Category: TV

Taking Care of Your Clothes With Downy, Bounce and Janie Bryant from Mad Men

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Downey Wrinkle Releaser

I’m horrible when it comes to taking care of my clothes. I dump them all in together, wash them cold and HATE ironing. SO I was very excited when I was offered “The FabricCare Guide” by costume designer, Janie Bryant, who is best known for her work on Mad Men.

A page from the Fabric Guide by Janie Bryant

The guide is a beautifully illustrated book with illustrations and pictures of garments from the show. There’s even tiny fabric swatches! If you want first class advice on how to take care of your own clothes like a pro (or just want a really fun Mad Men tie in) check out the downloadable guide here: www.downywrinklereleaser.com/janiebryant.  There’s also a coupon there so you can try Downy’s Wrinkle Releaser for yourself.

“One thing I’ve always been passionate about is how important presentation is to having great style,” said Bryant. “Looking pressed and polished is often just as important as what you’re wearing and the best way to pull off that look is to know how to take great care of your clothing.”

The advice is tied in with Downy’s new Wrinkle Releaser. For folks like me who hate ironing it’s a welcome relief. You simply spray on, tug and smooth out the serious wrinkles and hang it up. Obviously it’s not a last minute product (unless you’re willing to go out with a damp shirt or pants), but it is a nice alternative to ironing. I used it on a skirt that I had forgotten to hang up immediately out of the dryer and it reduced the visible wrinkles pretty quickly (and I didn’t burn anything down). And, the plus side is it smells great!

I also received a bottle of Bounce’s new ironing spray. It acts like starch, but without the annoying smell or flakes you sometimes get from starching your clothes and ironing. For the times that I do have to iron I’m happy to have this around.

Both are available at big box retailers like Target and Walmart or check your local grocery store.

 

I received  free samples of Bounce Ironing Spray and Downey Wrinkle Release along with a hard copy of “The FabricCare Guide” for free, but all opinions are my own and I do my best to give my honest, amazingly insightful review of any free products I receive.

The Past Always Catches Up With You! – One Tree Hill

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One Tree Hill on DVD

I love when TV shows are allowed the season to wrap everything up, especially a long running show like One Tree Hill. Going into the season knowing it’s going to be the last one allows the writers to really bring story lines full circle. In Season 9 of One Tree Hill a lot of the past catches up with our characters. Clay finds out he has a six year old son, Brooke has to deal with X being out on parole, and Dan has to deal with his past crimes.

Past choices always influence the future, which is part of why I love the writing One Tree Hill was able to do in this final season. Good choices, bad choices, whatever you do has a way of coming back around. Back in 2009, I had a dental procedure that cost way too much and I could barely afford it (and that was with a job), but I paid the bill anyway. Now I have a $200 credit that I didn’t know I have and they’re mailing me a check! See, the past caught up with me, but it was a good result!

Want to see the end of One Tree Hill? It’s out on DVD and availble here: http://bit.ly/GCYbxt

I have been hired by Warner Bros. WBWord division to promote One Tree Hill Season Nine on DVD.

One Tree Hill & Challenges

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Conflict. There wouldn’t be a good story if it wasn’t for conflict. One of the major points of conflict in TV shows is the challenges that characters have to overcome. In One Tree Hill, Season 9 found characters that we’ve watched for nine years face some very grownup challenges like raising children and some very interesting challenges like Clay sleepwalking and missing periods of time! While I haven’t personally gone through either of those challenges yet, but I do appreciate that not everything is sweetness and light in One Tree Hill. Even in the more unrealistic situations it’s always inspiring when characters overcome challenges that face them. If Brooke can overcome some of her life crap and get married and have kids, it seems easier to be able to face your own challenges.

My current challenges are fairly small in the grand scheme of things. Mostly the revolve around getting my large list of TO DOs done with limited finances and a large range of tasks to do. Some days it seems like everything is working against me getting stuff done and other days I just want to quit, but I know that it’ll be all worth it in the long run.

You can relive all of the challenges in One Tree Hill by buying the Season 9 on DVD and UltraViolet: http://bit.ly/GCYbxt

I have been hired by Warner Bros. WBWord division to promote One Tree Hill Season Nine on DVD.

