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Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Valentine's Day For One? Fun!

I thought that I would do a bit of a blog and run today, being that today is February 14th and all. 

Apparently it's something called Valentine's Day, or Love Day, or Shoot The Person You Love in the Butt with an Arrow Day.

I guess that's why I am writing this blog in hot pink today - to put me into the mood of all things love.



Problem is, I don't have a Valentine.  I don't think I've had a Valentine since those days in elementary school where we would give out little Super Mario, DuckTales, and Garfield cards to our classmates with those chalky "BE MINE" conversation hearts.

But unlike past years, I'm surprisingly okay with this.  And do you want to know why?

Because I have already declared 2018 to be the "Be Your Own Best Friend Year".  And to go one step further, I've decided that I am going to be my own Valentine this year.  Because when it comes down to it, why shouldn't I treat myself with love, kindness, respect, and chocolates?

Seriously, it's a great way to overcome the Valentine's Day single blues by showing yourself a little love once in a while.

For instance, have a look at what I bought for myself this year for Valentine's Day.



Let's see...we have a couple of comic books (because I am a comic book geek and unapologetic about it), I bought a T-shirt showing my support for the Canadian Olympic Team (ten medals so far including three gold), and of course a whole bunch of chocolate.  My selections including Lindt and Hershey.

Oh, and I did get some Valentines from a couple of my co-workers - including one that was left unsigned, so I guess I might have a secret admirer of sorts.  Who can say, really?  I wasn't actually expecting to get ANY, so the fact that I did get some was a nice surprise!

But again, I don't expect any gifts for Valentine's Day because to me, I don't think you need just one day out of the year to express your love and devotion towards somebody.  In fact, you don't need one day of the year to tell yourself that you're worth loving and you're worth respect, and that you're worth the effort in treating yourself right. 

So, that's what I did.  I became my own Valentine this year.  And let me tell you, it made me feel SO relaxed and SO happy for the day.  Granted, Valentine's Day will NEVER be my favourite holiday, but at least by making myself top priority and showing myself a little love, it might help me hone my skills so that I can bestow and share my love with somebody else one day.



But if that doesn't happen, at least I'll be showing myself a little love.  And really.  There is NOTHING wrong with that.

Happy Valentine's Day, singles, couples...and oh, what the hell...triples too!

Monday, February 12, 2018

Super Mario 3 - My Favourite Levels!

One of the things I like to do to relieve some stress is play video games.  I know, some of you are probably thinking that activity is one of the worst ones for reducing stress.  Honestly for some games, you would be absolutely right.  If I were playing a game that I either hated or one that I found incredibly difficult, I'd likely be throwing a controller through the television screen.

But in the case of today's game, it doesn't make me do that, as every time I play it, I am instantly taken back to being a carefree eight-and-a-half year old.  God, I miss being eight-and-a-half again.

As it so happens, this game is celebrating its 28th birthday this year!  (Or, thirtieth if you live in Japan.)



Yes, it was on February 12, 1990 that "Super Mario Bros. 3" was released in North America.  The game was originally released in 1988 in Japan and as of right now it is the third best selling video game in Nintendo's history.

And why not?  The game was a massive improvement over the first two games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and really stretched the capabilities of the NES cartridge.  Eight massive worlds with eight different bosses, the game is huge!  The game is also responsible for introducing some of the mechanics and characters that have appeared in future Mario games.  It marked the first appearance of the Boo enemies, the first time Mario could carry a Koopa shell, the first time Mario could fly in a game (via the Raccoon leaf), and the first appearances of Bowser's seven children.  And that only taps into the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the innovation and challenge the game brought.

I still remember the first time I played it.  Amusingly, I rented it from a video game place and interestingly enough, I ended up playing a copy of the Japanese version - which was MUCH HARDER than the American version.  Don't ask me how they got the Japanese version, but they had it!  But I didn't care at that point.  From the first level, I absolutely loved it and would play that game hours on end for two whole years!  Yep.  I was a hardcore Mario fan.

That's not to say that I didn't have my frustrating moments with the game.  Once you got to World 5, the difficulty level went from child's play to impossible without the use of a Game Genie in no time!  But I persevered and the first time I completed the game, I was ecstatic.  And then when I completed the game WITHOUT warp whistles, I was even MORE ecstatic! 

(Come on...you all know you used at least ONE...)

Anyway, I got to thinking...there are a ton of levels in Super Mario 3, and I thought about which levels I enjoyed playing the most.  We all have our favourites, and certainly I know which levels I really look forward to playing whenever I played the game.  So, I went through each of the eight playable worlds (I don't include World 9 - The Warp Zone), and I chose my favourite level out of each of them. 

(Oh, yeah...the screenshots were actually taken from the SNES version of the same game.  And they are not from me playing...I took them from a playthrough posted on YouTube.  Besides, I could get a much higher score.)



