Web Series Watch Party: It Could Be Worse

Since the web series The Outs had concluded at the end of the month, I have been in search of a new web series to fill my time with. This search had been proving fruitless until about a week ago, when I stumbled across It Could Be Worse, a darkly comedic web series created by Mitchell Jarvis and Wesley Taylor. After watching the first few episodes I became hooked and buckled myself in for the funny and rather twisted ride.

It Could Be Worse follows the life of Jacob Gordon, played by Taylor, as he deals with his needy, neurotic boyfriend and his insanely odd parents. Gordon's life is turned around when an old flame, Ben Farrel, returns to New York City and prompts Gordon to start changing things in his life.

Wesley Taylor who portrays Jacob Gordon in It Could Be Worse.
Photo courtesy of Google Images. 

So far there have only been ten episodes that have been released, but there are more to come. Even as I sit, writing this post I wait in anticipation for the next episode to be put online. Each episode has a run time of anywhere between 7 and 10 minutes. These episodes are not wanting for content, despite their short length.

The writing for the series has been humorous and dark, causing the viewer to find the perfect mixture of awe and hilarity in each episode. Taylor and Mitchell have provided audiences with a wicked storyline that does not disappoint. Each episode builds on past episodes, expanding the plot and characters but still keeping the watcher in anticipation for what twist could come next. From drugs to pooping in the ladies room, It Could Be Worse provides excellent coverage of the topics and plot twists that we all yearn for.

The series was awarded Indie Series of the Week on welovesoaps.net, and was nominated for the win for four consecutive weeks. It Could Be Worse is quickly becoming one of the most talked about series on the web. All of this is completely understandable. With the great writing, and the absolutely outstanding performances from the cast, this series provided what I was looking for after my emotional ending with The Outs.

The series also has wonderful guest stars sprinkled throughout the episodes including Audra McDonald, who plays Jacob Gordon's shrink, and Debra Messing, a neighbor of Jacob Gordon's who doesn't seem to get along with him very well. These are just a few of the wonderful surprise appearances that come up in practically every episode. The entire cast is filled with the latest faces from on and off Broadway, and any theatre lover would be ecstatic to watch this.

Each character gives a wonderful performance as well. Taylor's portrayal of Jacob Gordon is phenomenal. Every mishap that comes his way deepens your sympathy for the character, and sometimes makes you want to jump into the screen and comfort him once another thing in his life goes wrong. Overall, the cast does a wonderful job of bringing this fantastic, dark world to life.

If you are interested in watching It Could Be Worse you can find all ten episodes here. Enjoy!

The Best (and Worst) Thing to Happen During My College Career

As well as being a lover of books, I am an avid lover of good television shows. I'm just going to throw that out there now. But I never really got to watch any TV my freshman year at college. If I did it would be an episode of Glee (thank God that stopped after first semester) or shows like Weird Addictions or Call of the Wildman. This was partly due to the fact that my roommate and I were generally not watching TV while working on homework, or hanging out with friends. TV was something we turned on right before we turned the lights off to wind down from the day.

I still don't watch a lot of TV now that I have an apartment, and a TV to myself. The only show I follow religiously is Parks & Recreation and if you don't watch that show, then you are wrong. The irony of the whole situation is that, while I don't watch a lot of TV, I watch a gigantic ton of TV shows.

The answer to the conundrum: Netflix.

One of my roommates hooked me up with his subscription when I was trying to watch the 90s version of X-Men on Youtube and it wasn't working out. After that, it all went down hill. I became hooked to the site, and began to log a solid five to six hours in front of the computer screen watching cartoons, British sci-fi shows (five guesses on what show I'm talking about) and comedy shows like Parks & Rec and 30 Rock.

