Connections, connections...

Perhaps this makes me more giddy than it should.  However...

I've been watching a show called "Angel" this summer.  It's about a brooding vampire with a soul that helps the helpless in L.A.  Yes, I know, it fits my M.O. perfectly, doesn't it?  Well, I didn't start watching it because it's about a vampire.  I started watching it because it's David Boreanaz portraying the vampire!

David does a really great job in "Angel."  The writing for this show is also pretty entertaining.  It's very snarky and sarcastic.  The storylines aren't always the best, and the monsters and demons and things are really fake-looking, but the character Angel makes up for everything!  There are also other entertaining characters, but who can beat a soulful, brooding, sarcastic vampire?

Anyway, I've been a fan of "Bones" for about a year now.  Jessica got me into it last year, and I watched the existing four seasons in two months, and then kept up with fifth season all last year.  I love that show!  One of the two main characters is David Boreanaz.  He plays Special Agent Seeley Booth.  So, of course I already knew that connection--it was pretty much why I picked up "Angel" in the first place.  But, in a couple of season five episodes in "Angel," T.J. Thyne shows up!  T.J. Thyne plays another main (or maybe minor?) character on "Bones."  His sudden appearance just made me giggle.  "Angel" really is bringing out a ton of connections to every show I watch.  I mean, I don't even have to stretch anything!

There was the other obvious connection (obvious to me because I knew about it going into the show) was James Marsters.  He plays the character Spike, but before I watched "Angel," I knew him as BrainIAC on "Smallville"'s fifth, sixth, and eighth seasons.  He's really a great actor.  Believe it or not, there are two more "Smallville" connections: Sam Witwer and Steven S. DeKnight.  Sam only appeared in one episode, and it took me a few minutes to recognize him, but as soon as I put it together, I laughed.  He was one of the main characters of season eight, Davis Bloom (Doomsday).  Steven S. DeKnight, a producer and writer for "Angel," is a producer and writer for "Smallville" currently.

The first (besides David Boreanaz) connection I spotted was Tyler Christopher.  He plays a character on "General Hospital."  I'm not kidding--"Angel" is connecting everything, even my soap!

I giggled like a maniac when Jeffrey Dean Morgan popped up.  He played John Winchester on "Supernatural" for a few episodes.  He was a really key character, even though he didn't have a lot of screen time.  One of the main writers for both shows is Ben Edlund.

Kal Penn was in two episodes!  This guy played Dr. Kutner on a couple of seasons of "House, M. D."  His character in "Angel" was a really weird psychic kind of guy that wore a fez to hide the fact that his brain bulged out of his head.

Daniel Dae Kim was in quite a few episodes.  He was Jin (I think that was his name) on "Lost."  "Lost" wasn't really one of my shows, but I still made the connection.  I did watch part of the first season...  :)

The only show of mine that I haven't made a connection to (yet) is "The Vampire Diaries."  But, it's only been out for one season!  And who knows?  I've still got about 15 episodes left of "Angel."  I could find a connection there, or somebody could pop up in "TVD."  Or, maybe the connection of the brooding, animal blood-drinking vampires (Angel and Stefan) is going to have to be good enough.  Haha.

Okay.  Now for the weirdest connection ever.  My favorite actor is Jensen Ackles, whom I discovered on "Smallville," and followed to "Supernatural" (which is also Jessica's fault).  He's a fantastic actor, and a really great guy!  And he's from Texas, which is a major plus in my book.  Well, long story short, I found a video on youtube of him singing "Luchenbach, Texas" with some guy on stage.  It was a really bad picture, but I could hear, and I could see well enough to tell that it was Jensen.  I always thought that singer was great.  Well, there's a guy named Christian Kane on "Angel" that plays a character named Lindsey McDonald.  I never paid his character much attention until (basically) he started acting like a Texas boy.  Then he sang on the show, and I decided to do a little research.  He's also a singer (and is currently the guy with long hair on "Leverage," but I haven't gotten to that show yet), and among his youtube videos of him singing, there was one of him singing "Luchenbach, Texas" with none other than Jensen Ackles.  Now is that a cool connection or what?

The acting world...  I guess it's like Mormons.  Everybody's connected, especially when you get them all into the same area.

Christian Kane

Lately I've picked up a show called "Angel."  It's about a vampire with a soul (David Boreanaz) who atones for his previous lifestyle by saving people in L.A.  Honestly, I just picked it up because it stars David, who also plays Agent Booth in "Bones," which I've been watching for about a year now.  But, then I kept watching it because it's actually really funny.  Its kind of cheesy, but I think it's hilarious.  And the character development is pretty decent, too.

Anyway, there's this lawyer that's sort of Angel's antagonist.  His name is Lindsey McDonnell.  I didn't think much of him in the beginning, but then he started to grow on me when they started actually developing his character, and showing more sides of him.  Then, he showed up in one episode with his truck, which was a '56 chevy!  Okay, so my respect points went up a LOT just from that...  Then, he started yelling at Angel, and I noticed a slight southern accent to his voice.  It's easy to hide in everyday speech, but once you start getting emotional, it just comes out.  Maybe not to the point of drawling, but you can hear it.  I love watching "Supernatural" and picking out small moments when Jensen and Jared slip just a tad and I can hear their roots poking through!

Lindsey McDonnell

A couple of episodes later, he played his guitar and sang in a karaoke bar.  Not only was it country, it was beautiful!  Simply beautiful.  His voice was perfect, his playing was amazing...  Wow.  I was blown away.  That inspired me to research him, so I did...  And you know what?  He was young Hub on Secondhand Lions!!

Young Hub McCann

And, you know, I always sort of had a thing for him.  I can't believe I didn't recognize him!  As many times as I've seen that movie...  Tyler Christopher showed up for like two minutes and I recognized him right off the bat.  Maybe it's because I've been watching "General Hospital" for years, but still...

I did more research, and found out he's from Dallas!  Alright, so that explains the accent. :)  Right now ("Angel" was from '99 to '05), Christian is involved in a show called "Leverage."  That also made my jaw drop because I can't tell you how many times I've flipped the channels onto that show, and I never recognized him.  But, to be fair, his hair is way long, and he's got facial hair.

So, he's still cute this way, but...  He's definitely cuter with the short hair.  And, after watching a couple of clips of "Leverage," I think that might be a show I could watch.  So...  I just might check it out!

I also found out that he's been signed with some famous record people, so he's going to be coming out with a CD later this year!  Which is pretty awesome.  He's already released six songs, and five of them are really great!  (One of them says the F word in the chorus.  Boo.)  I love his voice.  I really, really do.  I'm sooo excited about this CD!  Wow.

Here's a little preview of his music.  Listen and fall in love. :)  The more I listen to him, the more I think he reminds me of Keith Urban.  Haha.  Except he's better.

I bring you this picture in an effort to show to you his amazing blue eyes.  Personally, I think he looks so much better with short hair and a clean face.  But, you know... that's just my opinion.

I'm definitely going to be buying his music!  I've been lacking in good country lately...

Oh, and did I mention that he and Jensen Ackles are best friends and that there's a video on YouTube of them singing "Luchenbach, Texas" together?  I would just die of happiness if they actually recorded that song.