Dear Conan,

I’ve been a big fan of yours for, well, for as long as I can remember. My late night routine was Letterman and then flipping over to your Late Night show. I remember you going off air while you moved to LA and being SO SAD that I had to wait until June. And how we have to wait again … until September! And who knows where you’ll be!

You’ve gotta find a way to come back to us, Conan. Maybe a free webcast of you just doing zany, goofy stuff? On YouTube or something? They’ll let you do that, right?

I feel like I’ve grown up with you, so it’s very strange to not have you around on TV. I guess I’ll have to try to fill the void by watching old Late Night clips online.

Come back soon. I miss you.

Love,
ek

Those of you that know me personally know that I have been a HUGE fan of Conan O’Brien for a very long time. I used to stay up and watch Late Night with Conan O’Brien most nights, always being more interested in his monologue and bits than any of the interviews or god-awful musical guests. (Lets face it: even though Last Call with Carson Daly is on so late that people forget it exists, Carson was able to pull out his MTV Frequent Hosting card to get great musical talent to play on his show). Seeing him take over the mantel of the Tonight Show was exciting. And although it took him a while to get comfortable and get the ball rolling, the show was new and fun and very promising. He’s a fantastic writer, and with a good team of people to bounce ideas off of he really comes up with fantastic and fun stories and gags. (If you can’t tell, I’m much more interested in Conan as a writer and comedian more than an interviewer or Late Night personality.)

Some of his best work was during the hayday of The Simpsons, when he was a producer and writer. He spent time with the show from 1991-93, and penned some of the best and most memorable episodes in the show’s history.

I was going to come out and say “Here is his best episode EVAR” but you know what? I’m just going to put all four of them here and let you watch. I’ll tell you which one I think is best (and why) next week.

S4E08: “New Kid on the Block”

The Simpsons 408

S4E12: “Marge vs. the Monorail”

The Simpsons 412

S5E03: “Homer Goes to College”

The Simpsons 503

S5E05: “Treehouse of Horror IV”

The Simpsons 505

Although the thought of Conan going off the air makes me a sad panda, I have to say that I’d love to see him get back to writing again. More Conan-penned Simpsons episodes (maybe a Conan-penned Futurama episode!) would be incredible. And the show could definitely benefit from it, as the last 10 seasons have been slowly sliding down a narrow hill.

Why yes, I have been knitting. I swear.

These two afghan squares are for a large afghan blanket being assemble for a friend of mine. They may not know of the blanket yet, so I’m withholding the details for the moment.

Braided Lace

Labyrinth

This is my first official “complete” sock! The pattern is currently being test-knit, so I’ll share details once the pattern goes live.

Soybean Sock

Soybean Sock Detail

I keep meaning to take better pictures in better lighting, but I think I left the sock over at HCW when I worked on Saturday. Oops! I’ll be picking it up on Thursday when I go in for First Thursday. Not sure what the sale will be yet, hopefully something good. I have a $50 gift card to spend thanks to my amazing mom! Hooray for moms buying yarny things as birthday presents! Happy birthday me!

ek

I feel this strange urge to update this thing. The semester is finally over and grades are trickling in (A- and A so far, one more to go that’ll probably be a B). Lots of rehearsals this week, as the choir I’m in is singing at Commencement on Saturday. I had no idea that many songs about Texas existed.

Anyway.

I’ve been slowly trucking along on some of the knitting I have going. I went to LA a few weekends ago (in the midst of finals, because I’m smart like that) and took my mom’s Lace Ribbon Scarf with me. The color is turning out to be a bit boring, which is bumming me out. But I wanted something that could go with lots of different outfits/colors, so I went with a neutral silver/greyish color. If I can get my pictures to work I’ll share a few. You can always look at my flickr stuff too.

And just to keep the music vid thing going, here is one of my all-time favorite music moments from Scrubs. Grab some tissues.

Nos da, cariads.

