I like to READ
pullover
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GAP Oxfords
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Wuthering Heights
T-Shirt
($28, outofprintclothing.com)





 





Poe-Ka Dot Tote
($18, outofprintclothing.com)

 

 

 

 

Alice in Wonderland Long Sleeve
($40, outofprintclothing.com)

 

 

 

Side A: An Alternative Valentine's Day Playlist

 



 

Side B: Love Song Covers



   

Beatles and Celebrities "Come Together"

for one Big Beatles-Love Fest

(And it was AWESOME!)

 

 

Last night was the 50th year anniversary of when the Beatles first premiered their sound on the TV airwaves on Ed Sullivan. What did it all entail exactly? Well, Paul's 70s wail, Ringo bopping along, Dhani just being plain awesome and an 80 year old Yoko danced! Yoko danced a lot...

 

... And that made me a very very happy girl.

I will never understand the Yoko Ono hate -- a pioneering feminist/poet/artist had
one of the greatest love stories with a HSP revolutionary as John Lennon was.
Stop believing that this amazing woman was the cause of the Beatles breaking up!

It really was the perfect definition of a Love-Fest leaded by Dave Grohl, the perfect Beatle fan who collaborated (and help create) my favorite non-reunion moments of the nights with a lesser known Beatles rock tune, "Hey Bulldog" ("...it's a quintessential Beatles rocker," He explained his song choice, "Paul's rolling bass line. The trademark Ringo drum fills, George's gritty distorted guitar. And that sound that only the back of John Lennon's throat could produce." Backing him up on "Hey Bulldog" included ELO front man and close Beatle-friend Jeff Lynne and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" included mind-numbing and breathless rock n roll courtesy of Grohl on drums and mind-altering dueling solos by Joe Walsh and Gary Clark Jr. (I'm still not over that solo..)

 

And then "the great reunion" with a bevy of standards coming from either Starr or McCartney individually or together: "I Saw Her Standing There," "Hey Jude," "Get Back," "Yellow Submarine," and my absolute favorite moments in "Matchbox" and the infamous Shirelles cover "Boys." It was during somewhere in the middle of Ringo's set that all the charisma that is known as the Beatles became truthfully hypnotic with the whole room's arms up in the air making the peace sign. The Beatles are apart of us, and I sobbed like a little girl. It's truly something when we say we love The Beatles, but it's another thing to truly see it displayed on camera with close ups of your average celebrity enraptured by the music. The Beatles are apart of us. The Beatles music speaks to us like nothing else. It was then I realized that this little scuffle band from Liverpool speaks such volumes because they happened at a time when the human race was discovering themselves and from that, they were in the right place at the right time to design pop culture and rock-n-roll as we know it complete with sobbing pre-teen fans.

Thank you, Paul and Ringo for a majestic night.

 

....My only question is where the hell was Freda Kelly (their fan-club secretary and close friend) to enjoy this night with her, as she called McCartney and Starr back in the days, big brothers?

 

....Why am I learning about Ed Sheeran just now? This guy is amazing!

 

 

 

Josh Groban *HAS* been the Greatest

Philosopher of All Time, Where

Have You Been, Huffpo?

 

 

 

No complaints though, really, but this is so much win.

SO.

MUCH.

WIN.

 

 

 

 

 

Charlotte Church Continues to

"Glitterbomb" and Melt My Face

With the New Look!

 

 

 

Annie Gives Us (but mostly Russia)

a Big "Russian Kiss"

 

The only way to retaliate against politics is a good song. So leave it to one of my favorite people, Norwegian songstress who-simply-cannot-suck Annie to stick it to Russia. I was surprised when I saw the song's objective (and the video!), I half suspected this is something that Peaches or someone else more bent on the shock factor would take on but in a way, this makes me respect Annie SO MUCH more than I already do. Plus, I love that haircut!!!

