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.

Random Dancing thoughts

If I was a "Star" on this show, I think my least desired partner would be Louis Van Amstel. He gives me the heebie geebies. At least he doesn't have that slicked-back ponytail look anymore.

Is anyone else shocked by Adam Carolla and his performances? I mean, they aren't awesome, but they are at least decent. I had him pegged as another Tucker Carlson.

I wonder if the producers and hosts are hoping he is gone soon as he is such a livewire with his comments! Maybe you don't like cheesy ballroom dancing, but it's worth it to laugh at Adam and his zingers.

I'm still a bit scared by Priscilla - I'm definitely never ever doing Botox. (Not that I was ever planning to!) Watch out Laurie! This will be you soon! (Real Housewives of Orange County reference...)

I'll admit it... I've been keepin' up with the Kardashians

Now don't judge me - the show is pretty entertaining! I initially thought the show would revolve around just Kim so I avoided the show at first. I figured it would be like the Paris and Nicole show and I thought they were completely obnoxious. Ok, fine, Nicole did make me laugh every now and then.

Anyway... the Kardashians show is very different. It's cute because it's all about the family. I always enjoy those type of shows because I like to see them in their "real" element, away from all the celebrity stuff. Other good ones: Family Jewels (Gene Simmons), Hogan Knows Best, Run's House, and of course, the original - The Osbournes.

In the show, we actually see more of Kim's sisters, Khloe and Kourtney. They're kind of like Paris and Nicole with the antics they pull. Example - bringing in a homeless man to clean up in their parents bathroom and then dressing him up in their step-dad's clothes.

But my favorite episode is when they focused on their brother, Rob (who seems like a total sweetie) and his relationship with a Cheetah girl! I love them Cheetah Girls so I totally approve and they're very cute together - however getting a tattoo of her full name after three months of dating... eeeyikes!!!

Oh, and guess who their step dad is - Bruce flippin' Jenner! That's another funny part of the show... poor Bruce is so out of place with these crazies.

There are two more kids - Kendall and Kylie. They are the youngins and are the kids of Bruce and Kris Jenner. The other four (Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, and Rob) are the kids of Robert Kardashian, i.e. OJ's lawyer. There are some touching moments about him as you can see that the kids are still struggling with the death of their dad.

Anyway, check it out on E! I don't know when it's on but I just added it to my DVR. They've made the cut. :)

Just give up

This just cracks me up.

I've officially become my mom

... because I caught myself taking notes while watching Suze Orman.

Suze is strictly a DVR show for me. But every now and then I'll pull up an episode in the hopes I'll pick up a new thing or two. Also, the show sort of has a Ricki Lake/Jerry Springer factor for me... that is, you hear these people talk about their really screwed up financial situations, and you think, "Boy, I'm glad I'm not him!"

Anyway, on this episode, Suze had a guest from MorningStar who recommended her top five mutual funds for retirement accounts. Turns out I didn't need to furiously take notes, because they posted them online here.

Happy investing!


P.S. Congratulate me - I finally finished my taxes!!! This year was particularly painful because I unloaded some ESPP shares for the first time. Entering the line by line item for 12 different lots of stocks was making my head go dizzy!

People are evil

At least that's what I learned when I watched the season finale of The Gauntlet last week. Did anyone else happen to catch it? Poor Eric... he's the big guy on the Veterans team. That guy was never going to make it far on the final challenge. First of all, it looked like a crazy hot day in Mexico. Second, the challenge kicked off with a half mile swim to shore. OK, that would pretty much knock me out. Anyway, each team then had to chain themselves to each other and go for a run and do a series of challenges.

Eric was dying once he got out of the water. He could barely put his shoes on. Honestly, from this point on, he looked like he could pass out at any second. Real wobbly and stuff. His teammates just barked at him the whole way. When getting ready for the run, they decided to put him at the end of the chain so they could, and I quote, "drag him".

And that's pretty much what they did and it made me sick. This poor guy is dying, but he's being dragged by a chain around his waist by eight people who are all yelling at him. San Diego Brad was the only one that cared about his health and spoke up for him.

Somehow, they do manage to drag him for a bit until eventually he keels over and um, is flat out on the ground struggling to breathe! His teammates' reaction? "He cost us $30K!" Ugh... so evil. OK, I should clarify - it was really that Ev chick that came across as pure evil with all the whining about the money. But they all looked like a**holes, in my opinion.

On a random note... I was at the gym last night (I KNOW! Crazy, right?) and as I was flipping through the channels while on the elliptical, I saw a commercial for the season finale of Celebrity Apprentice.

That show is still on? News to me...

In Treatment...

... is wicked addicting. So I'm glad this season is ending soon. At least I think it's ending, anyway.

When I first saw the commercials for this show, I thought, "Oh boy - that looks super boring." If you're not familiar with the show, here's the deal:

"In Treatment" is an HBO series starring Gabriel Byrne as a therapist named Paul treating a variety of patients. It's a half hour show that airs every day Monday through Friday. And every episode represents the therapy session between Paul and one of his patients. I usually catch the Wed-Fri shows. Wednesday is Sophie - a pre-teen competitive gymnast who has issues with her dad. Thursday is Jake (aka Knox Overstreet) and Amy (aka Natasha from "Bridget Jones' Diary" or McDreamy's sister) - a couple who is considering divorce. And on Friday, the tables are reversed because Paul then meets with his own therapist, Gina (Dianne Wiest).

Monday and Tuesday is Blair Underwood and Melissa George (not sure which is which) but I never seem to catch those. I know the Melissa George one must be juicy because she plays Laura who develops a thing for Paul and Paul in turn thinks he might be falling for her but he's married with kids plus the whole doctor/patient thing and stuff. The Laura drama usually spills into Paul's Friday session with Gina.

Anyway, it's actually a pretty good series that just sucks you in. I guess I like it because I'm a nosy person and I enjoy prying into people's personal lives. Even if they aren't real. :)

Plus, I've got about five different HBO channels (and now, IN DEMAND - woot woot!) so it seems like there is always an episode on. I actually don't even know what time the shows regularly appear.

So if you have HBO, I recommend. Be nosy like me!

I am fascinated by David Cook

When David Cook began to sing tonight, my first thought was oh no... he's doing the Lionel Richie thing again?

But I really enjoyed his version of Billie Jean. I think his 80's pop-turned-rock interpretations are really amazing - even more creative and enjoyable than the Blake Lewis beatbox stuff that impressed me last year.

I think Chikezie will go home this week. Thoughts anyone?

Thanks Syesha...

... for making me feel like an ancient old fart.

I was half-listening to her intro part and then all of a sudden I hear her say, "I was born in ... blah, blah, blah... on January 2nd, 1987."

1987???

Holy crap, I'm old.

Expanding the Office fanbase!

I recently learned that my sister has never watched "The Office". Outrageous, I know! Turns out that she always wanted to, but didn't want to just jump in the middle. So a few months ago, I loaned my sister my entire DVD collection of "The Office". Yep, my sister was able to discover and enjoy seasons 1 through 3 all together without suffering through those painful "will they or won't they" cliffhangers!

Granted, she has a 9 month old baby (the CUTEST baby in the world, by the way!) so it's not like she can go in audgepodge mode and hibernate for an entire weekend to plow through the DVDs all at once. So it took a couple of months, but she finished them all and she loved them! Yay! We make a good team, I got her hooked on "The Office", she got me hooked on "Jon and Kate plus eight".

