Blogging From A to Z April Challenge

After having to neglect all my blogs for several months, I've joined the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2011.

On Mondays through Saturdays in April, I'll be posting on anywhere from one blog to all five of them.

I'm hoping this will help me get back in the swing of things.

Wizards and Earworms

A funny thing happened recently. I realized that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizards in Winter" was playing in my head, complete with the music video. I didn't mind, since I like both the song and the video. I had it for several days and didn't realize how much I was getting into it until my husband pointed it out. He'd caught me with my head going back and forth in time to some song he couldn't hear, and as he watched, I got more and more into it, doing a hilarious lip synch to the instrumental music. Suddenly, I noticed he was watching me with a combination of amusement and utter disbelief.

As a musician and music lover, I always have a song in my head. The problem is that it isn't necessarily one I want in there. When I can't take it anymore, I have a couple different ways of dealing with the unwanted tune. You can read about them here.

If you're not familiar with the "Wizards in Winter" video, I encourage you to check it out by following the link given above. Just don't blame me if it won't get out of your head.

Love in an Elevator

When SOAPnet first started advertising its What If web series, I really didn't plan to check them out, other than the snippets that would be shown on TV. Some of the crossovers looked interesting, but not enough for me to try to watch them online.

Then one day I found out about the one with OLTL's John McBain and GH's Sam McCall. These characters are portrayed by Michael Easton and Kelly Monaco, whose onscreen pairing as Caleb and Livvie on Port Charles made them one of my all-time favorite couples. I had to see their What If. I just had to.

Wow!!! Their chemistry is still there, as I knew it would be. This 5-minute webisode, titled Love in an Elevator, shows exactly why these two were a supercouple. Port Charles fans will love the inside jokes and should pay special attention to the poster on the elevator wall. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to click on the link above; it won't be available forever.

There are several other webisodes, involving characters from all three ABC soap operas. If you're a fan of ABC daytime, there's a good chance at least one of your favorites is featured.

Big Premiere Week

The upcoming week is going to be a doozy, considering all the season and series premieres.

My husband and I have several shows returning the week of September 20. Chuck, Glee, Fringe, Supernatural, and Medium will all be back. In addition, The Vampire Diaries has already started, and Rubicon has been on for a while now. The Gates will air its final two episodes of the season (and possibly of the series) on the 19th, just before this doozy of a premiere week begins.

As if that weren't enough, we're thinking about checking out The Event and Chase, which will really make Monday a full night.

This wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for one big problem: we're still behind from last season. I mean behind. We're going to have a busy weekend just trying to watch as many shows as we can. If we can't catch up in time, we'll have to delay watching the new episodes until we're ready.

There are a couple more new shows I'm interested in, but fortunately, they're not scheduled to start until late October and mid-November.

Pedigree: Write a Post and Help a Dog

Pedigree has some of the best television commercials around. Some are funny, and some bring tears to my eyes. If I'm in another room and hear one of their commercials come on, I make it a point to go back and watch it. I can't say that about many other ads!

I don't know the official titles of any of these commercials, but in my mind, some of my favorites are "We're For Dogs," "We're for Shelter Dogs," and "Oliver Goes Home."

The ones about Oliver really get to me. Oliver is an adorable terrier mix who's found himself at the shelter. Pedigree started off his story with a short commercial showing him looking so sad from his cage at the shelter. Later, another commercial started airing; it was Oliver's lucky day. He was adopted and got to go home, where we saw him playing and just having a ball. It's a happy ending that gets to me every single time I see it.

Now Pedigree has a new commercial about senior dogs, and as always, it's a good one. This ad goes with their new Healthy Longevity Food.

Why am I writing about this on an entertainment blog? Well, for one thing, the Pedigree commercials are entertaining. However, as you've probably guessed, that's not the main reason.

Pedigree is running a promotion, and this post is part of it. I'm not getting paid for it, but shelter dogs will benefit.

The sad fact is that about four million dogs find themselves in animal shelters and rescues every year in the United States. While they wait for their forever homes, Pedigree would like to help them. That's where we bloggers come in.