 

Anyway, "Russian Kiss" is a great collaboration with visual artist Bjarne Melgaard and Annie's frequent lover in song, Richard X. Based on a 90s club song "French Kiss," Annie's embellished tune has been turned around to be a magical retaliation against Putin's anti-LGB Legislation. [I leave the "T" off because they are not the ones attacked for the moment...] And while I'm a person who keeps bedroom things in the bedroom without a double standard; I think what had to be done to get a message to Russia was bad-ass but for me personally, the video didn't do much for me. But I absolutely love that Annie did this... once my surprise wore off and the male groans left my ears. I like girls, I don't need to hear that. =) 

 

 



It was 50 years ago today (or the relative day you're seeing this...) when rock-n-roll gave itself mouth to mouth resuscitation and produced The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. So naturally as a proud Beatlemaniac, I feel it's my duty to share my favorite little known and/or underrated tracks that came from the brilliant mind of these four fabulous song writers/musicians.








All I've Got To Do
And Your Bird Can Sing
Another Girl
Anytime At All
Baby You're a Rich Man
Baby's in Black
Bad Boy (Larry Williams Cover)
The Ballad of John and Yoko
Boys (The Shirelles Cover)
Chains (The Cookies Cover)
Do You Wanna Know a Secret?
Don't Bother Me
Don't Let Me Down
Don't Pass Me By
Every Little Thing
Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby (Carl Perkins Cover)
Free as a Bird
Getting Better
Glass Onion
Good Morning, Good Morning
Got to Get You Into My Life
Hey Bulldog
Hold Me Tight
Honey Don't
I Call Your Name
I Me Mine
I Need You
I Should Have Known Better
I Wanna Be Your Man
I'll Be Back
I'll Cry Instead
I'll Follow the Sun
I'm a Loser
I'm Happy Just to Dance With You
I'm Looking Through You
I'm Only Sleeping
I'm So Tired
I've Just Seen a Face
It's All Too Much
It's Only Love
It Won't Be Long
The Inner Light
Little Child
Long Long Long

Love You To
Matchbox (Carl Perkins Cover)
Misery
Mother Nature's Child
Mr. Moonlight
No Reply
The Night Before
Old Brown Shoe
Only a Northern Song
The One After 909
Paperback Writer
Rain
Real Love
Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry Cover)
She's a Woman
She Said, She Said
Tell Me What You See
There's a Place
Think For Yourself
This Boy
Two of Us
Wait
What You're Doing to Me
When I Get Home
Within You, Without You
Words of Love (Buddy Holly Cover)
Yer Blues
Yes It Is
You Can't Do That
You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)
You Really Got a Hold On Me (Smokey Robinson Cover)
You Won't See Me
You're Going to Lose That Girl

For lack of a better blog post title, I didn't know how to lump all of these majestic wonderful things (Kishi Bashi, bitches!!) together, so there you have it.

 

And here's a picture of last week's episode of Community...

 

 

 

Charlotte Church is back and

No One Told Me?!

Apparently the original pop and classical opera singing pre-teen has been back and I didn't know until I was going through my Spotify for songs that I lost in the lieu of deleting a dropbox folder (nice going, B). So, I downloaded the songs that I lost from Charlotte Church, yes even some from that horrible pop album she made after she lost her voice and then I noticed new albums! I listened to all of them and Charlotte Church is indeed back, after four years of good throat rest. Her voice will never be the same but the strange Kate Bush meets Sarah Brightman-like trance works wonders with what voice she has now! And, she's still stunning. #teamWales

 

 

 

 

Essie Spring 2014 Preview

 

I don't know about any of you, but, I am kind of intrigued by testing what "Hide and Go Chic," "Fashion playground" and "spin the bottle" would look like against my skin tone... And hopefully it would look good! But then, you never know...

 

 

 

Mission Creek Festival: Second Wave

Announcement

 

S. Carey! Kishi Bashi! The Head and the Heart! Of Montreal! Wolf Eyes! Caroline Smith! It's like the Indie Rock Playlist up and vomited happy colorful rainbows all over this year's Mission Creek festival and I seriously could not be more pumped for anything in my life! Mission Creek is the best time of year... next to Revival's annual 50 percent off sale...

