the McPhee Blog

Better Off Ted Is Back

Generally speaking, I assume if my Tivo doesn’t record it, I don’t want to watch it.  However, I occasionally like to double check the DVR just in case.  Tonight I saw that Better Off Ted was going to air (and was not set to record).  I assumed it was a re-run and glanced at the episode description just to see which one it was.  To my surprise it was a new episode.  A quick Google search revealed that I had already missed three of the six new episodes slated to air this summer.

If you haven’t checked out Better Off Ted yet, you really must.  It is one of the best shows currently running.  It may even be one of the best shows ever to air.  I don’t have time to write a review right now, but here are the details for the summer episodes.  Tonight’s episode airs on ABC at 9/8c. Season 2 is slated to start in January.

Better Off Ted - Show Times

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Jennsen is played by Brooke Williams

Brooke Williams as Jennsen

Sadly, IMDB has missed it again.  Brooke Williams plays the character of Jennsen on the ABC syndication Legend of the Seeker. Her name is alternately spelled Jensen and Jansen depending on which website you read.  According to the records IMDB does have (and to Wikipedia) the spelling in Jennsen.

In the opening scene of Legend of the Seeker’s “Fever” episode, we once again see Jennsen (the little sister of hero Richard Cypher) as she is fleeing a D’Haran search party.  I won’t go into plot summary of this episode or the series in general other than to say that she has held significant speaking roles in at least two episodes (Bloodlines and Fever).  Additionally her character is integral to several major plot elements.  As such, I would expect IMDB to have a good record of her.  They do not.

If you go to IMDB’s main page on Legend of the Seeker there is no mention of Jennsen or Brooke Williams.  Williams is mentioned on the Bloodline page but is listed as uncredited.  She is not listed at all on the Fever page. There are named credits for both a “crying woman” and a “crying baby”, but no credit for Jennsen.

I have no new information to post on Ms. Williams.  I only wanted to provide those of you who were looking for her name with that information.  I may write a bio for her over at the Elephant Feather later, but for now her name will have to suffice.

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Valerie Boone on Fringe “Midnight”

Valerie Boone from Fringe I just watched the newest episode of Fox’s Fringe.  I’m behind, I know.  The story focuses on the character Valerie Boone, who despite having very few actual lines, is the driving force of the entire episode.  I was so struck by Boone’s quiet beauty that I immediately jumped on the internet to find out which actress played the part of Valerie.  She has an air of vague familiarity about her – like someone I  met once but have almost forgotten.  In any case, I had to find out who she was.

However, none of my entertainment mainstays  had any information on this character.  IMDB completely left off the character of Valerie Boone from their page on Fringe: Midnight.  Wikipedia has a summary of the episode, but doesn’t list any of the supporting actors.  So, I reluctantly googeled it and the first four or five results also didn’t list her name.  I was finally able to find her name, so I am posting (albeit too late for the post episode googlers) her name here to help populate the internet with the correct information.

The character of Valerie Boone on Fox’s “Midnight” episode of Fringe was played by actress Trieste Kelly Dunn.  Dunn has a recurring role as Molly McConnell in Fox’s  Canterbury’s Law.  She recently made a guest appearance on ABC’s Cupid playing the part of Sonja, a conniving jewel thief.  Over her career she has also held guest roles in shows such as Law & Order and Dawson’s Creek.  You can check out her IMDB (which doesn’t include the Fringe credit) or her wikipedia page (which does) here:

Trieste Kelly Dunn on IMDB

Trieste Kelly Dunn at Wikipedia

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Mindreading Becoming a Reality

One of the areas of recent scientific study I have been following is NeuroMarketing.  Scientist have been studying our brains reactions to everything from a coke can to the word FREE using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans.  They can now tell in many cases why we are making descisions when we don’t know ourselves.

A good blog devoted to this topic is the NeuroScienceMarketing blog.  One of their post earlier this year included a reference to a 60 Minutes story on fMRI and mind reading.  The 60 Minutes reporters interviewed a scientist who is able to predict with 100% accuracy basic objects on which the subject is thinking.  He believes that in the next five years, science will be able to read our minds on a very detailed level – perhaps even without the subjects knowledge.

You can watch the full story below:


Watch CBS Videos Online

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