Friday Five: Random Thoughts

1. I went to men's and women's college basketball games last night, and more people attended the women's game. This made me happy because they are the better team. I appreciate that I live in a town where people show up for the better girls and not the guys just because they are guys. The next best thing about this evening was that it was totally free. I walked to the games, so I didn't use any gas. I tried to buy a coke and hot dog, but they didn't take cards, so the guy behind the counter gave them to me for free (it pays to know the right people) and then I had a free slice of pizza and a pretzel as part of the promo to get people to the game. Free fun evenings are the best!
   
   
2. I thought Grey's Anatomy pulled off the conclusion to it's three-episode arc. I think two episodes would have made it better, but I think overall it still worked. Obviously they weren't going to kill off the title character, but this episode in particular, made the payoff worth it. I'm used to watching Jack Bauer escape impossible situations and that show still works. This episode was effective mainly because we saw how all the characters dealt with Meredith's possible death. In general though, I wish they hadn't gone this direction with the show. Too ER-y for me.
   
   
3. I have a friend living in Ireland right now and someone else that will be attending grad school in Scotland in the fall. Thinking about them always makes me think about my experiences in London in Ireland. I specifically remember the first time it hit me that I lived in London, that for the rest of my life I would always consider London one of my homes. It was somewhere in the second half of my trip. I had gotten off work, grabbed some cheap dinner in Leicester Square, and was eating in Trafalgar Square, just killing time before a play started. I looked around me, and realized everyone around me was a tourist, everyone but me. And it him me: London is my home. Most people would only spend a few days in the city, maybe a week, but even if you spent a month, it wasn't the same as living there. I had a neighborhood grocery store. I had a library membership. I bought a morning bagel from a lady that confirmed my order as I walked in the door. I had a job. I never went anywhere without a book in my purse so I could read on the Tube. I knew a foreign city, a top tourist destination, intimately, in a way most people never would. And the longer I was in London, the more this sunk in, like when a tourist stopped and asked me for directions near the Tate Modern because I looked like I belonged. Or when, on my last full day in London, a cab driver asked me directions to a playhouse in my neighborhood and I told him how to get there. I thought about all that this morning, and how I was excited that my friend would go through something similar.
   
   
4. The Oscars are Sunday! I've seen all the best picture nominees except Letters from Iwo Jima. I still want to see it, but it is a long shot to win. If you want to say you've seen the Best Picture, rent Babel or the Departed. My affection for LMS is well known, but I don't think it should be best picture. It has won a lot of guild awards, so it could still win. I liked the Departed, but it had obvious flaws. Babel was better than I expected, but some of it's connected story lines were a little too contrived and didn't make sense in the bigger picture. Let's hope there are a few deserved upsets, just to make the ceremony exciting.
   
   
5. I have a celebrity crush on Mark Whalberg. I always forget about him though. And I'm totally OK with Marky Mark being nominated for an Oscar, and I would love for him to be one of the deserving upsets in the supporting actor category. He stole every scene he was in. Not likely, but you never know. I'd be happy if Ryan Gosling won best actor, but that won't happen either.

Addendum: I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but word on the net is that ABC is making a Grey's spin-off staring Kate Walsh, aka Addison. New rumors suggest Taye Diggs might also be in the spin-off. I'm totally for that casting decision if it holds up. Interesting spin-off decision because most viewers like the character of Addision on Grey's. But with it being apparent that Derek and Addison are over, over, over, I guess it's logical that she would leave the hospital. Does that mean McSteamy is that far behind? That's just Jamie talking and is not based on anything I've read.