I'm so relieved that the writer's strike is finally over!  We will still have to cope with mainly repeats for a few months on TV though, while they start up writing/filming again. 

We've all had our own ways of coping with the interruption of the season during the strike, and one of mine was to go online and watch Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick's (My So-Called Life, Thirtysomething) new show Quarterlife.   Has anyone out there besides me been watching this show?  Has anyone else out there even heard about it?

It's an online only show that's about a group of post collegiate 20-somethings.  It's a strange, kind of irking format-- 8 min or so segments are posted twice weekly for our streaming enjoyment.  Give me an hour, hell, even a half hour-- I need more of a story arc!  But you won't have to wade through it the way I did.  Apparently (thank you, writer's strike) the show is coming to NBC in about a week and I am guessing they will sew the bits together into a full hour. 

The 20-something group of friends live in a crappy apartment complex somewhere in Los Angeles.  There's a main character, Dylan, a too-pretty-to-be-an-outcast outcast.  She lives with her friends Debra and Lisa, both skinny-as-all-get- out but burdened with complex problems of course.  Note to casting agent: you can't make a model-esque actress more relatable simply by slapping some eyeglasses on her!  Oh well.  Anyway, Dylan has a video blog where she talks about her own inner thoughts and her friends' lives.  I have no idea why someone would do this and think her friends would not discover and watch the blogs....but I guess on this show it's used as a catalyst for drama. Also causing drama, in a nearby unit there are three 20-something guys, ladies man Danny and film nerds Andy and Jed.  Also, Debra's hippie style friend Eric moves in with the gals after a few episodes and starts filling the house with his aggro leftism.

Julie Delpy has written, directed, and starred in a suitably quirky, very French film-- 2 Days In Paris.

I had loved two films Delpy previously starred in-- both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, directed by Richard Linklater-- so I had wanted to check out this film that Delpy herself created ever since I heard about it last year.   Now 2 Days In Paris is finally out on DVD. It's style is somewhat similar to those earlier films:  loose, casual, conversational.

2 Days in Paris is about a French woman, Marion, who lives in New York with her American boyfriend, Jack (Adam Goldberg).  They have just been on a trip to Venice which was less romantic than perhaps they had hoped.  They have to stop over in Paris on their way back to New York to see Delpy's family.  It's a simple plot, which leaves ample space for character development, something I happen to enjoy in films.

The film contains a pretty realistic vision of a relationship -- it shows a neurotic, cloudy person (Jack) in love with a floaty, free person (Marion).  It's a total case of opposites attracting. The couple's clashes inevitably made me cringe and laugh as I saw flashes of my own relationship onscreen.

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I know I'm a bit late here, but I am just catching on to 30 Rock.  Season 1 is out on DVD.


Ex-SNLer Tina Fey writes and produces the show.  I never paid much attention to SNL, but when I did I always thought Tina was onto something.  I feel like she knows what it is like to be a real life woman, and for this, I salute her.  She knows what it's like to find women who care about highlighting their hair or finding that perfect nail shop completely alien.  She knows what it is like to be the not-as-cute friend, the one who watches quietly while her more high maintenance pals score dates.  She knows what it is like to finally get a date and then feel so awkward in that world that one can't imagine how anyone actually forms a real relationship.

In other words, what I like best about Tina Fey and her writing is that she isn't afraid to just be herself.  Isn't that refreshing?  What kind of world would we have if more people felt comfortable and confident enough to just be themselves?  But in the meantime, let's just say, the ratings for this show have not been good.  Ah, America.


30 Rock takes place on the set of a variety show that Liz Lemon (Fey) and her old blonde friend Jenna (Jane Krakowski) created.  Liz is the head writer of the show and Jenna stars on it ... Until one day a new boss who is used to running the corporate headquarters of General Electric, Jack (Alec Baldwin), bursts their bubble and hires unstable movie star Tracey Jordan (Tracey Morgan) to headline the show.

Gene Clark is sort of a tragic figure.  He is also one of the most complex, idiosyncratic rock stars I have ever read about -- I just finished Mr. Tambourine Man by John Einerson.  Due to mental illness, addiction and over abundant sycophants, he died too soon and without ever realizing and enjoying his true potential.

Things started out triumphantly enough in the early 60s, with Gene being plucked from complete obscurity in Kansas by the New Christy Minstrels to be in their group.  He toured with them for a few months before his fear of flying, among other things, forced him to quit the band.  He kept Los Angeles as his home base and soon met Roger McGuinn and David Crosby and they began creating music together.  Soon, The Byrds were the biggest American band in the middle of the 60s and they were creating the kind of songs that will be remembered forever.

Clark's time in The Byrds was truly the stuff that dreams are made of.  He was a star literally over night, able to buy a Ferrari and live on the edge.  He became used to the amount of attention being a super star and the toast of the nation brought him.

Gene was the main songwriter in The Byrds at that time, with songs like "My Love Don't Care About Time" and "Feel A Whole Lot Better", which meant that he was earning the most money.  The others in the band jealously undermined him, especially David Crosby, who convinced an insecure Gene that he was such a poor guitar player that he shouldn't play on stage anymore.  Crosby told Gene he should sing and shake the tambourine instead.  Of course, Crosby took over Gene's Gretsch on stage. The many power plays within the group eventually led to Gene quitting the band.

This clip fairly wraps up my mood this week.



Agh. Brian Wilson kills me. Absolutely kills me.  I'll just be in my sand box over here.