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five things i’m thankful for. [#16, 17, 18, 19, 20]

I’ve been gone for a few days, eh? I’ve even considered placing the blog on an official hiatus since only four people read, but for now I am going to keep plugging away purely for my own benefit, which is probably the point, anyway. To be honest, I’m in a lot of pain right now, battling depression to the greatest extent I ever have, which is really saying something. That makes it really hard to be thankful for things, but I’m going to try, and hopefully I won’t get fired from my job before I can get healthy enough to be a real person again, or at least half a person.

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#16. Take Shelter

This movie was stunning. I could feel it, even through the pain of recent days. Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain were revelatory, giving performances of tremendous nuance and beauty. It was also, for its flaws, such a beautifully healthy marriage, which you  almost never see in film. (Although, the trailer makes it seem like that’s not the case.)

The themes of mental illness and isolation in this movie, as well as the worry about becoming the same as a mentally ill parent, hit so close to home. Yet, it was comforting instead of overwhelming to see themes I feel lately projected before me.

One of the best films I’ve seen in a long time, while never giving away too much at one time. I wouldn’t  be able to set up the film as well as the really well-crafted trailer lays it out, so just watch that if you’re curious:

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#17. The Gods Themselves – Isaac Asimov

“Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.” – Friedrich Schiller

A brilliant book by the man with the most prolific science fiction writing career of all time. His grasp of issues was way ahead of his time, in so many ways.

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#18. Community

A new episode may never air again, but I’ll always cherish the seasons we have. Until it is officially cancelled (it’s still just on hiatus, right?), it’s my favorite show on television.

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#19. Jeremy Lin

I’m a Knicks fan. Have been since my emergence from the womb. So, obviously I love watching this story unfold. This kid is electric.

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#20. Emily

My wife is the best. That’s all there is to it.

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shows i vow to catch up on. [five things.]

Okay, I’m already through 3 of the 20 movies I put on The Neglected list. It seems to be working.

So, here are five shows that I am way behind on, that I vow to catch up on before the end of February. Any votes on what I should start with?

1. Dexter

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2. Mad Men

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3. Parks and Rec

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4. True Blood

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5. The League

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as seen on tv. [the many lists of 2010.]

I didn’t actually keep track of tv shows I watched in 2010. I should have, like Kj did, but I failed to do so.

I’ll have to remember to do that this year. In the future, I would like to actually do this as a season specific thing, but I need to keep track before I can do that.

To be on the list, they didn’t have to air this year, I just had to watch at least one full season for the first time this year.

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1. Archer

Let’s see… today is the 6th, which means we have two weeks and five days until the new season starts. Rejoice!

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2. Dexter

Em and I are dreadfully behind in our Dexter episodes. We really need to use this week to catch all the way up. So many shows, so little time.

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3. Community

The second season started a bit slow, but then kicked into ‘awesome’ gear again.

I love how layered all of the show’s references are. There are the really obvious overarching pop culture references, like the Goodfellas/Godfather episode, or the Space Camp/The Right Stuff/Apollo 13 episode, etc. Yet, they also have tiny little references I don’t catch until I’ve seen an episode two or three times; tiny moments of dialogue, the way someone drops their pepper water gun, or even the fact that early in season one, Troy and Jeff are jokingly referencing Gillian Jacobs’ caracter in Choke as they leave a classroom.

Also, they gave me my favorite holiday special ever.

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4. Sherlock

This show is fantastic. Only three 90 minute episodes in Series One, so it left Emily and me wanting so much more. Episode two was a little meh, but one and three were so very entertaining.

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5. Doctor Who

Along with Sherlock, Doctor Who ensures that 2 of these 10 shows are somehow related to Steven Moffat.

The man is a television god. “The Empty Child”/”The Doctor Dances,” the first two episodes he wrote for Doctor Who, back in ’05, were my favorite from the revamp’s first year. Then, he churned out great episodes in every season after that, including the Carey Mulligan episode.

Perhaps the most impressive thing he’s done is make a fifth season I am enjoying so much. I’m not going to lie, I cried like a big fat baby watching David Tennant’s last episode, so it was a tall order to win me over to some fancy new Doctor. Somehow, it took Moffat’s ‘revamped revamp’ about 5 minutes and I was totally in.

This show also gets more accessible every season, to the point that Doctor Who spinoff ‘Torchwood‘ (which, you’ll notice, is an anagram of Doctor Who) is moving to the states via Stars.

Anyway, if the Doctor ever starts taking male companions around with him on a more regular basis, I’m taking my talents to the TARDIS.

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6. Castle

As I was making this list, I realized that Nathan Fillion is probably known to many in the country as ‘that guy from Castle.’

This makes me sad. He has so much more to offer.

Yet, that’s not entirely bad. I think everybody can use a light detective drama in their life, to unwind without having to invest heavily on a mental level. This just happens to be the best one of those out there. The writings is usually pretty good for the genre, the characters are all likeable, and the show is clever and witty.

When you get that while also getting to bask in the sexiness of Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion, it’s a win, win, win.

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7. The Walking Dead

This adaptation of the graphic novels doesn’t disappoint. Although, I am soooo curious where they are going in season two, since they diverged so much from the end of the first volume of the books.

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8. Lost

The end of Lost certainly fits into that ‘Love it or Hate it’ category. While there were certainly disappointments, and plenty could have been more satisfying, I am still most definitely one of those seated in the ‘Love’ section.

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9. 30 Rock

I have one pet peeve, something maybe everyone else can help me out with. During the first episode of 30 Rock, The Girlie Show was already a thing. Then, Jack came to town, made Lemon hire Tracy Jordan, and rebranded the show as TGS with Tracy Jordan. Still, it’s the same show, just a rebranding, like when Saturday Night Live changed their branding to SNL, or American Movie Classics changed their branding to AMC. So, my question is, why does the show always pretend that TGS is only as old as 30 Rock? They celebrate 30 Rock milestones ‘in show,’ by pretending they are at the same milestones in TGS. What’s the deal there? Am I just missing something? Help a brother out.

Aside from that, this show is amazing. The best guest appearances, awesome inside jokes, hilarious writing, and the remarkable ability to have a show that still has me laughing out loud in season five. What is this, Seinfeld?

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10. Deadwood

Slow, dark, gritty, angry, violent, and brilliant.

This show follows along so closely with the historical account of how things went down in the actual Deadwood, it’s got much more reality than so called ‘reality tv.’

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Thank God for HBO

Something to look forward to in 2011 now that we have HBO …

[funnyordie id=eff3f22410 width=512 height=328]

And the return of this:

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And then, of course, there’s everything else that makes HBO awesome, too.

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