For every blog post about the Pedigree Adoption Drive that is published through Sunday, September 19, Pedigree will donate a 20-pound bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to a shelter. That's right; a shelter somewhere in the U.S. will receive 20 pounds of dog food because of this post. Isn't that great?

If you'd like to help, you can do the same thing. To make sure your blog post counts, include the following bullets and add the direct link to your post to the Blog Hop below. (Bulleted info courtesy of Boulder Dog)

* Each year, more than 4 million dogs end up in shelters and breed rescue organizations. Pedigree created The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive to help shine a spotlight on the plight of these homeless dogs.

* This year the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a "Fan" or "Likes" the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. So far more than 1 million bowls have been donated.

* Special for BlogPaws West: For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive through September 19, PEDIGREE will donate a bag of its new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. It's simple: Write a post, help a dog.

* Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, September 19, the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers will host a Blog Hop to help raise awareness for the "Write a post, help a dog" effort.

Include the hashtag #dogsrule somewhere in the post; you should also use it as a tag or label. You'll also need to link to the Pedigree Adoption Drive Facebook fan page within your post. When you're ready to promote your post, tweet it using #dogsrule.

That's all there is to it! Just follow the guidelines, and a shelter will get a 20-pound bag of dog food.

You might have trouble fitting a post about the Pedigree Adoption Drive into your blog's theme, but please try. Somewhere in the U.S., an animal shelter and the dogs housed therein will be grateful that you did.

When Books Become Movies

As someone who likes both reading and watching movies, it's sometimes hard to decide which form I'd rather indulge in. Differences between a book and its movie adaptation can nag at me, even when they don't make a difference to the story. Because of this, I've found that it usually helps if I see a movie long after having read the book. That way, the text isn't fresh in my mind, and I can appreciate the film version better.

I found three books that I think have potential on the big screen. The publication dates range from 1982 to 2007, and I read them all fairly soon after they were published. If you're a fan of Christopher Moore, Dean Koontz, or Bentley Little, check out my picks for books that should be movies.

Update on status of Persons Unknown Episode 11 (and the Finale)

I'd intended to write about books this week, but then something happened with Persons Unknown, and I wanted to provide an update.

Until very recently, NBC was saying that episode 11, "Seven Sacrifices," would be available online only. This was upsetting to those of us who either can't or just don't want to watch shows online.

I decided to check my cable's On Demand section, just to see whether the missing episode was there. Well, to my surprise, it was.

This won't help everyone, since not everyone has the On Demand option, but it helped me, and I'm grateful that NBC made it available in a way in which I could actually watch the missing episode. (No, I haven't actually watched it yet.)

If you're a fan of this show, don't forget that the final two episodes will air tomorrow, August 28. It's a double-header; check your local listings for the time.

NBC's Latest Persons Unknown Fiasco

My husband and I were planning to check out The Event. Of all the new shows premiering in the fall, it's the one that most interests both of us. It's certainly gotten a lot of promotion. Now I'm wondering whether it's worth our time.

NBC can't even commit to a show that was planned as a 13-episode miniseries. I'm referring to Persons Unknown. For some inexplicable reason, the network is considering skipping episode #11.

As I said, it was always supposed to be a miniseries, and we were promised answers to all our questions by the end of its run. Did I ever believe that? Well, not really. Why? Partly because they can't begin to imagine all the questions viewers can come up with, but mostly because I always figured it was possible they'd pull the show before airing all the episodes. Normally, when this happens, they end the show early. I never imagined they'd yank an episode from the middle and then show the remaining two.

Most shows airing nowadays are in serial format, with no stand-alone episodes. If you miss one, the continuity is gone. This is even more true of a show like Persons Unknown. It's a huge mystery, and fans are supposed to look for clues in every episode. People like me--who don't like spoilers--don't want to find out elsewhere what happened if we miss an episode. They're called "spoilers" for a reason; they ruin the show for us.

Will I continue to watch Persons Unknown on NBC? Not if they really skip an episode. I'd rather wait for the DVDs. Am I still willing to give The Event a chance? At this point, I really don't know.