updated
Nov 26 @ 1pm CST
by Laurel Krahn
laurel@windowseat.org
Minneapolis, MN
AIM: lakrahn
ICQ: 509473

Weblogging since November 1998
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Epiphany in Brooklyn
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So . . . it figures that after promising updates for this Thursday and Friday, I up and catch a cold or something. Somehow a sinus-headache does not inspire one to spend many hours staring at a computer screen putting together webpages. So, um, enjoy the TV picks and the stuff that's already here and have a fab weekend. No promises on when the next update will be, but there'll be at least a little something next week sometime. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Marv Kitman on big NBC blunders, most notably the cancellation of Homicide: Life on the Street:

The good news out of Burbank is that if the TV movie, due in the spring, gets high ratings, the series could return as a series. Duh! This is where I came in.

If I were president of NBC, I wouldn't take it off until there are no more crabs in Chesapeake Bay or crime on the streets of Baltimore.

Don't forget to visit The Homicide Links Site for the latest. There's a really cool article about how things are on the set. Beware of spoilers, of course. I wanna visit Baltimore!

Yes, it did finally snow in Minnesota for the first time this fall. Lileks:

This morning when I came downstairs and saw snow outside for the first time, I was pleased. Life in this part of the world is like a reverse version of The Wizard of Oz - it starts with color, then abruptly changes to black and white. There's great beauty and power in the sudden appearance of winter, wonder and majesty and mystery, etc. Not this morning. It just looked cold and wet. Jasper and I went for a walk. It felt cold and wet. Raw and sodden. The snow was short-timer snow, doomed to fade by noon. A good stern snowfall drapes the trees and smothers the earth, but this just looked like someone had spit half-chewed manna everywhere. Well, aren't we Mr. Cheerful tonight?

I was crabby about the snow, too. Pretty to look at, but I knew I'd be driving in it well before the snowplows had a chance to do much. With people (like myself) who hadn't driven in snow in at least a few months. Plus, it'd been 51 degrees the previous day. Word is it's supposed to climb back up near 50s for Turkey Day or Friday . . . we shall see. There's still snow around right now, but it's melting fast now.

Last night, I dug around in my quotations file to find some more topical Turkey Day quotes for use here, in my .sig file, and elsewhere. And then, as usual when I do such a thing, I found myself revisiting old web haunts that house many cool quotes. And I searched for some new ones, too.

Faves? This NewsRadio page probably has the best selection of NewsRadio quotations. Lovely. And the list of links is good, too. This Sports Night page has a quotes database that's searchable by character and/or episode. Also has some video clips.

And here's a page of quotes from WKRP in Cincinatti which shares a site with a bunch of cool pages o' quotes from other series as well.

Of course the page you're looking for is the page with quotes from "Turkeys Away" episode:

Herb: When that farmer asked me what I wanted with twenty live turkeys, I had to do some pretty fast talking, let me tell you.
Les: What did you tell him?
Herb: I told him it was a secret.

Les: It's a helicopter, and it's coming this way. It's flying something behind it, I can't quite make it out, it's a large banner and it says, uh - Happy... Thaaaaanksss... giving! ... From... W.... ... K... ... R... ... P!!

Les: No parachutes yet. Can't be skydivers... I can't tell just yet what they are, but - Oh my God, Johnny, they're turkeys!! Johnny, can you get this? Oh, they're plunging to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! Oh, the humanity! The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Not since the Hindenberg tragedy has there been anything like this!

Johnny: Les? Are you there? Les isn't there. (composing himself) Thanks for that on-the-spot report, Les, and for those of you who just tuned in, the Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been bombed with live turkeys. Film at eleven.

Much more stuff to come later this week. I expect there'll be at least one update each weekday. I've been a busy girl. And even managed to leave the house and be social this weekend (well as social as a shy hermitgirl can be).

StarTribune coverage of the big mess that is the U of MN scandal. Feh. And to think, I once believed in Clem Haskins and the MN Gophers men's basketball team . . . Oh, well. Does kinda tarnish some fond memories.

Unbound1 on this week's episode of The X-Files:

Don't get me wrong, "Hungry" wasn't a horrible episode. Not by a long shot. There were no killer kitties and at no point did Scully start birthin babies while Mulder was sprawled outside hacking and wheezing to death.

True, but it was a lame episode. Almost hard to believe Vince Gilligan wrote it (given he's written so many truly great ones. I'd consider him my favorite X-Files writer who isn't Darin Morgan). I'll admit, I channel surfed and watched most of Jack and Jill instead of X when it was on, then went to the tape of the episode and was sorely tempted to fast forward through it. 'Course it was the first episode filmed and both the stars weren't meant to be in the episode much. I'd much rather have had another Lone Gunmen episode . . . Oh well.

Don't miss Autumn Tysko's reviews of The X-Files. Okay, you can skip any reviews of the most recent episode if you like. Tysko's reviews of the two-part season opener are spot on. And, as usual, they're also funny and point out the little things that many (including apparently those working on the show) miss.

DDB took some cool pictures at a recent Guy Fawkes Day party. Darkness and bonfires and sparklers and fireworks, oh my! Picture 1, picture 2, and picture 3. All available from DDB's photography page.

He's also taken some fine photos of some truly fine jewelry made by Elise.

The ever-so-wonderful Amacker Bullwinkle has put a boyfriend application online [via signal-to-noise]. And here's Amacker's homepage.

Someone was talking about New Year's plans and I (yet again) got the Steve Goodman/John Prine song "The Twentieth Century is Almost Over" stuck in my head. Read all about Steve Goodman. And buy some of his albums (they make great gifts, too). One of my all-time favorite songwriters and performers. Gone, but far from forgotten.

Winter's getting colder, summer's getting hotter
Wishing well's wishing for another drop of water
Mother Earth's blushin' cause somebody caught her
making love to the man in the moon
How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm,
now that outer space has lost its charm,
Somebody set off the burglar alarm and not a moment too soon

The twentieth century is almost over
almost over, almost over
The twentieth century is almost over
all over this world.

I saw Being John Malkovich last week and liked it quite a bit, though I was disappointed with the last half hour or so of the film. I also suspect all the rave reviews had my hopes up a bit high. Still, well worth seeing. A fine flick.

Then there's The World Is Not Enough which I saw this past weekend. Eh. Sigh. Disappointing. Can't say I recommend it unless you're a big Brosnan and/or Bond fan in which case you've probably already seen it or will want to see it regardless. Just don't get your hopes up. Ebert liked it a lot, Harry Knowles didn't. I know some who really liked it, some who really didn't. I don't regret seeing it and I enjoyed some parts a lot, but I was disappointed, especially in the final sequences. Perhaps the rest of the film suffered because the opening sequence was pretty darn cool and none of the pieces thereafter were as good.

Still, I liked the opening sequence. And M and Q and R. M has more to do than usual. But ultimately, disappointing.

"I've named this Thanksgiving. I'm calling it 'The Thanksgiving of Mom's Disapproval.' Included on the two-record set are the hit songs 'Why Aren't You Married?' and 'Sports Is No Place For An Educated Woman,' and 'Didn't Anyone Ever Tell You How To Cook A Turkey?' "
-- Dana, Sports Night

Do you know what today is? Well, November 23rd is the day a lot of stuff happened in one of my favorite episodes of Sports Night. If you've got a tape of "Thespis," watch it. If not, read the transcript.

Isaac: (pause) Did a big frozen turkey fall down onto the anchor desk during the last commercial?
Casey: Yes.
Isaac: Why?
Casey: Ah, Isaac, is there really an answer I can give to that question that will satisfy you?
Isaac: I don't think so.
Casey: Then don't worry about it.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace limited rerelease to benefit charity (via AICN). Huh. Cool. I just realized I forgot to go see the movie one more time when it was at the cheap-late-run theater. Starting December 3rd, for one week only, the film will air in select theaters. With absolutely all proceeds going to charities chosen by the theaters.

Got suggestions? Comments? Let me know what you think would improve this page. Don't hesitate, just write. Feedback keeps me going. I read all feedback and do my best to respond with, at the very least, a thank you. If you'd like to email or snail mail me cool stuff (for this weblog or not), I'd love that.

This page created and maintained by Laurel Krahn who can be reached via email to laurel@windowseat.org.

Copyright ©1999 Laurel Krahn unless otherwise noted. May not be redistributed without permission.