Man, Rebecca hopes this season's finale arc doesn't suck...
I didn't get as much packing done over the weekend as I should have, but progress was made. A lot of stuff was donated to a neighbor, my temple, and Goodwill, and a lot of other stuff that we won't need right away was stored at Mom's house. We still have a lot left to do, though.
The geekiest, most exciting news is that while packing, I uncovered our “Jem Tape!” It's an ancient VHS that Aunt Carolyn recorded for us from TV years ago. (It still has her handwriting on the label.) It has, in order, an episode of Inhumanoids, an episode of Jem and the Holograms, and all of The Sound of Music and Big Trouble in Little China. I had to watch it as soon as I found it, and I forgotten how much I loved it! Especially the Jem and the Holograms episode, which features the hokiest old '80s commercials you've ever seen! Sara and I could still recite most of them from memory! Sometimes it pays to hang onto everything. Thank you, Aunt Carolyn. I've always loved The Sound of Music, but somehow, it feels more special watching it off this tape. The picture isn't perfect, but really, it plays very well considering this tape has to be twenty years old, at least.
Other things I did this weekend: broke my camera and watched Lincoln with Adam and Sarah. I guess the camera was my own fault for taking photos while biking, but I really do have a lot of experience in that (virtually all my photos are taken from my bike) and couldn't believe when it I dropped it. I'm resisting the temptation to buy a new one. It feels so weird to be without a camera, but I shouldn't be spending money on that so close to our move. Lincoln was very good. (Tony Kushner! REPRESENT!) Just take a look at this awesome clip.
Yesterday was a new episode of NCIS that I'd so been looking forward to, but the actual episode... didn't quite live up. I just don't know where this finale arc is going.
Notes on episode 10x20 Chasing Ghosts
Featuring Former NCIS Director Tom Morrow, last seen in Kill Ari: Part 1
Writer: Nicole Mirante-Matthews (Hereafter)
+ Such a good dramatic opening scene, except for the neighbor announcing, “He's gone,” which felt cheesey and melodramatic in a way I've come to expect of Mirante-Matthews. She's probably my least favorite writer.
+ The Tony/McGee interaction in the bullpen was good.
+ “Bodnar's CIA now. You think Ziva would go after him on her own?” On first viewing, I was like, honestly, McGee, do you know anything about Ziva? But on second viewing, I think he was playing dumb and probably knew more than he let on to Tony.
+ McGee's “Where's the rest of him?” when he and Gibbs found Daniels's finger in the trash. Haha.
- Ducky essentially throwing Palmer out of autopsy while he compiled a profile on Daniels was insulting and so out-of-character for him! I mean, God loves Ducky! He would never do something like that. I'm also so tired of the writers treating Palmer in this dubbed-down, butt-of-the-joke way. I damn near cheered when he charged back into autopsy and stepped up. Way to go, Palmer!
+ Tony's “meat puzzle” line made me chuckle.
+ Abby yanking Gibbs back when he stepped over the yellow tape in her lab.
+ Gibbs's reaction when Abby told him that she'd found a second blood type. It was so adorable how proud he was of her.
- “She's trolling for news on Bodnar.” And news on the whereabouts of a CIA target is in the newspaper? And Ziva's going to find Bodnar before the CIA does by reading the newspaper? Well, way to make that agency look incompetent. And given the long history the team has of snooping in each other's stuff, Ziva should've known better than to keep those clippings in her work desk.
- I know I should probably stop complaining about the product placement and just get used to it, but did we really need to see the text messages on Tony and Callie's phones? Ugh!
- “We need to find this bastard.” Yeah, duh, Ziva.
+ Ziva answers her phone in Hebrew and Tony acts suspicious - geez, it's like the writers are rewatching old episodes for their ideas.
+ Gibbs telling Palmer that he was “moving up in the world.” Aw, that was nice of him.
- The lingering shots of Tony and Ziva staring at each other after Callie walked away... felt so pointless.
- The bullpen scene between Gibbs and Tony is kinda where this episode started going off the rails for me. Why the heck did Gibbs ask why when Tony said he was worried about Ziva? Vance already told Gibbs that Ziva was trying to track down Bodnar and the CIA wanted her to back off! Gibbs is team leader, and it should've been his job, not Tony's, to pass that message along! Instead Gibbs is acting like he never even heard it.
+ See, when Tony tells Abby that Ziva is going after Bodnar, Abby is appropriately concerned that Ziva could be putting herself into a dangerous situation. Gibbs still doesn't seem to get that.
+ Tony's reaction when he found out that McGee had been helping Ziva find Bodnar. I certainly didn't see that coming, either.
+/- “So when do you plan on telling Gibbs?” Thank you, Tony! Of course, it turns out that Gibbs has known all along, which makes his non-reaction even more ridiculous.