WORLD 1 (Level 1-1)

I know, I know.  Choosing the first level of the game just seems like an easy choice.  But to be honest with you, this was the level that made me go "oh my goodness" when I first played this game 28 years ago.  It's essentially a tutorial level filled with the enemies that you'll likely encounter (Goombas, Koopas, Pirahna Plants).  It also contains your first taste of the Raccoon Leaf which allows Mario to fly.  It's a simple level, but it really does pack a punch and gets you excited for the rest of the game.



WORLD 2 (Level Quicksand)

What makes this selection really bizarre is that it was initially a level that I despised!  It took me a week to try and figure out how to defeat the level - which I consider one of the toughest of the early levels.  It's bad enough that you only have a time limit of 200 seconds to complete it.  You also have to deal with a gigantic angry sun that dive bombs you as you figure out how to maneuver yourself around huge sand tornadoes!  But that's where the fun of the level comes from.  It's a mad dash to the finish, and figuring out the solution to the level was half the fun.  Who knew you could take out the sun with a Koopa shell and use your super speed run to avoid the tornadoes?  It's such a crazy level, but I couldn't imagine the desert area without it.



WORLD 3 (Fortress #2)

I have a love-hate relationships with Mario levels that force me to swim underwater.  If I have a Fire Flower or the Hammer Brother suit (one of the best power-ups in the game, by the way), I'm fine.  If I am little Mario, I hate them.  But Super Mario 3 introduced the Frog Suit in the game.  On land, it's mostly useless.  But underwater?  It made swimming levels so much easier.  For the level in which you should try the Frog Suit out, I recommend the second fortress in the water world.  The fortress is 95% underwater and features some tricky swimming sections.  Because the Frog Suit can allow you to move more straight underwater, it is a godsend...and it makes this level so much enjoyable to play!



WORLD 4 (Level 4-1)

Really, I could have put any level in this section because the entirety of Giant Island was so much fun!  Seeing question blocks, enemies, and pipes at three times their size offered a challenging, but comical way to look at the world.  In the end, I went with 4-1 because the sheer shock and joy that I got playing through this massive sized world...that's a moment forever etched in my mind.



WORLD 5 (Level 5-3)

Kuribo's Shoe, Kuribo's Shoe, Kuribo's Shoe!  In case you're wondering, a Kuribo is the Japanese word for Goomba.  And in 5-3, it is the ONLY level in the whole game where you can try on the gigantic green boot that the Goombas hop around in.  And boy what an awesome tool it is.  It allows you to hop over sharp pirahna plants and Spinys to get through the level.  And it can take out an enemy in one hit with just a simple squish.  It's criminal that this power-up only exists in the one level...but it's because of this that 5-3 is my favourite level in the fifth world.



WORLD 6 (Level 6-10)

The ice world is my frozen hell on this game.  I loathed every level of it for the first nine or ten stages.  The slippery ice was enough to cause me headaches, the near impossible jumps were devastatingly difficult, and don't even get me started on the trick to beating 6-5 (a level I couldn't figure out for TEN YEARS).  But then the glorious 6-10 came along and redeemed the world for me.  Provided I had a fire flower on me, I could shoot at the ice blocks and get as much money as I could.  I also ran the risk of unthawing some enemies, but seriously...shooting fire at ice blocks to reveal treasure inside?  That was the most fun level ever!



WORLD 7 (Level 7-7)

The pipe levels irritated me just as much as the ice levels did, but for some reason, I found Pipe World to be slightly easier.  (Well, aside from 7-4, which was an underwater disaster.)

But I think what I liked best about 7-7 was that it was a simple level that you could just blow through in a rapid pace.  The fact that there were Starmen that could grant you invincibility scattered through the level every ten seconds certainly made this a breeze to get through - and also amped up the fun considerably!

And finally...



WORLD 8 (Bowser's Castle)

No contest.  The final level of the game is also the one that I enjoy the most of the final world.  The final world is extremely difficult to navigate on its own, but this castle tests all your skills in a huge way from Bowser statues shooting lasers at you, to gigantic lava pits, to fireballs piercing the air at a rapid pace.  It is such a stressful level, but in an epic way.  The fact that you're almost at the end just increases the excitement.  And did you know that there are two different routes you can take that will change the way you fight Bowser?  One route takes you to the easy room, where Bowser is suspended above a large brick platform where you just have to make him fall through...but there is a harder room where the gap you have to make him fall through is much narrower.

So, those are my picks for favourite Super Mario 3 levels.  What ones were your favourites?  And what other features of the game did you love?  Let me know in the comments below!

Friday, February 09, 2018

Recapping One Day at at Time - Episode 3 - No Mass


Welcome to the next installment of "Recapping One Day at a Time".  We're about to start episode 3 - "No Mass".  And this episode appears to be a Lydia-centric episode, so if you love the adventures and one lines of Abuelita, this is one episode that you should watch.  And if not...well, watch anyway.  Now, this episode does touch on the subject of religion - which can be quite the touchy topic this day and age.  But overall, I liked the way it was presented.  You'll see what I mean as we go ahead with this recap.



