Californication 4x07

This was an episode full of fart jokes, involuntary bowel movements, urinating on the golf course, and genital mishaps. Hank remains painfully jealous of Karen’s newfound friendship with handsome Ben, father of the Queens of Dogtown’s lead vocalist. Meanwhile he has just bedded his former attorney Abby, who decides it would be unethical to represent him in court. She thus introduces him to her senior partner, a bore of an old fart himself, who takes Hank golfing – where Hank’s aforementioned urination fails to charm. For his part, Stu asks Runkle’s help pitching a TV show for his soon-to-be ex Marcy – a talk show about her experience waxing the stars. Stu’s jitters offer more potty jokes, Marcy stumbles over her own words. It’s Runkle who steps up the plate and impresses the execs with his pitch about “Nicole’s” winter bush. In the end, Hank and Ben both attend an acoustic show of their daughters, with Karen in the middle holding both their hands under the table. It’s time for her to chose.

Boardwalk Empire 1x07

The pace remains slow in Boardwalk Empire, and the audience is kindly requested to remain patient while the plot slowly unravels. Alas, the scenes and characters that pass by are not always that interesting to wait for them to pay off. In this episode we learn something about Nucky’s childhood and his abusive father. Perhaps this is meant to provide some depth to his character and provide a motivation how he became a power player in Atlantic City. His affair with Margaret has hit an impasse. She sits pretty, not knowing how to engage him when they are not in bed together. She sure isn’t like Lucy, who complains she feels empty without Nucky inside her. Nor does she want to be like Annabelle, another concubine on Mistress Row, who advises her to let him keep his secrets to himself, but plucks her own man’s pants for financial security. Margaret would rather that Nucky confide in him. Meanwhile, Van Alden interrogates an eye witness of the Jimmy’s heist gone wrong; while Jimmy’s wife Angela is getting romantic with his mother Gillian.

For his part, Lucky Luciano sends one of his henchmen to Chalky White so as to cut out Nucky as middleman. But Chalky suspects Nucky is testing his loyalty and refuses the offer. Then Luciano and his henchman visit the D’Alessio brothers, who are trying to get a foothold in the bootlegging trade with Mickey Doyle. Instead of nicking cash from Nucky’s runners, Luciano suggests they rob Nucky’s casino together with half going to Rothstein in New York for the privilege. Over in Chicago, Capone has spotted the thug, Liam, who slashed Pearl’s face before she killed herself. Jimmy meets another war veteran, Richard Harrow, who lost half his face. The poetic irony is doubtless not lost on Jimmy. He takes Harrow to the Four Deuces, treats him on Bourbon shots and prostitutes. Harrow was a sniper whit such an accurate shot, he killed a German with a single shot just an inch under his eye. Later Jimmy confronts Liam, tells him a harrowing story about a German soldier caught in barbed wire between the trenches. Being alive sure was worse than being dead, Jimmy muses, but he promises he won’t kill Liam – he just doesn’t ever want to see him again. He walks away. A shot is fired that kills Liam with a single shot just an inch under his eye. I don’t have to tell you that Harrow is packing up his riffle across the street. The famous toccata con fuga on the soundtrack alludes to The Phantom of the Opera, while the scene switches to Lucy watching Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by herself.

Gossip Girl 4x16

Let’s see, this week’s party is Eric’s eighteenth birthday; Damien extracts a check for $100,000 from Eric; Chuck and Lily try turning the tables on Thorpe; Blair loses her job at W Magazine, despite Dan’s help; Ben forces Serena to choose between him or her family; Vanessa returns to apologize to Dan; while Nate is dancing some kind of tango for three, trying to seduce Raina for Blair, but she falls for him. What else? Ben threatens to kill Damien if he ever speaks of the forged affidavit again and takes Eric’s check off him; then Damien offers his secret to Thorpe in exchange for a mere $100,000; Serena finally sleeps with Ben; while Vanessa is trying to reach her by phone to warn her about the ex-con con artist. In the last scene Dan and Blair watch The Philadelphia Story before she falls asleep on his shoulder: portending they’ll have a dalliance before she’ll return to Chuck. And here I was thinking that this would be the last episode of the season, but alas, there are five more to go!

