is and gets Dr. Gordon to prescribe a dream repressive medication called Hypnocil(which appears later on in Freddy Vs. Jason),which alleviates some of the teenaged night time tensions for awhile.

However, it is not until Kristen displays her ability to bring other people into her dreams that Nancy begins to come forward with her experiences with Freddy. The dream talents that Kristen and the other kids develop in order to defeat Freddy are part of Wes Craven's original intention to explore the dream techniques of  certain cultures to combat night terrors and with the more vicious nocturnal assaults created for this film, becoming a dream warrior was no joking matter:

 The kills in this film are amongst the most memorable of the series,such as a puppet master demise for sleepwalker Phillip,the deadly TV debut of Jennifer(with the classic line "Welcome to prime time, bitch!") and sadly, the grisly back alley death knell for Taryn, my favorite of the troubled Elm Street teens.

She was played by Jennifer Rubin, who later went on to do more horror films including the aptly named Bad Dreams the year after this movie was made, and she brought real pizzazz to the role. It's hard not to root for such a kickass girl(with one hell of a mohawk) who truly fought back against Freddy with a double set of switchblades and her best line is "In my dreams, I'm beautiful..and bad!"

Her death scene actually got the movie banned for a brief time in Queensland,Australia as depictions of drug abuse on screen were upsetting to the government's board of film review. Once it was dismantled, Queenslanders didn't find the scene as shocking as the censors did but it is somewhat fitting that Taryn would be the one to shake up the system,so to speak:

We also get more of Freddy's back story from mysterious nun Sister Mary Helena(Nan Martin), who appears only to Dr. Gordon and turns out to be the spirit of Amanda Krueger, Freddy's mother.

In a way, she is the one who is the female that defeats Freddy, even more so than Kristen or Nancy(who does get in one last shot at him with her final breath) as her arcane knowledge of his dream demon development is crucial to the finale of the film. She reappears in Dream Child and makes a more forceful stand against her serial killer offspring but Amanda's earlier entry into the NOES series is just as vital.

Her tale of how she came to be the one to bring forth "the bastard son of a hundred maniacs" (don't know which of the writers came up with that description but it was definitely a keeper) holds the key to bringing Freddy down but not without a few flaws.

 Towards the end of the film,Dr. Gordon,with the reluctant assistance of Nancy's father(great to have John Saxon return for this role), heads for the abandoned junked car lot where Freddy's bones are hidden to bury him "in hallowed ground" but since Freddy is Catholic,(hey, a reasonable assumption given that his mom is a nun) the burial hastily done here does help but not enough.

 To those of that faith(which I was for a time until the age of reason as George Carlin used to say), hallowed ground means burial land blessed by a priest such as a church yard or a officially sanctioned cemetery. The doc meant well but just tossing the bones into the nearest hole in the  ground with a splash of holy water and a crucifix is a temporary restraint at best as we will see in the follow-up film,Dream Master.

 It is important to note that Freddy's powers are upgrading as he feeds upon the souls of his victims, a theme that continues throughout the rest of the series and even his brief return to the land of the living here( which is a tad hokey but nicely reminiscent of Ray Harryhausen films) shows that elevated level of evil that Freddy is achieving at this stage:

Nightmare on Elm Street 3 was a pivotal film as it not only made a considerable profit for New Line Cinemas but showed what a decent script and good sized budget could do for keeping a horror franchise alive and well.

The special effects and story telling really went hand in hand here,plus the decision to bring back the original Nancy and her father kept the continuity strong. The Dream Warriors began a gory golden age for the NOES series,with the two films that came after it forming a mini-trilogy amongst the sequels that I personally call "The Dream Team".

 Many fans called NOES 3 their favorite and while the next pair of films that followed in it's fearful footsteps aren't considered as good, they did raise the bar for Freddy and friends there. Tune in next month for Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master,where we met Alice in her frightening wonderland and let's close this scary set out with Dokken's theme song for the film,which still rocks in my opinion.

