Yay - The Return of "My Boys"!

"My Boys" is back for a second season starting tonight on TBS at 10PM PST. This show is awesome and I highly recommend it. The show is similar to Sex and the City in a lot of ways, and is also completely opposite in a lot of ways as well.

The main character is PJ, a very tomboy-ish gal who is a sports journalist for a major Chicago paper. Her best buddies are mainly her brother and a group of boys and they all meet up for a weekly poker game at her place. Her sole female friend is a very girly-girl gal.

Anyway, the show is really cute and funny so check it out! Last season's cliffhanger ended with PJ smooching one of her best buds. I was kind of annoyed with that because I liked their platonic friendship, but oh well. I still recommend. :)

Top Ten of SYTYCD

So using Lost terminology, this week's SYTYCD is the "game-changer". There are ten dancers left so that means:

• Dancers will have a new partner each week
• Elimination is helded American Idol style where audience votes for individual dancer, not the pair, and the girl and boy dancers with the lowest votes are eliminated
• Judges no longer have a say

And then they added a new element - all dancers perform a solo using the same choreo. What are your thoughts on this? Personally, I am not a fan. To watch the same piece 10 times??? I don't even care if was by Wade. I get bored when they have the American Idol finalists sing the same song in the finale - and that's only two people! And then to have them all line up at the end and listen as each judge critiqued them one by one on their solos? BORING!

I don't know... I thought this whole week was a dud. I didn't really even have a favorite routine. Well, maybe Sara and Neil and their disco just because they were so cute and fun. Sara's dress was adorable - but did it rip open or something at the end? I know she almost flashed but then she spent the rest of the judging session holding her dress closely.

Even the eliminations were boring - was anyone surprised that Kameron and Jaimie were kicked off this week?

Random comments:

• Wade is married? So sad...
• I was expecting Danny to rip open his shirt during their samba routine since it was choreographed by last season's Dmitri... you know - since Benji included a lot of his "signature" moves in that west coast swing routine
• I felt bad for Dom and Jaimie and their critiques... how could you not be over-the-top with that Don Quixote (sp?) / Man of La Mancha song???

That's all for now!

Thriller Time!

I know filipinos love to dance but this is ridiculous! Check out what happens in a prison in the Philippines:

R.I.P. Laguna Beach

It looks like we've reached the end of an era as far as Laguna Beach goes. MTV has moved up north and they now present... * drumroll, please *

Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County

Premieres on August 15th at 10:30PM... two days after the season premiere of The Hills!

Movie Review of Hairspray

Caught Hairspray last night with my good buddy, AY, and loved it!!! I knew I would like it because I had seen the stage version when it toured in SF. The songs are super catchy and fun (which reminds me - I've got to download that from iTunes), the costumes and hairdos (hello hair!) are super cute, and the dancing was awesome! (Needless to say, I didn't mind the Hairspray-overload week on So You Think You Can Dance.)

Plus - check out the cast! They did a superb job with this one. Star Nikki Blonsky is adorable in the lead role of Tracy Turnblad and sort of reminds me of a teenage version of Curly Sue. She could definitely shake it. Amanda Bynes plays her peppy best friend, Brittany Snow makes good use of her American Dreams experience and plays the lead dancer on the TV dance show, and Zac Efron (from Disney Channel's tween-popular High School Musical) plays her beau and TV heartthrob.

Then you've got James Marsden (The Notebook) who plays the TV host Corny Collins, Queen Latifah who shines again with some great singing like she did in Chicago, Michelle Pfeiffer who I haven't seen in a movie musical since Grease 2, and of course, Christopher Walken who plays Tracy's dad. There were also some fun cameos by John Waters and Ricki Lake from the original Hairspray film.

