iCarly

Now that you've watched the opening to iCarly, let me tell you more about the show. The main characters are Carly Shay, Sam Puckett, Freddie Benson and Carly's older brother (and guardian), Spencer. Carly, Sam and Freddie are middle-schoolers that run a video webcast called iCarly. While they don't really talk about how popular their webshow is, it seems that a ton of people watch it. (Note: There are clips and segments on the actual iCarly.com website too.) Spencer is the goofball of the bunch. Despite being 26-years old (and having attended law school for 3 days), he always acts like a little kid: running around and seeing the fun things in life instead of being a 'boring adult.' (He probably has a Seattle injury lawyer on call for when his stunts injure other people....) But he's definitely the most fun character.

I have to admit that, even though the show is aimed for kids and young teens, it is a pretty awesome. Carly is an upstanding, intelligent young girl that is a great role model for kids. Sam is the prankster who is always getting into trouble but everyone knows she really has a heart of gold. And Freddie, well, he's mostly around to help Carly and get picked on by Sam. I'd much rather watch this than another episode of Spongebob Squarepants.

Xbox Live + Netflix = Fun!

I'm sure many of you know about this now. I'm going to talk about it anyway. If you have an Xbox 360 that is Live enabled and a Netflix account, you can stream movies and television shows right to your television. And it's not just a huge list of crappy movies either. My daughter is a big fan of Hannah Montana so we've queued up the entire first and second seasons of the show for her. My husband likes Red Dwarf so we have the last three seasons set up for him. I love Japanese dramas and anime so there's things like R.O.D. the TV on my list. It's a great way to spend a relaxing weekend - catching up on old TV shows or watching movies. If only there were more hours in the day for me to work through our queue!

American Cancer Society's Relay For Life

The Relay for Life is a 24-hour walk-a-thon relay that takes place once a year. While people can participate as individuals, most are in teams. Each team needs to have at least one member walking on the track during the 24 hours. Last year was my first year participating. Despite some major thunderstorms, it was a nice time. I am participating again this year. This is the American Cancer Society's signature event. You can find more information about sponsoring me on my Relay For Life webpage. If you know of a company or organization looking for a charity to donate to this year, please feel free to let them know about the Relay.

Thank you!

Jdorama review: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Special

Title: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Also known as: HanaKimi Translation: For You In Full Blossom Broadcast date: 10/12/08 Genre: Romantic comedy Cast: Horikita Maki, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma Plot: Six months have passed since Mizuki has left Japan. During a Valentine's Day contest, Nakatsu tries to figure out exactly when Sano fell in love with Mizuki. What is good: More HanaKimi! What is bad: This isn't the special episode that should have been filmed. Letter rating: C Overall: I really enjoyed the HanaKimi television series. So why did the producers decide to stick us with this? Instead of a special involving the boys' trip out to California to visit Mizuki, we get a slew of flashbacks. A majority of the special is supposed to take place between episodes 7 and 8. However, someone made a decision to introduce a new character, Julia, to try to get Sano to confess his love to Mizuki. Not only is Julia unnecessary but she is also annoying. I would have preferred a special dedicated to more of the hijinks of the various dorms instead of focusing on something that was already determined in the series - Sano loves Mizuki. There is no need to try to figure out the exact moment that it dawned on him.

Cyrano de Bergerac

Last night, PBS' Great Performances showed Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner's performance of Cyrano de Bergerac from the Broadway run in late 2007/early 2008. I thought Kline was magnificent as Cyrano. However, Garner overacted everything about Roxanne. I wanted to like her and perhaps the problem is that I went in expecting an amazing performance from her. She's lucky that she was paired with Kline. If it was a lesser actor, the show would have been toast.

Jdorama review: Hana Yori Dango Final

Title: Hana Yori Dango Final Release date: June 28, 2008 Genre: romantic comedy Cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi Plot: After Domyouji Tsukasa (Matsumoto) publicly announces his engagement to Tsukushi Makino (Inoue), his mother gives the couple a rare tiara called "The Smile of Venus." Unfortunately, it is stolen from the Tsukushi hotel room that night! Tsukasa and Makino set off on a worldwide trip to retrieve the tiara. With the help of F4, will they be able to save their impending marriage? What is good: The on-screen chemistry between Matsumoto and Inoue is amazing. You'd think they were a real couple! What is bad: There are a couple of things that aren't fully explained, though it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the movie very much. Letter rating: A Overall: Much like the two television seasons before the movie, the Japanese version of Hana Yori Dango has been amazing. All of the actors are immensely talented and, while the plot is a little wacky, it fits the show. It was interesting to see the rich boys actually traveling around the world and acting like adults. (Well, for the most part anyway.) I would have liked to have a little more closure with one of the F4 members but I suppose that mysterious aura is what made him so likeable in the first place. Also, I would have liked to have the head "bad guy" explained a little more explicitly. Though, perhaps if you have an intimate understanding of Japanese relationships, it doesn't need to be said. (It still would have been nice if they did say it.) Overall, this was an amazing series and an awesome ending to it. I even found myself crying toward the end of the movie. I'm not ready for it to end!