Image Sources: Spoiler TV & http://fuckyeah-treehill.tumblr

One Tree Hill Season 9 DVD Available Today – Extra Features

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One Tree Hill on DVD

One Tree Hill may have just finished airing, but the Season 9 DVD is available for purchase! One of the best reasons for buying TV on DVD is the extra features. For the final season of One Tree Hill there’s a ton of great content that I’m really looking forward to exploring. The Complete Ninth Season of One Tree Hilll also features 2 hours of fan favorite extra content. Included in the content are 3 all-new featurettes, a full-length commentary, unaired scenes and a hilarious gag reel.

I always love when a TV show gives thanks to the fans of the show and there’s one featurette listed on the DVD called The Fans of One Tree Hill. I’m hoping it really explores the large fanbase the show had and some of the cool things the fans have done over the years.

I’m also excited to see some of the extra unaired scenes. Often those extra scenes of TV shows really bring some fun/in depth moments that were missed. Or you can see why they were cut out and how differently the story might have played out with them.

Relive the crazy and exciting moments like this one:

Purchase Season 9 of One Tree Hill on DVD now: http://bit.ly/GCYbxt

I have been hired by Warner Bros. WBWord division to promote One Tree Hill Season Nine on DVD

Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 Premires Tomorrow!

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I’ll admit, I was dubious about watching this show. I only had a vague idea of the premise, despite seeing the billboards all over town. In a way, I’m very glad I didn’t know much about the show when I first sat down to watch the episodes available in advance on HuluPlus (and iTunes).

I already knew of Krysten Ritter’s brilliance from her role in Veronica Mars and have heard of her amazingness on Breaking Bad. If it wasn’t for Krysten I probably wouldn’t have tried out the show. Of course, there’s a lot of talent that’s gone into creating this series. Krysten’s co-star is Dreama Walker (Gossip Girl, The Good WifeDollhouse. The show was created by Nahnatchka Khan, who wrote for American Dad! and produced by Jason Winer (one of the well-known directors from Modern Family).

My favorite part of the show? James Van Der Beek, who plays a himself in a fake comedic way that will keep you in stitches. The idea for his crazy character came from the producers seeing James Van Der Beek’s Funny or Die videos that mock his role as Dawson in Dawson’s Creek. You can see some of this awesomeness in this short clip:

If slightly irreverent, situational comedy is your cup of tea… sit down in Apartment 23 and take a swig. Just don’t trust the girl who lives there.

I Have One Tree Hill Props!

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In celebration of the finale of One Tree Hill tomorrow, Warner Brothers sent me some amazing props from the set of One Tree Hill!

I wasn’t entirely sure what they were sending, so I was really happy when one of the props was “An Unkindness of Ravens” the fictional novel by y Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray’s character).  It reminds me of how Lucas fictionalized the first two years of high school, how their was an unsuccessful movie based on the book, and how Peyton obsessively collected them (later burning them when she finds out that Lucas is engaged to his publisher, Lindsey).

I seem to have a library edition (there’s call numbers on the side). Unfortunately, the book is a prop. The book inside the dust jacket is “The Tangled Mess.” The actual book may never be published, but it’s a nice memento from one of my favorite fictional writers. It would be nice if someone had written it (like Richard Castle’s books are being published for Castle).

The other items included brought up so many memories. I loved having the picture for Brooke’s fashion line “Clothes Over Bros.” The success of the company leads to many of Brooke’s growth points (like choosing cheer-leading over going to New York, realizing she’s not ready for moving into a career in high school). Of course, it reminds me how she started the company to get over Lucas (I’m sensing a theme with my props now).

I also have some campaign stickers for Lucas’ mother, Karen Roe, from her run for mayor against Dan in Season 3.

All in all it was a fun way to walk through the seasons of One Tree Hill and I can’t wait to watch the season finale. Tune in TOMORROW at 8/7c on the CW.

Want to live some more memories? Check out One Tree Hill’s website: http://www.cwtv.com/shows/one-tree-hill

I am promoting One Tree Hill on behalf of Warner Bros. WBWord division.

One Tree Hill Season 9 Saying Goodbye & Brooke

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I’ve always been an advocate of characters that have a journey in television. Too many times characters seem to fall into a never ending loop of self-discovery and then reset back to square one. It’s frustrating at times because you want to hit them over the head and go, “hey! LEARN THIS TIME!” I’ve really been impressed on how much it matters to me while watching through Fraiser for the first time. As most sitcoms the characters seem to always default back to their original ways once the episode is over and any important, character changing moments are quickly forgotten.