I wasn't sure if she would find them funny because the show is kinda quirky plus she's never really been in a stuffy office environment - before full-time momminess, her previous careers included being a social worker and a nursing assistant at a retirement home.

So I busted out laughing when she asked me (with a completely straight face) - "So do offices really have party planning committees???"

Random thought...

Tonight, Jason Castro reminded me a lot of a young John Travolta. You know, from the Grease days.

It's like they read my mind!!!

So thanks to my mom, I've been DVR-ing the Suze Orman show. I caught up on one today and I was thinking, you know, this would be a perfect person to impersonate on SNL. And I'm sitting here watching SNL right now (yes, I'll admit to watching SNL on a Saturday night) and guess what has just popped up??? A Suze Orman sketch!

OK, it just finished. Kristen Wiig did a decent job but I was hoping to see her bust out with a "DENIED! DENIED! You are SOOOOOOOO DENIED!!!" No such luck.

I love seeing how the SNL writers watch the same weird stuff I watch. Amy Poehler's interpretation of Christian "Hot Tranny Mess" Siriano was hilarious.

Maybe there will be a Jon & Kate plus Eight sketch next... :P

Say wha??????

Hello again, everyone! Yes, I've been MIA. Too much traveling and working and not enough sleep.

But anyway, what an amazing episode of Lost tonight! It was another one of those twisty ones, too. Surprising ending, yes, but I'm still a little miffed at the writers for breaking my heart like that. Didn't watch the episode yet? Well, then you better leave now because I want to discuss!

Normally, I don't find the Jin and Sun storylines that interesting, but I really liked the one tonight. We see Sun getting ready to have her baby intercut with scenes of Jin buying a stuffed panda and rushing to get to the hospital. We soon learn - ta da! - that Sun is one of the "Oceanic Six". So of course, I immediately think, cool, now we know Jin and Sun are the last of the Oceanic Six. But then I remember, wait, we already have five - Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, and little baby Aaron. But then maybe the baby doesn't count???

Anyway, cut to Island time. Jin finds out that Sun cheated on him so he gets all mad and won't talk to her. She's scared he's left her. But in the end, Jin has a heart to heart with Rose's husband (can't remember his name) and forgives Sun later and even makes her a nice dinner. It was such a sweet scene! (I even teared a little.) He admits that he was a different man before the crash and that he didn't show her affection and it was that man that drove her to have the affair which is why he forgives her. Then she cries and tells him she loves him, and he loves her, and the baby is really his, and they hug and live happily ever after!

Right?

NO.

Stupid mean writers. Cuz this whole time we're being so happy for the couple and thinking how they made it off the island and are going to have their baby and it was all a big fake-out! Sun had her baby alright - ALONE. I'm still trying to figure out when those Jin scenes were from. I'm guessing before the plane crash since he told the nurse he's only been married for two months. He wasn't bringing the stuffed panda to his wife, he was bringing it to the granddaughter or daughter of some big important client.

ANYWAY - we finally get clued in when we see Sun back at her apartment and Hurley comes to visit her. Hurley gets to meet the little baby girl (so cute! and so little!) and he accompanies Sun to visit Jin *sniff, sniff* at his grave!

Dude, it was so sad. This episode reminded me of the season premiere of Ugly Betty. They showed all these romantic, happy scenes with Hilda and Santos after he was in the store robbery. And then in the final scene, you realized she was in her room all alone in the dark, mourning his death. You cruel TV writers! Playing with my emotions that way!

Anyway, we also got another interesting tidbit. Walt's dad (Michael?) must be Ben's spy on the boat. He actually left the show before I started watching but I had heard rumors his character would return. And it's revealed to Desmond that his nemesis is the owner of the boat as well. Interesting!


Uh-oh, I just made another realization... Sawyer doesn't make it!!!!


(Speaking of Sawyer, I saw the little pop-up ad that mentioned you can get your own Sawyer nickname on abc.com... mine turned out to be Betty. Don't get it.)

Lost played Xanadu! ... and other highlights from last night's TV

Seriously, Hurley is awesome! How funny to hear him pop in that Xanadu tape! Perfect timing for Skater to get their groove on... or at least conspire against Locke.

And yay, we got to see clean cut Jack again! *sigh* What a dreamboat...

But let's get to the most important part of last night's episode of Lost - Kate's last line in the episode, of course! HOLY CRAP!!! Did *not* see that coming... of course, I'll be honest, I'm usually caught off guard on what happens in this show and I LOVE IT! I don't want to spoil anything if you haven't seen the episode yet so highlight the rest of the text in this paragraph to see my thoughts. So does that mean we know who the fifth member of the Oceanic Six is? And at the same time, who it isn't? And BTW - could it be that that character is still stuck on the island and one of the reasons why Jack eventually wants to go back? Or is she just gone for good? Oh, how sad... Anyway, if you-know-who is a member of the Oceanic Six, does that mean the last member is the person in the coffin in the season finale? I'm dying to know who that is! (Word is we'll find out this season, but I have a feeling it won't be until the post-strike episodes.) And how about Jack's testimony at Kate's trial - only eight of them survived the plane crash??? What the ---? And why doesn't he want to see the little one? And aren't they somehow related anyway? I'm sure there's more to discuss but that's all I got for now. EW.com just posted a really great interview with the producers of the show, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof.

So moving on to American Idol... I'm so glad I waited to watch that show on my DVR and not live b/c I pretty much fast forwarded through the whole thing. I'm really annoyed with the producers and their whole theme night thing - not only were the solo performances this week a snooze b/c they couldn't really pick their own style of songs, but how about that group performance??? YUCK! It was so boring! They don't normally do group performances at this point, do they? I guess I just don't like changes. But c'mon, that performance was almost comical. Especially at the end when they all clumsily (is that even a word?) got into their final position and just stood there waiting for the last note so they could finally throw their arms out for the final pose. (You just know Amanda Overmyer was dying inside.)

Chris Sligh, from last season, posts his reviews on EW.com and he made a good point - it's mind-boggling that the judges sat in a room and all agreed that someone like Garret Haley or Luke Menard or Jason Yaeger would be better than Josiah Leming. (I may have messed up those names, but I'm too lazy to double check.) But I hear Josiah is doing well and that Ellen even had him on her show and gave him all these musical instruments and stuff. (But how will all that fit in his car???)

For me, the best part of the show was Paula Abdul's music video. I dug it. It reminded me of the good ole days of Straight Up and Forever Your Girl. I was so happy to see her dance in it - sure, you could tell she couldn't go all out like before but she rocked it. And of course, it was cool to see Randy. I am concerned if they have her perform the song on the show - what is she going to do? Lip sync on a singing competition show? (that she judges???!!!) Anyway, are you paying attention, Britney? You can have your comeback, too! We are dying to see you get your mojo back!

And then finally, we've got America's Best Dance Crew. Yes, Thursday is a busy night for me. This show is amazing. If you miss So You Think You Can Dance and are craving some *real* dancing (not that nonsense on that Dance Wars show), then you've got to check this show out. It's produced by Randy Jackson, hosted by Mario Lopez, and the judges are Shane Sparks, Lil Mama, and JC Chasez (and they're good judges, too). These guys are amazing! Here are my two favorite groups so far:

JabbaWockeez



Kaba Modern



There's also a group that performs on old skool rollerskates!