I'm still a little tender over the series finale.
Photo courtesy of Netflix via Google Images

This all seemed great! Finally, I had a database where I could find the shows I wanted to all in one place. I started compiling a list of shows that I wanted to see. A list, might I add, that is still in existence today, while I am writing this post. This show list coupled with my addiction to Netflix began to run my life, and dictated how much time I spent in front of the computer. There was even one day that I stayed in my room the entire day, marathoning the entire second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender (woops don't tell my professors. I still got an A in the class I missed, it was one time). My friends knew that if I was laughing at something on my computer I was generally watching a show on Netflix. It was bad.

My Netflix addiction took a peak during the summer. While I was living in Columbia working towards getting residency in Missouri, I could spend close to 7 or 8 hours straight of watching Battlestar Galactica, Charmed, and any other tv show that I could stream. After getting off work I would walk in to my apartment and go straight to my laptop. Before I knew it, the day would be gone and I would have gotten through half a season of Torchwood.

To this day I have been unable to stop my continual use of Netflix. But I have embraced it, and am no longer ashamed of how often I use it. Netflix has become a way for me to relax after a long day of class, studying and writing. It provides an outlet for me to unwind during the week while still being entertained and without having to deal with pesky commercials and advertisements. The most important thing is that I have found a way to balance my Netflix use and ensure that I don't watch anything before my work is done. And that's what college is all about, finding the balance between school, work and life.

Netflix has become part of my life. I use the streaming service everyday, and I have practically gotten rid of conventional television in my life. This has become true for many people in my generation, I believe. Especially among the group of people I spend most of my time with, the TV doesn't play a major role in our everyday life. We use the television for video games, and using consoles to get Netflix on the TV so that we don't have to watch movies or shows on our laptops all the time.

I know that I am a Netflix junky, but I also know that I am not alone with this particular vice.

Can I Be Pavel Andreievich Chekov?

With the second semester in full swing now, I've found very few opportunities to blog. I'm still working vehemently on the 2013 Reading Challenge, although I did have to switch books due to some changes (just a heads up the next review will be on Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan). Many of my professors in the J-School would find my lack of blogging as being lazy, but I just call it being busy with class, internship, projects and work. This semester has a smaller class load, but way more work outside of the classroom. Maybe. I need to check on that.

Anyway, with the added work hours and the internship that I am participating in, I try to find time to spend with my friends and roommates. Recently we all started watching Breaking Bad together on Netflix, starting from season one. Other activities we do together include cooking dinners together, going to Taco Bell and McDonalds (conveniently placed near our abode) and playing video games together. This last option took on a fun, new form tonight that I felt would be a great way to spring back into the blogosphere.

This turn of events came in the shape of an iPhone app called Spaceteam. The app was realeased Nov. 29, 2012, by Sleeping Beast Games according to this website. It is a cooperative party game where 2 to 4 people sit on their iPhones and scream nonsense words at each other. Each player is randomly assigned a panel with buttons, switches, dials and knobs on them. Each player must follow instructions that are meant to move the team on to the next sector. The instructions are time sensitive, and the best twist of all, the instructions are sent to your teammates so there is quite a bit of shouting out orders. The entire time you're playing the game the ship is falling apart, and space anomalies such as thermal storms, asteroids, and wormholes make it harder to follow the instructions being shouted at you.

Once you think the game is easy it gives you crazy words to shout out.
 Photo courtesy of Apple, via Google Images. 

One of my roommates found out about this app from a Podcast that he listens to regularly and told the rest of us to download it and that we would be playing it later in the evening. We were all curious as to what the game was even about, but we downloaded and waited to get back to our apartment in order to try it out. Right before we started playing we asked what the game was about and he said, "It's like Star Trek. We each get a panel and we have to fly a ship."

I immediately asked if I could be Chekov. Or Scotty. But mainly, I wanted to be Chekov. I mean come on, Chekov is awesome. He's a pretty sweet pilot And who wouldn't want to have that great, Russian accent?

