Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Office Returns with a 'Fun Run' Premier!

I was so excited last week when these promo pictures surfaced from The Office's season 4, hour-long premier. It's called "Fun Run" and it looks rather promising and hilarious. So hold on to your hats, people because, on Thursday, September 27th, The Office returns for its fourth season with 4 weeks of special hour-length episodes (airing at 9pm/8pm central on NBC)!

NBC has not officially posted a synopsis of 'Fun Run' yet, but, judging from the title, it appears as though Michael is taking the Scranton branch on yet another one of his useless outings. This one is a "Rabies Awareness - Fun Run" and promises loads of outdoor shenanigans. If you look closely at the logo on their shirts (no doubt created by Michael himself), it reads:

"Micheal Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure."


See? Already funny.


Despite the mention of the race being a "memorial" for Meredith Palmer, have no fear. Meredith is not necessarily dead. Angela Kinsey stated in her MySpace blog that Meredith will be around for a long time. She's not going anywhere. So I've just chocked that idea up to Michael being Michael. It's as though he's strung together every typical, cliche title for a fundraising marathon he could think of; using words like 'Awareness', 'Pro-Am', 'Memorial', and 'Race for the Cure' (It's even funny just writing it all out). I'm thinking that Meredith may have contracted rabies while trapped in a trash bag with the bat from the "Business School" episode last season and that she makes (or has made) a full recovery.



Oh! And check out this picture of Dwight and Angela. I am super anxious to find out what Dwight did to piss her off.












Oh and here's another one. Poor Michael looks a bit frightened by this dog.












What really sent my girly little heart soaring, however, was this picture of Jim and Pam taking a detour. (If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can kind of see that they're smiling. For an even larger pic see the link below).

Even though they're not smooching or holding hands, just seeing them together again, talking and being friends, bodes very well for this season. I've never let myself say this before, but it actually makes me "squee". (I used to think that sounded so dirty. So I never used it. Apparently I've succumbed to this little trinket of pop culture). Anyhow, seeing Jam together as friends (and possible lovers) makes me so happy. I CAN'T WAIT for this new season!

I've posted my favorites of the new pictures on this blog, but there are quite a few more; including behind the scenes shots and pictures of Andy's nipples bleeding (I kid you not). If you'd like to see them, click here.

Though we are getting closer and closer to the premier, it still seems a ways off. So until then, I suppose we can all anticipate the arrival of the Season 3 DVD next Tuesday, September 4th! It's got quite an array bonus features; including 14 minutes of bloopers, over 3 hours of deleted scenes, cast/crew commentaries from 8 episodes, and much more. You can check out all the features and watch two "Jim" bloopers at the season 3 DVD website by clicking here.

Are you as excited as I am?!

UPDATE: Watch NBC's latest promo with footage from the new season! Click here for the video!
UPDATE II: Here is the official synopsis from NBC (09/09/07):

Fun Run- A freak accident causes Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) to feel the office is cursed. He explores the religious beliefs of his employees before deciding to hold a charity 5K fun run. Meanwhile, further developments in the romances of Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski), and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) are explored.

Cordially,
CayceAquaSheep

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Fitter. Happier. More Productive.

Wow! I can't believe it has been over a month since I've posted anything. With The Office (and my other, newfound passion, Lost) on their summer hiatuses, my muse has been absent. So, instead of the usual TV banter (or "Please Save this Dog"), I'll describe a little bit about my boring summer.

Please keep in mind that I am very sleep deprived and my writing and it's contents will not be up to par. (Yawn).

Since late May, I have been determined to shed the 26 pounds I gained after my wedding from the stress of moving twice in four months (once to the apartment behind us and once to a new city that forced me to quit my job and get accustomed to a new town). Because of all that stress, I had become sloppy and fat in a short period of time. In fact, part of what compelled me to write so much this Spring was a deep sense of sadness and insecurity. I had to express myself in some way and I found my niche in writing.

Anyhow (getting more to the point), in late May I finally made the decision to get off my ass and lose weight. The problem is that I'm a very routine kind of person who, paradoxically, does not like to live by time tables or deadlines. I'm set in my ways and I tend to not do things if they're inconvenient or stray from my routine in any way. So coming up with a convenient way of working out has always been my struggle.

In my old town I lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood filled with sweet elderly folk and young families. So I'd ride my bike happily everywhere and lost all my yucky weight. In Austin, things are more hectic and metropolitan. Austin is also extremely hilly, which makes it very scary being on a bike here (although everyone does it anyway... except me). So, loving that method of exercise, I got my husband to hook me up with a bike trainer in order to make exercising more safe, easy, and (the magic word) convenient. Being able to ride my bike indoors also won't allow me to make excuses. If it's raining, I can exercise. If it's hot, I can exercise. If it's freezing, I can exercise, etc., etc.

So, after forcing myself to ride my bike three to four times a week and joining calorie-count.com, I have lost 17 out of the 26 pounds I gained this year along with 3 inches off my waist and hips and 2 inches off my bust (thank GOD). Yay! I'm only a few pounds away from where I was this time last year and I can't wait to fit into my old jeans!

I feel so much better in so many ways. I'm not depressed anymore. My sense of self-worth is much higher. I don't get stressed out as often. I feel fit and healthy. My mind is more alert. I feel sexy again. The positives far outweigh the negatives. I just need to figure out how to maintain this positive lifestyle, which is the hard part as I've always been a huge fan of junk food and comfort eating. That's what ends up killing me every time. That, and I'm just lazy. That's why I bought that trainer. I know I'm never going to make it out to a gym. I just don't work that way. I'm a homebody and I like to be able to meditate and "zone" while I'm working out. I don't want people watching me (or to feel like they're watching me).

Plus, as I said before, if it's not convenient, I don't exercise. After a long day at work how can I possibly steer the car towards a gym with sweaty, used equipment and people that look better than I do? I'm insecure enough as it is, folks, and with my ultra sensitive skin I get rashes and eczema so easily from those kinds of hot, sweaty surfaces.

So no thanks, Gym Membership. I'm heading home to work out in my guest room on my bike trainer with iTunes blasting and my dog sitting by my side. It's a much more peaceful way of working out.

And there you have it, folks. My first blog in over a month. I'm probably the only one who will ever see this, but I feel better having written it anyhow.

UPDATE: I've now lost 21 pounds!!! (09-03-07).

Cordially,
CayceAquaSheep.