Whine & Cheese

Mall Rat

This post was planned to be a "rainy day" one... but who woulda thunk it would have been literally an actual rainy day here in Phoenix (well, not specific outside our door just yet... but it's threatening).

We've continued to enjoy How I Met Your Mother this season.  We missed the first season (barring the occasional re-run during last season), but it's a TiVo staple now... well, until they run out of new episodes due to the strike... which may have already happened, I see repeats are ahead.

Anyhow, we enjoyed the recent Slapsgiving episode ... which originated last season when Barney lost a bet to Marshall and the Lily, Slap Bet Commissioner, ruled that Barney could receive 10 slaps immediately or 5 slaps at any time... Barney chose the latter and the statute of limitations expired on this very special Thanksgiving episode.  Classsss... wait for it... sic.

Also quite enjoyable was recent episode that highlighted each character's personality quirk that annoyed the others the most.  Robin's was the (over-)use of the word "literally" which Ted then had to correct her when she meant "figuratively."  We have stopped ourselves a few times since watching that episode after using the word "literally."

Though getting to "rainy day" part of my post... which was just to share another t-shirt with you.  Todd will tell you I have been completely obsessed with Robin Sparkles... the surprise identity of Robin, once a 90s Tiffany/Debbie Gibson-ish Canadian pop-star.  Anyhow, her hit single, Let's Go To The Mall, is on regular rotation on my iPod.

So when I stumbled upon the folks at Glarkware (formerly partnered (??) with Television Without Pity, who I now see is brought to you by BravoTV... guess I hadn't been there in awhile)... had this shirt available, I knew I had to get it.  When it arrived and I showed it to Todd he pretty much banned me from wearing it in public ... well, if we were together in public.  No worries, even I have to admit I am not sure I would go out the front door wearing it...ha!

Couldn't quite get a good picture of the back... the self-timer photos of my attempts to do so (the outtakes) probably would have made for a more entertaining entry than this one!   Anyhow, it's hard to see... but just a like any classic concert t-shirt the back has Canadian mall locations and date for Mall Tour 1993.

Unfortunately, it is no longer available... it was a limited edition/NoN ("now or never") shirt... so call the Slap Bet Commissioner on me for not telling you about it when it was available.   But then again, I am probably the biggest loser (and not in the NBC reality weight loss show way) when it comes to Ms. Sparkles.

But just because I love it so... and since it is the holiday season... here is the video again...

..and HIMYM now has it's own YouTube page... so check it out, there's a music video version of Marshall singing "You Just Got Slapped"... though I prefer the episodic version with Neil Patrick Harris' embellishments at the end of the song.

Love In The Time Of Cholera (#32)

Like I need more holiday stress or feel more behind... but here I am three books behind post-wise... I guess I should stop reading so fast... or if I am being more truthful... read longer books so that I have time to catch  up blogging about them.

This latest is yet another Oprah book club selection.  I know I seem robotic at times... running to the bookstore with the masses to the get the latest book I'm told I have to read by the Queen.  Though it probably doesn't seem that way, I am selective.  For instance, earlier this year when she picked The Road that particular book had been on my radar and I was wanting to finally something by Cormac McCarthy, so I did it.

Similarly, Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been one of those authors I have been meaning to read for years and years now.  I must have been mad at O when she picked Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude a few years back... so when she selected Love In The Time Of Cholera, especially just ahead of the movie version, I figured what the heck!  (Though the reviews of the movie have been very iffy and, with plenty of alternative entertainment options, we've literally not been out to see a movie in well over a year!)

Here's the very basics (no spoilers!) of the plot... nothing you wouldn't read on the back cover (not that I'm looking, of course!) or in the movie trailer.  As children, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall in love... mostly via love letters and glances from afar... fast-forward several years, Fermina ultimately marries another man... and while Florentino does move on with his life... he never gets over his love for Fermina and waits fifty-one years, nine months, and four days for another shot of love with her!

Ah, the stuff of literary romance ... capital "R" Romance... or else just someone in serious need of a therapist to tell him to get over it!   For me, it was more the former.  Granted I can be a cynic at times, but I did get caught up with it. 

It's not a book to be read quickly. Garcia Marquez's lush prose slows you down, but in a good way.  I only managed to knock it out in under 2 weeks since I read it while Todd was in Asia and had quite a bit of extra "alone" time. 

