Whine & Cheese

Dancing With The Stars 9 Pairings

It's kind of a W&C tradition that I "announce" the upcoming pairings for Dancing With the Stars.  So while I don't have all the fancy graphics (yet), they are listed below... my initial reaction was that there was no one I was totally stoked about being on the show...

Aaron Carter with Karina Smirnoff
Natalie Coughlin with Alec Mazo
Mark Dacascos with Lacey Schwimmer
Tom Delay with Cheryl Burke
Macy Gray with Jonathan Roberts
Ashley Hamilton with Edyta Sliwinska
Melissa Joan Hart with Mark Ballas
Kathy Ireland with Tony Dovolani
Michael Irvin with Anna Demidova (debut, recall she won that 'be a pro next season' contest)
Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough
Chuck Liddell and Anna Trebunskaya
Debi Mazar with Maks Chmerkovsky
Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel
Donny Osmond with Kym Johnson
Mya with Dmitry Chaplain
Louie Vito with Chelsie Hightower

I laughed when one local radio personality here in Phoenix referred to it as Dancing With the Vaguely Familiar... and that's probably why there was some lack of excitement... there were a few that I likely could have picked out of a line-up (Joanna, Chuck, and Louie V)... and a bunch that I have heard of but not totally aware (Natalie, Mark D, Ashley, Melissa, Michael, Mya).

The good news/bad news is that I don't see any clear-cut favorites... Mya has dance ability (but as we're always told, ballroom is apparently a whole different thing), ditto for boy-bandy-ish Aaron... Donny certainly has the "performer" gene ... think the darkhorse is Iron-Chef's Dascascos with the martial arts physical ability.

But as I joked with Todd, the past couple of seasons it's been more fun seeing the pros who I think have turned into the "stars" on this show!

Ryan Kwanten GQ

A little something for your Friday... Shirtless Ryan Kwanten from this month's GQ:

The little blurb that went with this picture may hit on the reason why I preferred the 1st season of HBO's True Blood to the current one as it mentions that Kwanten's character, Jason Stackhouse, "was naked (at least partially) in eleven of twelve episodes"... not so much skin from him this season.  I think a little more Jason nekkid booty would have made up for all this MaryAnn cr&p!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (#17)

When I tell Todd what book I am reading.. which is happening much more these days since, thanks to the Kindle, he can't see what book I am reading... he'll often say "that's sounds like a book you would read"... and I can't deny it is often the title or cover of a book that attracts me to it... even if I read it on the Kindle, rarely ever "find" a book on it... usually online, in a bookstore, etc.

... and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley is certainly one of those titles that piqued my curiosity, let alone that cover... which makes total sense once you get into the story... and it all involves a pie too!  Those Brits or maybe I should expand that to United Kingdom-ers) certainly have a way of coming up with charming titles as this title was reminiscent of something my guilty-pleasure, Alexander McCall Smith of No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency fame, would come up with. Bradley's follow-up to this book (to be published March 2010!) is called The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, I don't know where these guys come up with this stuff!

If your eyes are sill in good shape, you can see that this book was the winner of The Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award, thus confirming my thought that there is an award for anything... and everything, though this delightful book is certainly worthy of the honor.  Much like McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe, Bradley has created a spunky female detective (and budding chemist!) in Flavia de Luce.  And much to my surprise, it was easy to fall in love with Flavia... why?  Well, she's only 11 years old!   Unlike raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, precocious children are not one of my favorite things in life... and Flavia is certainly precocious but Bradley manages to imbue her with enough charm to make her extremely likable. 

Granted I rarely do it with any book I "review" here, but it seems particularly cruel to give away an of the plot for a mystery novel.  Though I will add that this takes place in 1950s small-town England, so there is a (very) mildly historic aspect to it... but I think between it being very British and the 50s, it does give it even more charm.  Not that I've read Sherlock Holmes (or Agatha Christie), but this does seem to be in that vein... so a bit convoluted at times, a bit of convenience when it comes to that deductive reasoning, a bit of luck that our heroine gets herself out of several jams... but I think that's something one is generally willing to put aside when getting into this type of book.

