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Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival, Nov. 18

Welcome to the November 18, 2009, edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival.

• Last Week’s Episode
• This Week’s Episode
• News
• Spoilers: On a separate page to protect the spoilerphobes

Last Week’s Episode

On Supernatural, the Meta Outweighed the Mega
Annalee Newitz shares her reaction to The Real Ghostbusters, which she believed was a little too meta. I agree. I really enjoyed the meta fun in last season’s The Monster at the End of This Book, but The Real Ghostbusters was a little too heavy-handed.

Who Ya Gonna Call? Supernatural! Let’s Talk The Real Ghostbusters
The Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan also has a few bones to pick with the episode, although she seemed to enjoy it overall. And, as she says, “We nitpick because we love.”

Supernatural: The Real Ghostbusters
Over at Sign On San Diego, where I hope they always stay classy, Karla Peterson also jumps on the “I didn’t love it as much as Kripke thought I would” bandwagon.

Supernatural Recap: The Real Ghostbusters
Someone out there had to love this episode, right? Well, it wasn’t Julia Thorne, who describes the episode and gives her commentary throughout.

Supernatural Season 5 Episode 9: The Real Ghostbusters
We conclude the recaps with a slightly more enthusiastic viewer, Rachel N. over at Nick C.’s Behind the Screens blog.

This Week’s Episode

Mark Pellegrino on This Week’s Episode
Lucifer’s vessel talks about the episode.

Sneak Peek & Promo: Abandon All Hope
Clarissa at TV Over Mind gives video clips and an episode description.

Supernatural: Two Sneak Peeks at Episode 10 Abandon All Hope
Dread Central also has video, and they say the thing I don’t like to believe, that Abandon All Hope is the last new episode of the year.

Supernatural First Look: Dean and Meg Face Off
We close out with Ausiello, who has a clip that shows pretty much what the page title says.

News

Is Supernatural Jumping the Shark?
In yet another lament for the way Season 5 has played out so far, John Kubicek jumps off the bandwagon. He says that SPN has, indeed, jumped the shark, and he doesn’t know if it can un-jump it before he quits caring about all things Winchester. I’m inclined to agree, but I am willing to stick it out until this season ends. I mean, a few more months isn’t that much to sit through while we assess whether the funny and the retcons have been worth it. What else would I watch on Thursdays at 9?

Convention-al Wisdom
Maureen Ryan shares her thoughts on the recently concluded Chicago Con.

Salute to Supernatural Chicago 2009
The SPN Wiki gathers all of the con reports and videos, which they say are spoiler free, on one page. Enjoy!

That concludes this edition. The next edition of The Supernatural Blog Carnival will run in 2010. Submit your posts using the carnival submission form. Past posts can be found on the blog carnival index page or by clicking Supernatural in the tag cloud.

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• Visions of Winchesters: Supernatural Blog Carnival, Sept. 23
• Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival, Sept. 9
• Supernatural Blog Carnival, Aug. 14
• Visions of Winchesters: A Supernatural Blog Carnival, May 6
• Visions of Winchesters: Supernatural Blog Carnival, April 22

Call for Submissions: Supernatural Blog Carnival

The Visions of Winchesters blog carnival is coming up again. Please submit your recaps, previews, news, and spoilers no later than 7pm Pacific, Tuesday, November 17.

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Airbrushing Backlash: Have They Gone Too Far?

The recent examples of Photoshop use gone awry have made me wonder when we consumers will cry out for our models to look like humans.

Demi Moore’s W cover and Ralph Lauren’s ad took two lovely women and made them look like freaks.

Another example of over-zealous photo editing comes from the wayback machine: In the height of the O.J. Simpson trial, two weekly news magazines ran the same photo of Simpson, but one of the magazines edited the photo to make Simpson’s skin look darker and his visage more menacing.

As a Photoshop user myself, I know how powerful the tool is and how seductive photo editing can be. As a journalist who received quite a bit of ethics training, I don’t even like slight edits that soften cellulite or even out skin tone. I never trust a photo in a women’s magazine, as models are thinned out in fashion mags and filled out in health mags.

What do you think? Do you even bother looking at photos any more, knowing how easily they can be manipulated? Does photo manipulation bother you? Do you think Photoshop should be used with the same limitations as the older, analog forms of photo editing? Or, do you think anything goes in art?

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Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival, Nov. 11

Welcome to the November 11, 2009, edition of Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival.

• Last Week’s Episode
• This Week’s Episode
• News
• Spoilers: On a separate page to protect the spoilerphobes

Last Week’s Episode

Supernatural: Changing Channels
Suzanne presents her recap and review of Changing Channels at Damsel Undistressed. I hear she thought it was awesome.

Supernatural: Changing Channels
Over at Give me My Remote, Nicole also describes how awesome she thought Changing Channels was. She includes a video clip of one of her favorite scenes.

Supernatural: Changing Channels
Sylvia Bond gives a great rundown of the episode at Pink Ray Gun. Sylvia discusses both the good and the bad, which is a nice change from all of the blind adoration this episode has inspired.

Supernatural Recap: Changing Channels
Finally, at Star Pulse, we get a review that is not glowing. Lauren Attaway captures some of the meh feeling I had while watching last week. It had some great moments, but it was not my favorite episode of the season.

This Week’s Episode

Supernatural 5.09
Super Wiki is a good go-to for a lot of information about tomorrow’s episode, including photos, videos, and even casting calls.

Supernatural Season 5 Episode 9: “The Real Ghostbusters”
Daemon’s TV has nice preview, including photos and video.