Life has been a big pile of crazy lately. So I’m here only to share a fantastic song with you. Enjoi!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogJQgo0QpSs]

–video
Bulls 2OT win !!!
Cubbies snapping the Cards’ 9 game home win streak
Futurama Season 2 (yeah, pretty much the whole thing)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyhhFzE5O5U]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O23EzxT-Ug]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TZ79Vcl8Y]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxQnuMGyPJs]
Star Trek episodes:
“The Cage”
“The Man Trap”
“The Corbomite Maneuver”
“The Balance of Terror”
“Amok Time”
“Mirror, Mirror”
“The Gamesters of Triskelion”
“The Omega Glory”
“Bread and Circuses”

–audio
… pretty much what is listed above

–knitting
Not much, busy with Star Trek

–spinning
Again, not much, busy with Star Trek

–other stuff
Did I mention that I’m working on an article about Star Trek?

With all of Amy Singer’s talk about ukuleles on Twitter/etc I feel compelled to share this little clip from Scrubs 507, “My Way Home,” the 100th episode of the series directed by Zach Braff.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHWxtURGECo]

I suppose I’m on an I LOVE SCRUBS kick right now. I admit that I’m getting a bit nostalgic as the series comes to a close. I’ve been really happy with season 8, particularly THE RETURN OF THE TOTALLY GORGEOUS SCOTT FOLEY. omg. His eyes are just … *ahem* anyway. I also really love The Blanks and Sam Lloyd’s voice. And their covers of pop tunes. Oh yes, there is an article on the music of Scrubs already in the works. I’ll be finishing it up this summer hopefully. I love genre blurring. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Why hello there! Happy 2009! I decided to put up my Doctor Who paper on here. Check out the links to the left. I’m still cleaning up some code, sorting out videos, and figuring out the best way to include my citations. So as of right now it’s at about 90%. I’ll get the rest sorted in the next few days. Enjoy, and please leave comments!

I’ll just get right to it. Here is the best episode of Star Trek. Ever.

1. The City on the Edge of Forever
S1E28, Originally aired April 6th, 1967
Written by Harlan Ellison; Directed by Joseph Pevney

Captain’s log, supplemental entry. Two drops of cordrazine can save a man’s life, a hundred times that amount has just accidentally been pumped into Dr. McCoy’s body. In a strange, wild frenzy, he has fled the ship’s bridge. All connecting decks have been placed on alert. We have no way of knowing if the madness is permanent or temporary, or in what direction it will drive McCoy.

Star Trek, "The City on the Edge of Forever"

Who didn’t see this coming? This is an absolutely incredible episode, and it deserves all of the praise it has received over the years since it’s first airing. The script is incredible, the acting is terrific (particularly Shatner, this is quite possibly his best acting ever), and the story has a great mix of comedy and tragedy.

I immediately knew I loved this episode when Kirk and Spock have their encounter with a 1930s police officer. It’s absolutely hilarious. When you watch a show like Star Trek it’s so easy to feel comfortable with the characters and their surroundings. Seeming them as powerless, as fishes out of water, makes them that much easier to relate to and somehow seem more “real.” Once you see them here, and see that they are infallible in a way yet to be explored by TOS, you really just love Kirk and Spock.

Edith Keeler and Jim Kirk

Time travel is always a tricky issue. I’m a huge fan of Doctor Who (as you’ll note if you know me and/or my research) so I deal with time travel and canon in tv quite regularly. What happens when you travel into the past? What changes? The implications and ramifications of time travel are mind boggling and so so cool to think about. The fact that this one person, Edith Keeler, is so instrumental seems totally far-fetched. But the ramifications of her life, or death, makes the story so compelling. Throw in Kirk, a lonely and love-starved star ship captain (a character trait little explored in TOS during the first season, but something famously exploited in the remainder of the show), and you know you’re in for a ride. A tragic, angsty, ride.

Please, please go watch this episode. Right now.

Here are the videos for my presentation titled “Representation of Genre in the Music of Doctor Who (1963).”

The Twilight Zone Intro (1959)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny7uGEPgoXk]

The Outer Limits Intro (1961)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtjhWhw2I8]

Doctor Who Full Opening Sequence from “An Unearthly Child”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLYSfWzKilI]

Doctor Who, Into the TARDIS
Our first look at the interior of the TARDIS
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRNUpeGu9a4]

And just for fun:
Futurama’s spoof on The Twilight Zone/The Outer Limits
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma2Hqq0PVbU]