 

 

Happiness is a Dickens Bio Pic:

The Invisible Woman

Unfortunately, Simon Callow isn't playing him. Fail. (Doctor Who reference, folks. Yes, I have been converted...) But Voldemort is (Ralph Fiennes) and that's fine with me; Fiennes can play anything and make it look good. So can Kirstin Scott Thomas (the voice of my inner monologue) who plays Nelly Ternan's mother, one of the many people oblivious to Dickens and Nelly's 13 year secret affair. This is what bio pics were made for! Now the better question is when this movie going to be distributed in American theaters?

 

 

 



 Oscars 2014 Predictions Score Card

 

Best Picture:

 

It's a very tight race between American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity and 12 Years a Slave; but I don't have much investment in any of the movies so I'll let the Academy decide.

 

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

 



Once more, it's a tight race between Christian Bale (American Hustle), Chiwetel Eijofor (12 Years a Slave) and Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) but I would love to see Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) finally get an award for a Scorsese film since it seems he takes his acting to another level underneath the cinema legend.

 

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

 

Chances are between Amy Adams (American Hustle) and Cate Blanchett but I'm really holding out for the veterans in Judi Dench (Philomena) and Meryl Streep (August: Osage County) but especially Meryl Streep!

 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

 

Jared Leto, Jared Leto, and Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club). There's no competition. NEXT!

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:







It's definitely a tight race in my mind between Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave) and Julia Roberts (August: Osage County) but clear chances are that Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) or Nyong'o will be taking it home.

 

Best Animated Film:

 

Frozen, no doubt. But it would be nice to see Despicable Me 2 win since they did create the minions!

 

Best Directing:

 

It's definitely a tight race between David O. Russell (American Hustle), Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) but damn it, I just want the adorable little muppet otherwise known as Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) to win his second Oscar (AND ONLY SECOND??!!)

Nailed it.

 

From Tina impersonating Barkhad Abdi ("I am the Captain now.") to Amy Poehler using Jennifer Lawrence as a stand-in for herself when bringing up her own Globes nomination, this year's Golden Globes started out with a bang. And like Glamour Magazine tweeted, "And for the 2nd year in a row, Tina and Amy made fun of everyone to perfection yet no one got offended. They are perfect" there is no better way to describe the opening monologue. They were perfect.  And I'm also guessing the Somalian pirates will definitely take Tina's come-on to come up to her hotel room.

 

• (to side camera) "Scandal!" - Amy and Tina
• "Everyone, sleep with your limo driver before he gets famous." - Amy Poehler
• "He [Matthew McConaughey] had to lose 45 pounds for this movie or as actresses call it: being in a movie." - Tina Fey
• Julia Louis-Dreyfuss in sunglasses and fake cigar sitting on the "movie" side of the room getting heckled by her fellow TV comic actresses. (note she was sitting with Reese Witherspoon! Badass.)

 

"Now it's time for the president's speech, or for those at home, a bathroom break." - Hollywood Foreign Press President, Theo Kingma

 

 

Damn.

 



 

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle 

[Winning over Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave AND Julia Roberts for August: Osage County]



 

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

[Winning over James Spader for The Blacklist]

Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical
Amy Adams, American Hustle
[Winning over Meryl Streep for August: Osage County, really... OVER MERYL?]

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Robin Wright, House of Cards
[Winning over Tatiana Maslany for Orphan Black. SERIOUSLY??! Hey Princess Buttercup, can you play 7 clones at the same time in the same scene?]

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine Nine (Mr. Joanna Newsom)
[Winning over Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory]

Best TV Series, Comedy
Brooklyn Nine Nine
[Winning over The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Parks and Recreation]

The Point When I Dance

Around my Apartment

 

 



Best Supporting Actor in a Drama
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyer's Club

Actor in Mini Series or TV Movie
Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

The Best Tweets

Megan Angelo@meganangelo

Who wants to be in charge of cropping the Emma Thompson shoes and drink screenshot we will all be using as our profile picture tomorrow?

