Whine & Cheese

Summertime...And The Livin' Is Easy

Ah...Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer. 

With temps mostly in the 90s these past several weeks, it still feels like springtime here in Phoenix.  This is usually a good thing, but I have to say I am itchin' to get into our swimming pool.  With the overnight lows still dipping into the 60s, our pool just is not warming up enough for full immersion.  A couple of weeks ago (during a mini-heat wave when the pool temp creeped up to about 78 degrees) I managed to float around for awhile and work on the tan.  The pool really needs to be at least 80 degrees to approach any kind of comfort level and not have certain body parts try to totally recoil into your body.  Forecasters are saying we are going to be in the 100s next week...so I guess if we don't make it into the pool this weekend, it won't be too much longer of a wait.
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Will probably watch some of the dedication ceremony for the WWII Memorial on Saturday.  It was much more innocent days the last time I was in Washington DC -- back in September 2000 - when you could traipse through the White House with little effort or worry and even end up on the floor of the House of Representatives or on the Speaker of the House's office balcony (thanks to a ballsy AZ Representative office worker turned Capitol tour guide).  Back then, I believe they were about to break ground on the WWII Memorial I believe and its location was the prime source of controversy.  While I certainly thought the memorial deserved a prime location, I admit sided with the purists who argued that it broke up the whole Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool (which I notoriously dubbed "goose shit pond" thanks to the all the... well all bird crap in it...and I chose to blame the nearby multitude of goose-like creatures), Lincoln Memorial sight line.

Now that I have seen shots of the WWII Memorial this past week on TV and in print, I have to say it looks like it fits right in.  The location controversy seems to have died down with more of the recent negative buzz surrounding its design ... too bland, too big, and even those who say it is too reminiscent of Nazi architecture (my linked-up DC bloggers: feel free to tell me otherwise).  But to me, and from 2000 miles away, it looks to be pretty impressive -- and at least a reason to return to DC at some point in the future.
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Fans of the The Amazing Race, there is another show that you might be interested in this summer.  Remember Kevin and Drew, the bald-headed New Yorker frat-bros from TAR1?  They are back for a 3-part "reality" series that is scheduled to air on the Discovery Channel in July.   TV Guide reports that Kevin and Drew Unleashed will follow the guys as they travel cross-country and engage in such activities as alligator wrestling and teaching water aerobics.

In other TAR news, I hope the rumors are wrong that have CBS postponing the planned summer airing of TAR5 until the fall and pushing TAR6 to spring 2005.  I need my TAR fix soon!

Fantasia Wins: I'm A Believer

Although I would have not lost any sleep if Diana DeGarmo pulled the upset, I believe the Idol legacy is in much better shape this morning in the hands of Fantasia Barrino.  As expected the vote was close, not quite the tenth of a percentage of last year's Clay/Ruben battle - but Fantasia's 1.3 million vote lead only translated to a 2% margin of victory.

Some random notes on the evening:

Ditch the "pre-show" including what had to be emptiest red-carpet in Hollywood history.  If the biggest celebrity you can come up with is Ray Romano (who did not even feel the need to shave for the big event) you have a problem.  And when asked her thoughts on the previous night's show,  I think Sharon Osbourne based on her oh-shit expression and answer ("It .... was....  terrific") had not even watched it.  Christina Christian please stick to singing, your interviewing skills are non-existent...and ditch the hair (didn't you learn anything from Jennifer Hudson...the Mrs. Roper look doesn't work).  Kimberly Caldwell - go away and you to need some hair help as well (maybe Julia DeMato can help).  Jennifer Love Hewitt - fire your agent if this is the best gig you can get.

Though this is asking for the impossible, stop trying to channel "The Brady Bunch" in the group sings (weren't you just waiting for JPL to do the Peter Brady puberty-induced"It's time to change" line?). I know this is always the kitschiest part of the show...but the oh-so-1970s white and yellow "uniforms" the final 12 were forced to wear were truly horrific.  But alas the ugly attire did not distract us from the fact that America got it right with some of the early evictees both vocally (Leah & Camille, I am looking at you) and dance-wise (John Stevens and Matt Rogers... cringe-worthy in totally different ways).  And has Amy Adams aged like 20 years since ditching the pink hair, I kept thinking it was Diana DeGarmo's mother up there on stage. 