 Say what you will about Freddy-one thing you can't deny is that Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers never got their own theme song(theme music is not the same thing!),now did they?:

The deal with Divergent and it's impact upon girl power

For some time now, Hollywood has been trying it's hardest to capture the next big thing in teen fantasy series and much to their surprise(and many of the critics as well) Divergent appears to have hit the mark.

Based on the trilogy of YA novels by Veronica Roth, the story chronicles the struggles of a futuristic set Chicago where people are divided up into "factions" that use one main feature as their driving motivation towards life such as intelligence(Erudite),kindness(Amity) or bravery(Dauntless).

The heroine of Divergent is Beatrice "Tris" Prior,who was born into the selfless section(Abnegation) but upon her sixteenth birthday is allowed to chose which group she will join. That decision is left up to her yet a mandated test is given to see where her true inclinations lie. Beatrice's test results are deemed "inconclusive", meaning that she has the ability to fit into more than one faction and therefore dangerously "divergent":

Warned to hide what she truly is,Tris decides to join Dauntless which divides her from her family but is more of the path she needs to take than she knows.

During the brutal initiation trials, Tris discovers that she is not the only one of her kind as well as a plot from one faction to overthrow the existing government. Forced to reveal her hidden strengths, Tris must use all of her skills to save not only her current and former faction but all of their society from the enemy within.

While I haven't seen the movie, I did spend this past weekend reading the first novel in the series(totally great for a rainy day washout like the one we just had in my neck of the woods) and noticed something about this plot that explains to me why Divergent is such a cinematic success and more than just the little sister to The Hunger Games.

The last part of that statement is not meant in a bad way; both stories have plenty in common in a positive manner than just their genre. Each one has a leading lady who is encouraged by the repressive society they live in not to be themselves and to put on a show in order to tow the line.

Yet, it is by being who they really are inside that Katniss and Tris become the powerful force of change and even at times,manage to play the game forced upon them to their own advantage.

 I also watched the second HG movie,Catching Fire, this weekend( a big girl power pop culture fest for me!) and this theme hits home as Katniss is out and out told to play the love struck happy camper that the Capitol wants her to be or hell will be the least price she has to pay:

Of course,that veiled promise is a lie and Katniss winds up being a rebel leader,like it or not. I haven't read the third book of the HG series but do wonder if she also resents being manipulated by the resistance as well.

Anyhow, what is it about these themes that have caught fire with young women(and some of their elders) in these books and films? Well, in a lot of ways, this is a direct metaphor for how women are taught to behave both in public and private life.

 Girls are told as they grow up not to "too aggressive" and/or "too passive", that there is an either or dynamic to their dress,demeanor and interests that define them for all time as strong or weak. Both feminists and misogynists can be guilty of shoving young women into their mold of what the ideal female should or shouldn't be.

 Something that is pointed out by one of the characters in the novel Divergent is that being only one thing is not possible or healthy for anyone, let alone an entire society. Letting young women discover for themselves what path they want to take in life without fear of rejection or scorn is a scary notion to some but it's one that is now gaining traction.

You can even see this in the animated Disney film Frozen(which has become the biggest animated feature of all time in terms of box office results) where the outsider Elsa is not made into the villain but is a frustrated heroine who learns to break free and embrace her own special power. You can hear the bonds of repression shatter in the lyrics of her theme song "Let It Go"- "Be the good girl you've always had to be/Conceal/don't feel/don't let them know"-well now they know,indeed:

This doesn't mean that a girl can't fall in love or be best friends with a man(despite what certain people might think), it just means that she can take of herself and not wait for some Prince Charming type to rescue her from her problems. That's an important notion to get across without being preachy and with both animated films like Brave and Frozen and live action movies based on stories such as The Hunger Games and Divergent, a whole new generation is getting a positive and powerful message.

It may be easy for naysayers to dismiss this as over analyzing "kid's stuff" but hey, those kids are growing up into adults and many of the influences on where they go in life will come from pop culture. To paraphrase Whitman, the powerful play goes on and when this upcoming generation of girls and young women are called upon to contribute their verse, their part of the melody may be more potent than you think, thanks to these tales of amazing ladies who persevere under pressure:

TAR:All Stars loses a family,@Midnight's Hashtag Wars and what lies in store for Don Draper on Mad Men's final season

The mother and son team of Margie and Luke are old hands at running The Amazing Race and this was their second time out in the All Stars league, so the crucial mistake they made during this latest leg is a bit of a puzzler.

