Whine & Cheese

Express Lane: Issue 65

Remembering Tiananmen - The Big Picture - Here's some amazing (as usual!) pictures from the protests and tragedy at Tiananmen 20 years ago - plus photos from today as well. Fascinating! (6/6/09)

Adam Lambert Responds To Clay Aiken's Blogs - "If he wants to ride my coattails, good for him" Oh, snap! Don't mess with a gay man Clay... well, errr... a gay man who's been doing it a lot longer and much better than you! (5/29/09)

Dancing Danny Gokey with the Stars? - Yikes! Before you get too upset, it could be worse... apparently Gokey's fellow Top 10-er, Scott MacIntyre is also interested - hopefully their IDOL/FOX contracts forbid it! (5/27/09)

Samantha Harris to Join Cast of Broadway's "Chicago" - Ok, they've officially just let anyone star in this show now! C'mon, the woman is challenged by having to read off a teleprompter and do basic math! (5/20/09)

Express Lane: Issue 64

American Idol's Danny Gokey Sets His Sights on Eyewear - Surprise, surprise! But Gokey states he was doing his "heart" hand gesture long before the recent wave of Lenscrafter ads doing the same thing. (5/15/09)

Derek Hough: Dancing With Footloose? - Seems like both Dancing Houghs are under consideration for roles in the re-make of the Kevin Bacon 80s classic... though very likely only one will get it, since the characters are (ick) love interests. Derek also notes he and Mark Ballas may follow Julianne's lead and take time off from DWTS to pursue a music career (Booo! don't bite the hand that feeds you!) (5/7/09)

The 2009 Kentucky Derby - The Big Picture - Guess that says it all... the always fine TBP pix from this year's Run for the Roses. (5/4/09)

Obama's Book Club Is Back: Netherland - I've pulled off the rare "O" book double ... reading a book just before Oprah (with 'Edgar Sawtelle') and now Obama picked it! (4/29/09)

Human Landscapes From Above - The Big Picture - Been lagging a bit in my TBP postings, but these aerial shots (from the same guy who did the London series) are pretty awesome. (4/29/09)

Julie Chen Is Pregnant - I'm pretty much through with 'Big Brother' but may just have to check in with the Chenbot to see the cylon - errr... baby bump. The Chenbaby is due in October. (4/22/09)

Express Lane: Issue 63

'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' Author Inks Six-Figure Deal - Not sure I can get through the Jane Austen classic again - even with zombies! But it sound like Graham-Smith's rumored next book "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" will be more up my alley! (4/10/09)

Earth Hour 2009 - The Big Picture - Best TBP Ever! It's interactive, click on (most of) the pix and watch the lights fade off (or back on) for Earth Hour! (3/30/09)

Signs of Spring - The Big Picture - After the last TBP photo set I posted re: the recession, this one of hope and renewal is a lot more inspiring... and pretty too! (3/23/09)

CBS Renews "Men," "Big Bang" - Could care less about the Charlie Sheen sitcom, but thrilled that Sheldon & Leonard & Company got a TWO-YEAR pick-up! (3/18/09)

Scenes From The Recession - The Big Picture - Not the most uplifting or inspiring set of pictures, but always interesting ... and a couple shots of the real estate bust right here in Phoenix metro area. (3/18/09)

Stacy Keach Recuperating After Stroke - Was supposed to see Keach in the stage production of "Frost/Nixon" (playing the latter), but I think chances of returning to to the show by early April are pretty slim. (3/18/09)

Holi: The Festival of Colors - The Big Picture - That wild and crazy throw paint and powder at each other Hindu festival that I only learned about thanks to 'The Amazing Race' (3/13/09)

Express Lane: Issue 62

Avenue Q Creators Decide to Keep Bush Reference in "For Now" Finale - After testing out 4 other lines, it appears Dubya (now shifted into the past tense) received the strongest response. (3/4/09)

Portraits from the Congo - The Big Picture - Amazing (I know I always say that!) and heartbreaking faces from the increasingly violent African nation. (2/27/08)

Carnival - The Big Picture - If you want vibrant colors and a few eye-popping, or should say eye-poking out, costumes this photo set should make you happy! (2/23/09)

Danny Gokey Preached, "Lead Praise and Worship" at Megachurch for Idol Cameras - I *try* to keep an open mind about this kind of stuff, and while I am in the very early stages of Gokey backlash (re: his widower status) this might move things along in that department at a much quicker pace. (2/23/09)

At Work - The Big Picture - Not a tightly themed picture collection this time around, but still some very cool shots of people (wait for it)... at work. (2/20/09)

Q&A: Cher Says She's Living `Like a Nun' In Vegas - Fun little piece about Cher as she readies for another month in Vegas... besides the 'nun' comment, we also love she loves Target (the store, that is). (2/17/09)

Express Lane: Issue 61

USA cancels 'The Starter Wife' - While it certainly wasn't brain surgery, it was still a cute and fluffy show led by the charming Debra Messing... so a bit surprised it got the cut after just 1 post-mini-series season. (2/12/09)

Joanna Pacitti out of 'American Idol' - This ouster is not a huge surprise for the gal gal previously dropped from a record label, friends with execs at 19 Entertainment (Idol's production co.), and rumored to be dating DWTS' Mark Ballas (reason enough for me to get rid of her!). (2/12/09)

China's Lantern Festival, And An Unfortunate Ending - The Big Picture - What a transition in this photo set from the beautiful celebration to a 40-story hotel under construction being set accidentally ablaze by stray fireworks. (2/11/09)

Bushfires in Victoria, Australia - The Big Picture - TBP isn't always fun stuff... here their usual collection of stunning pics from the devastating fires in Southeastern Australia. (2/10/09)

Etta James Takes Shots at Beyonce & President Obama - Stand back folks we got a cat fight on our hands: "I tell you that woman he had singing for him, singing my song, she gonna get her ass whupped" (2/5/09)

ABC Will Announce Cast of DWTS 8 During Prime-Time Sunday - Eschewing 'Good Morning America' for the cast reveals, Tom Bergeron will pop up and drop the "star" names over 3 hours of ABC's Sunday (Feb 8th's) line-up. (2/3/09)

Cable Provider Apologizes For Porn Interruption - We were a bit skeptical when Todd's parents told him about this during a post-Super Bowl phone call, but crazy enough it was true! (2/3/09)

Express Lane: Issue 60

Springsteen Calls Wal-Mart Deal A Mistake - Glad to hear The Boss, and champion of the working man (and woman!), express regret and take responsibility for the exclusive deal made with the retail beheamoth for an upcoming greatest hits album release. (1/30/09)

Comeback Kid Kelly Clarkson Makes History - The inaugural Idol is the first person to ever hit #1 with a song with "suck" in the title - also, the largest jump in Hot 100 history (96 spots) and, perhaps most surprisingly, the first Idol to score a second #1. (1/29/09)

Donny Osmond Won't be on DWTS, At Least Not Until Fall - Seems like Mr. Little Bit Rock 'n Roll got caught in a lie! (1/28/09)

More of London From Above, At Night - The Big Picture - It figures the day I go back and post a re-working of one of my London pix, TBP comes out with an amazing set of night pix of London! (1/28/09)

Donny Osmond to Follow in Marie's Dancing Shoes? - Alas the first substantive (if somewhat predictable) casting rumor for the upcoming DWTS season. (1/27/09)

Chinese New Year: Welcoming the Ox - The Big Picture - I've become semi-obsessed with China since our trip to Beijing, so was wow'd by this collection (I even have a very similar - well w/out the Qing Dynasty characters - to photo #21). (1/26/09)

Is This Nadal's "Wardrobe Malfunction?" - Nike hoping to increase clothing sales appears to be the reason behind Nadal's on-court wardrobe change this year... the belief being the "average" person is not going to wear sleeveless shirts and pirate pants. (1/26/09)

Express Lane: Issue 59

John McCain Confirms Wife Cindy Rejected Dancing With The Stars 8 - Rumor has it the Senator was the one who put the brakes on his wife's participation and his dodgy recall of the "mutual" decision does not do much to dispel it. (1/23/09)

Requests Flood In For 'Queen of Soul's' Custom Hat - The bow with the hat attached to it was custom-made creation for the Queen (and only the queen!) and would sell for $500+, but for those interested a retail version with a satin ribbon version is available for $179. (1/22/09)

Julianne Hough Makes a Date With Toby Keith... and, as expected, that means America's Dancing Sweetheart will not be apart of the upcoming 8th (!!) season of 'Dancing With the Stars' (1/22/09)

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama - The Big Picture - Loved the satellite photo of the record crowds at the Capital and Mall and any featuring the contagious smiles of the Obama family. (1/21/09)

Inaugural preparations - The Big Picture - This site over at Boston.com always has such amazing photos, that I am going to linking to it via the "Express." First up, Obama Inaugural Prep! (1/19/09)

Rachel Griffiths Expecting Baby No. 3 - Banjo & Adelaide will be getting a new brother... or sister. No word yet if unwed Sarah will be adding another Walker to the ABC dramedy. (1/17/09)

Lisa Rinna: "I Look Like a Freak" After Too Much Plastic Surgery - At first I thought this was something for the "tell me something I don't know" department, but then the shocker was that it had nothing to do with her lips! (1/8/09)

CNN's Gupta Approached About Surgeon General Post - It's just a hunch, but I suspect Dr. Sanjay would very likely be the first time a US Surgeon General who has ever appeared in a People Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive issue. (1/7/09)

DWTS' Karina & Maksim Engaged! - Had heard rumors that the couple were 'friends with benefits,' but this news still surprised me. I'm guessing the make-up sex should be great (and methinks they'll be plenty of it - fight! sex! fight!) (1/4/08)

Express Lane: Issue 58

Kathy Griffin-Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve: Did she just say...? - I was kinda surprised that they had her back, but I think this reply to a heckler - where I think Kathy genuinely thought she was off-mic - will probably earned her a ban from CNN. (1/1/09)

Ballas Benched By Dancing Injury - I'm glad we didn't have tix to the tour stop in Phoenix on Sunday, would have been VERY disappointed. Mark's groin will just need some rest (biting tongue) and he and band buddy Derek Hough are expected back on the the next season of DWTS starting on March 9th. (12/29/08)

Creator of Usain Bolt's Olympic victory dance shot to death - I am not sure what is more shocking... the murder or that victory dances apparently now have choreographers?! (12/27/08)

Lindsay Davenport Expecting 2nd Baby - Just last week Lindsay announced she was headed to Australia for the first Grand Slam of the year, today word of "this unexpected but exciting surprise" - in other words, whoops! (12/18/08)

HBO, Winfrey's Production Company Reach Deal - Oprah signs a 3-year deal to make movies, documentaries, and series with the cable network. No word yet if the channel will be re-named HBOprah. (12/16/08)

Express Lane: Issue 57

Stevie Wonder In Talks To Join 'Dancing' - After moderate success with a deaf and an amputee "star," the first rumored contestant for the next season of DWTS is a doozy! (12/12/08)

Griffin on Clay: "He Was Not Very Nice" - The Gay-ken's diss of Kathy backstage at the Rosie Live show probably just got him back into her act in a big way! (12/4/08)

Grease Revival Will End Broadway Run in January 2009 - Yikes! According to my quick count, this will be the 10th Broadway show that will close up shop after the New Year. (12/4/08)

Olympian Kerri Walsh Expecting First Child - Those gold medal volleyball gals sure get the job done... Misty started dancing the minute she got home and now Kerri thinks she got knocked up even before she left Beijing. (12/4/08)

ABC Sets 'Dancing with the Stars' Return - With Brooke's win barely a memory, news that DWTS's 8th (!!) season will return in early March - no "stars" mentioned or, to my knowledge, even rumored as of yet. (12/3/08)

Amazing Race, Survivor Return February - After just one show per season of late (or so it seems), the Philiminator returns for his 14th trip around the world in mid-February. (12/3/08)

TAR13 Dallas is dating Starr, missed the finale because of lost passport, which was returned - I guess that pretty much says it all, except that Dallas also notes a mic change from the TAR production crew was partly to blame and bad editing that made it look like he just didn't run after the cab. (12/2/08)

Express Lane: Issue 56

Cobie Smulders Is Pregnant - After a red herring this past season, will it now be unavoidable for Robin to be the titular 'mother' on 'How I Met Your Mother'?  Plus, co-star Alyson Hannigan is also preggers! (11/28/08)

Julianne Hough Hangs Up Her Dancing Shoes ... to concentrate on her singing... (hopefully) it will just be for the next (Spring 2009) season of DWTS, but if her music career takes off, it sounds like we may have seen the last of her! (11/20/08)

Journey Song Most Downloaded Catalog Track - "Don't Stop Believin'" becomes the 1st song on iTunes to top 2 million downloads, guessing the infamous truncated version of the song in the last moments of 'The Sopranos' helped out with a bunch of those sales. (11/12/08)