But honestly, for me, the biggest star performance came from good 'old John Travolta, who plays Tracy's mom, Edna Turnblad. I've never seen an actor so comfortable in both drag AND a fat suit - while singing and dancing, no less! It truly was amazing. (If not a little bit freaky - especially in the "romantic" song and dance number with him and Christopher Walken.) It was really interesting to see him in this role, especially since earlier that day, I had caught a little bit of Staying Alive (sequel to Saturday Night Fever where Tony Manero is now an aspriring Broadway dancer) where his physique was just a tad bit different. So even if you're not into movie musicals, you still may want to check this out just to catch Travolta's performance. Especially when he channels some serious Tina Turner moves in the finale.

I've heard a lot of comparisons with this movie and Grease. I could see that. You've got a lot of kids singing and dancing in a high school setting. Also similar to Grease are all those subtle, tongue-in-cheek jokes that you may not catch right away if you're a youngin'. (Or maybe you would - kids are very different today, after all!)

On top of all that, this movie does cover a more serious message. The whole premise of the movie is overcoming the obstacles to make the move from the segregated worlds of the blacks and whites to a fully integrated one. And they do it in a very fun way!

Anyway, I highly recommend - go check it out!

Who knew - I like Posh!

I don't get the bad Posh press... I thought her reality special was highly entertaining. If that had been a whole series, I would have watched it. (Although, I also check in to Hey Paula from time to time, so obviously I'm easy to please.)

I was pleasantly surprised by the Posh special - she is actually pretty funny! She always seems so stoic to me but in the show, you could see she has a good sense of humor. She wears stiletto heels when lounging at her pool - that's funny! And the way she posed for her DMV photo made me laugh out loud. She had some little league players help her prepare to throw the first pitch at a Dodgers game. She got tipsy with some kooky neighbors. And she even had coffee with Perez Hilton even though he told her he has referred to her as an alien on his website.

OK, sure she is a bit spoiled... but I like her a lot more now than I did before.

Emmy nominations announced!

NOMINEES for the 59th annual Primetime Emmy Awards

COMEDY SERIES
"The Office"
"Entourage"
"30 Rock"
"Two and a Half Men"
"Ugly Betty"

Very happy about The Office, 30 Rock, and Ugly Betty - definitely got some of my favorite shows there! Also, I just happened to catch an episode of Entourage for the first time this past weekend - not bad! I'm all about Ari though - the rest of the guys haven't won me over yet.

DRAMA SERIES
"Boston Legal"
"Grey's Anatomy"
"Heroes"
"House"
"The Sopranos"

No Lost? Brother and Sisters?

ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Hugh Laurie, "House"
James Gandolfini, "The Sopranos"
Kiefer Sutherland, "24"
Denis Leary, "Rescue Me"
James Spader, "Boston Legal"

Don't watch any of these...

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Edie Falco, "The Sopranos"
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"
Sally Field, "Brothers and Sisters"
Minnie Driver, "The Riches"
Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: SVU"

Is Sally Field pretty much a shoo-in since she is after all Sally Field?

ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Steve Carell, "The Office"
Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"
Charlie Sheen, "Two and a Half Men"
Ricky Gervais, "Extras"

Hmmm... Alec Baldwin always cracks me up.

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"
Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives"

Tough for me... I love both Tina Fey and America Ferrera. For this category though... I'm leaning toward Tina - she's hilarious!

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
William Shatner, "Boston Legal"
T.R. Knight, "Grey's Anatomy"
Masi Oka , "Heroes"
Michael Emerson, "Lost"
Terry O'Quinn, "Lost"
Michael Imperioli, "The Sopranos"

Well... Ben did creep the heck out of me this season... so I guess Michael Emerson. Oh wait, is this the season that George's dad died on GA? Because then I'd be torn with T.R. Knight.

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Kevin Dillon, "Entourage"
Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"
Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother"
Rainn Wilson, "The Office"
Jon Cryer, Two and A Half Men"

I will root for Jeremy Piven although Rainn Wilson has his moments, too.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Rachel Griffiths, "Brothers & Sisters"
Katherine Heigl, "Grey's Anatomy"
Chandra Wilson, "Grey's Anatomy"
Sandra Oh, "Grey's Anatomy"
Aida Turturro, "The Sopranos"
Lorraine Bracco, The Sopranos"

Here's where I'm actually kind of outraged. What about Juliet from Lost??? The whole season was about her!!!

