Spare Parts

Fifty Shades Trilogy Bundle: Fifty Shades of Grey; Fifty Shades Darker; Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James My rating: 3 of 5 stars After much egging on by...pretty much every woman in my life...I decided to give in and read the Fifty Shades Trilogy. I don't usually jump on band-wagon books, but the near frenzy about these books (even by friends and relatives who rarely pick up a book) had me curious. So I read them and... Face it, these are not literary masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination. It's gratuitous sex and the ages-old themes of power, money, virgins and innocence lost. In fact, they're pretty much written with the expertise and clout of a nerdy college freshman. Summary: Recent college graduate and consummate virgin, Anastasia Steele ends up interviewing worldly, wealthy Christian Grey for her campus newspaper. He's a closeted Dominant with 15 former Submissives under his belt. He enjoys full control and beating his women. He's taken with Anastas...

As Oprah Winfrey counts down the moments to the end of her historically innovative television show, revisiting her more poignant guests and topics, I can’t help but look back at the role she has played in my own life. Everyone has an Oprah episode they can’t forget – Oprah wheeling 67 pounds of fat on stage and ripping off a roomy robe to reveal a svelte shape in her Calvin Klein jeans. Oprah spontaneously revealing she had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child, thereby giving permission to all victims to speak up about their own shame. Oprah as she endlessly struggled with her weight before the unforgiving eyes of television cameras. Oprah, facing down members of the KKK, wearing her black skin as a shield against their hatred. Oprah standing before her international audience and announcing, 18 months ago, that she was ending her award-winning, game-changing, culture-altering, incredibly powerful The Oprah Winfrey Show . What will we all watch now? Twenty-five years is no ...

It's been such a long time since my last blog, that I am almost embarrassed to crawl back here. I feel like I have failed as a Catholic to uphold one of my sacrifices. The one about going to confession. That awful feeling of having to show up in that little curtained booth and proclaim to the faceless priest across the filigreed wood panel: "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been {{{{long, pensive pause}}} blank months/years since my last confession. Frown. Awkward silence. Then a toneless voice..."Go on, my child." Now, instead of arranging my sins in order of lesser evils in my head, I'm more struck by the fact that a man of the cloth, sworn by antiquated laws to a life of celibacy, is calling me his child. I wonder if it's weird for him, too. But then I start because, well, isn't that what I came in here for - some kind of human-to-God-to-middle-man absolution of my sins? And at the end of this tell-all, I will get my prescribed count...

Flying... Put aside the reasons why Jack Bauer was airborne at the start of last night’s ‘24’ for a moment. Simply bring to mind the amazing cinematography that allowed the viewers to gain a surreal perspective from the point of view of Jack perched high up in the helicopter. Being able to peak over his shoulders, as he saw himself surrounded by military fighters ready to take him down was astounding. While below, the New York City skyline glistened in all of its majestic and humbling glory. Makes you wonder why they didn’t tape all previous seasons in the Big Apple. It gave us a breathtaking view, which we - who work right in the mix of the city - never get to see with such intimacy. But when Jack landed the chopper and walked out of it with a kind of casual stride, you knew this hour was just about to get crazy. Right under the noses and pointed guns of the CTU team sent by Miz O’Brien, Jack decided to hide in plain sight. Right past the NYC police officers, Jack was stri...

I don't know what's the matter with me! Oh, wait...perhaps it was the whole flood thingy. But I just realized that I have been hotly devoted to FOX television's latest phenomenon GLEE and have yet to blog about it. GLEE, for those of you not in the know, is an hour-long musical television drama/comedy (dramedy) that gleefully combines the minimalist raunchiness of Grease with the scrubbed-clean (with industrial strength Disney) wholesomeness of High School Musical . From somewhere at the core of these two song-and-dance spectacles comes GLEE – an unexpected offspring of seemingly questionable innocence. The show is aimed at the coveted 18-to 24 demographic, but with enough adult meaty writing to keep the oldies interested. Mix this all up and viola! A hit is born! The Premise A group of misfit student singers – plucked from every corner of society – led by an overly optimistic and charming young male teacher set off to change the views about geek...