Originally published in 1985, it very much reads like a "classic."  Although I doubt that high schoolers (maybe college lit classes?) will ever be reading this one in our uber-politically correct/"save the children" world.  As I mentioned, while Florentino pines for his Fermina he is certainly not celibate.  While not graphic, there are many passages revolving around his sexual conquests... or should I say "love making," since the story takes place in a steamy/tropical Caribbean port city (inspired by Cartegna, Columbia where "Gabo" spent part of his youth).

I will likely return to Garcia Marquez... when?  Well, that's the reader's dilemma... so many books, so little time!

2007 10K Reading Challenge:  + 346 pages (Total Pages: 10556 pages) 

DWTS5: The Checkered Flag

Whew!   All is fine and just in the world this morning... and the integrity of the Dancing With The Stars competition is alive and strong!   (If you didn't read that with your tongue in your cheek, go back and re-read it again.  I'll wait.)

Hurray for Helio and Julianne!   

Though once Marie and Jonathan were announced as the 3rd place team... and mercifully in the first half-hour of the two-hour marathon finale... all was fine with me.  I would have been just as happy if Mel and Maks took the title.  As suspected the mirror ball trophy was more about Miss Congeniality (which Helio and Julianne have in spades) than the "best" dancer... plus Helio likely benefited as the "fish" more "out of water" than the Spice Girl.

I did maintain my 2 out of 3 correct record of predicting who would make the finals after just watching just one dance.  What was I ever thinking that Marie & Jonathan would be in the finale instead of Sabrina and Mark?!   Ok, it's not that difficult... the impressive thing would be to predict which couple will make that final that shouldn't!

Helio is one happy guy, that's for sure.  In that memorable line from When Harry Met Sally, "I'll have what he's having"... though I am not sure I would want to be that happy... it seems exhausting. The guy has charisma (how could you not smile when he was on the screen!?!) and with this new-found fame, let's hope he does something good with it.

Speaking of which... if they already haven't... ABC needs to get Julianne to sign a talent contract beyond DwtS.  Beautiful, wholesome, charming, funny... we know she can dance and sing, so it's not stretching it that she can probably act... get that girl a sitcom!

Rumor has it the next season will be amping up in the spring... though I wouldn't be surprised if it gets rushed in sooner if they writers' strike continues on.  Our local ABC late-night news had a story about four  rumored participants for next season.  Two of them are absolute bunk!   Celine Dion - ummm, an already announced 2008-09 world tour and c'mon do you think Celine would do a show that attracts ex-boy banders and Spice and Cheetah Girls?   Florence Henderson - often seen in the DwtS audience, but Jane Seymour was pushing the age bar in her late 50s, so I doubt a mid 70s Mrs. Brady would be up for it.   More likely... Donny Osmond (though I think we need an Osmond break) and ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi.   Stay tuned... when official announcements are made, you can be sure you'll see it here!

UPDATES!

Even after the finale, the season can't stop making news... these will be on the sidebar, but figured I'll include them here as well.

'Dancing With the Stars' Champ Calls Off Engagement - Helio Castroneves and fiancee split

These next two items via Reality Blurred:

'Dancing' Professional Injured at Finale - Mark Ballas rushed to the hospital after the finale with a "severe shoulder injury"

Is Maksim Quitting 'Dancing?' - The poutiness continues with Maks...

DWTS5: Not Saving The Best For Last

What has arguably been the highest quality season of DWTS in terms of dancing and depth, not so arguably had the worse finale of any previous season. 

Here's where the couples stand point and %-wise going into tonight's finale:

Mel & Maks - 55 (35.48%)
Helio & Julianne - 54 (34.84%)
Marie & Jonathan - 46 (29.68%)

So Marie has a bit more work cut out for her... a 5-6% gap, so slightly more challenging than the 1-2% gaps of previous weeks.  Can she do it?  Absolutely!

My prediction is that Helio easily passes Mel for the lead and Marie has enough support to pass Mel.  At this point, I would hope that Helio would have enough to win... and the judges do have one more chance to massage the scores tonight.

