The tile of "Top Chef"

So Hung pulled it out in the end and received the title of Top Chef. He wasn't as hated as Marcel in Season 2 even though he is very good friends with Marcel. I don't know what it was about Marcel exactly, but he was just not a likeable guy. He also didn't seem to cook as good as Hung, and I was quite surprised Marcel made it to the final two. But, back to Hung....he is a very good chef which didn't really come out as well in the challenges and I think it was really the time crunch that got to him. He said he like to cook in the moment, see the ingredient and make something from there, but he has so much going on in his head, he needs time to sort it out and know what he is really going to do. The challenges where he finished early he forgot one thing (one time it was the lemon for the fish - how can you forget that!), but the rest of the dish was perfect. He doesn't like the time limitation and he wants to be better than the rest of them that he gets a little cocky.

Unlike Marcel, he did seem to get along better with his competitors. I think he just has a better personality. I can say that I pretty much knew that they weren't going to pick Casey and the people that texted her to win just wanted the first female Top Chef. She seems to do well when it is just one dish in a challenge, but when it's a whole meal, she just can't pull it through. Though I do have to say that I don't think it was fair to any of them to have the finale in Aspen. They were at a disadvantage with the elevation (11,200-something feet), so that changes the way you cook and what you have to do. I understand they want to make the challenges harder, but if these chefs don't cook in this altitude on a regular basis, then it isn't fair to have their final meal cooked there. I'm sure chefs who cook in that altitude have to take time to learn how.

So now they are going to be working on getting chefs for season 4. One thing they need to do is take a lesson from shows like HGTV Design Star. That show wasn't drawn out for weeks and weeks and weeks. Top Chef needs to have more double eliminations and it would be more worthwhile to watch. By the finale I didn't really care who won, but I guess I was still rooting for Hung. I'm glad he won. Good job!

And the Winner of Big Brother 8 is...

WHO CARES! I only watched the finale to see the jury questions (of which they didn't show ALL of it), and the reaction of the players when they found out that Eric was America's player. Boy, did we screw up, America, when we gave Eric his eviction votes. Not getting the Donatos out of the game was the stupidest move ever! The two of them did not deserve to be there in the end and win it all. They were cocky beyond belief even when they found out that it was because of Eric playing for America that kept them in there.

Let's face it, Jessica would have gotten them out in her last HoH, but because Eric was playing for us, he convinced her not to make that move. She could have back-doored Daniele so easily and then later Dick would have been voted out OR he would have been taken to the final two and only gotten the 50K. Dick was the least deserving of everyone and Daniele was the next least deserving. I really really wanted them to give Daniele the money so that she could squander it away. Dick was horrible to people in the house and he called it strategy. A person cannot be that mean and cruel unless they are like that in real life. At times he showed love and understanding towards Daniele, who only acted like a brat and whined, moaned, complained and shunned him. But then he would attack people in the house in a way that I've never seen before, and these people STILL voted for him!

Daniele was the lesser of two evels in this case since she was sitting next to Evel Dick. The man calls himself Evel Dick...Jameka couldn't even call him that all summer and only called him "ED", but she voted for him! I cannot understand these people at all! At least Jen and I were on the same page when it came to the voting and stood her ground and could not vote for a person like that (Dick). How his mother and son could stand there and be proud of him is beyond my understanding. No matter what "strategy" he had, it does not condone the way he attacked Amber, Jameka, Kail, Dustin, Jen, did I forget anyone? In my book that is totally unforgivable, but in the end Evel won, as it seems to so many other times.

I will watch Big Brother next summer and hope that they will have better twists than America's player. That was one of the worst twists I had ever seen. On the other hand, the best one was the year they had the twins playing in the house and nobody caught on. Until next year Big Brother....now it's on to China for Survivor!

Kim IS the next Design Star!

America voted and the results are in ... Kim is the next design star. I voted every day and was hoping that my votes would help her. Apparently it did. I am thrilled that she won because not only is she the best at hosting, but she is the kind of designer that will listen to people and really give them what they want. I liked Todd's designs, but they are just "too much" and his personality is just over the top for a TV show. You have to remember that this was for a TV show and not that the person is the best designer. The person winning this needs to be able to be on TV, entertain the audience, give good design tips, listen to what the people getting the design want, and being able to present it and make it happen. I really think Kim is the person to do that.

I was so nervous watching the show last night, but when they announced that it was Kim, I jumped out of my seat. I was so happy! I'm so glad that America got to vote and it wasn't all left up to the judges. I personally don't think Todd should have been in the final two, but then again, if Will or Josh Sparkle was standing next to Kim in the end, I'm not so sure that she would have won. Will needs to be better on hosting his own show, but he could learn that. Though this series went much faster than most other competition shows (like Top Chef or Top Design, etc.) I think I preferred it not be drawn out and take forever to get a winner.

I can't wait to see what Kim's show will be and will definitely set my DVR if I am unable to watch it when it is on. Congrats Kim - you totally deserve it!

BB Fast Forward

Tonight was a double eviction on Big Brother Fast Forward. I knew from reading the updates online from various sites (thank you to those tried and true fans for doing that) that Jessica was going home and that either Eric or Jameka would go if they didn't win the HoH. So Dick won the HoH and nominated Eric and Jameka. Big surprise there. Then Zack won the PoV and didn't use it so that Eric was then evicted. I am going to miss both Jessica and Eric, and I really wanted Jess to win it. So now I have to hope that Zack or Jameka can win it.

I just started watching BBAD (Big Brother After Dark) and it appears that the HoH comp was held already and Zack won! He apparently beat Daniele by 1 point (58 to 59). There were questions about pictures or things in the house or something. Daniele is in the LBR down in the dumps all pissed off that BB didn't give her one more minute to answer the question, something about putting the whole memory wall on her table, and Zack doing something with averaging and getting the answer. Hard to really piece together what the comp was. Daniele has said that she is pissed off because if she doesn't win PoV on Sat then she is going home. Dick is trying to console her telling her that it couldn't be any closer and that he is proud of her. They are now on a lockdown, probably to get the backyard cleaned up from the comps. Jameka is just sitting on the couch in the Living Room with her hand on her face, Zack went into the diary room (wasn't called in) and I haven't seen him out yet.

Boo Hoo Hoo Daniele! You f***ing bitch! You just tossed out Jessica and Eric like stale bread and now you're upset over losing the comp and possibly going home? I am so happy you are so messed up right now over this and will have a terrible next few days, or week...how do the people you sent to sequester feel, huh? Give me a break, I don't have any sympathy for you!!

The only bad part of this is that now she will be moping around the house and treat her dad like shit all while he is trying to console her. I don't know what their relationship is outside the house and what he has done, but so far in the house he has tried to work things out. Of course I can't stand Dick because of the way he has spoken to people in the house. We can never forget his rant on Amber and Jameka in the kitchen while they sat at the table and Jameka called him a bitch. He was totally out of line and should never have spoken to anyone that way. Of course, I don't have a lot of respect for Jameka talking like that when she proclaims herself as a good christian woman. None of the christian women I know would let those words come out of their mouth.

Now Daniele will be going to work out which is weird because for the first 8 weeks she hardly did anything and now she is doing it all the time. It's not like she gained any weight or anything...her body is still perfect. She is in the weight room and BB just told her to put on her microphone. The little bitch talked back and said "I'm not talking". Let's watch and see if they tell her again. She is getting ready to exercise on the treadmill. Here they go again telling her to put it on and once again the little wench said "I'm not talking". And now she is getting on the treadmill WITHOUT putting on her microphone. Meanwhile Dick and Jameka are making sandwiches in the kitchen. And once again BB told Daniele and about the microphone and she gave the same answer while running on the treadmill. So now she gets to make the rules up when she got mad at Jen for not obeying the rules?

I wouldn't want to be Jameka right now living in that house with the Donatos and the possibility of one of them getting the PoV. But Zack will still be able to evict either Dick or Daniele this week for sure. He would be stupid to keep both of them in the house and evict Jameka. I would have loved for some of the others that didn't make it to the Final 4 to make it instead of the Donatos, but out of the ones there now, I want either Jameka or Zack to win it. I don't think they would just squander it away.

I cannot wait for Sunday night, which is why I will be on the computer as much as possible reading all the updates on the live feeds. Once again, thank you to all the die hard fans out there who post those updates! I would never sleep if it wasn't for them!

Ding Dong The B*tch is Gone

That is what Evel Dick was writing on the door of the round bedroom door and the bathroom door on Big Brother last night after Jen was evicted. Of course we heard the Big Brother voice "Dick, Stop That!" I think it was 3 or 4 times he was told to "Stop That". For writing on the doors and also singing it. It was a unanimous vote of 6-0 (BB gave her a penalty vote for breaking slop restriction and stuffing her face the on Tuesday night after her fight with Dick.

I personally don't totally dislike Jen the way the HGs did. I think she is weird, acts weird, is very narcissistic, and just plain doesn't make sense at times. Did she deserve to be voted out yet...maybe, maybe not. I would have loved to see Amber go first but since Daniele decided to VETO her own nominations and take Amber off the block, I didn't want to see Jameka go just yet. I don't want Amber to win because she will just waste the money, and if Jen won she gave up half of it to a charity (as a result of a veto competition, she agreed that is she won she would give up half to charity). So yes, I wanted Jen to win for that reason. I DON"T want Evel Dick to win because of the way he has spoken to people in the house. And it hasn't just been the women. Some people think it has just been the women, but he has gone off on Eric and Zack as well. I don't care if it was strategy or not, he has no right to be as mean as he was to Amber and Jameka. I personally may not share their beliefs in religion and God, but I am not going to make fun of them, or say nasty things about any of it. On top of that I am not going to judge Amber on being a mother when I have no idea how she really is with her daughter. Yes, she was on drugs, but that doesn't mean she is a terrible mother before or now.

It is getting down to the wire....only 7 left in the house. Amber has said that 7 is her lucky number. Does that mean that now that there are only 7 houseguests left, it is her turn to leave? Let's hope so!!!!

Happy Birthday Daniele!

NOT!!! Today is Daniele's 21st birthday and they are celebrating in the Big Brother House. Well, everyone WANTS to celebrate, but Daniele is being a stick in the mud. She got her HoH room on Thursday night with a girly girly looking letter from Nick laid out for ALL to read (that really surprised me!) and some letters and birthday cards from home. I am not sure if there was one from her boyfriend but ever since she got the cards she has been (for lack of a better word) SUPERBIATCH!! I know she has a strained relationship with her dad, but she was downright mean the last few days to him. She has been moping around the house and hardly talking to anyone...until last night when Jessica sent Eric up to the HoH to talk to Daniele. Well, lordy be, it worked. He was able to make her smile, laugh and bring her out of seclusion to play quarters with the rest of the house. Woo Hoo!

Actually I don't really care that she came out to play quarters because I think she is being a spoiled brat. Yes, she is not sure what she is going home to (in terms of her boyfriend) but she is the one that put herself in that situation carrying on with Nick in the house! Ok, so she was attracted to him, but she had been living with Chris (or is it Kris), and then she sleeps in the same bed with another man and tells him "I want to kiss you so bad" and not expect her life to be F'd up when she gets out of the house? Don't sit and whine when you are the cause of your own demise. We already have Dustin doing that in the sequester house.

So the houseguests (except her father of course) think that she is turning 22. She didn't want anyone to know that she wasn't 21 when she came into the house. I am not caught up on the action in the house and if anything happened after 3am (EDT), but I assume they are doing some kind of party in the house. If I were in the house (or BB) I would not want to celebrate with someone who is being so mopey. Is that a word...mopey? Anyway, I have yet to find out if there is a party and how she was during it.

I have lost a lot of respect for Daniele and how she is acting. Maybe it's because she's 21, maybe it's because I don't remember what it's like to be 21 or maybe she is just a spoiled brat. At this point I don't want her to win BB, and I hope Zach gets it. He is the only one I can see at this point that has not been terrible to anyone, betrayed anyone, put on a front to get his way, and is "playing the game".

America's Evel Player

Tonight was the LIVE eviction of another player on Big Brother 8. Earlier in the week Daniele (current HoH)put America's Player (Eric) on the block after Jen won the PoV (Power of Veto). Daniele thought she figured out that Eric is a liar and has been playing both sides after a banner flew over the yard during the last PoV competition. So we all know that because Eric is doing America's bidding that during the last two votes he has voted to evict Kail and that had everyone wondering who cast the votes. Daniele targeted Eric and E.D. (Evel Dick) ran with it and was as mean to Eric as he was to Jen the last 4 weeks. Only now he has even turned on Jen and is being nice to her just because he wanted to vote Eric out of the house. Oh the twisted webs we weave, Dick!

Dick has said over and over that he hasn't lied in the house, and while he hasn't lied as much as others, YES, he has lied! He has "called out" people over and over, but with Eric is not 100% correct with his accusation. Eric didn't set up Nick and he even tried to get everyone to change their votes to Kail before the final vote last week. Ah, but Dick doesn't want to remember that part, now does he. He has that selective memory illness that so many people seem to get when they absolutely want to be right. It drives me crazy to see D&D (Dick and Daniele) working together to out Eric when 99% of what they said he did, he didn't do. And of course unless you have the 24/7 feed or watch Big Brother After Dark, you are victim to the CBS editing of the conversations that take place in the house. A perfect example is when Eric was telling Dick that he had something on Amber, a story that she told him about how she lied to her boyfriend and it was so twisted that he'll keep it in his back pocket and use it when he needs it. Now, we unfortunately didn't see the whole conversation between Eric and Dick, but I'm sure that Eric told Dick that in response to Dick asking about securing votes from Amber or something like that. But we didn't see the whole conversation and we might never know exactly what happened there.

Dick is so good at treating people like shit and then turning around and making them feel safe when he needs them. Did that happen with D&D's relationship prior to the house? Who knows. But we do know after hearing from Dick's son that Dick reacted in the wrong way to something between him and Daniele and that's why Daniele wasn't speaking to him. And now the two of them are becoming close. I am all for them becoming close, but I am not sure if it isn't just inside the game they are becoming close. I don't want to see either one of them hurt because of the outcome of this game and I can see a situation where things end badly when they both see what happened when they are out of the game.

Dick seems to think that he is the only one telling the truth and outing people. Well, I hope he watches everything he did while he was in the game and has major regrets. The way he talked to Jen over the last four weeks has not been strategy and in my opinion is not acceptable in any situation. Yes, she has said some things about Daniele, but she has not been nasty about it. Dick has said things to Jen and probably some others and he is not in a position to judge people in that way. As Kail said when she was evicted tonight and talking with Julie, (paraphrasing) "You can only be a certain person for so long, and then the real person comes out". Well, the real Evel Dick is out and being an asshole. I hope he apologizes to everyone at the end...for real and not the fake truce he called with Jen just to get her votes.

Big Brother After Dark is a MUST SEE tonight after what happened at the HoH competition today. Julie slipped up and gave the answer that Eric was going to give and so they had to do another question which eliminated Eric. Damn! That was so unfair! But Jessica won it in the end. In addition, Evel confronted Dustin about his vote and then started pointing the finger at Jameka about her vote. It was ugly at the end of the HoH, but CBS had to cut us off and get on to the next show. Just one more hour and I can watch the live feed on Showtime TOO. I guess some caffeine is in order. :)

Lost At Sea

I know it seems like I've been lost at sea because I haven't blogged in a while. It is because I was on vacation and life has been pretty busy. But that doesn't mean I have stopped watching reality TV. I have not given up on that! What I am talking about is Pirate Master. For the last few weeks I have been wondering why 48 Hours has been on at the time Pirate Master is supposed to air. I didn't see any announcements on CBS, didn't see anything in the TV Guide, and since I don't read enough news (entertainment news or otherwise) I didn't see anything there either. It wasn't until I decided to look at CBS' site and found that the last two episodes were online. Then I searched for a time that it would be on TV and only saw "Online Exclusive: New episodes Tuesday on CBS.COM".

Well, thank you very much CBS for alerting the public to the removal of this show and that it is only going to play out online. I agree that this show does not warrant another season, which is why I also stopped blogging about it, but I want to see what happens. After reading the message boards I found that I am not the only one upset by this move. So I have to be upset, along with my fellow fans, and watch it online now every Tuesday.

So I watched episode 9 and episode 10 and was thrilled to see that Azmyth was set adrift, and there are now no officers for the captain. It was very interesting to see Jay nominate Christa for captain instead of wanting it himself. I guess he figures he won't be hated if he's not captain. Nessa was my favorite because she is such a strong player and hasn't stabbed anyone in the back, but alas, she was set drift last week. Out of everyone left I am hoping that Louie makes it to the final and gets the votes to be the Pirate Master. Of course if we are going to base votes on who acted the most like a pirate and deserves it in that sense, then I guess it would have to be Jay. Let's face it, Jay played the game hard, strategized, stabbed people in the back, got other people to do his dirty work and nobody is the wiser. Now is that a pirate or is that a pirate?

Although I won't have Pirate Master every Tuesday night on my nice big flat screen TV and will have to watch it on my [much] smaller computer screen, I will have Big Brother 3 times a week as well as Big Brother After Dark every night. I am so far behind in blogging about that, but have kept up to date on it every night. So much so that I am so far ahead of what they are even showing on the weekly episodes. Tonight will be fun to see if Daniele put Eric on the block in place of Jen. From what I saw last night, I deduced that she did even though I did not hear anyone explicitly say that.

The Triad and The Black Spot

It seems like every week the crew of Pirate Master talks about Mutiny and every week they say "we're closer than we've ever been". Apparently not, because they didn't mutiny...they never do! Last night's twist would have been awesome if it weren't for a blunder on Jon's part. Jon, who is my favorite player made a major mistake. He didn't guard the key with his life! Let me back up...the players that were set adrift came back to be the "Ghost Crew" and everyone on the ship was the "Black Crew" including Capt. Azmyth and his officers. The Ghost Crew was ahead of the Black Crew because the Black Crew didn't know which way was east, even with the compass. However, the key that was obtained on the first part of the expedition was dropped by Jon and he didn't know it. The minute he got that key he either should have clutched onto it for dear life or asked someone else to take it. So they had to double-back and start looking for it in the river where he dropped it. And of course, once again the Black Crew won and Capt. Azmyth remains in charge with the rest of the Triad.

Everyone on the crew bitches and moans about "Az" and his officers (The Triad), but they don't do anything about it. I can't believe the Ben and Jay really think they will have a chance of winning if they keep the Triad going. Azmyth is getting more powerful and he is making bad decisions. One of those came during the Black Spot ceremony. See, the crew has been talking about mutiny and they approached Jupiter (who hasn't been on board for mutiny at all). Jupiter then called them all out at dinner and told The Triad all about it. The Triad mistakenly believed that Jupiter wanted the mutiny because she was talking in the third person about how the crew is not happy and wants mutiny. They thought that was her way of saying that she was leading the mutiny. So The Triad decided to give her a black spot. Well, the rest of the crew who were voting thought that was a great idea because if Jupiter won't mutiny then they can't get Az out of the captain's chair.

Just when I thought I was going to be so happy, they turn on me again and vote out Jupiter! All the talk is just talk and this is quickly getting B O R I N G! My sick desire to watch reality shows keeps me watching it hoping that Mark Burnett has some twist that is going to totally rock my socks, and last night's twist almost did it, but he is going to have to come up with something much much better. For now I'll stay addicted to Big Brother and Big Brother After Dark. Those are worth losing the sleep over.

Big Brother After Dark

So Carol was booted out and Jen won the HOH competition. Ok, so the "stupid" person (as Joe so eloquently put it) was rewarded for being stupid. In other words, she didn't think about the question, she just put whatever number and it happened to work in her favor. See, the house has been set up with an Alice In Wonderland theme (some furniture huge, some small, a small door here, something large there, etc. A tea cup exists in the backyard (like the ones at the Disneyland and Disneyworld rides). The tie breaker question in the HOH competition was "How many gallons of water does the teacup hold?" Like most people, I thought 200+, but Jen answered 41 while the rest answered 100 and higher. Well Julie Chen informed everyone that "because of the opening to the teacup...", where you step into it, "it holds 9 gallons". How pissed was everyone that Jen won? Well, Kail wasn't, but I haven't figured her out yet. Now everyone was worried about being nominated.

On Friday night I was up late and decided to watch Big Brother After Dark (midnight to 3 am) on Showtime Too and they scroll information across the bottom of the screen from time to time. I learned who won the food competition because it was held on Friday during the day, and I also learned that nominations were that day. So the HOH has 24 or less to come up with nominations. Interesting... Of course I was going crazy all weekend wondering who she would nominate. Watching it last night it was no surprise that Evil Dick was nominated, but to hear Daniele be nominated....that was a shocker! But then I thought about it and realized it is all because she thinks that getting Daniele out of the house, Nick will now flirt with her and nobody else. Jen, open your eyes....you are a narcissistic psycho that nobody wants in the house.

Since I just happen to be awake after midnight last night (or is that this morning?), I decided to wath BBAD again. I learned that the Power of Veto competition took place that day and as a result.....spoilers coming; read at your own risk.....Jen has to wear a red jumpsuit, but they didn't give a clue as to who actually won. The Power of Veto ceremony was held today (Monday) but we won't get to see it until tomorrow night. In addition (more MAJOR SPOILERS!) Jameka thinks that Dustin is being recruited into the "Mrs. Robinson alliance" and Nick told Jen that he is in the Mrs. Robinson alliance with Mike, Zack and Kail! What the F*** is he thinking? Why would he tell her that? Obviously there is something that I missed from the previous BBAD nights, so I hope they show that footage tomorrow night. There was some other competition where Mike won a date with Amber. I got to watch some of that date and I can say that I have found someone that outdoes me in talking in every sense. The girl was going on and on and on at lightning speed for at least 20 minutes (probably more). I don't think she took one single breath and Mike looked like a Zombie sitting there trying to keep up with all of it. I'm not trying to belittle the stories she was telling because she has gone through a lot, but she could have slowed down and given the guy a chance to catch up.

Some interesting things you learn while watching BBAD is that voices come over the speakers telling this houseguest to go to the diary room or that houseguest "Eric, please put on your microphone", or when Eric, Daniele, Nick and Dustin were talking about a previous season of BB and something they did that they want to do, "Please don't talk about production" or something like that. It is creepy and funny at the same time. It is fun to watch the houseguests like that because you find out things you wouldn't normally find out, like Jen is a really good sleeper. According to some guests she sleeps all the time. And you find out more about each person because they happen to be telling something about themselves to the other houseguests.

I will try to stay up tonight to get the scoop on the Power of Veto and see if it was used, and if it was, then on who and who was put up in their place. I just don't have the patience to wait for tomorrow night. I'm a spoiler junkie on top of that!

The Power of Veto

Last night on Big Brother Daniele won the Power of Veto. I have to say that she was really the most creative in the competition. See, each player in the power of veto competition was given a veto to hide in the house. Daneile was first and she hid her veto in the Big Brother slop in the refrigerator thinking nobody would search in the slop. She not only put it in the pot, she got a spoon out and dug into the slop to hide it. Then she even washed the spoon. She may be the youngest but she is the smartest! How cool is that for a hiding place. The object of the game was to not have your veto found and you would win the power of veto.

So many people spoke to her trying to tell her that Jen really needs to go because she just annoys so many people and if she took someone off the block then most likely Kail would put up Jen. Come time of the veto ceremony Daniele chose NOT to use the power of veto. She didn't want to stir things up but if Kail had put up Jen, then Jen would be evicted and Daniele would be a hero. Who would want to nominate Daniele after that let alone evict her! So now people will be pissed that she didn't do that...even if they say they won't.

Back to the nominees. Kail made the most lame nominations ever! Well, I based it on the overall performance in the head of household competition. In other words, I don't want to grow some balls and actually nominate people that I really want out of this house. I'm going to create an alliance and let them tell me what to do...which is exactly what happened. Kail didn't come up with that on her own! It just pisses me off because I don't really see any reason for Carol or Amber to be up on the block right now.

Eric...America's Player. His task was to spill a hart-wrenching story to someone in the house. America voted on which house guest and it turned out to be Kail. I wasn't really sure if he would come up with a good story, but he did such a great job. The whole thing about having a girlfriend with an eating disorder that reminded him of Daniele and then seeing Daniele on slop was the perfect story to tell to Kail. Kail will never want to nominate him or vote for him and she will probably go so far as to encourage her alliance (and others) to not evict him. Even though America chose the house guest I think he was awesome in his first task. I just hope the upcoming tasks are as good.

It's Back!

My favorite show of the summmer is back: Big Brother 8. And there are some exciting new twists and turns already! Having 3 of the houseguests living with their "enemies" is just the first cool twist. First we have Joe and his gay ex-lover Dustin, then there is Carol with her ex-best friend Jessica from High School, and last there is Daniele who hasn't spoken to her father Dick for over 2 years.

The 3 "enemies" sat in the HOH (Head of Household) room watching all the action while the 11 other house guests talked about themselves.

Joe and Dustin are going to keep the fireworks flying as each of them accuses the other of something. Joe "claims" that Dustin gave him gonorrhea. Dustin of course sat in the HOH room and denied any of that, so I am not sure who to believe. My first impression of Joe is to not believe him. Especially based on the fact that he admitted to totally destroying Dustin's life after the breakup. I didn't get enough air time of these two to be sure who is lying and who is telling the truth. Either way, these two are going to heat up the screen and not in the usual way we see heat on Big Brother .

Carol and Jessica seem to have argued over the most frivolous things and if the $5 fight is the only thing that broke them up then they weren't really in a friendship, now were they. I have a best friend of over 28 years and I certainly wouldn't let $5 get in the way...not even when I was in high school. Carol seems to have an evil side, and Jessica just seems to flighty. I have a feeling that Jessica is the one that can't let things go, but we'll have to wait and see what comes about on this one.

Daniele and Dick don't really have a story that a lot of other people haven't had or currently have. Daniele says that Dick is more like a friend to her than a father, but that he is a mean friend and she doesn't need any mean friends. So it doesn't sound [yet] like it's anything earth shattering other than she just doesn't want him in her life. I mean, we saw coming attractions of her actually talking to him and saying that she'll help him if he helps her. I am saving my opinions on this one till I see more, but for now it seems like it might not be as entertaining to watch these "enemies" as the other ones. I'm still rooting for Joe and Dustin to keep things hot. I just hope neither one of them gets nominated or evicted too early.

So now Kail is the HOH and will have to nominate two people for eviction. Of course the Power of Veto will come into play, but we'll discuss that at a later time. She has stated that if one of her kids came to them and said they were gay that she would be devastated or something to that affect. So I wonder now how she is going to do with living in the house with 2 gay men who are ex-lovers and are fighting all the time. Will she nominate one of them? Or will she be afraid to show that side and not nominate them. She was so happy that she won HOH, but being the first HOH is not the best. Who she nominates will have a vendetta for the rest of the game and will hold it against her. Eric was smart to try to throw the competition, but as we found out he was probably doing it because he is America's Player.

Ah yes, the second new twist of the season. Eric will be taking direction from America on how to play the game. Now this will only work as long as he can keep himself from getting nominated and evicted. He is going to have to play twice as hard, be twice as cunning, and stay in the house! I want to see Eric go a long way just because I want to see what America has him do while in the house and IF he can pull it off. His incentive is winning money for every task he completes. Come on America, throw some really hard stuff at him!

Tonight is the nominations and I can't wait to see what Kail is going to do. I recorded one of the "Big Brother After Dark" episodes and the beginning was so boring I turned it off after 20 minutes. It's 3 hours long so I have to find time to watch it. I know there are a lot of exciting things happening outside of the 1 hour they edit for us 3 times a week, but I guess it's just too early in the season.

Big Girls (and Boys) Don't Cry...

There were 6 contestants left on The Next Food Network Star last night. They were taken to Fort Dix to take the M.R.E.'s (Meal Ready to Eat) for the Marines. Paul pulled himself back from previous weeks to win the challenge, but it proved to be too much for JAG who had memories from his time in the Marine Corp. The smell of the chemicals used to clean their weapons brought it all back for him and he just didn't come through with his cooking. That and maybe being a little too over-confident.

The next challenge was to create a meal for the Marines that would make them think of home. They were divided into teams of 2 and Paul (being the winner of the challenge) picked his partner, the other teams and what they would make. Paul and JAG got the meatloaf, Amy and Rory got the lasagna, and Adrien and Michael got the Chicken Pot Pie. They were given 2 hours to prepare and cook their meals. How they could expect a chicken pot pie to be created in 2 hours for all those Marines is just beyond me! JAG and Paul's luck almost ran out on them in the kitchen when their ovens weren't working. JAG came to the rescue and deep-fried the meatloaf. Thinking it wasn't going to work Paul just went along with it because they had no other choice. Everybody LOVED the meatloaf and JAG and Paul won the challenge. The least favorable dish overall was the lasagna because it just lacked oomph. However, Rory and Amy's presentation to the Marines kept them alive.

At one point during the evaluations Amy started to cry because she been trying to find the line between private and public and she realized that there isn't one. Giada DeLaurentis (guest judge for this week) just nodded her head in agreement that your life is just an open book when you are a Food Network Star Then Rory started crying and then Michael started crying. Ok, ok, so JAG cried when the judges were talking to him, but he had a legitimate reason with being at Fort Dix and the memories of his time when he was enlisted coming back to him. The other 3 were just being cry babies. You don't sign up for a show that is going to be on national television and not expect to have everything out in the open. There is no privacy anymore. Which is why I don't do reality TV shows is because I don't want to put myself out there for everyone. As much as I want to be on Survivor or other reality shows, I know I can't do it. So wipe those tears and either go home or get on with it and try to be the Next Food Network Star!

Pack your knives and GO!

Season 3 of Top Chef kicked off last night and boy was it a doozy. The cheftestants were treated to a nice lunch, but then were immediately thrown into a quickfire challenge. The challenge required them to create an amuse bouche out of the leftovers from lunch. Only through watching the first two seasons have I come to understand what this means. It seems that at least one of the contestants (Clay) was one of those people who did not know what it was either. He created a large granny apple with fruit inside. Now while that may have tasted good, it was not what the challenge was all about. So he was at the bottom when it came to judging the quickfire challenge.

Clay then needed to redeem himself in the elimination challenge. That challenge was a protein challenge, or as Chef Tom Colicchio explained, it was a Surf and Turf. This was going to be different because they had more exotic ingredients like Eel, Snake, Black Chicken, Geoduck, alligator, sea urchin and more. Clay served up Pan Seared Wild Boar Chop and Cornbread Dressing with Scorpion Fish. Just the name makes me NOT want to eat it. The judges ripped his meal to shreds and said that it was the least desirable dish there. They also ripped apart Howie because he didn't get his frog legs on the plate before the timer ran out. Therefore, he only served half his dish. However, it turns out that the judges loved what he did get on the plate, and wish they had the chance to try his frog legs. He even "talked back" to Anthony Bourdain when he asked Howie,"What is your major malfunction?". Howie fired back with a quote from one of Anthony's books and Anthony called him a Son of a Bitch. I don't think he was being mean because he actually looked like he was smiling. This move was probably what saved him in Anthony's eyes.

Clay was finally told to "Pack your knives and go". I am a little sad to see Clay go, but of the other cheftestants I didn't see anyone else that should go. Of course I would not have eaten ANY of those dishes due to the "exotic proteins" provided, but the judges seemed to enjoy most of them. I can't imagine how they can do the judging and just not get fat from everything they eat. I look at it and gain 5 pounds! LOL

Mutiny!

NOT! Once again on Pirate Master, the crew DID NOT MUTINY. Let me say that again...they did NOT mutiny. You see all these crew members talking about how the captain must go, you have Christian pleading his case against J.D. as the captain, yet not one single person has the balls to get up there and mutiny. Do they really want J.D. to keep getting most of the money and food? Are they just going to sit there and complain but then when they have the power do absolutely nothing about it? It appears that way. And it makes me smack my head in disbelief.

While I was watching the teams compete for the next treasure I started wondering if any of them is smart enough to think "Hey, let's lose this one so that a new captain can be nominated". Of course later on it became apparent that NONE of them is smart at all. I also don't really see them being able to agree on the next capatin. There is a lot of action we don't see, but from what we do see, it is obvious that they are not a happy crew, but they still keep the same captain. The captain that is making them miserable and keeping them from getting money and possibly making it to the end.

I really didn't want to see Christian go, but in the two weeks that Pirate Master has been on, they are getting rid of the strong players... all except for the captain. Soon they won't have any strong players to go into the snake infested pit, climb the trees, tear down the sabotages, or pull the heavy treasure box from its secret hiding place. Louie talks a good game, but after his first black spot he is not going to do anything to create waves or make the capatin give him another black spot.

I'm just so perplexed by the voting on this show so far that there really isn't much more to say except that they are all stupid and scared, for whatever reason.

If You Can't Take The Heat

Stay out of the kitchen...Hell's Kitchen, that is. Or Chef Gordon Ramsay might just throw you out because you can't stop crying.

Ok, so we have a new set of contestants : 6 women, 6 men ... or is that 5 men and whimpering idiot? Aaron totally lost it right before the grand re-opening last night. He is a 48 year-old chef at a retirement home, and he couldn't hold it together after dinner prep. Chef Ramsay called the teams together (divided into the men in the blue kitchen and the women in the red kitchen) for a pep talk and Aaron started crying like a baby. And he couldn't stop! No matter how long and loud Ramsay yelled at him, he was crying! I understand that the experience is probably more intense than they show through the editing but you don't audition for it if you don't think you are going to even make it to the first dinner service!

The women were just unbelievable in the kitchen. They were [appropriately] named HELL'S BITCHES by Ramsey, and didn't stop bickering the entire time. I wanted to reach through the TV and slap some of them for treating Julia the way they did. Not only did they NOT talk to her during dinner prep, but Tiffany, Melissa, and Bonnie had the audacity to comment that Julia didn't deserve to be there because she works at Waffle House. So tell me Tiffany, how do you cook a quail egg without making it seem like a silicone implant. According to Chef Ramsey that's exactly what he thought of Tiffany's fried quail eggs. No matter how much Julia offered to help with the eggs, she wasn't allowed. Bonnie had her turn and kept breaking the yokes. So no appetizers were going out and the red kitchen came to a screeching halt because they wouldn't let Julia fry the eggs.

The blue kitchen seemed to be getting the appetizers out once Vinnie was taken off the station and Josh was put there. Vinnie was moved to washing the pots and pans, and Chef Ramsay noted that he had found his calling. LOL At one point Aaron found that his large 48 year-old body couldn't take the heat and he had to leave the kitchen. But not before he ruined the rest of the chicken. Apparently they also ran out of the other meats, and chicken and vegetable stock , which caused the very hot and sexy Sous Chef Scott to howl "We haven't served any food, how can we be out of everything?", or something to that affect. I was on the floor laughing so hard throughout this episode, but it really is sad how poorly these teams performed on their first night.

Aaron was so lucky that Hell's Bitches did so much worse at preparing food and was the losing team, so he is safe for now. Vinnie also squeaked by after talking back to Ramsay right before he announced the losing team. I guess Vinnie doesn't want to win his own restaurant. Gordon Ramsay doesn't like a smart ass and he doesn't forget either. Melissa was quite cunning when she told Tiffany that she wasn't going home. - "No Way" was her comment, but then she turned around and nominated her for elimination. Chef Ramsay agreed with her and took her chef's coat. One down and 11 more to go.

Are you The Next...

...Food Network Star? Last night was the two-hour premiere and you know I just could not pull myself away. I even put it on my Yahoo! calendar so I wouldn't miss it. I love to watch the cooking shows even though I can't eat most of what they make. It's fun to watch their minds working and to see if they are going to work well together when they are put into teams.

I have to say that last night was the most entertaining cooking competition I have seen so far. First of all, to see the Food Network Stars being judges and hosts was just awesome. Iron Chef Bobby Flay was the guest host this week, and Duff from Ace of Cakes and Robert Irvine from Dinner Impossible were guests during the last two challenges. I love both those shows so seeing them was just awesome, as was their commentary on the contestants during the competition.

Duff was there for the wedding cake challenge which is a challenge that isn't fair for most of them. Trying to make a wedding cake is a huge undertaking, but a few of them came out on top. I loved Paul's cake with the two grooms on top which represented his own wedding cake if he ever has one. I cannot understand how Vivien and Rory totally missed the boat that it was supposed to be a wedding cake. Duff even said that he would love to bite into the cakes at the parties where they are being served, but not at a wedding. Robert Irvine then showed up to explain the next challenge...cater a wedding for 100 people in 6 hours!! The teams got $1,800 to cater the wedding. One team (the orange team) got a bonus of $500. And how much of that money was spent? Well, the orange team spent just under $800 because Colombe was so worried about how much everything costs that they didn't spend all of the money OR buy enough food. That became obvious when there was no food on the orange team table multiple times during the wedding reception. And at one point there were no orange team members there to serve, so Bobby Flay went over and worked the table with whatever food was left! The green team spent $1,150 of the $1,800 and definitely had enough food. Needless to say the green team won the challenge, but not everyone on the green team was safe.

Two people were sent home last night, so we are down to 9 contestants. I don't agree with Patrick being sent home, but I did agree with sending Vivien home. Part of the reason they chose Patrick is because they need someone with personality who can capture the audience and keep them interested. Unlike other cooking competitions, this person needs to be in front of the camera and keep people tuning in to their show. For now I am hoping that at least JAG, Paul, and Amy make it to the finals. I like Colombe for her organic cooking and think it would be a good show. I just hope she can develop her personality.

Set Adrift

The premier of Pirate Master on CBS last night was just awesome. At first it seemed a little boring and a lot like Survivor, but the rules are definitely different. That became apparent when half the gold was given to the elected captain and then half of the rest was given to the two officers, leaving only a measly $2000 for the rest of the Black Crew that found the treasure. The rules are definitely different here and I couldn't wait to see how someone would be voted off.

So J.D. (a.k.a. Joe Don) was voted Captain almost unanimously. I agreed with John when he didn't agree that J.D. should be captain. Of course that came back to bite him in the ass later. BTW, I was shocked to see that John was a Scientist and Exotic Dancer. I could believe the Exotic Dancer part with that super hot body and long luscious black hair that any woman would love to run their fingers through as he dances in his little black thong. But as far as being a scientist...well he showed he has brains as well as brawn, and he DID win the challenge and find the treasure when nobody else could.

Being Captain IMMEDIATELY went to J.D.'s head and you could see that his demeanor changed and he turned into a hard ass. You can see that some of the players are already wishing he wasn't captain and probably some that voted for him are feeling it too. The captain was given letters for each of his crew, and three of them had a black mark. The crew member that received a black mark was "marked" and the possibility of being set adrift was placed on them. Louie, Joy, and Johnwere marked. John was of course the obvious choice because he didn't vote for J.D. and was not considered a team player.

At the Pirate Court each crew member was given a chance to state their case for staying. John was the only one who mentioned Mutiny and gave the reason that he had both compasses and if he leaves, the compasses go with him. The Captain (J.D.) told how he could find the north star at night and in the daytime use a stick in the sand and the shadow it casts to find north, south, east and west. John then challenged him to find north right then and there but couldn't because it was raining and you couldn't see any stars. That right there should have told all those that were voting that John is more valuable than they are believing. But alas, when it came down to the vote, nobody wanted to Mutiny, and each vote was for John.

Now I just get nuts because of the way the vote went. They were all pissing and moaning about J.D., and when they are given the chance to mutiny, they don't do it!!! Are they f'in crazy? They are going to be regretting that decision and based on the previews from next week where J.D. doesn't let anybody have any food and he is working them to the bone, they will know for sure they made a bad decision.

I am glad Pirate Master is different from survivor and I can't wait to see what twists and turns they put in this game. However, the eye candy (John) has been set adrift. I must press on with only the game to entertain me now.

A Cut Above The Rest

Ten minutes before Shear Genius was about to start last night my cable starting blinking. It would go to snow for a second, then back to the show for a second and back and forth like that. I wanted to scream, but didn't want to wake up everybody else in the house. Thank goodness it only lasted for about 2-3 minutes.

So Anthony is a cut above the rest. As he should have been based on last night's cuts. Of course, I would never expect anyone to pull of 3 models in 3 hours and I loved Vidal Sassoon telling Michael that he should try it. Priceless! Finally a judge who gets that these contestants are really put under a lot of pressure and time constraint. It seems that most of these shows where they are limited to a specific time and expected to get the end result perfect is not taken into consideration most of the time.

Anthony was one of my favorites from the beginning, along with Tabatha, Daisy and Danna. Dr. Boogie was fun to watch but he became too cocky and annoying during the photo shoot challenge. I thought the photographer was going to strangle him...I know I wanted to! I had hoped that Tabatha and Anthony would be battling out in the final three, but Tyson made sure she didn't make it that far. Although he didn't know that he would take Tabatha out with him.

Daisy seemed to bring something new and fresh to the challenges and she tried to do that with her "S" in each style last night. However, it turned out to be too much to do for 3 models in 3 hours. I agreed with the judges that she didn't need to color each model and she should have just done one or two. The pin curls were a good idea and probably would have looked fabulous had she had more time to perfect them.

Ben really grew on me over the course of the show. I didn't really care for him in the beginning as I didn't get the feeling that he was really comitted or was going to learn. Boy did he prove me wrong. Of everyone there I think he really improved and took chances. A perfect example was when Jaclyn asked him last night why he did an up-do when it isn't his forte. His answer was simply "because it's not my forte". BRAVO! (no pun intended) That is the mark of a man who is not afraid to take chances and will not be intimidated...by the judges, the competitors, the challenge, nothing. I didn't think he had it in him, but he really showed that he has it in him. I wish him luck and hope he goes on to be very successful.

Anthony now gets to go back to go back to his salon in California and [hopefully] use the $100,000 wisely. I guess it's a good that he isn't back in his hometown in England. At the current exchange rate 100,000 USD is approx 55,000 GBP. Ouch!

Ohno! Oh YES!!!

Well, I had no doubt in my mind from the minute I heard he was going to be on Dancing with the Stars. Ok, ok, so maybe not from the minute, but after I saw that he as graceful on the dance floor that he is on the ice . . . well, my heart stopped . . . and started again when my husband bopped me on the head and told me to put my eyes back in my head. I have watched Apolo in the last few Olympics and thought he has been amazing. I think he was robbed at the last Olympics and I get all antsy every time I see him compete hoping that he will get the gold.

It was also obvious that Apolo and Julianne had chemistry and could move well together. Which brings up the rumor that Julianne called off her engagement. Could it be that Apolo has more than skating and dancing talent? Heck, he's got the looks and moves, so why wouldn't Julianne want a taste of that? Not to mention that Julianne is gorgeous and Apolo cuold hardly say no to that. I haven't been a big fan of Dancing with The Stars because the judges drive me absolutely batty (uh, we need a translator over here), and some of the music is just weird that they are forced to dance to. But this year they pulled out two handsome, sexy, "if I weren't married and one of them wasn't married" guys, that I couldn't help myself. Kudos to Billy Ray for conquering his fear and making the most of it. He stated in an interview that he was doing it for his daughter Noah, and I can't think of any better reason.

This competition doesn't hold the weight of the Olympics, and it's purely for entertainment, but I am glad Apolo took home the trophy.

Will You Marry Me?

I read all the Bachelor websites and spoilers before I watched last night, but in this case I didn't believe them. As it got closer, I felt that Andy would pick Tessa over Bevin. I mean, let's think about this....he kept asking Tessa to "stick around", and to open up to him, and show him how she really felt. It was getting obvious that he "freakin' loves her", and wanted to propose to her. Ok, so he seemed to have a spark with Bevin, but that's all it was. She made him horny, but she is not the nurturing, sophisticated "navy wife" that he wants and needs.

Grandpa nailed that one on the head (uh, no pun intended - tee hee hee). He told Andy that "Bevin turns you on, but is that enough? What about 5 years, 10 years, etc. from now?" That made Andy stop and think about the two women left in his life. What was making him ask Tessa to stay? Why did he want her around? Why did he want Bevin around? What is life going to be like in 5 years, 10 years, 35 years (like his parents)? Is Bevin going to be the woman for him? It turns out, she is not.

Of course ABC magic editing doesn't show us everything, but Bevin never seemed quite right to me. I can't put my finger on it, but I wasn't surprised when he didn't choose her. I have to wonder if it was just editing or Bevin really didn't say anything to him the whole time he was telling her how wonderful she is, how beautiful she is, how he loves her and will never ever forget her. The fact that she was crying in the car on the way over makes me believe that she knew it wouldn't be her and that maybe she didn't want it to be her. I've never seen any of the last two ladies crying on the way there. I mean, look at Tessa. She looked as though she was about to vomit right there as she was walking with Chris. I thought for sure she was going to say "Excuse me a minute Chris", turn toward the bushes and just lose it (being very careful not to mess that pretty blue dress that she looks so great in - at least to Andy).

Tonight is the "After the Rose" episode and I can't wait to see if they have set a date or not. I didn't really miss the episode "The Women Tell All" but I do wonder why they didn't do one this year. That's just the 'ol gossip in me wanting to know if they would throw each other under the bus or not. I hope for Andy and Tessa that this is true and that the rest of their lives won't be awkward having met on a reality matchmaking show.

That's what Dreamz are made of

Last night was the season finale of Survivor: Fiji. Earl Cole took it all...ALL 9 votes! Out of the three that were left, he was probably the only one who deserved it. And I use that word lightly. Yes, he played a good game, but he did not play an honest game, as he said in his opening statement to the jury. He was not honest when people asked him "Am I going home tonight". Sometimes he didn't answer, but other times he outright said "No". I was ok with Earl till he made that statement. Why can't anyone just sit there and say "Look, this is a game. I came here to win a million dollars. You don't want to vote for me because you are sitting there and I am sitting here, fine. I would be the same way, but I think I outwitted, outlasted and OUTPLAYED because I am still sitting here. With that said, please vote for me". End of discussion.