There were only two flights to Sri Lanka,where all of the teams had to go next but only one was a direct route and instead of getting the other flight which had a Singapore connection, Margie insisted that they remain on standby for the first direct flight. That proved to be fatal to their chances as no last minute seating became available and they arrived too far behind the other teams to be anything other than the last ones at the Pit Stop.

The two of them have had their share of troubles along the way,with Luke occasionally melting down during difficult challenges,but clearly this experience has increased their familial bond which is just as important as winning the big money here. So sorry,Margie and Luke that this third time out wasn't a good luck charm for you yet take heart in the good memories you leave behind:

I have to admit that I never expected Comedy Central's late night series @Midnight to be a success when it first hit the airwaves but the show has become a must-see for mockery of the internet's awful glory.

While the pseudo-game show format tends to be free flowing at times, there are a standard set of segments that both the comedian guests and audience members look forward to such as Rapid Refresh( featuring current viral videos and memes) and the finale FTW(For The Win) but my favorite bit is Hashtag Wars, where the guests have sixty seconds to shoot off one liners for such topics as Bad Cereals, Drunk Films, Rejected Candy or most recently,Ruin A Children's Book:

Granted,the level of humor may not be to everyone's taste and the jokes do have a fair hit or miss ratio but if you're looking for some good cheap laughs,this is one stop shopping,folks. As the gang at MST3K would say, just repeat to yourself,"it's just a show, I really should relax" or you could always read a good book at that hour:

Mad Men begins it's seventh and final season on April 13,with many characters and plot lines to be tied up but the one that matters most to this series is the fate of Don Draper.

Last season, Don had pretty much imploded all the major aspects of his life;work, family and second marriage. While I came to this show late,it was easy to see that Don's biggest enemy was his former self,Dick Whitman.

Despite his success in making himself over ,the ghost of Dick Whitman haunted Don in a rather Edgar Allen Poe way as persistent yet unexpected reminders of that troubled past popped up over the years,beating like a tell tale heart. Even when he came clean with certain others who deserved to know(yes,that includes Betty), his hands were never cleansed of the guilt from killing off that part of his life.

  You could argue that the social changes during the show's time frame also reflects Don's inner turmoil over the changes in his small corner of the world. That's rather narcissistic but this is Don Draper we're talking about, a man who has some good intentions but tends to follow his bad inclinations with very little hesitation.

 With a whole new realm of possibilities before him, Don could either sink or swim(another constant metaphor he's indulged in for awhile now) and while I also want to see how things will fare for the likes of Peggy,Joan and even that weasel Pete, Don Draper's story is the one that will define Mad Men when all is said and done. Hopefully, his journey will have a satisfying end and I think it will,since in many ways, Don is the most flexible character and the new era that's on the horizon can be his oyster if he plays his cards right:

RANDOM NOTES:

GAME OF THRONES: The new season is inching ever so closer and while I won't give any book spoilers away, it's safe to say that the debt accrued by the Lannisters will be a devil of a bill to pay as karma starts charging interest on their loan of the Iron Throne:

Announcing the Sorry Sequel line-up for this year's Bad Movie Month

 As some of you know all too well, every August at LRG is Bad Movie Month where we celebrate a selection of awful cinematic art and while it may seem a bit soon to talk about the play list of bad flicks for 2014, think of this post as advance seating for your summer blog entertainment.

The theme this year is Sorry Sequels 2 and part of the reason for that is to crossover with my ongoing series,The Year of Freddy Fear,with the alleged "final nightmare" that is Freddy's Dead.

 Amongst the true horrors of this hokey horror feature are a lame 3D showdown that has the heroine wear 3D shades to enter Kruegar's psyche(I must confess that for years I held on to the cardboard 3D shades that were given out at theaters for screenings of this sucker and that one of the frame pieces had an ad for House Party 2 on it) and cameos by Roseanne and Tom Arnold,plus a video game sequence that would annoy the Angry Video Game Nerd even more than the actual NOES game did.