How can you not want to be him?
Courtesy of Wikepedia via Google Images

Anyway, after we worked out the debacles with the Wifi and the Bluetooth, we all joined in on the Spaceteam fun. Our living room was filled with shouts of, "set shiftcrane to 1," "activate zeta-rack," and one of my favorites, "cancel subscriptions." There were also times when iPhones were vigorously shook to avoid asteroids, and even moments where we had to flip upside down so as to not be sucked into a wormhole.

The wormholes make your screen go all wonky so you better flip.
Photo courtesy of the wonderful and amazing Chelsea Kim.

Our team was only able to make it to Sector 8 before our ship burst into flames from the expanding star that we were attempting to outrun. This app was some of the most fun I've had playing a game on my iPhone. Even more so than the "critically acclaimed" Temple Run. The game gets stressful as you move on through the sectors due to the fact that your time grows shorter and the commands start to come in faster. But even with everyone shouting orders and instructions at the same time and no one truly knowing what is going on in the game, we were able to pull it together and get through seven minutes of the game. SEVEN INTENSE MINUTES.

Seven minutes was the longest time we clocked as a team of four tonight.

I would definitely recommend this app for any group of friends looking for a fun way to spend an hour or two, especially on a weekday when movies, Netflix and homework aren't sufficient enough distractions. Not to mention it's free so that's an added bonus. Be ready to scream at your friends and recite crazy, technobabble that will make absolutely no sense!

Just a hint, if you play with two people, it's a lot less intense since you won't have three people barking instructions at you, but it feels more like a dialogue between two pilots in the middle of the Bermuda triangle when the plane is about to go down. But I highly recommend playing in a group of four, since this is way more fun and intense (and slightly stressful when you get to higher sectors) but it's all for a good time.

Enjoy it! And play where you can be loud (my friends and I talked about how funny it would be if a group played during a lecture and were shouting instructions over the professor. Easy way to get kicked out of class) otherwise you may encounter some problems with the flux oscillator.

Live Blogging the 2013 Golden Globe awards with Connor

I always get pretty excited when it comes for the time of the year that the award shows start airing. I am an avid lover of many television series and movies, and it's a great thing to see the people who bring these things I love get the recognition that they deserve. And since this is the first year that I am running a blog while award season is going on, I figured why not, live blog the Golden Globe awards, and see where it goes from there.

I'm pulling for a lot of actors and actresses to get awards tonight, especially Jessica Lange, Maggie Smith, Anne Hathaway, Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Afleck. I am also having a crisis because both Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series for Parks and Rec and 30 Rock. I love both of these wonderful comedians and both of these shows, which is making it hard to try and predict which will win, because I feel like both of them are brilliant.

Check back here throughout the night as I give updates and my own personal commentary on the awards as the night goes on!

6:28- finally tuning in to the red carpet special. I usually enjoy watching the interviews, however it's not the best part of the night! P.S. Daniel Day Lewis still looks a little bit like Abe Lincoln.

6:30- Adele appears on my screen and I think I just fell in love with her all over again.

6:33- Richard Gere will always be Billy Flynn in my life. Even with the white mane.

6:34- If Adele doesn't win Original Song I may set something on fire.

6:44- I swear if Hugh Jackman starts singing, I will drive to the awards right now and give him the award he deserves (hint: It's not a Golden Globe, it starts with P and rhymes with lunch.)

6:51- Sofia Vergara is amazing and beautiful. That is all.

7:00- Oh yay it's time for the awards show.

7:08- Tina and Amy are both brilliant. They gave a wonderful introduction for the night.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Christoph Waltz
I was hoping Leo would get this one, but it's the same movie I guess. OH WELL.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Maggie Smith
I couldn't have been happier. Maggie Smith is an amazing and wonderful actress. Too bad she couldn't have been there tonight.

Best Mini-Series or TV Movie: Game Change
Not what I was pulling for, a little sad not to see Sigourney Weaver up there.

Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie: Julianne Moore
Why didn't it go to Jessica Lange? Because people make poor decisions.

