Morning Coffee (9/18/18)

This from Hillary is great, of course: American Democracy Is in Crisis

Ugh, of course: Trump to Cap Refugees Allowed Into U.S. at 30,000, a Record Low

Hearing Set for Monday to Hear Kavanaugh and His Accuser

Alumnae Of Christine Blasey Ford’s High School Circulate Letter Of Support

Alexandra Petri, perfect as usual: Every man should be worried. At least, I’m worried.

Gross: Ted Cruz Campaign Is Mailing Donation Requests Disguised as Legal Summonses

Here are the Emmy winners!

Aaah, Mary Poppins Returns trailer!!

I've read this book and it is SOOOO good, EEEE: Exclusive cover reveal and excerpt: ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ by Casey McQuiston

In wake of suit against New York City Ballet, audiences and funders should demand answers

Morning Coffee (7/13/18)

PHEW, Friday. Time for some happy links.

Here are the Emmy nominations!

And Jodie Whittaker's Doctor Who EW cover!!

This is so cool: Austin siblings create gerrymandering board game

Mary Queen of Scots trailer! I am very excited to watch/get mad at that movie!

Interesting: To All The Forgotten Princesses: Tor Books Acquires English Translation of Elżbieta Cherezińska’s The Widow Queen

Phew: Planters Is Selling Cheez Balls for the First Time in Over a Decade

Ooh, I'm bad at cutting melon, so this is useful: How to Cut Watermelon

I forgot they were making a Weetzie Bat movie.

Friday needs a quiz: Answer 7 Questions And We'll Tell You Which Fictional Bookworm You Are

14 Super Easy Polka Dot Manicures That Require No Effort

Morning Coffee (9/18/17)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

Stop talking about sensitive things in restaurants, you idiots: Trump Lawyers Clash Over How Much to Cooperate With Russia Inquiry

What on earth: Cuba mystery grows: New details on what befell US diplomats

There’s now a real congressional push to block the transgender military ban

Facebook and Twitter may have to testify before Congress about Russian interference in the 2016 election

Why I Will Never Stop Being Glad That Hillary Clinton Refuses to “Go Away”

Ugh: Shailene Woodley drops the single most tone-deaf quote of the Emmys

UGH: Stephen Colbert welcoming Sean Spicer to the Emmys stage was a disappointment and a failure

Good for her: Amber Tamblyn: I’m Done With Not Being Believed

Sigh: Study: Female Characters Achieve Parity on TV—on Shows Created by Women

!! Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen rock to 'I Saw Her Standing There'

Morning Coffee (9/19/16)

Me elsewhere: Your TV news for the week.

Oh, so sad: Charmain Carr (Liesl in The Sound of Music) has died.

The Best Part of the Emmys’ Video Intro Was—Believe It or Not—Jeb! Bush

Sigh: Records show increased earnings for officer involved in Garner death

Actor Riz Ahmed's essay Typecast as a Terrorist is important and heartbreaking and wonderfully written.

Hitler-Joke Historian on How Late-Night Comics Should Handle Trump

What’s With Hillary’s Woman Problem?

Whoa: US Sailor Gives Birth Aboard Aircraft Carrier in Persian Gulf

!!! New Agatha Christie stamps deliver hidden clues

This is terrible. Authors speaking privately to other authors are NOT assumed to be on the record.

World's Oldest Snowshoe Found in Alps

How the Emmys Work (Annual Repost)

It's that time again! This is copied/pasted from previous years; I updated dates and links but not all the examples. It's possible some rules mentioned have changed slightly, but I think you'll get the idea.

The Emmy Awards nominating ballots were published recently, and there's been a lot of buzz and excitement among some fan communities about people and shows "getting on the ballot." I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but since I'm No Fun At All and feel compelled to address People Being Wrong on the Internet, I will try to insert some sanity, or at least some facts, into the discussion. (Please note: I'm not an expert, and if I've gotten anything wrong, please tell me!)

What's a nominating ballot?

A nominating ballot is a list of all the people/shows/etc. who can be nominated in a category. They have not already been nominated.

How do you get on it?

You enter yourself, basically. I believe that as long as you pay the entry fee and meet the eligibility requirements (basically that you're on the right type of show for the category, and it aired in the right time frame in primetime on a station that's available in 50% of markets in the US), you get on the ballot. There's a caveat that they can consider entries on an individual basis if necessary, but this is not a selective thing. Being on the ballot does not mean that anyone but you/your publicist/your show/your network thinks you deserve an award.

How do we know it's not selective?

