The Best of Frank Costanza

Hello Seinfeld lovers,

Frank Costanza is my favourite character aside from the core four. He invented Festivus, the Mansierre, and the "stop short" move. He's a legend.

I was thinking about including some of Frank's famous quotes in this post, but there's no way I could do his character justice by simply typing some words. The humour behind his quotes is all in the delivery. Luckily, I stumbled across a YouTube video full of Frank's quotes. The video is pretty lengthy, but if you're a Frank Costanza fan like me, I guarantee it'll be time well spent.

While searching Seinfeld on YouTube, I also came across some other character clip videos for a few more of my favourites. Check out the videos below. Enjoy!

Jackie Chiles

J. Peterman

Kenny Bania

Uncle Leo 

David Puddy 

Seinfeld taught me that!

Hello Seinfeld lovers, 

"Seinfeld taught me that" — many of you have probably used these words before, right?

I've used them multiple times. I was pretty young when Seinfeld was airing new episodes, so maybe the things I learned were already common knowledge for many adults watching the show. However, that doesn't change the fact that Seinfeld taught me many things. When I'm having a conversation with friends and I contribute a random fact that maybe not everyone knew, it's surprising how often that fact came from Seinfeld. 

In "The Foundation" (episode 1, season 8) J. Peterman taught me that the country commonly known as Burma is now actually called Myanmar. In part two of "The Boyfriend" (episode 18, season 3) Jerry, Kramer, Newman and Keith Hernandez used the story of the "magic loogie" to teach me about Kennedy's assassination. In "The Contest" (episode 11, season 4) the whole gang taught me about something a young girl probably shouldn't know about until she's older. The list of things Seinfeld has taught me could go on for a while.

There's a reason I'm bringing this up. I was able to use my Seinfeld knowledge at school this week, and it made me feel like a smart cookie. One of my instructors was reading quotes from famous writers to the class, and we had to guess the writer. She read out a quote from Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and gave a hint that the writer was a famous Russian novelist. I immediately thought of "The Marine Biologist" (episode 14, season 5), and blurted out "Tolstoy!" Who would’ve thought Seinfeld could teach me about a 19th century Russian writer. 

I know it's not that impressive to know who Tolstoy is, but if I hadn't learned it through Seinfeld I don't know that I would've learned it somewhere else. 

Yes, the majority of what I've learned from Seinfeld is random facts, but it's better to know more than less. Thanks for the wisdom, Seinfeld!

Check out the YouTube video below for the "magic loogie" explanation of Kennedy's assassination. 

Best Episode Tournament

Hello Seinfeld lovers,

So this is pretty neat… click the link below for the FOX Sports tournament for the best Seinfeld episode ever.

Best Seinfeld Episode Tournament

If I were a betting man, I'd put money on The Contest or The Soup Nazi. I think The Marine Biologist is hilarious, but I don't see it winning. The Strike is also hilarious. Who am I kidding, they're all hilarious, but one of them has to win. Who do you think it'll be?

Kramer's Jeans

Hello Seinfeld lovers,

This post is for the ladies. It seems these days jeans are getting tighter and tighter. FACT—tight jeans are not comfortable. If you disagree, and you think you can put together a valid argument, I challenge you to do so in the comment section below.

The reason I'm raising this point on a blog about Seinfeld is because I think many of us can relate to Kramer and his tight jeans (episode 21, season 7). If you've never had trouble getting into or out of a pair of jeans before, well, I'm impressed!

Here's some pictures from Google Images of Jerry trying to help Kramer out of his tight jeans (sorry for the poor image quality).

If you have six minutes and 42 seconds to spare, I strongly encourage you to check out the following video with clips from Kramer's tight jeans debacle. It had me laughing out loud the entire time.

KRAMER'S TIGHT JEANS VIDEO

I just want to unwind!

Hello Seinfeld lovers, 

The other day I was thinking about "The Puerto Rican Day" episode (season nine). 

The gang finds themselves stuck in a traffic jam due to the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Hours go by before the parade clears and they're able to get home. The whole time poor Elaine just wants to get home to unwind. 

"All I know is that it's Sunday night, and I have got to unwind!" 

Elaine makes many more remarks like this throughout the episode. 

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because I'm realizing how important the Sunday night "unwind" is to me. Like Elaine, I too NEED to unwind on Sunday night before the week begins again. I've found that when I have something going on during a Sunday night, like piles of homework or another obligation, I get worked up about not having my time to unwind. This time is very important to me. 

