The return of ‘my shows’ and my appreciation for online critics

Fall is here and in addition to being able to wear my cozy sweaters and jeans, with the return of my shows (Dexter, Glee, House, Sons of Anarchy, continued new episodes of Mad Men, Weeds, and the guilty Dawson’s Creek throwback CW show, Life Unexpected), my DVR is fully loaded. Put that work laptop to bed by 8PM, because now I get to fast-forward through the commercials and act as couch-critic and self-proclaimed screenwriting expert as I watch the plot twists unfold. According to my husband, who watches sports and HD science documentaries only, I’m entranced when my shows are flickering on-screen. To my friends who might not be able to get a word in edgewise–I can and do listen, just see how well I pay attention and hang on every word of my TV dramedies.

But, I have to admit, it is not really the shows I love, it is the recaps. I love me a good online review. This has always been my post-movie watching ritual: quick IMDB review, salon.com review, scan of the headlines from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ and http://www.metacritic.com/, etc. A movie is a 3-5 hour investment by the time I have read the obligatory 8-10 reviews in my après film activity. Now, my TV show guilty pleasure of the past two TV seasons has been to devour The Onion’s AV Club “TV club” recaps. So good! AV Club never disappoints with their movie reviews, but the deep extent of TV recaps should leave other online review sites with webvny. I’m a fan because the writing is damn good in the reviews, 90% of the time I think about the show in a new way, and maybe a small part of the experience reminds me of how exciting it was to get the new TV Guide with Fall lineup sneak peeks when I was a kid.

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/

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Aggregated identity … and other creepy things

I just was doing a little lunch-hour MSN browsing and came across an interesting article (People Search Engines: They Know Your Dark Secrets … and Tell Anyone) profiling the eerie reality of social search and online identity. As a professional working in online search and advertising, I certainly see the value of  using deeply contextual and meaningful search and social data to serve users relevant content–both editorial and advertisement-based. However, I’d have to say that this is the first that I’ve heard of companies out there which, for a fee, will complete data and identity lookups across deep web-content. Sort of like modern techno private investigators, these companies can profile individuals across multiple website, social media, and blog activity and report out to any interested party.

As someone who had their bank account information stolen and had to go through the identity theft experience of changing credit cards and other accounts a few years back–this certainly makes me think twice before posting my Saturday morning ritual of walking the dog on Facebook for all to see.

Between Live Messenger, Facebook, Linked In, Classmates.com, Twitter, Flickr, etc. I can hardly keep my passwords straight. Now, add to the mix a little fear of corporate marketing induced online stalking, yikes!  But I think the benefits of the social media communications revolution far outweigh the risks. At least for now, I’m comfortable keeping my blog identify ambiguous (first name, geographic region, marital status, dog owner, etc.), using good judgment when posting to my online accounts, and imploring proper discretion when engaging on any website as a community or social experience.

However, it is just a friendly reminder to be cautious with your online social identifies in the same way that you protect your credit card info!

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Stuff white people like hurts my feelings

If you’ve never heard of this blog–you must be living under a rock, inside a cave, buried underground. I pretty much have a daily reminder of the hilarious content on this site through the regular references and e-mail referrals my husband passes my way. It is funny stuff. Like did you know that white people like grammar, Facebook, the Onion, Netflix, microbreweries, marathons, and film festivals?  

So, why is it that this well written, slightly ridiculous site, which makes me chuckle out loud, can also simultaneously offend me?

Well, for starters it is possible for sarcasm to be a little too close to the truth. Like there are two things I wanted to do in the New Year: start a book club and learn a new language. However, a recent post on SWPL (#115 Promising to Learn a New Language) has now made me insecure of my former ambition to learn German or French on top of my non-fluent 8 years of high school/college Spanish. SWPL has not posted on book clubs yet, so one of my New Year resolutions can still be met, for now!

Also, the weather has turned colder of late and allowed me to bust out my vast and impressive collection of scarves, which I tend to wear throughout the day at work because it is cold. But, quick review of #97 Scarves, shows that I’m both illogical and strange in my stereotypical dressing behavior.

So, where do I go from here?  I can either ignore the site and pass on devouring the delicious humor, or I’m left to do the only logical thing I can: check SWPL prior to announcing my newest interest or goal to make sure I know whether I can be intentionally ironic. Maybe that will work. Cross your fingers they won’t criticize book clubs next.

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