Whine & Cheese

Where There's Smoke

We went to the Diamondbacks game last night... one of our 10 games as part of our "shared" season tix package (and the next game is coming up quickly on July 5th).  The Dbacks lost to their division rivals the SF Giants, wasn't a very exciting game and I have to admit I was having trouble paying attention... don't really know why as I didn't have a particularly arduous day.

So here are the sights and sounds that did flit in and out of my mind last night...

On the way in to the ballpark got a a pretty spectacular view of the smoke from one of the many wildfires going on in our state.  Even if you don't live in Arizona, you may have seen some stuff on the news.  If it is June, pretty much thousands of acres of land are going up in flames somewhere in our state.  Usually we just see a massive plume of smoke off in the distance... but this one was a bit closer to our 'lil metropolis (in an "only in Arizona" phenomenon, it was brush in a dry riverbed that was aflame!)... but anyhow the smoke was blowing into the downtown area.  While fires are never a good thing, the smoke really created a spectacular sunset.  Definitely something that you don't see everyday.

Our governor Janet Napolitano was at the game last night... of course, she sat in the VIP box with the major owner and other Dback big-wigs.  What amazed us was that for extended periods of time the Dbacks execs seemed to be ignoring Guv J-Na!  This one guy pretty much had his back turned on her and was conversing with someone else for about 10 minutes or so.  Granted J-Na was probably just as happy to watch the game and not engage in some small talk with these guys (probably Republicans anyhow... yes, somehow we have a Democrat governor in our otherwise "red" state).

Former D-back and now part-Dbacks owner (like probably .005%) Matt Williams was also in the crowd (though not in the "big boys" box) with his latest wife, former local news reporter Erika Munroe.  Erika still fills in and does the weather every so often... last night she seemed to be talking a lot (too much?!) to her husband.

I tend to eavesdrop on the people around us.  We don't tend to talk all that much to each other during the game and when we do it is usually brief and whispered into the ear... this is NOT the case with pretty much 99% of the other people at the game.  I think the people around me would be shocked to hear how much I could tell them about their lives after just sitting around them for a couple of hours. 

The guys behind us last night were talking alot about mortgage rates (one of them is at 6%), re-financing, home values... a very popular topic in our real estate market these days.  Other converation revolved around work, when the lived in Phoenix, left Phoenix, returned to Phoenix... travel (this one guy said he "loved flying Southwest Airlines"... WTF?  Almost made me spit out my $3 chocolate chip cookie!  For me, SW is a convenient and necessary "evil" in this town... "loooove" is going a bit too far) ... kids playing little league (first base), kids going to college (visit to USC, thinking of going back East), etc., etc., etc.

See what I mean?! I know way too much after a couple of innings of ball!  Granted I will forget it all by the time the next game rolls around... but still!

Oh, a bit of a teaser... we have a "blogger summit" scheduled for the upcoming holiday weekend... if your blogroll looks a bit like my blogroll you can probaby figure it all out, but I will just zip it for now so I keep my "uh-oh, you're a freak" factor to a minimum! ;-)

More on The Summer of Secrets!

WARNING:  If you do NOT want to read spoilers about Big Brother 6, I recommend you skip this post!

Well, more details about The Summer of Secrets on BB6!  I have to admit it is another pretty good twist on the game.   Ready?

Each houseguest will have a "secret" partner in the house... a person they have some sort of relationship with outside the house (family, work, etc.)... each "team" will enter the house under the impression that they are the only pair playing as a team.   If the team makes it to the final two, the winner will get $1 million and the runner-up $250k ... if the team does not make it to the end, the winner will get the standard $500k winner's prize.

Here is a run down of the houseguests... 8 women, 6 men... ranging from 22 to 36... just 2 married folks:

Women
Maggie: 26, Las Vegas, Emergency room nurse
Ivette: 25, Miami Beach FL Waitress
Ashlea: 22, Plantation FL, Fashion design student
Sarah: 22, Chicago, Retail manager
April: 30, Dallas, Pharm sales rep (Married)
Janelle: 25, Miami, VIP cocktail waitress
Rachel: 33, Parker CO, Horse breeder
Jennifer: 27, Plano TX, Arena football league dancer

Men
Beau: 25, Pembroke Pines FL, Personal shopper
Michael: 28, Orange County CA, Artist
Howie: 34, Chicago, Meteorology student
Eric: 36, Boston, Firefighter (Married)
James: 29, Atlanta, Loss prevention manager
Kaysar: 24, Irvine CA, Graphic designer

I guess some location assumptions can be made (a couple from Chicago and a handful of Floridians)... but we'll have to wait a week (July 14th) for BB to identify the pairings.