I thought he looked familiar!

So do you remember the dreadlocked American Idol contestant? OK, me neither because I don't think they really showed him during the audition and Hollywood rounds.


But then when they showed him at the beginning of tonight's American Idol episode, I kept thinking... I've seen him before! And then suddenly it came to me - he was the crush of that girl singer who had her own show on MTV. Of course, I couldn't remember her name, either, so I had to google to get to Cheyenne Kimball.

Jason was her crush and appeared in a few of the episodes. I didn't know he was a musician as well. I just figured he was some random boy from the 'hood.


Anyway, I can now rest easy now and enjoy the boys' performances.

What's up with throwing theme nights in already? Ick! Did they do this last year, too? I'd rather they sing what they want and save the themes for the top 12.

Who I'd like to see come back next week:

• David Cook - I never paid much attention to him before but I really dug this performance
  
• Robbie Carrico - Rockers rule (and in case you were wondering, the pop band he was in was called Boyz N Girlz United and he may or may not have dated Britney Spears when they toured together)
  
• David Archuleta - I don't think he can win but c'mon, he truly is ADORABLE
  
• Jason Castro - Laidback cool
  
• Michael Johns - G'day mate!

Not interested: Jason Yeager (Moon River), Luke Menard, and Garret Haley (Is it horrible that I kind of agreed with Simon on this one? He is kinda creepy looking...)

This post is for my brother

(Let's see if he's even reading this thing...)

Kristi Yamaguchi has joined the cast for the next season of Dancing with the Stars!

I'm actually pretty impressed with the new line-up. It's awesome to see these professional dancers transform these guys into amazing ballroom dancers - so why not do it?

Here's the cast:

Marlee Matlin (Oscar winner)
Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller)
Marissa Janet Winokur (Broadway star- Hairspray)
Adam Carolla (co-host of The Man Show)
Kristi Yamaguchi (Olympic figure skater)
Cristian de la Fuente ("Latin heart throb")
Monica Seles (Tennis champ)
Mario (R&B singer)
Steve Guttenburg (actor)
Jason Taylor (Miami Dolphins NFL)
Shannon Elizabeth (actress)
Priscilla Presley (actress)

It'll be really interesting to see how Marlee performs - it'll be inspiring to see a deaf woman rock to the music! My expectations are pretty high for Kristi, Marissa Janet Winokur, and Mario since those guys are experienced dancers. I have a feeling Penn will bug me.

Out of these guys, the only ones I didn't recongnize are Cristian de la Fuente and Jason Taylor.

BTW, it looks like Julianne Hough's reign will end as supposedly she's partnering with Adam Carolla and I will be SHOCKED if he actually shows some skills on the ballroom. But I'm sure we can count on him for some entertaining sound bites at least.

The new season debuts Monday, March 17th, on ABC at 8PM PST.

More info can be found here.

Ratings systems

This morning I was listening to Alice radio and Hooman and Marcus Osbourne were giving reviews of that new Hayden Christensen movie. One liked it, one didn't but the funny part came at the end when they gave their final reviews. Hooman gave it 1 1/3 Persian carpets (really? it's that granular???) and Marcus gave it four and something thunder claps. And that made me laugh out loud at the randomness of it all.

If I had a ratings system, what would I use? I think I would choose chocolate chip cookies, as in - I give the movie "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" a solid four out of five chocolate chip cookies.

How about you guys, what would you use?

Thoughts on the Top 24

Did you watch tonight's episode of American Idol? If so, let's talk. I still can't get over that Josiah didn't make the finals. He was profiled so much in the past few weeks and had one of the best audition pieces in Hollywood. Too bad he totally choked at the end. And who would have thought Simon would fight for Kyle Ensley (the lovable nerd with crazy hair and tie)?

As for the finalists - there were a lot of them that we hadn't seen much of yet. They're going to have a tough time surviving the weeder rounds.

Here are my thoughts on the ones I do remember:

- Danny Noriega is pretty, isn't he? A little too pretty for my taste. And he seems to be a bit flamboyant when performing. His voice is OK but for me... NEXT!

- Amanda Overmyer (rocker lady) is going to be real interesting if she makes it to the top 12. Imagine her doing country, or disco, or latin! She might be OK but it will be interesting to see if she can change it up

- David Archuleta (the one who had a paralyzed vocal cord) is a cutie but I'm not swooning over him like the judges are

- Carly Smithson (the Irish chick that missed her first time around b/c of visa problems) will be fun to watch. She's a belter that looks like a rocker. Do you think she ate a green lollipop before her final Hollywood audition? Her green tongue frightened me a bit.

- Asia'h Epperson (the one whose Dad passed away) has a nice scratchy voice - it's different and I kinda like it

- Ramiele Malubay - Yeah! Pinay Power! (I'm guessing she's flip, but I don't really know.)

On a random note, I was not digging Paula's 'do in this episode. Unfortunately, because of my relatively new shaggy / grown-out mullet haircut, that's probably how my hair would look if pulled back in a low pony. *sigh*

Here's a TV Guide recap of the finalists if you want a more complete rundown.

Wait, is that it?

Did I miss something? I just spent two hours watching the first Hollywood episode of American Idol and now the judges are ready to select the final 24 already!

What happened to the group performances??? You know, where the kids are forced to work with people they may or may not get along with, stay up all night, learn and harmonize a new song, throw some choreography together, and voila - a recipe for a good ole hot mess. (I'm trying to incorporate Project Runway speak whenever possible.)

I always like how the group performances add to the drama factor which the producers try to carry throughout the rest of the season.

Alas, it looks like there will be no boy bands in the making or wannabe Dreamgirls this year. They added a bunch of other changes instead - like allowing the singers to play their own instrument and they got a band and back up singers for their last solo performance for the judges.

I'm excited - it looks like they got a good bunch of really talented singers that all have unique, cool sounds. So we'll see - final 24 tomorrow!

It's Grammy time!

I caught bits and pieces of the show tonight. Luckily, my sister reminded me about it.

Amy Winehouse seemed to score big tonight. Too bad she wasn't allowed to attend the show in person though...

Regarding the show:

1. The Beatles thing? Um... I didn't quite get it. Then again, I wasn't really watching. But the parts that I did catch left me thinking, what the heck?

2. Kanye almost brought me to tears with his tribute to his mom. So touching...

3. I liked Fergie and John Legend, too - fun collaboration. Just like Rhianna and Time. Or is it The Time? I don't know... but it sure was fun to hear O-E-O-E-O again.

4. Did Beyonce's intro for Tina Turner remind you of Catherine Zeta Jone's performance from Chicago? I'm assuming Chicago inspired it, anyway.

5. Jason Bateman is funny.

Then I missed a big chunk when I went to the grocery. I have it on DVR but don't know if I'll actually go back and review it.

6. Enjoyed the Gershwin piano tribute but really liked the duet between Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli. I might have to copy their CD's that I gave my mom for Christmas last year next time I'm home. (heehee)

7. Amy Winehouse gave a good performance but I was more interested (surprised?) in her reaction to her Grammy win.

8. I feel SOOOOO horrible for admitting this, but my first thought on seeing Jerry Lee Lewis perform was, "He's still alive?!!" BUT my second thought was, "Wow, he's still rockin' it."