 

Glamour @glamourmag

6 years off from acting, and Jared Leto's eyes are still deep blue pools filled with our hopes and dreams. #GoldenGlobes

 

Glamour @glamourmag

Obviously we have to update our best hair and makeup poll to include Alex Ebert. #GoldenGlobes



 

Patton Oswalt @pattonoswalt

Tina & Amy took the tiller of the glorious garbage scow that is the #GoldenGlobes & sailed it to Atlantis. That is all. Good night.

The Best Little Moments

"He [P. Diddy] came up behind me, unbuttoned my jacket and said, let it flow!" - Alex Ebert (winning for original score for All is Lost)

"Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow." - P. Diddy

"In the name of gender equality, I like to introduce my son from another marriage, Mr. Golden Globe." - Tina Fey, following Amy Poehler dressed up as a little boy asking if Idris Elba is "his" father.

"Like my mother said, go to hell and don't come back." - Jacqueline Bisset

"Yeah, bitch!" - Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) winning Best TV Series, Drama

Everything that came out of Robert Downey Jr.'s mouth.

"Acting is hard. That's what a very wise Shia LeBeouf once said." - Jim Carrey

"Oh, look who's back in the TV section, hi Julia!" - Amy Poehler

"The only reason you're not here is because I wore more sequins." - Michael Douglas to Matt Damon, winning for Behind the Candelabra

"I love you and there's a special place in hell for you." - Tina to Amy on winning.

Diane Keaton singing during Woody Allen's honorary award. <3

"Like a supermodel's warm vagina, let's all welcome Leonardo DiCaprio." - Tina Fey

Melissa Rauch

Lupita Nyong'o
in Ralph Lauren

Tatiana Maslany
in Jenny Packham

Michelle Dockery
in Oscar de la
Renta



Kaley Cuoco-
Sweeting
in Rani Zakhem

What does Donkeyboy Sound Like Stripped Down and Without Kiesza? This.

Hey Girl...

The Ichabod Crane Version

There's a comment that Ichabod would never say hey girl, but let's just imagine if these memes start with "Greetings fair lady" and the world (at least the ladies and gentlemen of a certain persuasion) will breathe a sigh of happy. God, Tom Mison is so pretty!



Lea Seydoux's "Beauty" and Cinematography Stun in Christophe Gans "Le Belle et la Bete"



Separate what you know from Disney and even from Cocteau's version of Beauty and the Beast, and revel in the exquisite beauty of Lea Seydoux and the beautiful, if not rather CGI-tinted, cinematography and fantastical world fashioned by Christophe Gans. I'm not too thrilled with the image of the beast (but I'm kind of hoping Cassel plays the duel role of the good guy and bad guy in the tradition of Cocteau's Jean Marais) or even purely CGI characters, but I am absolutely enthralled with what is there. I am so going to the theater to see this when it's released in the U.S.!! Who wants to go with me?

... Please don't suck!

Golden Globes 2014: My Wish-List

And who Will Really Win

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will win all over! They will win every category and I will laugh so hard that I will pee a little... OK, for real now...

Best Motion Picture, Drama

I don't really have an opinion about this category, so I may have to with 12 Years a Slave. No doubt it will win.

 Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

I'm really pulling for the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davies, but I have a feeling American Hustle will win but kind of hoping Nebraska will be the surprise win for the buzz it's been getting.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama

This year, it could be anyone's game, although I was kind of hoping Tom Hanks would have been nominated for Saving Mr. Banks. I think it's a race between Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Idris Elba (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) (since everyone knows biographical figures have a chance) and Robert Redford (All is Lost). I'm kinda pushing for Ejiofor and Redford for all the hype behind their acting.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

The indie lover in me is really pushing for Bruce Dern (Nebraska) and/or Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) but I'm pretty sure Dern has a good chance.



 Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama

Again, not very enthusiastic about this race but, I'm all for Judi Dench (Philomena) but since we are going with what people talk about the most, no doubt Sandra Bullock (Gravity) will win.

 Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

Meryl Streep (August: Osage County), Meryl, Meryl, Meryl, Meryl. Is there anyone else? Come on, seriously.

 Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Personally, I would be so happy if Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) would get it and people will start taking transgender rights more seriously for the work he did for a male to female transgender woman. But, knowing how voting works, Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) or Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) will take it home.

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture



Definitely a tie between Julia Roberts (August: Osage County) and/or Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave), and I wouldn't care either way because both of them are great (and the most buzzed about)

Best TV Series, Drama

Although I would love it to be Downton Abbey, but we all know Breaking Bad is really going to win.



Best TV Series, Comedy or Musical

I would like for The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Parks and Recreation to get into a fight and see who comes out on top, but I'm really pulling for Parks and Recreation since they have been nothing but nominated and has yet to win!!

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama

Once more, hype would have it and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) will win over the underrated and wonderful James Spader (The Blacklist). This sucks! 

Best Actor, TV Series Comedy

Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), there isn't even a race here, damn it!

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama

Again I'm hopefully wishing for the stunning and extremely talented Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) will win for my newest obsession. But chances are that Kerry Washington (Scandal) or Julianna Marguiles (The Good Wife) will be taking it home. I bet they haven't tried playing seven characters in one show at once!

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy

I'm holding out for Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) who, either way, will make a joke about her nomination or lack of a win or if she really does win. She won just by being a host and being just plain awesome. But, yeah, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Veep).

Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie

Again with no huge opinion on this category, I'm pulling for Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dancing on the Edge) or Idris Elba (Luther).

Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie

Hands down, Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Coven), there isn't anyone else in this category. 







 

It's no secret that I'm kind of a Grimm fan and as such, I feel it is my duty to provide my theory on where the fairytale cop show is going, how I would like it to go and what other fans should seriously stop discussing. Why? Because I can't stop talking about it inside my head.

Nick is Not a F****ing Zombie!

Stop making that a thing!!

 



Far too many people have been making this generalization after "One Night Stand," right next to assuming that naiads were named after Diana Naid. (*facepalm*) After being infected by the Cracher-Mortel, Nick did have his zombie moments in "The Ungrateful Dead"** but by "PTZD" and "One Night Stand" it was more than apparent he had either something left over from the experience or maybe Grimm development is finally coming at warp speed through the help of the Baron's spit.

 

Think about it! All others from the Wesen world have features otherwise, shouldn't Nick and other Grimms have some as well? We already have the happy accident that caused Nick's enhanced hearing both in "Mr. Sandman" and "Ungrateful Dead," but what we have seen in recent episodes (Nick stopping breathing and turning color in his sleep, holding his breath saving the anchored down naiad under water, not being affected being strangled by Krampus***) it's too obvious that a zombie would not be doing those things if one was cured. What I think and I hope I'm right about, is that what the Baron did to him actually started the physical attributes he would have grown into over time. Perhaps by the episode "Mother Dearest" we will have Nick's Mom say something like, "oh no, it's finally kicked in" as if they were meant to happen to a Grimm later in life or simply something the writers hadn't established right in the beginning. (In other words, making shit up as it happens...)

 

Thinking back on what a Grimm would look like under the influence, I have noticed through Marie and Nick's Mom is that they have a dead look about their face, which Nick has clearly shown in many episodes. Even in his arguments with Juliette in season 1, you could see that something was brewing at least in his face. He continues this dead look but it seems that either the paling in color seems to be a downfall of CGI having fun or enhancing what it means to be a Grimm? Would we need the CGI or is it a help to Nick's continuing downfall or development, depending how you look at it?

 

And here's a better question, do we thank the Baron Samedi for speeding up this change? A little yes to keep things interesting and a little no (which I'll mention in a later section), especially since Nick is a nice guy but like the character himself it's getting difficult to differentiate his morals as well as how to separate careers as both Grimm and cop. But please, people, can we stop with the zombie talk? That was only meant for those three episodes. It's done and over with, let's discuss something interesting, like hoping if Nick will be able to hold it together and hoping he won't kill Juliette's friend's abusive husband.

 

**I praise you, Tyler Stephens and Sound Department crew!!

*** I equally praise you, Art Department!!! You have no idea how hard I geeked out every time filtering comes into a scene!