Modern Family 1x21

In this episode we get to see more of Phil’s father Frank Dunphy (Fred Willard). Can’t say the Cricket chirped cheeps cheerfully at that. He brings a dog that Clair fears she will be looking after, but Frank can’t part with the dog. How funny is that? Not. Over at Jay and Gloria’s Manny got scared witless after Jay took him unwittingly to a horror flick. Also not much to make me chuckle. Much more to my liking, Glamorous Cam gets to sub for the drummer in Dylan’s band. What a feast it is to see him behind the kit! Mitchell can’t believe his eyes or ears how good Cam is. A little too good, perhaps, as he shows off his chops in an endless drum solo. Now we know why he’s not in a band already. He hugs the spotlight – and who likes drum solos anyway? If it wasn’t for Cam I would have given up on this show altogether...

In Treatment 3x17

Sunil remains resistant to Paul’s suggestions – and my question remains whether this is because Paul is on the wrong track approaching Sunil despite his best intentions. The cultural divide has hardly narrowed over the course of the past four sessions. To make matters worse, Sunil’s mind is mostly elsewhere, as India is hit by a flood and his native village has been wiped away. He is still convinced that his daughter-in-law is having an affair and Paul will not be able to persuade him that her innocent flirtations do not prove she is betraying Sunil’s son Arun. For Sunil she is disgracing his family. He also had another disturbing dream in which he mutilated Arun’s unconscious body in order to save his grandchildren from an ominous female figure who seems to embody his revulsion and attraction to Julia, as well as his love and shame for Malini. He starts shouting angrily in Bengali at the implication he ever would have had harmed Manili, while Paul is more concerned that Sunil would ever harm Julia. Will Paul eventually be able to overcome this impasse of Sunil’s resistance to therapy?

Californication 4x06

If things seemed to be improving for Hank Moody, you just know they are going to take a turn for the worse soon. He had another uh-oh moment, caught in bed with Mia as well as Sasha, and both had their hands in his pants. Some douchebag snapped a photo and now it’s all over the web. His attorney Abby Rhoads (yeah, that’s her full name, heheh) drops him as her client. If that’s not bad enough, sassy Sasha drops out of the movie to avoid all the scandal, which the dirty little hypocrite brought on Hank to begin with! Runkle takes a reluctant Hank to see Eddie Nero, who wants to hang with the anti-hero to better portray him in the movie. (Rob Lowe does his best Brad Pitt circa 12 Monkeys.) When Becca gets into trouble for not paying at a tattoo parlor with the Queens of Dogtown, Nero pulls a gun, Hank punches him out, everyone has a laugh, and Nero commits himself to the movie. For her part, Marcy gets a house call for a full on bikini wax only to find out it’s producer Stu Beggs continuing to court her. Although she finds him rather repugnant, they bond over his vast film collection and watch Urban Cowboy in his screening room. Meanwhile, Karen visits Abby hoping to convince her to take Hank back. At the end of the night, Abby’s waiting for Hank in the hotel bar, they take it upstairs and Hank finally gets to spend the night with her.

Community 1x01

Community is a hilarious comedy (that started back in 2009 on NBC) about Jeff Winger (comedian Joel McHale, best known from The Soup), a disbarred lawyer who has to return to college after his license is revoked because his degree is from Columbia, the country, not the university. (Never mind that you won’t get a law degree from community college this is funny enough to suspend disbelief.) On his first day in Greensdale Community College, Jeff sets up a Spanish study group for the sole reason of hitting on pretty girl Britta (Gillian Jacobs, The Box). The rest of the cast and their characters are a hoot, too! There’s film studies major Abed Nadir, former high school quarterback Troy, goody-two-shoes Annie (Alison Brie, who plays Trudy Campbell on Mad Men), who has a crush on Troy, recently divorced Shirley, and Pierce Hawthorne (the fabulous Chevy Chase), who apparently made a fortune with moist towelette wipes. Jeff tries to pressure an old acquaintance, psychology professor Ian Duncan (John Oliver, The Daily Show), into giving him the answers to all the upcoming tests because Jeff once defended Duncan in a DUI case. Despite his conviction that if he talks long enough he can make anything seem right, Jeff doesn’t score a date with Britta nor the test answers. So he is forced to remain with the study group if he doesn’t want to flunk the exam.