9. Herbie Hancock won Album of the Year? OK.


BTW - just caught CBS's commercial for their upcoming premiere of the network-OK'd version of Dexter. I don't have Showtime so I've never seen the show but have always heard a lot of good things about it. I still think the premise is pretty creepy, and honestly even the CBS commercials are a little "eeks!" for me. But I'll try to at least check out the first episode.

Weekly Wrap-up

Some random thoughts from this past week:

1. Did you know about the very contagious sickness called b*itch*ssness that is out there in our community? Oh yeah, it's out there, just ask Diddy about it.

2. I'm really proud of Chris March from Project Runway. He was eliminated in episode 4, brought back on episode 5 (due to Jack's condition), and he's been hanging in there week after week, winning the WWE Diva challenge this week, and now was able to show his collection in Bryant Park during Fashion Week! Good for him.

If you want to see the final collections by the final five designers, Bravo has posted them on their website - you'll see some past participants from America's Next Top Model. Even though all five showed collections, we'll all have to wait and watch the remaining PR episodes to see who are the real finalists.

3. This is actually from a couple of weeks ago, but is fresh in my mind since Bravo airs Project Runway repeats all the time. During the judging for the denim challenge, I loved it when Heidi asks Ricky, "What's up with you?" Finally! It was funny to have someone call him out on all his constant crying and stuff.

4. About Lost... yeah, that's exactly what I am. Flashbacks, flashforwards, four new characters, who's good, who's bad, who's who they say are... egads! It's not *that* bad for me... I'm gettin' it so far. But hopefully it doesn't go to Alias status where the plot's twists and turns throw me into a headspin and I just give up.

I can't resist

Trust me, I hate myself for even caring enough to post this, but I can't resist. I have just a few comments upon viewing Heidi's music video for "Higher":



1. I never really noticed her twins enhancement... until now. Geez, isn't her frame too tiny for those things?
2. I have a feeling Heidi is a really bad dancer
3. Seriously? She really had Spencer film this video? I think Paris did a better version of the whole beach thing

Anyway, I wonder when The Hills will be back? I miss those crazy kids.


P.S. Her "Higher" song isn't *that* bad. I mean, I'm not planning to download it or anything but it's not horrible.

P.P.S. When searching for Paris's music video, I found at least two others - who knew! Was her album popular and I just didn't realize it?

Favorite Superbowl Commercials?

I didn't really pay too much attention to the Superbowl commercials this year - too much chit chatting, playing with kids, snacking (there was even an ice cream sundae bar, people!!!), etc.

I caught the Justin Timberlake pepsi one, and the Vicky's Secret one, plus the trailers for Wanted and Leatherheads... all OK, but none that were phenomenal or anything.

So later I plan to review them all here, but where should I start? What were your faves?

Matt Damon is really cool

Well, I knew he was a bad-ass actor from those Bourne films, but now I am really convinced that Matt Damon is simply a really cool and funny guy. Have you heard about the running joke on the Jimmy Kimmel show where Jimmy ends every show with something like "Apologies to Matt Damon - we ran out of time"? So he does this every night and then eventually Matt Damon actually makes an appearance on his show last year - here's the clip, the actual "interview" is perfect:



So now Jimmy is celebrating his fifth year anniversary with the show so his girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, prepares the following video as his present:



I busted out laughing when I saw this. That's one sense of humor.

SAG Awards: Fashion Report

I didn't actually catch the SAG awards last night, but I had fun reviewing all the red carpet pics this morning.

Here are some of my favorites:



I loved Becki Newton's dress - there were a lot of long white dresses but Becki's was definitely my favorite. As for America Ferrera, normally I wouldn't go for gray and lace, but I thought she looked so elegant and not "Ugly Betty" at all! Finally, Kate Beckinsale's dress added some fun to the red carpet with it's bright yellow color - hey, it worked for Reese last year!

BTW - I also think James Gandolfini's wife deserves a spot on the best-dressed list. And I know Chandra Wilson's look is a bit much and costume-y, but personally, I just loved how she went out there and had fun with it! Go Bailey!


And then the "Huh? I don't get it" ones...



I just didn't get Jane Krakowski's dress - the color, the decorations... it was a miss for me. And how could Michael Urie spend weeks rippin' the latest Miss America contestants just to show up at a big award event wearing a Pee Wee Herman outfit? Don't get it. Finally, Sandra Oh's dress was a little too much for me. Maybe if it didn't have the big bow and the long hanging ribbon, it might have been kinda cute.

Other ones... I didn't like the hair style choices of either Debra Messing or
Ana Ortiz.

I also thought Brittany Snow's dress was a little too mature and slinky for her. I think Christina Applegate did the look a lot better.

Someone save me from this stuff!

OK, seriously, someone needs to take my box of Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops away from me. It's like crack (I'm guessing) - it's soooo addicting!

When I first purchased this cereal, I think I devoured the entire "15 serving" box by the third day. I swore then I would never buy the stuff again but it was on sale at Safeway today so I couldn't resist. Big mistake!

Anyway, I now need to go put this box away in a very high, hard to reach cupboard of mine.

Thoughts on last night's Real Housewives

Just some random comments on last night's season finale:

1. According to Quinn, the chemistry between her and Billy is "undeniable". But honestly - their "flirting" during the whole Roxy act with the blonde wig was one of the most awkward things I've ever seen.

2. After all the build-up, we finally get to see Lauri and George's wedding - the one with no price budget! And yes, it was very pretty with the whole flower and garden thing with the big white tent dining area. I did find it amusing to see her come down the aisle in a traditional white fairy princess-like wedding dress given that this is her third wedding, but whatever. I was also surprised by her choice of green dresses for the bridesmaids... I didn't really find the color too appealing.

3. Jo came back! She's been busy recording her album and actually had a performance coming up. With dancers!!! (It figures she had to be the kind of singer that needs dancers... from what I remember, her voice is sorta ick.) I still can't get over the similarities between her and Heidi. I think Jo's former beau is supposedly managing her music career. *And* he's a tool just like Spencer.

And that was it for this season... not sure if I'll watch the NYC version of Real Housewives. The few promos I've seen didn't look that interesting. Good concept, though.

Shocking news...

This is so sad... supposedly, Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment today.

It will be sad when that new Dark Knight movie comes out... I hear he was really creepy as the Joker.

I am totally clueless this Oscar season

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning. As I scanned all the major categories, I realized I had not seen ANY of these movies. None. Zero. Zip. Usually I've seen a handful here and there but not this year. But admittedly, I don't go to the movies that much these days.

Then I scanned the not-so-major categories and I still seemed to be in the dark. But then finally I scanned some familiar titles:

The Bourne Ultimatum (Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing)
Enchanted (Music - Song)
Pirates of the Caribbean (Makeup, Visual Effects)

... and that's pretty much it.

Who knows if there will even be an Oscar show this year? But if there is, I wouldn't really have anyone to root for... :(

I can't wait for...

... the season premiere of Lost! Anyone else looking forward to this?

I've received a few complaints that I haven't posted here in awhile. Sorry about that. :)

January 31st marks the return of 8 brand new episodes of Lost. Woo-hoo! The first hour will be a recap followed by the real premiere.

But if you want a quick recap right now, here you go! Everything you need to know about Lost in 8 minutes and 15 seconds:

Spending Christmas with Elmo

This is one of the cutest things I've ever seen!

Oh give me a break, Heidi

Please humor me - let's just take a moment to really process this photo.



While I was at Walgreen's, I happened to notice Heidi on the cover of US Weekly announcing how her and Spencer are no longer engaged. And apparently she sold the story to the tabloid. I'm a little bit annoyed with myself that I had to stop and check out the article BUT at least I didn't spend any of my money on this garbage. Basically it was an interview with both her AND Spencer and even though they're no longer planning a wedding, they're still boyfriend and girlfriend.

This is supposed to be newsworthy?

And then you have this stupid, stupid, stupid photo! (A similar close-up version serves as the cover photo.) I mean, seriously, if you were bummed about having to call off your engagement, would you really agree to pose in a wedding dress with a pouty look on your face holding a photo of you and your former fiance surrounded by bridal magazines? It's just so contrived and insincere and just plain silly.

Ugh. Why do I even care???

Clash of the Choirs giggles

Heehee... did Tracy Morgan just announce the winner of Clash of the Choirs as Team LA-kee?


Or as they prefer to be called, Team Lachey.

Are you f^&*ing kidding me - Jamie-Lynn is pregnant???

Uh, yeah, that's right. According to an upcoming article in OK! magazine, Jamie-Lynn announces that she is pregnant. At 16!!!

I'm about as sad and disappointed as when Britney came out with that awful VMA performance.

I had high hopes for Jamie-Lynn. I was really hoping she would grow up to be the Britney from the good ole days without all the trashiness. And it looked like she was on the right track. She always looks cute and age appropriate and now this... *sigh*

It's going to be so weird to see her pregnant.

My new fave show: Jon and Kate Plus 8

I've recently become addicted to Jon and Kate Plus 8 after it was highly recommended by my sister. It's basically a documentary-style show that highlights the day to day lives of this young couple Jon and Kate and their eight (yep, eight!) kids. And not just any eight kids - six year old TWIN daughters and three year old SEXTUPLETS (three girls, three boys)!

I'm not sure why I'm such a fan of this show. It airs on both TLC and the Discovery Channel and those networks air other shows about couples with "multiples" but I don't find the other shows that interesting at all. There's just something so cute and fascinating about Jon and Kate's family. The couple is impressive, too. Kate definitely rules the house (as most moms do) but when the Dad is home, he contributes as well.

I love how they have a "just go for it!" attitude. They'll take the eight kids everywhere and make sure they have the same experience as most normal kids that aren't from such a huge family. For example, the two of them took the eight kids to the local theme park. Each parent pushed a three baby across stroller - one for the girls and one for the boys. To help keep track of all of them, they made each kid wear matching T-shirts that were numbered 1-8. Oh boy.

They get a lot of help from the community, too. I think their church donated a bunch when the sextuplets were first born. A local hair cut place gave them free haircuts for all the kids until they're five. Kate was able to get free plastic surgery for her belly (which she actually showed on TV! It was very doughy like.) I think Dr. Phil supplied them with free nanny service for awhile, too.

Now that I've watched several episodes, I've learned a lot about the kiddies. My sister and I agree that Aaden is our favorite. He's the little boy with the glasses so they nickname him "The Professor." He also likes to pretend that he's different animals and even tries to imitate them.

Anyway, if you want to feel like maybe your life isn't that hectic, then watch this show. And it's super cute, too.

P.S. You can find more info about the family on their website.

Checking back in with the Newport Harbor gang

MTV sure is nice - while we wait for the return of The Hills - Paris style, we get to check in with our old Newport Harbor friends.

Last time we saw them, Chrissy was headed to college (UCSB) and Clay was returning for his senior year (ooh, she was dating a younger man - did not know that!) and they decided to try a long distance relationship. Well, it looks like Chrissy took my advice and has found herself a cute little honey (with a cute little name - Billy!) at school. But she was still stringing poor Clay along...

And now she is returning back home for a weekend visit - the first time her and Clay have seen each other since she left! (I'd say about two months later) Unfortunately, Clay is leaving town to go visit colleges. So they have this super awkward dinner at his beach house where he wants to keep dating and she's being wishy washy.

The next night Chrissy has a party so it's too bad Clay can't come. But ALL his friends are there! And guess who else is there? Chrissy's sorority sisters from UCSB! And that's not all! They secretly invited... wait for it... BILLY! (Speaking of which, I think Billy looks sort of like a dark haired Justin Timberlake... thoughts, anyone?)

So now Billy is there with his entourage and there's all this whispering of who's that? Are they dating? What about Clay? etc etc Next thing you know, Chrissy is making out with Billy in front of everyone! Including Clay's friends! And her parents are home! DRAMA!

So Clay's buddy, Grant, leaves Clay a voicemail while at the party to tell him what's up. When Clay returns, he and Grant decide they need to make a trip to UCSB to check things out for themselves.

OK, what??? Grant already saw what was going down - he knows what's up. And now Clay knows, too, so wouldn't it have been simpler if Clay just called out Chrissy on it and be done with it? Is there really a need for the two of these misfits to take an hour and a half trip to SB just to catch his psuedo-GF making out with another dude?

But I don't want to digress from Chrissy's poorly planned PDA... a date with Clay one night where she is too much of a wimp to be honest and lets Clay think they are still hot and steady and then the next night is neckin' with another dude in front of all their friends??? STOOPID.

A movie site that I probably should not have discovered

A long time ago, my old roommate and I had this conversation about how he sat through a really bad movie just because he had to know how it ended. He even joked about creating a website that just gave the ending to movies.

Well, ask and you shall receive! I just recently stumbled onto http://www.themoviespoiler.com/. With such a staightforward URL, I'm surprised I only discovered it now.

I had read this review of the Keira Knightley film, "Atonement", where this young girl makes this accusation about another character and lives are dramatically affected. And well, I was impatient and just had to know what the accusation was so I found the info on this movie spoiler website. It's like a two minute overview of a two hour film. So I loved getting my question resolved right away but then the movie sounded kind of good so now I'm bummed because I already know the ending. (I also now know the ending to "I Am Legend".)

So if you want to know what happens in a movie, but not actually sit through it - see if it's listed here. You've been warned, though - only check it out if you're absolutely sure you don't want to see the movie itself!

James Franco's take on Justin Bobby

I'm currently watching The Hills finale party on MTV. It's cute... they have the whole red carpet thing and so far, I've seen Elodie and Lo make their appearances with Frankie on the way! :P

Anyway, check this out - James Franco and Mila Kunis re-enact a scene from The Hills:

News from the Bravo world

I'm a big fan of Bravo TV. I regularly watch gems like Real Housewives and Project Runway. Plus Bravo had two fun new specials - a Kathy Griffin comedy special and a Top Chef Holiday Cooking Competition.

Anyway, look what I learned. Project Runway's Jack is now dating Top Chef's Dale!

Man candy

Sorry for the lack of posts lately... I've definitely had things to say, just no time to blog about it. (Darn work!)

So it will be just little tidbits here and there for now.

Such as... hello! There was some fine looking man candy out there in TV land last week.

Exhibit A: Henry in Ugly Betty (after sink exposion, ice cream scene, etc...)
Exhibit B: Nate in Gossip Girl (when he was gettin' it on with Blair)

Who knew these boys were so buff???


Note: These comments are made with total respect to the actors that portray Henry and Nate as I am just admiring their physique. :)

Double Take

Has anyone else noticed that Jared's commercial with ballroom dancers at the end? I think it's Edyta and Maks!!!

Getting started on my 2008 New Year's Resolutions

2007 has been a very fun year for me with a bunch of new experiences:

• Exploring Tokyo
• Climbing the Great Wall
• Running my first marathon (twice)
• Going ziplining (thanks, Amanda!)

And I've already thought of one thing that I'd like to accomplish next year:

Change a flat tire.

(Sure would've come in handy last night.)

Happy Holidays!

Aw yeah... it's Christmastime, woo-hoo! I finally busted out the Christmas decor tonight. I don't have much, but I do have enough little items (like my Hallmark snowman below) to make me all merry and festive!



Can't wait to stock up on more Christmas decorations on December 26th! :)

The Smartest and the Dumbest Celebrities

And yet another tip from my sis (maybe she needs to start her own pop culture blog???)

Entertainment Weekly recently published a list with the top 50 smartest people in Hollywood.

Here's the top five:
1. Judd Apatow, director/writer/producer
2. Steven Spielberg, director/producer
3. James Cameron, director/producer
4. Ari Emanuel, partner of the Endeavor Agency
5. Will Smith, actor/producer

In response, the NY Daily News has published a list of the top 50 dumbest people in Hollywood.

And their top five:
1. Lindsay Lohan - poor movie choices ("I Know Who Killed Me"), delinquent behavior and bad taste in men
2. Kim Kardashian - because it is sad when you leak your sex tape and nobody cares
3. Spencer Pratt - who thinks his life on MTV's "The Hills" is reality - and believes we think so, too
4. Jeff Kwatinetz - the man that gave the okay for Britney Spears' disastrous MTV Video Music Awards performance
5. Shia LaBeouf - the 21 year-old "Transformers" star, for getting arrested while refusing to leave a Walgreens pharmacy

Thoughts? Personally, I enjoy any time Spencer Pratt is publicly ridiculed. Surprisingly, Paris Hilton doesn't appear in the dumb list at all which shocks me because she would be my #1, purely for that "dumb voice" she uses intentionally.

Before they were famous...

Another tip from my sister - check it out!


They may look like younger versions of Christina Aguilera, JC Chasez, and Nick Carter but nope, it's our favorite professional ballroom dancers!

If you don't know the story, Mark Ballas (Sabrina's partner and now BF) has parents who I guess are legendary ballroom dancers and they lived in London. Julianne (Helio's partner and winner) and Derek (Kelly Taylor's - oops, I mean Jennie's - partner) Hough were shipped off to London at a young age to train with Ballas' parents. Julianne and Mark became professional partners and Mark and Derek became good friends. The three of them had a singing group when they were younger called 2B1G (get it?) and now Derek and Mark play in a band called Almost Amy.

Aren't they adorable?

YES!!! Mystery solved!

Thanks to my wonderful sister, I have now figured out who Real Housewives' Lauri reminds me of! As you can see to the left, it is the puppet (NOT muppet, which explains why my google searches were unsuccessful), Madame. I'm not sure how we know this character - but it looks like she had a talk show in the early 80s. Anyway, I'm so glad someone knew who I was talking about and that I wasn't crazy - figures it would be my sis! (We come from a weird family, I guess - heehee...)

It's so nice to have this all figured out! Ah, I can now finally watch Real Housewives in peace.

"Last Christmas" for the new generation

Did you guys check out the Christmas specials this week? On Wednesday, I caught a little bit of NBC's Christmas at Rockefeller Center special. Ashley Tisdale, one of the many stars of Disney's megahit High School Musical (and its sequel), was one of the hosts and also performed - singing her version of Wham's "Last Christmas". My sister had "warned" me about this because I guess Ashley also performed this number during the Thanksgiving Day parade and my sister's reaction was something like, "hmmm... I don't think that quite works." Anyway, this time I got to see for myself! And yep, it was weird. First of all, was she even alive when this song came out? Well, I googled this and no, she was born in 1985 and Wham released "Last Christmas" the year before. But I guess it's not that weird... it would be like someone my age re-doing a song from 1974. I'd be curious to hear what today's version of "The Way We Were" would sound like!

OK, back to the performance - check it out and see what you think. It sounds like Ashley is one of those "manufactured" singers, you know, not that good but good enough. It sort of sounded like karaoke at a pre-teen slumber party.



Plus - she was lip syncing the whole time! She wasn't even dancing or anything. Inexcusable. I mean, even Britney managed to sing live during her appearance. Ah, the good ole days...

Project Runway Menswear Edition

Sweet P got pretty lucky this time, huh? Her shirt was a disaster! But everyone's outfit was kind of a mess. And on top of that - boring! And if anyone plans to audition for next season's Project Runway, it's best that you make sure you are well prepared to handle the following challenges beforehand:

- Designing for men
- Designing for women that are REAL sizes, not model thin
- Designing with unusual materials - plants, recyclable materials, grocery items, etc

Anyway, this episode brought back a random memory. Did Sweet P's shirt...


... remind you of the designer-wannabe shirt Denise made for Theo?

Another funny SNL clip

While I was home for the holidays, I happened to catch an old SNL episode on E!. Coincidentally, it was the Lindsay Lohan episode that had the Debbie Downer sketch that I had previously mentioned.

Well, there's another moment from this episode that made me laugh out loud. During Lohan's opening monologue, Rachel Dratch impersonated Hilary Duff, Amy Poehler impersonated Avril Lavigne, and Maya Rudolph impersonated Whitney Houston. While all the women were hilarious, Amy's interpretation of Avril was over the top hysterical!!! She appears about 2 minutes into the clip.

What are your recent downloads?

I'm all about iTunes now. I can't even remember the last time I bought a real, physical CD. In fact, I'm not even sure if I download an entire album anymore - unless it was for a soundtrack, like "Hairspray". Mostly, I just download random singles which is why I love those iTunes gift cards. I buy them for myself sometimes when I'm in line at the grocery or Target. Those came in real handy when I was building my marathon mix.

Anyway, so here's my fun question - what are the last five songs / albums that you've downloaded? (Or purchased - if you are old skool. heehee.)

Here are five tunes I've downloaded this month and that I've been listening to endlessly lately:

• Hate That I Love You - Rhianna w. Ne-Yo
  
• Love Song - Sara Bareilles
  
• Do It Well - Jennifer Lopez
  
• No One - Alicia Keys
  
• Because of You - Ne-Yo

Yeah, yeah, I know - I am totally Top 40. I can't help it! I like catchy songs!

Someone please help me name that muppet!

OK, something on the Real Housewives of Orange County has really been bugging me lately so I thought I'd just throw it out there and see if anyone can help. One of the housewives, Lauri, is often referred to as the "hot" one, MILF if you will. And I just don't get it because to me, she looks like the roughest one out of the bunch! Sure, she has a fit body compared to the others, but her face is just bleh! Like a man in drag. (I'm sorry, but that's the best way to describe it!) And one of the college-age boys once referred to her as the most beautiful woman in the world. Really? Anyway, the thing that bugs me is that every time I see her, she reminds me of an old lady muppet but I can't really place the muppet name or where she's appeared (The Muppet Show? Sesame Street? A Muppet movie?) I've googled and can't find a picture of this muppet. It's not one of the muppets listed here. I know this is a RANDOM question, but if you have any ideas, let me know!