 People may think Freddy's Revenge is the worst sequel of the NOES films but that one is Shakespeare compared to this murky mess:

Speaking of screwing up Wes Craven franchises, Scream 3 is on the dreary docket as well. While the second film was a worthy follow-up, this attempt at a horror trilogy nearly killed off the concept(which was somewhat redeemed by the meta media theme of Scream 4).

Wes did direct this one,so he's not off the hook here. Why he didn't work on the script(that had many rewrites,some right up til the time to shoot scenes) as well is a mystery to me. The proof is in the weak pudding of the plot that ties in the movie within the movie slasher flick Stab as the setting for Sydney to suffer though,along with the rest of the audience. You know a sequel's bad when even a parody version of it makes more creative sense:

 For sheer shlockiness,however, it is hard to top the howling bad antics of Howling II: Your Sister's a Werewolf.  

 A seriously straight drop in both budget and script quality from the 1981 surprise shocker, this flimsy sequel stars horror legend Christopher Lee as a supernatural hunter out to take down a pack of lust crazed lycanthropes run by "werewolf queen" Sybil Danning.

The most memorable moments of this film include a shot where Sybil pops her considerable top,which apparently someone in the editing room liked so much that it's repeated twice during the closing credits,a rather dubious honor at best:

 Since my sister Stephanie happens to have her birthday in August, my blog birthday gift to her is a "Sister's Choice" selection and she went with Seed of Chucky,a movie that I did make her see with me and am still apologizing for to this day.

In my defense, I had really enjoyed the prior film Bride of Chucky,with Jennifer Tilly as the wacky slaughter happy sweetie of this series' butcher boy toy and my expectations for a follow-up film about their gruesome offspring were rather high. However, you know what they say about the bigger they and how hard they can fall:

Not all of our Sorry Sequels 2 picks are horror based,although they can be horrifying to watch. As a fantasy refresher, we have Conan the Destroyer 
where Arnie takes up the sword again as he is sent off to protect a princess in order to revive his dead lover(Sandhal Bergman was probably all too happy to have the perfect excuse to skip this movie).

Amongst Arnie's co-stars are Wilt Chamberlain as a bodyguard meant to keep the princess' virtue safe(insert ironic joke here), Sarah Douglas as an evil queen and Grace Jones as a badass warrior woman they pick up along the way. One good thing that you can say about CTD is that it's a shame that Jones didn't get a spin-off film of her own from this, as her character was the only one who was an interesting creative choice:

Finally,for a sci-fi scare, we turn to Species 2, a movie so bad that co-star Michael Madsen actually admits was "a chock of shit" and mind you, he does bad movies more often than Hoda and Kathy Lee take a sip of wine. The original film was a decent enough monster mash but this slapped together sequel botches the only potentially unique twist in the script.

 In this one, a male astronaut is the one who is mutating into a new scary space invader and is driven to mate but all so conveniently, a clone of the first troublesome space gal has been brought to life around the same time and yes, her name is Eve. After this one, the rest of the series went directly to home video and no great loss can be counted on that score:

I hope this set of sorry sequels whets your bad movie appetite this summer and just remember,regardless of genre, sequels are both the thing you fear the most but just can't help loving about the movies:

Now presenting some of newest Jane Austen book belles for the spring and summer literary balls

Spring has somewhat sprung lately and with the promise of fresh flowers and warm breezes comes the delight of new books for leisurely reading. Amongst those biblio blossoms are a few special Jane Austen posies such as the next entry in The Austen Project series, Val McDermid's Northanger Abbey.

The renowned detective writer updates this posthumous Gothic parody by placing it's heroine Cat Morland at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival,where she makes friends with Bella Thorpe(who shares her love of paranormal fiction) and catches the eye of dashing lawyer Henry Tilney.

