JSBX

A dear friend recommended that the Music Cricket tries listening to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (JSBX) with the warning, “Not for Purists” ...interesting... As that tends to go, that means I downloaded a whole slew of their albums and started at the beginning. I heard the name before, I think (although it sounds a bit like the Spencer Davis Group) ... but never checked them out... This is “Blues” in as much as it revives Iggy Pop & The Stooges, and toys with clichés of the genre. Other than that, their earliest output is a supercharged, hyperactive explosion of ironic post-modern, alternative punk rock. I guess they’ve influenced The White Stripes and The Von Buddies. Later they drift more toward less incoherent catchy tunes (adding more textures to their bass-less trio, such as strings, horns and organ), like the funky dance territory of Beck, which I find much less appealing, while sometimes shifting toward the Stereolab of Emperor Tomato Ketchup, which I can appreciate better. When I listen to Thrash Metal, I know instantly weather I like a song or not. With this stuff, I really have to make an effort ... and I doubt that repeated listening will pay off. Overall I guess this is not very much my cup o’ tea ... or my cup o’ soup ... but not awful either. If there were room left on my iPod I’d dump it in there, but my 60GBs are stuffed to the gill as it is...

Dollhouse 2x07

Over the course of The Dollhouse series so far our main star Echo (Eliza Dushku) has gradually become more aware of her past, despite her blank-wiped mind after each mission she performed as an operative. Now she has escaped the clutches of the Rossum Corporation, without the GPS tracing device in her neck, utterly lost in her doll-state on the streets of D.C. or even beyond... Her handler Paul Ballard is still AWOL... and we’re left wondering what happened to that wickedly cute, evil doctor Bennet Halverson, or the moralizing white knight with a Rossum brain imprint, Senator Perrin... Echo has in fact made it all the way to Texas, without money or anything else except the clothes on her back.

Months have passed now... The L.A. Dollhouse is now run by Harding, someone above Adele DeWitt ... and Echo has somehow managed to get a job at a hospital... Like, what? If that’s not enough, she’s allowed to check on an imprisoned illegal immigrant, who she met in a supermarket before she got arrested... Wanna know how she’s pulling this off? Ballard has been training her to gain access to her former imprints! Too bad we get a lot of that sci-fi mumbo jumbo that’s supposed to enlighten us how we’re about to head towards a neurological Armageddon with Topher’s latest portable gadget that can wipe imprints remotely. Fortunately it is beautiful Sierra (Dichen Lachman) who does the mumbo jumbo, and I can watch her without sound! Meanwhile the L.A. Dollhouse has turned into a whorehouse for the filthy rich (providing Dolls on romantic engagements)... and Harding is proud like a boy to announce the grand opening of the Dubai Dollhouse... Yuck, I don’t want to even think about Sierra going there...

Early 80's Thrash

I guess your Music Cricket has a deep emotional bond with Thrash Metal. I’ve already shared some of my thoughts on Slayer and Sepultura... But when you talk Thrash, you have to begin with Metallica and the other San Francisco Bay Thrashers. (BTW: have you heard the news that Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax are going to tour together next year for the first time since ever?) When I first heard Metallica (back in 1983) with my best buddies, Sander and Yuri, I was blown away. I loved the raw aggression which provided a terrific release for all my pent up stress and frustration. As I said, I thought that Slayer was a tad too extreme for me at the time. And I soon lost interest in Heavy Metal altogether. Only after I regained that interest did I pay any attention to the other bands in the genre.

You don’t have to be a Metalhead to know that Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine was once in Metallica, but got thrown out in favor of Kirk Hammett (ex-Exodus). Everyone who saw Some Kind of Monster remembers the teary-eyed reunion when Mustaine admits being jealous of Metallica’s fame. But all the Bay Thrashers have, at one point or another, borrowed members from each other. I won’t say I dislike Megadeth, but I’ve never gotten used to Mustaine’s voice ... and I find much of their output after the eighties overly mainstream.