Here’s a set of video sneak peeks:

• Supernatural 5.09 Promo
• Supernatural Webclip The Real Ghostbusters
• Supernatural 5.09 The Real Ghostbusters Photos

News
Jensen Ackles and Danneel Harris Engaged
Jensen Ackles and One Tree Hill star Danneel Harris have made their engagement public, with Harris showing off her ring at the Breeders’ Cup. And the photo of the two of them is awesome, as Harris looks at Jensen with absolute adoration. (Boo to the folks at E!, who suggested that Ackles and Harris have no heat. Just because they don’t act like Angeline Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton doesn’t mean they have no heat.)

That concludes this edition. Don’t forget to submit your blog article to the next edition of The Supernatural Blog Carnival using the carnival submission form. Past posts can be found on the blog carnival index page or by clicking Supernatural in the tag cloud.

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• Plans for 2010
• Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Blog Carnival, Nov. 18
• Visions of Winchesters: The Supernatural Variety. A Blog Carnival, March 11
• Pop Culture Roundup, June 24
• Pop Culture Roundup, June 13

If You Like Friday Night Lights, You’ll Love Homefront

I’m a huge fan of Friday Night Lights. There are myriad reasons for this, but one of the big ones is Kyle Chandler.

I first saw Chandler on a little show about a family growing and changing after World War II. Homefront ran for two seasons in the early 90s. In addition to Chandler, the show starred Wendy Phillips, Harry O’Reilly, Jessica Steen, and John Slattery (who you may remember as the /senator into water sports on Sex and the City).

Unfortunately, Warner Bros. has not yet released this gem on DVD. I had hoped that the success of period drama Mad Men would reignite studios’ desire to capitalize on our love of earlier times by releasing Homefront. But nothing so far. Thankfully, there is a website to help channel fan focus: Homefront on DVD has info about the show and suggestions for how to let WB know we would buy these DVDs.

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• Emmy Noms
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• I'm So Glad It's (Almost) Over
• Pop Culture Roundup, June 3
• Pop Culture Roundup, May 27

A Cool New Service: Rent the Runway

There is a new service launching today: Rent the Runway.

Like Bag, Borrow, or Steal did for A-list handbags, Rent the Runway will allow normal people to rent A-list dresses to wear to events. It is not yet clear how many different sizes will be available, but it looks like an affordable way to wear cool dresses.

If you try this, let me know. I would love to know how it works in practice. In theory, it sounds awesome.

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Call for Submissions: Supernatural Blog Carnival

The Visions of Winchesters blog carnival is coming up again. Please submit your recaps, previews, news, and spoilers no later than 5pm Pacific, Tuesday, November 10.

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• Pop Culture Roundup, June 24
• Pop Culture Roundup, June 13
• Pop Culture Roundup, June 3
• Pop Culture Roundup, May 27
• Pop Culture Curmudgeon, May 21. Special Upfronts Edition.

Pedophilia in Popular Culture

Because the Roman Polanski story just won’t die, I have been more sensitive than usual to instances of sexualization of young girls.

When Polanski was first arrested, I read an interesting article that described a cultural shift that had occurred since Polanki’s crime. At the time, the article argued, teen girls were seen as sexual creatures. Now, we try to see them as children who need to be protected until they reach that magical age of consent.

That doesn’t mean that men don’t fantasize about teens. Instead, they work harder to restrain themselves until the girls are 18. Remember the countdown to when the Olson twins turned 18? It grossed me out. And, I’m sure that there is a similar countdown for when Miley Cyrus turns 18 and the dances with a stripper pole are hot rather than disturbing.

I also find it interesting that there have not been high-profile cases of women lusting after teen boys. I haven’t seen any countdowns until the younger Jo Bros are 18. I haven’t seen any examples of literature that glamorizes relationships between teenage boys and older women. Young men who are of the age of consent and older women, definitely. The Graduate is the first example that pops to mind.

In the 80s, when I was a teen, I was not troubled by teen sexuality. I would have been interested in an older man if I had been given the opportunity. But now that I am older, I know that I was not mature enough to make such a decision, and I am glad that I never had the opportunity.

So when I was listening to Hair Nation on XM yesterday and heard 17 by Winger, it got me thinking about the ways my attitudes have changed and the glorification of teen girls as sexual beings in popular culture.

If you’re not familiar with the song I’m talking about, you can read the lyrics here.

In my Danielle Steele phase, when I was about 15, I read Full Circle. One of the main character’s daughters runs off and has a sexual relationship with a much older man. And her parents feel powerless to do anything about it because they will lose their daughter forever if they tell the man to leave their daughter. As soon as the daughter is 18, they marry.

And no discussion of young girls and older men would be complete without a mention of Lolita. They did a remake with Jeremy Irons in 1997, and there was some outcry about the inappropriateness of the story line, but not as much as there probably would be today.

What do you think? Are we sending mixed messages by glorifying teenage females sexuality while cracking down on sex offenders? Will we see less of that in our popular culture as our newer beliefs trickle down into our art?

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A Belated Rant Against Daylight Saving Time

I’m quite disappointed that I was sick over the weekend and thus did not get the full effect of my favorite day of the year: the 25-hour day we get when daylight saving time ends.

That extra hour somehow fixes every worry I have, every scheduling conflict, and every sleepless night.

But the 23-hour day in the spring? The worst day ever. The fatigue lasts for at least two weeks after the change from standard time to daylight saving time, and it is so not worth the joy of the switch back.

What is the continued rationale for daylight saving time? Does it really make a difference in energy usage? Why can’t we just pick one time—either standard or daylight saving—that lasts year-round?

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