Giving the story a Scottish location sounds like an interesting twist and since I've always considered NA to be the less terrifying equivalent of the Scream movies, McDermid's deft touch here should be welcome to both old and new readers alike when it debuts this April:

For an even more meta look at Austen,this summer brings us The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet,based on the popular as well as award winning web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

Written by series creators Bernie Su and Kate Rodnick, this spin-off story offers deeper insight into Lizzie's life and times,including conversations with her beloved father and how the sudden fame of the LBD has affected our leading lady.

Whether you're a diehard fan who wants to know more behind the emotional scenes stuff or someone just discovering the web series, The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet should be able to answer some of those burning questions you have and perhaps inspire a few new ones when it arrives in July:

In August, Syrie James graces us with a fictional look at Austen's early days in Jane Austen's First Love. And no, this is not about Tom Lefroy;instead our dear Jane has her head turned by Edward Taylor, a friend of her brother's who she meets at an engagement party.

While she knows that any true exchange of feelings between them may be impossible, Jane can not resist hoping for a love match and like a later heroine of her own design, attempts a bit of matchmaking for three sets of friends which misfire in most unexpected ways.

Syrie is one of the best of the Austenesque authors we have in our midst these days and this late summer treat should be a sweet yet smartly savory delight:

No doubt there will be many more Austen themed books to come as the warm days of spring and summer arrive and hopefully it won't get too hot in here to enjoy the heat of the turning pages as we book our private vacations in Austenland:

A close call for a TAR:All Stars team,some witchy competition on The Vampire Diaries and a second season sneak peek at Under The Dome

The latest leg of The Amazing Race: All Stars had the teams in Malaysia,where the Detour challenge proved to be the most daunting thus far. The choice was between doing a DJ mix at a nightclub(which relied a lot on sound cues,meaning that mother and hearing impaired son Margie and Luke really couldn't do it) or setting up a drink that had to be poured into a pyramid of glasses without any mixing of the liquids.

 The latter was the real tough one of the two,leaving just Margie and Luke(who got really frustrated and broke a set of glasses,which his mom made him clean up) vs. Team Brenchel(Brendon and Rachel of Big Brother fame). Rachel has resisted being as whiny as she was on their previous time on TAR and this task was quite the test of her ability to keep calm under pressure.

She did alright here but with her team having an extra challenge to face during the next leg,as they came in last for a non-elimination this time out,I suspect that a big league whimper fest from Rachel is forthcoming:

The Vampire Diaries is back on tonight(what is with all of the mini breaks this show has been taking lately?) and yes, Elena will be back in control of her own body but left with a nasty little parting gift from Katherine that will reconnect her to Damon. To paraphrase a classic Buffy episode,"Elena's in trouble? Must be Thursday!"

The sub plot I want to check out tonight is between Bonnie and new witch in town,Liv. Since Bonnie no longer has her magic powers due to being the anchor between our world and The Other Side(that's a long story,folks,just go with me on this one), her mentoring of this freshman sorceress seems like a good idea at first. However, Liv is rather giddy with power and not shy about flirting with Jeremy either (right in front of Bonnie,no less!).

While this does appear to be yet another set-up for a love triangle on TVD, there are other more serious consequences of having a young witch run amuck with her magic that hopefully the story will showcase well:

The second season premiere of Under the Dome isn't until June but the hype machine is already revving with info. Stephen King will be writing the first episode(entitled "Heads Will Roll") and Dwight Yoakam joins the cast as Lyle Chumley, a business rival of Big Jim's.

In addition,the new trailer promises that at least two characters are going to be knocked off in the first episode,which sounds like fodder for those betting brackets that folks are so fond of at the moment-given the large cast here, who could be taken out of the game that wouldn't upset the whole plot cart? My best guess is that Big Jim and Barbie will make the cut while one of those Dome kids (please let it be Junior Rennie!) and maybe Deputy Linda(Natalie Martinez does have a couple of other acting jobs at the moment) will be the ones tapped for such dubious honors-we shall see very soon!:

RANDOM NOTES:

HONEY MAID GRAHAMS AD: With the Cheerios commercials that showcased family diversity last year, it's good to see that the Mad Men types have picked up on this vibe and are beginning to make this a real trend,as this truly wholesome commercial displays rather well:

Celebrating St. Pat's Day with some superhero wearing of the green

Happy St. Patrick's Day,folks-as I am of Irish descent, this particular holiday has some meaning for me yet in the pop culture realm most of the themes for this day revolve around pub crawls and scary leprechaun flicks(have no interest in the former and a wee bit in the latter).

