Friday
February 1, 2008

It's already February!

January is still a blur; time moves far too fast these days.

It's too early in the morning to think of anything to say. I feel like crap too. I think I have this bug that's going around.

I hope the day at work speeds by…

Monday
February 4, 2008

I'm hooked to Dance Wars, the show which showcases the choreography of Dancing With the Stars judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli. I like Bruno; he's a hoot. Carrie, on the other hand, has a bit more sense of what does and doesn't work with her team. She's got the better singers, while Bruno has the better dancers.

I am still shocked, however, that Bruno lost another member of his troupe tonight. I thought for sure the week prior, Carrie's team was not totally up to par compared to Bruno's, but obviously, America thought they were.

Poor Bruno; he was pretty down. I'm wondering if America votes for Carrie Ann's team mostly because they might be factoring in Bruno's sexuality and a lot of anti-gay gramma's are doing the voting.

This week, I think Bruno's team had some pretty hot numbers, but again, Carrie's team outdid them. I was in agreement with Carrie about the second routine Bruno's team performed, that the "walkin' it" rap portion totally didn't fit. It was a hot number up to that point.

Yes… the writers strike is coming to an end it appears…

I so need a healty dose of Men in Trees…

Saturday
February 9, 2008

We're supposed to get snow this weekend. I'm hoping it's at least an inch. Two max. At least then I'd feel like we had a winter. Of course, winter's not over and the chance of having a really bad, late-in-winter storm is still good, it's hard to imagine it after having a day this past week that just reached the 70-degree mark. We're back to the below-freezing during the night, but, it's still quite balmy out compared to previous years.

I had colder winters in the desert.

I miss the desert sometimes. A lot of times. Life was easier, quieter, there. I'd drive along heading to or from home, and maybe have a pair of coyotes to contend with hogging the road, a roadrunner zipping along beside me, and dizzied quail unable to keep in their own lane…

At least now that I've left Manhattan to work upstate, I have "my" geese, sometimes a turkey or three, and lately, young deer still with their spots, all within a few dangerous feet of the highway. It's saddening to know that us dumb people are pushing these beauties of wildlife out from their homes.

I have tons more baby pictures that I'm planning to add to the online photo album.

Of course, I've been saying that the past few weeks.

It's almost Valentine's Day.

Thursday
February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day.

This year was my year to do something special for Tony, so I did the card thing, an Oreo cake with a heart on it from the bakery, a video game. All the ingredients to keeping a man happy.

For me, he handed me the Victoria's Secret catalog and said, "Order what you want or need." So I did.

Otherwise, it was a day like any other day.

I was not surprised when Team Bruno won a round in Dance Wars last night. Though the street edginess to the first routine by Team Bruno was not necessary, as said by Carrie Ann and I agree, it was still well done. Their first routine was good too. Team Carrie Ann was a bit sloppy in the Devil Went Down to Georgia routine, but, I liked it because you can tell how the team gets along with each other and have built on their chemistry. It made their routine that much more entertaining. However, they're not as technical.

This week, Latin week, was hot. Team Bruno's Kelsey is pretty en pointe in her dance moves. Those long legs were made for Latin dance. Being that she is not the modest one, as is her team partner, Lacey, she shook them hips good too. Though, I think Team Carrie Ann were spot on last night as well. Next week is the finale. So soon!

Tuesday
February 19, 2008

So, Team Bruno won Dance Wars last night, which surprised me. While they are a great technical team, they don't have the fun-factor, good-chemistry appeal that Team Carrie Ann has. After listening to a few of Team Bruno's teammates put down their competition rather unsportsmanlike, while Team Carrie Ann did not do the same in reverse, it further added insult that they won. I didn't like the song they recorded and performed; it was boring. The song Team Carrie Ann recorded and performed was smoking!

I think the funniest thing of the show, however, is that it's called Dance Wars yet the winning team earns a recording contract as a "pop group."

Okay.

Saint Paddy's is the first night of Dancing with the Stars. The line-up is not particularly interesting this year. Kristi Yamaguchi and that Latin novella actor might be the ones to most watch for.

The twelve stars that will be dancng this year:

• ADAM CAROLLA - Television and Radio personality and comedian.
• CRISTIÁN DE LA FUENTE - His acting career began in his native Chile, then gained recognition in the States as a series regular on Family Law and CSI: Miami. Cristián is a First Lieutenant in the Chilean Air Force Reserve and a member of Halcones, the High Aerobatics team. People Magazine named him one of their "50 Most Beautiful." He was the first man ever to grace the cover of Cosmopolitan en Espanol.
• SHANNON ELIZABETH - Actress/model who starred in the box office hits, American Pie and Scary Movie.
• STEVE GUTTENBERG - Actor who has starred in blockbusters such as Police Academy, Three Men And A Baby, Short Circuit and Cocoon.
• MARIO - Twenty-one year-old, multi-platinum selling R&B/Pop singer and actor, known for such hit singles as Just a Friend and Let Me Love You.
• MARLEE MATLIN - Deaf actress who received worldwide critical acclaim for her film debut in Children of a Lesser God for which she received the Academy Award for Best Actress.
• PENN JILLETTE - One-half of the famous illusionist team Penn & Teller, who have been performing together for thirty years and are currently headlining in their own theater at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
• PRISCILLA PRESLEY - Actress, producer and entrepreneur, once married to music icon, Elvis Presley and mom to Lisa Marie.
• MONICA SELES - Tennis champ; the holder of nine grand slam singles titles and was the top-ranked player in the world.
• JASON TAYLOR - This year's NFL Man of the Year Award Winner and last year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year, he has played defensive end for the Miami Dolphins for over a decade.
• MARISSA JARET WINOKUR - Actress who is best known for creating the role of "Tracy Turnblad" in the hit Broadway musical Hairspray.
• KRISTI YAMAGUCHI - An Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion figure skater.