Pictures and bios are up at the CBS Big Brother 6 website.

Weirdo Joe?

For some reason we decided to watch Average Joe 4: The Joes Strike Back.  I really do not know why.  We did watch the first series where the lovely Melena chose pretty boy Jason over lovable Adam... but we have not watched any of the follow-ups... ok, backtrack just a bit...  I did catch the last half hour of AJ2 (?) finale where infamously the guy dumped the gal because she had previously dated Fabio.  But that's it... I promise!

I know this does NOTHING to dispel the rumors that we watch every reality show out there!  Just for the record, we are NOT watching: The Scholar, Hell's Kitchen, Beauty and the Geek, The Cut, or I Want To Be A Hilton.  So there!

And likewise, we don't get into the make-over shows... have not watched (or watch) the Extreme Makeovers or the more tawdry The Swan... so that wasn't really the appeal either here (in this edition the "kicker" is some of the rejected "Joes" coming back into the mix after physical/mental makeovers).

So I guess it was just a timing issue and a chance to re-visit a show that we haven't seen in a couple of years.  Unbelievably they found a woman without a clue of how the "game" works (or at least willing to pretend she doesn't)... but I have to say, with a few exceptions, the new crop of Joes are more weird/quirky than anything that I would call "average."   But I guess the definition has to change ... average = boring or nondescript does not make for good (or more appropriately "so bad, it's good") television

What cracked me up is that they pretty much did a review of the entire series (not sure how many weeks its running) in the first 5 minutes.  From the introduction of the Joes, to the arrival of the "hunks," to the return of the re-made Joes, to the big finale location... which, of all places, will take place in Tahiti!  We pretty much cringed when we saw those aerial shots of the trademark overwater bungalows. 

So I guess we are dialed in until the finale... at minimum, just to longingly recall memories from our vacation.

Big Brother 6

Hello Houseguests...err, I mean Blog Readers! 

This is Julie, the morning show host from New York City.  Ed, the gay pop-culture blogger from Phoenix, Arizona, wanted me to let you know that he is quite excited that Big Brother 6 has already popped up on his TiVo's "To Do" list.

I am stoked to get back to the West Coast.  It will give me a chance to get away from my usual co-workers:  Harry, the inept celebrity interviewer from New York City... Renee, the wild-haired child from Manhattan, and Hannah, the "didn't I used to have a real job" morning show co-host from New York City.  This will be the first Big Brother season since my marriage to Les, the major television network executive from New York City. 

I know what you are thinking, do we have a theme this year?  Of course we do!  Thank you for asking!  It is The Summer of Secrets, The Summer of Secrets, The Summer of Secrets!   You loved the X-Factor, you couldn't get enough of Project DNA... but I promise to repeat "The Summer of Secrets" as much as possible during the first LIVE! episode of BB6 that you forget all about those other two seasons!  But I have been told that this season we have the "one of the very best casts we have ever had!"

Despite it being The Summer of Secrets... Arnold, the executive producer from Los Angeles California, and Allison, the executive producer from Los Angeles Calfornia (didn't I just say that?!)... have let some... well... secrets...  out of the bag.  We have 14 houseguests this season... an all-time high number, but don't worry the season will still end on schedule in September (how we will accomplish that is one of the secrets of The Summer of Secrets)... likewise, there are more cameras (46!) and microphones (72!) than ever before in an ALL NEW two-story BB house.  The Head of Household (HOH) room will be on the 2nd floor... but don't worry, the HOH will still be able to speak freely to me without the other houseguests hearing.

There are some pictures of the new BB house in next week's issue of TV Guide, but don't worry it still looks as tacky as ever before!   

So, tune in on Thursday July 7th for the premiere episode!  Willl I still clumsily walk to my cue spot on the floor and point my toes like a camel?  Will they dare to change my script ("The Power is Up For Grabs!") after 6 years?  Will I still speak of the "Golden Power of Veto" with all the seriousness of reporting on another car bombing in Baghdad?  Well, you will just have to tune in and find out... on Big Brother 6... The Summer of Secrets!