Gossip Girl 4x15

It’s a Valentine’s Day Massacre on the Upper East Side! Serena decides not to have a romantic date with her new squeeze Ben, while Blair doesn’t have a new date to squeeze, but that doesn’t mean she can’t scheme to ruin her friends’ V-Day. Her new position at W Magazine offers the perfect opportunity. Chuck still hopes to wow Raina and her father Thorpe in order to save Bass Industries from being dismantled and sold on the cheap. So he throws another grandiosely decadent party as only he knows how. He proves not to be the businessman he thinks he is, as Thorpe outsmarts him at every move. Nor was he aware that Lily had an affair with Thorpe before she married Bass. (Strange we didn’t hear of that before!) In the end, Dan and Blair spend the night talking on the phone in each their own bed while watching Rosemary’s Baby. And Eric? After volunteering for some “meals on wheels” charity, he’s practically abducted by Damien, who threatens he will spill the beans on Lily’s schemes against Ben. Just one more episode of this nonsense, Cricketeers, so bear with me! xo xo

Modern Family 1x15

It’s a Modern Family Funky Valentines! “Aaawww!” Phil and Claire exclaim when they open each other’s Valentine’s cards. Yeah, this is a funny one! They decide to do something less humdrum this year, something more scandalous – they are going to spend the night at a hotel and engage in some role playing! Phil becomes smooth talking Clive Bixby, and Clair becomes the seductive Julianna. She excuses herself and upon her return hands him her dress, bra and panties. Wearing only her coat, they take it upstairs – except that her coat gets stuck in the escalator! Jay takes Gloria to stand-up comedian David Brenner. She’d rather go salsa dancing. But Brenner turns out funnier than she thought – especially when he starts making sport of ol’ Jay and his beautiful young wife. Jay dashes off out of embarrassment. When they are heading to salsa dancing instead, Jay and Gloria bump into Phil and Clair at the escalator, surrounded by people they know from work and school. Why can’t Clair just take off her coat? Gloria comes to the rescue giving Clair her own coat. Valentine’s Day is saved! Meanwhile, Mitchell’s romantic day is ruined when his client decides to settle his case and prevent him from delivering his rousing closing argument he has been rehearsing for weeks. As he and Cameron need to babysit Manny, Cam suggests going to Great Shakes where Manny’s love Fiona is on a date with this confident Durkas kid. Even after Manny tells her Durkas stole his Valentine’s poem and Mitchell delivers a rousing speech in support of the little man, Fiona still falls for Durkas – stealing a poem is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for her!

In Treatment 3x16

Another fascinating session of this brilliant show. Paul is still stunned how intelligently Adele pointed out last week that Paul has a habit of making himself feel incompetent and in need of help. He talks about Max. They had a brief bonding moment, in which Paul explained Pythagoras’ theorem (a² + b² = c²). Max acted unfazed, but Paul was delighted. Later his daughter Rosie drove Max back from Baltimore, and they have a moment talking about the situation with stepdad Steve and about Rosie’s college applications. Paul is clearly worried not being a good father, and is stumped hearing that Max and Steve actually have a lot of quality time together. It is clear, though, that both Rosie and Max care much about their father. Then Paul shifts the subject to his girlfriend Wendy. It’s been awhile since we saw or heard from her. Last time we saw them together, Paul was worried she wouldn’t leave in time before Max woke up. He had actually asked her not to visit his house because of Max, feeling it had been rough on his children when his ex moved in with another man after their divorce. He asked Wendy whether she felt he has trouble being happy. “Not when you’re with me,” she replied and kissed him. It didn’t seem like a goodbye kiss. The next time we hear about her, we see Paul clean up his place, finding a bra next to the couch in his office. She stopped by for a quick tryst over lunchtime. In session Paul admits he was actually thinking about Adele while he was lying beside Wendy. Adele doesn’t blink for a second, but Paul quickly dismisses the thought.

Much of the session is about the various passions of Paul’s patients. He envies them, because he doesn’t feel he has any passions himself. Adele indicates that Paul lives up and is engaged when talking about his latest session with Sunil. She reminds him of the dream he shared a few weeks ago. He suddenly remembers the fence in the dream was at his boarding school in England, and how excited he was being there – and how he resented going to America, just as he was enjoying his time at the school. He tries blaming his father for moving to the U.S. and then leaving him alone with a sick mother. Adele asks about the boarding school and notices that Paul didn’t sign up for any of the extra-curricular activities that he describes so vividly. She also observes that Paul blames it on his parents that he didn’t try to fit in with his classmates in the U.S. She tells him it has become a pattern in Paul’s life, to blame his parents, to cut himself off, preferring to retreat into the safety of caring for his mother rather than engaging with the outside world and discovering his passions. She points to his fake diagnosis as a means to tie Max to him, his pre-assigned explanations to draw him back from exploring new interests. Paul is struck and impressed by her confidence. She instructs him to think about why he keeps doing that, breaking himself off, holding himself back, coming up with excuses, and dismissing his own feelings. He’s confused, wondering if she means she returns his feelings. But time is up and she does not allow him to finish his thoughts. “This will be an excellent place to start next week.”

