Monday, April 19, 2010

Watching Forensic Files can be such a downer (AKA leave no chick behind)

I'm obsessed with TrueCrime shows, and one of the very best is Forensic Files. I'm both fascinated by the genius of forensics investigators and repulsed by the sheer ambivalence of some of these criminals who will kill for the most random motivations.

There was the guy who had raped his 3 month old daughter, and was sentenced to jail, but because he did not want to go to jail as a child molester, snuck into a random house, waiting for the family to return home, and killed the woman as she entered, because he wanted to go to jail as a murderer instead.

There was the one of the cheating husband who did not want to deal with divorcing his wife, so instead he tried to poison her with cyanide at home, and when that didn't work, he snuck into her office and poisoned the entire water cooler. A random office worker was the first to drink from the water cooler, and died from the poisoning.

All of them are senseless murders, deaths, but the one that really left me cold was an episode that aired last night, which featured the murder of a divorced Navajo mother of five, who was going back to school to become a nurse. She went out with her friends for a night of drinking, and when her two lady friends met two gentlemen, they ditched her to go with them, ignoring the entire time that she had absolutely no means of getting back home. Distraught and alone, the woman was last seen at a payphone, crying, before her body was discovered in the desert.

That's right. This poor woman, who has 5 kids, and is putting herself through school to make her life better for her kids, goes out for a night of fun with her girlfriends, and they outright DITCH her, even as she's begging and pleading with them not to leave her because she has no ride home, in the middle of the night.

She's then so desperate for a ride home, she accepts a ride from a stranger, who takes her to the desert, tries to rape her, and then stabs and bludgeoned her to death.

All because her stupid girlfriends couldn't take an extra five minutes to figure out how to get her a ride home.

What.The.Hell.

This pissed me off SO much. Because seriously, ladies: Chicks Before Dicks. You do NOT leave a friend stranded just to get laid. And they BOTH did it. And now she's dead, and her children are orphaned, and she died in one of most horrific ways imaginable. It's just... augh.

It's just so senseless and incomprehensible and I really want to track those women down and smack the crap out of them.

The investigators found the murderers, by the way. Through some damn fine police work and a complete stroke of luck.

But those women make want to pull my hair out. Chicks Before Dicks, ladies. It's like... sorority code. Follow it! A single mother of five's life might be saved because of it.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Glee Says 'Hell-O'

So after nearly four months in hiatus, Glee returns with the second half of the first season. What was a little show that could by Ryan Murphy has turned into (I know, you've already heard it) a phenomenon, complete with White House appearances and a tour.

Yes, I know, Glee is in danger of over-saturation before it even premieres the second half of it's first season, but I'm still excited about it, even with its imperfect, rushed storylines and undeniable charm.

That's right, I don't think Glee is perfect. But I adore it anyway. Most of this probably has a lot to do with the fantastically arranged song and dance numbers, and Lea Michelle, who plays the diva-tastic Rachel Berry with so much heart and soul she makes you bleed.

If you feel like taking a look at the insanity of Glee, this fan-made video to Fall Out Boy's, "This Ain't a Scene..." illustrates it perfectly:



Want more?

Watch a preview of one of the back 9's musical numbers at Broadway World. And if you are a little behind, you can catch some snarky video recaps of the first thirteen seasons here.