Best Actor in a TV Series Drama: Damian Lewis
Just proof that I need to start watching Homeland.

Best TV Series Drama: Homeland
Once again, more proof that I need to start watching this show again.

Best Original Score: Mychael Danna
None of the awards I'm hoping for are coming through. About to give up on everything. At least this isn't the Oscars.

Best Original Song in a Motion Picture: Adele
Finally! Looks like I won't be burning anything in my town.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for TV: Kevin Costner
Benedict Cumberbatch would have been my first pick for Sherlock, but that's OK too, I guess.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical: Jennifer Lawrence
Couldn't be happier! She is definitely a talented actress and deserves the award. Also can Will Farrell and Kristen Wiig host my life?

Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie: Ed Harris
Just keep on rolling in the disappointments tonight. No, it's OK. I can take it.

Keep on trying Megan Fox...

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Anne Hathaway
Holy cow, I couldn't be happier. Her performance as Fantine was stunning and she definitely deserves that award.

Best Screen Play for Motion Picture: Quentin Tarantino
I wasn't entirely surprised with this one. Just wish my pick had won.

Best Actor in a TV Series Comedy or Musical: Don Cheadle
I'm seriously about to give up on rooting for my picks. Nothing against Don Cheadle, he is a wonderful actor, but I was hoping for a 30 Rock win.

Best Foreign Film: Amour
We get it, you both have thick accents that make it impossible to understand you, the commentary wasn't that necessary. Unfortunately I was unable to see many foreign films this past year so I'm not entirely sure which was the most deserving for this category.

Best Actress for a TV Series- Drama: Claire Danes
Wait, did anyone else see Homeland winning!? But really, Claire is a wonderful actress, and I had no idea she was Temple Grandin in Temple Grandin! Which is a brilliant movie and she was marvelous as the title character.

Sacha Baron Cohen can host my life too as far as I'm concerned.

Best Animated Feature Film: Brave
Another point for Connor! I'm very excited that this was the winner, what a great movie!

Aziz Ansari is the best.

Best Actress in a TV Series Comedy or Musical: Lena Dunham
My heart has been broken yet again. How could Tina/Amy not get this! Oh well, good for Lena, congrats on the first time winner!

"Drunk" Amy and Tina are pretty funny, I was wondering where that would go. I can't believe Tina just made a Taylor Swift joke though! Maybe that will turn up in her next album.

Also Jodie Foster is awesome and she has been a great actress over the years. What a great person to win such an award. Can't wait to see where she goes from here.

Best Director of a Motion Picture: Ben Affleck
I was honestly quite surprised by this. I honestly thought that Tarantino or Lee would have won. But this is actually really exciting. Glad he got it.

I honestly feel like the cast of SNL is taking over this awards show. Can they do it for all other awards shows? This honestly doesn't feel like a bad thing.

Best TV series Comedy or Musical: Girls
I wish I had HBO so I could see what the hype about this show is. I was expecting Smash to win. Then I remember that it's HBO. The more nudity, the better the show, right?

Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical: Hugh Jackman.
I can only hope that he won this for his acting, because that was pretty great. The singing on the other hand, probably should have cost him the award.

Best Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical: Les Miserables
Can anyone say predictable in French? I really did enjoy the movie and I'm happy that it won, but I am an ardent Wes Anderson fan and I was really hoping for Moonrise Kingdom, even though I know it didn't stand a chance.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama: Jessica Chastain
I am really excited to see Zero Dark Thirty and it's really exciting that she got this. I really am looking forward to seeing her performance now.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama: Daniel Day Lewis
And Lincoln takes the gold! I did enjoy this movie and I thought that Lewis gave a wonderful performance, as he has in the past. His portrayal of Lincoln was very well done.

Best Motion Picture Drama: Argo
Congrats to Ben and the cast of Argo! I am very excited that this won.