I don't agree with it.  I think Mel has been a lot of fun and is certainly the best dancer this season (well, woulda coulda shoulda re: Sabrina)... but I think the Osmond juggernaut too strong and you just want to eat up Helio and Julianne.  So Mel comes in third because, ironically enough, she is too good... and they don't have the as bright and bubbly of a personality as her opponents (and while Maks is certainly lovely to look out, he does come across surly, arrogant, an ass, etc.).

As far as the final dances, I thought Helio and Julianne won the night.  I'll have to believe the judges that Helio seriously messed up his steps on the jive, because I don't know enough to be able to spot it (nor the rest of the voting public).  And while, I did notice a mess-up coming out of one lift in their free-style... it wins by default for having excitement and not being weird/creepy.

Technically, Mel and Maks probably had the best dance with their cha cha cha... but their freestyle, barring their lifts (and not many of those), was a big disappointment.  My guess is that Mel finally ran out of steam when it came to keeping up with all her other commitments.  But I did love Carrie Ann "giving the hand" to the booing Spice Girls... Fly Girl/Spice Girl smackdown!!   (I'm guessing that would probably be more entertaining than the upcoming Bruno vs. Carrie Ann show... coming this January!)

And what can be said about Marie and Jonathan.  I was still afraid that Marie was going to do a repeat of her post-samba pass-out (she was fading there for a moment)... but who knew the hot, steaming mess that lie ahead with their freestyle.  Ok, I get the whole doll thing... but I was kinda expecting the doll to... ummm... dance... after she was "wound up" and not continue to be dragged around the dance floor like a... well... ummm... ragdoll for the entire routine.   

But EW worked the puns into overtime... "A Raggedy Night," "Hell No! Dolly," and "Never A Doll Moment".. and compared her to an Oompa Loompa when she started going ballistic over the criticism and scores.

We'll find out the winner tonight... though it'll take 1 hour and 56 minutes to get there.

Mental Jumper Cables... Anyone?

After the long Thanksgiving weekend, it's always difficult getting started again... but considering my deficiency in the momentum department even before the holiday, you can imagine what I am feeling like today!

As I run-down the weekend activities, that certainly doesn't appear to be the case... but just because I'm physically moving doesn't mean the head/mind is necessarily following.

Todd's sister arrived without travel incident on Wednesday night... well, if you don't count traveling from NM to  AZ, via TX and OK... but that's pretty common on Southwest Airlines, particularly when originating out of a small(er) airport/market. 

Of course, Thursday was the big Thanksgiving gathering in Tucson ... a total of 10 of us.  As always, thankful to be "adopted" into the family and comfortable enough to enjoy watching everyone interact... and with pretty much no effort on my part other than showing up and eating (and drinking)... it doesn't get much better than that.

Friday, we met up with Todd's family for lunch at the kinda/sorta halfway point between Tucson and Phoenix... the quickly burgeoning town of Casa Grande (I am convinced that in my lifetime there will be little undeveloped land on I-10 between Phx-Tuc).   And while we certainly weren't planning on it, we couldn't avoid being a Black Friday participant, though it wasn't for holiday shopping.  I won't name names (hint: it rhymes with Glocky), but someone destroyed Todd's wireless adapter while being left without his humans on Thanksgiving day... but thankfully at 5pm Best Buy wasn't too bad... and no damage was done to the brand-spanking new computer.

Todd's sister headed out early Saturday morning... so a pretty typical weekend otherwise... and while there is more, to speed things along I will merely mention we headed to the car show at the Phoenix Convention Center on Saturday... and to the dog park on Sunday.

Winter (well, at least Phoenix's version) seems to have arrived.  While Thanksgiving was beautiful weather-wise... by the weekend, I found myself donning socks, sweatpants, and long sleeves.... with morning temps dipping into the 40s.  But alas, with Thanksgiving behind us and the sudden onset of cooler weather... that oomph is not quite there to get going on the next holiday. 

Todd was a bit shocked when he overheard me talking to my Mom on the phone that I had absolutely no desire/motivation to get started on the holiday decorations.  In the past, I am usually rarin' to go.  While I am not as bad as my Mom with regards to the holidays ("I wish there was a pill you could take, that you would just wake up when it was all over"), I might be headed in that direction.  Beyond the decorating, I haven't even started any shopping and likewise have little idea of what to get anyone (though, thankfully, that list of people is short)... and then there's the card (a self-inflicted "great idea" that will require considerably more effort than usual), the holiday letter, etc.

