Step 1: Complete!

My application to take the national VT board exam (the VTNE) has been accepted! Now I just have to sign up to take it and I'll be on the road to official certification. I still have about 10 more steps to go before I'll be an official, registered tech in California but still... One down, at least! Woohoo!

4 Days and Change

Well, the moment is approaching and it's scaring me *&^%less! I can't believe only 1 final and 4 days stand between me and the end of the program... It's crazy! And very surreal.

This past Monday we had our 'pinning ceremony,' where all the instructors gather to tell us how much they like us and how much they'll miss us and we, in turn, give each instructor a gift and tell them how much we appreciate them. Then we all recite the Veterinary Technician's Oath and are given our official VT pin. It's a nice little intimate party to mark the end of our 2-year journey.

Anna, Nathaniel, Lauren, Alisa, Kristine, and Amy

Our program dogs graduated, too! Koukla and Scramble (her son ) with their new moms.

Robin Gibb, a.k.a. Bodding

In keeping with what others perceive to be an eclectic taste in music, I am a big fan of the Bee Gees. Not the disco Bee Gees, though they're good, too; my favorite Bee Gees are the ones that made music before Barry discovered his falsetto singing voice. They have so many good songs (and wrote so many good songs for other artists to record) that it really bums me out that they're pigeonholed by kids today as an obsolete disco band! This is probably how Nora feels about Neil Diamond...

Anyhoo, as you know, Robin Gibb passed away last month, leaving Barry as the only remaining member of the group. He posted a very sweet video remembrance of his brother on YouTube and so I thought I'd share it. I'd never heard "Heart Like Mine" before but I like it very much; Robin's voice always sounds so achingly pained that it instantly adds feeling to any song he sings.

Ask Me About Periodontal Disease

Woohoo! I unexpectedly kicked my recent Dentistry midterm's ASS so I thought I'd share my fantabulous score with y'all. (We're not allowed to take our exams home so I had to snap some quick pics of my grade.) This is my first - and I expect only - 100% on an exam. I'll take it!! :D

In case you can't read that it says "One of the best essays!" And on the aforementioned periodontal disease, no less.

And, just for fun because I thought this was a cute picture, here are Linguini and I lounging on the bed. He's actually getting a little nicer!

Spay Day, Take Two

Two weekends ago, the Foothill VT program hosted another pocket pet spay/neuter day (remember the one that we did last year with all the hoarded rats?); this time around, it was rats, rabbits and guinea pigs. I signed up once again and it was a lot more fun this year, since I got to do a lot more stuff because I'm a senior. :o) I really feel uncomfortable giving people orders, though (unless it's Robert...), so I had a hard time assigning things to my two Firsties in the beginning. But after a bit we settled into a good groove and took our rat, Perry, safely through his neuter. As the senior, I was the anesthetist which, of course, intimidated me, and the fact that Perry woke up on the table during his procedure didn't help! But the doctor assured me I'd done everything just fine and that those things sometimes happen. One of my Firsties also tried to reassure me by telling me that she once woke up during an anesthetized procedure. That both made me feel better and horrified me at the same time. But! We all survived, Perry included, so the day was a success!

This is Bubba. He was THE CUTEST guinea pig in the bunch! I seriously almost smuggled him home in my bag. 

Helping Lois administer subcutaneous fluids to Perry prior to surgery.

After premeds, before surgery. Not my most flattering photo - I wish I'd realized I was in the shot!

Nat and one of Bubba's friends.

Monitoring Perry's recovery.

Isn't he a cutie?!

And this gal got a golf ball-sized abdominal mass removed. She felt SO much better!

Random Entertainment: SNL & Gotye

Okay, so this skit is a month-and-a-half old but because the song is still in regular rotation (I heard it three times today!) and I think of this every time I hear it, I thought I'd give in and post it. It's not even that hilarious a skit but @1:33 makes me laugh out loud every time! I don't know why I find it so amusing. I just do.

