A Late-Blooming Fan of "The Wire"

I know that I'm late to the game here (considering the show has been off the air since 2008), but The Wire is amazing! I've heard for years that it was a great show, but just hadn't gotten around to watching it. Rick owns the entire series on DVD, so I knew I would see it eventually see what all the fuss what about.

And man, is this show worth fussing about!

The series is about the complicated relationships between drug dealers, addicts, police, politicians and the media in inner-city Baltimore. It's tough to sum up such a deep, well-crafted show so I should say that a one-sentence synopsis doesn't do it justice. The strength of the show is the complex characters; everyone has many sides and no one is who he seems. The Wire also plays with the roles of good guys and bad guys-- sometimes the "bad guys" are the most likable characters and the "good guys" are scum.

I don't want to go into too much detail and I don't want to share a clip that might give something away to a would-be fan, so you'll just have to trust me that it's a fantastic show. (I like it this much and we're still only on season three!)


HBO photo

My first attempt at Lasagna

A few weeks ago, I ordered The Skinnygirl Dish through Amazon. Yes, it is a cookbook by reality star Bethenny Frankel, but she's also a trained chef. And I'm upfront about my love for bad TV, so I'm not afraid to say that I like Bethenny even though she is a little wacky (and she knows it). I'm also not afraid to say that I think Skinnygirl Dish is a great cookbook. It's part-cookbook, part-cooking philosophy book -- one of the major ideas behind the book is to get over one's fear of cooking and feel comfortable enough with cooking to make recipes healthier and experiment.

Tonight I tried a recipe for a healthier version of classic lasagna and it came out really well. It was my first time making a lasagna of any kind and I was really happy with the results. I don't have any great pictures of my version, but here is a picture from Bethenny's website.

Lighter Lasagna

- 8 oz lasagna noodles (whole wheat if you can find them) non-boil are much easier
- 1lb+ of ground turkey or turkey sausages with casing removed (I found some ground turkey that was pre-seasoned with Italian seasonings and it was great.)
- 1 jar of tomato sauce
- 1/2 C chopped fresh basil
- 2 TBS parsley (The original recipe calls for more parsley and less basil, but I reversed the ingredients by accident and liked all the fresh basil in the lasagna!)
- 15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese or low fat cottage cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 4 oz part-skim shredded mozzarella
- 1/3 C shredded parm cheese (I skipped the parm and it was still tasty with just mozzarella)

1. Boil lasagna noodles if necessary. Brown and drain turkey in a sprayed, non-stick skillet. After turkey is cooked, add tomato sauce and then remove from heat and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix ricotta/cottage cheese with herbs.
3. Spray a large glass dish and put first layer of noodles down. Alternate layers of noodles, meat/tomato sauce mixture and ricotta/herbs mixture. Sprinkle the top with the shredded cheese.
4. Cook in oven for 25-30 min; until bubbling and warmed through. Remove from oven and let settle for 20 min before serving. Delicious and better for you, too!

Telling the important stories

I love a good story. That love of stories made me a voracious reader and writer as a child and it drove me to pursue journalism as an adult.

A well-told story--whether it's true or imagined--should expand one's horizons and leave the reader or listener thinking. Unfortunately, I think many of these stories fall through the cracks in today's media because of limited TV time or page space or because of the overwhelming amount of information available online.

Some readers and viewers may search for the sensational or gossipy stories, but the job of journalists is to tell the stories that matter. Too often, these stories remain untold for many different reasons.

While I believe the news should not be sugar-coated or dumbed down, we still need to make an effort to get the positive and inspirational stories out there, too.

NBC Nightly News does a great job of this. It runs a reoccurring segment called "Making a Difference", in which the story of a person or organization striving for positive change is told. These types of interesting and unique stories capture my attention and inspire me to find these kinds of people in my neighborhood so I can get their messages out there.

"Making a Difference" always runs at the end of the newscast--probably to leave viewers thinking about what they just saw and with some hope...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

DMB at the Grammys

What is it about awards shows that renders me virtually powerless to change the channel? I almost always end up watching the entire broadcast, even though I never anticipate on watching the whole thing. Oh well.

I did watch the entire Grammy Show last night and there were some great performances. I thought the Dave Matthews Band was awesome, but I'm definitely biased since they've been my favorite band since I was 14 or 15. Lady Gaga's duet with Elton was also impressive, as was Pink's amazing acrobatic routine.

But I'm obviously going to post a video of DMB here on my blog since I love them. I wish they didn't walk away empty-handed last night. There's always hope for the next album!