Of the Big Four Thrash Metal bands, Anthrax is the only one not from the SF Bay Area. I like most of their albums, certainly the earlier stuff with singer Joey Belladona. I respect their crossover attitude combining Hardcore Punk elements and even Hip-Hop Rap (even if that means we have Anthrax to blame for Nü Metal crap like KoЯn, Limp Bizkit, Soil, Staind, and whatnot). Trailing somewhat behind the Big Four, are fellow Bay Thrashers Exodus and Testament (both good straightforward Thrash in their early careers and honestly better now than any of the Big Four), as well as the skate-punk crossover Suicidal Tendencies. There was also a Canadian Metal Scene (believe it or not), including Anvil (remember when we saw that movie?), Exciter, Voivod, and Annihilator. Only recently did I finally listen to the classic Teutonic Thrash album Agent Orange by Sodom. Man, what a tremendous album! That’s enough thrash for now.

Dollhouse 2x06

So, what happened to Echo and Senator Perrin, his wife Cindy, agent Ballard and the whole Dollhouse? Well, apparently Cindy has been Perrin’s handler. The Senator’s memory has been programmed to pass through legislation behind the façade of an ethical neuroscience subcommittee that will benefit the Rossum Corporation. Now Cindy has brought Echo and Perrin to her own Dollhouse in D.C., so that their memory can be reprogrammed by the wickedly charming Bennet Halverson (played by actress Summer Glau, who somehow reminds me of my ex-girlfriend – the forehead, the lips, and that she likes pigs, Bennet that is, not Summer – but I’m probably just seeing things...) It’s getting pretty exciting and I finally feel that much of the fast ‘n’ furious, but ultimately superficial sci-fi babble, is beginning to pay off – and I admit that all the attractive, scantily clad women are a guilty pleasure, too.

That lovely, sick, little evil doctor, slash brain programmer Bennet tortures Echo by showing how they’ve met before... We only get to see glimpses, but she’s imprinted her own memory onto Echo’s mind. Meanwhile Adele DeWitt (the head of the L.A. Dollhouse) and her programmer Topher flew into D.C. to retrieve Echo, which required some forceful convincing on Adele’s part, but then Senator Perrin runs away with Echo before Topher can get to her... Echo and Perrin cut out each other’s GPS retrieval chips in their neck (yeah, I know, more sci-fi babble). Now, to trace and disable the fugitive actives, Bennet suggest readjusting Topher’s gizmo from last week ... and this new device will lead us one step closer to the neurological Armageddon of remote brain wipes we witnessed in the glimpse into the future (the Epitaph episode appended to Season One). That sly witch doctor then uses the device to turn Perrin into an assassin, hoping to get rid of Echo. In the end he kills Cindy, chairs the subcommittee’s hearing and clears the Rossum Corporation of the accusations of unethical practices. Not exactly as intended ... or was it?

Dollhouse 2x05

Have you been waiting impatiently for the Dollhouse to return? I know I have! Fast girls and furious action, flimsy plots and pretended female empowerment, sci-fi nerdery and purported ethical issues – what more can a modern guy ask for? Yay! Well, Senator Daniel Perrin is giving a press conference accusing the Rossum Corporation (that runs the various Dollhouses around the globe) of ethical maleficence, and is hoping to use Madeline (the former active called November) as a witness. She used to have a relationship with former FBI agent Paul Ballard (who is now Echo’s handler), when she herself was a sleeper operative spying on Ballard. The situation is putting pressure on Adele DeWitt, the head of the L.A. Dollhouse, as the Corporation is questioning her judgment when she released November two years before her five-year contract expired. It actually remains unclear why exactly Madeline suddenly turned against the Dollhouse.