Movie Morsels 78: The Hunger Games Review

As a huge and obsessive fan of The Hunger Games trilogy, I went out and saw the first movie on opening weekend (as y'all knew I would). I've had a blank post in the queue since then, just waiting for me to type out my review. But, as those of you who have heard this diatribe first-hand know, I get so dang worked up about the whole thing I just couldn't find the time (or will) to sit down and type it all out. Now, there are plenty of people who liked the movie and some of those have even read the book. But the majority of people that I talked to that liked the movie had not read the books - and that's precisely why they liked the movie. Because anyone in their right mind who has read the books could (and should!) not enjoy the film. It was too rushed. It cut out way too many relationships. It did away with Katniss' narration which completely obliterated most of what you were supposed to get out of the story. But most egregious of all is it made Peeta a whiny dude who closely resembled a pussy! And Peeta is sooooooooo not that person! I know THG isn't all about the romance and blah blah blah, I get that, but the relationship and dynamic between Peeta and Katniss is pretty critical to the entire series as a whole and the movie just did not do it justice AT ALL. Peeta is a super awesome guy and my favorite character (can you tell?). In fact, he's a lot of peoples' favorite character - Entertainment Weekly polled their readers and 27.77% voted Peeta their favorite character, #2 behind Katniss. (Gale only received 1.96% of the vote while "Other" got 2.79%. Ha ha! Suck it, Gale!!! Moving on.) But when I left the theater with Robert and Maria, going on and on about the hatchet job the movie did on his character, Maria said "Who was Peeta?" Not a good sign. When having a similar rant session with Wade just last weekend, he, too, asked "Which one was Peeta?" An even worse sign. And one of the techs at my clinic actually said "I was hoping Katniss would kill him." !!! This is NOT what you are supposed to think or feel about Peeta, people!!!!!!! Oh. My heart hurts. So, of course, I trolled the messaged boards to see who else agreed with me and I found this post, which I think sums things up nicely:

Movie Peeta is scripted differently than book Peeta. In the book, Peeta and Katniss are portrayed much more as equals. The mutual benefit of their relationship is much more obvious. His motives with the Careers are spelled out. Movie Peeta is stripped of most of book Peeta's wise and humorous lines. The bread scene is botched and becomes something for which he has to apologize. Book Peeta is confident, even while accepting his death. He comforts Katniss, while she is afraid he will die and leave her to fight alone again. None of that cave dialogue is included in the movie. The actor did well with what he was given, but I feel that the script short changed the character.

So true, Whateveryournameis. So true. And, just to add to your list of character inaccuracies portrayed in the movie, Book Peeta didn't puss out and fall off the rope ladder! Ugh. That annoyed me. You know I love my IBF Josh Hutcherson and I think he did the best with was he was given but geez. To say I was supremely disappointed would be an understatement. (And I wasn't only disappointed because Josh should have had a shirtless scene 'cause there was one in the book but we got to see bupkis. Though that was pretty disappointing.)

Still, I saw the movie a second time with my fellow THG-obsessor Kristine and I actually enjoyed that viewing a little bit more, no doubt because my expectations were so nonexistent that I was able to watch the movie for what it was and not spend 2 hours and 22 minutes waiting for it to get good. And I'll buy the DVD when it comes out, which brings me to the actual point of this post: The Hunger Games DVD is coming out on August 18.

But since this has turned more into a post about how poopy the movie is as compared to the book, I will share with you a couple of links that agree with me, as well as a cute Unscripted with Josh, Jennifer, and Elizabeth.

The Hunger Games: Book vs. Movie

THG: Review By a Moviegoer Who Never Read the Book

Unscripted - The Hunger Games - Complete Interview

Movie Morsels 77: Skyfall Trailer

Well, the new teaser trailer for the upcoming James Bond film Skyfall but the only place I read about it was on LaineyGossip and she only featured its link on a French site! So... this makes me think that people aren't as excited about movie as they perhaps should be. And, to be honest, the only thought I had while watching the trailer was "Was Daniel's hair that short in the other movies? I don't like it."



We'll go see it, of course, but I hope it doesn't require any remaining knowledge of Quantum of Solace 'cause I hate that movie and refuse to watch it again! So, if that's the case, I hope Daniel looks super hot in the movie (read: his unflattering haircut is featured only in a flashback) so I have something to look at while I am confused.

Movie Morsels 76: The Dark Knight Rises Trailer

So, this is verrrrrry belated but I couldn't just let this slip by without some degree of fanfare, however small. Of course, the trailer to The Dark Knight Rises look awesome and I can't wait to see it! Though, after reading through EW.com's dissection I'm ever-so-slightly concerned that my main bat may not survive the series and that would majorly bum me out. I would understand the death thematically but I feel like it would really make the whole thing end so morosely. I know that's TDK's 'thing' but I don't want my hot men to perish! Bah! I'm less attached to Christian since I found out he is a man-whore but still...



Here's the link to EW.com's dissection. I strongly recommend it as it points out a lot of probabilities and possibilities that hadn't occured to me. The Dark Knight Rises: Trailer Clues?