As I alluded to above, there is already a sequel (and more!) planned for Flavia and I will certainly be looking forward to more.  It's certainly rare that I start one of these series at the start vs. playing catch-up 4 or 5 books into the series. Also, quite interesting is that Bradley achieved this debut at age 70!  Quite amazing and inspiring in not give up on one's dreams!  Though, somewhat morbidly, I only hope that Bradley can get to that end of that book deal!

Express Lane: Issue 67

It's True: 'Blood' Lovers Engaged - Stephen Moyer can really say "Sookie is MINE!" now as he is now engaged to his on-screen love interest Anna Paquin. (8/6/07)

'Survivor' and 'Amazing Race' Vets Rob and Amber Have a Baby Girl - A great sign that this duo have stopped becoming reality show whores, not only was the birth not televised but it also took nearly a month for it to the Internet! (8/3/09)

Work Day Ends for Broadway's "9 to 5" - While it didn't receive critical praise or the fact that star, Allison Janey, was not much of a singer still a bit surprised that the Dolly Parton-penned musical closes after just 5 months. (7/30/09)

The Longest Solar Eclipse of the Century - The Big Picture - As always, simply amazing TBP pictures from Asia of the July 21st eclipse! (7/22/09)

Rafa's Back!

It seems like Rafael Nadal has been away from tennis forever... but it's only been since the end of May when he suffered his first loss ever at Roland Garros and then could not defend his Wimbledon title due to a knee injury.

Rafa is back this week in Montreal.  While I think it will take him awhile to get back his game ... not helping is that the North American hard-court season (and in general, the last quarter of the year) has never been kind to him... but he's still looking good!

He's still sporting his short sleeves that he has been doing since the beginning of this year ... but I was pleasantly surprised to see that he's return to the sleeveless look in doubles...

... and I have to say that still makes my <ahem!> heart just pitter-patter a bit more... though I don't know what he's doing to that racket... though the torso and that arm provides quite the distraction as well! <sigh!>

As always, if this isn't enough Rafa for you... browse thru all my Rafa posts!

Resilience (#16)

Next up on the 2009 reading list is a book I not really intended on reading, but since Todd picked it up and had a positive response to it... plus it looked to be a quick read, I decided to give it a go...

... and believe me there isn't a more accurate word for Elizabeth Edwards than Resilience!  Heck, I think she is being way to modest in the subtitle, Reflections on the Burden and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities.  I am guessing many folks can do a pretty good job rattling off Edwards' burdens and adversities from the most recent one, her husband's extra-marital affair... to the recurrence of her cancer, this time of terminal... and the cruelest one of them all (if one could possibly rank these things), her first-born son killed in a car accident in 1996. 

There's still more... a childhood spent in Japan thanks to a Navy man father, the death of her beloved father, the mere fact of being the wife of the politician (bad enough) let alone a presidential candidate (twice!)... and giving birth at age 48 and 50!  Yes, her picture should be in the dictionary next to the word "resilience!"

It's a good thing that this book is short and quick (there not always mutually exclusive things!), because even when you know what's coming, this book is quite emotionally exhausting.  And all credit to Edwards for being so open, honest, brave in telling her story (and get ready these are words I will be using over and over again).  And you do get the sense that it is Edwards telling her story.  This is not sanitized or even super spiffed-up by some ghost-writer or editor.  I am guessing there aren't many Republicans would be caught reading this, but I'll note that this book has little to do with politics (if that thing turns you off)... or for that matter even her husband's affair, which when the book came made it seem like it was 90% of the book (actually it's just the opposite)!

This misconception was one of the reasons I wasn't interested in the book.  I was tired of hearing about the affair and I certainly wondered why the heck Elizabeth (I am just going to start using first names now to avoid confusion) would want to drag this stuff out in public again.  And when she was on the press tour, she seemed so dodgy and uncomfortable and put conditions on the interview (i.e. the other woman's name could never be mentioned) or was saying stuff that didn't make sense (i.e. the alleged love child would not affect her life... really?).  It just seemed like all this was was still quite raw for her and I found it to be very awkward... painfully awkward... watching her sort this out publicly.  That said, my opinion did change when I finally heard her say (near the end of this press tour) that she was under contract to produce this book long before the affair ever surfaced ... so she was contractually obligated to deliver the book with chapters that she never had suspected at the time would be closing the book.

