The World of Scott Mindeaux

Oh No Mr. Bates and Captain Jack Harkness!

What is it about British television that has me so hooked? Is it their accents or do they produce better television in the UK?

I have been addicted to an iTV series called Downton Abbey.  I have just finished watching the Season 2 finale and I can’t wait for Season 3. Beware there are spoilers for those that haven’t seen this season yet.

Word has it that they are commissioning a third season and will pick up from where they left off this last season. This past season dealt mostly with the war and the effect on Downton Abbey headed up by Lord and Lady Grantham. The story revolves around their three daughters, the heir apparent to the estate (Matthew Crawley) and the minglings of the castle staff. Thomas returns to Downtown as a staff sergeant overseeing the convalescing of soldiers now staying at Downton as they have run out of space in the local town. Mr. Bates and Anna continue thru their struggles for a relationship and Lady Sybil runs off with the Chauffer. We can’t forget Maggie Smith playing Dowager Countess of Grantham as the ever opinionated Matron.

More word on the street is that Amy Nutall who plays Ethel (the former maid who had a baby with a convalescing soldier) will not be returning to the cast. Season 3 will take place after the Armistice and in the 1920s.

A Christams special is scheduled to run in a few weeks and I look forward to that show. Did they do a Christmas special between Season 1 and 2?

The Brits love their Christmas specials. Doctor Who does a Christmas special as well. I wish they did one for Torchwood.

Speaking of Torchwood, do you think it will come back? Did you like the collaboration effort with Starz? Did they take the series in a completely different track and pull away from the “real” Torchwood?

For those not keeping up with Torchwood, it came back for a short series run with Torchwood set in America with Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper crossing over the pond for a Torchwood/CIA operation to investigate the “Miracle Day” mystery. The series starts off where people STOP dying. Even with extreme death, people seem to be staying alive. However, for those who follow the show, we know that Captain Jack Harkness can’t die – but in this twist, he can – the only person on earth who can. They ended the season figuring out the mystery but end it with guest star Mekhi Phifer (playing CIA’s Rex Matheson)absorbing some of Jack’s immortality. Will this lead to another series?

Sinks, Flipping Out and Necessary Roughness

Well this morning I was awakened by the maintenance staff here at Sycamore Lane Apartments. They were here to fix some water damage under the sink and to replace a faucet (not related actually). It seems that I have had some water dripping from a pipe under the sink. When the trap would fill with water, it would leak thru the seal between the trap and the pipe. By the looks of it, there was a period of leaking as the plywood under the sink had sagged in the back and was kinda rust colored. They came to fix the pipe and to replace the wood under the sink. Well it turns out that they put in a new piece of plywood on top of he damaged one and then painted it white and sealed the edges. Is this the right way to do this? I mean it looks nice and new and all, but the wood underneath is still damaged and who knows if there are mold issues to contend with.

Well, when they finished under the sink, the then proceeded to replace the faucet. I had purchased this faucet a while back, but I’m no plumber. I wanted  the spigot to be higher than it was. I literally only had like 3 inches of space between the spigot and the divider in the sink – making it difficult to wash large items as there was no room to maneuver. Now its in and has plenty of room. In addition I think they cranked up the inputs and it was way better pressure than before.

So on Bravo today they had a Flipping Out marathon. This was my chance to catch up on last seasons’ antics of Jeff, Jennie, Zoila and Trace. I love this show. I love his aesthetic, his design sense and his “I don’t care, do what you have to do to make it right” attitude. Flipping out premieres next Wednesday and I can’t wait. For those that don’t watch the show, Jeff broke up with his longtime partner and business partner. This was also the same time the economy started to tumble and Jeff was no longer flipping house, but now designing. This season a new cast member joins the cast and he not only works for Jeff, but is his new boyfriend. Can’t wait!

USA Network must have a long term contract with Bellsario Productions and CBS to air syndication of NCIS. I mean everyday there is some kind of NCIS marathon running, its almost ridiculous. Today after about three episodes, we come to the premiere of a new original show called Necessary Roughness. This is the story about Dr. Dani Santino who is a therapist helping people with addictions, loss issues, etc. After some trauma in her own life, she struggles to make ends meet with here son and daughter after kicking out her husband for cheating. Dani comes across a trainer and turns out he is a trainer (Matthew Donnally) for a fictitious football team, the Hawks. Their number one player (Terrence King) isn’t being so number one. He hasn’t been able to catch the ball in weeks and continues to fumble the ball time after time. Of course this “star” player leads a reckless life of drinking, partying and can’t control his temper. Matthew thinks maybe Dani can help. The head couch hires Dani to see if she can help T.K.

