In case you're wondering, their final scores were separated by 1/2 a point. Diana (11 years old!) in the first video got 92, Eva (age 13) got 92.5. Next time they compete head to head. How do you choose a winner from these two?! Amazing.
7.19.2017
Blown away
This week on World of Dance, they selected the top two performers from the teen group. These two young ladies have stood out from the very start, and wow, did they bring it this week.
In case you're wondering, their final scores were separated by 1/2 a point. Diana (11 years old!) in the first video got 92, Eva (age 13) got 92.5. Next time they compete head to head. How do you choose a winner from these two?! Amazing.
In case you're wondering, their final scores were separated by 1/2 a point. Diana (11 years old!) in the first video got 92, Eva (age 13) got 92.5. Next time they compete head to head. How do you choose a winner from these two?! Amazing.
7.16.2017
Quick TV Review
I've said it once, and I'll say it again--there's too much TV! There are so many shows to watch and it's getting harder and harder to keep up with what everyone's watching. I've watched a lot of TV over the last few weekends and just wanted to give a quick review. (And keep this as a reminder for myself of what I've watched!)
Orange is the New Black, Season 5 - did I already write about this? I liked some of it, I hated some of it. I hated the sadistic nature of the whole season. It was really kind of gross. I also hated that the whole season covered maybe 5 days. The riot storyline got old. But then it had some great moments like Tastee fighting for the memory of Poussey. It did end with a good cliff hanger leaving me wanting to know what happens next.
House of Cards, Season 5 - this season left a lot to be desired. I don't find it as clever and smart as I used to. However, the last line of the finale will keep me watching.
Veep - Same thing. Selena was particularly mean this season. She's always mean, but this season I didn't find it as funny. I kind of think it's because of all the mean-spritedness in real-life politics. Watching Veep is no longer an escape. It's too real. This was my least favorite season.
Suits - Suits is back on. It's not the same without Jessica, but it'll do. As I was watching the season opener, I was thinking about the cast and wondering if working with Meghan Markle is any different now that she's close to being royalty.
Glow - I liked this Netflix series a lot. It's about the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, which was apparently a show in the 80s that provided a lady version. In the series, Marc Maron casts a bunch of down and out actresses to create his show. I read that some of the writers came from OITNB, and that's why this show has a similar feel. All the ladies have their own back stories. I've never had any interest in wrestling, but the show isn't really about that. It's about the characters. I liked it.
Friends from College - I really wanted to love this Netflix show, but in the end, I kind of hated it. The first episode was promising, but then it just got icky. There's no one to root for. Well, I like Fred Savage's character, but he's not the main focus. If this gets renewed for a second season, I'd be surprised. I also don't plan to watch.
Playing House - I thought I had written about this before, but apparently I hadn't. I LOVE this show. It's about two best friends--one of them quits her job and moves home to help the other through a divorce to raise a new baby. I love the women on this show. Season 3 is out, but I decided to go back and watch the first two before I start 3. I read that one of the actresses, Jessica St. Clair, had cancer in real life and they wrote that in to Season 3. I'm sure it will be bittersweet, but also well done.
Handmaid's Tale - whoa! I'd read that the show is better than the book, and it is! They added a lot more dimension to the story and created storylines that I wondered about when I read the book. It's very well done and Elizabeth Moss is great, as always. Can't wait for season 2.
I think that's everything. If I think of anything else, I'll come back later in the week.
Orange is the New Black, Season 5 - did I already write about this? I liked some of it, I hated some of it. I hated the sadistic nature of the whole season. It was really kind of gross. I also hated that the whole season covered maybe 5 days. The riot storyline got old. But then it had some great moments like Tastee fighting for the memory of Poussey. It did end with a good cliff hanger leaving me wanting to know what happens next.
House of Cards, Season 5 - this season left a lot to be desired. I don't find it as clever and smart as I used to. However, the last line of the finale will keep me watching.
Veep - Same thing. Selena was particularly mean this season. She's always mean, but this season I didn't find it as funny. I kind of think it's because of all the mean-spritedness in real-life politics. Watching Veep is no longer an escape. It's too real. This was my least favorite season.
Suits - Suits is back on. It's not the same without Jessica, but it'll do. As I was watching the season opener, I was thinking about the cast and wondering if working with Meghan Markle is any different now that she's close to being royalty.