So,I thought it would be fun to see if there were any superhero and/or villains with Irish lineage and yes, there are quite a few,it turns out. What was surprising to me is that between the Big Two comic book companies, Marvel has way more Irish men and women(including a gal called The Shamrock) on it's roster than DC. Perhaps this is due to the Marvel universe being more centered in real world settings than it's rival but with so many DC characters who proudly display green in their outfits,you would think they'd have more of the Irish on hand.

Since we do have a tradition of making just about anyone in green an honorary Irish citizen today, let's check out a few of the emerald clad DC heroes and foes to see if they have any suitable traits that make them worthy of such a honor:

GREEN ARROW:

While broody Oliver Queen does not have any direct ties to Ireland, his rebellious nature and desire to fight against tyranny from any quarter is befitting of a native from those emerald shores.

His live action appearances in Smallville established Green Arrow in the media mainstream culture as a Robin Hood type(who,granted, is an English archetype but still a man of the people warrior figure) and in his present incarnation as Arrow, a defender of the poor and downtrodden who does not hesitate to fight back even against those nearest and dearest to him to defend Starling City, a true worthy goal that definitely makes him a true son of Ireland at heart:

POISON IVY:

Pamela Isley's preference for the color green is more about her obsessive love of plant life,which she values over human life each and every time,than any allegiance to a nationality altho her red hair does invoke many a fetching Irish lass who uses her allurements for good or ill.

While her deadly intentions are never welcome, she can be quite the party girl who livens things up by getting the menfolk drunk on her home brew of titillating toxins,plus she loves a good fight as part of the evening's entertainment:

GREEN LANTERN:

To be fair,there has been at least one member of the Green Lantern Corps who did have a few drops of Irish blood in him(Kyle Rayner, on his mother's side).

However,whether it's Hal Jordan,John Stewart or even the contentious Guy Gardner, the GL Corps are made up of those willing to protect and serve all communities in their area,which makes them very much like the typical Irish cop on the beat. That alone,plus their loyalty to the cause of justice and code of honor, earns each and every one of the Green Lanterns of Earth an Erin go bragh badge:

 THE RIDDLER:

Why demented wordsmith Edward Nigma chooses to wear green in his get-up is one of the many puzzling things about him. Again ,like Poison Ivy,not the most honorable person to include amongst the Irish but it's difficult to deny his way with words and gift of gab, two very well known traits of our folk.

The Riddler also possesses the power of persuasion, another notable Irish trait and does know how to use his charms to make alliances even with the most anti-social of contemporaries,which really makes him more of an Irish man that many of us would like to admit:

So,let's enjoy Saint Patrick's Day together in a spirit of fun and hopefully sober celebration that embraces the best of Irish contributions to the world. Yes, that includes pop culture and even amongst the cape and cowl set, we Irish can hold up our masked heads high:

 

Kerry Vincent blazes the bakery salvation trail with Save My Bakery

One of my favorite people on the food television scene is Kerry Vincent, the sharply sweet regal lady judge from Food Network's former Challenge series who has also been on the panel of The Great Australian Bake-Off recently.

She has been called "The Simon Cowell of cakes" for her high standards of excellence yet her critiques are always professional and keenly accurate,which always reminded me of Harry Potter's best teacher at Hogwarts,Professor McGonagall(she does have a Maggie Smith look about her there). It's been some time since we've seen Kerry hand out her sugar laced wisdom in the US but fortunately, that is all about to change.

Starting next Wednesday,she'll be back on the air at Food Network with her very own series,Save My Bakery. Each week, Kerry will travel to bakeries that are in need of her expertise in order to keep their struggling business afloat.

