Something special about him...

I don't know what it is, but I always get a kick when I see Johnny Depp show up at cheesy award shows, like tonight's MTV Movie Awards. He's just such a cool "A-list" kind of a guy that I would think he would be above it, but no, he's all getting the popcorn award!

The reaction from the crowd was hilarious. I didn't watch the whole show but it looked like he was a surprise guest and probably didn't walk the red carpet or sit in the theater. I think Diablo Cody was practically fanning herself!

Tom Cruise definitely didn't get the same reaction later on.

Anyway, Johnny Depp... definitely still keeps his spot on my Top 5. (Which I will admit that I copied off my sister's Top 5, since he used to be a little too creepy, grungey for me until she showed me the light.)

Lost's Amazing Season Finale

UPDATE:

Found some really interesting, spoilerish interviews - read at your own risk!

Interview with "Michael", Harold Perrineau

Interview with "Ben", Michael Emerson: Part One and Two

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a finale! I'm bummed that we're in summer hiatus (or longer?) but what an awesome two hour send off. Here are some of my thoughts on the show...

Moments Worth Noting:

- When Keamy was chasing Kate and Ben, and then out of nowhere Sayid jumps out and tackles him! I caught myself literally pumping my fist in the air yelling, "Yeah! Yeah! Get him Sayid!!!"

- Sawyer's kiss to Kate before he sacrified himself and jumped off the helicopter so that the others could return to the freighter

- The moment we realize the bomb was detonated. I was cringing and hiding under pillows waiting for the freighter to explode.

- Then finally seeing it explode from the perspective of the helicopter - heartbreaking because moments before we see Sun spot Jin running out onto the deck. Sun's piercing screams - first at the explosion and then when she realizes Jin is gone - gave me shivers.

- Got another classic bitchy Sun scene - this time with Mr. Widmore. Loved it! And it was interesting to hear Mr. Widmore (aka Bradford Meade aka Caleb Nichol) in his native New Zealand accent.

- The long-awaited reunion of Desmond and Penny! So happy for you, brother.

- Well, what do you know, Ben actually moved the island!!!

- At the end, when flash forward Jack breaks into the funeral home and opens that mysterious coffin - when Ben appeared with the soft spoken "Hello Jack", he not only scared the crap out of Jack, he scared the crap out of me!!! (even on the second viewing!)

- We *finally* get the answer to who was in the coffin - plus two other alternative endings


Things to Ponder:

- So somehow John Locke left the island and visits everyone as Jeremy something or other... it'll be interesting to see how all that unfolds.

- Remember when Jack overheard Kate on the phone during a flash forward scene and Kate was planning to meet up with someone - who do you think that was? Locke? Sawyer?

- If things actually happened as they appeared, then both Michael and Jin died in the freighter explosion. However, Hurley later tells Walt that they're all lying to protect those still on the island - including Michael. So maybe they are still alive? (And if so, how would Hurley know that? I guess from his chats with dead people...) Can the island still have special powers over them even though they're not on the island? Didn't Mr. Friendly tell Michael that the island wouldn't let him die?

- What is Sun's positioning with Widmore? She tells him, "As you know, we're not the only ones that left the island." So did Widmore visit that island, too?

- Is Charlotte a product of the Dharma Initiative?

- Why hadn't Sayid visited Hurley in awhile? And where was he taking him now?

- What did Sawyer whisper in Kate's ear before he jumped? "Just do it, freckles." Do what??? Is this the answer?

- I still don't get the theories that explain Christian Shepherd's presence. OK, maybe because I haven't really dug up any. Why did he appear before Michael before the freighter exploded?

- I wonder what happened to the guys (including Faraday) on the zodiac craft in transit from the island to the freighter

- Does Locke become the new Ben back at the island?

- Ben tells Jack that he's heard Jack has been flying on passenger planes hoping that he would crash again. We know Jack just told Kate this - was Ben somehow there listening?

- Locke (or Jeremy) tells Jack that very bad things happen on the island after he left. Uh oh... Even Kate gets a phone call that tells her she needs to return

- We learn from Ben that everyone has to go back to help all their friends still on the island. He mentioned that included Locke. Does that also include Walt then? How is Jack going to convince Kate to go - isn't she stuck there as part of her parole conditions? Plus she had that nightmare of Claire insisting that Kate can't bring Aaron back to the island.

- I feel like next season will be an even darker season - or at least have some darker moments. Hurley is crazy and the Oceanic 6 become more estranged, bad things happen on the island, Nadia is murdered... and isn't Ben focused on killing Penny as revenge for his daughter's murder?


Funny quotes:

"I'm going to keep my eye on you, Shorty." - Rose to Miles

"Hey Kenny Rogers." - Sawyer to Frank

"Dude, I've been having regular conversations with dead people. The last thing I need now is paranoia." - Hurley to Sayid

"You’re getting big, dude." - Hurley to Walt


Other Thoughts...

I quickly reviewed some recaps from TVGuide.com and EW.com and as usual, there was a bunch of stuff I missed or didn't pick up on my own. Here's just a few:

- When Christian tells Michael, "You can go now, Michael." - it may be to indicate that Michael fulfilled his duties and is no longer bound to the island. But that also mean that he is now free to kick the bucket.

- When Ben decides to move the island, he is agreeing to leave the island and then ends up where he found him in that episode earlier this season. He tells Locke to take over as leader of the Others.

- In the season premiere, Hurley told Jack he wished he had stayed with him instead of going with Locke - what was he referring to?


Well, I'm sure there is so much more to discuss but that's what I have for now. Can't wait to hear everyone else's take on the finale.

Lost finale night!

Ooh boy... so excited!

I just have to say... I *love* the scene when Sun tells off her dad and reveals she bought a controlling interest in his company. It was so awesome. Her dad is getting in her face all barky-barky and stuff but she doesn't flinch a bit. The way she delivers the news was so cold and intense ... she kinda scared me!

Go Sun!

Curious about those SYTYCD tickets to Vegas?

... or is just me?

My favorite dance show, So You Think You Can Dance, is back - yay! We start with the audition rounds. If you make it to the next round (similar to Hollywood for American Idol), you get a ticket to Vegas.

Now on Idol, your ticket to Hollywood is some generic looking yellow piece of paper. But on SYTYCD, you get this very legitimate looking old school paper plane ticket. You know, the kind you used to get before the era of e-ticketing.

And I wondered - can you still get generic plane tickets? With no name associated with them? I know, I know, why am I wondering about this??? I can't help it. I like useless info! (See previous post.)

Anyway, on tonight's episode, I actually paused my DVR on a close up of a ticket so that I can examine it.

What did I learn?




IT IS FAKE!



I know, no surprise. But they make it look pretty real. Except that the "ticket" is slightly larger and the airline is "SYTYCD Airlines".


Anyway, you know that mom that brought all her kids to the audition and did sort of a hip hop routine? Is that what I looked like during all those dance recitals that I dragged all my friends and family to???


Eh... don't answer that.

In case you were wondering...

I happened to mention to some friends my excitement that Serena and Dan from Gossip Girl were dating in real life. (Although I am still bummed that the characters broke up in the season finale. *sigh* )

And someone thought that was crazy because he thought Blake Lively (Serena) was much older than Penn Badgley (Dan). Personally, I think they all look pretty young BUT I decided to research it anyway. So here it is - more useless information!

• Serena - Blake Lively, 20, DOB: 25 August 1987 (SEE!!!)
  
• Dan - Penn Badgley, 21, DOB: 1 November 1986
  
• Blair - Leighton Meester, 22, DOB: 9 April 1986
  
• Nate - Chace Crawford, 22, DOB: 18 July 1985
  
• Chuck - Ed Westwick, 20, DOB: 27 June 1987
  
• Jenny - Taylor Momsen, 14, DOB: 26 July 1993

Holy crap! Jenny is only 14? That makes the scene from the pilot when she was being mauled by Chuck even creepier.

Anyway, more comments from the finale:

Fashion-wise, I loved Serena's dress for the wedding, she definitely looked like a model. Blair's look was a little too flowery for me, but I think it worked for her. I *hated* Vanessa's number - Jenny could have done a much better job with that.

Michelle Trachtenberg did a great job with her Georgina role. I keep seeing commercials for her new ABC Family movie where she plays a race car driver and I just think, "oooh... evil race car driver!" I wonder if her character will be back on Gossip Girl.

I'm glad they wrapped up the Lily / Rufus storyline. Rufus is sooooo lame. But I like Lily - she's the only adult character I do like on the show. But watching Rufus serenade her during that 90's concert thing was painful.

What about the ending? Are there new couplings being planned? Nate and Serena, Dan and Vanessa, etc. I think Chuck and Blair should get back together - it's cute! In a weird way...

I heard they might bring back the show this summer - hope so! Until then...

XOXO

Did Def Leppard lip sync last night?

I was pretty surprised to see them on the results show for DWTS... but did they really perform "Pour Some Sugar on Me" live? Because it sounded just like the recording I've been hearing since grade school.

And I *love* DanceCenter! So glad they brought it back this time.

Finally, how the heck is Cristian going to dance next week if his arm needs surgery?

I totally got tricked by those Scarlet ads!

Please tell me I'm not the only one that fell for this. Has anyone else seen those commercials for that Scarlet TV show? They had sort of a teaser campaign going and I thought it was some kind of new Buffy / Alias "girl power" kind of show. And I remember thinking it was weird that I would see the commercials on different networks but they wouldn't say what network the show was on or when it would premiere etc.

One day, the Scarlet TV show ads were all over TVguide.com (one of my fave sites for TV scoop) and I noticed a URL for the show's website: http://www.scarletseries.tv

If you go to the site, it looks sort of legit. Still not much scoop but I didn't give it much more thought.

And then today I see this: LG pushes Scarlet LCD HDTVs with completely unrelated commercial

I WAS TRICKED!

If you go to the fake TV series site, there's a link in the bottom left, "Discover Scarlet's Secret" that takes you to the LG TV site.

Pretty clever, I must say. I'm not going to buy the fancy TV, but I now know the name!

All sorts of nonsense and chaos on last night's DWTS

People make fun of me for watching Dancing with the Stars, but I gotta tell ya - last night's episode was HIGHLY entertaining. Below are the top three items that I thought were worth noting.

1. Scoring

What were the judges smoking last night? I thought they scored Kristi pretty low but I'm assuming they're just scoring her against her previous performances. I was really appalled by their scoring of Shannon Elizabeth's tango. Are they kidding me??? During her performance, I was literally cringing b/c it was so awkward - her lankiness and her frozen facial expression made it look like she was impersonating a mannequin that Derek was tossing around. Carrie Ann called it her best performance to date - WHAT??? Their Viennese waltz is still the best for me.

2. Cristian (as in Cris-ti-AN) gets injured

Live TV... it's good stuff. You could tell something happened during the dance with his arm - it was a nice effort that he tried to keep up but then again, it did end up with Cheryl flat out on the floor. Ouch! Reminds me of when Mark Ballas pulled his arm during his encore performance of the cha-cha with Sabrina last season. Who knew ballroom dancing could be so dangerous!

3. Jason's Paso Doble

I swear the Paso Doble gets the most random song choices. Some are OK - like Drew Lachey's "Thriller" (I think that's what it was) or Mel B's "Free Your Mind". But then you get some random stuff like Joey Fatone's "Star Wars" theme.

Well, they really topped themselves last night with Jason's Paso Doble - danced to ... wait for it... the NFL theme song!!! I understand the connection and I know the performance was good and the scores were high but c'mon.... SO. LAME. Especially the end when Jason had his final pose with his arms in the goal post position. Eeeyikes...

Thoughts from this past week of TV

How I Met Your Mother

To the regular HIMYM viewers - what did you think of the ending? Is it one you were rooting for (as I've read in some blogs) or was it a letdown?

DWTS

So are Shannon and Derek really a couple now? Hello, Mrs. Robinson...

(OK, she's not *that* much older, but it's still kinda weird)

The Hills

That episode was full of awkwardness! But the exciting part was the teaser for next week - Stephen is coming back??? Interesting!

American Idol

I'm bummed that Carly is gone and that Syesha is still in BUT Syesha did give a really good performance last week. And I love all the randomness that Brooke brings! Her re-start was quite entertaining, wasn't it?

The Office

Michael just killed me in this episode. Favorite lines:

"I'm a bank teller." after explaining that Ryan recommends to always tell a woman you work in finance
"Best. Night. Ever." as Dwight and Ryan are passed out in Ryan's studio NYC apartment

Not to mention the peanut butter and calling his mom from the club nonsense

Ugly Betty

Henry? Gio? I'm so torn! And that episode made me hungry for cupcakes.

Grey's Anatomy

Regarding Izzie and all her unjustified tests on Cheech (estimated at $120,000 by the Chief)... I know this is just TV, but would this really fly? In the real world, wouldn't Cheech have to pay for all those tests? That would suck for some poor patient to possibly go into debt because of an overly competitive resident. Last year, my doctor ordered an EKG during my physical exam just to be safe after I mentioned my past fainting tendencies. I went along with it but was a little bummed to get the $100+ bill later. It's not a lot but enough to make me think, hmmm... maybe I didn't really need that test.

(BTW - IMHO, this epsiode overall was a bit of a letdown as a "return from the strike" episode.)

Lost

I didn't really enjoy this episode as much as other ones so it was more of a "plot-mover" episode for me.

Gossip Girl

Had to catch the encore on Sunday since the Monday at 8PM time slot is already double booked with DWTS and HIMYM.

Wow - these girls are serious beeyotches. I didn't think Jenny could recover from the Valentino incident but luckily for her, Nate saved the day! And I like where they are going with this Georgina storyline... very intriguing!

Keepin' up with the Kardashians

Kim with no make-up??? It's true.

DWTS

Looking at Karina's costume... was that supposed to represent a red nighty wrapped in a bed sheet? I mean, they *were* dancing to "Let's Get It On".

Comcast Update

Thursday is a big TV night with my faves 30 Rock and The Office. Even BIGGER starting next week when Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost are all back!

This is when I really need a *reliable* DVR.

Tonight - my DVR froze *three* times. Which means I had to unplug it three times. And wait three times for the channels to return, guide to load up, etc. etc. During which nothing was recorded.

* wahhhh *


Update on 4/18: My DVR was wiped clean again. After I re-set all my recordings, too. *sniff, sniff* Will check out TiVo's this weekend...

Dance Attire

I've been watching "Step It Up and Dance" - Bravo's version of the dance competition show. You know, the one hosted by Jessie Spano (who's actually not that bad of a host).

I love professional dancers but I just don't get the clothes they wear when they rehearse. So many layers and stuff! It's not just these guys, I see it all the time - on So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, America's Best Dance Crew, etc.

They have scarves (scarves! I would probably choke myself if I try that), layers of clothes, leg warmers (you know I'm talking about Edyta), knit caps, etc.

Back in my old dance days (heehee), I would get so *hot* during dance class - no way could I deal with all that extra stuff.

Does anyone else find this odd?

Anyway, "Step It Up and Dance" isn't bad. It's no Project Runway and I'm not even quite sure if it's a Top Chef. But they are definitely talented and it's kind of interesting. This episode's challenge had all of them doing a hip hop battle - even the male ballet dancers! Funny.

Eeeeeeeeee!

... is my reaction after watching "The Office". I *love* Jim and Pam. They are just so adorable.

And I loved Kevin's practical joke on Michael when he gave him the number of his friend, "Wendy", as a potential rebound chick.

I Hate Comcast.

You know, I should have known this would happen. I finally try to use the DVR to improve my quality of life (dramatic, yes) and it totally backfires on me!

Here's the deal - I like recording shows on my DVR but most of the time, I watch the show the same day and just use the DVR to fast forward through the commercials. But in the last couple of weeks, I've been trying to be good about limiting my TV watching during the week so that I could go to bed early instead (or catch up on my mags). I watch the important stuff (AI, The Office, etc.) and then just stock-pile my not-really-must-see-TV to save for a rainy day (or weekend).

I've been really good about this that today, I was thinking - wow, I've got a lot of good stuff saved on my DVR - I'll never have to watch live TV ever!

And then it happens. I get home and realize my cable box is frozen. Again. So I unplug, wait, and plug back in like I normally do. Only this time... there are NO DVR listings recorded. This has never happened before!

So I call Comcast, put them on speaker and wait. The Comcast dude explains that they had a virus in their server and that pretty much everyone in the bay area is screwed. Everyone's DVRs are wiped out. Permananently.

Oh, it pains me to think of all the good stuff I had saved:

- The awesome SYTYCD number from Idol Gives Back
- The entire last season of "My Boys"
- Xanadu (which I have on DVD but it's not the same)
- Last night's DWTS that I didn't get to finish
- Last night's AI that I wanted to watch again
- This past weekend's SNL with Ashton Kutcher which I also didn't finish
- A whole bunch of this season's "The Office" and "Jon and Kate plus eight" and "Lost"
- A "What not to wear" from this weekend that I started watching but didn't get to see the big finish!

I had a bunch of other stuff that isn't too painful since I'm sure it will be on again:
- Season Finale of Real Housewives of NYC (but I was hoping to watch it tonight!!!)
- Battlestar Galactica (I was thinking about jumping on the bandwagon)
- Season premiere of Work Out

OMG - I just realized that all my scheduled recordings are gone, too! That means I have to set all of them again??? Wow. What a big cluster-f***.

Did anyone else have this problem or was Mr. Comcast lying to me by saying it wasn't just me?

Random AI Thoughts

David Cook would be really good in the role of Roger in the musical, Rent.

I like Carly, but Kelly Clarkson's version of "Without You" was much better.

Check out this cute video of Brooke White when she was younger.

And I didn't think David Archuleta's performance was that great.


Please, oh please, let it be either Syesha or Kristy Lee that gets the boot this week.

Just a Couple Final IGB Thoughts...

... and then I'm done, I promise!

1. TWO Miley Cyrus performances??? C'mon, that's a little ridiculous.

2. Brad Pitt introducing Daughtry??? What kind of crazy universe is this? (BTW - *loved* the sound lady, who wouldn't want an excuse to touch him???)

OK, I had to get that out of my system. G'night!

P.S. Did the show run over? Because my DVR shut off right after the Daughtry clip.

Idol Gives Back Highlight # 3: Girl Power

Wow, I'm so surprised to see Heart make an appearance considering how many times American Idol contestants have butchered their songs. (Not all the time, though - one example: Carrie Underwood's "Alone") They performed Barracuda" with a special appearance by Miss Fergie! And how about those one armed cartwheels? Kids Incorporated has taught Fergie well.

Anyway - they rocked out! It was amazing. Although, the snarky side of me kept imagining Ann Wilson thinking, "Quit stealing my song, you skinny b*tch!"

Ooh - I just discovered that Carrie actually performed Alone with Heart - check it out here

Next girl power moment - Annie Lennox on the piano. I don't know what song she sang, but it was beautiful just like the rest of her songs.

And I'll throw in Carrie Underwood's performance of "Praying for Time", too. I'm not sure if they announced who did the original but it was bothering me so I googled it. (It was George Michael.)

Idol Gives Back Highlight #2: The Band from TV

Ummm... so what did you think??? I've always been curious to see The Band from TV in action. I knew about James Denton and Greg Grunberg but the Teri Hatcher thing was an interesting surprise. I was sort of impressed with her singing ability, some parts sounded pretty good! Other parts... umm... so how's that acting thing going, Teri?

I was super impressed with Jesse Spencer from House and his violin skills! How cool was that?

OK, back to the show...

Idol Gives Back Highlight #1: Oh, how I've missed you, SYTYCD!

OK, I'm only 5 minutes into the "Idol Gives Back" special and I already know I'll be saving this one on my DVR for awhile. The opening number was amazing!!! I heard the dancers from "So You Think You Can Dance" were going to open, but I didn't know it would be dancers from all the previous seasons! SO. AWESOME.

Plus they danced to one of my current favorite tunes. Rhianna is my girl.

Heck - I might even shell out some money to the cause, it was so good!

HIMYM: Awesome.

I'm starting to really get into How I Met Your Mother - this show is hilarious! I'm surprised there has been talk that this show might not get renewed.

I totally want to be friends with these people! OK, that sounds kind of sad. But it's true! How fun would it be to chill at the bar with Ted, Barney, Marshall, Lily, and Robin. Well, really, I would just want to hang with Barney. He's the kind of guy that I normally hate (you know, total playa!!!) but he is soooo hilarious!

I finally got to watch last Monday's episode today and it was really funny. I loved the part at the end where they did an ode to Doogie Howser by having Barney type his journal with the blue background computer screen. Yes, Barney, you are awesome.

According to the CBS website, you can watch the full episode online by clicking the link above.