Glow - I liked this Netflix series a lot. It's about the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, which was apparently a show in the 80s that provided a lady version. In the series, Marc Maron casts a bunch of down and out actresses to create his show. I read that some of the writers came from OITNB, and that's why this show has a similar feel. All the ladies have their own back stories. I've never had any interest in wrestling, but the show isn't really about that. It's about the characters. I liked it.
Friends from College - I really wanted to love this Netflix show, but in the end, I kind of hated it. The first episode was promising, but then it just got icky. There's no one to root for. Well, I like Fred Savage's character, but he's not the main focus. If this gets renewed for a second season, I'd be surprised. I also don't plan to watch.
Playing House - I thought I had written about this before, but apparently I hadn't. I LOVE this show. It's about two best friends--one of them quits her job and moves home to help the other through a divorce to raise a new baby. I love the women on this show. Season 3 is out, but I decided to go back and watch the first two before I start 3. I read that one of the actresses, Jessica St. Clair, had cancer in real life and they wrote that in to Season 3. I'm sure it will be bittersweet, but also well done.
Handmaid's Tale - whoa! I'd read that the show is better than the book, and it is! They added a lot more dimension to the story and created storylines that I wondered about when I read the book. It's very well done and Elizabeth Moss is great, as always. Can't wait for season 2.
I think that's everything. If I think of anything else, I'll come back later in the week.
7.10.2017
The unexpected juxtaposition of two books
The last book I read was The Handmaid's Tale. I enjoyed it, but decided not to write a review because as I read through the reviews on Goodreads, I didn't think there was anything else I could add.
The day after I finished that book, I started listening to the audio version of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, which is read by Trevor, and which I am thoroughly enjoying. What keeps hitting me, though, are the similarities between the two books.
The Handmaid's Tale is a fictional account about the subjugation of women by white men (this was true in the book--I've seen the first two episodes of the Hulu show and they seem to have taken race out of the equation). In Born a Crime, Trevor describes the real-life subjugation of black and colored (mixed-race) people by white people under apartheid in South Africa. A true story that's not too distant in our past. (Trevor was born under apartheid in 1984.) That just blows my mind.
There's a lot of discussion in both books about how the men in power separate groups and maintain control over them. In The Handmaid's Tale, the women were not allowed to read or talk with each other for fear of the women spreading ideas of uprising. In South Africa under apartheid, black people weren't supposed to learn languages outside of their own tribe's. Those in power had to keep the various tribes separate and apart. It's strange to read these things back to back and it's disheartening to think of how badly those in power can treat people in order to maintain that power. And of all of these thoughts are happening in my head in the midst of today's political landscape where they're trying to kick millions and millions of people of health insurance.
Sigh. So, that's what been on my mind for a few days. I'll do a proper review of Trevor's book when I'm done. For now I can say it's quite educational and thankfully, also quite funny. I can use the laughs.
The day after I finished that book, I started listening to the audio version of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, which is read by Trevor, and which I am thoroughly enjoying. What keeps hitting me, though, are the similarities between the two books.
The Handmaid's Tale is a fictional account about the subjugation of women by white men (this was true in the book--I've seen the first two episodes of the Hulu show and they seem to have taken race out of the equation). In Born a Crime, Trevor describes the real-life subjugation of black and colored (mixed-race) people by white people under apartheid in South Africa. A true story that's not too distant in our past. (Trevor was born under apartheid in 1984.) That just blows my mind.
There's a lot of discussion in both books about how the men in power separate groups and maintain control over them. In The Handmaid's Tale, the women were not allowed to read or talk with each other for fear of the women spreading ideas of uprising. In South Africa under apartheid, black people weren't supposed to learn languages outside of their own tribe's. Those in power had to keep the various tribes separate and apart. It's strange to read these things back to back and it's disheartening to think of how badly those in power can treat people in order to maintain that power. And of all of these thoughts are happening in my head in the midst of today's political landscape where they're trying to kick millions and millions of people of health insurance.
Sigh. So, that's what been on my mind for a few days. I'll do a proper review of Trevor's book when I'm done. For now I can say it's quite educational and thankfully, also quite funny. I can use the laughs.
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