Happy New Year, fellow Trojans, PAC-12 fans, and all the Russian and Hungarian escort-like ladies that cling to my twitter account like static socks in laundry! (If you can't beat'em, join'em, right?) Welcome to all (I guess) *laughs nervously*
Some phenomenal bowl games to start the New Year off with a bang, the Rose Bowl, featuring Oregon and Wisconsin, and the Fiesta Bowl pitting Stanford against Oklahoma State. Both close games, going neck to neck up until the last few minutes in the former, and into OT in the latter. I was rooting for the Badgers because I got my PhD at Madison many moons ago and have fond memories of Easter blizzards and tornado warnings. But I write about the PAC-12, so clearly I have strong affection for all PAC-12 schools, and according to Judymath, I liked the idea that if Oregon won it would be almost like SC winning, since SC beat Oregon. Another win-win game as I saw it, I'm a big believer in positive spin. So needless to say, I was thrilled that (by Judymath proxy calculations) SC picked up the RB win.
The Fiesta Bowl triggered more mixed emotions. Yes, Stanford is a PAC-12 school but they beat us (barely and weirdly) in a triple OT game this season, and while SC might be accused of being an Arrogant Nation (Must read for all Trojans and anyone who likes to laugh, Zach Jerome's http://lostangelesblog.wordpress.com/), surely I'm not the only one who picks up a Smug vibe from the Cardinal peeps. The Smug Suburb perhaps.
Looking up Zach Jerome's link, just saw he's blogging current season of The Bachelor. I love The Bachelor recaps more than I love the actual show, always reminds me of dissecting relationships or analyzing prospective possibilities over white wine with my friend Ellen from graduate school, our brief reward every couple of weeks before hitting the books again. I also am a fan of Kristen Baldwin's recaps on the Entertainment Weekly site (http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/the-bachelor-season-16-episode-1/) that NEVER fail to have me literally LOL...or as Kristen would describe it: and she LOVES them. Highly recommend both Zach and Kristen to definitely lift your spirits.
Looking ahead, what do we have? The BCS championship game. Next Monday. Really? When everyone is back to school, back to work, into basketball, dreaming of March Madness brackets. I think all the BCS games should be between Christmas and New Year's. When people have time to watch them, still remember recent games and outcomes, and don't want to watch repeats of repeats on TV.
Speaking of repeats, did have some awesome TV moments over holidays: saw Bringing Up Baby, probably my fave movie of all time, vying for first place with Some Like It Hot. Brilliant. Also immensely enjoyed Live from Lincoln Center staging of The Nutcracker on weekend before Christmas when my husband was out of town for the day which left me to leap all over the living room while decorating the tree with only my Pomeranian-American Eskimo mix to witness the high jinks.
And I finally saw Downton Abby. And I LOVED it! Really. Historical yet edgy. Cool combo. Thanks to all the peeps on twitter who always raved about it. Can't wait for Season 2.
That being said...I ended the year watching Curb Your Enthusiasm marathon. Honestly, I don't think there really is such a thing as "too much Larry." At least on Curb. And since Ricky Gervais is also one of my faves, again, I LOVED it.
Looking forward to the New Year and sharing thoughts on basketball, Awards Shows, and weddings (that's right, my oldest daughter's getting married in July!). Till next time, and again, best wishes for a healthy and happy new year! Peace.