Valentine’s Day

For all you love birds out there:

Happy Valentine’s Day!

For the rest of us,

there’s always the Cricket!

xoxo

Californication 4x05

Things miraculously start to improve for Hank Moody. Mia gave a testimony in court that so clearly exculpates him, her case is bound for a settlement. Hank feels so celebratory he invites his attorney Abby for a dinner date. The irony, of course, is that Hank is feverishly jealous just by the idea that someone may be flirting with Karen, but he can’t stop himself from trying to talk women into bed. His date gets interrupted by a text message from Karen that Becca has her first show (opening for Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society) with the Queens of Dogtown. Awkwardness ensues when handsome Ben happens to be there, too. Well, his daughter (Zoë Kravitz) is the band’s lead singer. Meanwhile Marcy is still freaking out not knowing who’s the father of her baby, but sure it can’t be Charlie’s. For his part, Runkle is manscaping his stuff – although his head is bald, downunder he’s got bush – and accidentally cuts himself. He forces Marcy to take him to the hospital where he gets the same sarcastic doctor who treated Hank after he OD’ed. Turns out Charlie had his vasectomy done by some quack who recently had his license revoked. So, Marcy may very well be pregnant with Runkle’s child! Hank is upset that he didn’t get to sleep with Abby, and even more hurt that handsome Ben is hitting on the love of his life, that he goes back to his hotel room to get drunk. Then Sasha knocks on his door. She’s been hanging out with Mia, who’s now sitting on the ledge of her balcony contemplating to jump. It’s a nice scene how Hank talks her out of it, first by identifying with her – he too would like to end the pain – but then convincing her they should forgive themselves. He should talk: he’s a fuck up with a capital F U!

Boardwalk Empire 1x06

This episode is very much about the women – and about family life. Now that Nucky Thompson has shown his interest and has offered to provide for her, Margaret asks for advice from Mrs. McGarry of the Temperance League what she should do. Mrs. McGarry tells her she should do what she sees fit, but gives her a pamphlet on birth-control, entitled “Family Limitations.” Nucky’s mistress Lucy is already feeling the competition and tries to mark her territory. When Lucy tries to humiliate her, Margaret insinuates that perhaps Nucky is interested in more than just sex. “Maybe your cunny isn’t quite the draw you think it is,” she tells Lucy. Nucky offers Margaret a new house to move into with her children, but it doesn’t take long for her to realize she has moved to “Mistress Row,” and is nothing more than a concubine like the other girls in the street. She also learns quickly that Nucky at the drop of a hat breaks his promises, cancels their plans and has her wait all evening by the phone.

Lucky Luciano, sent to kill Jimmy Darmody, has by now commenced an affair with Gillian, still thinking she’s Jimmy’s wife. He tells her she’s the first broad in years to put lead in his pencil. (He’s had gonorrhea, see.) It’s only when Rothstein asks him over the phone if he has found Jimmy, that Luciano learns Gillian is Jimmy’s mother. Over in Chicago, Torrio wants out of Greektown so as not to further aggravate Sheridan. When Capone protests, Torrio rebuffs him with a curt, “You drive my car.” Then Jimmy suggests that retreating will give the wrong message. At Jimmy’s counsel, Torrio arranges a meeting with Sheridan. The air is tense, but they come to an agreement to cease the hostility and let bygones be bygones. As they are leaving, Torrio visits the men’s room, while Jimmy and Capone grab their guns and assassinate Sheridan and his crew. For his part, Agent Van Alden after reading up on Margaret’s immigration papers and learning she had a miscarriage on board from Ireland, flagellates himself with his belt while staring at a picture of her at sixteen.