For now, it's a typical morning with Lydia waking up to a serenade of Cuban music.  I'm not sure who sings it or what the song is called, but it's certainly a song that makes you get up and dance.  And dance is what Lydia does very well as she makes the coffee, cooks breakfast for the kids, and makes sure Alex's uniform pants are nice and clean. 

We also learn that Lydia is a devout Catholic, and even posts a picture of Pope Benedict on the refrigerator.  Penelope jokes that she has two other photos of the Pope in her room and takes the picture down, but Lydia just brings another one up and sets it on the kitchen counter.  This will be a key element in today's episode.



The opening credits roll and before you know it, it's dinner.  Lydia has made dinner for Alex and Elena (and Schneider who apparently is part of the family now).  Penelope has had another long day at work and has nearly missed dinner.  At least Lydia has managed to make enough to feed her, and as she serves Penelope, Schneider talks about his unusual family arrangements which include a father and four step-mothers.  Yeah, I'm starting to understand the reason why Schneider is the way he is.  You'll see more when I post the funny lines of the episode (which has a surprisingly high amount of laugh out loud moments).  Oh, and we also meet Elena's best friend Carmen, who apparently is best described as a cross between Lydia Deetz and Selena Gomez.  She's moody, she's depressed, she's dark...essentially she's your typical fourteen year old these days.  And fair warning, she's got a recurring role throughout the rest of season one.



Penelope is a little concerned that she isn't spending a lot of time with her kids, and she wants to make it up to them on the weekend.  Unfortunately, Saturday is out as Elena and Carmen are working on a school project and Alex and Lydia are going to watch a wrestling match.  Penelope makes the suggestion that they go for a hike on Sunday morning, but Lydia ixnays that idea, as they have to go to church.

Penelope thinks that they can skip church for one day because she really wants to spend time with her kids, but Lydia scoffs at that idea.  Schneider offers a compromise by suggesting that they go for the hike after church, but Penelope dismisses the idea, claiming that by the time they say hello to everyone there and sing all the hymns, it's already evening!  I'll have to take their word for it since I'm not one for organized religion and the last time I was in a church was for a wedding I attended three and a half years ago.



And this sets up the conflict for the episode.  Lydia is insistent that the family attend church as planned on Sunday, but Penelope is insisting that spending time with her children is more important than church.  Lydia tries to get the kids involved, and Alex sides with Lydia saying that he finds church fun.  Elena, on the other hand, seems to side with Penelope - which could likely explain some of the reason why Lydia and Alex have a closer relationship. 

At this point, Penelope has had enough and sends the kids and Schneider away so she and Lydia can hash it out.  But as Penelope and Lydia get talking, they get angrier and angrier with Penelope getting upset that Lydia is trying to turn her apartment into Jesus' Pinterest page, and Lydia upset that Penelope won't let her have an opinion.  The fight ends with Lydia storming to her living area and angrily closing her curtain - since she doesn't have a door!



The next morning, the Cuban music starts to play, and Penelope goes into the kitchen, but notices that Lydia isn't around.  She is confused, but decides to try and make breakfast herself - and gets so caught up in the beat of the music that she throws coffee all over the floor!  Whoops!



Elena and Alex wake up, wonder where Lydia is, and Penelope is wondering why Alex doesn't have his pants for school.  She goes to investigate what is going on and Lydia isn't here.  Apparently she has run away from home!  But where could she have gone?



Penelope and the gang think that Schneider might know something about it, so they go to his apartment to find out more information.  I have to say that Schneider's place is a typical man cave with record albums and comfortable furniture...



...and a half naked woman wandering through the place without a care in the world.  Wow, this really IS a man cave!

At first, Schneider denies knowing anything about Lydia's whereabouts, but when Elena smells plantains and coffee, Schneider is forced to reveal that Lydia spent the night after their fight.  He doesn't know where she went after that though.  All he remembers is that he called an Uber for his one night stand, and it hasn't arrived yet.  Meanwhile, Alex gets a zinger in when he asks if Abuelita forgot to give Schneider's girl her pants too!



It appears as though Penelope isn't the only one who is fighting with a family member.  After getting into an argument with his thirty-seven year old daughter whose main ambition is writing a vampire erotica fan fiction, Dr. B. is at his wit's end as well.  This prompts Penelope and Dr. B. to have a heart-to-heart over what is happening with Lydia.  It takes a little bit of bluntness in the Dr. B. way for Penelope to understand what is going on, but she's maybe starting to see the point that Lydia was trying to make about how Penelope might be taking her for granted.



The conversation is interrupted by a call from Schneider, who reports that Lydia still hasn't come home which makes Penelope worry even more because Lydia has never been not home when the kids come home from school.  She is struggling to figure out where she could have gone.  Luckily, Dr. B. seems to have a train of thought on the subject - which sort of derails a bit - but eventually Penelope figures it out and stops by the one place where Lydia would feel closer to God.



At the church, Lydia sees Penelope in one of the pews, and she attempts to start conversation with Lydia about what happened (though a nosy churchgoer named Birdie seems to be overhearing everything and Lydia cautions Penelope to speak softly).