Did you SEE how many times The Cape appears on these ballots? [Note: I should update this reference but it makes me giggle every time.]

So Bradley Whitford/Ian Somerhalder/other actor I love being on the ballot doesn't mean he got nominated or won something?

Sorry, no.

So how DO you get nominated?

Members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences get the ballots and vote on who should be nominated. Each member can vote for a certain number of entries within each category (usually five or six). All members can vote in the Best Program categories, and the other categories are voted on by their respective peer groups.

When do we find out who's actually nominated?

July 14.

And then what?

Then the Academy members vote again, among those nominations.

And the actual awards are given out . . .

September 18, right in time for all the presenters to plug their new fall shows.

Wait, what controls whether someone is on the ballot as a lead actor or supporting actor or guest actor?

The entrant chooses one of these three categories themselves. (I say "themselves," but the show/network/studio has some influence in this decision.) However, "guest" entrants must appear in fewer than 50% of episodes that aired within the availability period. So, for example, Rob Lowe entered as a lead actor for Parks and Rec, but Ian Somerhalder entered as a supporting actor for The Vampire Diaries. [Ah, how things change. This year Somerhalder entered as lead, of course.]

Who would YOU nominate?

Do you really want to know? There's nothing I love more than picking things from ridiculously long lists and being opinionated, so if there's interest I will construct my dream ballot.

I hope that cleared things up a bit. Questions? Anything I missed? Hit the comments!

Morning Coffee (1/27/16)

ICYMI: Yesterday's Oscar Project post was on the disappointing Bridge of Spies.

Me elsewhere: Little House movie news!

Yesterday was a completely insane news day; I'm getting through all ten links here without even getting out of the newsy ones to tell you important things about kittens or cheese theft. Tomorrow! I hope! Anyway: Last night the leaders of the Oregon militia were arrested; here's an update.

BOTH parties have drama going on with debates: Trump doesn't want to face Megyn Kelly (but is totally up for facing down Putin, you guys) and realizes he can get a lot of press by refusing, basically, and MSNBC is holding an unsanctioned debate in New Hampshire and Clinton and O'Malley say they are in if everyone else is but Sanders is resisting. That seems slightly weird, since the Sanders and O'Malley campaigns are the ones that had their supporters being completely obnoxious calling for more debates, and it's not like Sanders has ever cared what the DNC thought before. I suppose he probably just doesn't think facing Clinton again before the first primary will help him, but it would be hilarious if he felt he were on tenuous footing with the party - being NOT A DEMOCRAT but insisting on being on the ballot and all - and now has to do whatever the DNC says. (I guess since they already gave him an exception to be on the ballot here they couldn't take that back, but is he still waiting for exceptions in some other states? I'm honestly not sure.)

Also B.o.B is in a rap feud with Neil deGrasse Tyson about whether the earth is flat, because... I don't even know anymore, you guys. (I mean. I know the earth is not flat. I don't know why yesterday was crazy.)

This is so important and undercovered: Hillary Clinton Wants To Talk To You About Love And Kindness

Is Ted Cruz Really an Awful, Terrible Jerk? Signs point to yes!

What an anti-Hillary hashtag tells us about sexism in the 2016 campaign

In case you were waiting for this to make your decision: Balloon Boy Officially Endorses Donald J. Trump for President

Of course he does: Paul LePage Wants To Bring Back The Guillotine For Drug Traffickers

Okay, how about some DELIGHTFUL news? Post-blizzard, Sen. Murkowski notes that only women turned up to run the Senate

The Creative Arts Emmys are splitting into two and THR's lede is fantastic: "In a move that should help fill a long-lamented hole in entertainment awards ceremonies, of which there will never be enough..."

Morning Coffee (9/23/15)

New show reviews! I liked Life in Pieces. I did not like Scream Queens.

Sad news: Yogi Berra has died.

Huh. Serial's next season will be about Bowe Bergdahl.

There was clearly no GOOD way the Baby Doe case could end, but this story is just terrible.

Okay, some GOOD news: Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing a Black Panther comic!!

Alyssa Rosenberg's piece about world-building in Minority Report and The Man in the High Castle is fascinating. (My Minority Report review is going up today, so I'll link it for you tomorrow.)

At New York Private Schools, Challenging White Privilege From the Inside

"Happy Birthday" is now in the public domain and xkcd is on it.

Speaking of comics, I love Defunct's take on the Emmys.