Dancing with the Stars came to an end tonight. I actually enjoyed all the montages (plus it helped that I watched it off my DVR so it was quick to run through). The highlight clips reminded me how much I missed and enjoyed Drew Lachey as the guest host! But I'm glad to have another dance show to look forward to for January.

As for The Hills, is it really possible that we've seen the last of Justin Bobby??? I hope so! Were you guys as pissed as I was when Audrina left with him after their blow up at Opera? I'm glad she dropped him off alone. And could Spencer be any more immature about the wedding stuff?

Top Four "Did You See That?" Moments of the Week

American Music Awards - Well, I thought I was somewhat in touch with the teen set, but apparently not. Who the heck are the Jonas Brothers? Based on their performance at the AMAs, they are "hot stuff" with the tweens. I only mention them here because one of them did a nice recovery after falling during their big stage entrance. And boo for the much too hyped performance by Beyonce. They kept teasing that everyone would be talking about this performance. I expected some extravagant stage number with tons of dancers and flames and other special effects, etc. And it just ended up being a country version of "Irreplaceable" sung with some band called Sugarland.

Project Runway - The caliber of their celebrity guests is growing big time! Check out who visits the designers in the second week of this season. (I would have thought someone like her would be reserved for the finale, you know?)

Dancing with the Stars Results Show - Sabrina and Mark return and do an amazing performance to Avril Lavigne's "Complicated":



Grey's Anatomy - The last scene with Seth Green and his exploding artery. I was screaming when I saw that!!! Was anyone else scared that Bailey got hit between the crashing emergency vehicles? Or is anyone else still worried that Meredith is now stuck under one of them?

Gossip Girl and Project Runway

Gossip Girl: So do you think Chuck really likes Blair or is he just putting on a good show to get in her pants? I'm so confused! It was kinda nice that he bought her that diamond necklace that she wanted and he *was* there at midnight on her birthday, unlike Nate (aka Carrie Underwood's BF) who was having a late night chat with Jenny. Are they going to get together now? Is he still in love with Serena or just moving on? Maybe he just likes girls with long blonde hair! I suppose if I looked up the books, I could figure out what's going to happen but I won't spoil it. Unless the writer's strike continues and there are no more new episodes...

Project Runway: First off, I'm not surprised they saved the wacky one and booted off the boring one with poor execution. Remember Vince from last season??? They'll keep the kooky lady around for a little bit, I bet... And what's up with the models? Is it just me, or are they across the board REALLY bad??? I felt like they just ripped them out of some local modeling school in some mall in NJ or something. They walked funny, didn't seem confident, seemed to be struggling with walking in heels, etc. I didn't feel like any of them were really selling it like the models from season's past.

It's that time of the year again...

... for People Magazine to announce their "Sexiest Man Alive"! And as you can see, this year's winner is Jason Bourne himself, otherwise known as Matt Damon. Not my particular cup of tea, but I consider him a worthy winner. Especially when I read this article where he thought Tom Brady should have received the "honor" instead.

Anyway, congrats to Matt - I remember during the press junkets for the Ocean movies that George Clooney and Brad Pitt would tease him about never having this prestigious honor since they've both been named twice. Heck, even Matt's buddy, Ben Affleck, has received this accolade.

So good for him!

Wow - even HBO is covering this!

OK, I know I'm not a big sports fan but I do realize that Michigan and Ohio State have one of the biggest collegiate rivalries EVER if not *the* biggest. (Is it the biggest? I don't know.)

But still - I was pleasantly surprised to flip to HBO and see that it was airing a documentary on this rivalry. So it's pretty big, huh?

I was enjoying all the wisecracking jokes on OSU by Michigan alumni but I am in a weird position since I'm originally from Ohio but chose to attend Michigan (but c'mon - it *is* the academic superior of the two!) Anyway - jokes on OSU are funny, but jokes on the state of Ohio? Not funny. (And no, I don't remember any of them.)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to finally watching my first Michigan football game this season on Saturday - and if I only watch one, this is the one to watch!

GO BLUE!


** Update: I didn't realize this the first time I visited the site, but there's also a vote so click here and VOTE MICHIGAN!

"You have to crash a brand new car to break it in."

These wise words were uttered during Bravo's The Real Housewives of Orange County (just starting their third season, by the way).

And guess what - no Jo or Slade this season! I'm a little disappointed since Jo was kind of entertaining. But Slade is annoying so I guess that's OK.

I found out some scoop here. Either Jo and Slade declined to appear because of Jo's recording commitments (yes, it's not just Heidi, but her, too) OR Bravo didn't invite them because Jo is no longer a "housewife" (which she never really was in the first place)since her and Slade broke up.

But bonus, rumor is that they may do a spin-off focusing on Jo and her musical ambitions.

Also, being a Big Ten girl, I'm not too familiar with the Cali schools, but I thought Berkeley was the smarty pants one? Apparently Jeana's daughter, Kara, is going there because she didn't get accepted to either of her top two choices, USC and UCLA. I'm worried for this SoCal girl... it's a big culture change to Berkeley.

Random Tomato Adventure that made me laugh

OK, short story - this is a video clip of a woman who decides to spend an entire work day in NYC in a gigantic tomato costume. I'll warn you that it's a long clip, but it made me chuckle - especially the scenes in the subway.



Long story: Back in the day, I was a huge fan of Television Without Pity. This is a very entertaining site that gives lengthy recaps of your favorite shows and because of the witty commentary, the recaps are often more entertaining than the shows themselves. It's a great site to goof off with at work. :) I'm not sure why I don't read it as often now... I guess my own blogs give me enough goof off time. Heehee.

Anyway, one of the founders and editors of TWoP, this person nicknamed "Sars", decided to ask her readers to raise $40,000 for a charity. If they met their goal, she would wear a tomato costume and re-enact a scene from My So-Called Life. I guess it's this "classic" scene after Jordan Catalano first kisses Angela Chase and then she twirls around on the sidewalk and stuff.

Well, I wasn't familiar with this scene so I found it here - it's about six minutes in.

The Great Debate: Should Lauren reunite with Heidi?

"I want to forgive you... [pause] and I want to forget you."

Eee... yikes!

What was your reaction to this? Mine was more of a jaw dropping shock but when watched the aftershow online afterward (first time doing so and it's rather entertaining), the crowd was cheering her on!

So I'm torn (and yes, I know, that it's pretty sad when I get torn over something like this) on whether or not Lauren and Heidi should be friends.

On one hand, Heidi pretty much crawled back to Lauren asking for her forgiveness. She went to Lauren's apartment and even brought pretty yellow flowers! And you know Lauren really missed Heidi's friendship back when her and Audrina had that teary fireside chat at the beach.

And honestly, who cares anymore about the sex video scandal! It's such old news now. It doesn't even matter if they did or didn't have one - even if they did, it's not exactly that scandalous - considering where they live and all. :)

On the other hand, Heidi is in love with a guy who seems to take pleasure in making Lauren miserable. They did a funny thing on the aftershow - they showed the clip of Heidi saying "Spencer doesn't hate you" followed by a montage of umpteen clips from various episodes where Spencer is totally trashing Lauren. Heehee.

So really - how well would their friendship work given the Spencer issue?

Changing topics - what the hell is wrong with Audrina??? Why is she so obsessed with a guy that just looks so filthy and gross and burps incessantly on their dates? And did Sean Kingston send flowers to just her or both her and Chiara?