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Jaime Pressly, "My Name Is Earl"
Jenna Fischer, "The Office"
Holland Taylor, "Two and A Half Men"
Conchata Ferrell, "Two and A Half Men"
Vanessa Williams, "Ugly Betty"
Elizabeth Perkins, "Weeds"

I love Jenna, but this belongs to Vanessa Williams.

Quick Thoughts on Last Night's SYTYCD

Favorite of the night was actually Danny and Anya's foxtrot! But Danny is really doing himself a disservice with his "get to know you" interviews... the best thing about Anya is her crazy outfits, one of which he calls a lampshade??? He should look into a personality consultant.

I also liked the 80's jazz routine that Sara and Pasha did. Does anyone remember that show from the 80's called Double Trouble that featured those cute red-headed twin girls - one was studious and one was a troublemaker? The troublemaker was supposed to appear in this dance competition on a TV show but twisted her ankle, so the studious one danced in her place. Sara and Pasha's routine reminded me of her routine. (Huge bonus points to anyone that has any idea on what I'm talking about here. And if you can name the song that was used in Double Trouble - I'll send you a big prize. I've googled with no luck.)

I don't think I've ever been impressed with a Dan Karaty routine - why do they keep bringing him back? (Although, I may have to download that Fergie tune for my running mix!)

The Mia Michaels piece was a miss for me, as well. Although I did like the Bojangles one. Still struggling with the idea of Hok and Jaimie as a couple, though.

And ouch! I had heard that Sabra was dropped during the Hairspray group number - but I didn't expect it to be as bad as what was shown during their montage. Yeah, I would have problems with trusting Dom as well.

Movie Review of Harry Potter 5

WARNING: Don't read if you're still planning to see the film!

So I caught Harry Potter 5 yesterday and I *loved* it! I just love that little Hogwarts world.

I failed in my mission to finish the book before seeing the movie (only got about halfway) and I'm kind of glad because then I could be curious to see how it all ended during the movie. I didn't already know the answers to what Voldemort was seeking or why Dumbledore was ignoring Harry.

Plus, it was awesome because I felt the movie moved much more quickly than the book. We didn't get bogged down by all their classes and homework assigments and Hermione knitting socks for house elves and stuff. I'm not even sure I want to finish the book now. I might just go straight ahead to book 6 - who knows when I will finish that one? Hopefully before July 28th!

But my friend made a good point... I thought it moved fast but if you hadn't read the book, did it move too fast? Just like with the Da Vinci code, I loved it because I could relive the book but much quicker. My friends that hadn't read the book were a little confused.

Anyway, back to the movie. Imelda Staunton (I think that's her name?) is sooooooo evil as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. She played the role perfectly. It's funny how a little stocky woman that only wore pink and had an office covered with plates featuring pictures of kittens could be sooooo creepy - I mean, she gives Professor Snape a run for his money.

And I'm so glad they cut Harry Potter's hair. Especially when they would flashback to scenes from the last film where it was long and bushy and stuff. Clean cut is a big improvement. And I'm not the only Asian girl that noticed :) Hello, make out scene!!! Yeah, Harry and Cho totally made out. Underneath a magical mistletoe to boot. Harry is totally on Teen Beat cover status now.

The tagline of the film is "The Rebellion Begins". It sure does! For stupid reasons that I'm not bothering to explain here, the Ministry believes there is no threat of the Dark Lord returning. Further, Umbridge refuses to teach the kids how to actually practice spells, just the theory of defending against the dark arts. So the kids take matters into their hands and form a secret group, Dumbledore's Army, and Harry teaches them all the special defensive spells he's learned over the years. It's awesome.

This all comes in handy in the action packed ending when all the kids (even Ginny, Neville, and new kid Luna Lovegood) battle the Death Eaters including slimy Lucius Malfoy. And then there's the BIG battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort - total Yoda vs. Darth Vader action going on there.

