Category Archives: Film and TV Reviews
A is for… Angel #AtoZChallenge
A is for… Angel
You may notice a nod or twenty to Joss Whedon in my list of Supernatural/Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV shows and here is the first.
Angel – the ‘best vampire with a soul’ got his own spin-off series that ran for five seasons (1999-2004). He is joined by Cordelia and then Wesley and latterly Spike as well as having some guest appearances from other Buffy stars. Running his own Supernatural PI firm Angel Investigations he often comes up against the shady Wolfram Hart law company.
My top 5 episodes from Angel are:
Smile Time – Season 5 Episode 14
Angel gets turned into a puppet – Spike takes the piss – enough said.
Spin the Bottle – Season 4 Episode 6
A spell gone awry makes everyone think they are 17. Spike and Giles think they are father and son.
Over the Rainbow/Through the Looking Glass/There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb
The team are sucked into Lorne’s home dimension Pylea through a portal. Cordelia is treated as a Princess and is placed in charge (which she loves) and we meet Fred (the fantastic Amy Acker).
And a quick nod to American Gothic
…
Tomorrow B is for…Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Much later this evening A is for…Autoethnography (in my PhD A to Z challenge – post still being written and I’m off out).
So are you Angel fans? What episodes or characters do you like best?
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A to Z – Provisional Post Ideas #AtoZChallenge
Yes, I have decided to take part in the blogging from A to Z challenge this year, and I’m going to take part twice.
I will be blogging about Supernatural/Sci-Fi/Fantasy type TV shows I’ve seen and also a PhD related blog post a day too – I ran this past my Supervisor today who thought it would be a good thing because she might actually get to see some of my thoughts written down!!
TV Shows Provisional List (with additional sneaky mentions on some days and slight cheats on three)
A is for… Angel
B is for… Buffy the Vampire Slayer
C is for… Charmed
D is for… Dead Like Me
E is for… Eureka
F is for… Firefly
G is for… Ghost Whisperer (sneaky Game of Thrones mention too)
H is for… Hex
I is for… Incredible Hulk
J is for… Journeyman
K is for… Kingdom Hospital
L is for… Lost
M is for… Missing
N is for… No Ordinary Family
O is for… Once Upon a Time
P is for… Point Pleasant
Q is for… Quantum Leap
R is for… Roswell
S is for… Supernatural (Def plus sneaky extras inc The Secret Circle, Switch and Smallville – there’s an abundance of S Shows)
T is for… Teen Wolf
U is for… Um there are no Us so let’s go for numbers – 666 Park Avenue
V is for… Vampire Diaries
W is for… Wonderfalls
X is for… X Files
Y is for… Your Favourites
Z is for… Zombies – Dead Set (If I get round to watching it in time)
PhD Provisional List (Book reviews won’t be able to be of the whole book but key concepts)
A is for… Autoethnography
B is for… Beginning
C is for… Conferences
D is for… Dialogism (Book)
E is for… Ethics
F is for… First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process (Book)
G is for… Grame Harper’s Interviews with Contemporary Writers (Inside Creative Writing) (Book)
H is for… Heroine
I is for… Intertextuality (Book)
J is for… Journalling and Reflexivity
K is for… King – On Writing (Book)
L is for… Le Guin on Writing (The Wave in the Mind) (Book)
M is for… Mewburn (Dr Inger) – The Thesis Whisperer
N is for… Narrative Inquiry (Book)
O is for… Ontology, Epistemology and all that Jazz
P is for… Pratchett on Writing (A Slip of the Keyboard) (Book)
Q is for… Qualitative
R is for… Radical Rhetoric
S is for… Situating Everyday Life (Book)
T is for… Transactional Perspective (Book)
U is for… Ubiquitous
V is for… Value the Personal
W is for… Why I Write (Orwell) (Book)
X is for… X doesn’t mark the spot
Y is for… Your story too
Z is for… Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury) (Book)
So, that’s my challenge – now I need to start writing and scheduling as much as possible so that I can visit and comment on other blogs.
Are you doing the challenge this year? Picked a theme? Planning or winging it?
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Got to Respect ‘Got to Dance’
I love Got to Dance and here is why.
The judges
Ashley, Kimberley, Aston and, when he was on it, Adam are all so enthusiastic about dance in its many forms.
And they are NICE. Take note judges on other competitions. Nice is ok. In fact nice is pretty bloody fantastic. Even when giving criticism they are constructive. At the moment Got to Dance is the only show where the judge’s comments are as important for me to watch as the acts. Many other shows I fast forward because they get too mean, to each other, let alone the contestants.
The chemistry between the judges is great, they respect each other as artists and even when they have spats it never seems to go too far and there is always a kiss and make up.
They have fun
Jumping over stacked armchairs in the backstage area!
The dancing
One mini regret I do have is giving up dancing, ok so I was never going to be a prima ballerina but it’s fun to move to music, or without. I love watching dancing, especially street dancing.
This show will probably be responsible for most of the pins I add to my Dances I Love Pinterest board. http://pinterest.com/kirstyes/dances-i-love/
I did ‘non graded’ ballet and tap when I was younger – here are some of my outfits/shoes. I ‘remember’ playing princesses (or Neverending Story Childhood Empresses) with the blue hair accessory.
Appreciation
I mentioned it above but it needs saying again. The judges are so passionate about dance and they respect each and every contestant for giving it a go. Never have I seen them say give up dancing, yes they’ve said it’s not right for this competition and the money but they still encourage people to participate and that (as an Occupational Therapist) is so important. Do we have to be the best to take part and enjoy. NO.
I love how Ashley bounces up and down and hand gestures when he sees something really sick – and stands up when it is amazing. I joined in clapping with them when the member of Groundhogs jumped up to the height of Ashley’s head – that dude is tall.
Ps. I may be slightly in lust with Ashley, wanted to apply to Secret Dance Crew and am going to see Diversity on tour later this year (I saw them on the BGT the year they won and they were stunning).
Love this dance of Kimberley’s too.
Even the fact that the Got to Dance twitter account has twice ignored my very intelligent question about the influence of music on a gold star decision and whether anyone has got 3 gold stars without using music to dance to can’t dissuade me from my love and respect for this show.
kirstyes 