Jules

[DISCLAIMER:  This was NOT written by Julie Chen. Iif you think that please look up the definition of "satire"... any comments starting with "Hi Julie," asking for Ms. Chen's email address, etc. will be deleted.  Thanks. The Management.]

Weekend Update #50626

Ok, I figured I'd start numbering my "weekend update" posts since it seems to becoming a fairly popular Monday entry.  No, it is not my 50 thousand-something entry (though it may feel like that to my dear readers!)... but just some mutually-exclusive numbering system using the year, month and day.

So that said, I don't have a whole lot to report.  It was a pretty laid back weekend.  We have had a stream of visitors lately... so this felt like the first weekend since we have been back from vacation when we haven't had someone over, preparing for someone to arrive, or heading off to see someone... got that?!

With temps in Phoenix officially on BROIL mode (110 or higher) last week, the pool water temperature reached its peak for the season ... about 86 degrees... which is pretty much the best we can get.  So we spent some time hanging out in the pool on both days.  We had an unexpected evening "dip" on Thursday night... a brief, but gust-y storm put our lounge chairs at the bottom of the deep end of the pool.  But it was nice to listen to some tunes and just float around.  After peeling (well more like flaking) for about two weeks after getting back from French Polynesia,  my tans lines returned!  I know, I know ...it is not "cool" (or medically sound) to get/want a tan!  It looks like temps are going to continue to be quite high this week (looks like 112-ish for the foreseeable future)... so I am sure the pool will continue to be put to use!

Saturday night we revived "movie night."  No, we didn't head out to the theater, just stayed in and let TiVo give us options (we are paying for all these premium movie channels!).  With not terribly uplifting alternatives to choose from we decided on Monster, which has been on and off our TiVo for the past few months.  As expected (suspected?!) it was quite good and Charlize Theron probably did deserve the Oscar ... even though the Academy regularly seems to give the statuette to "pretty gals who go ugly." Now, I'll just have to get TiVo to track down when the HBO America Undercover documentary about Aileen gets re-broadcast.

We also watched a couple of more episodes on the Scrubs: Season 1 DVD.  I thought I had started watching the show (which is now one of my faves) pretty early on, but thus far nothing iis bouncing off my memory bank.  It is interesting to see these early episodes... I definitely think the show has hit its stride in the past couple of seasons, but the "quirky" foundation was pretty much laid out very early on.  The very first episode also had some commentary from creator Bill Lawrence and that was quite fun to listen to.  There is not commentary on all the episodes, but I think the next episode up for us to watch has some by Zach Braff... so I am guessing that should be pretty entertaining.

Otherwise, we watched some D'backs baseball on TV... the Detroit Tigers were in town and came to the realization that there is something about Tiger catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez that is kinda sexy.  Now 5' 9", 210 lbs is normally not anywhere near my "type"... but... I don't know... after the Brian/Gale Harold thing, maybe I am spending too much time out in the sun!

But alas, there are more traditional, almost but not-quite, Fine Wine fare on HBO Sunday night...

While I know Adrien Grenier (Vince) is supposed to be a hottie on Entourage, he is/was not an immediate "slam dunk" in my book... but I am more than willing to admit that there is something going on there.  I do have to say I am enjoying this show a bit more than I did last season.  While on The Comeback, it is pretty much a coin flip between the two young male supporting (and often shirtless) players on the fictional sitcom Room & Bored.... Jesse (James Olive) or Chris (Kellan Lutz)?   Hmmmm...

Don't Leave Me This Way? Why Not!?!

Don't have much time today for a whole lot of mindless chatter (did I just call W&C mindless chatter?!?)... whole bunch of not terribly fun work-related stuff that is keeping me on my toes!

But I can't let that day go by without saying THELMA HOUSTON ROCKS!  On a particularly baaad episode of Hit Me Baby One More Time last night... Thelma made me forget for a minute it made me forget that this show is all about the has-beens!  And isn't there another singer out there with the last name of Houston?  Hmmm... remind me...

Thelma pretty much had at "mmmm... mmmm... mmmm...." oh, that's the hummed opening bars of her classic hit "Don't Leave Me This Way" (you didn't recognize it?!).

I was always a big fan of the song ... what self-respecting gay man isn't... but seeing her perform it live just brought it to a whole new level of LOVE. IT.  It made me think Vonzell Solomon had real balls to cover it on American Idol!  And kudos for Thelma also for doing a sizzling cover version of Alicia Keys "Fallin'" this is a song that many, many fail at and Houston hit it out of the ballpark as well!

And did she look great or what?! 59 years old!

It was definitely a week to foam at the mouth over older black women singers... we finally got around to watching the finale of NBC's Las Vegas and were thrilled to see/hear Gladys Knight do a couple of tunes on the show... but don't get me started on Gladys...  I might just start breaking out into Pips moves and going "Woo! Woo!" to strains of "Midnight Train To Georgia" running through my head.   And folks that ain't too pretty!

Have a great weekend! 

Getting Buried?!

A tad behind in watching the third episode of the final season of Six Feet Under.  A couple of weeks ago I lamented that the premiere had been deeply depressing... and not much as changed over the past two episodes.  Like I said, this show has never been an "upper" but there always seemed some kind of quirkiness/fun to offset any of the heavy stuff.  Not so, this season.  I have always looked forward to a new SFU episode each week, but it is getting really difficult to psyche myself up for such "downer" subject matter.

It just seems like each character is a crash-test dummy sitting strapped in a car waiting for some technician to hit a button and send them crashing into the wall.  Intriguing? Perhaps. Entertaining?  Eeeeh.

So here are a run-down and some speculation (I am not privy to any spoilers and like it that way)...

David & Keith - I assume this is supposed to be some of the "lighter" material as they had a freaky interview with a freaky surrogate.  It was frustrating to have David lash out at Keith for not squashing his own indiscretion with the Vegas prostitute from several seasons ago.  Despite appearances, this relationship still does not strike me as terribly sound.  I am getting the feeling they think having a baby is going to "fix" things (a common "hetero" scenario).

Nate - Nate's a bit distant these days, huh?  Again, another instance where it seems like the focus is on having a baby and soon... always have to question that.  Like Brenda, Nate is anti-establishment... so I suspect he is already having problems with immersing himself into married life (he didn't seem to want to commit to getting back in time for a home-cooked meal)... and Nate's discussion with George's daughter Maggie about their recent losses makes me think something may happen between those two.

Brenda - While Nate who seems to be subconsciously trying to avoid "normal" Brenda seems to be on a mission to get it... a baby, family dinners, a career... and we all know that ain't Brenda's M.O. Don't really know where this is going... but it is only a matter of time before her little house of cards starts to crumble.

Claire - We all know the Billy relationship is doomed (so won't even bother to discuss him separately).  But what a moment it was when Claire caught Ruth's hand mid-face slap (something I did with my own mom one time!)... and screamed "I will hit you back this time" (something I did NOT do). That literally made me gasp.

Ruth - Ah, Ruth... I am so conflicted over her this season.  Part of me wants to shake her because she can at least attempt to handle husband George's failing mental health a bit better... but the other part of me knows (from my own family's experiences) that this kind of care-taking does destroy one's spirit and can lead to heavy doses of bitterness, irrationality, and resentfulness.  But it was certainly ominous when Ruth headed up to bed and mistakenly said "goodbye" instead of "good night."

So as you see I am still "into" the show... but that doesn't make it any easier to watch.

Fine Wine #23: Robert Gant

Ok, time for a little Fine Wine reparation. 

I had my first not-so terribly well-received addition to the FW list last week with the installation of Gale Harold, Brian on Queer As Folk.  Brian is a definitely a character that folks love to hate... but I didn't realize how true that was!  During that installation, I had intended to do a QAF double-dose with "bad" Brian being offset by someone good... but then I just ran out of time.  So I figured, I'd let the dust settle a bit before getting back to the other nominee...

As you see on the left, it was not a terribly difficult decision to come to... so this week, we right last week's wrong and honor Robert Gant who plays Professor Ben Bruckner on Queer As Folk.  Ben is the, often times, sickenly sweet and "good" HIV+ hubby (well at least in Canada) of Michael Novonty (played by Hal Sparks).

That said, I am not rescinding Gale Harold... I stand firm behind that decision! (firm? behind? firm behind??  Ah, the double entendres are hard to avoid!  hard??).

While rumors certainly swirl around some of my other FW honorees, Gant marks the first time an openly gay man has made the list!  Sorry it took  so long... but it is really no better than the percentage of male celebrities that make the cover of The Advocate!