What was it with Tamyra opening the show with the National Anthem... I guess it was an attempt to solidify the finale as some kind of major sporting event (thus the endless boxing match references in re-capping the previous night)... that said, I did not like Tamyra's take on it at all.

Paula Abdul's breasts.... fabulous!   Get working on a wonder-bra endorsement deal...pronto!

Simon - stick with the black Armani tight t-shirts.. the button down (down down down) look is kind of creepy and do you think Randy always looks like a pimp when he dresses up?

Why did they let Diana sing "I Believe" as her last solo song?  The poor girl nailed it even better than the night before... it was pretty much the next-day quarterback-ing sign that she had not won ... as she would have had to sing it again to close out the show.  You can tell there was more than a little twinge of pain when she helped Ryan introduce Fantasia's victory version of "I Believe" ... Diana really wanted it to be "her" song.

Was not all that impressed with the return of the former champs, Kelly and Ruben.  They did all right in the opening "Impossible Dream" (though it appeared the walk down the ramp pretty much wiped out poor Ruben), but their solo numbers left something to be desired.  Kelly sounded "ai-ight" but the song itself was pretty awful, while Ruben's "new" song sounded much like his debut "Sorry 2004."  No wonder they banished Clay to North Carolina!

Finally, I thought Fantasia was just picture-perfect last night.  You can tell she was pretty exhausted, but she pluckily plodded through all the hoops the producers put up for her for the two hours.  Her final performance announced that there is a new diva in town.  Could she recover from her emotional response to winning to sing "I Believe" -- you betcha!  Got teary at the right times and just when you think she was done...she belted it out again.  Say what you will about the quality of her voice, but she works a song for all its worth. 

Idol Week 11: Finale Finally

At last the final night of Idol! And not a moment too soon...I think both Diana and Fantasia have pretty much fried their vocal chords at this point so I am not sure either of them could last another week.

 

Diana's vocals I think suffered the most.  Her bread-and-butter is hitting those glory notes and last night they seemed to come out much more shrill than normal.  She has never been great with her lower register and "quieter" moments...and that showed last night.  There is also a story out this morning that Diana's ear-piece was not working...so she could not hear herself or the music...but not sure that even would have helped her out any.  I was also a little disappointed that outside of this year's Idol anthem, "I Believe," she chose not to sing something she had not done before  C'mon its the finals...why re-hash or try to out-do two of your best performances of the competition?! 

 

That said, I thought Fantasia failed miserably doing a new song.  As Simon noted I thought her "All My Life" was a complete mess... I think the background singers were doing more vocalizing than Fantasia...who seemed more content to just riff her way through it.  But perhaps she was just toying with Diana... giving her a chance to shine before slamming the door shut with "Summertime" (for a 3rd time!! okay, its great... we know!) and her rendition of "I Believe."

 

C'mon you kind of knew that Diana was going to be in trouble with the new song when the back-up singers was a gospel choir!  Talk about favorably stacking the deck.  But when it comes down to it I said last night that Diana sang "I Believe," but Fantasia performed it -- and that is the difference and why Fantasia should take home the title.

 

But will she?  I am still not sure.  I have read the boards and as I have said over and over, there are folks who just don't like Fantasia (her voice, her attitude, etc.) and there seemed to be a concerted rallying around Diana.  Likewise, there will be the "don't tell me what to do" contingent who will be annoyed by the judges (and even Paul Anka - was that necessary at all?!?) proclaiming Bo-Bo the winner.  If Diana does prevail, I still think that Fantasia will win the "sales" race (similar to Clay outselling Ruben).

 

So we shall see...after about 1 hour and 50 minutes of hokey group sings, another round of "how they got there" bios, and torturous re-caps of the judges' comments (did they really say anything last night?)...we will have a new Idol and I will have to find something new to latch onto in order to keep getting Google search hits!

 

Swan & Shrek

Despite my reality television addiction, I did not watch The Swan. However, I did catch some of the big Swan Pageant finale last night before heading to the gym and also on the big screens at the gym (though I did not tap into the audio).

Given what I did see:
Beauty = Boob implants + Hair extensions + Capped teeth

Though I don't really want to crumble before a mirror proclaiming how beautiful I am, maybe I should try those Crest White Strips.
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Hopefully these man-made wonders who are mothers (which many seemed to be..."Daddy, why is Mommy strutting around in hardly any clothes in front of thousands of people?") are taking their children to see Shrek 2 soon. After this freak-fest, a lesson about "inner beauty" is due.