Well then! What an interesting night. While I walked away from this first of many award shows a little upset, I'm sure that with at least one of the many more that are on the horizon I won't be too upset. I was happy with some of the results but I still think the night could have gone a little bit better. We can't win all of them though.

And so concludes the Live Blogging of the Golden Globe Awards Show. Thanks for checking this blog, and following the updates. My next live blogging event will most likely be the Academy Awards, and on that note, good night!

Reading Challenge: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I've finished the first book on my 2013 reading list, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

Courtesy of Google Images. 

I wasn't surprised that I would finish this book pretty quickly, due to the fact that I had started reading this on the 21 of December, well before I got the idea to start the reading list as a portion of my blog.

In total it took me two weeks to read Larsson's novel that has been filled with intrigue and twists and turns. These past few nights reading the book I've stayed up until around 4 in the morning reading, simply because I couldn't put the book down. I also wanted to finish this book quickly because I have been itching to watch the movie for a while now, but I have been waiting until I had read the book. 

But more of that later, here is my review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. 

This book follows Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative reporter who has recently been convicted of libel after he reported on a scandal that had to do with the CEO of one of Sweden's largest businesses. After this nasty debacle Blomkvist is approached by the wealthy captain of industry, Henrik Vanger, who asks Blomkvist to poke around his family and solve a 40-year-old mystery that still haunts him, the disappearance of his niece, Harriet Vanger. After some persuasion and a crazy amount of cash Blomkvist agrees and moves to the middle of nowhere to work on this mystery that seems impossible to solve. 

The other protagonist is Lisbeth Salander, who is a genius computer hacker working for a security company in Stockholm. She is originally hired to do the background check on Blomkvist, and eventually, much later in the book, is asked by Blomkvist to become his research assistant. The two characters work together and eventually solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Harriet Vanger. Uncovering the truth does come at an insane cost, and the plot twist and revelation of who was behind the disappearance of Harriet is one of the most exciting parts of the book. 

One of the main themes behind the book is violence against women, and how that is handle in Swedish society. And this book is not wanting of rape scenes, women being murdered and deplorable cases of women being quieted against their attackers. Larsson does a good job of highlighting rape culture in Sweden and how it plays such an important role in the book. Larsson even highlights some of the statistics surrounding violence toward women in Sweden. 

Overall, the book was enjoyable to read, however, I felt that it took too much time in getting into the mystery and the discovery of the clues that would lead Blomkvist and Salander to the discovery of the villain. The beginning is a little slow, and I felt like I had to push to get through to the part when Blomkvist actually starts working on the mystery. Once he starts discovering the clues, the book becomes much more exciting, which of course led to multiple nights of staying up til 2 or 3 reading quickly so I could discover what the next step in the mystery was. 

The book is not lacking for content, however. There are many twists and turns that the reader doesn't see coming and take the reader by surprise. When the villain is finally revealed and Blomkvist and Salander have their confrontation with the villain is the part of the book when the pages start to fly past because you're reading at hyper speed, totally engrossed in the story. Once the mystery is solved and the conflict is resolved, however, the book slows down a bit, as is to be expected. With a heart warming finale, the book comes to an end exactly how the reader would want it to end. 

While there is no lack for content in the book, I felt the writing style was a bit behind. Throughout the book, I felt as if I were actually reading a news article, with the way that Larsson approached the characters. This is understandable because Larsson had been a journalist, however, the style of prose gets jumbled and simplistic in many places throughout the novel. There were many times where I would have to go back and reread a paragraph because it had been written in a confusing way and I hadn't understood what was actually being said. Also, the novel is riddled with financial and technical jargon that I, being unversed in the world of finance and only somewhat versed in the tech world, had a difficulty following. 

All in all, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was an exciting and entertaining read that will keep you up to the early hours of the morning. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Now that that's out of the way, be on the lookout for my next reading challenge post, The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling!