Halfway through premiere week and the shows are rockin'!

So much to comment on! My thoughts so far...

The Hills

I know Lauren has her flaws, but she's awesome in my book. Her facial expressions when Jason first told her that he had a girlfriend and that they were moving in together were hilarious. Then to hear they're engaged!!! Crazy. She's totally right, though. Why would you get engaged when you're A) only 20, B) have only been dating for seven (or 6? or maybe only 4?) months, and C) are just out of rehab. What a bonehead. I loved when Lauren commented that when she's engaged, she would hope that it's not announced at a keg party. As for Heidi and Spencer... *sigh* Who even cares anymore? Shopping for wedding dresses, registering at C&B, and Spencer hasn't even told his parents yet? What a pathetic relationship. It's pretty sad when Jen Bunney is the voice of reason.


Damages

As much as I love all the twists and turns this show offers... I'm getting pretty impatient and just want to know what the heck happens at the end! I wish I had waited until the show was over in the hopes that FX would air an all day marathon. Now that would be enjoyable - if not a waste of an entire day. If that does happen, I'll let you know - it's a really great, suspenseful show.


Dancing with the Stars

I knew Sabrina was gonna rock it. I've seen the Cheetah Girls movies (don't judge) and I've always thought she was the best dancer out of the bunch, and they're all pretty good (the others being two of the members from girl group 3LW, both in attendance, and Raven Symone - as in "That's So Raven!"). Her facials were over the top which would normally bug me, but I felt they fit right in on this show. I'm curious to see how she performs in classic ballroom next week. I'm sure she'll be great.

Drew Lachey is doing an awesome job filling in for Samantha Harris. Can we make him a permanent replacement? Please???? I really enjoy his backstage on-the-fly banter, so much more natural than Samantha who often made me cringe during her interviews. Drew's comments about the male pro dancers over-styled hair serving as helmets made me chuckle.

I was pleased with the guys night. I thought it was going to be a big snooze fest after the amazing performances from the ladies, but there were some surprises. For me personally, Helio jumped from "Who cares?" status at the beginning of the show to "I love this guy!" by the end. He's so smiley and happy and he really cracks me up. He has an awesome partner with current champ Julianne who I feel is consistently delivering an "in it to win it" attitude in every single of one her performances so far this season (as in the pro dancers routines or dancing with Helio).

Floyd has turned out to be the biggest disappointment in my book. All the guys considered him their toughest competition - they don't have anything to worry about. Carrie called it - it's like he attacks the dance too much. Maybe he'll be different with the ballroom. Did anyone else find it weird that the two people most hot and bothered from Albert Reed's hip shaking dance performance were Len and Bruno???

Too bad for Alec Mazo - first to get the boot again! But it was cute that he asked everyone to vote for his professional partner and new bride, Edyta, in the future.


Gossip Girl

This is definitely becoming one of my new favorite shows. I like the characters, the storylines, the clothes, the settings... all fun. And as much as I hate hate hate this Chuck character, I love love love the Dan character. I mean, he might be one of my favorite guys on TV... right up there with Jim Halpert! The comment that Chuck's black eye looks lonely, walking in circles outside Serena's hotel, the apology about the "wave"... such a cutie! Although I wish he hadn't walked out on Serena at the end. The romance can't die there, can it? (Embarrassing confession: I am very tempted to start reading the teen-targeted book series to learn more about what happens!) Blair and Chuck are just like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe's characters from "Cruel Intentions" - evil, but entertaining. And who are these stoopid girls that keep hooking up with Chuck??? I don't find one iota of him attractive. On a side note - this show makes me so excited about my upcoming trip to NYC! Can't wait!!!


Newport Harbour

I love Allie's comment to her dad about not asking for a graduation present... she just wants a full summer trip in Europe. Nice... And c'mon, do we really expect Clay and Chrissy to maintain a long distance relationship while she goes away for school? They're relationship seems so shallow... oh wait, sorry, I forgot these are high school kids. Never mind. Anyway - Chrissy, go for the cute college boys!!!

That's it for now... I'm sure I'll have much to post on Thursday night's must see TV!!!

AHHHH - it's fall season premiere week!!!

I'm in trouble. With less than two weeks before my marathon debut, I know I should be focusing on my training and more importantly, REST!, but how am I supposed to do this when work is piling up and hello!!! so many of my favorite shows are returning???!

I can't verify these are all premiering this week, however, here is what I am planning to add to my DVR. (Once I clear out all of last season's So You Think You Can Dance episodes...) New shows are marked with an * since I'm not sure I want to commit any precious DVR space just yet.

Monday

Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
Heroes (NBC)

Tuesday

Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
The Reaper* (The CW)

Wednesday

Pushing Daisies* (ABC)
Private Practice (reluctantly) (ABC)
Dirty Sexy Money* (ABC)
Gossip Girl (The CW)

Thursday

30 Rock (NBC)
The Office (NBC)
Ugly Betty (ABC)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

Sunday

Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Brothers & Sisters (ABC)


If you're not as excited as I am, check out the following clips. (BTW - these definitely will debut this week - WOOHOO!):

The Office (NBC, Thursday, 9PM)




Ugly Betty (ABC, Thursday, 8PM)




Grey's Anatomy (ABC, Thursday, 9PM)




What are you planning to check out???

Star Wars casting scoop

I am thoroughly enjoying my lazy Saturday today. (Well, not that lazy - I did run 12 miles this morning. In the rain!) It's like the TV programmers knew I was going to be a bum today... MTV is running a marathon of this past season's So You Think You Can Dance and ABC Family is running a marathon of Ugly Betty! Yippee!

But for now, I'm parked at A&E for this Star Wars documentary called, "Star Wars: Empire of Dreams". It's a pretty cool special documenting the making of the original trilogy. I love this "behind the scenes" kind of scoop.

They just went through some of the casting, where they showed screen tests of various actors. Kurt Russell was almost Hans Solo. William Katt (Great American Superhero, the nice boy with the frizzy blonde hair in the Stephen King film, "Carrie") was almost Luke Skywalker, a character that was once called Luke Skykiller(???). And Cindy Williams (Shirley from Laverne & Shirley) was almost Princess Leia!!!

Well, I'm happy with the choices they made.

From the east coast to the west coast...

Some random thoughts after tonight's episode of Newport Harbour:

• Allie and Samantha are a serious pair of dum-dums... how is it possible that they are graduating?
  
• Chrissy and Clay are kind of a cute couple, I guess
  
• Chase has good taste in pizza (no pun intended)
  
• Taylor's hair is about a foot too long for me

I also caught the premiere of Gossip Girl on the CW. It's been awhile since I've been hooked on a fictional high school drama - couldn't really get into The O.C., One Tree Hill, or the like... BUT I think this one might have just earned a spot on my DVR list. First of all, it features a voice-over by Miss Kristen Bell which is nice since Veronica Mars is gone. Oh wait, that was a high school show, wasn't it? OK, forget what I said earlier. Anyway, I guess the show is based on some book series and it's about a bunch of kids that attend a prep school in NYC. I like all the characters, except for sleazy Chuck (aka potential date rapist), and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the new potential romance develops between popular and rich Serena (played by the soccer player girl from "The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants") and the not-so-rich, not well known but still kinda cool Dan.

Seinfeld Poster Challenge

Some fun from tbs.com... There are 38 Seinfeld references in this picture - can you find them all?

Beyonce - Best Dressed of 2007?

I'm so confused. People Magazine named Beyonce as one of the top ten best dressed of 2007.

Um... okay... I'm just confused because these are Beyonce's looks that I remember from this year:


Academy Awards


BET Awards


Golden Globe Awards

Ah, the wonderful Prom Episode!!!

Prom episodes of Laguna Beach - and now Newport Harbour - are the best. But again, I have to go back to my usual curiosity - is this really what teenagers do today, or is this just the MTV world? Specifically - the extravagant methods of securing a prom date. (Although I think the ones in this episode pale in comparison from previous years... hello - gorilla suits!!!) And if it is really like this in the real world, is it because of Laguna Beach? I mean, don't you think the producers forced the first season gang (Trey, Steven, Dieter, etc.) to do something big for their prom date requests? And now it's an expected thing - a new tradition! So where did it start? It's another chicken-or-the-egg dilemma...

Did it seem weird that Chrissy and Taylor got their nails done together? I mean Taylor has this on-off thing with Chase, and Chrissy smooched him - so wouldn't that be awkward?

Let's talk dresses... Sasha and Allie wore the same dress, right? I think I had a Barbie doll with a similar outfit, except I think it was more of a nightgown thing. Speaking of which, Chrissy's dress sort of looked like a Barbie doll dress as well. And Allie and Samantha sure do like their pink, huh? I guess the Pretty in Pink party wasn't enough, since they did pink again with prom.

Sasha seems like a cool chick (compared to the rest of the gang, anyway). I loved when she asked Grant, "Why are you staring at me?" 'Cuz he's drunk and he's hoping you'll make out with him! (Notice him grabbing her leg later that night.) Grant in his fancy prom duds stumbling on the exercise bike was hilarious!

Finally, a couple of random questions:

• Does Allie remind anyone else of Brooke Hogan?
  
• How much is Chrissy's dad gonna punish her (and Clay, probably) after seeing this episode???

Tidbits on My Boys

Finally - the real reason between the animosity between Kenny and Stephanie!!!

And Andy's wife, Meredith, is actually played by Jim Gaffigan's real-life wife! (Jim Gaffigan plays Andy.)

One of the funniest things I watched on TV last week...

I finally caught an episode of HBO's Flight of the Conchords this past weekend. Of course, it happened to be the season finale. Ah well... hopefully, there will be re-runs.

Anyway, this show is hilarious! I didn't know anything about it when I tuned in, but from what I can tell - it's about these two New Zealand guys, living in NYC, that make up a band called Flight of the Conchords. It's very quirky and has an indie-film feel to it. Some of the scenes with their manager totally crack me up.

But the best part for me? When one of the main characters gets all mad after being replaced in the band, he starts to break out in dance. But not just any dance - a Kevin Bacon-worthy Footloose performance!!!

Check it out:

Monday Night TV thoughts

Soooooo much to comment on... but it's really late and I should really go to bed. But before I do, some quick comments on all the super good TV that was on tonight.

As usual, nice twist on The Closer. And I'm so happy that Brenda and Fritz are happy together again. But I am sad that it was the season finale...

My Boys - yay for two episodes, but again, boo that the season is now over. That was a crazy short season - what's up with that? And did they seriously leave us hanging by not telling us who PJ invited to Italy??? I'm guessing it was Thorn... who else would have made her that upset when she thought she was stood up?

The Hills - grrrr... despite the appearances of Jason, Justin, AND Spencer - I am still the most annoyed about Heidi getting that stupid promotion! First of all, I doubt she is qualified and second, she stole it from Elodie!!! I like Elodie. Personally, I find the whole "new events director position - with an office" thing highly suspicious. Seems just something the producers purely invented to create more drama. Heidi and Spencer are both going to H-E-double hockey sticks, if you ask me.

The Pick Up Artist - yay, they finally kicked out Pradeep!!! It's about time. He's annoying AND a horrible wingman.

"It's Britney, Bitch" - um, I beg to differ...

I will freely admit that I was pretty excited to hear that Britney was going to open up the MTV VMA awards. I haven't watched that show in years, but I was definitely going to tune in for the return of Britney. I mean, she had some amazing VMA performances! I'm not even talking about the python or Madonna smooch - I'm old school, so I liked that first school girl routine that was sort of a medley with N Sync. The following year, she did the Oops routine in that flesh colored sparkly outfit that may or may not have inspired my Halloween costume that year.

So if you want my take on her performance, read on...

In short, it was a complete disaster and huge disappointment. I can think of umpteen million things that went wrong and not one single thing that went right. This performance does Britney's career no favors - I honestly believe she would have been better off if she had not performed at all.

From what I remember, here's what did not work for me. I'm sure I will miss a bunch of points, but her performance was such a dud that I can't bear to replay it on my DVR to give a complete analysis.

• First shot was a close-up of Miss Brit. OK, I know she's still growing out her hair but yuck! What was up with the nasty blonde hair? The roots looked horrible! I wonder if she meant to wear a hat and then something went wrong last minute? It just did not look performance ready
  
• Then I noticed the blue eyes, which sort of scared me at first - like she looked possessed! And maybe she was... at least something would explain her performance then
  
• Then we pan down to her outfit... oh boy. Why, why, why? The bra / hot pants combo was such a bad idea... hey, she's had two kids, I don't expect her to have a tight bod, but I don't think she should be flaunting her bare midriff either. I couldn't ignore the belly and the booty... but maybe people are into that.
  
• As usual - the lip sync. She didn't even try to make it look like she was singing!
  
• Then there was the overall performance. It was like she was just running through a dress rehearsal or something - it was so half-assed. The dancing was weak, she looked like an amateur sticking out amongst all the professional dancers (NOT the Britney I once knew!) I don't know - maybe she couldn't shake it that much with those stiletto boots?
  
• And as if that wasn't bad enough, the producers would then pan the audience for reaction shots - Rihanna, P. Diddy, and 50 cent all had expressions of "What the hell?"

Ugh, that's all I have to say about it. It almost makes me sad... that's not the Britney I had once idolized a long long time ago. What happened to her???

I guess MTV was still smart to put her on first, as I ended up tuning in for the rest of the show - at least Chris Brown and Rihanna managed to put on a worthy performance.

Update: Alicia Keys rocked, too

More of The Hills ...

You know, sometimes I think I should re-title this blog as "I Watch Bad TV So You Don't Have To". It's an addiction, I tell you, an addiction!

(AY - good luck surviving!)

I'm really bad at noticing plastic surgery. It's just not very obvious to me, unless someone points it out of course.

For example, during the recent episode of The Hills, Heidi met up with Jen Bunney for brunch. First thing Heidi says: "You look so different!" And Jen did look different, but I couldn't figure out why. I didn't think it was plastic surgery because it's not like she looked prettier or anything. But apparently, that's what it was! (Click here for picture)

I guess it's the thing to do on The Hills. I personally didn't think Heidi really needed a nose job either, but what do I know.

Also, what are your thoughts on the term "homeboy" or "homey"? It seems like the kids on this show use this term a lot (both girls and guys, ex. Lauren's hilarious comment that "homeboy wore combat boots to a barbeque - I know you don't want to call that your boyfriend") Anyway, I'm starting to notice this term a lot more in random blogs, too, so just curious if this is regaining popularity. (After all, Laguna Beach did give us the gift of "Dunzo")

MTV whore :)

I've been watching The Hills and it's been bugging me why that Frankie dude looked so familiar. But today I remembered! He was on that other MTV docu-drama, twentyfourseven. Do you remember this show? It was short lived and followed the lives of seven up and coming Hollywood "hotshots". Frankie was the party promoter one... he was in charge of getting all the ladies to their club openings.

So it looks like Brody and Frankie really are the new couple! And even recently double dated with the Duff sisters! (How small is that town, anyway?)

On a separate topic... what's with all the Nelly Furtado bits on MTV? Does she have an album coming out soon? Or an MTV special? I don't get it.

Things that made me squirm this week...

Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina and her enlightening response to the geography question:



And ones that just don't need a video clip...

• Big Brother 8's Eric and Jessica sharing their first kiss
  
• Kissing lessons on VH1's The Pick Up Artist
  
• Jason Wahler "rapping" on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar
  
• The episode of A&E's Gene Simmons Family Jewels which documented Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed getting face lifts

Who are our sassy heroines of today?

OK, please be patient with me as this is a pretty random topic... (I know, what else is new?)

So today I caught a little bit of "Superman Returns" on HBO during my very relaxing labor day holiday. I remembered liking it when it first came out in theatres... enjoyed Brandon Routh's portrayal with his pretty blue (OK, fake) eyes. But the casting of Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane bugged me because she is sooo unlike Margot Kidder. Now, I don't know all the details behind the making of this new film so maybe there was a reason for casting the little waif-like, baby-face actress. But for me, I loved the chemistry in the original films between Kidder and Christopher Reeve as Superman / Clark Kent. Lois Lane was just such a cool character - a sassy, ballsy, guy's gal, tough chick, etc.

Same goes for Princess Leia in the Star Wars films. I love Star Wars, but I'm not a die hard fan, since the pre-quel trilogy was a huge disappointment for me. Again, they didn't have that humorous playful chemistry that the originals had with Leia and Hans Solo.

And I was thinking about it... are there actresses from today's generation that could capture the "magic" that Margot Kidder and Carrie Fisher gave in their legendary performances? Someone that could portray the whole "sassy, ballsy, guy's gal, tough chick" - someone that could be considered sexy, but not be an obvious sex symbol but funny, too.

I couldn't really think of anyone that was a perfect fit, but here are some that I think could possibly work:

• Jennifer Garner
• Reese Witherspoon
• Anne Hathaway

I don't know... what do you think?

Wrap Up of random things from TV this week

Here's some random comments from things I've seen on TV last week:

Newport Beach
Is it wrong to have a "Pretty in Pink" theme for a 32nd birthday party???

Top Chef
Dude, the chopping wars were awesome! I don't know what Casey was doing to those onions... she was cutting as slow as I would. Sara rocked! Diced onions were flying everywhere! And then Hung with those chickens? He scares me.

Big Brother and that new Drew Carey game show
To win HoH (head of household), houseguests had to guess the results of polls on various BB situations. For example, what percent of voters thought so and so looked best in the bunny outfit? There were a whole series of these and I thought, what a stupid game!!! Who cares! I didn't realize the whole game was just an advertisement of the new Drew Carey game show (in addition to The Price is Right) - the Power of 10.

Preview of Big Shots show
So I caught a commercial of that new Big Shots show while watching the Ugly Betty rerun. I had high hopes since it does have Michael Vartan (yum) but I have to say, the show looks completely obnoxious. It focuses on a group of four, young, rich, high-powered CEOs and all their "problems" with their women and their work stuff. Actually, only the scenes with Christopher Titus and Dylan McDermott bugged me. BUT they do have a good time slot this fall on Thursdays after Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy.

Real World and DHV

So on this week's episode of VH1's The Pick Up Artist, we learned about the importance of demonstrating a higher value, or DHV.

For example, in last night's Real World-Sydney, I would have given Irish girl Noirin a decent DHV. But once she started snoggin' Isaac (sorry - still in Harry Potter mode) at the club, she immediately plummeted to a DLV in my book. Isaac is kind of ick. Don't even remind me about when they got back to the house.

The whole Dunbar-Parisa thing... sad! Dunbar to Parisa: "I respect you the most so I'm going to be the rudest to you." Parisa to Dunbar: "I'll tell you what I think by writing you a letter."

These people are so dysfunctional... why am I watching this???

LOL - Do people really speak in IM???

I have another random comment about the recent episode of The Hills. I recently asked my friend JW if people actually spoke in IM abbreviations (LOL, BRB, LMAO - I'm not hip enough to know any others...) I originally thought this was limited to the teenage scene but I got my answer while watching The Hills yesterday.

Upon learning of Heidi and Spencer's engagement, Elodie's first response was "O. M. G." Literally. And I've always considered her one of the brighter ones on this show. Although I guess it's not really a bad thing... you're just being more efficient in your oral communications, right?

On a related topic (but not really) - how come Elodie appears to be much more tolerant of Spencer this season? I like when people on the show trash him!

Looks like I will be tuning into Heroes this fall...

I really appreciate you guys who check in from time to time to hear my random thoughts on TV and what not. And I know a lot of you don't really care about American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance and although I do stand by my position that it's my blog and I'll write what I want :), I also try to make an effort from time to time to mention things that I know you guys are more interested in.

For example, I tried to get into Heroes last season. But it never hooked me in. Well, I'm going to give it another try this fall because they just cast one of my fave actresses, Kristen Bell, from one of my fave shows (RIP), Veronica Mars.

Michael Ausiello just posted a great interview with her to discuss her new Heroes gig and other projects.

Some highlights:

• She was honored to be considered for Lost, but ultimately chose Heroes because she could stay in Los Angeles and she is already friends with several people from that show
  
• She will appear in at least 13 episodes which could possibly be extended
  
• She would love to go back to Broadway and hinted that maybe she'd consider appearing in the musical version of Legally Blonde in the spring
  
• A movie version of Veronica Mars is something that both she and creator Rob Thomas would love to do (which would be awesome!)
  

A very satisfying ending...

I finally finished the last of the Harry Potter books tonight. Still digesting everything, but.... wow.

That J.K. Rowling sure can tell a good story.

:)

FINALLY! Heidi proves she's not a complete idiot

For once, Heidi made me cheer for her tonight. It made me so giddy with happiness to see Spencer's shocked expression when he came home to discover Heidi painting over his "Hollywood" graffiti mural, aka one of Spencer's many "surprises". Good times, good times. This made up for his stupid-ass comment earlier in the episode when he explained how he used to think marriage was only for guys that couldn't get laid and who would give half their money away. (Argh...)

Oh and remember when I was wondering about that Umbrella song at the end of The Hills premiere? I think it's Mandy Moore! Check out the video below...



And remember crazy Brooke from Real World Denver? The girl that was always having screaming / crying fits? Well, apparently she's dating Evelyn from that Fresh Meat season! She's bi !!! Who knew! Wasn't she always talking about making her gay roommate straight?

One more thing...

Since you know I like to be in the loop on all the big buzz items in pop culture, I'm sure I will be checking this out at some point this weekend.

:)

Random comments on a Friday afternoon

One follow up comment on the SYTYCD finale, I was surprised that they didn't do an encore performance of Lacey and Kameron's Mia Michaels contemporary piece from the first competition show.

Also, I just discovered that there's a My Boys blog by the actor that plays Brendan, aka Brando. In his latest blog, he mentions that there were scenes from the last episode ($$$ problems) that were actually shot in Chicago off Lake Shore Drive. I wonder which scenes because all the exterior shots looked like they were shot on a lot to me. Maybe the one outside Bobby's apartment/penthouse? Or the yoga one? Definitely not outside the Brazilian restaurant.

Click here to see photos from the upcoming "The Dark Knight" film, the sequel to "Batman Begins". Heath Ledger is pretty creepy looking as the new Joker.

One more to go...

So I finally finished Harry Potter Book 6 - The Half Blood Prince. (I know, I'm way off my schedule.) I could comment... but I think I'll just wait until I finish the whole thing - at this rate, who knows when that will be?

But drop me a line if you've read or are reading them, too. I know I will definitely want to discuss when I'm through.

Sabra Rocks!

Well, it seemed like everyone knew that Sabra and Danny would be in the final two - and the adorable Sabra won the whole thing! Who would have thought? That's actually pretty impressive because I don't think she got any exposure during the audition shows, right? And it just shows... you don't have to be able to do a million turns to win! She's a little powerhouse, you know? Like Lacey commented, she really is all muscle, huh?

I liked all the dances that got "encore" performances, but the main thing I will take away from the season finale was the DISAPPOINTING "performance" between Cat and Nigel that they kept teasing about throughout the whole finale. I kept thinking that silly video was just the opener and that after it was over, the two would come out on stage and do a dance. C'mon ... the other show did it! Both Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris from Dancing with the Stars did performances with the professional dancers and they ended up being cute routines. I'm very disappointed in those Cat and Nigel.

And I had no idea that good-bye song was from Ryan Cabrera! His live version wasn't so hot, though. However, it was definitely a better performance than Nicole from PCD. (BTW - Did she drop her last name?) I thought the staging was lame with the whole singing inside the box and the weak choreo... I appreciated that she sang most of it live, however, that song is eh. Is that her debut single? She didn't have anything better?

Another random note - Neil actually has a pretty TV-friendly face. And they've already established this week that the girls adore him... I could really see him being a breakout star here. Like the next Zac Efron (any of you catch that reference???).

Also, what are your thoughts on the American Band show? I don't think that will make the cut for me this fall, how about you?

Heidi Montag's new single... or maybe not?

In case you missed it, Ryan Seacrest debuted the first single from aspiring pop singer Heidi Montag, aka Lauren's ex-BFF from The Hills. It features a rap by her beau Spencer Pratt (I know!)... more on that later.

You can hear it here.

But now it seems that this song is NOT the intended debut single of Heidi (although it is her and Spencer "singing"/rapping) - supposedly they were just messing around in the studio and her record company leaked it out. Apparently, Heidi is very distraught that this single is our first impression of her "singing" ability and has been crying all day long.

The song isn't that bad... as you'd expect, it's very processed like a Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton song. And I hate myself for saying this... but Spencer's rap isn't bad, either. If I hadn't known it was him, I might have actually liked it.

Let me know what you think.

For Office Fans...

Dunder Mifflin has a new website! Actual content is limited, however, it does include a press release highlighting Ryan's new promotion! :)

For Lost Fans...

If you like behind-the-scenes stories, here's an interesting article about how Lost was first created. It explains why Jeffrey Lieber shares "Created by" credits with Lost rockstars JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof.

Another TV tip - VH1's The Pickup Artist

OK, guys, here's another show I'm going to throw out there... The Pickup Artist on VH1. It's a competition show where "Mystery" (aka The Pickup Artist) and his two wingmen coach 8 awkward dudes on how to pick up chicks. Kind of like Hitch. I was a little skeptical at first, because Mystery is not exactly the cat's meow in my book, but he appears to have some well thought out strategies and so far it's been quite interesting! There's only been two episodes so far and it's just so funny to hear how they break it all down.

For example, here's some terminology introduced in the second episode:

• Avatar (personal image): All the guys were told they blend in too much so they were each told to give themselves a makeover and create a unique look for themselves. Some worked out well (Spoon and his new mohawk and ear piercings) and others (the 45 yr old in hip hop clothes) not so much
  
• Gambit (opening line): The guys were then taught the value of a good opener - the point of which is to create interest in you, without appearing too interested in them. They guys were then taught a whole set of canned, "proven" openers to try out at the bar that night. They pretty much all seemed like survey questions, like "Hey guys - do you floss before or after you brush?" or "My friend's girlfriend kissed a girl - is that cheating?" or "Is it OK to have strippers at my friend's bachelor party?". Another tip - "Hey - want to see me breakdance?" is not a good opener
  
• Set (a group of people): The guys' competition in this episode was to see who could best open a set. The guys were videotaped talking to people at a bar while Mystery and his wingmen watched and commented. Let me tell you - sports commentary on pick up attempts is hilarious!
  

Overall - good show. Very entertaining!

The Hills!!!

Before we begin... yay for the SYTYCD final four, Lacey, Sabra, Danny, and Neil! I'm happy with those choices. I'm so sad the show is ending though. Hey, wouldn't it be cool if some of the good ballroom dancers went on to Dancing with the Stars? You know, like Pasha, for example.

As for the Hills... yay, the gang is back! And I've got LOTS of comments!

First episode:

• So - was there a sex tape or not? And I could see Spencer starting that rumor - but Heidi?
  
• Spencer and his fishtank - ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Seriously, what is wrong with this kid?
  
• C'mon, Whitney, Lauren's London boy was cute!
  
• Speaking of which, I can appreciate Lauren wanting to date like a guy... but she was getting kind of annoying with boasting about her "jackpot" at the club
  
• Jen Bunney and her "focusing on real friendships"... PLEASE!!! Did she forget that Heidi basically told her to beat it when she visited her at Bolthouse after the Brody scandal?
  
• Ooh - catfight at Les Deux! It almost got as intense as when Alex bitched out Jessica in Cabo. Almost. But it was still good.
  
• Yay, it's Elodie! Diggin' the new brunette 'do...
  
• Random comment - I'm a big fan of Lauren and all her "frocks"
  
• What version of the Umbrella song did they play at the end of the first episode? Was that Rhianna? I like the original version better.

Second episode:

• Spencer's "gift".... where do we even begin? Obviously, the fish tank was not really an indication of the *horrible* taste Spencer has in home decor. Graffiti??? All over the living room??? In a really nice apartment??? Heidi - how many red flags does a girl need?!!!! Geesh.
  
• OK, first impression of Justin, Audrina's ex - did anyone see that coming? I was *not* expecting a long-haired, artsy looking fellow - especially one that wants to be nicknamed Bobby.
  
• YAY - Lo is back! And I'm with her, I prefer a guy who is good already - none of this bad boy nonsense
  
• Lauren is *really* good at giving the evil death stare - has Audrina learned nothing from the Heidi fiasco?
  
• How many cats do these girls have?
  
• Spencer is so incredibly lame when he was shopping for rings... "Where's the bling?" Ick. As for the proposal... well, I just don't get why Heidi loves him so much.
  

The teasers for the rest of the season look awesome! Whitney kisses Brody? Lauren hangs out with Jason again? Lauren and Jason run into Heidi and Spencer? Can't wait!

Darn MTV - why did you have to debut Newport Harbor afterward? I need to get to bed!!! I'll comment on that one later...

Breakfast at Tiffany's, Big Brother, Real World - Sydney and other random comments

It's so nice to have movie channels! It's like having my own little Netflix because I get to check out so many new movies. Well, new to me, that is.

For example, I had a nice relaxing Friday evening watching Breakfast at Tiffany's - a classic Audrey Hepburn film. It was good - although there were a couple of items that totally threw me off. First off, Audrey's character, Holly Golightly is horrible to her poor cat! Of course, all is well by the end of the movie, but there were a couple of scenes during the film that I found horrifying! Poor little furball. But the cat treatment is NOTHING compared to Mickey Rooney's role in the film. Maybe this is well known to others, but not to me. For some reason, they decided to cast Mickey Rooney as Holly's cranky and eccentric neighbor that lives upstairs. Oh, did I mention the neighbor is also supposed to be Japanese???!!! His portrayal was so over-the-top with his facial expressions and "accent" and well, pretty much offensive and would NEVER fly in today's world. It's just so weird! I mean, you know, Mickey Rooney, right? He's that cute little old guy that used to be in all those movie musicals with Judy Garland when he was younger? Anyway, I'll always look at him differently now...

I also half-watched Dukes of Hazzard. Woah, they weren't kidding when they said Jessica Simpson couldn't act. I mean, it's not like she had to do much in this film - it wasn't a drama or anything! Seriously, every line was painful to watch. BUT - she did look amazing, I'll give her that.

Just Like Heaven - a chick flick with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, set in San Francisco. You'd think this would be a slam dunk for me, right? Surprisingly, no, it really wasn't. Didn't buy the chemistry... also I didn't really buy Reese as a doctor, which surprised me.

Over to the TV world... I caught bits and pieces of Real World - Sydney. First impressions - I don't think Kelly Anne is all that cute. Along those lines, I don't think Dunbar is all that hot either. And Parisa looks so much better in her interviews than in the day to day shots.

I was also going to post that people should check out Big Brother if for nothing else, to check out grown adults living in the house wearing full sized furry bunny suits. It's pretty amusing, I must say. But they have this guy - nicknamed Evil Dick - who's just that. Evil and a dick. He's just so cold and mean and says the cruelest things to all the other houseguests. And I think it's more than just game playing strategy - I think he really is that mean and cruel. And it's even worse because now other people are stooping to his level. They are lashing back with mean comments that they probably wouldn't say but they've just been egged on so much. It's not even entertaining anymore - it's just sad and depressing.

On to much more exciting news - The Hills is back tonight!!! YAY!!!

Mystery Solved: Details behind Padma's Scar

I know on at least one occasion my friends and I have discussed the scar on Padma Lakshmi's (aka Top Chef host) arm. I thought I had read that no one really knew where it came from and that she wouldn't discuss it in interviews.

Guess I was wrong because she explains it all in an old Vogue article. She was in a car accident with her family when she was fourteen and her arm was completely shattered which left a scar about 1" wide and 7" long.

She successfully became a model regardless... at first, she modeled with long sleeves or with her arm covered in make-up and then eventually, it sort of became a beauty trademark. I guess like Cindy Crawford's mole or something.

One to Watch: Damages on FX

If you're looking for some quality TV during the summer hiatus, you've got to check out some of the new shows on the cable networks. I've recently become hooked on FX's new series, Damages. It's so good and there's nothing on the big networks like it.

I'm not even sure how to describe it... the main characters are lawyers but the show is NOT like those courtroom procedural shows. One reviewer called it a thriller - that would be a good description.

The pilot opened with a chilling scene of a frantic young lady covered in blood running from something horrible through the streets of NYC. Then cut to 6 months earlier where we find out she's a bright, up and coming lawyer (Ellen) who's just been hired by a high power litigation firm headed by Glenn Close's character (Patty Hewes) - who is a total badass, very cold, calculating, cut-throat, etc.

The show cuts back and forth between the two timeframes - the backstory is that Patty Hewes is in the middle of a huge litigation case (think Erin Brockovich or Runaway Jury) and the person her firm is suing (Frobisher, played by Ted Danson) has a lot to lose. So it gets all dirty and sneaky and stuff.

The other part is what happens in the future, but you don't know the details and the show slowly gives you clues as to what happened. They usually do this with those chilling scenes which I think occur both in the beginning and the end of each episode. There's no dialogue in these scenes, they just show you what happened...

There's only been three episodes so far and here's how each one ended (if I remember correctly):
1. Shot of Ellen's fiance murdered in their bathtub (Is this what Ellen was running from?)
2. Shot of Ellen standing over her murdered fiance all covered in blood herself (same condition as the opening scene of the pilot) holding a bloody statue of liberty bookend (Did Ellen murder her fiance?)
3. Shot of Ellen actually being the one who was attacked - someone was trying to kill her

OK, I've realized that I've made this show sound all creepy and gory. That's actually just a small part of the show - but they're the cliffhangers that make me keep tuning back in. I want to know what the heck happened to this girl!!!

But the bulk of the episodes highlight Ellen and Patty and the rest of the firm working the case, Patty testing Ellen as the rookie on the team, Ellen trying to balance her career and personal life, Ted Danson and his lawyer scheming away... etc.

It's been really good so far... I would consider this "movie-quality" if that means anything.

Tuesdays on FX at 10PM...

I want to be on the hot tamale train!

These dancers really have improved so much since the beginning - it's kinda cool to see.

Pasha was awesome tonight! He was so "funky" with the hip hop, not ballroom-y at all. And he was perfect in the waltz :)

I think Danny figured out the secret to winning over the audience - smiling!

My favorite routine of the night was the Mandy Moore one (no, not that Mandy Moore). It was just so different and cool! Very slick...



And about Neil's "planche" move... did anyone else find that really hot??? (TMI?) I have to admit I did an instant replay on that one... :)

So bummed that we have to wait until Monday for the results...

How could I have missed this?

Here's the latest from the boy band world (I know - apparently, there still is one!)... did you know that VH1 has this show called Mission: Man Band? It's described as Surreal Life meets Making the Band. (Speaking of Making the Band, Diddy fired Laurie Ann! I don't know any of the details, but that sassy choreographer was the best thing about that show!)

Here's a synopsis of the Man Band series: "Chris Kirkpatrick (N*SYNC); Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees); Rich Cronin (LFO) and Bryan Abrams (Color Me Badd) will live together for one month, create new music, a dynamic stage show and perform as a new pop group."

I'm surprised this slipped under my radar - it was actually announced earlier this year!

I don't think this will make my DVR list, though... there's too much other good stuff out there. (More on that coming soon... for example, The Closer and My Boys were awesome last night!)

VH1 is pretty funny though... they're all about giving people a second chance with the whole celebrity thing (Scott Baio, Danny Bonaduce, Hulk Hogan, Bret Michael, etc...).

I love those boys!

My Boys is hysterical. This episode had so many funny moments... I just love those boys! I want to hang out with them, too, don't you? Some highlights:

• Trouty referring to Bobby as "Boo-boo" (Speaking of which, talk about playing an opposite character from David on Roseanne!)
• PJ's brother working his tuxedo - playing party planner, bartender, drummer in the band
• Bobby making fun of PJ flirting with the Cubs player ("Ugh! Just the whole thing... ugh.")
• All the boys telling Bobby how hot he is - forcing him to finally blow up at PJ and the Cubs player and telling them to back off since being sexy is not one of his things
• Trouty is #16 and Brando only scores #37? Really?
• Kenny's response when PJ accused him of not knowing anything about her potential Cubs suitor: "I know him. He's on my fantasy team. He's breaking my heart and he'll break yours too!"

I know there were so many more but I can't remember them now.

I think it's hilarious that there's all this tension between Stephanie and Kenny but they never explain why. I thought maybe I had missed something - but I've read some articles on the show and I'm pretty sure they've never explained it. Theories, anyone?

Random Comment

You know who's really creepy? (Besides Ben and Professor Umbridge.) Cillian Murphy, that's who. I caught Red Eye this weekend and he played such a psycho! Head butting my girl Rachel McAdams and at the end chasing her around with his stabbed throat - creepy! Plus I saw bits of Batman Begins, too, where he is again a bad guy (*very* bad)... I just can't picture him playing a nice, charming fellow.

Any why did they give him such a dorky Peter Tork hair-do for the Red Eye film???

The Bourne Ultimatum Rocks!

I watched "The Bourne Ultimatum" this morning. No, I wasn't playing hooky. It was for work. Sort of. Thanks Juniper - the free screening was awesome and I enjoyed learning about your high performance networks! ;) (By the way - the showing was at the Mercado, and it was so funny to see the line for the men's restroom be so much longer than the one for the women's restroom.)

Anyway - this movie rocks! And you know I'm not really into action films. I had only seen the first one so I was a little worried about being lost so I actually read the plot summaries of the first two films on wikipedia. (Yes, I'm a geek.) Turns out it wasn't really necessary - the movie does a pretty good with explaining the backstory throughout the film.

All the action scenes were super intense and highly entertaining. I get freaked out easily with these kind of films and there really was only one "cringe-worthy" scene for me which this crazy fight scene with Bourne and a bad guy (which wasn't *that* bad) in some empty apartment of all places. It was also really amusing to watch Bourne outwit a whole crew of CIA agents.

The movie also had a very satisfying ending considering this is the third "Bourne" film (assuming this trilogy does not have more sequels).

To summarize, Matt Damon as Jason Bourne is a total BAD-ASS. I definitely recommend!

Not a night for breakers

I guess when there's only 8 dancers left, there's no way not to be disappointed with the results. But I really didn't think it would be Dominic and Sara. Who the heck is voting for Lauren???

Random comment - other than Danny and his amazing spinning ability, no one is really *that* good of a solo dancer, dontcha think? I thought Lacey would wow us but she sort of just ran all over the stage. And Pasha just waved his cape around (still love him though). Actually, I guess Sabra and Neil did a pretty good job as well. Sabra is so adorable - she is so tiny and she just flies off the stage.

Also, I love that the show is really good about introducing new music. Well, new to me, anyway, since I'm not that hip with the tunes. I like how they always show the name and artist at the beginning of the routine. Having them come on to perform, like with One Republic, was really cool, too. I never would have heard of them if it wasn't for the show. Unless maybe their song was used in the background of a Grey's Anatomy episode - that's also where I pick up new tunes as well. :)

Anyway, here's the video of the song they performed on the show, "Apologize."



And here is when Danny and Anya performed to it:

A Miracle Indeed

Is anyone else freaked out that Nicole Richie is 4 months pregnant with Joel Madden's child? Isn't she like 80 pounds or something - can her waify body handle a baby??? Well, best of luck to them. Man, jail time and pregnancy - certainly is a big year for her, huh?

You Can't Stop the Beat

This is too cute - apparently, they are now having Sing-A-Long showings of the movie Hairspray! Lyrics will flash across the screen during all the musical numbers and the audience is encouraged to sing along. I wonder if people actually participate... that would really crack me up. A list of showings can be found here.

I Guess I Just Didn't Get It

Here's the thing - I missed Mia Michaels' intro before Neil and Lacey's contemporary piece. So I didn't know the whole backstory while watching their performance. Sure, it was nice - but it didn't have any huge impact on me. And then there were everyone's reactions! People crying and saying this was one of the best performances - not just from this season, not just from this show, but one of the best performances on television *ever*... I was so confused.

Even after rewinding and hearing the intro and then watching the piece again - I don't know... it still didn't do anything for me. I could understand why people were crying but I don't think that will be a dance piece that would rank as one of my favorites from this show. To be honest, I liked their Latin jazz number better.

Here it is - take a look and let me know what you think:



I still think last season's "Park Bench" routine was more interesting:



BTW - did you know that this was nominated for an Emmy??? (That was a sarcastic comment, BTW, since they constantly mention this!)

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!

Paris Hilton on Larry King Live

OK, I'll admit it - I caught part of this interview. I had it on my DVR so I watched the first part... but it became obvious he wasn't going to really drill her so it got pretty boring after awhile.

If you're interested, here are the few points I thought were sort of interesting:

• The "medical condition" she had in the beginning when they briefly let her serve her time on house arrest was claustrophobia
• Her cell was 8'x12' with a metal bunk bed, a toilet, and a sink - she stayed in hers alone
• She ate all her meals in her cell which were provided to her through a slot in the door
• Lunch was a bologna sandwich - just bologna, two pieces of bread, and mayo
• Dinner was the only hot meal of the day which the inmates referred to as jail-slop
• Supposedly the other inmates were nice to her
• She only had one hour a day outside her cell
• During that hour, she could meet with her visitors and she was only allowed two a day
• She wore an orange jump suit while in jail

That's all I can remember for now... oh and she didn't say "That's hot" at all - good for her!

Game Shows

Does anyone else find it interesting that there are two new karaoke-related game shows coming to prime time? I think it's a good idea and would probably be a fun family-oriented show to watch... I wonder which one will be the bigger hit? I think the one on NBC is called "The Singing Bee" and the one on Fox is called "Don't Forget the Lyrics"?

Is anyone else suspicious about the contestants on these shows and other ones like "Deal or No Deal" or "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader"? They're not like the ones you see on the classic game shows like "Wheel of Fortune" or "Jeopardy" or "Family Feud" and stuff. It seems like the people on the newer shows are all actors or wannabe actors and it totally bugs me. I want the every day Joe Schmoe! Otherwise, I feel like I'm being scammed.

Thoughts on SYTYCD

Well, I'm a little late but I wanted to talk about this week's SYTYCD episodes (sorry, John! Time to get on the Cat Deeley train and join the rest of us fanatics! heehee...)

My favorite performances by far were Hok and Jamie's Wade Robson piece and Dominic and Sabra's rumba.

Who else was worried when Wade described his choreography as "a love story between a hummingbird and a flower"? I was expecting his comment to be followed by one of those record scratch sound effects with a dead pause. But I was wrong. That piece was amazing! I think guest judge Debbie Allen described it perfectly when she said that was something she could have seen as a Cirque de Soleil performance. The choreography was perfect for them. I even thought Jamie was really good even though she sort of annoys me in her interviews with her chipmunky voice.

Here is their performance:


Next one... Dominic and Sabra. This what I love about this show... seeing b-boy Dominic totally rock it as a ballroom dancer. And I know this sounds corny, but watching Sabra dance really is a delight! :) She's just so delicate and dainty and pretty... like a little tinkerbell or something, heehee! I'm glad I have a DVR now... the first time watching the show I was totally watching Sabra but then watched it again to watch Dominic and he totally nailed all that hip moving and stuff without being too overtop. Which was really impressive considering the way he totally hammed it up when they were done with all his posturing during the judging... oh my gosh did that crack me up!



Anyway... I actually was disappointed that Jessi was eliminated. Her solo performances were always her weakness... even in the early audition episodes, I couldn't figure out what her talent was besides being all sultry when she danced... but she always nails her choreographed pieces! I wanted Lauren to get the boot - I don't get the hype about her. Plus her eyebrows bug me. AND she picked a K-Fed song to dance her solo to! The horrors...

And it's so sad that Jesus got the boot... I loved his story about how his town all chipped in to support his study of dance. I hope Cedric goes home next week. He was AWFUL in this week's contemporary piece. I mean, Mia Michaels actually choreographed him to sit in a corner for a good portion of the piece! Shauna deserves a better partner... like Neil (*hint, hint*)!

On a random note, I loved that we were able to see the actual cha cha piece between Pasha and Jessi. (BTW - I am totally crushing on both Pasha and Danny!) I think it was great that the former ballroom champion / current choreographer's assistant filled in for Jessi during the competition show, especially considering the not-so-nice comments made about her afterward, but you could see we originally got the watered-down version of the full choreography.

Without Jessi:


With Jessi:


And weren't the "ambition" interviews sort of interesting? Sabra wants to be a comedian? Shauna wants to be a techno singer? Lauren wants to work for NASA? Who knew!

Finally, let's talk about Fergie's performance. Her outfit was ick but I thought she looked pretty during the close-ups... and normally I always think she looks sort of rough. And you know how she sang the "clean" version of "Glamourous"? You know where she goes "send your broke broke home"? I thought it was funny when she let the audience sing that part and they all totally belted out "send your broke ASS home" - heehee!

Highlights from Last Night's SYTYCD

Yes, that's the abbreviated version of So You Think You Can Dance... anyway, I found some clips of some of last night's most interesting routines.

First, the one with Lacey that I mentioned in my previous entry:


Then there was this cool "pop jazz" routine from Wade Robson (c'mon, everyone knows Wade, right???)


And the jive routine that got high marks from all the judges:

Kathy Griffin, So You Think You Can Dance, and The Sopranos

OK, I know people hate her and find her completely annoying but I will admit it - I LOVE Kathy Griffin. I think she is absolutely hilarious. So of course, I am thrilled that season 3 of her show, My Life on the D-List, has just started up again on Bravo.

Kathy recently divorced her husband and now is looking to date again - except this time, her main goal is to get coverage in the tabloids. It's hilarious to hear her explain it.

Anyway, her first date for "publicity"? Why, it's Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys! No lie. I'm surprised he signed up for this, especially since AJ McLean was Kathy's first choice. (And by the way - ew, Kathy. Brian was always my first choice, then Nick, Howie and Kevin are a toss up, but AJ would definitely be last for me.)

The date was pretty funny. Here are some quotes from Kathy during this episode:

"Nick is almost as black as Justin Timberlake. And that's as black as you can get."

(to Nick) "I swear if I have to open one door, I'm gonna kick you in the balls. 'Cause I'm a lady, goddammit."

(in reference to Nick only being 27) "I'm not about to molest this boy if there's no paparazzi taking pictures."

Anyway, that show makes me laugh. Here's a clip from a previous season that to this day still makes me cry from laughing so hard! Basically, one of her dogs keeps running away from her property, so Kathy hires a professional to help her train her dog.



I'm also loving that So You Think You Can Dance is back, too. Especially that we're now at the performance shows. Haven't picked out my favorites but I'm really starting to like Lacey, kid sis of last season's winner, Benji. She was all over that Mia Michaels routine. Although it sort of reminded me of one of my favorite performances from last season - Ivan and Allison dancing to "Why" from Annie Lennox. (And here's another cute routine from that couple.)



I'm still trying to figure out Mia's choreography - the whole lyrical style is not really my thing, but her routines are always the most interesting and emotional.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see the dancers try different styles than what they're used to. For example, I'd like to see Hok do anything besides breakdance or hip hop - ballroom on lyrical would be interesting with him. You could see how dancing hip hop was a challenge for latin ballroom dancer, Faina.

Finally, what's up with the Sopranos? I've never watched the show but everyone is talking about it lately. Was that episode the series finale (as opposed to the season finale)?

Bye Bye, Mr. Wizard...

Dude - do you guys remember Mr. Wizard from Nickelodeon??? I used to watch that show all the time when I was in grade school. Especially when I was desperate for ideas for all those science fairs.

Well, I guess Mr. Wizard just recently passed away. So sad... I think he really did make learning fun. Didn't they used to blow up stuff?

http://www.mrwizardstudios.com/

Song from JC Penney commercial

I recently helped one of my friends locate a song from a commercial she had heard over and over again. It's a cool song so I thought I'd post it here, too, in case anyone else was curious.

This is the JC Penney commercial with the mother and daughter walking where they grow up through different stages of life.



The song is an iTunes exclusive - a "live session" by Joshua Radin called "Only You."

Kate Walsh is really funny

Check out Kate Walsh's appearance on David Spade's show on Comedy Central. She must be one of the coolest actresses in Hollywood... in this clip, she is hysterical!



I wasn't sold on her Private Practice show, but she's cool... I'll give it another try.