The Weasley twins also have an awesome finale-like scene as well.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of stuff, but long story short - I recommend. The beginning might be a little slow for the non-die hard HP fans (as the lady next to me fell asleep during it) but it gets really good in the end.

Audralicious

This post is dedicated to KB. Check it out! :)


Fergie - Fergalicious lyrics
Of course, my favorite part is:

Fergalicious (Fergalicious)
But I ain't promiscuous
And if you was suspicious
All that shit is fictitious
I blow kisses (mmmwwahhh)
That puts them boys on rock, rock
And they be lining down the block just to watch what I got

AUDRALICIOUS!!!

:P

Ryan Gosling's New Flame?

Greg Behrendt (sp?) was a guest on my morning radio show today. He's the comedian and author of that book, "He's Just Not That into You", has his own talk show, etc.

So he gave some scoop that apparently when he was out at the movies recently, he saw Ryan Gosling with Tara Connor. Remember that Miss USA who had to go to rehab which then instigated that huge blow up between Donald and Rosie???

Tara is cute and all (and I thought she was adorable during her appearance on last season's Project Runway) but I *love* Rachel McAdams. I stopped my subscription to US Weekly a long time ago so I'm behind on my gossip. Are her and Ryan really through? I thought they were the cutest couple!

Thoughts on So You Think You Can Dance

Wow - they were only off for one week but it seemed like so much longer! I missed these guys.

Here are my random comments:

• Someone has to teach me the Schwimmer heel-slide move!
• Although I am a big fan of Sabra and Dominic, I didn't get how everyone raved about their Shane Sparks routine. It was cute but not one of the best of the night at all. And I definitely liked the other Shane Sparks/Ne-Yo routine better - the one with the umbrella.
• Fun to see Benji and Heidi again. And you could totally tell that was a Benji choreographed dance - if you didn't look too closely, you could have mistaken Pasha for Benji himself!
• Rumored crush between Jaimie and Hok??? Ick.
• Regarding the dancer interviews... Best secret? Neil's Chewbacca impression. Lamest? Danny's sunglass collection. I'm glad guest judge Adam Shankman called him out for coming across as arrogant. I tend to agree with that, despite what Nigel says.
• Loved Vanessa Williams's surprise when Nigel mentioned her at the end of the show. You could tell she was not prepared to have TV time.
• I was really impressed with Cedric! He worked that mambo routine!
• I feel like any Wade Robson routine has an unfair advantage over the others... his choreography is so unique and amazing! And Neil definitely was awesome as the "villain" - but his spiky hair seemed really long - do you think he had hair extensions in there?

Harry Potter kids through the years...

So this weekend I watched this A&E special on the Harry Potter films and it was so funny to see clips of the kids in the first film intercut with the newest film (which looks pretty good, by the way, regardless of the lukewarm reviews).

Remember these little munchkins when they were first cast?



And here they are now:



As for my Harry Potter status... I haven't made much progress with finishing book 5 since my air travel last week. It's just so hard to find time to read lately! BUT I did manage to find some movie companions so at least that part is figured out. ;)

The Hills Are Alive Again!

As my friend Pam pointed out - The Hills is coming back soon! Yippee! It will premiere on August 13th.

Check out the trailer for Season 3:


Ooh... this is going to be a good one! All sorts of fun stuff in our future. Lauren is going to date like a guy which should be interesting, especially since they showed snippets of J-Wahl and Brody Jenner. Whitney broke up with her BF so it looks like she will be on the dating scene as well. And Audrina is now Lauren's roommate.

Unfortunately, Spencer will still appear as Heidi will continue to be featured on the show. As well as skank-o Jen! BUT it looks like there will be a juicy bitchfest between Lauren and Heidi so that should be fun.

Now what happened to Laguna Beach??? Sure, the Tessa-narrated season wasn't quite as exciting as previous ones, but I still like the show. Hmm... I wonder. That's OK - I just discovered this channel, The Noggin, that has been playing old Laguna Beach episodes - right now they are showing the Kristen-narrated season.

iPhone, anyone?