It takes a while to convince Lydia - and in between the conversation is an analogy of Lydia's mother slicing onions as well as Lydia mistakenly believing that Penelope plans on putting her in a retirement home - that Penelope is sorry for what she said.  But when Penelope mentions that Lydia is the glue that holds the Alvarez family together and that she is needed.  And Lydia ALMOST agrees to come back home...



...until Penelope mentions that she plans on never going to church again, which really sets Lydia off!  When Birdie tries to interject, Lydia rings a bell in her ear, and tells Penelope that she will come home when she is ready - in an Uber.  (Yeah, I guess we know who stole the Uber that Schneider called for his lady love of one night.)



Penelope comes home where Schneider has prepared a meal for Elena, Alex, and Carmen.  I have no clue what the dish is except that it has nettles and it prompts Penelope to thank Schneider for the Caucasian meal.  Ouch!  I'm Caucasian and I haven't even heard of nettles!



Fortunately, Lydia arrives back home and Schneider immediately gives her a humongous hug!  And Lydia wonders who threw up on the table!  Oh, poor Schneider...the butt of all jokes.

Of course, Lydia tells everyone that Penelope has decided to stop going to church and declares that while the rest of the family will go to church every Sunday, Penelope will be going to hell.  Wow!  Harsh!



But then Penelope drops a truth bomb of her own when she declares that she doesn't even know if she believes in God!  Now that's a show stopper!  As Lydia stares at Penelope in shock, Penelope explains that she is happy that God brings Lydia comfort, but she doesn't see a need to include God in her life.



This prompts what could be considered one of Rita Moreno's most brilliant monologues.  Breaking into tears, Lydia recounts how when Penelope went away to Afghanistan, she went to church every day and prayed to God to keep her safe...and the very fact that she did come home proves to Lydia that there is a God, that God is real, and that she loves God.



Cue the Kleenex and the tears.  Penelope is so moved by the tale that she gives Lydia a hug and a sorry.  Penelope does reveal that she does have a connection to God via the cross necklace that Lydia gave her.  And while Penelope still doesn't want to go to church every day, they do reach a compromise and they will go to church on major holidays and a few other times...so they won't be known as THOSE people according to Lydia. 

But don't think that Lydia hasn't learned a valuable lesson herself.  Penelope tells everyone about a time in which she was in surgery for twenty hours at the army infirmary and she was extremely beat.  She saw Serena Williams playing a match on television and it gave her the strength to keep going, and Lydia finally understands that sometimes you just need someone to keep you in the right direction whether it's a religious figure or a tennis player.



That message couldn't be made much clearer when the following morning after Lydia wakes up to make breakfast, she posts two photos - one of the Pope...and a new one of Serena Williams!  Awwwww...the feels!



And as all is well in the Alvarez household, I have to say that the show did a bang up job with doing an episode on religion without being too preachy about it.  It was beautifully written and at times I could see everyone's points (and everyone made good points).  I even like Elena's friend, Carmen - though she does look a little too much like that disgraced X Factor New Zealand judge...Google it, you'll understand what I mean.

Now, as I said, this episode is chock full with soundbites.  Here are a few of my favourites.

SCHNEIDER:  Sometimes my nanny would join me, but only if I agreed to watch telenovelas.
ELENA:  Ooh, those are so over the top.
SCHNEIDER:  Right?  This one time, Rosa got jealous of the housekeeper 'cause she was makin' a move on her man, so she threatened to throw live scorpions on her while she slept.
LYDIA:  Sounds good.  Which one was that?
SCHNEIDER:  Oh, no.  Rosa was my nanny.  Ex-nanny.  Now stepmother.

PENELOPE:  I don't like the kids having dessert every night.
LYDIA:  Oh, come on.  Es una cosita.
PENELOPE:  But we have to watch our sugar.  Dad had diabetes.
LYDIA:  So, I killed your father?!?

DR. B.: Where would a devout Catholic woman go after an argument with her daughter about religion?
PENELOPE:  Thank you, Dr. Berkowitz.
DR. B.:  Thank you.  But we need to answer the question.

ALEX:  Did you find Abuelita?
PENELOPE:  Yeah, she's with Jesus now.
ALEX and ELENA:  WHAT?!?
PENELOPE:  No, no!  Sorry.  She's at church.  Uh, poor choice of words.

LYDIA:  She's no longer going to church.  Ever.
ALEX:  We can do that?!?
LYDIA:  You can't.  We will all go together.  Us.  Your mother will go hiking with Satan.
PENELOPE:  Yeah, and then we'll go to Applebee's.  'Cause Satan loves the Fiesta Lime Chicken!

Coming up next week, Penelope goes out on a date using a dating app that Schneider found.  What could go wrong?

Wednesday, February 07, 2018

"This Is Us"

An interesting thing that I've noticed that I've been doing for 2018 so far is talking about more current pop culture events.  This wasn't intentional, but so far I think I'm liking it.  As well, whereas 2017 was more music themed, I think 2018 seems to be focusing more on television.  And why not?  I think as we get further into the year, 2018 seems to be the year where we are entering another golden age of television.  There are a lot of really well-written shows on both cable networks and online streaming sites, and the choices are endless.