Next week Heidi and Spencer break up... is this when that fake break up will come into play?

SNL Flashback: Debbie Downer

This post is dedicated to my friend Jen who didn't understand my Debbie Downer reference. This sketch is particularly funny because it's the one with Lindsay Lohan where the actors struggled with keeping straight faces.

Another strike! My world is crumbling...

Egads - Broadway stagehands are now on strike meaning most of the shows were dark yesterday. Theatre-goers were able to get refunds for tickets to canceled shows or exchange the tickets for the next available date. Sucks for the out of town folks that had their hearts on seeing their favorite shows. Shows not affected by the strike are listed here.

So sad. I like my Times Square to be a happy place.

Speaking of Broadway, I got to watch the Broadway musical version of Legally Blonde. MTV actually aired a presentation of it and did this cute thing where they got the girls from The Hills to host it.

I think Legally Blonde debuted in San Francisco before opening on Broadway and I remember listening to a sound clip from the show thinking it was way too cheesy. I was surprised - the tunes from the show are actually kind of catchy. Be warned, the phrase "Omigod - omigod, you guys!" is repeated constantly throughout the show but overall, it's pretty cute with fun song and dance numbers. A lot of the punchlines are straight out of the movie so that was kind of repetitive, but it was still pretty entertaining.

It was interesting to see where they made the musical numbers - some are obvious choices like Elle's Harvard admission "essay" and the "Bend and Snap". But some were kind of random - like our introduction to Brooke Wyndham (Elle's murder suspect / fitness guru / sorority sister) with the jump-roping-on-crack number, "Whipped into Shape".

Click here for a sneak preview. It looks like there should be encore presentations on MTV on November 13th at 11AM.

Holiday Time and Thursday Night TV

I went to Starbucks this morning and yay! It's red cup time, meaning the holidays are finally here! I love seeing red Starbucks cups - makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. But for some reason, I wasn't really paying attention until after I ordered so I got my orange mocha frappuccino light instead of the peppermint mocha version.

I also like all the holiday commercials that are now. Even those cheesy ones from Kay's Jewelers.

Anyway... on to Thursday night TV. My biggest laugh out loud moment was when Amanda broke out into "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yards..." during Wilhemina and Bradford's wedding on Ugly Betty. HILARIOUS! Runner ups: 1) montage of Kenneth's parties on 30 Rock, particularly the Halloween one where Tina Fey dressed up as Harry Potter and 2)Meredith's facial expressions when George and Izzie complained about their lack of chemistry on Grey's Anatomy. Speaking of which, that storyline has been so annoying! They put us through all that ickiness and broke Callie's heart only for them to not end up together because they are bad under the sheets??? Why waste our time, writers??? (By the way, I am totally freaking out about the writer's strike - look how long we have until our favorite shows go into repeats - until who knows when!!! This is serious, people, we might not get Lost until fall 2008, maybe even spring 2009! WAAAHHH!)

Regarding The Office, does anyone else find it interesting that being a new couple has resulted in Pam looking cuter than ever, but Jim is at his scruffiest?

Do you have all the fashion essentials?

On Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, Tim always highlights the "basics" that every woman should have in their closet. I've been meaning to get a copy of this for my reference and here it is!

Tim Gunn’s 10 Essential Items Every Woman Needs

• Basic black dress
  
• Trench coat
  
• Classic dress pants
  
• Classic white shirt
  
• Skirt
  
• Blazer
  
• Day dress
  
• Cashmere sweater
  
• Jeans
  
• A comfortable alternative to a sweatsuit

Outside the cashmere sweater, I think I have something that represents the rest of the items, but they're not perfect. You know, not really nice classic pieces that will last for awhile. And I think that will be the goal... don't know how long it will take, but I hope to be a real grown up and have all the essentials!

By the way, season 4 of Project Runway starts on November 14th - yay!

Earthquake!

So I've been in northern California for over six years now - I've been around for some earthquakes but none that I really remember.

Well, I finally had my first real experience last Tuesday during the 5.6 earthquake in the San Jose area. And I know, these are very serious natural phenomenons and not thrill rides, but since all is safe, I will admit - it was really cool!

I happened to be driving home when it occurred (it was around 8PM) and I saw some friends of mine walking around the neighborhood. I pulled over to chat with them and then it happened. My friend was leaning into my car since we were chatting and then his wife started freaking out a bit.

I did notice some rocking but I honestly thought my friend was shaking my car. (I don't know, he could have been that strong!) So I just sat there in my car while it was rocking (nothing major, it really felt like someone moving it) and it lasted for quite a bit - at least 10 seconds or so. Long enough for us to actually comment that it was still going on.

Anyway, it was cool - it stopped, I drove home, my friends walked home and all is good. Everything was fine in my apartment but I guess those closer to the 'quake had some things move around.

I'm pretty sure we felt an aftershock the next day when I was at work. My building is not exactly the most solid. I'm on the second floor and sometimes when someone is walking by rather heavily, my monitor will kind of shake. But we all felt the shaking and it was pretty major, but brief.

Anyway, hopefully that will be the worse I experience!

Wait - you mean this show isn't 100% real?

I missed Monday's episode of The Hills, but apparently one of the storylines followed Heidi's 21st birthday. If you recall from last season, she spent her 20th birthday in an Audrey Hepburn 'do complete with tiara clubbin' with friends (and avoiding Audrina). This year, she got all dolled up for an intimate dinner with just her and Spencer. And it sounded like she spent most of the dinner convincing herself that she's having a good time.



But when in *reality*, she had a rockin' 21st birthday celebration in Vegas. She even performed!!!



So what do you guys think? I personally enjoyed Spencer's "raise the roof" background support. I know sound quality isn't great, but do you think she was singing at all? Looked like major lip sync action to me. Also, I hope she works out her choreography or performance movements or something... looks kind of silly to me. :)

Anyway, I guess the show producers are completely avoiding Heidi's aspiring singing career and Lauren's fashion line when editing for this show. It's interesting. It seems like Lauren is still working as an intern at Teen Vogue while simultaneously launching her own fashion line. I mean, it's not all fake - she does appear to be doing some grunt work like when she had to help out with the Marc Jacobs crew in NYC. And Heidi would have to balance her time between doing PR in cute pencil skirts at Bolthouse while recording her tunes.

And how about the other people/cast? Like when they hired Elodie's replacement at Bolthouse. Did they really interview real PR people and then say oh, yeah, by the way - you could potentially be a cast member in an MTV drama? Or did MTV people just cast the person themselves?

I'll stop thinking about it now. It'll probably just make my head explode.

Funniest thing I saw on TV last week

Did any of you watch 30 Rock last week? It was HYSTERICAL! As if the "Page Off" wasn't funny enough (how do they come up with these characters???), they also had the best scene EVER with the therapy scene between Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan.

If you're not familiar with the show, it is based on the behind the scenes antics for a Saturday Night Live-like show. Tina Fey is the head writer (somehow she is perfect for this role!), Tracy Morgan is one of the lead actors on the fake show, and Alec Baldwin is the "suit" (I'm not sure if he is just the head of the network or head of the GE corporation that owns the network, but basically he's "The Man" on this show.)

Anyway, Tracy's character has daddy issues so Alec's character sets up a therapy session for him to work the issues out. And then... well, hilarity ensues...

I'll be shocked if Alec doesn't score an Emmy for this alone. He was practically breaking a sweat!