- And more points lost for that over-the-top closing scene. I can't believe Vance and Gibbs are both going to green-light this. Okay, I can believe it of Gibbs, but Vance?
The geekiest, most exciting news is that while packing, I uncovered our “Jem Tape!” It's an ancient VHS that Aunt Carolyn recorded for us from TV years ago. (It still has her handwriting on the label.) It has, in order, an episode of Inhumanoids, an episode of Jem and the Holograms, and all of The Sound of Music and Big Trouble in Little China. I had to watch it as soon as I found it, and I forgotten how much I loved it! Especially the Jem and the Holograms episode, which features the hokiest old '80s commercials you've ever seen! Sara and I could still recite most of them from memory! Sometimes it pays to hang onto everything. Thank you, Aunt Carolyn. I've always loved The Sound of Music, but somehow, it feels more special watching it off this tape. The picture isn't perfect, but really, it plays very well considering this tape has to be twenty years old, at least.
Other things I did this weekend: broke my camera and watched Lincoln with Adam and Sarah. I guess the camera was my own fault for taking photos while biking, but I really do have a lot of experience in that (virtually all my photos are taken from my bike) and couldn't believe when it I dropped it. I'm resisting the temptation to buy a new one. It feels so weird to be without a camera, but I shouldn't be spending money on that so close to our move. Lincoln was very good. (Tony Kushner! REPRESENT!) Just take a look at this awesome clip.
Click to viewYesterday was a new episode of NCIS that I'd so been looking forward to, but the actual episode... didn't quite live up. I just don't know where this finale arc is going.
Notes on episode 10x20 Chasing Ghosts
Featuring Former NCIS Director Tom Morrow, last seen in Kill Ari: Part 1
Writer: Nicole Mirante-Matthews (Hereafter)
+ Such a good dramatic opening scene, except for the neighbor announcing, “He's gone,” which felt cheesey and melodramatic in a way I've come to expect of Mirante-Matthews. She's probably my least favorite writer.
+ The Tony/McGee interaction in the bullpen was good.
+ “Bodnar's CIA now. You think Ziva would go after him on her own?” On first viewing, I was like, honestly, McGee, do you know anything about Ziva? But on second viewing, I think he was playing dumb and probably knew more than he let on to Tony.
+ McGee's “Where's the rest of him?” when he and Gibbs found Daniels's finger in the trash. Haha.
- Ducky essentially throwing Palmer out of autopsy while he compiled a profile on Daniels was insulting and so out-of-character for him! I mean, God loves Ducky! He would never do something like that. I'm also so tired of the writers treating Palmer in this dubbed-down, butt-of-the-joke way. I damn near cheered when he charged back into autopsy and stepped up. Way to go, Palmer!
+ Tony's “meat puzzle” line made me chuckle.
+ Abby yanking Gibbs back when he stepped over the yellow tape in her lab.
+ Gibbs's reaction when Abby told him that she'd found a second blood type. It was so adorable how proud he was of her.
- “She's trolling for news on Bodnar.” And news on the whereabouts of a CIA target is in the newspaper? And Ziva's going to find Bodnar before the CIA does by reading the newspaper? Well, way to make that agency look incompetent. And given the long history the team has of snooping in each other's stuff, Ziva should've known better than to keep those clippings in her work desk.
- I know I should probably stop complaining about the product placement and just get used to it, but did we really need to see the text messages on Tony and Callie's phones? Ugh!
- “We need to find this bastard.” Yeah, duh, Ziva.
+ Ziva answers her phone in Hebrew and Tony acts suspicious - geez, it's like the writers are rewatching old episodes for their ideas.
+ Gibbs telling Palmer that he was “moving up in the world.” Aw, that was nice of him.
- The lingering shots of Tony and Ziva staring at each other after Callie walked away... felt so pointless.
- The bullpen scene between Gibbs and Tony is kinda where this episode started going off the rails for me. Why the heck did Gibbs ask why when Tony said he was worried about Ziva? Vance already told Gibbs that Ziva was trying to track down Bodnar and the CIA wanted her to back off! Gibbs is team leader, and it should've been his job, not Tony's, to pass that message along! Instead Gibbs is acting like he never even heard it.
+ See, when Tony tells Abby that Ziva is going after Bodnar, Abby is appropriately concerned that Ziva could be putting herself into a dangerous situation. Gibbs still doesn't seem to get that.
+ Tony's reaction when he found out that McGee had been helping Ziva find Bodnar. I certainly didn't see that coming, either.
+/- “So when do you plan on telling Gibbs?” Thank you, Tony! Of course, it turns out that Gibbs has known all along, which makes his non-reaction even more ridiculous.
- And more points lost for that over-the-top closing scene. I can't believe Vance and Gibbs are both going to green-light this. Okay, I can believe it of Gibbs, but Vance?