Gossip Girl 4x14

Rufus defies his wife Lily and offers Ben a room in his Dumbo loft. Dan is none too pleased with his new roommate. Never mind that Ben may or may not be stalking Serena and may or may not have statutorily raped her in boarding school, he spent the last six months plotting her downfall. So, Dan doesn’t trust this guy one bit, and is obviously jealous that Serena is all puppy eyes for Ben. When he hears from Eric that Ben threatened that dapper drug dealing Damien, Dan goes into protective mode. Meanwhile Blair schemes to get her boss at W Magazine laid before she herself gets laid off, and enlists Chuck and Nate in her plot. For his part, Chuck continues conspiring against Russell Thorpe hoping to prevent his takeover of Bass Industries by shagging up with Thorpe’s daughter Raina, but finds that mixing business and pleasure is a dangerous game. When they all end up at another party, Ben blurts out in disbelieve: “So you go to things like this every week?” Damien confronts Ben, Dan calls Ben’s parole officer, Ben gets arrested, and somehow this is supposed to bring Dan and Ben closer together. Dan and Nate then have a little word with Damien’s Belgian Ambassador father about his son’s drug dealings, and Blair gets promoted to her boss’s position. All in a day’s life for the Upper East Side elite.

Modern Family 1x20

Funniest line this episode: “One day I’m gonna be a grandfather and then everybody better hide their meat.” This coming out of Phil’s mouth. Plus the look on Cameron’s face! L0L (really)! Runner up: Cam crying “Awzbz iz bz, an’zbeelz judiz bsbs ... an’inz judiz, my gurl’zjees an’swushees!” Ahahaha! The Cricket loves this one. Cameron is teetering on the verge of a nervous breakdown because he misses being with Lily and being a trophy wife, since he had to take a temporary job now that Mitchell quit his job. The thing, of course, is that Mitchell is the complete opposite and can’t wait to go back to work and interact with grown-ups, but doesn’t have the heart to tell Cam. Mitchell loves Lily more than life, but staying at home drives him to despair. He’s already plotting the death of Dora the Explorer! Then Jay tells Mitchell to call one of his filthy rich golf buddies, Charlie Bingham (Justin Kirk from Angels in America and Weeds), who is looking for a lawyer. More hilarity ensues, but Mitchell does end up getting the job! For their part Jay and Phil are bickering over who would be a better coach for Luke and Manny’s basketball team. The previous coach (Eric Lang from Lost and Weeds) was verbally abusive. Not that it matters, neither Jay or Phil can do much about the pathetic Li’l Dribbblers... Meanwhile Clair and Gloria bond over the fact that their kids are too embarrassed to be seen with them. They babysit little Lily, buy her clothes, and eat ice cream. If only all episodes could be of this caliber!

In Treatment 3x15

This is another intense session with Jesse. Not because he is his usual antagonistic, foulmouthed, attention-deficit rebel, quite the contrary. He is much calmer, more hopeful and satisfied, even cheerful. What changed his mood is that his adoptive father Roberto got very angry when he heard that Jesse’s birth mother Karen had tried to contact him. It gave Jesse a sense of being loved seeing how much distress it has caused his parents fearing that he might disappear from their lives. He also felt closer to his father since Roberto helped him with his algebra and scored a “B” on his test. In fact, Jesse wants nothing to do anymore with his birth parents. He received a letter from his biological father Kevin, who is now married to Karen and regrets that they had to give him up for adoption when they were teenagers. For years Jesse has been dreaming about his birth parents, coming up with the wildest fantasies about them, but now that he can actually meet them, the reality of it is no longer as attractive. He needed to be loved, and has found that his parents did care for him for the past seventeen years. He expresses his emotions about his biological parents’ attempts to contact him in almost the same words as he describes Roberto’s anger. He wrote a very formal response to Kevin, declining their request and begging them not to get in touch with him again. Paul, however, understands Jesse’s biological parents’ desire to get to know their son, even if they don’t mean to take him away from Roberto and Marissa. He encourages Jesse to reconsider his response to Kevin. And when Jesse notices the remarkable similarities between his handwriting and that of Kevin, he is overwhelmed. He wonders if maybe he does have things in common with his birth parents. In short, a remarkable breakthrough happen in therapy, even though Paul had nothing much to do with it.