I used to work at a restaurant, and every week I got scheduled to work the Sunday night closing shift. This was the worst thing ever. I would've rather closed the Saturday night, and given up my chance to go out, in exchange for my Sunday night unwinding time. 

What do I do to unwind? Nothing. But I need this time to do nothing in order to feel prepared for the week. I know—I'm weird, but I completely feel Elaine's pain throughout this episode. 

It's sort of ridiculous when you think about it. 

"No, I can't go out for dinner tonight, because I need to unwind." 

"I MUST finish my homework before Sunday night, because that time is dedicated to unwinding."

If Jerry Seinfeld felt the need to make fun of the Sunday night "unwind" in this episode, then Elaine and I must not be the only ones who feel this way. This makes me feel like less of an old lady.

Do you feel the same way? Have you gone to serious lengths to ensure you have your Sunday night unwinding period? Feel free to share in the comment box below!

I'll leave you with a little YouTube clip from the episode. Poor Elaine, she's just so frazzled. I feel ya, girl!

FRAZZLED ELAINE VIDEO

Virtual Seinfeld

Hello Seinfeld lovers, 

So this is pretty high up there on the list of coolest things I've ever seen—Greg Miller, gaming programmer, spent two months re-watching the entire Seinfeld series so he could recreate Jerry's apartment for people to experience through an Oculus Rift headset. Basically, you put on the headset, and it's like you're walking around Jerry's apartment. Miller even recreated Jerry's cereal collection with vintage 90s labels. 

This is definitely something I'll have to try. Seinfeld fans sure don't fool around. Click the link below for the full article on Greg Miller's Seinfeld virtual reality. 

JERRY'S APARTMENT THROUGH OCULUS RIFT

Sargent & Victor & Me

Hello Seinfeld lovers,

I'm sorry—I won't be blogging about Seinfeld this week. This post is about a one-woman play I attended with my journalism class on Tuesday evening. Weird—I know. I'm also required to write a blog post about my experience at the play.

But don't worry, after this week I'll be talking Seinfeld again!

The play is called Sargent & Victor & Me. Even though it was minus a million outside, 60-some Creative Communications students braved the cold to watch Debbie Patterson perform in the intimate Asper Centre for Theatre and Film.

I'd never been to a one-woman play before. When I first found out we were going, I thought of "Why don't you like me: a bitter woman's journey through life"—the play that the gang from Friends attended in episode 20 of the ninth season. If you're familiar with this episode, you'll know why I was expecting the worst out of a one-woman play.

But it actually wasn't that bad! I'm not a theatre-goer, so anything that doesn't make me fall asleep or make me feel extremely uncomfortable is an A+ in my books.

Debbie Patterson is the writer and sole performer in Sargent & Victor & Me. The play is about her battle with multiple sclerosis and social problems surrounding the Sargent and Victor area in Winnipeg.

I thought mixing MS with the deterioration of a neighborhood was a weird combination; these are two completely different things.

Patterson plays a number of different characters who live or have lived around Sargent and Victor, but the character she based on herself takes the spotlight. In a talk-back session after the play, she said that 90 percent of the play's content is based on facts from interviews she did with these people, and 10 per cent is fictional.

I found the Teresa character to be the most captivating. She's based on a teenage aboriginal girl involved in gangs, drugs, and prostitution. It's interesting because I've never met the person Teresa is based on, but I feel that Patterson portrays her very well. I think her character is very believable.

You'd think the character based on Patterson herself would be the most believable, right? She's playing herself; she's playing a character with MS and she also has MS. But she isn't really that believable! Strange, eh? I think her lines are too exaggerated, making the "acting" a little too obvious.

I think the lighting is the most important element in the play. Lighting designer Hugh Conacher does a very good job. Without the lighting, it would've been difficult to decipher between each character. Patterson's different voices helped, but I think the lighting is ultimately what defines each character.

The Asper Centre for Theatre and Film is small. There is seating on three sides of the performance area. I think the size of the venue helps bring the audience into play because the seating is close enough to see Patterson's facial expressions and make eye contact.

I don't know if this is a "good play" or not. I don't have enough experience in the art form to make that judgement. Regardless of whether it's good or not, I can tell you what I think of it; it's weird but maybe a good weird. It combines two things that I've never seen combined before. It left me wanting to know more about the neighborhood around Sargent and Victor. I've always known this is a rough neighborhood, but that's about all I know.

That’s all I’ve got to say about Sargent & Victor & Me. More Seinfeld next week—I promise!