That moralizing hypocrite senator son of a gun pretends he’s his wife’s knight in shining white armor and she’s his damsel in distress, that they live the happy-ever-after fairy-tale life, “it’s like they made her just for me,” he says in an interview ... O!M!G! You know what? Gasp! Could it be his very own wife’s a Doll?! Wow, that would be so messed up! Is she a sleeper and if so, to what end? To assassinate Perrin himself or any witnesses he might bring forward, like Madeline? DeWitt sends Echo on a mission setting up the senator with a nice video ... you know, wink, wink, nudge, nudge ... in a hotel room and all that... Meanwhile Ballard is supposed to rescue Madeline and take out the senator’s sleeper doll before she gets activated. Yet when he turns on some sort of gizmo that is supposed to knock out Dolls (active, sleeper or former ones), November and Echo fall to the floor, but not the senator’s wife...! The real kicker is in fact that Perrin himself was affected by it! Hahahaha! Didn’t see that one coming! Echo runs away, taking Perrin with her, shouting, “I think my bad guys are better than your bad guys!” From there things take twists and turns that are so wicked and exciting, I will have to leave it till next week! Aw, poor you! Can you take it?

Gossip Girl 3x12

“They say there are no accidents. Sometimes reality comes crashing into us.” Or so Gossip Girl tells us when Trip smashes his Range Rover into the guardrail, while an agitated Serena is in his car. I can’t believe S is actually with that dude, he’s such a wuss. Plus he’s been completely lying to her, dealing with his wife behind Serena’s back to safeguard his political career... and the wife blackmails S with a letter from her long-lost father... Once S finds out the truth, she blows up and when that Trip douche comes back she demands he takes her home! That’s when he crashes his car into the railing and S.smashes her head against the windshield...!!! Luckily dapper Nate was just on his way to her and sees the accident ... ‘cause Trip has fled the scene! Suddenly everyone is coming to Nassau County to be with S in the hospital.

Meanwhile, it’s been a year since Chuck lost his father in a car accident and took over the family business. The ghost of his father is looming over this new deal Chuck’s trying to close. He’s wondering if he’s going soft, and if that’s because he’s with Blair... Serena’s car accident obviously takes Chuck right back to his father’s death, and after stuffing it away in the darkest recess of his mind, he is finally forced to go face to face with his loss. When visiting his father’s grave for the first time, there’s a crying woman there, who recognizes him, rushes away, and can be no other than the mother Chuck thought he had lost many years ago! O!M!G! Cliffhangers galore!

Gossip Girl 3x11

Oh, sweet goodness, Gossip Girl is back! It’s Thanksgiving on the Upper East Side and Rufus wants to bring the Humphrey traditions to the Van der Woodsens... Jenny and Eric are up for it, but Lily immediately dismisses it, Serena has to work, and who knows where Dan is? Well, he is in fact still recovering from the aftershock of his threesome with Olivia and Vanessa. O broke up with him, so are we ever going to see her again? V had a fight with her mom so she’s crashing at his place... Then who is Dan going to invite for Thanksgiving? And will V make up with her mom? Blair is still at war with Serena, but can’t stand the thought of not celebrating Thanksgiving, so she pressures her mother to invite themselves over at the Van der Woodsens... (not that that makes sense, but, hey, this is Gossip Girl and this is the Upper East Side!)

Remember the masqueraded ball two years ago, when Nate was trying to tell Serena he was in love with her? Now that he revealed his feelings for her, is willy-nilly Serena going to fall all over him, even though she’s been sleeping around town? Plus, she’s supposedly in love with Congressman Tripp Vanderbilt, who’s recently filed for divorce. So, who is she going to celebrate Thanksgiving with? Later, Lily bumps into Tripp’s wife Maureen and asks her to come over for Thanksgiving. Just one of those things you do on the spur of the moment! Meanwhile Rufus accidentally asks Lily’s mother Cece to come, too, behind Lily’s back... You see where all this is heading to, right? I mean, a major catastrophe of dramatic, no, epic proportions! At least we can all be thankful god invented booze! (Or whoever invented it...)

Gossip Girl 3x10

You know I have to do this ... “you know you love me, xo xo, Gossip Girl”! Teehee! Oh, c’mon, you know you want to hear what happens the morning after Dan’s fearless threesome! Talk about awkward. Or not. It depends. Dan’s all up in the clouds about it, Nate’s the buzz kill, but then Vanessa bumps into them ... and the awkwardness begins! Not to mention Olivia has to swallow before she can pretend not to mind that Dan and Vanessa are going to a Morrissey concert together... And let’s not forget that Vanessa and Olivia are still roommates up at NYU ... more awkwardness ... We’re totally freaking out, aren’t we?