Heh. The Onion: Pope Francis Reverses Position On Capitalism After Seeing Wide Variety Of American Oreos

Miserable Tambourine Players in Western Art History

Morning Coffee (9/21/15)

Me elsewhere: The week's TV news and some thoughts on The Martian.

PSA: Apparently in five states, including New Hampshire and New York, drivers' licenses will soon not be sufficient ID to get on a plane. So THAT's annoying.

Fall TV season gets underway today. I'll be reviewing the first episode of each new show as we go, but to get you started, Kate Aurthur's 8 Fall Shows To Be Excited About, 10 To Give A Chance, And 6 To Avoid is a good read and tracks pretty well with what I've heard from others who have seen a lot of the shows in advance.

Two highlights from the Emmys last night: Andy Samberg's peak TV musical number and Viola Davis's acceptance speech.

Important: Fleeing Syria: A Desperate Migration

Everyone who cares about books or publishing should read this: I Gave A Speech About Race To The Publishing Industry And No One Heard Me

Here's the terrifying anti-Muslim conspiracy theory that Trump's supporter was citing

I need to see if there were any updates to this story over the weekend, but Paul and Rubio aides got in a bar fight??

Today in "It is 2015 and I cannot believe we're still talking about this:" American Academy of Pediatrics Reiterates Safety and Importance of Vaccines (Similarly, I was at the NH Democratic Convention over the weekend, and it's so surreal that "climate change is real" and "women should get equal pay" are still controversial things that become huge important applause lines.)

This debate length infographic (comparing the transcript to books) is DELIGHTFUL.

"'See yon tall and stately figure across the hall?' Ana asked, guiding Morgana’s arm in the direction of the man who had drawn the attention of the entire room merely by entering it. 'He is your cousin.'

'That,' Morgana said delightedly, 'explains the fond and platonic feelings I felt for him once I saw his face!' She looked forward to meeting him. How uncomplicated it all would be."

Morning Coffee (2/23/15)

Me elsewhere: Your TV news for the week.

Need an Oscars rundown? Here you go.

More awards: We've got some Emmy rule changes.

And in book awards: The Nebula nominees were announced and I'm very pleased with the Norton list.

This is an important read about what this winter is actually doing to Boston.

Wow: We do not apologize for using lynching imagery to sell photo-editing software

The battle over E.L. James's level of involvement in the next Fifty Shades movie is going to be fascinating.

"Random doofuses are roaming the sidelines, pocketing game balls and swapping in random ones they found in a closet somewhere."

film review comment bingo

Morning Coffee (8/27/14)

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday - technical difficulties.

Zara has pulled its wildly misguided "sheriff" shirt for children featuring stripes and a big yellow star. For what it's worth, I believe them that it wasn't intended as a Holocaust reference, but someone somewhere along the way should have said "Hey, wait a minute . . ." long before it got to the point of going on sale to the public.

In other "someone should have considered how this would look" news, the British embassy sparks anger for tweet celebrating 1814 White House burning.

Who wants to come see Rainbow Rowell in Cambridge with me? (MA, not England.)

And in other local-ish news, this is INSANE: The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit

The Emmys put Sofia Vergara on a rotating pedestal, and it was terrible

Hi, I'm the one person you know who is completely and unironically excited for season three of The Newsroom.

My friend Christine writes hilarious Reign recaps and has also started sharing history links. Highly recommended.

Also via Christine: The National Archives (U.K.) offers Latin tutorials!!

Morning Coffee (7/14/14)

Wait. What? Clueless Man Claims Territory in North Sudan to Make Daughter Princess

High Schooler Files Human Rights Complaint Over ‘Slut-Shaming’ Abstinence Education Class

The Princess Effect: How women's magazines demean powerful women—even when they're trying to celebrate them.

And a perfect example (though there's some fascinating stuff here): Meet Google's Security Princess

The Emmy nomination process is completely insane

Important, from a lit agent friend: Spamvertisements Are Not Your Friend

Whoa, Harlequin is doing The Originals books.

Speaking of books, David Duchovny's sounds crazy.

Morning Coffee (9/24/13)

Me, elsewhere: At TheTelevixen.com I wrote about the premieres of Hostages (good!) and Mom (not good) and recapped the season premiere of Castle.

Give Me My Remote has some fun backstage Emmy reactions.

Ugh. Energy companies are taking advantage of the Amish religious rules against suing people.

8 Ways to Make a Movie About a Female Superhero Happen

You can stream Lorde's new album now.

Remember that librarian who said the kid who read the most every year should take himself out of SRP contention? The library aide who defended him was apparently fired over it.

