My Favourite Television of 2013

2013 was an awesome year for television. I'm not even going to bother with the givens like Mad Men, Parks and Recreation, Breaking Bad, and so on. I could go on about those forever.

Old Favourites

The Killing
Oh dear. It all fell apart in the end, didn't it? I already had my rant about the last episode (warning, spoilers ahoy), but up until then, Season 3 was excellent. Although I was a big fan of the first two seasons, I did feel that there were faults, and this season showed they had learned some lessons from those. The break out character was of course Bullet, the tomboy streetkid who strikes up an uneasy friendship with Holder. Their relationship was gold, and their chemistry amazing. If only that final episode never happened. *sigh*

Nashville
Hayden Panattiere is SLAYING in this show. Seriously - why is she not raking in awards? She is so under-rated it's ridiculous. This is still the glitzy, mildly trashy soapy drama that it was in the first season, though they have moved away from the slightly boring political subplot and concentrated more on the more fun conflicts of music industry shenanigans. They have also done a really great job of fleshing out previously one-note characters (Juliette, Avery), and turning them into complex people you can care about. The songs are amazing - there is a wealth of songwriting talent involved in this show, and if you have the slightest liking for country music, the show is worth watching for the music alone.

Bob's Burgers
This is the funniest show on TV - no question. I laugh myself stupid through every episode, and this year was no different. Linda Belcher is my spirit animal. "Mommy doesn't get drunk, she just has fun!"

Boardwalk Empire
At the time of the season finale I wanted to write a long, heartfelt blog post about it, but I was just too emotional. I am not even kidding. I had the same feeling afterwards as having been dumped - my heart literally hurt and I kept tearing up spontaneously for a day or two after. It was devastating, but it was also a brilliant end to a brilliant season. I know a lot of people moan about this show being slow but those people can suck it. This show is fucking PERFECT.

New Favourites

Bates Motel
This show was so much better than I expected it to be - who could have thought an updated interpretion of Psycho could be anything but an ill-conceived disaster? The crazy double act of Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore is casting gold. The only dull note is some billionaire having bought his daughter a part as the love interest for Norman/Dylan. She is EXECRABLE. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a worse actor on anything, not even Home and Away. The rest of the cast more than make up for her awfulness, though.

Sleepy Hollow
Another show that on paper looked like it would be a hot mess, and the pilot didn't do a whole lot to dispel that. However, Lily and I were willing to give it another go and by about the third episode we were hooked. One of the things television seems to have gotten so right this year is chemistry in casting - the two leads of this show are smoking hot and play off each other beautifully. Unfortunately the Tumblr usual suspects have embraced this show wholeheartedly so no doubt their demented fandom will eventually ruin it for the rest of us, but until then, it's well worth checking out - completely bonkers and loads of fun, with occasional genuinely scary moments.

Orange Is The New Black
I did not shut up about this show for weeks after watching it. I think I heard about it on a podcast, had it in my head to check out sometime, then Ben told me he'd been binge-watching episodes on Netflix and insisted I watch it. Unlike him with my recommendations (The Inbetweeners, It's Always Sunny, Bob's Burgers, The IT Crowd), it didn't take two years and a recommendation from someone else for me to get around to it. I was hooked from the beginning - I don't think the Taylor Schilling character was the most interesting, but certainly not as hateful as many people seem to find her. The rest of the prison inmates were the real stars though, especially Kate Mulgrew, who made me squeal and clap every time she came on screen. The only sour note for me was Laura Prepon, whose dreadful tadpole eyebrows distracted me every time I saw them. I'm glad her character is gone next season - not required.

The Returned
A French drama about a group of people from a small town who suddenly return from the dead. They're not zombies as such, they look and act like normal people and at first don't realise they are dead. I know, it sounds bizarre, but this show is A-MAZ-ING. Awesome cast of people I've never seen before, incredibly evocative music score that keeps you tense and concentrating throughout, and it's super creepy without being schlocky. There were many questions left unanswered, so I'm glad to hear there is going to be a second season.

Broadchurch
This was another show I banged on about nonstop for weeks after watching it. On the surface it's a standard British crime drama - young boy in a small town dies, many people under suspicion, other secrets are revealed, etc. etc. But it was so much more than that, not least because of the incredible acting of Olivia Colman as a detective and a friend of the child's family. I don't want to say anything more about it other than if you haven't seen it yet, watch it. NOW.

The Fall
Jamie Dornan is a serial killer - this is not a spoiler, it's revealed in the first few minutes. Gillian Anderson is an English detective seconded to Ireland to investigate the outcome of another crime who realises that said crime might be the work of - guess what - a serial killer. What's creepy is the normality of the killer's life - his wife, his kids, his job. He's one of us. I was so tense watching this I was literally sitting straight up on the edge of my seat most of the time. The heavy Belfast accents are hard going at times, and Gillian Anderson tends to mumble through her teeth, making her even harder to understand than the Irish, but that's a small complaint - it's well worth paying close attention.

My Mad Fat Diary
I don't even remember where I heard about this - I just randomly picked up on it somewhere and decided to check it out. I watched 3 episodes back to back and then made Lily watch it with me from the beginning again. Loosely based on a memoir, it's about a teenage girl with serious mental health issues who just wants to fit in and be normal. It's funnier than you would expect, but also devastatingly heartbreaking. There aren't many adult characters - mainly the main character's mother and her therapist (played by the brillian Ian Hart), but they're both wonderful. It's the kids you really love though - the friends she eventually finds. I loved this so much, and I cannot wait for the new season starting in a few weeks.

Masters of Sex
In a nutshell, it's Mad Men with rude bits. I was very interested to see this because I love period dramas, but I wasn't sure how it would go. Lizzy Caplan - much as I love her - has always struck me as someone very specifically modern. I wasn't sure she would fit in to a show set in the 1950s. I was wrong though, happily - she's brilliant. As is Michael Sheen, and Beau Bridges, and the kid who got all stressed about the vote count in Election. But the shining star who effortlessly steals every single moment she is on screen is Alison Janney, whose portrayal of a middle-aged woman unknowingly married to a gay man is so heartbreaking that I'm choking up a bit now just thinking about it. She deserves every award going for this role - she's just phenomenal.

In The Flesh
This scrapes in as I watched it the weekend before the end of the year. Set in a small English town, it's about the return of former zombies ('partially deceased') after a cure has been found. For some reason I thought it was a comedy, but it's actually incredibly moving and sad. It's not an OMG ZOMBIES show at all - it's a drama that people looking for some brain-eating action might find insufferably slow. I adored it; when Lily came back from holiday with her dad I rewatched it with her and she adored it too. I'd put off watching for ages and as it turns out it's one of my favourite shows of the year.

The Killing: When Will They Learn?

This is a rant about the final episode of The Killing. It's pretty much word for word what I wrote in an email to my friend Jessica of the #TVTrustCircle earlier this week. It is riddled with spoilers, obviously, so it's behind the cut.

Current Favourite Non Beauty Things

Orange is the New Black
If you've had any kind of conversation with me in the last fortnight, I've probably told you to watch this already, because frankly, I can't shut up about it. There is so much to love about this show - it's mostly women, the guys are jerks, and not in the Don Draper/Tony Soprano "ooh, he's a bad arse" kind of way, almost no one is entirely good or entirely bad (well, not among the women, anyway), it's funny, it's dramatic, it's sad, it's shocking. It's bloody brilliant. Watch it.

Sneaky Pickle
Food trucks have become a thing in Adelaide in the last year or so - I know, I know, only 10 years behind everyone else. It was actually Noodles who spotted this one first a couple of weeks ago, and although I have a rule about not eating food from food trucks (because I am clumsy and food truck food is invariably messy), this one seemed too good to pass up. That there in the picture are brisket sandwiches with sides of coleslaw and a pickle. Top left is onion rings, top right is fried mac and cheese fingers. There were two of us eating this, and we should have gotten one sandwich to share, because this food is SO filling and SO rich we couldn't finish. However, it was worth it - the brisket is cooked in some kind of smoked hickory sauce and the mac and cheese fingers are just ingenious (they do lean salty though so people sensitive to salt might find it's a bit much for them). Note to self: next time either sandwich or sides.

Welcome to Night Vale
This is a podcast that apparently the cool kids are all over, but that I only heard about recently. The premise is that it's a radio news show for a small desert town where a lot of weird things happen. It's hard to describe, but highly addictive. 

Answer Me This
Another podcast I seem to have found years after everyone else, this is a British show with a simple premise - people send in their questions (either specific 'why is X called X kind of questions, or 'problems' requiring advice) and the hosts answer them. The hosts have those charming, easy to listen to BBC kind of voices and they're often hilarious. Short and sharp and well-edited, definitely worth listening to.

Boardwalk Empire
I've been rewatching this with Ben, who FINALLY started watching it a couple of weeks ago after me nagging him for about two years. We marathoned 8 episodes of Season 2 last night, including that episode. Yeah, you know the one. That one. And then the next one. Oh my god. I'm a bit wary of rewatching Season 3 - although it has a satisfying large amount of Richard Harrow (swoon), Bobby Cannavale - whom I usually love - is SO annoying he almost ruined the entire season for me. Let's see if I find him more tolerable the second time around. Season 4 starts in September, and I'm excited!

Finally, not a current favourite but an anticipatory favourite:

EIGHT SLEEPS UNTIL BREAKING BAD YOU GUYS!

I will be preparing myself by listening to Bald Move's Breaking Good podcast next week, where they will discuss fan theories and hopes for the final 8 episodes. Then on the following Monday I'll be coming home from work early, blacking out the interwebs, pouring my champaggen and a bowl of Twisties, and settling in. I can't wait. But I also dread it being gone forever. I AM SO CONFLICTED.

Mad Men

I freakin' love Mad Men. It might actually have replaced Twin Peaks or Freaks and Geeks (I go back and forth on those) as my all time favourite TV show. I know some people find it boring because not a whole lot seems to be happening (oh, but it is!), but I adore everything about it. The style, the era, the characters (even the ones I hate), the acting, the dialogue, the stories. Everything. Can we please talk about:

What I'm Watching On TV These Days

You know I love my television, and at this time of the year when all my stories start winding up and nothing new is on the horizon for a couple of months I get a bit panicky and start flailing around for something to watch that I haven't already seen. Unfortunately, I've pretty much exhausted everything I have the slightest interest in, so at the moment I am reduced to rewatching The Office - both UK and US, because Noodles decided she wanted to see the US one, and I told her she had to sit through the UK one first. It's been a few years since I last watched the UK one, and I still cringe in horror through a lot of it. And Finchy... UGH. Brilliant, though.

Nurse Jackie is one of those shows I hang out for every year, and then because there are only 10 episodes a season it seems to just come and go in the blink of an eye. Then the cycle starts again. I love it - it's smart, funny, full of awesome characters, and Merritt Wever (Zoey) is my ultimate girl crush - I am legit in love with her. (I was so excited when she turned up in the last few episodes of New Girl this season!)

Oh, Mad Men. I am going to be so devo when this finishes next year (or this year if Reddit conspiracy theories are to be believed). I know it gets a lot of haters, but I've been with this show from the start and I adore everything about it, even the frustrating symbolism and MEANING every tiny thing has. And if we don't find out what Bob Benson's deal is soon I'm going to bust.

Who isn't watching Game of Thrones? I'm not a book reader so I'm following along with the story in relative ignorance (aside from book wankers who can't resist dropping hints that make it easy to put two and two together), and loving it. This is another one that seems to come and go really quickly because of the shortness of the season. They sure pack a lot into those 10 episodes every year, though.

I don't even know where to start on the creepy awesomeness of Bates Motel. The casting of Freddie Highmore is spot on - his accent gets a bit shaky when he gets emotional, but he has the ticks and mannerisms and half-gentle half-sinister quietness of Anthony Perkins' Norman down pat. And the creators hit a goldmine with Vera Farmiga - she is superb as Norman's mother. Her scenes are equal parts terrifying and hilarious. There's a definite Twin Peaks vibe going on here, and I'm loving it to death. Now the impatient dance while waiting for it to come back next year. I want it nooooooooooooow!

Confession time: I used to intensely dislike Gillian Anderson, mostly because I couldn't stand Scully. She was pretty much the reason I never entirely embraced The X Files, though I did like a lot of the stand alone episodes. However, I have come full circle after watching her in The Fall - she is brilliant. And beautiful. And such a good actress. This is a gritty Irish crime drama where she plays a British cop brought in to review a murder case in Belfast, only to realise it's the work of a serial killer. The serial killer is revealed right at the beginning and we see his life as well. It's so tense and creepy, and occasionally hard to follow because there is a side story about police corruption and everyone is speaking with strong Belfast accents and Gillian (bob love her) has a tendency to mumble between clenched teeth. It's worth the effort, though.

I don't remember where I heard about Broadchurch - there was a mention of it somewhere in something I was reading and it had Olivia Colman in it, who I like, so I decided to check it out. It's an 8 part crime drama about a boy who is murdered in a small town, and it's brilliant. I watched 6 episodes back to back and only stopped because it was the middle of the night and I had to work the next day. The set up of the final episode is amazing - the killer is revealed early on (and not that hard to guess by that time) and the rest of that episode is the town dealing with the fall out. It's so good - if you're looking to just sit back on a rainy weekend and watch a block of something, this is it.

Okay, lies - I haven't watched The Killing yet, that will be later this evening. But I'm super excited to have it back on because I loved the first two seasons, for all its faults. Also: Holder in a suit and tie! Squeeee! <3

Randomosity

Pretty random.

1. I haven't been into blogging much of late (and my poor perfume project blog is suffering for it too), mostly because I haven't been on my laptop - I tend to read most things on my phone and writing and commenting and whatnot is a pain in the arse on an iPhone. I've also had some dramas going on with Noodles. She's been a bit depressed - like, actual depression, not 'oh, this boy doesn't like me and I'm sad' depression. She's okay, but she's a bit up and down and I'm currently using up a lot of my time and energy trying to be there for her and get her some help. So when I have time to myself I just feel like sitting there staring vacantly at the TV or flicking through my bloglist or Buzzfeed or whatever on my phone.

2. The other day I was cleaning out my Favourites on YouTube and I was reminded of some clips I love. These are just guaranteed to make me laugh - I've probably posted them before, but they're worth another spruik if so.

First of all, one of my favourite clips from Malcolm In The Middle, a show I always loved. Hal was always my favourite character, and I thought that his whacky comedy combined with how much he genuinely loved his wife and kids was pulled off beautifully by Bryan Cranston, who really is an amazing actor.

Then there's Tom Hanks doing Toddlers and Tiaras, which I KNOW I've posted (probably many) times before, but it always, always cracks me up.

If you're a Gavin and Stacey fan, you'll remember Smithy and Rudi's rap to entertain Gav on the phone.

And finally a new favourite that I'm sure everyone has seen by now as it's been doing the round of the internet for the last couple of days. It's an out-take from Parks and Recreation with Patton Oswalt performing a 'citizen filibuster' and delighting the inner nerd in all of us (and I'm not even a particular Star Wars or Marvel fan).

3. I have been doing a bit of splurging lately - probably about time to reign it back in. As well as a bunch of new perfumes and perfume samples, for the first time in ages I bought some makeup - not that I need it, as you would know if you've been around this blog for a while. I didn't want anything in particular - I was just interested in trying out Beauty Joint, as a lot of Aussies use that site for brands we can't get here like Wet'n'Wild, ELF, Nyx, etc. I picked up a few things that caught my eye.

I haven't really done much more than play yet, though I did try out the Wet'n'Wild foundations. The colours are slightly off - one runs a bit too yellow and one a bit too pink. I'm going to mix them and see if that helps. As far as texture, application, etc. they're pretty good for a super cheap foundation (about $6US).

4. As far as my stories go:

• Super annoyed that Breaking Bad doesn't come back until August. That's too looooooong! I don't know what I'm going to do when it finishes. I feel like there will be some weird kind of worldwide mourning for it. I've spoken to some other people about it and they said the same thing. Maybe we are just all way too attached to our stories. 
• The Walking Dead finale was a dud. I love that show, but god, sometimes the writing is just... ugh. 
• Of the new shows out recently, I'm still watching The Following, even though it's stoooooooopid, and the serial killer guy is about as charasmatic as a vacuum cleaner salesman. I watched two episodes of Hannibal and found it gimmicky and annoying. The one I'm really getting into is Bates Motel. It started off a bit clunky, but once the older brother showed up and started messing with the dynamic between Norma and Norman the pace really picked up. As my friend Jade said, there's something a bit Twin Peaks-ish about it, what with all the townspeople having creepy secrets and everyone being a bit 'off', and so on. 
• Nurse Jackie is back - yay! I love the show overall but what really keeps me coming back is Merritt Wever. She is ADORABLE as Zoe the nurse. I  love her so much it makes me feel a bit creepy - if I lived in Hollywood I'd probably stalk her. She turned up in an episode of New Girl the other day and I literally squealed when I saw her. 
• Speaking of New Girl, NO THANK YOU to the Nick and Jess thing. It's not working. Make it go away. Also, those lensless glasses just bug the crap out of me so much, especially because she wears them at times that would be appropriate for regular glasses - rather than as an (albeit dopey) fashion statmement - like when she is teaching or sitting in front of the computer. THEY. HAVE. NO. GLASS. IN. THEM. THEY. ARE. NOT. GLASSES. 
• Yay forever that Mad Men is back. Aaaaaah, like slipping on an old, slightly confusing pair of slippers. And also Game of Thrones, which I don't love as much, but I do still enjoy. I always listen to the Bald Move podcasts after in the hopes that they and/or their listeners who write in with feedback can shed more light on the bits that baffled me. If you're a fan of either of these shows, I highly recommend these podcasts - Mad Men Happy Hour and The Night's Watch.  They also do casts for The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad when they're on.

5. Speaking of TV, I finally managed to get someone else to watch Bob's Burgers, and now Jacquie and I spend probably way too much time throughout the day sending each other gifs or quoting lines. "Ginger's cat died... but in a really funny way!"

6. I went shopping with Noodles the other day - for the first time in ages she actually wanted to go out in public with her mum. She dragged me through all these groovy (do the kids still say groovy?) shops I would never set foot in otherwise - and man, did I feel old or what - and I was surprised and pleased to see that 90s fashion seems to have made a reappearance. I love 90s clothes - not mum jeans or spaghetti strap dresses with t-shirts, but the black tights, chunky black lace up shoes, plaid, band t-shirts, houndstooth skirts, hand dyed petticoats worn as dresses, etc. I wish I could get away with wearing all that again - I'd be all over it. And I hope this means the 80s is finally going away because that shit is ANNOYING.  I have a wee mohair cardigan that I have kept for about 20 years and since they're sort of part of the fashion now I gave it to Noodles. It's about 4 sizes too small for me these days - that dream has well and truly died. It might as well go to someone who can do the buttons up.

7. Noodles is away for school holidays at the moment with her dad, so I think I'm going to spend the weekend reading books and magazines. I have a bunch of Rolling Stones I have yet to get through and I was reading an article in one yesterday and remembering how damn good their journalism often is. It makes a nice change from all the opinionated, dumbed-down, journalistic shit that passes for journalism these days, at least in this country.

My Mad Fat Diary

I have been banging on about My Mad Fat Diary on Twitter for a couple of weeks now and I now I’m going to bang on about it here because it’s so good. I had never heard of it but happened across the title and decided to check it out, assuming it was some kind of diet reality show (judge away, but I secretly love British diet shows). I was a bit ‘Eh...’ when it started and I realised it wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was one of those weekend afternoons when I couldn’t be bothered doing much of anything so I kept watching, and by the end of the episode I was straight on to the next one. I watched four episodes in a row, then when Noodles came back from a sleepover the next day I made her watch them with me all over again.

The story is about Rae, a 16 year old girl living in England’s north who is coming home after spending 4 months in what she calls ‘a mental hospital’ for an at-first unspecified reason. There are hints throughout as to what happened, and then a flashback in the final episode that tells the complete story. It’s not a mystery really – it’s not set up to be that hard to guess. It’s more that she doesn’t want to refer to it directly, and she is narrating the story via diary entries – the diary being part of her therapy. On the way home from the hospital Rae runs into Chloe, her childhood best friend from whom she has drifted, and the two hook back up, with Chloe eventually integrating her into her new group of friends. The series is about Rae’s attempts to be ‘normal’ with this group of teens, who happily accept her without knowing who she really is.

The actors who play the teenagers are largely unknowns, but all beautifully natural, especially Sharon Rooney as Rae. She is heartbreakingly real as a young girl with mental health issues, body issues and a longing to just be like everyone else and belong. It’s not all depressing – a lot of it is hilarious as her group of new friends are pretty goofy – but there are moments where Noodles and I cried buckets. The final episode in particular is both heartwarming and devastating. There are really only two main adult characters – Rae’s mother and her therapist (Ian Hart being particularly wonderful). Mostly it’s about the kids, but it’s not a show only kids can appreciate. If you’ve been a teenager, you will relate to it.

One other thing I need to mention is that it’s set in 1996 and has a fantastic Britpop soundtrack featuring bands like Oasis, Blur and Stone Roses. Man, that took me back!

My Mad Fat Diary is based on a book by Rae Earl, which is gleaned from her actual diaries as a teenager in the late 80s, so I could relate to both media versions. I bought the book after watching the first four episodes and devoured it over two nights. The show differs a fair bit from the book in the last couple of episodes, but the general vibe is true to its source.

It’s a six part series, and it’s just been renewed for a second season, but no word as to when that will be. I don’t know when it’s airing in Australia or the US – I acquired it through nefarious means (heh). But if you have a chance to see it, I just can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s damn near perfect – I’d put it up there with Freaks and Geeks. Yes, really.

Randomosity

One of my favourite pictures of Noodles, from about 10 years ago. 

1. 2012 was an awful year for respect towards women, in so much as there was very little of it. I'm not going to rehash all the reasons - I'll just get angry all over again, and you all know them anyway. Suffice to say I will not be shedding a tear if Alan Jones finally shuffles off this mortal coil in 2013. What I'd love to see this year is more positive support, both from men and from each other. Let's stop bagging out women who don't fit the Hollywood norm of 'beauty' and yet still have the nerve to be on our screens. Let's stop blaming women who are attacked for being out and about in the first place. Let's stop making ourselves miserable and boring everyone else shitless with our diet obsessions. Let's stop judging mothers for not meeting whatever our own lofty standards of perfection are. Starving a child = abuse. Formula feeding =/= abuse. And so on. In short, let's just be nice.

2. I am really enjoying my perfume a day reviews. I've found a handful of perfume oil fans who also have blogs I'm enjoying reading, such as La Domna, Liber Vix, Brightest Star of All, and Iris Handmade Soaps, and it's so nice to be back into one of my longstanding hobbies again. My only problem is that my wishlist won't stop growing.

3. TV shows I'm hanging out for the return of this year:

• Breaking Bad (of course)
• Mad Men 
• Game of Thrones 
• The Walking Dead. 

      TV shows I've well and truly given up on in 2012 and no longer care about:

• Grimm 
• Once Upon A Time 
• Glee (ugh) 
• How I Met Your Mother.

4. I'm on holiday at the moment and I've been home for a week. I had plans to get up early every morning and do all sorts of useful things. Very little of that has happened. I have another week off, so maybe I can get started on all that tomorrow...


5. I'm finding myself increasingly distracted by overly botoxed and derma-filled faces on TV these days. Both men and women from about 26 onward have these ridiculously smooth, unlined, expressionless foreheads and frankly, it's just creepy. If you're in your 40s, it is OKAY to look like you're in your 40s. Check out Connie Britton. She looks like a 40-something woman, but she's still gorgeous.

6. Don't forget to check out Twyla's generous 20% off for readers of this blog! The code is PRISSYPERFUME and it will run until 12 Feb.

Things I'm Currently Loving

Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar Fine Fragrance Mist
This was on my last favourites list, but I'm still loving it to death. It's the best kind of vanilla, warm and delicious. Om nom nom. I have taken to occasionally spraying it on my pillow a couple of hours before I go to bed so I can wallow in it.

MAC MSF Natural in Medium
Again, this was on my last list, and again, still loving it. I use it almost every day - either to add a bit of oomph to tinted moisturisers, or to set under eye concealer.

Queen Helene Grape Seed Extract Peel Off Masque
I love peel off masks generally, but this one is especially good - it leaves my face feeling soft and non-wrinkly at least for a while after. And it's as cheap as chips, less than $4US on iHerb.

The Garden Bath Fresh Roses Perfume Oil
A true rose scent with a touch of a sharp green note in the background. So pretty and girly, I just love it.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe and Bad to the Bronze
I've been doing the old swipe-and-go on the eyes a fair bit of late, and these two colours are just fool proof. I wear one or the other depending on whether I feel like matte or a bit of shimmer. The only problem I have with them is that I have to apply them exactly where I want them to be because they dry almost immediately, making them virtually impossible to blend.

Coastal Scents Shadow Worx Matte Eyeshadow Primer
I have never really been a fan of UDPP, so when I finally used up all the little freebies that come with palettes I had lying around, I went looking for something else, and decided to try this one and the NYX HD primer. The NYX is pretty much a dupe for UDPP, which I guess is okay from a cost point of view, because it's way cheaper, but for keeping my eyeshadow in place all day, this Coastal Scents one has it in spades. Love it.

Real Techniques Brow Brush
When I first bought the Real Techniques eye brush set, I thought this one was kind of rubbish - it seemed way too thick to be a good brow brush, and nowhere near as stiff and precise as my beloved company-that-shall-no-longer-be-mentioned-due-to-hideous-unapologetic-racism one, but I have found that it is actually perfect for filling in brows and making them look really natural rather than 'done'. It's also super super quick to use.

NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder in Taupe/Ash
This is a little set that comes with two brow powders and a wax, as well as an application brush and a spoolie. The application brush is a bit useless, though I do occasionally use the little spoolie. I don't really use the wax either as it's quite soft - I much prefer NYX's Eyebrow Shaper. However, the lighter of the two powders is perfect for me - a lightish medium brown with absolutely no red in it. I use the Real Techniques brush to apply and only takes a few seconds.

Also....

Etsy
I have been Etsy bingeing of late, though in my defence, it's mostly samples. Perfume oils, loose eyeshadows, skincare products, lip balms, etc. I just love Etsy, and the 99.9% of good experiences I've had far outweigh the one or two bad ones. I love that I can buy something from a creative person doing their own thing. Mind you, I feel like they are getting a bit lax in their definition of 'handmade'. I was looking for bracelets for Noodles recently and there are a hell of a lot of mass-produced little crap things coming out of Hong Kong and China on there. Not cool, Etsy. That's what eBay is for.

The Because Show
This is a podcast that I only heard about very recently, and it's three women who are probably in their mid to late 30s. There are elements of their cast that don't grab me (a tendency to chat a bit too much about farting - I'm not a 12 year old boy and that really doesn't interest me), but on the other hand, there's enough there that I do like and I've been listening to their back catalogue most of the weekend. They talk about loads of things, including makeup and books. MAKEUP AND BOOKS. Yay for chicks!

Parks and Recreation
I've loved this show for lo these many years (and again, this is the second time in a row it's been on my favourites list), but it has come up in conversation more often of late because I FINALLY have some other people to talk to about it. Natalie has been a fan for quite a while, but fairly recently we managed to cajole Jessica into watching, and now she is up to Season 4 and thoroughly hooked. Hurrah! I've just converted a bunch of episodes to MP4 and put them on my phone so I can just watch them randomly whenever I feel the need for a P&R fix. Oh, and a girl I work with texted me yesterday to say she had just watched all of Season 1 (which is only 6 episodes) and loved it. The word is getting out there!

Nacho Saturday
This kind of speaks for itself. It involves eating nachos. On a Saturday. And it's awesome.

Imaginary Boyfriends (other than Paul Rudd)

Richard Harrow (Boardwalk Empire) 

This sharpshooting assassin-slash-brothel minder-slash babysitter is sensitive, philosophical and thoughtful. The dreamiest guy with half a face who ever lived. And with a whole face - phwooaaar. 

 Cary Agos (The Good Wife) 

In the beginning, it seemed like Cary was going to be the archetypal scheming rival/villain going up against Juliana Margolies, but the writers gave him a lot more depth and even though he was competing for his job with the protagonist, he was still a decent guy. Cary is intelligent, intuitive and has layers.He's just an all-round good guy.

 Ryan Gosling 

Reasons to love Ryan Gosling:

1. He can act. 
2. He can sing. 
3. He has a great sense of humour. 
4. He is a feminist. 
5. He is intelligent. 
6. He is a feminist. 

Reasons to not love Ryan Gosling:

1. You're crazy. 

Slash 

I've never been a particular fan of Guns'n'Roses, but every fan encounter with Slash I've ever heard about results in a story about how nice he is. I've just never heard anyone say a bad word about the guy, and positive gossip speaks volumes.

Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead)

Needs no explanation. HE'S FEEDING A BABY IN A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.

Ben Wyatt (Parks and Recreation) 

Smart, nerdy, funny, and adores the perfect Leslie Knope. Pretended to 'get' L'il Sebastian out of love. Bought a Batman suit on Treat Yo' Self Day. Made a (very) short film called Requiem for a Tuesday. Perfect, perfect, perfect boyfriend.

Stuff I Love At The Moment

COSMETICAL WOTSITS

Garnier BB Cream in Light, or Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in Nude, set with MAC MSF Natural Medium.
I absolutely detested the original Garnier 'BB cream' (it's not - it's a tinted moisturiser, and not a very good one), but this one (also not really a BB cream) is awesome. It gives a nice coverage and smooths out general redness and uneven tones. It doesn't disappear in minutes like the original one, either. My only complaint about it is that it's very thin so it's hard to get out of the tube without getting way too much. My other favourite face coverage at the moment is the Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser, which actually reminds me a lot of the Garnier one but is thicker. Regardless of which one I use, I set it with MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural buffed in with one of those soft Coastal Scents brushes (since my Everyday Minerals flat kabuki carked it recently). The MSF holds it all in place without looking cakey or powdery.

MAC Studio Finish concealer in NW20
I'm not a big MAC fan, so it's odd that two of my current favourite things are theirs. I bought this yonks ago, didn't like it, threw it in a drawer and forgot about it. I hauled it out a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a go, and I really like it now. I use it under the eyes very lightly, as it's really thick, and around the nose and any other small red areas, then smooth out with an Everyday Minerals Eye Kabuki brush. I set it with a bit of MSF and I'm good to go.

Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Blush and Petal
Weird confession time - over the past couple of years, my teeth have shifted a lot. They used to be pretty tightly together, and now they are gappy and the top ones are starting to protrude. I'm not gonna lie - it's heading towards hillbilly territory. Apparently it's something to do with my bite pushing them out, but I can't afford whatever it would cost to fix them at the moment so I tend to concentrate on making sure Noodles' teeth are looked after and ignore my own. It's made me self-conscious though, I've always had slightly crooked teeth and I kind of liked them, but these are just not a good look. Anyway, as a consequence, I have been steering clear of any bright lipsticks or glosses that will draw attention to my mouth. I wouldn't wear any lip colours at all except that I don't think faces look quite finished unless there's something on the lips. Enter Blush, a nude beige, and Petal, a nude pink. These are both very unassuming, easy to wear colours and I've been using them almost exclusively for the last few weeks.

Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar Fragrance Mist
Jacquie brought this back from the US for me and I love it to death - it's one of those wintery vanillas that smells really foodie and delicious (in contrast, Dreamy Vanilla Woods, which I bought on eBay, smells like toilet spray). It doesn't have huge staying power, but I'm going to decant some into a smaller bottle (the one she brought back was huge) so I can carry it around with me and respray regularly. I don't even care that it's more of a cold weather perfume - I'm wearing it anyway.

NON-COSMETICAL WOTSITS

Bean and Asparagus Salad
Asparagus is my favourite vegetable, so I love it when Spring rolls around (Ha! See what I did there?) and it's everywhere. I make this salad at least a couple of times a week at this time of year, and I never tire of it. It's not even really a recipe, you're just assembling a couple of ingredients.
 

1. Top and tail some fresh stringless green beans, and chop the bottoms off some asparagus (I like the thin stalks, but you can use whatever you like).  
2. In a big pot of rapidly boiling water, blanche the vegetables for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then fish them out with a spider and plunge them into a big bowl of iced water.
3. Drain well and spread them out in a shallow bowl. Drizzle over a really good quality olive oil (use your best for this, as the TV chefs would say), fresh cracked black pepper, and fancy salt flakes or fresh ground salt. Toss a little bit with tongs to get it all coated and then eat. SO GOOD.

The Walking Dead/Watching Dead
It's that time of the year again! Haters to the left, I love this show, and I don't care about the dodgy writing or bad accents, or the supposed realism or otherwise of what people would or wouldn't do in a zombie apocalypse (Seriously? It's a ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE). I've read all the comics, so I have a fair idea of where everything is headed, even though the show deviates considerably at times. And then a couple of days after each episode I listen to The Watching Dead podcast for an entertaining recap, discussion on each episode, and audience feedback. If you're a fan of The Walking Dead, I highly recommend this podcast as a side dish. The two guys are big fans, but not above critiquing the show when it needs it, and they are both funny and entertaining without trying to sound like morning radio DJs, as podcasters are often wont to do. 

Nashville
My newest obsession, which has sparked off several other new obsessions, as listed below. This TV show is not on Australian TV yet (WHY?), but the US is about 4 episodes into it. Set in Nashville (der). it's about a fading country superstar (Connie Britton) and an up and coming pop/country crossover starlet (Hayden Panettiere) battling it out. There's also political intrigue going on with Connie's dad, a dodgy business man, trying to make her sort-of-useless husband the new Mayor of Nashville, and a bit of a bone thrown to those who just want to hear gorgeous love songs sung by ridiculously pretty people in a side plot about two plucky young'uns being discovered. It's glitzy and fun and has some awesome music, as well as Connie Britton's hair. Which leads me to...

Sam Palladio and Clare Bowen
The previously mentioned ridiculously pretty people singing gorgeous love songs. Like this one. 

And this one.

 

And that leads me to...

The Civil Wars
Apparently I'm the only person in the world who had not heard this band. This is what happens when you don't have a radio or television and you work with people who are mostly middle-aged. I thought it was Jessica who introduced me as she mentioned them on Twitter, and when I looked them up I found that they had written one of the above duets, but as it turns out, Natalie had pimped them to me in an email a couple of weeks ago, AND I had written them on my 'to download' list on my phone. I just didn't make the connection, until she huffily informed me that she was the one who had originally put me on to them. 

So, vindication and apologies to Natalie, and thank you to both her and Jess, because this band is AHMAAAHZING. Such gorgeous, gorgeous voices and beautiful, sparse music. I downloaded their album Barton Hollow on Friday morning before work and after the first 30 seconds I was completely in love, then proceeded to play it continually over and over all day, as well as most of Saturday (you're welcome, neighbours). And speaking of gorgeous duets...

Lennon and Maisy
Again, I seem to be the only person who didn't know about these girls. They play Connie Britton's daughters on Nashville and in the third episode they do an acoustic version of one of Hayden Panettiere's songs from the show which is crazy good. I was telling Noodles about it (living vicariously through other people's talented children since mine inherited her complete lack of musical ability from me), and she says, "You mean Lennon and Maisy? Everyone knows them!", and then she showed me this video. 

I'm usually pretty up on virals so I don't know how this one passed me by, but regardless, the song is on iTunes so I downloaded it and it's another one I've been playing to death. I hope they let them sing more on Nashville, they're so good. And check out their real life parents - is this the coolest family alive or what? I wonder if they would adopt me. 

Parks and Recreation
Look, I have been on at everyone I know to watch this for years, and if you haven't succumbed by now, I just don't know if we can be friends anymore. If you're a regular viewer, you'll know that the most recent episode was amazing and touching and oh my god I'm choking up again just thinking about it. The show is hilarious, the cast is perfect, Amy Poehler is the most flawless human being who ever walked the earth. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED, PEOPLE?   TREAT YO' SELF.

 

Things I Like: A Semi-Regular Series - Podcasts

Source

I'm not really a big music person - I go through periods where I like listening to it, and then I'll go months without ever hearing any. And I detest radio to the point where it can send me into a frothing rage if someone at work is playing one on their desk (seriously people - it's 2012. HEADPHONES). However, I do quite often need to blank out noise around me at work (OTHER PEOPLE'S STUPID RADIOS), so I quite often listen to podcasts. Today I'm just going to list some of my favourites - mostly relating to TV, film, and pop/geek culture, so if you're interested in any of these topics, check them out and see what you think.

I'll start with my favourites - Bald Move. These guys have a bunch of TV show specific podcasts that come and go according to the programs' seasons. They have just wound up Breaking Bad and will be starting up The Walking Dead in a few weeks when that's back on television (yay!). They also do Mad Men, Justified, and Game of Thrones. The set up is that they recap the week's episode, discussing along the way any interesting points or interpretations that crop up, and then spend time on listener feedback. They're chatty and organically funny, and they're enthusiastic about their subjects, but not afraid to criticise something they don't consider up to par. They also have an older podcast called Blue Yonder (still available on their website and iTunes, though they don't update them anymore) that's more of a generic geek/pop culture show, and it's worth listening to if you enjoy their rapport in their more recent outings. They have quite interesting backgrounds (hardcore, intelligent geeks who come across as endearingly naive about some things due to having been raised in a strict religious environment).

Personal Arrogants is a podcast by two young guys in Seattle, the subject of which is 'bridging the gap between nerd culture and pop culture' or words to that effect. It's a pretty random cast, with a lot of discussion about gaming and beer (one works for a brewery and they both have an interest in boutique brews). Since I neither play video games nor really drink beer, it's surprising how much I like this cast. They talk about a lot of other things as well though, and like Bald Move, they have a great rapport and a funny outlook.

The Golden Briefcase is a film podcast, but rather than review a specific film, these two guys have a discussion topic each week inspired by a new release for that week. For example, if there's a big superhero movie coming out, they might have a discussion about comic book heroes and how successful their translations to the big screen have been. I like this one more than other film podcasts because I rarely see new releases until they hit DVD or a good download shows up on The Pirate Bay, so listening to them talk for 40 minutes about a film I haven't seen can be a bit dull at times.

How Did This Get Made celebrates terrible movies, with a podcast popping up about every two weeks dissecting a particular 'bad movie we love'. They've done casts on such gems as Godzilla, Cool as Ice (with special guest Vanilla Ice himself, who was wonderfully good-humoured), Burlesque, and Batman and Robin. Hosted by actor Paul Scheer (you might know him as Donny the head page in 30 Rock), his wife June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukis, they're invariably hilarious.

The Black Guy Who Tips makes me uncomfortable sometimes, I'm not gonna lie. My white leftie guilt goes into overdrive when they start throwing the 'n' word around. This is an incredibly meandering cast - they quite often spend 20 minutes or so just banging on about their sponsors, their Twitter handles, their website, etc. It's a husband and wife team, and though Rod the husband is funny, Karen the wife is really just there for him to bounce off. She has an annoying tendency to come up behind him and 'explain' his jokes. Having said all that, it's often screamingly funny. They just talk about random topics and read out weird newspaper stories, and then Rod comments on them and discusses them with whoever else he has there with him. And they do that for 2-3 hours several times a week. It's a good one for work because I can put it on and just tune in and out of it.

The Joe Rogan Experience is a podcast I've only started listening to recently. I only really know Joe Rogan from Fear Factor, and vaguely remember him from NewsRadio, so my opinion of him is 'overgrown frat boy'. I would never in a million years have bothered listening to a podcast of his, but I heard a couple of people talking about it and it piqued my interest. And I have to say - it's probably now one of my favourites. He's another one who just rambles - not least because he's generally pretty stoned - and he and his comedian friends sit around and tell weird, rambling, hilarious stories about whatever pops into their heads. The most interesting one for me so far was when he had Dave Foley on and they dished on all the NewsRadio gossip and Dave's disastrous first marriage. And the one with Bobcat Goldthwait was so funny I had to stop listening at work because I kept bursting into laughter and looking like an idiot. 

And finally, one that's more of a hate listen. Firewall & Iceberg is a general TV podcast, where the two hosts - Alan Sepinwall and Daniel Fienberg - discuss the most recent episodes of several of the week's shows, review upcoming new programs, and report any interesting or important TV news. I'm not entirely sure why I listen to this one, because I rarely agree with Sepinwall's opinions about anything (I often feel like I've watched a different episode to him), and Fienberg's halting, disjointed speech patterns and irritating habit of asking himself questions and then answering them ("Do I think she's the best character? No. Do I think she's a good character? Yes - I do - but - ") drives me mental. I think I just keep going with it because it's an easy one to listen to at work - I don't really need to pay attention to what's being said and I can tune in and out.

Channeling My Inner Homer

As those of you who've been around for a while will know, I love television. I mean, I REALLY love television. Pretty much my favourite thing to do is watch my stories, and I am always chuffed when Noodles likes something that I do and wants to watch with me. There's a general belief that the quality of television has massively declined in recent years, and to an extent that is true. Both free to air and Pay TV (cable to you foreigners) are chock full of trashy reality shows with attention-seeking wannabes trying to out-bully each other in the quest for some prize, or just generally wandering around in front of a camera being pointless and making the rest of us look at it. On the other hand, cable channels like HBO, Showtime and AMC have been churning out some superb television and have proven that it can indeed be a form of art rather than just idiots watching other idiots on the idiot box.(Not that I'm averse to being the idiot watching idiots on occasion - I love me some Come Dine With Me.)

As far back as I can remember, television has been pretty much my favourite thing, and a lot of my fondest memories involve that box. When I was 8 or 9, Little House on the Prairie was on at 7:30 on Thursday nights. Thursday was my mum's grocery shopping day; she would get a box of Cheezels and we would all watch Little House together, munching away on garish yellow circles of delicious fake cheeseness. We were not a particularly close family, and I especially tended to go my own way, not really having anything in common with my parents or either of my brothers, so that's one of the few memories I have of us doing anything both family-oriented and enjoyable (as opposed to the torturous 'family drives' my dad subjected us to every so often).

On Sundays at 6:30 it was The Wonderful World of Disney. My dad usually made dinner on Sunday nights - something easy like hamburgers or hotdogs, and my brothers and I would all be freshly bathed with dressing gowns on and hair slicked down, ready to go as soon as the credits rolled and that sparkly castle appeared. It was usually some cheesy but enjoyable second-rate movie with Kurt Russell or Dean Jones or Fred McMurray, but occasionally there would be one of the 'special' Disney films like The Jungle Book or Snow White, and that was always a big event.

When I was a little older, probably 13 or 14, television dominated my evenings (remember kiddies, this was pre-internet) - Monday night was Tales of the Gold Monkey, Tuesday was BJ and the Bear, Wednesday was CHiPs and Thursday was Dukes of Hazzard. 

On Friday nights there was always a classic family movie on - something like The Wizard of Oz or The Sound of Music* or a Gene Kelly extravaganza. Saturday nights were a triple bill of the Golden Years of Hollywood hosted by Bill Collins, and on Sunday afternoons I watched old black and white weepies like Miracle In the Rain or Mr Skeffington, or jolly colourful Doris Day singalongs with my mum while she (and later I) did the week's ironing.

From the age of about 17-30 I rarely watched TV with any regularity. I was too busy out having a life. I did spend Tuesday nights with the gang at Melrose Place of course (who didn't), and there was the obsession with Twin Peaks in the early 90s. But for the most part, I wasn't really up to date with most of it, and there are a lot of beloved 90s shows that I only caught up with many years later, when I had a kid and subsequently no life to speak of (poor Noodles - hope she isn't reading this!).  That was also my 'film buff' period, when I spent several nights a week at the movies, watching a lot of artsy independent small budget films where everyone talked a lot but nothing much happened.

What I remember most about TV is what an event it was back in the day. There were not many VCRs around in Australia until the mid-80s, and we certainly didn't have one until about 1986 or so, so if you missed an episode of your favourite show, you wouldn't have a chance to see it again until it was repeated several years later. There were no 'encore performances' or cable channels playing the same episode of a show 17 times in a week. There were no video box sets - the local video shops had slasher films and a couple of worn out copies of Caddyshack and that was pretty much it. It's taken for granted now that you have a ton of options when it comes to watching something - I have no aerial and no cable, so essentially no immediate television. I just download anything I want to see. We can watch one episode a week as it airs, or we can bank them up and have mini marathons on the weekend when we're more in the mood to sit and watch something. We can wait for the DVD box sets and watch all the little extras that go along with them if we're so inclined.

And best of all, once we've watched our shows, we can get online and find someone to talk to about it. Instant communication has enhanced the viewing experience tenfold. The only thing better than watching something you really enjoy is debriefing about it with someone else who also really enjoys it (though having said that, there is little more frustrating than trying to discuss a show with someone who is into it but just doesn't get it, and continually argues ridiculously meaningless or blatantly incorrect points). There is so much more enjoyment to be had from a TV show than just watching that 22 minutes or 42 minutes once a week.

It's interesting that sometimes favourites don't stand the test of time. I adored Quantum Leap back in the day and once spent a feverish 3 day weekend when I had a flu-like illness marathoning a friend's entire collection of taped episodes, but I tried rewatching a couple of years ago when it was on Foxtel and I couldn't bear it. The same with 21 Jump Street. And even Melrose Place. Yet there are others that I came back to again after years and enjoyed just as much, if not more. The Office is as wonderful now as it was 10 years ago. Twin Peaks has held up in a way that other quirky shows like Northern Exposure and Picket Fences haven't, and even though there's a long period where it's pretty shit, as my ex says, it's only shit by its own standards. I have more appreciation for The X Files now than I did when it was airing. And of course, there will never be a soapie I love and watch as much as Prisoner. Not even Eastenders.

You know how people always say they don't trust people who don't like animals? I don't warm to people who say they don't like television, or that they never watch it. There are few things more irksome to me than someone who sniffily announces, "I don't watch television" in that tone that suggests you're a lesser person if you do. Enjoying television shows is a hobby, just like scrapbooking, horse-riding, crossword puzzles, or any other number of relatively useless things that people enjoy doing in their spare time. I have worked with people who will get huffy at having to listen to the briefest discussion of whatever water cooler show was on the night before while we're waiting for the stragglers to turn up to a meeting, but are happy to hold court (with photos!) about their own obscure, boring interests week after week. I have lost count of the number of mothers I know who snootily announce that they don't allow their children to watch TV (implication - I am a bad parent because for most of her toddler years, Noodles' favourite song was the theme from Home and Away), only to finally crack under the pressure of, you know, PARENTING, and plonk the little dears in front of something on the ABC and make excuses about how it's okay because it's 'educational'. I'm on to you ladies. The only thing they're learning from The Wiggles is the hilarity of grown men in brightly coloured skivvies.

So that's my (not so) little ramble about one of my absolute favourite things. Do you like TV? Do you have fond TV memories? Are you excited that there's going to be a new season of Arrested Development?

*I've never seen The Sound of Music, and it's kind of a point of pride for me. No, I don't know why.