But despite coming around a bit on this subject matter, I still came to a quite odd conclusion upon finishing the memoir. While it just seems heinous that John would cheat on Elizabeth and then lie about it more... okay, here is where I'm going to step into it big time... I can almost understand why he would... and did. 

I don't know the actual statistic, but I have read the majority of marriages do not survive the death of a child... and it was easy to see why as Elizabeth quite honestly/bravely details moments after her son's death (even years later) where she is clearly not acting in a sane manner.  This is not judgment... I certainly can not understand ... nor do I think anyone who hasn't gone through it can understand, but I do think that it is one of the most (if not the most) devastating that could happen to a person.  But it's clear the impossibly heavy stress it places on all the survivors.  And if that's not enough, I don't know what it's like to live with someone who has cancer... but vicariously, I know that my mother was forever changed, and not in a positive way (at all), by caring for her mother who suffered from Alzheimer's. Just the combination of these two things, even years apart, is unbearable.

So yes, I can see why John was tempted and succumbed as an escape to all that.  Now, I am not condoning it... and it just seems incomprehensible to deal his wife another card in an already stacked deck... so while I think his actions are explainable, I think it is just yet another chapter in the incredible hubris that seems to be a requirement in a political career these days .

Even in this review, the percentage of time I am giving the affair is not reflective of the time it is given in this book.  Heck, John does not seem to get much "air" time either in the book.  I think is a reflection of Elizabeth still being a "work in progress" when it comes to her husband.   But again, it was a very interesting read, where I could not help myself doing a little psychoanalyzing on myself.

Current Crushes

It's Friday and to give this blog a little jolt, so why not a quick post about some of my current crushes.

May I present... Chris Messina and Haaz Sleiman!

If you have watched any sort of TV in the last couple of weeks, there is no doubt that you've seen ads for the move Julie & Julia.  But what caught my eye in these commercials was neither Amy Adams as Julie or Meryl Streep expertly warbling "Bonjour!" as Julia Child, but Chris Messina ... who plays Adams' hubby in the movie.  While the ladies are front and center, even a few brief snippets of him managed to re-ignite my crush on Messina.

It's been awhile since I have seen Messina, but this doe-y eyed affection started (and until now ended) when he played Ted on Six Feet Under.  He was Claire's last boyfriend as the series drew to a close... and we learned in that end/future montage that still gives me goosebumps to this day (got them as I was writing this!) he eventually became her husband. The Fisher family really stuck with me (and still do, like a good book I wonder what they're doing today... though again, the montage was so satisfying in that respect) and it was nice that Claire finally ended up with a good guy in Ted, though apparently it took quite a bit of time for them to find each other again.  

Also, I will admit that Messina totally gratuitously walking totally naked down a hallway in the series finale also left a lasting impression.

If naked butts are offensive to you are you are NOT on a computer where is appropriate to view a butt... please DO NOT CLICK on the upcoming link that will provide you a pop-up picture of...  Chris Messina's quite cute and naked butt!  

If you did look, I am sure you can see why one would be smitten for that feature alone! 

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So onto something definitely more exotic... Haaz Sleiman, who plays a fellow nurse and confidante to Edie Falco's titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie.  We started watching this show just based on our love for Falco, though we suspected it would be difficult to view her as anything other than Carmela Soprano.  But alas, she has managed to wipe most of that away with one of the most morally complex characters I think that has ever been seen on the small screen, but alas that is another post...

In contrast to Falco's "Plain Jane" Jackie (I know that's sexist), there is the stunningly beautiful Sleiman who also tackles a roll that we haven't seen much on television... a gay Muslim Hispanic as Mohammed "Mo-Mo" De La Cruz.   Though a little research shows Sleiman is of Lebanese heritage, but seems to be typecast as more the Middle Eastern character.  Sleiman played gay in a independent film a few years back and does it so convincingly on Nurse Jackie that he made me wonder if he really did play on our team, but alas he came out as straight in an interview with The Advocate. 

But this guy really oozes sex... and given his heterosexuality he has quite amazingly walked the think line of creating an undoubtedly gay character with quite a bit machismo too (there is a more swishy male nurse on the show as well... which I am guessing is not helping out the "male nurse = gay" stereotype).

So there you go... who are you currently crushing on at the moment?

Life Update & Vacation!