I know all the "inner beauty" stuff is a bunch of crap to make us normal looking, but terribly nice, folks feel better about ourselves -- but there is something to be said about a positive mental attitude. Sure I may never evolved into one of those perfectly lean muscle bound studs at the gym, but given my own commitment to working out and the lengths (or "shortness") of what I am willing to do to get there, at the end of the day I am fine with my progress and/or appearance.

But enough philosophizing about a computer animated feature! What did I think of it? I don't think it approached the original it was still a fine and entertaining film and most definitely worth a $6 matinee. The story took awhile to get off the ground, but once it did it effortlessly sailed to a fine conclusion. Lots of stuff for the adults to enjoy as well...believe it or not at our showing, there were not many children in the theater. But alas, a reference to "Flashdance" did make me feel old - as I realized that it was thrown in as something the parents would enjoy... egads! I know I am in my 30s and a great deal of my friends do have children, but I still don't feel very parental!

Getting Spoiled

In kind of a work slump of late. My workload is fairly unpredictable. About a month ago it was hair-pulling busy. These past two weeks have been blister-inducing thumb twiddling. One of the advantages of working from home is at least you don't have to "look busy" ... one of the hardest things "to do" back when I worked in a traditional office environment. But with this current extended "break," it is hard to muster up an energy for anything... and re-gain momentum even when some minor work rolls in. A key to working at home is self-discipline, something that I admit is not one of my strongest character traits.

So in my boredom this morning, I have just been spoiled, spoiled, spoiled! And I don't mean in the "treating myself to something special" kind of way. No, I am talking about tv show spoilers ... something that I have a love/hate relationship with...I love being surprised, but can I turn away from a spoiler? Rarely.

One of the great things about TiVo is that you get pretty used to watching TV when you are ready for it (as opposed to when the networks dish it out to you). But the bad part is that you sometimes find out stuff you don't really want to before you have a chance to watch it. With shows like Survivor and American Idol I know I have to watch them that night. Avoiding the result the next morning is virtually impossible given my Internet habits.

We are a week behind on two of our Sunday staples, Sopranos and Queer As Folk. We watched last week's QAF last night and the previews for the next episode (airing later that night) promised something shocking. I thought the TiVo program info had already given away the surprise...so I did not expect to get spoiled, but whatya know something else happened and I found out about it!

We did the same thing with Sopranos watched last week's episode (the one w/ Tony's totally f*cked-up dream sequence) as last night's recorded on TiVo. With the show taking next week off before the season finale, I figured we'd just get back on schedule next weekend. But by now, I should know that the next-to-last episode of Sopranos is often more eventful than the finale... so, without going into any more details, let's just say a web site headline and a morning talk show discussion gave it all away. [UPDATE: Geesh! Not even safe from spoilers when looking at your blog search engine hits!]

The French Open started today...and as per my habit, I checked tennis scores on the Web first thing this morning. Andre Agassi's shocking loss to a total unknown was already in the books. I turn on ESPN's coverage .. which was in its 2nd of its like 762 hours of coverage over the next 2 weeks... and dare I even think that I would see live coverage?! No, Mr. Agassi is only halfway through his crash-and-burn...and by the time that match gets done, I know the results of the matches that ESPN is airing later in the telecast. I know, I should just not look at tennis scores on the Web...but how else am I going to find out how the non-Americans are doing?

Finally to end the morning spoiling, I read that most of the current cast of 24 (except Kiefer, of course) has not been resigned for next season. But this I take with a grain of salt, I think this is their M.O., as the likes of Sherry Palmer and Nina Meyers have returned to the show after not being "re-signed" at the end of previous seasons (though I have my doubts we will see those two ladies in Season 4). Even if the "un-casting" does come true, I think it will be fine... one thing you learn on 24 is never to get attached to any characters...and besides, I think the show really needs a totally new spin when it returns for its uninterrupted ("un"-preempted) run come January.

Dolly On The Mound? / Fall TV

It has been awhile since I have done an "I've Been Googled" entry. My search hits have just not been that funny of late...or maybe it just takes more to get a LOL one these days. But this one I think goes on the all-time classic list:

MSN Search: DOLLY PARTON NUDE PITCHERS - My hunch is that this has nothing to do with water pitchers... is someone just looking for a pic of Dolly's Big Units?

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The networks have announced their anticipated schedules for the fall. While it is no secret that my TV watching is pretty much out of control, I think I am going to be a little more picky about adding new shows onto an already crowded list of returning favorites.

This past year I gave 7 new shows a shot -- only 3 will be back for a 2nd season... Las Vegas, Hope & Faith, and Arrested Development.

The best news of that bunch was AD, a truly original show that will never (ever!) appeal to a mass audience but was saved due to nearly unanimous critical praise and an almost instant ascension as a cult classic. Vegas probably did not deserve a renewal... a purely guilty pleasure and back this fall thanks to 4 pretty women and 1 pretty guy (sorry Mr. Caan, not you)...it certainly wasn't due to its writing... the storytelling scraped the bottom of the barrel several times this season so I have no idea what they are going to come up with for season two. H&F only survives thanks to the charismatic Kelly Ripa... this "we've seen it 2,567 times before" sitcom is truly dreadful...I only watched it (sometimes!) when I was looking to kill 22 minutes in front of the TV/TiVo.

Not surviving: The Lyon's Den, Coupling, Karen Sisco, and Miss Match. Coupling sucked from the start (hard to believe since the BBC original is so funny) while Den was starting to find itself just about the time NBC pulled the plug. I enjoyed both Sisco and MM and was disappointed to see them go...both victims of poor time slots and impatient TV execs.

So what will I be giving a shot this fall:

Joey - Okay I wasn't a Friends fanatic (it had long stopped being "Must See" for me), but I will give LeBlanc a shot... and more so Drea de Matteo as I hear a not so distant cousin of her Sopranos Adriana. The pilot was shown at the NBC fall schedule unveiling and, believe it or not, the buzz was good.

CSI: NY - I can count the number of episodes I have seen of either CSI on one hand...so I am not sure if this will last long on my list...more a victim of finding the time for another one-hour drama. Also, have never jumped on the franchise bandwagon (shockingly for a TV addict like me, I have never seen even *one* episode in the Law & Order franchise). But I like Gary Sinise and Melena Kankaredes (or however you darn well spell it..though never watched Providence) seem to be an appealing co-lead.

Dr. Vegas - Rob Lowe and Sin City. That is pretty much the reasons, though the concept of a show revolving around a hotel/casino physician seems to be pretty darn shaky. I have a hunch that this turns into "Why Did I Ever Leave West Wing: Part Deux" for Lowe. Also, features ex-Sopranos star...Joey Pants.

Desperate Housewives - The most intriguing new show of the bunch... solely on the casting of three of my favorite TV ladies of the past: Marcia Cross (Melrose Place's crazy Kimberly), Teri Hatcher (Lois & Clark), and Felicity Huffman (Sports Night)...also toss in Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer of Twin Peaks, who will again be playing a dead person).

Idol Week 10 Results: Aloha Jazzy

Well all is right again in Idol land as last week's wrong (yet again!) was corrected last night. It is hard to get all that stoked about Jasmine's exit - she seems like a genuinely nice girl with a good voice...but as Simon would probably say "nice" and "good" are not what the show is all about.

So we are down to Fantasia and Diana -- the duel of the teen divas! Fox's definition of a "diva" is even looser than VH-1's (and who thought that was possible)! I think Fantasia has some diva-tude in her for sure, but c'mon it takes longer than a few weeks to earn that status!

I think it is going to be tight race to the finish. Having read all the boards and blogs over the past months, Fantasia has her strong supporters and equally mighty set of detractors. However, is that latter contingent galvanized enough to rally around the gosh, golly-gee Diana?!

But as experience has shown, win-place-show (or even less than that) on Idol does not matter all that much... well except if you are Season 1 finalist Justin Guarini (btw, Nicole Richie squelched engagement rumors to the Mr. Frizz). So it is hard to really worry (or dare I say even care) too much over the end result at this point.

Idol Week 10: Arista Development

Are there any doubts that Fantasia should win American Idol? While I didn't think it was her best night (too many runs), she has more charisma and confidence than Jasmine and Diana combined. While many felt LaToya lacked personality (something she heartily disproved on her 52 appearances on talk shows this past week) at least she gave Fantasia a run for her money in the vocal talent department. But what we have been left with is a one-horse "star quality" race.

I thought Diana did a good job last night and probably deserves her place in the finals. I think Randy was a attempting a wee bit of sabotage in having her sing Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" (which I thought was a bit too sped up to fit into a 1 minute, 30 second snippet). But she shined on the pretty darn maudlin "Don't Cry Out Loud."

Will Jasmine go this week? Who knows. Based on last night's performances, she probably should have been voted out in the middle of the pack. She made the sin of attempting Whitney and additionally had to survive Paula's awful song selection of "Mr. Melody." Even if she survives, last night had a "lame duck" feeling from all, including "Jazzy" herself.

But will Fantasia be hurt by the judges' comments. Last night, she was pretty much christened the American Idol and even Clive Davis (who looked to be hoping to get a Bo-Bo lap dance from his prospective new money honey) said he would sign her... so does she need to win? Well yes, if the show wants to maintain an iota of credibility going into the future.
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Is it too much to ask for a show not to totally ruin a surprise? I know in this age of "give the whole story away" movie trailers there is some group of individuals who think this is a necessity.

24 is a show that loves the surprise twist, so that makes it all the more frustrating that they chose to give away the last minutes of the next-to-last episode in a TV commercial. Well okay, they didn't give it totally away...they gave us some "options" to mull over, but by the time the final scene rolled around the end result was pretty much evident. I think I would have been genuinely surprised had I not seen the commercial...but by now I guess I should no better to even look.
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Somebody wake me up if this is just my TV programming dream?!

First NBC renews Scrubs until 2006... now CBS releases their fall schedule and The Amazing Race is on it! Yes, we have back-to-back seasons of TAR (season five is airing over the summer)... granted in the fall it will be in a graveyard-ish Saturday evening time slot, but who cares!

Don't Call Me Stupid!

Not feeling terribly bloggy today, but got a chuckle over this quote in this week's Time from ex-President (Bill) Clinton regarding the race for the White House:

"The only way we can lose is if we're lazy or dumb..."

This is how I have felt about the presidential race for a while now. My only concern is that I do not think Kerry has been much of a national presence of late...instead the Kerry camp just seems to be content in letting the Bush administration crash-and-burn on their own in the interim. I know the race is going to get heat as the election approaches and especially when Kerry names a VP candidate...but right now it does not even seem like it is an election year.

Those Summer Niiiii-hiiiiights! TiVo More! TiVo More..ororororeeee!

Looking at our TiVo 2-week "to do" list, I was starting to think TV was going to start slowing down. We have the season finales of Las Vegas and West Wing this coming week...and the wind-down (or big wind-up?!) of Idol and 24 next week.

But these days the traditional TV season no longer ends in May... with little time to catch a collective TV breath I think the TiVo is going to remain steadily humming...

The Sopranos wraps up in early June, but HBO ropes us in the very next week with the season premiere of Six Feet Under.

Queer As Folk marches on through at least mid-summer I believe... after a pretty good first season, the has been pretty darn craptastic for three years running. But it's saving grace remains gay characters who have sex and are usually naked when doing so! Though with this season's "coming of age" tag-line, that apparently means less booty calls. But as long as sex-on-a-stick Brian Kinney is around I will continue watching.

Beyond that there is a bunch of summer shows:

For their 5th go-round, CBS brings back The Amazing Race (People please watch this show!) and Big Brother (don't really care if this one is back, but get hopelessly hooked each and every year).

Back on Bravo is the return of Celebrity Poker Showdown - with each episode expanded from one hour to two hour (ugh.. that'll be tough to fit in for a "quickie" even on TiVo) this time around. Good news, last year's host Kevin Pollack has been given the boot! New episodes of Queer Eye are also set to debut in June.

For the first time ever, I am a bit burnt-out on Las Vegas and gambling (thanks to 2 visits to Sin City in the past 6 months)... but nevertheless, I plan on watching Fox/Mark Burnett's The Casino as well as the Discovery Channel's documentary-series American Casino.

And let's not forget mondo tennis (3 Slams!) and the Athens Olympics...whew! I guess I will have to schedule in some time off from our new leather recliners!

Oh...just read that NBC has given Scrubs a renewal through May 2006 -- so at least two more years (I hope! Never trust those networks!) of our household's favorite sitcom.