A Classy Exit

Last night was Conan's final episode as host of The Tonight Show and he really went out with class. All week, he's bashed NBC and it's been absolutely hilarious, but he kept anti-NBC jokes to a minimum last night. He even offered a sincere and heartfelt thanks to the company he's been with for almost 20 years.

I really respect Conan's decision to leave his self-described "dream job" because he didn't think it was heading in a good direction. He felt that a time slot move would damage The Tonight Show franchise and he chose to leave his hosting gig than stick with a 12:05 A.M. start time. He said this was an extremely difficult decision for him, but it's better than clinging to something he didn't truly believe in and then having The Tonight Show decline and become something less than it was. So many great TV shows stay on air well past their prime and that slide into mediocrity takes away from what the shows used to be.

It's safe to say that Conan will be fine after all this and he'll end up with a great new gig in the fall. I'm excited to see where he'll be in the fall. As for the new-old Tonight Show with Jay Leno, I'm very curious to see what--if any--effect the recent debacle will have on Jay's show. It seems like a lot of Hollywood was on Team Coco and even though the blame seems to be on NBC for this, Jay's reputation has taken a hit, too. I wonder how this will change The Tonight Show's viewership, as it appears that Conan has a strong, young fan base that will follow him to another network.

We'll just have to wait until the fall to see what Conando has up his sleeve. Whatever happens, all eyes will be on him when he begins his new show.

My New Obsession

It's no secret that I have been watching more TV than usual lately. While I'm not proud of my TV-watching habits, much of my time in front of the tube for the last few weeks has been focused on one show: Alias.

I never watched the show when it was actually on the air (2001-2006), but through the magic of the free DVD rentals at the public library I have zipped through Season 1 and I'm now on Season 2.

Jennifer Garner is a butt-kicking double agent on a mission to take down the bad guys. Along the way, she travels the world, wears ridiculous undercover get-ups and falls for her hottie CIA colleague (Michael Vartan).

I've always been a fan of Jennifer Garner and now I like her even more. The show is fast-paced, action-filled, a little campy and very enjoyable. And I've already made sure that my library network has all five seasons on DVD. (They do-- yay for free library rentals!)

Alias image from Amazon.com

Thoughts on Fall TV

With fall comes cooler weather, falling leaves and the return of new TV. Yes, I know new sitcoms are not as poetic as changes in the weather, but I think we can all admit that fall TV is a welcome change after three months of re-runs.

Along with my returning favorites 30 Rock, The Office, How I Met Your Mother and One Tree Hill, I'm tuning into a few brand new shows. Well, so far I'm actually a fan of just one new show: Glee. It's smart, funny and has entertaining musical numbers in it-- what's not to love?

Speaking of new shows, I've noticed an onslaught of new medical shows since ER went off the air. NBC alone has two: Mercy and Trauma. Then there's HawthoRNe, Nurse Jackie and Royal Pains, which all started this summer. Did all the end of ER create a huge gap in the universe that needs to be filled with a half-dozen hospital dramas? It's a bit odd to me...

Something TV-related that also bugs me is the number of racy shows that are on at 8 p.m. I saw part of 90210 the other night and couldn't believe that crap is on so early. The TV rating doesn't matter when super-sexy shows are on right after the sun goes down! (Ok, that's a slight exaggeration, but young kids aren't all going to bed at 7:30-- they're staying up to watch trashy TV.)

The CW is a big violator of this in my opinion. The network has switched Gossip Girl to 9 for this season, which is a much more appropriate time for a show about boozing, sexified teenagers. (Although I am a little annoyed that this now means my favorite soapy show, One Tree Hill, will now be on 8, but it's actually a tamer show than Gossip Girl.)

That's my prude rant for the night. Needless to say, my kids won't be able to watch TV until they're 16. Kidding! (Sort of...)

Flickr image from mashpriborintorg

Funny Kiwis

There really isn't a succinct way to describe Flight of the Conchords. They're a stand-up act/music group from New Zealand. They also have a bizarre and hilarious show on HBO (with the same name) about two guys in a band from New Zealand who come to New York City to try and make it.

Every episode has foolish plot lines and a ridiculous song or two. Kristin and Mike introduced us to these guys and we loved them right away.

Here is a song from season one: "Bret, You Got It Going On." Jemaine is trying to cheer up Bret with a song he wrote.

Our President is on Leno

...and he's just sooo cool!

I won't get too political since my readers (all six to 10 of you) already know about my liberal leaning, but Obama is on a late night talk show! And he's funny, but still serious and articulate.

Bottom Line: He's the man.

Obama's official portrait is from www.whitehouse.gov
Fun Fact: This was the first presidential portrait taken with a digital camera.
My opinion: Barack should have shown his teeth when he smiled. But maybe he thought closed lips was more serious and appropriate for leader of the free world...