I know I haven't been around here all that much and when I have, it hasn't been a whole lot about "me"!  Part of that is a "sharing" backlash.  Oh, I am sharing plenty on Twitter and Facebook... but that really seems to be more than satisfying the quota of what I want to share and, more accurately, what other people want to hear! 

I am questioning this "evolution" (and I use that term very, very, very, very loosely!!) of what online communication has turned into is a good thing.  I am certainly feeling more ADD than ever, so that's another big reason I have been around here less often...but I am also sensing folks not having the attention to read more than 140 characters or perhaps a sentence or two more on FB.

Another reason for the dearth of posts was trying not to be too negative.  While it is good to get things out, I think there is a limit or a point where you get diminishing returns on it.  That said, I think my mental health has improved over the past few months.  I had a rough/uncertain period there with work and while I am still not 100% ... or even 80%... capital H, Happy about it.. it is slightly better, though right at this very minute, I am in a sort of a negative wave as others can't seem to have their acts together or at least don't tackle things with the responsibility and reliability that I do... or at least I think I do.  I have my issues, but when it gets down to it, after the grumbling/bitching I get down to it and get it done. 

Part of the improvement in the mental health department has also been the physical.  Again, I won't harp on it too much because I think when one starts talking about diet/eating it can get to sounding pretty preachy... but things continue to move in a positive way since we've made conscious efforts to eat healthier.  Over this past week, I past the 7 lb weight loss (from about mid-June, so 6-ish weeks)... and while my own goal is to lose 7 more, to get to ideal BMI I would have to drop about 7 more beyond that.  So we shall see, in  tracking my weight it is still showing a good downward trend... but at some point I think I will reach equilibrium and get to the weight I am supposed to be.  But the important part is that I am starting to feel better about my physical self.  While I was never had super-duper self-image about my looks/body, it is starting to feel good to at least be turning away from "negative" back to "indifferent"

I think I may have mentioned that we got a Wii about a month ago... if not, we did!  And while that has caused ailments and aches/pains to nearly every major joint in our bodies, it has been good that at least we are moving around a bit, in addition to the healthier eating.  We got Wii Fit and more importantly EA Active and those have been really good at getting us some basic exercise and somewhat motivating when it comes to tracking our weight.

And something that will always improve one's outlook... something positive to look forward... vacation!  We had been playing it conservative financially (well, kinda... one does not get a Wii and all the other things that are needed if one has money worries) when it has come to travel, which tends to be our biggest splurges of the year.  We did painfully turn down an offer for a Australia / New Zealand / Fiji trip presented to us at the beginning of the year and at a really great price (though at the time, I think it was a wise $$ decision and also in retrospect since it was a group tour and we've learned that we prefer to do things "on our own" if at all possible)... so while we did do the spring-time trip to Vegas, that didn't satisfy our always hungry getaway/vacation beast. 

One of my frustrations was hearing over and over (and over) again about all these great deals and how hotels and airlines are just slashing prices that this is the best time ever to travel if you have the cash.  Well, after months of on and off research, we had yet to find that "bargain"... and believe me, I would have jumped on pretty much anything if it looked like a deal. 

But alas, we finally buckled down on Friday... with time running down as Todd was in a "use it or lose it (donate it to the company)" 3rd Quarter vacation situation... and booked a one-week-ish (6 night) trip to...

Maui!

This is our first "repeat" vacation... but I am sure there are certainly worse places one can repeat other than Hawaii.  I am not sure if we got tired of looking, but ultimately I do think we ended up with a pretty good deal when you factor in the total package of air, hotel (ocean view!), and a car.  Best yet, we even got a direct flight to Maui from Phoenix, so don't have to fly thru Honolulu (or anywhere else, for that matter)... so that was extra nice!

I think it will be a nice and relaxing vacation.  Since we are sort of familiar with Maui, we know our way around and don't have to repeat some of the stuff that we did last time... like the all-day (but totally worth it!) Road to Hana.  Also, we won't be splitting our time between two islands... so I think that will take off the pressure that things need to be done on a tight schedule when you only some place for 2-3 full days.

It is also nice that it is just next month... so it's kinda going to come up quickly and it's not like waiting around for Memorial Day weekend when it's still February, which seems to be how we've kind of done it in the past.