Sometimes, you never know what show you'll become engrossed in until you sit down, watch an episode, and hours later you're on episode seventeen and realized you forgot to eat lunch and dinner!

Well, okay...maybe that's a little extreme, but you get the picture.  Truth be told, last week I got ensnared in the binge-watching trap and found a show that lots of people have been talking about and it is considered one of the highest rated television series of the 2016/2017 television season.  In fact, it is a show that was so well received that it was automatically picked up for three seasons AFTER THE FIRST EPISODE AIRED!  In today's television landscape, that never happens!



Of course, there hasn't been a show like "This Is Us" to come around in years.  It's the television show that has essentially made NBC "Must See TV" again after almost an entire decade of flop after flop.  But the series - created by Dan Fogelman - is one that is really unique in that it tells the story of a family dealing with the happy times and the sad times.  The show is unique in that it tells the story through time jumps.  One moment, you're in the year 1980, the next, you're in 2016, the next, it's 1998, and so on, and so forth.  It's like "Cold Case", but without someone getting murdered each episode. 

Though, there is one person in the show that IS dead...but we'll get to that a little later.



Part of the charm of "This Is Us" is the brilliance of the cast.  The cast as of season two (and it's a large cast indeed) includes Milo Ventimiglia (Jack), Mandy Moore (Rebecca), Justin Hartley (Adult Kevin), Chrissy Metz (Adult Kate), Sterling K. Brown (Adult Randall), Logan Shroyer (Teen Kevin), Hannah Zeile (Teen Kate), Niles Fitch (Teen Randall), Parker Bates (Child Kevin), Mackenzie Hancsicsak (Child Kate), Lonnie Chavis (Child Randall), Susan Kelichi Watson (Beth), Chris Sullivan (Toby), Ron Cephas Jones (William), Eris Baker (Tess), Faithe Herman (Annie), Jon Huertas (Miguel) and Alexandra Breckenridge (Sophie). 

As mentioned about, the show revolves around a family.  In this case, the Pearson's.  Jack and Rebecca are married and Rebecca delivers triplets on Jack's 36th birthday - Kevin, Kate, and a third baby that was stillborn.  As luck would have it though, a firefighter finds an abandoned baby at a firehouse and Jack and Rebecca adopt him and name him Randall to complete their "Big Three".  Tragically (and I suppose I can share this now since most everyone has heard about it by now), Jack dies when his children are seventeen, and since then, the Big Three have had to deal with their own issues following Jack's death.  Kevin has to deal with finding his footing as an actor while simultaneously battling a drug addiction.  Kate is an aspiring singer who just happens to have an issue with her weight and body image.  And while Randall seems to have every cog in place, the reappearance of his biological father causes him to re-evaluate everything important to him.

The series begins on the Big Three's respective 36th birthday celebrations where all three kids come to a realization.  Randall discovers that he wants to have a relationship with his biological father, William - who happens to be dying of cancer.  Kevin quits his sitcom after he is fed up with the writing and opts to start a career in theatre.  And at a weight loss support group, Kate meets the love of her life, Toby, and embarks on a relationship with him.



It's a wonderful series that depicts every possible emotion you could experience.  You'll be shedding a lot of sad tears, but there are some comedic moments where you'll be shedding some happy tears as well.  Let's put it this way, you'll need to have lots of Kleenex on you.



And please...don't destroy your crock pots either.  Anyone who knows what I am talking about has likely watched the show!

So, how is the best way to talk about the various characters and storylines?  Well, I think that when it comes to the Pearson family, the best bet is for me to talk about each character by ranking them from most favourite to least favourite.  Though this has nothing to do with any of the actors.  All of them are outstanding and I think all of them deserve an Emmy award for their fine work.  But some characters are more developed than others, and I am sure that as the show continues we will learn more about them and my rankings will change.

For now, here's my list.



#1:  JACK PEARSON

Okay, you know something, Jack is NEARLY the perfect dad.  He's really the dad that everybody wants to have.  He is kind, he is loving, he is supportive, and he will do almost anything to make sure that his loved ones are okay.  In fact, you could argue that resolve was ultimately what killed him - but that makes us love him even more for it.  Of course, he may be my favourite character on "This Is Us", but even he's not perfect.  His penchant for alcohol is one flaw he has.  And while the Pearson family might hold him in high regard, that's not to say that Jack doesn't have more secrets to unearth.  For now, he's the glue that essentially holds this cast together - in life and in death.



#2.  RANDALL PEARSON

He may not be biologically related to the family, but Randall is every bit a Pearson.  And as the only one of the Big Three to have a family of his own, he is definitely following in Jack's footsteps as far as fatherhood goes.  With his lovely wife Beth, he is raising his two daughters with as much love as Jack showed him.  He's arguably the most financially sound of the Big Three as well, and he certainly seems to be the guy that everyone seems to hold in high regard.  The reunion with William just made Randall that much likeable.  My only foible with Randall is that at times the show depicts him as TOO perfect.  And unlike Jack, it means that Randall sometimes comes across as being on auto-pilot.  The story arc with William certainly helped Randall develop as a character, and I want to see more of that as the show progresses because it makes him a much richer character.  We all know Sterling K. Brown can act (he has the awards to prove it).  I hope to see more of it in action.