That snotty, jealous Olivia snatches Dan away from his concert with Vanessa, to go to a cabaret writing thing, so he can apply to whatever, some writing program, I guess, and Blair gets involved, too, because she still wants to find a crowd to reign over ... Dan wants to save the day by asking Vanessa to jump aboard also ... and now their making a satirical adaptation of Snow White based on the lyrics of Lady Gaga, starring Olivia, written by Dan, produced by Blair, and directed by Vanessa ... this couldn’t go wronger!!! Meanwhile, Jenny sure doesn’t mind showing a handsome young European around town, whose father’s an ambassador, and he is ... well, a drug dealer! And Jenny’s totally thrilled. When Chuck comes to rescue his stepsister he tells the guy, “Dude, I’m Chuck Bass. You Europeans must know what that means.” Ahahaha! The plot involving Serena working at young congressman Tripp’s office is pretty darn silly. I won’t waste even more of your time on it.

Gossip Girl 3x09

Couture Crime Queen Jenny is reigning supreme at Constance all-girls school, and that means ignoring her brother Eric, but is she ready to face the challenge of her social debut in New York prep school cosa nostra? And wouldn’t it be an incredible storyline if Eric turns out to be the better person by offering her to help? Will everything fall into place for Jenny from the block? What we really need, naturally, is for Blair to throw everything into confusion, because she doesn’t have a life since graduating from high school. Then Eric turns all sourpuss, too. So, when it comes to Jenny’s escort at the ball, everything falls to pieces! Who’s going to save the day? Oh, my, and I haven’t even told you about Dan, Olivia and Vanessa. Hotness!

Gossip Girl 3x08

Previously on Gossip Girl, “I’m sorry I lied to you, but I only did it because I love you!” Wow! When ever does that fly right? Only when you’re rich & fabulous on the Upper East Side! Serena now has to “pretend” to be dating Hollywood actor Patrick Whatsisface, so that Dan and Olivia can finally go public as an item. Poor S. Hahaha! Things with Blair and Chuck are on the mend now that he’s finally opened his speakeasy. Blair and Serena are still BFFs hating each other’s guts ... and in the end it’s Chuck who has to be noble about it and make S see B is acting like a bitch because she misses her BFF! Oh, to be scandalously rich & fabulous on the UES! Heehee!

Dollhouse 2x04

We return to the Dollhouse and a year ago sweet Sierra (the ever so fabulous Dichen Lachman) was known as Priya Tsetang, a free-spirited artist who unwittingly caught the attention of some head honcho inside the Rossum Company. He bought her paintings and arranged an exhibit, but when she refused his advances, he had her committed to the Dollhouse against her will so that he could finally have his little Doll. When charming Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) finds out about the repeated engagements this guy’s been arranging with Sierra (and then manner in which he got her into the Dollhouse), he calls him “a raping scumbag one tick shy of a murderer” in his face! Hahaha! Of course, she’s been guilty of hiring out one of the male Dolls once in a while... But beneath the pot calling the kettle black, there’s actual depth in this episode. I’m not taking about some profound philosophical revelations, but this one is bleak and disturbing.

Gossip Girl 3x07

It’s Halloween on the Upper East Side and the Gossip Girl crew is hovering like specters around town! Chuck still wants to make a deal, open a club, and strike a profit before he turns twenty-one – and he hopes no one will spoil it for him ... again ... certainly not Blair. But Blair being the busybody that she is ... hmmm... Serena tells her to back off and trust him. Dan’s love life continues to get messed up when he watches the six-hour DVD of Olivia making vampire love like a fiend; and it doesn’t get any better when for publicity she wants to go to the opening party of Chuck’s speakeasy with her pretend Hollywood boyfriend rather than with Dan. Also we finally learn what Jenny’s been up to now that she rules supreme as Queen Bee (diva) at the all-girls Constance Billard School. Talk about the Witching Hour!