 

 

Nick a Super-Hero or a

Super-Hero Grimm?

To tell everyone the truth, the more that Grimm goes on, the more I'm torn about how to view Nick's character. Do we feel sorry for him as he helplessly tumbles down a rabbit hole of his own genetics and possibly lose everyone he loves in the process? Do we rejoice that he's doing so much good for Wesen and impressing the Wesen council? Do we expect him to turn into a super-hero or the anti-hero? So many good analytical questions but at this point, I just watch holding my breath, hoping the writers make good decisions.

 

But is it necessary that, even with all of the Grimm-ness Nick battles, he becomes a super hero-like character? Personally, if I was a writer on the show, I would make an episode (or an arc) based around a crime that Nick couldn't solve in the past or presenting an impossible crime that intermingles the Wesen and human world that is a lose-lose situation that he can't win. I just don't think it's entirely fair that every episode has followed a given formula: one crime, a Wesen of the week, Nick wins and a B line story involving Monroe and Rosalee or Renard and Adalind. That is why I have enjoyed "Stories We Tell Our Young" and "12 Days of Krampus" so much. Krampus involved someone who woges on the Winter Solstice and in "Stories..." it's a virus and not an actual Wesen! Plus it has shown that Juliette does do good on the show besides being one of the few women on the cast. But that's another blog post in itself...

 

It's half of the expectation the general audience has put on "Grimm" and its formula with the sadly almost-Scooby gang dynamic and Wesen of the week. How are we supposed to develop Nick's character other than how he handles his job as a cop and as a friend and boyfriend on his off time? In season 3, we have been watching how Nick has coped knowing that he killed someone while under the influence of Samedi and how it's been covered up by his friends. To tell you the truth, I'm hoping he seeks out a professional, like when Juliette forced him to go to a doctor and he's fine. If he goes to a mental health professional (human? Wesen?) to help him out with all the moral problems he's having; will he come out of that normal or is he going to continue to be contained and falling deeper into his Grimm-ness? He might be a quiet person, but this isn't in novel form (which would be amazing...) but he has to start talking about his mind processes so that the viewers can get a new dimension of Nick's "super hero" status or are we just going to have to wait until he completely loses it and ends up in a mental ward? Or is that what the writers are trying to do with this show: base it entirely like a graphic novel where depth isn't entirely delved into unless the story calls for it?

"Backwards Fairy tale?"



 

The more I think about this the more I am absolutely in love with what Grimm is doing and what it might be doing in the future in season 6!!! Of course, I'm dreaming the latter: the season where everyone is in Austria and someone is going to kill the royal baby, Monroe is geeking out in an Austrian clock shop, and exterior shots are being made in the real Black Forest (they can photo-shop in the digging for what the Crusaders hid since obviously there are rules against destroying historical property... right?). But I digress.

Obviously when I say backwards fairy tale, I think of Adalind's story line: an ex-witch so bent on getting her powers back she is driven to sell her unborn child to get help from the gypsies and accidentally lands in between a gypsy-hexenbiest rivalry. Now she's rubbing the dead hexenbiest's insides on her stomach to help the process. That's how far she is willing to get her powers back because it's the only way she could be close to her own mother at this point. (Psychology, folks...) But really, she can't be entirely grieving over her Mother how she brushed her aside when she lost her powers. So we have a very unhappy woman that naturally would become the hexenbiest...the "witch" that has no morality and Grimm takes that to a strange and magically realistic place! Add that to the real world, especially with all the violence and the way Grimm does not flinch from the gore and a dark psychological place, this seems to be a triple punch to the gut that this is not a normal fairy tale.

And keeping in that magically realistic place, we don't need a reminder of who Nick is but what he might become -- a cross somewhere between the huntsman in Snow White or the woodsman in Little Red Riding Hood but the man in the woods with knowledge of weaponry. Only it's switched around to be a man-predator who will haunt and scare all types of Wesen and eventually will hunt out this "witch" woman and save anyone in her path and eventually kill her. I'm starting to look at this show in this direction and it both disturbs and fascinates me all at once.

