30 Rock quote of the week -- 2/23

Jack, telling the nanny that she had to work late: "Just dab some scotch on your neck and turn your eyes the color of a winter crystal and she'll think you're me."

Jack: "When did we stop giving children cigarettes? It's the liberal war on Leap Day. "

Kenneth to Jack, seeing his daughter in the future, who was working at Habitat for Humanity: "She started experimenting in liberalism."

Best of 2011

It's the end of February, but with the Oscars coming up on Sunday, it's a perfect time to post my Best Of list for the previous year.
Uff! What a bad year for movies. I complain about this a lot, but truly, this year was not good. I can't even decide which to put at the top, so I'm just going to make a list in no particular order.

• Beginners


• Win Win


• Crazy Stupid Love (minus all the parts with the stupid babysitter and ridiculous teen-age son)


• The Artist


• Moneyball


• Tree of Life


• The Help


• Bridesmaids


• Martha Marcy May Marlene

Biggest disappointment: The Descendants (I know I'm alone in this, and I'm okay with it.)Another disappointment, but not a big one: The Muppets (I so wanted to love this movie, but it was just okay.)

Biggest surprise: The Artist (see previous post)

Best Actor: the guy from A Better Life.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep (Iron Lady)

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (Beginnings) / Ryan Gosling (Stupid Crazy Love)

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain (nominated for The Help but I liked her better in Tree of Life)

Best Director: Terrence Malick (Tree of Life)

Best Original Screenplay: Bridesmaids
Best Adapted Screenplay: Moneyball

Worst accents ever in a movie: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best scenery in a movie: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Hey, I'm Swedish, what can I say?)

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The good news is that Television had a great year

Best drama: Parenthood

Best comedy: 30 Rock

Best new discovery: Louie (also fits in best drama and best comedy categories )

Best return of a character: Mr. Cyr to Parenthood

Worst return of a character: Seth, off the wagon, to Parenthood

Best character on an increasingly disappointing show: Blaine on Glee

Bummer: No Mad Men in 2011

Best mini-series: Downton Abbey (love it, love it, love it!)

Most improved: Parks and Recreation

New shows to love: Suburgatory, Happy Endings, New Girl

Still the best 22 minutes of each day, Monday-Thursday: The Daily Show

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As usual, I'm pretty much in the dark about new and/or popular music. But...

Adele, 21 -- totally jumped on the bandwagon with this one.
The only other CDs I got this year were Foo Fighters (thumbs up) and Beastie Boys (thumbs down -- no offense Estee)
Best concert -- Foo Fighters at Meadowlands & Prudential Center (Newark NJ)
Concerts to recapture my youth -- RUSH at MSG, Duran Duran at MSG
the only other concerts I saw -- Maroon 5 at Jones Beach and Bon Jovi at MSG

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Theater
The Book of Mormon -- yes, I saw it. yes, I loved it. I wish I could link a video to this song, but there is only the song.



Best Books I read this year
(two memoirs, but very different): Say Her Name-- Francisco Goldman
Bossypants -- Tina Fey
Fiction: The Ghost Writer ( I know I'm not supposed to like Philip Roth, but I so do)

Best Personal

• My tour of Scandinavia. So many wonderful memories of Norway and I am now able to forget all the bad stuff. I loved seeing Sweden, the land of my peeps, and Copenhagen, Denmark, one of the coolest cities. I hope to return soon (the plan is 2013).


• Also, I hate to say it, but I'm a convert. My iPhone has changed my life. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I love it.


• Discovering podcasts.


• Having two wonderful sisters help me through the hardest thing I've done in my life.


• Reunions with mission friends. 1) my two favorite comps, Anne Lise & Sara in San Diego and 2) Jeremy, Pete, et al. in Utah. 3) Bowcutt in Bergen.

New Girl quote of the week -- 2/21

Welcome to my new blog feature, New Girl quote of the week. I have a few episodes saved so I may go back in time to post some old quotes. We'll see.

Jess, after making a joke about Schmidt's overnight guest: "I'm sorry, I want to banter with you guys in the morning and I just, like, panicked, and made a Hitler joke. I'm sorry."

30 Rock quote of the week -- 2/16

Liz on the subway: "That's not how it works. Let people off first."

Liz to Jack: "Am I the last one in this city still following the rules of being a person?"

Jack, explaining why he was wearing a tuxedo to work after getting mugged: "The mugger took my cuff links. All I have here are tuxedo cuff links and I'm not about the wear them with a suit... and... look like an idiot."

Jack to Liz, after throwing her into the garbage: "You're the only woman I could fight to regain my manhood."

30 Rock quote of the week -- 2/9

Jack: "I am a very powerful man. I can see to it that Transylvania never sees another episode of 'Friends.'"
Transylvanian UN delegate: "No! Monica and Chandler just slept together in London."

We've all been here, am I right?

... and if so, please tell me which show in the comments section.

30 Rock quote of the week -- 2/2

Jack to Liz: "And by your assistant, you mean you... with a British accent."

Jack in his tape on negotiating skills: "No one has won a land war in Russia. Not Napoleon, not Hitler. Not even Balki in the unaired ninth season of 'Perfect Strangers.'"

Liz: "You didn't realize that emotion could be a weapon? Have you not read the poetry of Jewel?"

30 Rock quote of the week -- 1/26b

This quote comes from Frank, after which Lutz gets a guilty look: "Hey, we all make mistakes. Like farting when you're talking to three people."

Two Little Red Hens

This bakery has been around forever, but when am I EVER on the UES? Pretty much never, except for last weekend, when I went to visit my ONE friend that lives there. Anyway, for some reason, I've had chocolate cupcakes from Two Little Red Hens, and never thought they were spectacular, but wanted to try something else. First of all, this place is adorable. Secondly, this coconut cupcake.... mmmmmmmm..... so good!! I love a cupcake with cream filling. I'm a fan!