#3.  KATE PEARSON

She's the middle child of the Big Three, and the middle character in this list.  I don't dislike Kate, but I'm not over the moon over her either.  During season one, it was as if every single storyline was about her weight issues.  It was fine for a little while, but it should have never been the main focus because otherwise we'd lose interest pretty quickly.  But as season one ended and season two began, Kate's popularity grew on me.  It helps that the child and teen actresses are probably the closest to Chrissy Metz's real looks and mannerisms which makes her the most believable of the characters.  But I think her relationship with Toby (which I wasn't feeling during season one, but like a lot better in season two), as well as her aspiring music career has helped flesh her out as a character.  And from the flashback scenes of Jack's death, we sort of understand why Kate turned out the way she did - well, as least partially.  And another reason why is linked to #4 on my list.



#4 - REBECCA PEARSON

Look, I have nothing against Mandy Moore.  She's a great actress, a great singer (yes, I'll admit to having "In My Pocket" and "I Wanna Be With You" on my iPod), and frankly if she DOESN'T get an Emmy nomination at least, the system is flawed.  She has put out some awesome work this year.  That said, the character she plays is the definition of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".  I don't think Rebecca means to be overly critical...she really does want what's best for her family.  I just think that she makes a lot of poor decisions.  It's hard to excuse the fact that she hid William from Randall all those years, but seeing her explain why she did what she did...I get why she did it.  It still makes it the wrong choice, but I get where she was coming from.  But the criticisms she gives to Kate about her singing and her appearance likely sparked Kate's issues with positive body image, and I feel as though this will be an ongoing thing.  I also want to understand how she and Miguel fell in love.  After all, Jack and Miguel were best friends.  There's still plenty of story to tell with Rebecca, and the second season has done well in trying to repair the relationships between Rebecca and her kids...but more work needs to be done.



#5. KEVIN PEARSON

Again, this has nothing to do with the actor who plays Kevin.  Justin Hartley is a fantastic actor as are the two other actors who play young Kevin.  They all do a great job in portraying a character who makes questionable choices and some rather selfish decisions.  And yeah, during season one, Kevin was NOT my favourite character.  He seemed to lack direction in a huge way, and while he seemed to take one step forward once in a while, he would take about eighteen steps back the next episode.  I also didn't appreciate the fact that he treated Randall so terribly during their formative years, and I thought he was sort of a jerk.  It actually wasn't until we saw Kevin go into rehab and open up more that we learned why that was the case.  I have hopes that Kevin will become a better character, and every now and then he will have flashes of brilliance that makes me think that he's a great character.  But he does have the roughest road to redemption.  But hey, as I said earlier, Justin Hartley's a great actor, and I think he's up to the task.

So, that's my entry on "This Is Us".  And now that I have finished it up, I need to buy some more Kleenex.  Do you agree or disagree with my list?  And do you have any "This Is Us" moments that you want to talk about?  I'm open to hearing them!

Friday, February 02, 2018

Recapping One Day at a Time - Episode 2 - Bobos and Mamitas

This week in "Recapping One Day at a Time", we'll be looking at an issue that has been a problem for working women for decades now.  And while I feel the solution for this episode is a bit of a quick fix in comparison to what really takes place, I feel it's still a great episode.

This is Episode 2: Bobos and Mamitas.  Now, I am incredibly rusty on Spanish, so I had to use Google Translate to try and decipher them.  I'm still lost on the meaning of Mamitas, but a Bobo is a Spanish word for fool.  Or maybe even stronger than that.  I get the feeling that Penelope is going to have her hands full with stupid people this week.



For now, we pop in where we left off last week, where we see Penelope and Lydia in bed together.  Because as we learned, Penelope used to fall asleep when her now ex-husband used to spoon her.  So, naturally, Lydia decided to take over.  Not that this is weird in any way according to her, of course.  During the night, Penelope wakes up in a panic, and it is clear that she has had another nightmare about her time in Afghanistan.  Fortunately, Lydia is there to help her through it and calm her down.

A side note is that Lydia also happens to wear makeup to bed.  Not weird at all.  No weirder than sharing your bed with your thirty-eight year old grown daughter, anyway.



After Lydia leaves the room to make breakfast, we see Penelope with the bottle of anti-depressants she was prescribed and she takes one, telling her reflection in the mirror that she'll be okay.  Good for her.  It's not easy to admit that one might need help to deal with mental issues, and I applaud her for taking this step.



The following morning, Lydia is doing yoga while Elena is pounding on the bathroom door as Alex flushes the toilet five times in a row.  Elena is furious that Alex is wasting water and is "killing the planet", which Alex seems to take great pleasure in.  See, Elena is very much passionate about ecology and saving the planet, and is actually in the midst of doing some sort of environmental protest at her school.  I think it has something to do with composting, but I didn't really pay attention because at this point Elena kind of annoys me as a character.  Isabella Gomez is a lovely actress.  Elena is a bit of a pain.