But we can't have Nick become that role completely since some of us actually like him (I enjoy the show for its ensemble work and of course the underrated comedy of Reggie Lee and of course Monroe... obviously... Nick doesn't really do a whole lot for me) and he's already torn into two continuums. In season 1, Aunt Marie basically told him to break up with Juliette and in the next season, his mother says to keep his friends and comatose girlfriend close to him. If a Grimm is full of otherworldly misery that is in their DNA, they have to have a loving network to keep him sane, right? Are the writers toying with that right now as some kind of metaphysical question of how a normal human's psychology being torn between the good and the bad?

 

Guy Love Grimm-Style

It's no secret how much I love Monroe. I love how he and Nick interact. I like how David and Silas are total dorks in real life. But (and I feel horrible to even bring up my tiny criticism) this friendship, at least on screen, is not at all realistic. Perhaps it is the fault of what a writer needs to present in the pilot, but Nick as a cop should have had better judgment than to run off to the first Wesen that looks like his possible suspect and to even go to his house at night off the books! And maybe that says something about how Nick is balancing his two lives now but all pilots need to be sketchy and offer the show's mission right away, I can forgive that. But even throughout season 1 as Monroe's friends are dying right and left, first by a Bauerschwein to a borderline psychotic Wildemann, we continue with the Grimm formula: Wesen of the week, Nick saves the day, Monroe helps. (I have a better question, are we supposed to watch the show as a serial where time is extended Friday to Friday?)

 

And even with the "oh ha ha" gay subtext behind the scene [above], Monroe is more than observant about the fact that Nick is continually using him, resulting in one of the greatest scenes ever. It's quiet but insistent that Nick isn't so much using him and there is a friendship between them, although one where Nick will quietly demean him for Monroe's quirks but put up with it because he's fine with whoever can help him maneuver through the Wesen world. So it's still using but Nick won't say anything but Monroe can feel better about himself. But there was a small moment between them, eleven episodes later in "Big Feet" where Monroe's in his car in the parking lot of the bar and almost crying that another friend has died while on the phone with Nick. But to me, their friendship still feels one-note even a season later as their friendship becomes more and more distant but maybe that's classic guy-friendship.  It might be nit-picking and yes, they needed a character like this but the fandom of this bromance has grown over the two seasons. You would think that others want to see something more (other than the Nick-Monroe slash art some people are making online...). I mean, as many times as Monroe has saved Nick's ass and vice versa, you would think they owe something to one another more than a sarcastic one-liner or rude humor. But then again, what's the timing of the show? It's never entirely clear.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am glad that Monroe is always there to help, but I really am waiting for Nick to really test the limits of their friendship, outside of his moody Grimm-ness, but how he has always treated Monroe. They almost did this in the current season when Nick "shoots" Monroe to make the Bauerschwein confess that he was killing off Blutbaden. But it seems Nick's relations with the Wesen world is always a little at arm's length and perhaps that's the fault of his character under the influence of his Grimm-ness or otherwise. It's clear Nick has a soft spot for Rosalee and Bud but I feel his guard is never completely down anyways; he is OK with Monroe having his quirks but never tries to invest more than a call in to work to remotely try to be real friends with Monroe even when they were living together! Maybe Monroe needs to save Nick's life again but Nick doesn't need that now that he can breathe underwater and escape a noose.

Myths/Fairy Tales I Would Like to See...

 

• Little match girl (although that's a little umbrella-ed in with "Organ Grinder")
• The Wesen world's equivalent of Robin Hood (but not King Arthur! Let me keep my obsessions separate...)
• Beauty and the Beast
• Snow White and Rose Red
• A Celtic fairy tale maybe? (maybe something inspired by Yeats?)
• Norse fairy tales?
• More Wesen myths/beliefs (like El Cucuy or "Stories We Tell Our Young")

 

There are always more swimming in my brain...

And the promised shirtless rage....

...You're welcome.

 

And the not-so shirtless rage but indeed shirtless...