Dollhouse 2x03

This new Dollhouse episode starts out really weird and dark and disturbed. I can’t even describe it. Doctor Saunders (a/k/a Whiskey) is gone missing. There’s nothing this week about former operative Madeline, nor about the political campaign against the mysterious medical corporation Rossum that runs the Dollhouse. But a new patient arrives after being hit by a car, but even Topher (the boy genius who imprints Actuals for their engagements) has ethical problems waking this guy up from his coma, when he discovers the patient has the brain of a serial killer. Uhuh.

The patient’s uncle (yet another Battlestar Gallactica veteran) is apparently close to the Rossum Corporation, but I missed that part. They mind-dump the nephew’s brain on Victor, who’s then accidentally let loose on the streets of L.A. (not that anyone would know or care) and now boy genius has to come up with a method to mind-swipe Victor remotely. (This, we who’ve seen episode “Epitaph One” know, is the beginning of the Apocalypse...) That means Victor will become a mindless robot wandering in Hollywood (not that anyone would know or care) ... Except that Topher’s attempt causes a power failure at the lab...

On her part, Echo is starting to recollect more and more of her past missions, although not much of the time when she was still Caroline. This time she becomes Kiki, a college student, who figures she take Medieval Lit, rather than Advanced Eval and skip Intro to Eval, or whatever, because how hard can it be? but maybe she should never have taken this course, but really this Chauncy guy he doesn’t even know how to spell! Heehee! Seeing that I am (well, was) a college professor, I find that very funny :-) Kiki comes to the professor’s office, reads some Chaucer, dances and flirts ... and then stabs a knife in his neck as she glitches just when Topher caused that power failure at the lab... Now Kiki and Victor have swapped minds, so she has become the serial killer on a rampage, and he’s become a mindless twerp in some L.A. club! Hahahaha! What fun!

Gossip Girl 3x06

Let’s return to the scandalous lives of the Upper East Side elite! Gossip Girl here! Blair bluddy Waldorf still wants to rule NYU like the Queen B she was in high school, while Brooklynite Vanessa is stealing the spotlight with her social and environmental awareness. Fellow Brooklynite Dan is back to dating Hollywood movie star Olivia, but will she be ready to meet the parents? Nate Archibald has an idea how to save Carter Baizen from the clutches of the Buckleys. Except that it involves Serena van der Woodsen playing poker. There’s always so much fun to be had – rather shallow and fairly meaningless, but fun nonetheless. Oh, and the New York backdrops! What a miracle!

Dollhouse 2x02

In last week’s episode, Echo (Eliza Dushku), one of the Dollhouse’s Actives, has been imprinted to thinks she’s just given birth, and now she lactates! To explain, we’re told that “the human mind is like Van Halen, if you just pull out one piece and keep replacing it, it just degenerates.” Genius! Interesting that Echo and Sierra (the very attractive Dichen Lachman) are employed on the same engagement... Why? Anyway, Echo is married to this guy who’s never home, but who locks his office behind him at home, and now she’s getting paranoid. She wants to know what the guy is up to. She’s suspecting that he’s having an affair and finds photos of him with another woman... He tells her that’s someone he loved before but she died...

And just when it’s getting too boring ... she overhears him saying, “This isn’t working, get rid of her and I’ll get rid of the baby.” Echo flees with the kid, and her husband complains to the Dollhouse that instead of a wife they sent him a kidnapping freak. (Oh, the woman he loved died in childbirth and he paid the Dollhouse to give him a replacement mother!) Her “handler” returns her to the lab, but after her mind-swiping treatment she punches geek boy Topher in the nose. She runs out, gets in a car, because her maternal instincts from the engagement couldn’t be wiped out... A sudden spell of thunder and lightning, and a power outage later and the baby is gone! “Mommy’s home.”