I saw a preview episode of this show a few months back(it originally aired on The Cooking Channel) and seeing her take charge with her ladylike style(at one point,Kerry had the feuding family who ran the place all sit down and talk things out over a cup of tea!) was a blast.

Having her back with her very own show is a smart move,Food Network,and I'm sure those who appreciate her no nonsense attitude mixed with love of the culinary arts will be saving the date on their DVRs. If you haven't seen Kerry in action before,this is a truly prime time opportunity to do so and don't be intimidated by her forthright nature, Trust me, beneath that fierce frosting is a lady with a heart of red velvet sweetness who wants to elevate the talents of those around her :

She will have some competition in this field as the folks at TLC have given Cake Boss Buddy Valastro his own version of this concept called Bakery Boss.

Kerry has judged some of his work in the past when he was a contender for FN Challenge and I have no doubt that they have a mutual respect for each other as well as determination to help out their fellow pastry makers, In fact, they both possess a down to earth sensibility that has much to offer those bakery owners in serious need of solid advice:

However, my first choice will be Kerry and I so look forward to seeing her back on a regular basis on my TV. Perhaps if this type of series proves to be popular, we'll get more bakery centric shows and films to sweeten our viewing hours. That sounds divinely sweet to me in every sense of the term:

A happy day for a TAR:All Stars team,Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets and Hell's Kitchen opens up again for satanic service

With last week's sad departure of Mark and Mallory,it was nice to see a struggling team do well this time out on TAR:All Stars.  It did help that this time out,one of them wasn't walking around with an injury(as they did their previous time on the race).

 The father/son duo of Dave and Connor did have some trouble during the Detour,which required all teams to build a raft to carry out their challenge,as their makeshift boat took them down to the second option and they were prepared for the first(which happened to be delivering a box of supplies).

The guys decided to go ashore and back track on land,carting that heavy crate all the way. Personally, I would have just gone with the second Detour since they were already there but this worked out nicely as they wound up being Team Number One at the Pit Stop:

However,we still had a team destined to depart and that dubious honor fell to Joey and Meghan. They also had raft trouble and a delay that they weren't able to overcome as well as Dave and Connor were.

Sorry,guys,better luck next time! Hey,with more than one team having a third try at this race, seeing Joey and Meghan again is not completely off the table:

It was quite the action packed episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this week,as Lady Sif descended from Asgard to track down escaped enchantress Lorelei(a plot point from Thor:The Dark World-I so need to see that).

Lorelei provided herself to be a formidable foe and her mind control over men caused some severe heartache for Melinda May as she informed her that Ward(who was under her spell) admitted that he had feelings for a female member of his team and "it's not you."-nice stiletto jab to the heart there,ouch! I do hope that this isn't the last we see of Lorelei,as we could use some top level villainy on this show:

A bigger development was Coulson casually quizzing Lady Sif about possible other alien visitors to earth,particularly ones with a blue hue to their skin and in the list of names she rattled off,Kree was mentioned.

To diehard Marvel fans,the Kree is a big deal since they play a prominent role in several superhero story lines and might even be featured in the next Avengers movie. With Coulson and now Skye having extraterrestrial blood in their veins, this lays open some serious possibilities and with Coulson now being determined to uncover as many secrets as he can about this,things are bound to get messy.

We're getting some promo Marvel special next week but when the new episode of AOS returns, this avenue is definitely going to be explored further:

Hell's Kitchen is ready to start up again tonight,as the standard pack of misfit chefs line up for culinary punishment.

By now,the formula for this competition is easy to predict and while it's not on the level of something like Top Chef,HK does offer some fiery fun to be had. I should just stay away but such delicious comfort(junk) food for thought is hard to resist,folks:

RANDOM NOTES:

TATTOO NIGHTMARES: The latest season of this show is now airing at Spike on Tuesday nights at 11 and even if you're not into such personal artwork, you can at least appreciate the talents of the folk tasked to repair the damage caused by unfortunate tattoo decision such as Jasmine(who I am happy to say is a family friend),whose handiwork is truly amazing to behold: