"Can We Talk About...?" 'Glee'

If you haven't heard about Glee then you've been living under a rock.

I'm sorry to be harsh, but it's true.

Honestly, I can't believe that it has taken me this long to write about since I've probably watched the Sneak Peek Premiere episode about 10 times since it aired. Not kidding. And it's also currently sharing the throne with several other television series that are my favorites even though only one episode has aired thus far.

It aired on May 19th after the American Idol season finale and the rest of the season will continue on Fox "in the fall". The only reason I'm using quotes there is because I don't know the exact date in the fall it will be starting up. Personally, I hope that Fox's version of "in the fall" means "next monday" but I'm pretty sure that's what they call "wishful thinking".

Anyway, you've been reading this and you're probably thinking, "Laura, get to the point. Why should I watch this show? Why is it so apparently awesome?" Well, let me lay it out for you.

1) It's Not High School Musical
Whatever you think Glee might be, it's not. And I know lots of people who think it's going to be like High School Musical. But in those movies, characters have been known to break into song for absolutely no reason. With this show there's a reason for the music: the Glee Club. Also, the music in Glee is about 10 kajillion times better than HSM. In the premiere alone: 'Respect', 'Rehab' and 'Don't Stop Believing'. And believe me, I can't stop listening to the show's version of 'Don't Stop Believing'. It's incredible. Which brings me to my next point...

2) A Talented Cast
Most of the cast in HSM are marginally talented (kind of. Personally I think nails being scratched on a black board is preferable to Vanessa Hudgen's so-called singing) but the cast of Glee is WAY WAY talented. When you listen to the show's reditions of the songs mentioned above, that's the cast singing. There's no stand-ins or lipsynching to another singer's voice. Nope. That's their singing. Lea Michele, who plays Rachel Berry, has the most gorgeous voice of the cast (IMHO). She was in my favorite musical, Spring Awakening, as the lead Wendla and in the show she sings a song from Les Mis called 'On My Own' and it literally has given me chills every time I have watched the premiere episode.

3) Interesting Characters
OK, sure. You've got two of the high school standards: The Betchy Cheerleader and the Cool Quarterback. But they're with a twist. The Betchy Cheerleader is also the president of the Celibacy Club and the Cool Quarterback wants to sing and can play the drums. But there's also the cast of misfits that is the Glee club; Emma Pillsbury, the teacher who's a germiphobe but also has a huge crush on Will Schuester, (the lead adult) who's the spanish teacher but really wants to turn the Glee club around. The cheerleading coach, Sue, is coniving and enjoys the fame that the Cheerios (that's the name of the cheerleading team) have brought upon her. My personal favorite is Will's wife, Terry, who I am pretty sure is ligimately crazy.

4) A Good Message
I'm going to get cheesy for a moment, so prepare yourself. The message that this show is sending (so far) seems to be a pretty good one. It's all about being true to who you are instead of what other people expect you to be. Like Rachel says to Finn (who's the Quarterback, by the way) "You need to stop caring what other people think of it. You're better than all of them." The show is about fighting and working for your dream and what you believe in. And when they sing 'Don't Stop Believing' at the end of the episode, it's a really frigging uplifting moment.

Is that still not enough to convince you? Watch this:



Have I got your attention now?

Now, hurry over to Hulu and give it a watch. Of course, if you're not in the States, you'll need to find some other means to do so. Please? I'll mean a lot to me. Thank you.

xoxo

treasure hunting the interwebs

One of my favorite things about the internet, is finding little pieces of treasure in the form of awesome blogs and websites purely by accident, chance and luck. Usually, I'll be reading something on a site that I frequent and then click a random link and wind up somewhere AMAZING.

For example, today I was reading a recap of an episode of The Office on Television Without Pity and I found this fantastic blog called Cakewrecks which features professional cakes gone horribly and hilariously wrong.

Then there's this LINK which you might not want to press, actually, because it's pretty annoying.

And there's really cool ones like this guy, Mike Matas, who is a photographer. I don't remember how I came across his stuff, but I always go to it when I'm looking to a) find inspiration or b) feel artistically insignificant.

What sites have you found in your treasure hunt across the interwebs? Leave a comment and let me know!

because i'm actually bored enough to do this...

Found this on both John Green and Charlie's blogs.

1. What's your name?
Laura Nicole. Pronounced "Lor-ah Neh-Coal"

2. What is your favorite thing to wear?
Knee socks of the argyle variety.

3. Last thing you ate?
A left over pasta dish that I made two nights ago for dinner. It was DELISH.

4. One place you will NEVER eat at?
Some kind of restaurant that only serves meat. I'm not sure if those exist but I would starve if I had to go to one of those places.

5. I say Shotgun, you say:
DAMMIT!

6. Last person you hugged?
Um. Possibly Alan. Or maybe Mike. I'm not sure. I think it was Alan. I hugged a lot of people at the staff Christmas party yesterday. More than I usually do since I have a fairly strict No-Hugging-Or-Touching Policy*.

7. Does anyone you know wanna date you?
I've heard of a couple people that I know who like-like me but the question really is "do I want to date any of THEM?"

8. Would you date anyone you met online?
Yeah, maybe. I mean it really depends on the person.

9. Name something you like physically about yourself:
My eye color. It's pretty jokes.

10. The last place you went out to dinner to?
I had dinner at the theater last night. Does that count?

11. Who is your best friend?
Jenny and Joe. That's right. I've got TWO best friends!

12. What time of the day is it?
Late afternoon.

13. Who/What made you angry today?
Anyone whom I encountered before I had coffee this morning.

14. Baseball or Football?
Football. I prefer the ENGLISH version of the word football, but if we're talking the North American meaning, it's still the same answer.

15. Ever gone skinny dipping?
I have not. Because I am neither cool or exciting.

16. Favorite type of Food?
The homemade kind.

17. Favorite holiday:
Summer. Because there's no snow. And I hate snow.

18. Do you download music:
Yes. I mostly download stuff legally, though. But if I'm not sure about a band, and I can't tell from the 30 second sample I hear on iTunes, then I'll get it illegally. But if I like it, then FO SHIZZLE I will buy it.

19. Do you care if your socks are dirty?
Yes. I can't stand to wear sweaty, probably smelly, dirty socks.

20. Opinion of Chinese symbol tattoos?
Cliché.

21. Would you date the person who posted this?
Well, I grabbed this off of Charlie's blog, and since he has a lovely accent, seems to be a pretty nice guy, and is quite good looking, I might, yeah. However, there is an age gap. And a country gap. So...

22. Has anyone ever sang or played for you personally?
Yes. And I usually do that for other people as well.

23. Do you love anyone?
I love lots of people, but I'm not IN love with anyone, if that's what you're getting at.

24. Are colored contact lenses sexy?
I think they look weird. My friend Joe got blue ones a while ago - he's stopped wearing them now so I can say this - and they looked strange. I mean, Joe has olive skin, REALLY dark hair and naturally REALLY dark brown eyes so the blue looked super unnatural on him. I mean seriously, what Lebanese guy has BLUE eyes?
So no. I prefer real colored eyes.

25. Have you ever bungee jumped?
Nope. Though it looks like fun but I would probably only do it if I were dying of some terminal disease as part of my Bucket List.

26. Have you ever gone white-water rafting?
No I have not and I do not intend to.

27. Has anyone ten years older than you ever hit on you?
*Shudder* Yes. Also, "Has anyone twenty years older than you ever hit on you?" *Shudder*. Yes.

28. How many pets do you have?
I used to have a turtle but he died last year. But I have a fish named Triton and he's amazing.

29. Have you met a real redneck?
Yes, while driving down to Florida, we stopped in Kentucky.

30. How is the weather right now?
Pretty crappy. All snowy and cloudy and gross.

31. What are you listening to right now?
My parents talking in the background and I always enjoy the click that the keyboard makes when I type. I was listening to Wade Johnston earlier from his MySpace page.

32. What is your current favorite song?
Uh...it's a several-way-tie between "Gimme Some Sugar" by Wade Johnston, "Into the Sunshine" by Julia Nunes, "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse, "Spotlight (Twilight Mix)" by Mutemath and "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)" by Panic at the Disco. I'm sure when I go back and re-read this, this list will have changed drastically.

33. What was the last movie you watched?
Twilight last night for the fourth time though I didn't watch all of it because it was 5 am and I wanted to go to sleep.

34. Do you wear contacts?
No. However, I've been told that I should invest in some because I have nice eyes. Thanks, Erik.

35. Where was the last place you went besides your house?
The theater where I work.

36. What are you afraid of?
Needles.

37. How many piercings have you had?
Two. One in each ear. They've both filled in now, though.

38. What piercings do you want?
None.

39. What's one thing you've learned this year?
That I probably should have gone into library studies instead of Digital Media but I like Digital Media too much to give it up.

40. What do you usually order from Starbucks?
Something with cinnamon. Like a Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Grande, please. Merci.

41. What Magazines are you reading?
Entertainment Weekly. It's an addiction.

42. Have you ever fired a gun:
A cap gun. But not a real one.

43. Are you missing someone?
I miss my friends when I don't see them during the school semester because I'm so busy.

44. Favorite TV show?
I like a lot of shows, but right now the only one I've kept up with this semester is How I Met Your Mother.

45. Do you have an obession with WoW?
NO. I HATE VIDEO GAMES.

46. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celeb?
Yes. I was told that I look like Leelee Solbieski (sp?).

47. What celeb do you look like?
See question 46.

48. Who would you like to see right now?
I would like to see the darkness and the side of my pillow. Because I am tired. And only want to sleep more.

49. Favorite movie of all time?
All-Time? Don't have one. At the moment? Wall-E.

50. Do you find yourself loved?
Yes :o)

51. Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't suppose to?
Ohhh probably.

52. Favorite smell?
I have the world's worst sense of smell. Which means that I don't smell much of anything. Which means I don't have a favorite smell.

53. Butter, plain, or salted popcorn?
Butter AND salted. With paprika.

54. What's something that really bugs you?
Generally speaking, people. But I like John Green's answer for this one: "The general inability we all have to understand that what bugs us about other people is very often what bugs other people about us."

55. Do you like Michael Jackson?
I was never a fan.

56. Taco Bell or Burger King?
Burger King. They have sweet onion rings.

57. What's your favorite perfume?
Hilary Duff "With Love..."

58. Favorite baseball team?
The Blue Jays. SHOW SOME HOMETOWN PRIDE, Y'ALL!

59. Ever call a 1-900 phone number?
What?

60. What's the longest time you've gone without sleep?
However long today has been.

61. Last time you went bowling?
Oh man, AGES ago. Probably in high school.

62. Where is the weirdest place you have slept?
In a movie theater. On the floor. In a sleeping bag. Yesterday.

63. Who was your last phone call?
I texted Erik. Does that count? Because otherwise I can't remember.

64. Last time you were at work?
9 hours ago.

65. What's the closest orange object to you?
An orange pencil crayon.

*The No-Hugging-Or-Touching Policy states that I will not hug a person unless a) they are family; b) they hug me first and I feel bad not reciprocating; c) they are sad and need one; d) they are SUPER HAPPY about something and need one; e) I have not seen the person in a long time. Otherwise I am a completely prickly cactus-person. This is just an unfortunate fact about me. I am half-cactus and half-person.