Oh, gosh, does it really sound as sci-fi crap as I think it does? This show is a lot of fun, though, with some effort at psychological, ethical and philosophical depth, even if you have to try hard catching it. We also continue to get bits and pieces of other plot-lines. There’s the senator who’s out to get the company behind the Dollhouse for their unethical, inhuman practices. And now we also get another plot: that of former Dollhouse operative Madeline. Hmmm, where is all of this going to take us?

Gossip Girl 3x05

Gossip Girl is all about love this week! Serena is still with Carter Baizen (what a worm, that guy)! Nate is still with whats that chicks face? Bree (the only good thing about her is that she hates Carter), but for how long? Vanessa keeps in touch with Scott (the half brother of Dan and Serena). Dan still has a crush on Hilary Duff, uh, no, sorry, Olivia. Chuck and Blair are so cute together. Rufus and Lily, are they in cold war? and if so, why? are they jumping aboard the marital ship? And Georgina? (she’s being the gratuitous manipulative byatch she’s always been). Is she going to spill the news that Scott is the lovechild of Lily and Rufus right when they are about to get married? But where the hell is Jenny? and where’s Eric? (They’re there, but only to say a few lines ... and ... whoosh ... they’re gone again...)

Dollhouse 2x01

I told you about that unaired episode of the Dollhouse, “Epitaph One,” which in a way tells us what the future holds in store: an apocalyptic world in which “imprinted” humans wage war against “actuals” (those who have not been “mind-swiped”). But the story we saw was told through the memory of people working for the Dollhouse. Their recollection may be unreliable, partial, distorted, or otherwise incorrect... Shall we move on to Season Two? What’s Echo’s “engagement” this time? To be the bride of Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Gallactica’s Apollo!) ... whoa! Okay...? For reasons too mhmhmhm, mumble-mumble, incoherent to comprehend, former FBI agent Paul Ballard (Battlestar Gallactica’s Helo) now becomes Echo’s “handler”... They’re trying to set up the groom, who’s apparently a big arms dealer... Meanwhile Dr. Saunders (a/k/a Whiskey) is pulling hilarious pranks on genius programmer boy Topher! Heehee! New this season is the political campaign against the corporation that runs the Dollhouse. There’s also more philosophical depth than before, and more than I can write down. Moreover, if I would try to put it in words, it would sound real silly. The action was pretty exciting, too, this episode. Watch it, if you can!

Gossip Girl 3x04

“And who am I? That’s a secret I never tell.” OMG! Gossip Girl goes to college, and do you know who else goes to NYU? Hilary Duff!!! OMG! OMG!! OMG!!! No, seriously, calm down. Some so-called famous movie actress, who played in a billion-dollar grossing series that’s like King Arthur with vampires (and she would be the hot, blood-sucking Guinevere), she, this so-called famous actress (as I was saying), called Olivia Burke (played by Hilary Duff) is also going to NYU. Dan has no idea who she is (because he’s a nerd like that). But she’s Vanessa’s new roommate. We’re in for a blockbuster! Nate, who knows exactly who Olivia is, encourages Dan to ask her for a date. Heehee! Unbelievable. Meanwhile, Serena, who deferred from Brown, lands a job as a publicist assistant for Olivia’s co-star Ursula (played by Tyra Banks). “Sometimes, even fairy tales can come true.”

Dollhouse 1x13

I’ve mentioned before that I enjoyed the first season of the Dollhouse earlier this year. I feel it’s very much a guys’ show, that is to say, a show for guys who like watching scantily clad, sexy girls in fast action. And let’s be honest, that’s most straight guys. So, I don’t understand why this show isn’t more popular, but what the hey. At any rate, I was so excited for the season two premiere that I found the unaired thirteenth episode of the first season to hold me over! I promise you that the first few minutes are very confusing: Los Angeles 2019, riots in the street, fires and burning cars, people shooting, flashlights in the dark ... huh? But then we’re back in the Dollhouse, the facility for inactive operatives who are abiding in their blank state of mind until they are imprinted for a mission – of any nature, professional, criminal, recreational, romantic, as long as someone pays the bill. Somehow the plot involves flashbacks that give clues about the characters we knew from season one, and about what’s happened to the Dollhouse in those ten years. In this post-apocalyptic chaos Whiskey (the doctor who once treated the operatives) suddenly appears in her mind-swiped state, talking about Safe Haven to people who consider themselves “Actuals” (i.e., not imprinted)! And the rest would sound like even more gibberish if I tried to explain... So, let’s forget about it.