If you're interested in getting the real scoop on the new Apple iPhone from the perspective of a new owner, you *must* check this out.

Impressive, John, very impressive! ;) Ever thought about working for CNET?

What is wrong with this picture?

So last night I caught an episode of Big Brother. I guess the season just started because in this episode, they unveiled this wall that had headshots of the cast. And sure, it's always weird to see pictures of yourself especially knowing it will be on national TV, but this one girl completely flipped out at her photo!!! I've never seen something like this before!

I did a quick screen capture, so it's poor quality, but still - is there anything really wrong with this picture???



She was in tears. Even during her interview later. Check out this clip - complete with violins.



She's crazy. If she wants to see a really bad picture, she's welcome to check out my work badge photo where it looks like I'm missing a front tooth. (And this was confirmed by a fellow co-worker.)

And on a random topic, compared to other prime time reality shows and game shows, it seems like Big Brother really does try to get a good mix of people, not just shiny, glossy actor wannabes. Because the cast members or houseguests or whatever they're called are all SO RANDOM! As in... um, a little "WT" or trailer park at times. Is that mean? Because I don't intend it to be. Anyway, I like it.

Thanks John!

Thanks John for being such an awesome "commenter"! It is much appreciated and I wish all my visitors were as fun as you!


:)

Amusing site

So I discovered a new site this weekend that I find quite entertaining - it's Go Fug Yourself. Have you heard of it? They sort of do witty commentary on celebrity fashions.

I found this post on the cast of the latest Harry Potter film particularly amusing.

Harry Potter, anyone?

Dude, the clock is ticking. It's Harry Potter crunch time!

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) movie will be released on Wednesday, July 11th
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) will be released on Saturday, July 21st

So while I was at home on vacation, I started re-reading Book 5. I'm pretty sure I had read it when it first came out, but so far I am 200 pages in (the book is over 800 pages - but with nice, large and spaced out text - heehee!) and it's all new to me. I really want to finish it before the movie comes out. Speaking of which, I'm really worried that none of my friends are into Harry Potter and that I'm going to struggle to find someone to see this with me. I don't want to go alone! I mean, sure, I've seen a handful of artsy, indy flicks by myself, but I don't want to have to see a blockbuster alone! So if you're interested ... let me know!

So after Book 5, there is Book 6 - I think it's something called the Half-Blood Prince or something like that. Now this I know I haven't read yet even though I bought it when it first came out. And even if I had read it, I'm sure I would have to re-read it again. So I want to do that before Book 7 (the final one!) comes out because there are already rumors about how the whole thing ends and I don't want the story to be spoiled.

I think this is doable... but just curious - Are any of my peers still into this?

Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend song

You know, it's funny because I remember reading a long time ago how one TV Guide editor called out Avril Lavigne for copying a group called The Rubinoos in her song Girlfriend.

And guess what? She's now being sued. Tsk, tsk. I guess another critic (from Billboard Magazine) had noticed the same similarity back when the song was released as well.

Ah well. I still love the long anyway. It's very fun and peppy and good for working out too.

Although she does a horrible live performance of it.

"The Simpsons" Kwik-E-Mart in Mountain View!

I like The Simpsons but I'm not really a fanatic or anything, but still - this is pretty cool!

7-Elevens become Simpsons 'Kwik-E-Marts'

To promote the upcoming "The Simpsons Movie' (opening July 27th), a bunch of 7-Elevens have turned into Kwik-E-Marts and will even sell products only known in the TV world like Buzz Cola and KrustyO's cereal.

And guess what? One of these 7-Elevens/Kwik-E-Marts is in Mountain View! I'm not sure which one as a quick search on Yahoo Yellow Pages shows there's four (615 S Rengstorff Ave, 2640 California St, 1905 Latham St, and 276 N Whisman Rd) - but when I'm back in town, I will have to investigate!