So what's the story about Gant.  Well, his real name is Robert Gonzalez... and from what I read he goes by "Bobby" in real-life. 

Although he joined the Actor's Guild at the age of 10 and appeared in some commercials (and as part of a Bob Hope USO Tour)... he pretty much gave up acting to received a law degree in 1993 from Georgetown University.  He took a job at a Los Angeles law firm, but the firm closed in 1994 and Gant returned to acting.  Ironically enough, his first credited role was on the television show Ellen (long before either Degeneres or Gant were publicly out).  Small gigs followed including two roles on Melrose Place as "Room Service Waiter" and "Deputy Tom"... with his first multi-episode stint at "Trevor" on the series Caroline in the City.  Before landing the QAF job, Gant was also featured in several episodes of the WB's Popular as "Principal Calvin Crupps."

He has been featured in a handful of smaller films, most recently in 2004 playing the title character in Billy's Dad Is A Fudgepacker... I kid you not!  (Great, now we'll see what kind of Google hits I end up getting on this one!).

I have not been able to find any stats (height/weight) on the ruggedly handsome Gant... watching QAF I always thought he looked great (you think he works out a bit?) for an older guy... but the joke is on me, as his birthday is July 13th 1968... which makes him younger than me!  Whoops!

So welcome Robert Gant/Bobby Gonzalez to the Fine Wine list... I have a hunch you will get a warmer welcome than your co-star!

Faulk. U

l am surprised that I have not yet mentioned that I managed to finish the first of Oprah's Summer of Faulkner challenge last week.  Yes, I wrapped up As I Lay Dying a full two weeks ahead of schedule... pretty impressive since I have not been terribly good about reading (or doing anything else for that matter) of late.  I won't win any writing awards by saying the book was a'ight... as previously mentioned, it was a bit of a challenge to read due to its structure and language... but my main feeling is that I have scratched something off the "to do" list.  I think I had a more enjoyable reading experience with Oprah's last two big summer reads... Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Steinbeck's East of Eden.

I have been watching the video lectures (thus my "Faulk U" title) on O's website and I am thinking I did not really "get" the book.  Or should I say all that I was supposed to.  Lots of lofty symbolism and, in general, just a lot of stuff I guess I was supposed to have figured out... but heck Mr. Professor Dude has probably read the book like 72 times and he can spend all day long figuring this stuff out!   That said, I did enjoy the book on a more basic level though ... so I am not totally "anti" Faulkner or the book!  Which is a good thing, since I have two more Faulkner novels to go to get through the boxed set!

The Sound and the Fury is the July book... so I still have some time.  However, it is a bit longer than AILD, so if I want to be a good boy I should really get an early jump on it.  But while I was in the book section of Costco picking up the Faulkner set, I also bought Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat... so maybe I'll sneak a few chapters of that in first.   So many books...

Buzz Kill

I was having a pretty bad hair day yesterday.  That is a pretty comical statement.  I don't really care about my hair all that much... well, I care... but I don't spend a whole lot of time in front of the mirror fussing with it.  It is thin and receding (and you wonder why I don't post pictures of myself!)... so after a shower, it is pretty much dry by the the time I run my fingers or a comb through it.

I was definitely in need of a haircut, but didn't feel finding a place to get it cut (the place I usually go to seems to have shut down... no tears, since they were always understaffed) or engaging in silly chatter with the hair stylist.  It was ridicuously hot (we hit a high of 112 here in the Phoenix) while I was running some afternoon errands... so when I got home I got out our clippers and went to town!

Now even under "professional" circumstances, clippers have been used on my head... so this was not a totally foreign concept.  I usually get the sides & back down with a #4 clipper and the top of my head trimmed... or the "5-minute special" as I like to call it ... since that is about how long it takes my Super-Cutter to get it done. 

But I did the whole thing yesterday... just moving the shorter #3 clipper all over my head.  I had some concerns after doing about half my head, but when it was all over and done... it ended up coming out not too bad at all.  Granted it was still different looking for me, but I was not regretful or freaky about my pretty rash decision. 

I sent a "warning" email to Todd (who had done something similar prior to our vacation) telling him what I had done, so he wouldn't be totally shocked upon arrriving home.  He helped me get some of the missed spots on the back of my head... but overall he seemed to be fine with my new look... definitely a little more butch than before.

It is just funny to catch my reflection in the mirror and catch a glimpse of just my round head instead of some shadow/shape of hair.