It’s an interesting storyline and I actually watched the entire 90 minute premiere. Will this show survive? USA picked up at least 12 episodes.

Meanwhile, be on the lookout for anew show premiering tomorrow called Suits. Here’s a clip:

Oh…this is what I had for dinner:

Napping, Santa Ana, Jury Duty and NCIS

Well I got up early today and had breakfast. My now usual bowl of Cheerios, low fat milk and fruit. I was watching the news on KTLA (big fan of their morning show for years…) and then went back into the bedroom. I made my bed, took a shower, dressed then I laid down on the bed to read and I fell asleep! I didn’t wake up until like 2pm! Yikes!

Not sure what happened there. I went to bed last night around 12 midnight and then woke up at 5:08AM when that damn sparrow that lives in a tree near my apartment started to chirp before the morning sun. It’s really quite annoying as it interrupts my sleeping pattern. I can’t tell you how much this bird has made my life miserable!

Anyway…I got up and freaked out! I wanted to get down to the State building in Santa Ana to submit my application for Short Term Disability with the State. Will there be traffic going Northbound on the 5? As Jeff Lewis from Flipping Out has yelled “it’s LA, there’s ALWAYS traffic!” I got in the car and headed North. Yes around the 55 interchange there was traffic, but it wasn’t because of the interchange, it was because there was a CHP officer parked on the side. Everyone was slowing down. So frustrating. Do the cops know how much of the traffic is actually caused by them?

I exit on 1st street and head towards the civic center. I finally find 605 Santa Ana Blvd and find parking. Luckily there is aprking sructure that is right next to it and the paring takes credit cards, for I had no cash on me (I don’t usually carry cash…). I got up to the 7th floor to the office of the EDD Disability Insurance Office. I expected to see a line or something – but was pleasantly surprised that there was only 1 person in line. You see, you’re supposed to MAIL the forms in, but I thought I would take a chance and try to deliver them in person. There is nothing on the website or form indicating that you can go in person! So I dropped off the forms, they checked it over and said if all goes well, my first “check” should arrive in 7-10 days. They don’t actually issue checks anymore, you get a BofA Debit card that the State deposits into an account linked to that card. Isn’t that kewl?

While  I was there, I remembered that I got my Jury notice in the mail. I have already deferred from January. Since I’m on disability do you think I can get another deferment? Oddly in my entire life, this is the first time I have been called to duty. I have lived in many cities and three different states and never got called in. My reporting court is Santa Ana, which means I have a good chance of getting a doozy of a trial if I am picked!

After that I left and was temped to go down to the Artist’s Village and grab something to eat – I was starving. But I decided to head home. But before I do that I wanted to stop off at the main Goodwill Donation center and drop off some clothes. I wish I can say that I have had to ditch my current clothes due to the weight loss, but most of this was clothing that I never unpacked from when I moved back to Irvine from Seattle. After dropping it off, I decided to check out the computer recycling store at Goodwill. It used to be you could get a good deal on used equipment, but now its just alot of old, old electronics.

I stopped off at Ralphs to pick up some groceries and luckily I had some of my re-suable bags in the trunk. I picked up some Alaskan Cod, milk, bandages.  I tripped at Goodwill and fell hands first onto the sidewalk, my iPhone was in my hand and the instant I hit the ground I heard a crack. I also scraped my knee.  The back of my iPhone is cracked and it is totally scuffed. I’m totally bummed. Anyway, after grocery shopping I got home, made dinner with my Alaskan Cod and then watched some TV.

Im going on a tangent. I have always been a huge fan of NCIS. Well they franchised and started NCIS: Los Angeles. I REALLY like this show. The show has LL Cool J, Chris O’Donnel, Barret Foa (gay and cute!) and Linda Hunt whom I adore!

Thank You Jeff Lewis, It’s About Time!

I love Flipping Out on Bravo. Jeff Lewis does amazing work and I absolutely love his style. Why did it take you so long to finally buy a Mac and outfit your staff with Macs???

Your design aesthetic so matches what the Mac is. Thank you for going with the best computer for your needs and your staff!

Yay!

Defending a Gay Son

This is a scene from this past week’s episode of Glee. Curt’s dad and Finn’s mom are getting serious and they are moving in together. However, this means Curt and Finn will be sharing a room. Looks like Finn has some issues to deal with. Here, Curt tries to make Finn feel at home and things go awry…

Note: This post is HTML5 friendly. This will play on any iPad, iPhone or any mobile device that doesn’t support Flash.

GLEE: Sue Sylvester in Vogue

Sue Sylvester…..in VOGUE! In anticipation of next week’s much anticipated Madonna episode, we got a peek at the end of tonight’s episode of GLEE!

I’m so glad they’re back!

Video courtesy of HULU!