She is determined to make her case, but Lydia is too distracted by the fact that she isn't getting ready for school and tells her to put on some makeup - which Elena hates.  See, there's another thing you should know.  Alex (whom Lydia refers to as Papito) is her favourite.  Elena is...not so much.  Though it could be because Elena and Lydia are so different personality wise.



Of course, Penelope isn't in the mood to hear any of it at the moment.  She has to report to work early because there's a staff meeting at the clinic where she works.  But before she leaves, she tells Elena that when she makes her case to not be taken aback by the "Bobos", and that if they try to make her feel bad, to just smile and pretend it doesn't bother her.



And apparently, there's only four people at Dr. Berkowitz's clinic.  Despite this, Dr. B. still insists on taking attendance.  Yeah, I get the feeling that Dr. B. is socially awkward.  Which is fine.  I get it.  I'm that way as well.  Aside from Dr. B. and Penelope, we have the secretary, Lori - who admittedly is a bit of a ditz who believes that wearing the wrong bra size her whole life is a pressing issue that greatly affects the quality of care given to the patients of the clinic.  We also have a male nurse named Scott - and based on his cell phone addiction, his sucking up to Dr. B. and his overall holier-than-thou attitude, I get the feeling that this is our "Bobo" in this episode.



We learn just how annoying Scott can be when Penelope presents an idea to keep patients happy.  She believes that if they stagger the appointments of all of the patients in the waiting room by five minutes, it will make them less cranky because they don't have to wait so long.  It's a decent idea.  But Scott arrogantly tells Dr. B. that the idea will NEVER work because it will actually lessen the quality of care that they receive, which causes Dr. B. to take Scott's side.  You might want to remember this scene for later.  Either way, Penelope is really annoyed, and we see her smiling so huge you'd think she was doing a commercial for Scope mouthwash.  But make no mistake...she wants to kill the Bobo.



Of course, every episode of every sitcom has some filler material in it.  This time around we have Lydia teaching Schneider how to salsa dance.  Nothing really important except for two things.  One, in her mid-80s, Rita Moreno can still slay a dance floor.  She and Todd Grinnell must have had a really good time filming this scene.  And the other is when the rest of the family arrive home, Elena screams out "We get it!  We're Cuban!"  It made me chuckle, anyway.  It then leads to a family dance party.  Again, total filler, but still somehow satisfying.

Anyway, we learn that Elena's quest to save the world from pollution didn't go as well.  As in kids were throwing hamburgers at her head the whole time.  Penelope understands her frustration and proceeds to tell her all about what Scott did - all while trying to stifle the fact that she wanted to rip out his intestines.



Elena remarks that it is sexist - which further proves the fact that she is a social justice warrior in training.  But in this case, she is one hundred per cent correct.  Though amusingly, Penelope remarks that it isn't sexist because he didn't call her a Mamita (ah, so I get the feeling that Mamita is a slang term for baby, or chick, or some other derogatory name for women).  Besides, Penelope explains that if Elena really wants an example of sexism, she needed to look at the army.  Penelope dealt with sexism all the time when she was a soldier, and eventually she proved herself by being better than the males who kept catcalling her.  While it is respectable that Penelope earned their respect, I have to actually side with Elena in that Penelope should confront Scott about his actions.

Oh, and Schneider tries to interject by talking about mansplaining, but really the only thing this serves to do is make me annoyed by Schneider.



Or maybe the annoying one is Lydia.  After everybody goes to bed, she sneaks into Elena's room and opens up a makeup case with enough cosmetics to stock the shelves at Sephora for three whole years.  Apparently Lydia has decided to give Elena an "America's Next Top Model" makeover while Elena sleeps.  Uh, yeah...that's not creepy.  That's not creepy at all.

Predictably, Elena screams and demands to know what the hell Lydia is thinking.  Truth is, if you can get over the creepiness of Lydia's actions, she actually makes a valid point.  She says that lawyers would love to wear sweat pants, but they dress in a suit because they earn respect and power.  Elena seems drawn by this argument and agrees to put on a little makeup to see if that will make a difference in how she is perceived at school.



Well, okay, she's made up to look like Kendall or Kylie Jenner.  Whatever the case, her new look gets the Abuelita Seal of Approval, although Elena looks visibly uncomfortable.  I give it ten minutes before she wipes that stuff off her face.  Elena also once again tries to convince Penelope to talk to Scott about his sexism, but Penelope thinks that if she can talk to Dr. B. instead, then maybe she can convince him to listen. 

At the office, it's not a pretty picture.  Sure enough, patients are getting cranky over having to wait for service, and this causes Lori to suggest giving the patients belly rubs to calm them down.  Ah, Lori...every sitcom has to have at least one person in it who is as dumb as a box of rocks.