TV Tidbits: Updated Series Death Watch

Upfront presentations for the networks have just started this week but with the release of NBC's official fall schedule, there's a better idea of which series have survived. Here's how things have shaken out for the networks so far:

FOX

Alcatraz: DEAD

Allen Gregory: DEAD.
American Dad: RENEWED.
American Idol: Not going anywhere, obviously.
Bent: DEAD
Bones: RENEWED.
Breaking In: DEAD.
Cleveland Show: Not clear yet…
Family Guy: RENEWED.
Fringe: RENEWED.
Glee: RENEWED.
Hell’s Kitchen: RENEWED
House: The doctor is out!
Kitchen Nightmares: RENEWED.
Napoleon Dynamite: We aren’t feeling it.
New Girl: RENEWED.
Raising Hope: RENEWED.
The Cleveland Show: RENEWED.
The Finder: DEAD
The Simpsons: RENEWED.
The X-Factor: RENEWED. (But who are the new hosts and remaining judges?)
I Hate My Teenage Daughter: Not officially canceled, but Fox never officially canceled Moment of Truth either.
Terra Nova: 3.6 rating. Status: Canceled by Fox, currently shopping for another home. We’re not holding our breath, especially since stars like Jason O’Mara have already booked other shows.
Touch: RENEWED

ABC

America’s Funniest Home Videos: RENEWED.
Castle: RENEWED.

Modern Family: RENEWED.
Body of Proof: RENEWED
Charlie’s Angels (ABC): DEAD
Cougar Town: OFF TO TBS
Dancing With the Stars: RENEWED.
Desperate Housewives: Buh bye, ladies! Stay fab.
GCB: Didn’t have a prayer.
Grey’s Anatomy: RENEWED.
Happy Endings: RENEWED.
Last Man Standing: RENEWED.
Man Up!: DEAD
Missing:
Once Upon a Time: RENEWED.
Pan Am: See what we said for I Hate My Teenager Daughter.
Private Practice:  RENEWED.
Revenge: RENEWED.
Scandal: RENEWED.
Shark Tank/Bachelor/DWTS: RENEWED
Suburgatory: RENEWED.
The Bachelor: RENEWED.
The Middle: RENEWED.
The River: Dead in the water.
Shark Tank: RENEWED.
Work It: DEAD

NBC

30 Rock: RENEWED — 13 eps. (Heavily rumored to be its last season.)
Are You There, Chelsea? No, in fact, she’s not. And neither are her viewers.
Awake: DEAD.

Bent: DEAD.
Chuck: So long!
Community: RENEWED
Grimm: RENEWED.
Fashion Star: RENEWED.
Fear Factor: It was nice having you around Joe Rogan, but it’s time to say buh-bye.
Free Agents: DEAD
Harry’s Law: DEAD.
Law & Order: SVU: RENEWED.
Parenthood: RENEWED.
Parks & Recreation: RENEWED (for 22!)
Playboy Club: DEAD
Prime Suspect: DEAD
The Apprentice: RENEWED
The Firm: DEAD
The Biggest Loser: RENEWED
The Office: RENEWED.
Rock Center With Brian Williams: RENEWED
The Sing-Off: Better suited for summer, not fall.
Smash: RENEWED.
The Voice: RENEWED
Up All Night: RENEWED.
Whitney:  FALL SHOCKER! A RENEWAL!

CBS

A Gifted Man: So long, Patrick Wilson. CSI: NY RENEWED and CSI: Miami: We now think David Caruso will say goodbye this month, followed by Gary Sinise and Co. next year.
CSI: RENEWED.

Criminal Minds: RENEWED.
Hawaii 5-0: RENEWED.
How I Met Your Mother: RENEWED.
How to be a Gentleman DEAD.
Mike & Molly: RENEWED.
NCIS: RENEWED.
NCIS: LA: RENEWED.
NYC-22:
Person of Interest: RENEWED.
Rob: Might go down to the wire.
Rules of Engagement: Still in flux. CBS likes this show to patch a hole when new comedies drop out.
Survivor: RENEWED.
The Amazing Race: RENEWED
The Big Bang Theory: RENEWED.
The Good Wife: RENEWED.
The Mentalist: RENEWED.
2 Broke Girls: RENEWED.
Two and A Half Men: RENEWED
Undercover Boss: RENEWED.
Unforgettable: The Poppy Montgomery drama performs fairly well without anybody saying a word about it, which makes us think it’s got a decent shot.



CW

Secret Circle: DEAD.
Gossip Girl: RENEWED.
90210: RENEWED.

One Tree Hill: Say goodbye to the kids!
Ringer: Sarah Michelle Gellar’s drama is getting slayed.
Supernatural: RENEWED.
The Vampire Diaries: RENEWED.
Hart of Dixie: RENEWED.
America’s Top Model: RENEWED.
Nikita: RENEWED.

You can read a little about - and see a programming grid of - NBC's fall schedule here.

You can read about CBS' 7 new fall shows here. (A show with Jonny Lee Miller and Aidan Quinn? Me likey! Even if Lucy Liu is there, too. And I'm very happy Jason O'Mara has another gig, though I'm slightly wary about its survival odds. Dude has to fall into some TV luck SOME time, right?!)

And you can check out blurbs on ABC's 10 new shows here.