Whine & Cheese

Commander In Pumps

Before I get into the my thoughts about the premiere episode of the Commander In Chief (this link is to a ABC's official show site, which is a a pseudo-blog called "Mackenzie Watch"... which I think is already sexist, shouldn't she be referred to by her last name "Allen?"), let me say I have absolutely no issues with a woman in the Oval Office... heck, with the likes of Nancy Reagan and Hillary Rodham Clinton one can argue that we have already had a woman president.

I guess it is no big surprise that this is one of the new series we were interested in checking out this season.  We love the political stuff, but when it comes to TV watching some things even supercede the Presidency.  In this instance, and on Tuesday nights, that would be The Amazing Race... so, thanks to TiVo, CiC will likely be a Wednesday show for us instead of a Tuesday one.

So, as a die-hard The West Wing fan (with or without Sorkin), it was impossible to watch this show without comparing it to the long running NBC series.  And in this case CiC does not hold up very well. To pull the dead horse out the stable... Mackenzie S. Allen you are no Josiah Bartlet! 

Again, no offense to the ladies,  but this particular Madame President does not instill much security or faith in me.  Now I know we are getting an inside look at Allen's vulnerable side "behind closed door"... but even when she "takes charge" it seems like she was trying way too hard, masking incompetence.  Maybe this is on purpose, but the writing here does not even approach that of The West Wing.  Where a sweeping Bartlet speech can give me goose-bumps, Allen's Capitol Hill address left me with almost an eye-roll... but then again her speech writer is Sela Ward's ex-husband's pregnant girlfriend from the prematurely cancelled ABC series Once & Again... so what did I expect?

And honestly I am not sure I buy Geena Davis as President.  I would liked to have been in the brainstorming session of which actress should play the role.  I am thinking I may have bought into it more if it was an older, less glam actress.  But this is fiction and we must suspend some belief.  Heck, even Davis in a recent interview said the scenario was a bit out there... a Republican President choosing an Independent running mate... with the choice of a woman actually helping the ticket. 

All this said, the show was not really all that bad.  It did boffo in the ratings. I will be curious to see how many folks come back for a second helping.  Davis certainly had one of the best comeback lines in this still young television season ("Jim, you're not in a position to insist how I take my coffee")... and now with everything set-up it will be interesting to see how the show progresses... hopefully it will move a bit  beyond the repetitive "me against the world" struggle that Allen faced in her first hours of her Presidency.

I am also interested in seeing how Donald Sutherland chews up the scenery in future episodes.  As a fan of son Kiefer's work in 24, when "debating" whether Allen should resign I was waiting for Sutherland (who plays Speaker of the House, Nathan Templeton) to go all Jack Bauer on her ass... like threaten to cut off her finger or something if she didn't resign!

So we'll be back next week to check things out.  Again, not "in love" with it just yet (a wise strategy for new shows), but it isn't a waste of time either...

Oh, the "first son" is pretty cute too... though I am too scared to research the actor's real age!

Amazing Race: Family Edition Premiere

Thoughts on the episode entitled "Go Mommy Go!  We Can Beat Them!"

Now there's a TAR episode title that I never thought I would be typing... and even now, I am not sure that I want to.  Ok, I still love the show... but 40 people running around and screeching was almost too much for me in the 2-hour season premiere.  And honestly, I am still having deep reservations about children running the Race (even kids that I actually like).  And alas, it is going to be a watered down version of the Race... usually they are off to some exotic locale on the first leg... but we had to settle for Pennsylvania this time around (and rumor has it the show will not be leaving North America this season)... though I guess PA may qualify as exotic for some... one Racer (an adult no less!), upon reading the clue pondered... "I don't know if that means the state of Pennsylvania?"

So here are my thoughts on each of the families (in order of finish):

Where did they recruit the Godlewski sisters... from an Oprah audience?  Given the amount of screaming the "Pink Ladies" did in this episode you'd think Phil had said "and you get a car, and you get a car, and you get a car, and you get a car!" at the get-go!  Granted the did pocket $20k for finishing first in this opening leg... and they screeched!  And I am sure NYC-ers were snickering when the sisters asked for directions to "the town of SoHo."

Aw man, TAR is really going to make me say awful things about children?!  Heck, just looking at this picture makes you want to roll your eyes... and this is before we knew that the little girl could run a 7-minute mile.  I am guessing the family probably has several bumper stickers on their mini-van at home saying the kids are honor students as well.  But no surprise, they have already been dubbed the "Gaggin'" family... so I will just leave it at that for now... if I say any more I might be called sssh-tupid!

This a family you want to love...with the whole "widow and kids" tag, it seems like it would be almost a knee-jerk response that you would be rooting for them!   And given that they lost their husband/father in a freak auto racing accident, it was terribly disturbing to see the Mom get thrown under a Amish horse buggy in one of the challenges.  So what's the problem for me?  Well, they're Jesus Freaks... I try to respect people's religion... but constant references to Jesus and his role in every piece of minutia (particularly during a reality show!) just gets under my skin.  After getting a map from a fellow follower of Jesus... Mom added something like "Thanks... and we'll be spending eternity together"... this is the Mom who wasn't sure what Pennsylvania was... hopefully she won't need to ask for directions to heaven.

Meet Jesus Freak Family #2... this team lost me at the intro when Dad uttered "I'm the one that's gonna take control. I think it's a man thing.  I think it's a biblical thing.  I truly belive that the man is the authority of the house."  Next!

Foot in mouth disorder Dad #2:  "Too bad we don't have any handicapped children that we could push into traffic to block traffic to help get us ahead"... or something like that... I was too busy trying to get my jaw back into place.  But alas, we learn that his Mother does go to church every week so he might still be able to spend eternity with the Weavers...

Ok, they are totally annoying and stand no chance to get beyond the next couple of weeks... but I love the Paolos!   They SO remind me of the ethnic families of the East Coast childhood... so it is total nostalgia for me... and love 'em or hate 'em they are the most entertaining bunch in the Race so far.  Bonus points for one of the sons recognizing TAR1's Kevin & Drew as the hot dog "vendors"... just blasphemous that only one person knew who they were!

Nothing against them at all... nice dad and nice daughters... if families must run TAR this is the type of family I would like to see doing it... appropriately ages and maturity.  So by default, I am rooting for them.

Ditto the above... and nice tag that it is a father and 3 son-in-laws.

At the get go, this seemed to be the team to beat... they are all young and strong... but yet the siblings never seemed to show it in this opening episode.  Again, I like the age appropriateness of the team and they seem like a fun group... I think they will get their act together and be a force as the Race moves on.

Unlike the other smaller children family, I didn't have quite the same likeability issue with the Blacks.  The kids seemed genuinely sweet and this was a team worth rooting for... well except for the cheesy matching outfits!  However, it is probably good that they were eliminated so I (and apparently others that I have read this morning) could stop snickering like Beavis & Butthead.. everytime the Blacks... umm, err... the Black Family were mentioned... it would have been difficult straddling the politically correct fence (Go Blacks!  Here come the Blacks!) on this one!  But is was still a heart-breaking to watch the kids get Philiminated... yes, I have a heart... and another reason why I am not so keen on kids being Racers.

Do You Pay Quarterly Estimated Taxes?

Just received this email from my accountant... so here my own little attempt to be a public service announcement, since otherwise I would not have been aware of this issue!

Tax payments from a dozen states might have been lost in a traffic accident, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday. The crash occurred Sept. 11 on the San Mateo Bridge near San Francisco as a contract courier was delivering mail from the post office to a check-processing facility in Hayward, Calif.  The IRS estimates that approximately 30,000 of the estimated 45,000 tax payments on board the vehicle - mostly Form 1040-ES quarterly estimated tax payments sent Sept. 1-11 were ejected into San Francisco Bay and are not recoverable.

Officials encouraged taxpayers who believe a payment has been lost to wait until Sept. 30 before contacting the IRS. This will allow checks that were received to be processed and clear the banking system. After Sept. 30, a taxpayer whose check has not cleared should call the IRS on its toll-free taxpayer assistance line 1-800-829-1040. The IRS said it will waive interest and penalties for affected taxpayers.

I sent out my tax payment on September 8th and as of this morning it has NOT cleared... so I am guessing my check is likely swimming with the fishes.   

So if you pay estimated tax (and live out West - I am guessing it is those states that send their checks to this particular facility) check online or with your bank to see if your check has cleared!

Bye Bye T-Shirts & Apparel

Do you still have BB6's "line of the season" from Janelle echoing through your head?

Well, I stumbled across the very t-shirt that Sarah was holding up in a taped piece on the BB6 finale...

You can get your t-shirt here... or the phrase pretty much on any other piece of clothing or item... from a doggie t-shirt to an apron to a thong!

I am tempted (there are more "masculine" styles)... but I think it might be a bit too gay even for me!

Now if someone could just tell me where I could get James' "I Am Not A Crook" t-shirt... I am thinking that would make a nice b-day gift for a certain special someone in the house!

Crazy Like A Fox?

Have you recorded anything on Fox on your TiVo lately?! 

I had heard some rumblings that something was rotten in TiVo-land but it just really manifested itself in our household last night as we were recording Prison Break on our "back-up" TiVo.

The show (along with Arrested Development which we recorded and watched on our "main" TiVo) is now "red-flagged" and we are not able to transfer it between our TiVos.

On our main Tivo when we access the Fox shows on our back-up it says:

"Transferring prohibited by the copyright holder."

On our back-up Tivo, it says for Prison Break:

"Will be kept through tomorrow at 8:00 pm and will be deleted by Monday 10/3 9:00 pm.  Due to policy set by the copyright holder, "Keep Until I Delete" is not permitted."

TiVo spokespeople say this is a "glitch"... but it is still a scary, Big-Brother-ish type prospect that this is a possibility (probability?!)... and what to do about this "bug" in the interim?!?  I have to say I was kind of surprised with the ability to transfer programs to your computer and other devices re: copyright issues... but I really don't understand what's the big deal about transferring it between TiVos in the same household.

But some outside force deciding how long I can keep a program is a real concern.  We are several weeks behind on Prison Break and there is no way we plan to get thru all the the past episodes in the next week... and now we can't even watch this past episode on our big-screen TV...

So not sure who to blame... Fox?  TiVo?   

But it just seems a bit crazy for whoever to tick off TiVo devotees... who are, for the most part, hard-core (but granted a minority, in the big picture) TV viewers.

But I am guessing, Fox and Prison Break probably just lost a couple of viewers... and the free publicity that is Whine & Cheese!  Oooh, that'll have 'em shaking in their boots!  Haha!

Here are a couple of links to stories related to this issue:
TiVo 7.2 OS adds red flag content protection “feature”
TV Time Limit? Some TiVo owners worry about recordings being deleted
TiVo Users Fear Recording Restrictions

Time Flies

If the adage "time flies if you are having fun" is true... well, then my life must be a blast!  Actually, I really don't anyone who is not constantly/consistently amazed by how quickly time seems to speed right past us.

A week from today I will be getting ready to head back East to visit the parents.  Granted I didn't book the trip all that long ago, but it is hard to believe the time is almost here.  A bunch of things related to that trip certainly makes me wonder where all that time went...  haven't seen my parents since Spring 2004... haven't been back East since June 2003...

As I mentioned, Todd is coming out for the latter part of my visit and we are spending a day, night, morning in NYC.  I have not been to Manhattan since I moved out west... that's just over 15 years ago!  Yeesh!   It still boggles my mind that I was 22 years old when I made the move to AZ... I can't even remember what 22 felt like!  I am guessing pretty fearless, since I would hard pressed to make that kind of life-altering decision on the eve of my 38th birthday.  I am sure I will not recognize the city.  While Times Square (our hotel is a few blocks away) had certainly cleaned up its act the last time I was there (I remember walking past the porn theaters on my way to Broadway shows w/ my grandparents in my younger years)... the area had not yet become Disney-fied or the center of all media... so I am sure I will be surprised... even though I have seen it thousands of times on TV.

Also, I am long overdue to have lunch with one of my former co-workers.  We both work from home these days and live close by... so we try to meet up from time to time.  The last time we "did" lunch... the big South Pacific vacation was imminent... promised meet up when I got back,  bring pictures, give her the scoop, etc... well, ummm... that was in May!

Finally, we had our second (ok, technically third) meeting with Scott & Buckaroo on Saturday.  Intentions on both sides of the blogosphere were to meet up sometime later in July... or August... or early September... but "life" finally got out the way this past weekend!  We had a great time at dinner and more laughs and good conversation back at the house (got to try out a new martini-ish recipe! it's a keeper!)... we vowed to not let as much time go by before the next time... with 3/4ths of us having birthdays in the next month or so, hopefully we'll be able to manage a combo celebratory event... that is when we're in town (after the East Coast, trip we have that extended weekend in Vegas in early November!)...

...and before we'll know it, it'll be holidays and another year gone by... anyone else ready to slow things down a bit?!

The Fall Guys

Happy Friday!   Work is crazy busy... so not much time for a full-blown post... so what better to do than post something that is easy on the eyes... though not terribly conducive to "working."

But, ah I love fall... nice to see all the boys back on the television screen... some old favorites and some new ones too... here are the ones that have (re)-caught my eye after the first week:

From left to right... (hmm, you don't think I have a type or anything?!?)

The Las Vegas premiere wisely started the season off with a shot of Josh Duhamel without his shirt on, hopefully this is a sign of good things to come as this NBC guilty pleasure seems to be more T&A than hunks... but Joshie just makes me melt like a ice cream cone on a hot Sin City July afternoon.

Next, we have Bradley Cooper who is starring in the new Fox series Kitchen Confidential... Brad first caught my eye last season on the ill-fated Jack & Bobby... but is now the lead character this time around. I didn't think this sitcom was all that good... but it was hard not to be hypontized by his baby blues... and the rest of him ain't that bad either!

Did Matthew Fox manage to get hotter over the summer?  If this is what happens to your physical appearance after being stuck on a desert island (well, okay we are learning it is not terribly deserted!)... well then, book me the next flight on Oceanic Airlines.

So he ends up being a priest sometime over the next 20 years...so what!  It still has been fun oogling Will Estes in the present day and the past in the new Fox show Reunion.

Finally a pre-emptive strike for James "Jamie" Denton from Desperate Housewives... he was looking good on the Emmy red carpet (see above)... but he was just scrumptious in a tshirt and jeans on an Ellen show appearance yesterday.   Ellen said that he was looking particularly fit... Denton responded that he had actually lost weight and is less bulky this year... but he was smokin'! 

So that's it for now... and there are more... didn't even mention the prerequisite hotties on Survivor (even beyond my Bobby Jon)... still have to watch the first episode of Invasion and see Eddie Cibrian in action... and heck even James Purefoy as Marc Anthony in Rome got my attention (I leave it up to you whether or not I was swayed by the full-frontal on the last episode!).

So I am sure that some of these men will officially make it onto the Fine Wine list... but for now I leave them open for review... who are some of your favorite guys in the primetime this fall?!

Have a great weekend!

Do U Sudoku?

Are you part of the latest craze?   

While Sudoku puzzles have been around for over 20 years, they just seem to be reaching critical mass.  The first puzzle was created in the United States, but the craze ultimately took off in Japan (likely why the name "sudoku" stuck) in the mid-1980s.  But just a year or so ago, the puzzles made it into British newspapers where sudoku has been dubbed "the Rubik's Cube of the 21st century."

And now Sudoku has landed in the States.  Our local newspaper, The Arizona Republic, gave the puzzles a try-out this month.  Last week, they announced the puzzles were a "resounding hit" and sudoku will continue to be published every weekday.

I will admit my first attempts at completing the puzzles were very frustrating.  Each puzzle is given a difficulty rating based on how many numbers are showing and their relationship to each other.  But I could not even complete the 2-star puzzles (5-star being the most difficult).  This infuriated me.  I have always been a big fan of puzzles.  As a kid, I even subscribed to Games Magazine.  But I kept at it... determined to get a puzzle solved!

Eventually I solved my first puzzle ... and from that point on have had great success at it (even solving a 4-star difficulty puzzle!).  I can't really tell you my "light bulb" moment... I guess it was just practice, practice, practice!   And now, like seemingly the rest of the world, I am addicted.

So what the heck am I talking about?  Here is a sample puzzle ("medium" difficulty):

To solve the puzzle... each 3x3 section (or "region") must contain the numbers 1 thru 9.  Likewise, each row and column must contain a 1 thru 9.  Easy, right?! 

Oh, I created a spreadsheet (there are not many problems in life that can not be resolved by creating a spreadsheet!) so that I have a larger copy of the puzzle... I definitely need more room to work with (I don't know how anyone works with the original tiny boxes!).

So for example, take the left-bottom section (the one with 8-6-4-7)... let's place a 5 in that region.  The 5 can not be in the first column, since there is already a 5 in that column.  Same logic, for the second column... so, by default, the 5 must be in the 3rd column above the 6-7.  See, why?!

Sometimes you just have to narrow it down and wait for some further information... look at the right-top section (the one with 1-6-2-9)... let's try and figure out what could be between the 1 & 6:

Well, first it can not be 1-6-2-9 since those are already in that 3x3 region.
Next, it can not be a 1-2-4-5-6 since those are in the same row.
Finally, it can not be a 1-2-7-9 since those are already in that column.
So the number in that box, by process of elimination, must be a 3 or 8.

Ok, so call me a geek... but it is kind of fun... and it is a good way to keep the mind going, with Alzheimer's in my family...  Sudoku might just help me down the road!

If your local paper does not publish Sudoku puzzles yet, don't worry there are tons of them readily available on the Web (just type in "sudoku" or "sudoku puzzles" into your favorite search engine)... and there are also puzzle books out there at your favorite bookstore (online or "real").   You can also find sites that may help you out with strategy if you are stumped (I read some of them, but like I said, it all really didn't click at first).

Click here for a pop-up window with the solution to the above Soduko puzzle

When Home Is Work

After 6 years plus of working from home, I am thinking I have probably developed a mild case of agrophobia... well, okay not really... I don't fear leaving the house... but often times I just don't do it.

There are many weeks (Monday thru Friday) where probably the furtherest I venture outside the house is to cross the street to get the mail (good thing they don't deliver it to the door in our neighborhood!)...

So what the heck am I talking about?!  Well, in two weeks I'll be back East visiting the parents and in times like this is where I have noticed increased anxiety over the past few years.  Now I get along with my family just fine, so I am not nervous or stressy about seeing them (quite the opposite)... but I tend to worry about everything prior to leaving... particularly the pets who I pretty much cater to their every whim during the day.  Although he is joining me at the end of my stay, I am assuming Todd will be fine... if anything, I am sure he will relish some very rare "alone time" in the house for a couple of days. 

So I guess it is just a tad egocentric... that somehow all that goes on around here depends on my presence... but then there is also work that gets me anxious... my business partner will have to cover my "increasing by the day" workload (why does it always seem to get crazy busy before vacations?!). 

So while I am fine once I get where I am going... I don't like leaving.

That said, I could not fathom going back to work in a "real" office.  While the social interaction is great and it does require leaving the house...  there are just too many positives of working from home.

I Need To Know I'm Being Heard

Disappointing news to report... the Lisa Kudrow HBO show The Comeback will not be coming back....

The show did not get off to a great start with the critics... and apparently never brought great ratings (unless they were infinitesimal I am not sure why this matters for a premium/pay channel)... though it turned the corner with some critics (and viewers) apparently it was not enough to save the show.

In the article, HBO praised the "uniquely original" show but (added)... "We've looked at our schedule, and given our future commitments, we felt we would not be able to give the show the support it needed."

While I never thought this show had a long shelf-life, I thought it would have had a least another good season left in it.  Wouldn't it have been interesting to see Valerie Cherish dealing with the fame of being a reality show star?!  I pictured "the public" repeatedly yelling out to Valerie's tagline "Note To Self... I Don't Need To See That!" on the streets.

And kudos to Kudrow for creating such a unique and memorable character in Valerie Cherish.  The fact that we could actually forget "Phoebe" during the 13-episode run of The Comeback is truly a testament to Kudrow... hopefully the Emmys will not forget this performance next award season (though this cancellation does not bode well for her chances).

So a rare boo & hiss  to HBO -- heck, we even liked K-Street and kind of understood and accepted why that one did not coming back for another go-round... but this one just... well, um... what can I say... Jane, Jane flag it!

ADDENDUM: Michael Slezak over at Entertainment Weekly has a wonderful letter of his own to HBO re: the cancellation... couldn't agree with it more.  (And oops they borrowed the same exact pic I used... and is almost identically cropped as mine... hmmm!)