That’s what I love Brooke so much on “One Tree Hill.” We’ve seen her go from fairly spirited and carefree to a mature, loving wife and mother. While I don’t entirely relate with her, I appreciate the journey she’s been on. I especially appreciate that she didn’t change overnight. Her realization that she wanted to be a great mother came slowly and we saw her develop it with taking on Samantha as a foster and then later with the birth of her own children.

It’s hard to believe it’s the end for “One Tree Hill,” but it’s reassuring to know there’s many great hours of episodes to watch again and again. Tune in for the series finale April 4th!

Preorder the Season 9 DVD, available 4/10!

I have been hired by Warner Bros. WBWord division to promote One Tree Hill Season Nine on DVD.

IdjitCast Episode #005: Bloody Mary

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We have yet to find regularity, but here we are with one of my favorite episodes of season one. Listen to see if the newbies agree…

I’m also really excited because I finally get to introduce the tangent bell, and in lieu of the IdjitCast theme I have a surprise song at the end following a promo for the hilarious Ramjack Podcast. Stay tuned!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

How Once Upon a Time Surprised Me

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Once Upon a Time Promotional Shot of Emma, Henry, Snow White, Prince Charming, Mr. Gold, The Evil Queen and the Huntsman

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting when I started watching ABC’s Once Upon a Time, but it wasn’t this. I figured it would round out my Hulu queue, keep me entertained, but not be anymore than a 5 in my list of Fall TV shows I’m watching. For most of the first episodes it was true, but then, Jane Espenson joined.

I can’t say it’s entirely Jane’s doing that this show has rocketed up the list of one of my favorite shows to watch this season. I think a major decision to focus on the characters rather than the complex storyline was really what made the show so compelling. After all, the series is telling stories that everyone whose grown up with fairytales knows all too well, but they’re adding in enough twists and turns to keep it surprising and enough illusions to make it delightful.

For the past couple months I’ve been struggling with this idea of complex story lines. I love them myself, some of my favorite TV shows have a large mythos and big, overarching plotlines. Yet, lately it’s seemed that those shows have gone a little too crazy with the complexity. Shows like Lost, Fringe and even Eureka have bogged down telling great stories with great characters in a confusing mess of multiple time lines and alternate histories. If I, as a watcher who loves time travel and science fiction have a hard time keeping up I can only imagine what the casual viewer thinks of such shows. So I think it was in the show’s favor to scale back the complexity and move forward with the compelling characters.

Even with compelling characters, it’s hard to tell compelling stories. As a culture we’ve been hearing stories of these fairytales for hundreds and hundreds of years. So it’s up to the writers of Once Upon a Time to remain true to the stories that people love, but keep up the surprise. While not every episode is stellar the show has managed to keep me engaged and keep me guessing. The latest episodes about Little Red Riding Hood and the Mad Hatter have been pure TV magic. They’re episodes that remind you why you watch TV in the first place, to be surprised, delighted and have your expectations subverted.

So keep it up Once Upon a Time I can’t wait to see what happens next.

TLC’s My Crazy Obsession

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Kitten Kay Sera believes everything should be pink (Photo courtesy of TLC)

I love fans. So when I heard that TLC was starting a new series called “My Crazy Obsession” as an extension of their hit special “My Collection Obsession” I knew I had to watch. I was given a screener for the premier episode that airs tonight (Wednesday, March 7 at 10 PM ET/PT).

This eight-part series will take viewers on a journey behind the scenes of some people’s homes that are dedicated to their owners’ obsession with objects, people or lifestyles.

The first episode starts with a couple that boasts a collection of over 5,000 Cabbage Patch Kids. With their favorite doll Kevin by their side, the couple plans play dates and parties to celebrate their always-expanding collection with other Cabbage Patch fans. This story is followed by a woman who is completely obsessed with the color pink. From a pink television to a pink dog, the show will reveal the time, money and effort required to fulfill and maintain these uncommon passions.

I really enjoyed the first episode. The stories are told in documentary style and, despite the oddness of the featured obsessions, they’re told with love. It is a show that celebrates the quirky people and I loved watching that.

Find out more at the show’s website: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/my-crazy-obsession