The golden age of TV is dead; long live the golden age of TV

Ooh, they're releasing Tintin editions in Scots and Gaelic.

A Brief History of Slash

Morning Coffee (9/23/13)

Me, elsewhere: I reviewed The Colorado Kid at Read the Screen. At TheTelevixen, I recapped Friday's Haven and compiled the week's TV news.

The Emmys were last night, and you can see the winners on the official site.

Terrible on so many levels: Death of an adjunct

Here's How Conservatives Plan On Scaring Young Women Off Obamacare

Rick Reilly and the Most Irredeemably Stupid Defense of the Redskins Name You Will Ever Read

Professor Says He Has Solved a Mystery Over a Slave’s Novel

Why Danish Political Drama “Borgen” Is Everything

Here's a fun Q&A with Heather Cocks of Go Fug Yourself about fashion week.

Amazing Historic Compilations of NYC Crime Scenes

Morning Coffee (9/16/13)

Me, elsewhere: Eric Balfour Talks Changes, Duke’s True Self, & Haven Season 4; a recap of the Haven season premiere; the week's TV news in handy round-up form.

Foyle's War returned last night, and the AV Club has an interesting review.

Speaking of the AV Club, they've got some interesting new TV stuff going on.

Here's June Thomas on the delightful Last Tango in Halifax.

Here are the Creative Arts Emmy Award Winners.

What Women Don't Want

Books for Boys and Books for Girls: Problems with Gendered Reading

New Popemobile Is a 1984 Renault With 186,000 Miles on It

Did you know the Vatican has an observatory? They were talking about it on the BBC yesterday. Their FAQ is pretty interesting.

Morning Coffee (8/14/13)

Extremely exciting local news: We're finally getting a Whole Foods! I saw the sign with my own eyes yesterday!

Interesting. The Emmys are moving to August next year.

This list of the world's top-earning authors doesn't contain many surprises, but it's still interesting.

Finally: Against open-concept kitchens.

I saw a copy of this 1931 "Histomap" on the wall at a tourist attraction recently and it was pretty fascinating.

You really need to see some of these terrible celebrity wedding dresses.

The most popular baby names in England and Wales last year: Amelia and Harry.

Elections before the secret ballot

Morning Coffee (9/26/12)

More pilot reviews: I liked Vegas. I did not like Partners.

Make sure you read Price Peterson's Emmy recap.

This is . . . quite a headline: Marriage Survives a Decapitation

1,000-year-old village found in Philippines

Interesting: New York Public Library Shifts Plan for 5th Ave. Building

Huh! A restaurant in the Magic Kingdom will serve alcohol for the first time.

Oh, Wales.

Edwin P. Wilson was fascinating.

Morning Coffee (9/25/12)

My reviews of tonight's FOX comedy premieres: Ben and Kate (which I liked) and The Mindy Project (which I did not).

Did blowing into Nintendo cartridges actually work?

Philip Pullman is publishing a Grimm retelling. Interesting.

Collision of interests alert: Matt Bomer was cast in the adaptation of A Winter's Tale (the book wee Olivia was reading in "Subject 13") from Fringe writer/producer Akiva Goldsman.

Emmy winners say the darndest things. Make sure you get to the Damian Lewis slide.

Remember Forest Boy? He disappeared.

Oooh, a missing Turner was found.

Court order via Twitter? Interesting.

What I Watched Returns: Emmys!

Well, today's the big day: premieres have been trickling in for a while now, but today is the official start of the fall TV season. And so, by semi-popular demand, my What I Watched feature is back. I felt like it was getting repetitive last time, so this go-round I will concentrate on saying a few things about the most interesting/current things I watched the night before, and just very quick takes on other things. Hopefully that will keep it from getting monotonous.

Last night, though, I just watched the Emmy awards; you can read my liveblog here. The show (and fashion) was fine but fairly underwhelming. Modern Family won everything, again, of course. But, you know, yay Maggie Smith? And now I'm even more excited about catching up on Homeland.

Emmy Awards Liveblog!

For those of you who have enjoyed my awards show blogs in the past: This year I'm live-blogging over at TheTelevixen.com, so please come join me!

Morning Coffee (9/11/12)

Hey look, the Booker shortlist.

Libraries in pay phones?

There is a Sarah Lund jumper pattern coming. I would totally buy a book of patterns based on the American The Killing, too.

Aww: Mars rover captures self-portrait

Ralph Lauren is making Downton Abbey ads.

Mayim Bialik liveblogs her Emmy dress fitting

Laptop designer William Moggridge has died.