No word yet on who they'll be paired with. Any bets that Julianne Hough will get paired with the hot Latino?

American Idol begins with the illumination rounds via America's votes starting tonight. I'm quite happy they didn't choose to let the crybaby continue on any further. Josiah, I believe was his name; the apparently homeless kid. Or rather, homeless because he doesn't want to get a job or go to school as required by his parental units… I think he hoped for a sympathy vote.

Okay, I'm over it.

Happy week back from a three-day weekend.

Friday
February 22, 2008

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

And it is! Tons of fluffy snowmen have been tumbling from the sky unassembled since around 4:00 this morning; seven hours later, it's still snowing.

So, I'm home from work today, though I did pack up stuff to work on at home just in case. There were at least one accident on every highway when I got up and flipped on the news. My route, there were ... three. If I didn't slip and fall and break a bone somewhere, and managed to get my car moving and not getting in an accident myself, the accidents I would have been sitting in traffic to bypass them would have made my commute especially miserable. Then, it's all supposed to turn to sleet and rain this afternoon. Maybe.

So, I pegged three of the four hopefuls that were sent home last night on American Idol. I liked Garrett because he reminds me of a young Peter Frampton, but his singing was not strong enough, and knew he'd be gone. That Amy too. Maaaaaaan, was she off-key or WHAT? She was painful to the ears. I couldn't listen to her sing her final performance; it made the perfect time to whip a salad together far far away from the sounds of the TV. I also pegged Joanne to leave as well; she just wasn't strong in her performance and her voice a bit whiney to my ears. The cutting of Colton wasn't surprising; he was one of two others that I had figured to not do well at all.

Anyone think (like me) that Danny Noriega will be this year's Sanjaya? He's ... very pretty.

Carly is my favorite of the girls, though I like Amanda's raunchiness. Asia'h and Ramiele are excellent, too. Of the guys, Luke Menard is ... hawt. But not as strong of a singer as Robbie Carrico, Jason Castro, Michael Johns, and the irrespressibly adorable David Archuleta. I'm predicting he will make it to the finale, if not win the title. I got depressed when Ryan Seacrest said we can't adopt him.

Happy snow day. TGIF.

Friday
February 29, 2008

Happy Leap Year TGIF!

The week has been a good one. I've stuck to my diet now for two weeks. I've stuck to my exercise regimen as well. I have to. My doctor's words are rather haunting.

I was a bit disappointed this week with American Idol.

The guys were first again and only a couple really stood out for me. David was awesome. While the judges didn't care much for Jason's song and performance, I thought it was decent. Whereas they commended Danny, and I found him rather sour and offkey on the notes during most of his performance. I also agreed with the judge on Luke's performance and song choice; however, he is easy on the eyes.

Wednesday night, the girls had their shot. Talk about a night of sour notes! Egads! I absolutely thought Amanda was horrific, not only to look at but to listen to. While I liked her a lot during all the pre-shows, it seems the more she tries "not to do Janis" the more her voice can't handle the songs she chooses to sing. She sounded most of the time, to be straining her voice terrible. However! Seems there is a lot of dirty laundry with that one and perhaps voting was tampered with to keep her around. Nude photos on the internet posted by a best friend (gee, how original is THAT!?), jail time (mostly DUI), and the accident in which a truck hit her — she was DUI. My favorite of the girls was absolutely without a doubt, the Irish girl Carly.

And Kady. I just want to smack that smug face of hers.

So, last night, I'm thinking that it's time we see the last of Amanda and Kady, and (hopefully) Danny and Jason. I was in shock when Alaina was evicted rather than Kady, and Alexandréa evicted rather than Amanda. Interesting, too, to read the faces of those two girls. It was like they knew they were the weaker performer. Poor Alaina. Though, when she cried and said she couldn't sing, but then decided to but said it would be horrible — she sang a helluva lot better than she did the night before.

There are a couple more that I expect to be gone before the formation of the final 12, however last year one I was certain to make it to that 12 didn't, and one I thought would be gone wasn't. Unless they manage to pull out a stunning performance, I predict next week's evicted to be Kady, Amanda, Luke and Danny.

Lil is doing another installment of the Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search that begins next Friday. That's another favorite of mine. Top Chef too starts up on the 12th.

I'm already thinking of vacation time. Where to go is still up in the air. I want to go to California, Oregon, Nebraska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Ireland. *Just sighs* If I had won the Mega-Bucks lottery, I could do it all.

Of course, you have to buy lottery tickets first.

Pax.