Gossip Girl 3x03

It’s time, of course, for Gossip Girl, “your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite.” Ew, Dan & Georgina, nasty ... but kinky! “Ew, ew! I’m wearing gloves and I still want to wash my hands,” as Blair puts it so poignantly when she walks in on them making out! Did I tell you about Scott? I probably didn’t and you probably don’t care either. But, hey, we’re here and I’m doing all the talking, so, Scott is the love child of Serena’s mother and Dan’s father, and strangely just about as old as they are. He’s also going to NYU (or pretending he is) and is dating Vanessa (that’s Dan’s on-and-off girlfriend when he’s not with Serena). Oh, and no one knows he is their half-brother... At least, not yet, because Vanessa is starting to suspect something’s wrong with this dude. Everything and everyone comes together at this Sotheby’s auction, it’s too much to explain, but it’s fun, it’s awkward, it’s over the top, it’s melodrama, it’s Gossip Girl! Scott wants to fess up, but doesn’t... Then Georgina catches the truth... Plus Carter Baizen apparently has a history with Nate’s new girlfriend... Inneressing! But what about Jenny, huh? I mean, it’s the third episode and we haven’t really seen much of her at all...

Gossip Girl 3x02

Here is the moment you all have been waiting for: “Take out your note books and sharpen your pencils, kids, Gossip Girl is going to college and this class has a lot to learn”! Oh, my, so much is happening! Obviously the Brooklynites Dan and Vanessa are heading for NYU, but so is Blair! And who is there to crush all of Blair’s hopes and dreams? Yes, Georgina, back to her mean-spirited, psychopathic, manic-depressive, passive aggressive, manipulative old self! Yes! But it wouldn’t be Blair if she didn’t find a way to crash Georgina’s party!

Nate Archibald is still sleeping with the enemy, like Romeo & Juliette, and apparently doesn’t give a hoot about going to Columbia, but that’s a Westside Story! Perhaps what he needs is a little Carmen; it sure won’t be Porgy & Bess with him! Hahahahah! You follow? Strangely, I’m getting a little fed up with Serena’s acting up because daddy won’t love her! I guess not going to Brown kinda upset me, even though we all knew from the starts she wasn’t going to leave Manhattan; going out with Carter certainly doesn’t make it any better! Ugh! I like how they are bringing in more of the less-frequently recurring characters, though. As for Chuck ... his fascinating plans to set up this decadent speakeasy are sadly thwarted by his vindictive stepsister! Oh, my, look at all the exclamation marks!

Gossip Girl 3x01

OMGness! Gossip Girl! XOXO .. Yes!! So excited! LOL .. What will the kids on the Upper East Side be up to? Well, Chuck B. is up to his old tricks! Of course. Wouldn’t want it any other way. And what did they do last summer? Oh, you don’t wanna know, do you? It’s Gossip Girl, it’s nothing serious, just sunbathing in the Hamptons, vacaying in Europe, taking a vow of silence, or catching your boyfriend with another girl and then yelling at her for trying to steal your man, that kind of stuff, you know, Upper East Side, N.Y. 10020-10029.

Obviously scandal is following Serena like the plague in 1349. Then she dashes off in a swift gallop at the Vanderbilt charity polo event with all the cameras clicking their shutters, and mean mystery man Carter Baizen is chasing her on horseback right after he was served with a bill for stalking her. Whoa! Can you make sense of any of this? ‘Cause I sure can’t. Heehee! Naturally, all of it is Serena’s way of getting attention from her long-lost daddy. Everyone has daddy issues. Ask Freud. Serena’s are just a little more, well, um, Upper East Side-ish, I guess... Never give up, never surrender. You know you love me. XOXO Gossip Girl.