Caprica 1x18

Well, this is the moment no one has been waiting for, the Grand Finale of Caprica... While Daniel and Amanda Graystone are still trying to secure their house with the help of a team of investigators, that STO sympathizer Global Defense Department Director Gara Singh storms in ordering their arrest on the trumped up accusation that they were behind the MagLev bombing that started off the entire series. Daniel’s trusted assistant Cyrus grabs a gun, points it at Singh, and tells Daniel and Amanda to find Clarice’s holoband and foil whatever plot she’s schemed. Flying off to Orpheus Park where Agent Duram was shot, the Graystone’s spot notices that they are now wanted as terrorists. Daniel finds the holoband in the park and learns of the plan to bomb the Atlas Arena during this season’s only home game of the Buccaneers, and he also gets to see the apotheotic virtual heaven Clarice has created for the martyred believers in the The One True God. Daniel and Adama quickly rush downtown in order to prevent the bombing. They get their hands on the program that controls the Cylons, break into the arena’s control room, and bring in two dozen troopers robots. Activating their sensors, the Cylons spot the STO bombers and take them out one by one, except for Clarice’s husband Olaf. He is able to detonate his sole bomb, but by that time the arena has already emptied out in the panic.

Meanwhile, after little Willie’s death, the Adamas find support among their Tauron neighbors in opposition to the Guattrau. Fidelia pays her respect and apparently had a change of heart. She is willing to negotiate so as to avoid a war among the Ha’latha. She agrees to arrange a virtual sit down between Joseph and her father, but during the meeting the Guattrau is being suffocated in real life. Fidelia takes over her father’s position, justice has supposedly been restored, and war averted. From a flashforward into the future we learn that Joseph will have another son, with his new wife, named William after his dead half-brother, but nicknamed Bill not Willie. Fans know that this is the Bill Adama who will command Battlestar Gallactica in the Cylon War another half century in the future. For her part, Zoe realizes Clarices apocalyptic schemes and confronts her in her virtual heaven. As the martyr’s avatars are uploaded into this sham Mount Olympus, Zoe rages and burns Clarice’s heaven down. The Sister returns to the real world, realizing she has sent innocent people to their death, and agrees to become high priestess for artificial intelligence. In another flashfoward we see that they Graystone’s have succeeded in creating a skin job for Zoe, and that Lacey Rand has become Great Mother on Geminon who approves of Clarice’s mission converting Cylons to The One. The End.

Clarksdale

Would you pardon the Cricket for shamelessly plugging his friends’ band in this Chirp? You wouldn’t, would you? Clarksdale is the new blues rock sensation in Beat City The Hague, Holland. Guitarist Sander Kaatee formed Clarksdale late last year with drummer Rob Kramer after they both split from a previous formation. Sander has been playing guitar since he was eleven and from the age of seventeen has been performing with various bands, including Breathtaking Angels. Rob has been marching to the beat of his own drum for over thirty years, playing in various jazz formations and accompanying almost every Dutch artist on record or on stage for television or radio broadcasts. Sander invited Hans Kühbauch to take up bass duty in Clarksdale. Hans was already making waves with his bass at an early age, enjoying local success with The Davies and The Groovy’s in the 70s and 80s. Singer/songwriter Kevin Burns was soon added to Clarksdale, and he brought along his blues harps, and acoustic/electric guitars. As Sander is playing in Boris van der Lek’s Breathtaking Angels, it seemed only natural that Boris would return the favor and join Sander’s band. Boris is a renowned tenor saxophonist in his own right, who was played with greats such as Herman Brood & His Wild Romance, Golden Earring, Hans Dulfer, Frits Kaatee (Sander’s father), and Laura Fygi, and has made sixteen appearances at North Sea Jazz festival.

Currently, Clarksdale are working hard rehearsing for their first performances, with a try-out show this Saturday. In line with the city that inspired their name – Clarksdale, Mississippi, home of the blues – they are influenced by blues legends such as Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Elmore James and Muddy Waters. They add a deep appreciation for the Allman Brothers, the Rolling Stones, Taj Mahal, the J. Geils Band, the Black Crowes, Lester Butler, Tom Waits and Willy DeVille. Songs on their setlist presently include “Cross Road Blues,” “Got My Mojo Working,” “Not Fade Away,” “Statesboro Blues” and “Cruisin’ for Love.” The other day I was witness to a magical moment when Kevin started playing one of his own three-chord compositions. It sounded like a cross between acoustic country and psychedelic pop. Tentatively the other guys joined in and soon we were on J.J. Cale’s veranda watching the sun go down. Then unexpectedly, miraculously the whole thing turned into a free jazz rocker fusing Coltrane, McLaughlin and – one of Sander’s greatest influences – Derek Trucks. And bear in mind that no one in the band had ever heard Kevin’s song before! That’s the kind of exciting music you may expect from Clarksdale – blues as blues can get, but with a beautiful twist. Check them out, friend-request them on Facebook, visit their website, and come taste the band when they stop by your neck of the woods!