Then again, maybe that person is Dr. B.  After complaining about the patients having to wait, Scott comes up with an idea to make the patients happier, and ends up reciting the SAME EXACT IDEA THAT PENELOPE SUGGESTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EPISODE!  I don't think Penelope is going to take that very well.



Yeah, no.



And when Dr. B. actually thanks Scott for the idea and gives him full credit, you KNOW Penelope isn't going to like that at all.



YIKES!  She literally scares me in this screengrab.  And if anyone should be scared, it should be Scott!  Completely disregarding any sort of professionalism and completely charging at him like a ram, Penelope flat out calls him sexist, which causes Scott to FINALLY shut up and Dr. B. to nearly have a nervous breakdown!

But of course, Scott DOESN'T shut up and instead shoves his foot a little further down his throat by not only claiming that he is a victim of reverse sexism, but also claiming that he is tired of picking up the slack because he doesn't think that moms are special!  Ooooh, nice knowing you, pal.



Needless to say, this amps Penelope's anger up to a thousand and despite Dr. B's misguided yet hilarious attempts to diffuse the situation, Penelope really lays into him about how moms ARE important - to which Scott replies that they are all equal and that they all make thirty bucks an hour and...



...oh.  Oh!  Penelope makes LESS than that!  And with that revelation out of the way, Penelope decides to quit her job and with that she storms off.  Wow.



Back at home, Lydia is crestfallen to learn that Elena has removed all the makeup from her face, and she demands to know why.  Elena reveals that the reason why is because she felt uncomfortable wearing it, and she felt uncomfortable with guys hitting on her.  But then Lydia takes it one step too far and tells Elena that by wearing makeup, she could look beautiful and then she would be proud to have her as a granddaughter.  Um...OUCH!

Thankfully, Elena has a little self-esteem in her to call out Lydia, telling her that she wears makeup like armour, and that Elena likes the way she looks without makeup and wishes that she could see it too.  And as Elena storms towards her room, Penelope arrives with anxiety written all over her face as she cries about quitting her job on principle and worries about how they will all have to move into the car.



But then we hear a knock on the door, and it's Dr. B. coming to see Penelope.  And judging by the interaction between Dr. B. and Lydia, I get the impression that there might be a smidgen of flirtation between the both of them which I am sure we will see more of as the series progresses.



For now, it's a real conversation about how Penelope feels upset that Dr. B. would give Scott more money than her, and Dr. B. explains that he felt pressured by Scott to do it (translation: he manipulated the poor doctor).  But after a really good dialogue, Dr. B. agrees to give her an eight dollar an hour raise and a couple of other perks, and this prompts Penelope to come back to work.  Now, of course, in the real world this would probably not happen so nicely, but at least Dr. B. was reminded that Penelope is an asset to the team.  And honestly, isn't that what we all want in our jobs?  To be respected as a team member?  Not all of us have that luxury.

One final moment to close off this episode - and it's probably one of the most heartwarming scenes of this whole episode.  Lydia returns to Elena's bedroom in the middle of the night to show her something.  Only instead of another makeover, Lydia shows her a make-under.  




This is the only time that Lydia has ever shown anybody her face without a hint of makeup on it.  And can I say that she still looks beautiful?  Rita Moreno holds her age very well.  Elena is also very impressed, as am I.  It's nice to know that even though Alex is her obvious favourite that Lydia holds a special place in her heart for Elena too.  I mean, for someone to see someone without makeup for the first time ever - that's love right there.  Well, at least until Elena notices Abuelita may have some mascara on which causes Lydia to scurry out of the room as the closing credits air.  But hey, what a good episode.  Talking about the wage inequality between men and women has been an ongoing issue for years - even dating back to when the original "One Day at a Time" aired in the 1970s.  I'm glad to see that Norman Lear and company have made it an issue for the new series. 

Coming up next week, Penelope decides to skip church - and Lydia is NOT amused.

Before I go though, have a laugh with some of the more memorable lines from this episode!  Enjoy!


ELENA:  You know, I know bobo is an insult, but it sounds adorable.  Like he's a little clown.
PENELOPE:  Oh, yes, he is a clown.  And like every other clown, I want to punch him in the face.

SCHNEIDER:  Sorry, I cut you off.  Talk as long as you want.  Not that you need my permission.  I'm just...you know what?  I'd like to hear from the ladies.  Women.  Females.  You guys...Not guys, humans.
LYDIA: (to Elena) Wow, you broke Schneider.

DR. B.:  Guys, guys!  Let's keep our anger where it belongs, with the patients!

PENELOPE:  Mami...I quit my job.
LYDIA:  I don't understand.  The job ended?
PENELOPE:  No, it didn't end.
LYDIA:  Did your boss die?
PENELOPE:  No!
LYDIA:  Was there a fire?  Scandal?  Was he a sex offender and they closed down the business because of the shame?
PENELOPE:  No!
LYDIA:  I have just said all the reasons!
PENELOPE:  I quit my job because I found out that comierda Scott makes more than I do, and he's only been there one month.

LYDIA:  Oh, so you quit because of principles.  ARE YOU CRAZY?!?