It will have to kick in next weekend.  The impetus for the front yard will be neighborhood peer pressure, while the inside (i.e. the tree) gets done thanks to Todd's parents stopping by the following week on their way to/from a weekend getaway (and perhaps their only holiday time visit this year).  Ultimately, all these things do make me very happy... I really do love all the lights... but increasingly it seems harder and harder getting to that point.

Express Lane: Issue 40

'The Office's' Angela Kinsey Pregnant - No word if her 'Office' namesake will be in the family-way as well, but wouldn't be great fun?! That is, if the Writers' Strike ever ends!  Other trivia: 'Toby' is Kinsey's real-life brother-in-law. (11/21/07)

Super-Californication-Titular-Litigious - The Red Hot Chili Peppers sue Showtime, accusing the network of 'stealing our identity' over the title of the David Duchovny sex-fused dramedy 'Californication.' (11/20/07)

Donny Osmond apologizes to Larry King - Don't think this is in order... didn't LK & Co. still ambush Marie live on the air?  Couldn't they have told her BEFORE the show, that they knew about it and that tabloids were going to break the story. (11/19/07)

Paige Davis returns to 'Trading Spaces' - After being unceremoniously dumped from the show in 2005 -- and likely when most folks stopped watching (I hadn't realized it was still on!) -- Davis and many former designers are coming back to the TLC makeover show. (11/15/07)

Ken Follett is latest Oprah pick - Finally a book selection pick that I've already read!  Though it was years ago, so I don't really remember all that much about it! (11/14/07)

DWTS' Karina Smirnoff Gets Nose Job - Check out Karina's 3-week old 'new' nose when she returns for the season finale on Nov 27th.  (11/13/07)

Sopranos' pork store no more - Satriale's has been whacked, demolished to make room for condos... glad we got to see the Kearny, NJ store front this past summer (you can see my Sopranos pix here). (11/11/07)

The Post That No One Will Read

It's Thanksgiving Eve and I am guessing that folks are either busy with preparations and/or family or already in long weekend mode... it's a little of both here, but I am already feeling a lack of motivation/inertia and it's not even noon... dreams of L-tryptophan dancing in my head.

We will be spending Thanksgiving with Todd's family.  The whole immediate family is descending on Tucson again this year... and Todd's sis is flying into Phoenix tonight... hmm, does anyone think the airport will be crowded at 6pm?!  Ha!  Todd is picking her up on the way home from work, so I won't experience that frenzy first hand... yet another item to tack onto my "thankful" list!

Puppy update.  You may remember last week's post where I mentioned that Rocky had a bit of a tummy issue and that I ran a "sample" to the vet and didn't really expect anything to come of it.  Well, so much for that assumption.

Got a call late yesterday from the vet (4 business days + a weekend after the drop!)... and it ends up that Rocky has an intestinal parasite... coccidiosis, to be exact.  Nothing to be worried about, easily treatable ... just one small pill, once a day, for 10 days.  The cause is apparently "environmental," so likely something he ate... and he eats everything... my guess is that it was likely due to his decidedly non-adorable penchant for "recycling"... and we'll just leave it at that!

While the diagnosis was not great/happy news, I am sort of relieved that there was a reason that caused his not-so-nice "issues"... while he never lost his happy-go-lucky temperament, something just wasn't right and I am fan of those mystery illnesses.

I guess that's all... so Happy Thanksgiving and I'll likely see you on the flip-side of the long weekend!

Eat, Pray, Love (#31)

Although I finished it just about a month ago, it seems pretty appropriate that I blog about a book titled...

Eat, Pray, Love on the cusp of Thanksgiving. 

If you've been in a bookstore in the last year, there is little doubt that you seen Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir.  For that reason alone it got my attention.  While I was perfectly fine with "eat," the "pray" and "love" parts kind of turned me off and made me think this was not a book for my gender (or, for that matter, even for my sexual orientation). 

The travel aspect did interest me... the subtitle of the book is One Woman's Search For Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia... so the book kinda stayed on my radar... but when Gilbert appeared on... where else... Oprah!... I immediately morphed into that O-Pavlonian dog and got the book the very next day.  Now, it wasn't because of the mighty O... but Gilbert, who came across as so likable and funny and interesting... one of those people you could sit down with, as total strangers, and have a nice chat over coffee (or after reading the book, I should say gelato).

So the short, no-spoiler version of the book.  Gilbert finds herself in a life crisis - in an unhappy marriage on the verge of child-bearing, but not wanting it... realizing she is in the middle of living a life that doesn't resemble anything she wants it to be.  She begins a one-year journey (4 months each in Italy, India, and Bali) of self-discovery and as a writer (I admit I never heard of her prior to this book), finances it via the book advance for what would be this very book... and l'm guessing neither Gilbert or her publisher thought... a runaway bestseller (even pre-Oprah).

All of the charm that Gilbert displayed on Oprah was very much in evidence in the book. Very enjoyable and quite unexpectedly, funny throughout.  As someone who is not religious, Gilbert does not get preachy about her beliefs or spirituality... she takes a "this is what works for me" attitude... and that is certainly something I can respect.  With religion and God being hijacked for ulterior motives, it was encouraging to read about someone finding that inner peace and happiness ... okay, it did get a bit new-agey for me a few times, but again Gilbert presents her story so non-judgmentally that you could only wish that there was more of this kind of spirituality going on in the world today.

This passage has stuck with me and I think captures the spirit of the book:

... people universally think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough.  But that's not how happiness works.  Happiness is the consequence of personal effort.  You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.  You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.  And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.  If you don't you will leak away your innate contentment.

While not a spiritual journey, and certainly not done purposely... it was kind of funny that it was this book was the one that put me over the top in my 10k reading challenge.  But reading is something that makes me happy... and it is a kind of alone time that is kind of meditative time that has become a pretty nice way to end (nearly) each day.

2007 10K Reading Challenge:  + 330 pages (Total Pages: 10210 pages) 

Mom-A-Props

Moms says the darnedest thing!

I was talking to my Mom earlier today... and given that both my and Todd's set of parents are of a certain age, the conversation regularly gravitates towards health issues.

I know I should correct my Mom, but sometimes she comes up with the cutest things... malaprops, I think is the technical/official term for them... for instance...

I have heard about prostate prostrate cancer so much I am surprised I haven't started adding the additional "r" onto it...

Today there was a new one.  I believe I heard it correctly... if not apologies to Mom and kudos for me for coming up with it!

Macular Immaculate Degeneration...

... which I can only assume is an eye disease with no known medical cause?

Presidential Politics

For those of you looking for a TAR recap/thoughts, I'm claiming the 5th today... thought it was a good episode, particularly Lorena's classic meltdown over the camel milking... but some thoughts about the Presidential race have been on simmer for awhile, so I feel it's time to let those thoughts out.

I am supporting the Democratic nominee for President. 

Who?  While it doesn't show much depth to my political character... it really doesn't matter... just like it hasn't mattered for most of my voting life.

While it is fun to argue amongst the candidates and take those tests that tell you which candidate most closely aligns with your own belief system, my gut tells me that a lot of people are not too different from myself.

That's why I get kind of frustrated when I read... "anyone but xxx" or "I hope it's not xxx"... and this is about members of one's own political party (or should I say not a member the opposition party?). 

Okay, who am I kidding ... when it comes to the Democrats, those xxx's are pretty much Hillary with a hint of Barack and John thrown in for good measure.  Sometimes it feels as if way too many people are waiting (or, dare I suggest, even hoping) for Hillary's version of the Howard Dean Scream implosion... and again, I am sensing this amongst non-Republicans.

I do "get" the reasons for ABC (the 'ole "'Anyone But Clinton" acronym resurfaces)... yes, even amongst non-Republicans, but I just don't see ultimately what good it does... except give the opposition more ammo (pardon the pun), that it's a divided front... one reason I particularly dislike primary season.

So sure support your candidate, but why go on the record bad-mouthing or expressing disdain for the others?  If Hillary's not your choice, are you voting for Rudy?  If Barack's not your cup of tea, is Mitt the way you go?  If not John E. or Joe or Dennis or Chris or  Bill... then Fred or John M. or Mike or Tom or Duncan?