Californication 4x04

Hank has finished the script for the movie adaption of his novel, and Runkle is so excited he could pleasure himself. They have a meet and greet with Stu and Zig (resp. the producer and a potential investor). Things start to go from weird and wonderful to bizarre and brutal when Zig invites them to his mansion for a reading of some scenes. Zig, too, gets overly excited and starts to give a face ride to one of his sister-wives – and then excuses himself as the sister-wives continue making out on the couch. Hank and Stu are too high, but Runkle gladly takes one of the sisters for a ride – except that she is distracted by Zig’s pet monkey. When it starts throwing its feces, Runkle tries hitting it, gets bitten, tries to shake the monkey off his arm and kills it as it flies through the room. The sister shrieks hysterically and accuses him of murder. Although Stu has a serious case of the giggles, he demands that Runkle apologizes to Zig to save the deal. Hank finds the investor hanging on the bathroom door: death by auto-erotic asphyxiation. Not much later Runkle gets tased by a police officer, Hank punches him out. Hank then hits on his attorney who agrees to handle the mess and keep it out of the tabloids. None of this phases Hank one bit, but when he drops off Runkle he spots Karen flirting with another man. That hurts Hank every which way.

Gossip Girl 4x13

So, what are the big shockers this week on Gossip Girl? Serena hooks up with Ben; Blair and Dan both end up interning at W magazine; Chuck is clean in business but dirty between the sheets with Raina Thorpe; Captain Archibald is offered a job at Russell Thorpe’s company; Eric is dating dope pushing Damien; Lily tries bribing Ben to stay away from her family; and Rufus keeps defending his wife! Yes, indeed, this show is running on empty asleep behind the wheel. It all makes very little sense. Serena is all puppy-dog eyed over her boarding school teacher, who until recently had been instructing his Flatchester sister to ruin her life for getting him into prison on account of statutory rape. Lily stubbornly maintains the façade that she always had the best intentions for her family, though by now she has alienated almost everyone. There is yet another party that just about everyone attends. And in the end Williamsburg weasel Humphrey loses his internship when he tries sabotaging Blair, who actually believed they were becoming fast friends despite her open remonstrations. Yawn...

Modern Family 1x19

It’s Phil’s birthday and Claire wants to make it extra special. It’s like Steve Jobs and God got together to say they love Phil, because the first ever iPad comes out on the day of his birthday. So, instead of letting her husband wait in line for his new toy, Clair offers to go instead. You can see it coming from a mile ahead that she isn’t going to make it – and her antics to make up for her mistakes are not particularly funny either. In his disappointment, Phil storms off to the batting cage. Then he hears an announcement for “Phil’s Birthday Party” ... different Phil. In the end, Luke saves the day by e-mailing some of his father’s online buddies telling them Phil is dying and his last wish is to have an iPad. Over at Jay’s house, Manny and Gloria are trying to hide that they are excellent chess players, because Jay is such a sore loser. For his part, Cam is listening in over the baby monitor on their neighbor’s marital foibles, while Mitchell wants to take up some self-defense lessons. Sorry, friends, but this isn’t making the Cricket chirpy.

In Treatment 3x14

Frances is an entirely different animal from the previous session when she stormed out in anger because Paul refused to help her read her lines. She was terrified the preview would turn out a disaster. Now she is dejected yet resigned, although she’s had a great week on stage to laud applause. She has every reason to feel satisfied, yet she is quiet, reluctant to talk about anything, and still insecure about herself. She keeps talking about what other people think of her – her mother, her sister, her daughter, her ex-husband, even Paul – and how she feels she has disappointed them all in her life. She always felt inadequate around Russell and his intellectual friends. She apologized to Patricia for discouraging her from pursuing an acting career, but was hurt that her sister said she is glad she led a “real life.” Frances admits she stopped visiting her mother in her last days, feeling guilty Isabel came all the way to New York in her state to attend her premiere. She has been trying to live up to everyone’s expectations, putting up a performance her whole life, that she has no idea how to judge herself. The problem with her is that she is so passive-aggressively manipulative that it is impossible to know when she is telling the truth. Paul is aware that she contradicts herself every session, but makes no bones about it. Instead, he emphasizes that her feeling of inadequacy and disappointment comes from within, and that she needs to consider her own self-worth. Frances didn’t speak about her breast cancer test, but at the end of the session we learn she got the results, but hasn’t opened them yet.