As for the jury....wooo weee...I don't know that we had such a hateful group since Sue Hawk in the very first season. If you missed that, I have the quote in one of my earlier blogs. Alex had no right to tell Casandra to "stop talking" (mimicing Alex) when he asked her a question and wanted her to respond. Oh, so he didn't like what she was saying. You know what, I never liked what Casandra was saying, but the fact of the matter is, Casandra was not voted out and you asked her a question. Shut the F*** up and let her respond. I really wanted Jeff to step in, but he didn't. Now let's talk about Lisi...oh my goodness. What is that woman on? Jeff's expression when she was asking to see Casandra's water shoes and whatever else was coming out of her mouth, was priceless. I also was sitting there with a confused look on my face. To say the (very) least, we had a very angry bunch last night at the last tribal council.

We also learned that Dreamz is not a man of his word. I think we have another Jonny Fairplay from Survivor: Pearl Islands. The difference with Dreamz is that he didn't tell everyone that he lies, and he made it to the top three! Jonny told everyone not to believe them and they did, whereas Dreamz asked people to belive him and trust him and they did even when they saw him lying, backstabbing and betraying his other alliance. I really thought he was going to keep his word and give Yau-man the immunity necklace. I guess he knew that Yau could beat him, Earl and Casandra. Enjoy the truck, Dreamz...that's all I'm going to say about that.

So congratulations to Earl, and once again I am jealous of the winner. I would love to be on Survivor, but I think I would be voted out way early. Oh well, I just have to keep looking for another way to win a million....or more....

A Cut Above?

Thanks to my friend Bozoette for tuning me in Shear Genius on Bravo. Bozoette pointed me to an episode where the winner used grass shears (in the picture above) to cut the hairstyle. Last night Bravo was showing past episodes and I caught the one where Evangelin had to use the shears as part of a challenge. Of course I got hooked on it, quickly learned the names of all the contestants, and I now have my favorites. Evangelin (the girl who won using the shears), is not my favorite and I watched her get eliminated last night. Well it was probably the week before since it was a repeat, but she deserved to go. She continued to use those shears to cut the models hair during the challenges and saw nothing wrong with it. The other contestants totally slammed her and I agree with them. She is not Edward Scissorhands and they are not a styling tool. Her argument was that they use all kinds of other tools for cutting hair. Hello Evangelin! Those are MADE for cutting hair. Some people just don't get it.

In every competition reality show there is that one person who is rude, crude and full of himself. Top Chef had Marcel, Top Design had Michael and now Shear Genius has Tyson. Ok, first of all, who names their child Tyson? Personally, I don't want to be named after chicken. He is the one that nobody wants to win, the one everyone tries to sabotage and will probably be the one that gets into the top 3 or top 2. I never understand how that happens, but then I'm not a judge.

I do have to say that some of these models are pretty brave to come on and let these stylists cut, color and maybe even destroy their hair in hopes of winning the challenge of the day. I watched Dr. Boogie cut the redheaded model's hair shorter, shorter, shorter until even Rene said "You are going to be the first person to make the mullet fashionable". I don't know how he did it, but she didn't look that bad. She's just lucky that her hair will grow back. My favorites right now are Tabatha, Anthony and Danna (pronouced as "Donna"). They seem to really "get" what the judges are looking for in each challenge and execute it well. I can't wait to see who was eliminated during the 10:00 episode last night. I had to record it because, well... LOST was on at that time. And I CANNOT ever miss LOST. :)

That's Entertainment!

Or at least that is what it is supposed to be on Dancing With The Stars. Bruno (one of the judges) was absolutely horrible to Billy Ray Cyrus last night. Yes, I am a fan of his (I mean at 45 he is totally hot and a really good singer and actor), and I admit he can't dance, but he too has admitted he can't dance. He has been there this long because his fans love him and vote for him (like I do). But Bruno had no right to call his dance "crap" and totally insult him. Of course I'm surprised anyone can understand half of what he says. Between his accent and spitting, I don't know what he is trying to say. I just loved his line "we are coming to the finals in an important competition".   sound effects of record scratching to a halt     Excuse me? An important competition? This is not the olympics, this is not someone trying to break a guiness world record, this is not someone trying to break into show business. These "stars" are already in show business. Earth to Bruno! This is a show entirely for entertainment! And you my friend are NOT entertainment.

On the other hand, The Bachelor has been providing me with lots of entertainment. I know these women are doing this to find their soul mate, husband, love of their life and Andy is doing this to find the woman he can spend the rest of his life with, but it is quite the entertaining show. Amber went home last night and she has no f*ing idea why. Her words, not mine. I don't really know why Andy strung her along when he knew that she was too young for him and that it would be a problem. See he is not only looking for the love of his life but he is looking for a woman who can be a Lt.'s wife, and that is not an easy role. I know because my best friend is married to a man in the Air Force and there is a huge part to play being the wife of an officer. Amber is not ready for that role and Andy saw that when she was at home and with her friends. Her aunt can tell him 50 times how mature Amber is, but the fact is that she is young and does have a lot of growing to do. At this point I am not really sure who he is in love with. The editing always throws things off and I am not really sure if Tessa is really falling in love with him. He says that he sees potential in her, but to me that says "You would make a really good officer's wife". He truly has chemistry with Bevin but she seems emotionally unstable as she is the one who has cried the most out of the three left. It's hard for me to call this one, but as of last night I think he wants Tessa. We'll just have to wait and see.

Crossing the Finish Line

LAst night I was glued to the television waiting for the winner of The Amazing Race to arrive at the end of the race. I was SOOOOO happy when it was Eric and Danielle. Out of the last three teams, they were the only ones who didn't stab anyone in the back or be outright mean to the other teams. Yes, they were pissed off at Oswald and Danny, but they didn't know the real reason they were yielded by them. I thought at one point that they would find out, but if they didn't then it wasn't shown. Chmirna and Mirna, as I call them, (Charla and Mirna) were so mean to people. I understand they are running the race for $1M, but they could have done it and still been nice to people. One of the most annoying thing they did was when Mirna stated that you "have to speak to the locals with an accent so that they understand you". The problem is that she uses the same stupid accent and she sounds like she's talking down to them. I do applaud Charla for taking on the physical demands and coming through it like a trooper, but her cousin needs to learn some serious people skills! My favorite team was David and Mary from Kentucky and I think they deserved to win. My second favorite team was Oswald and Danny. I was upset when they were eliminated. They should have been in the final three along with the blondes and Eric and Danielle.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to stay awake for the show last night because of my own "reality" this weekend. I accompanied my daughter to her Girl Scout Camp. We started with the campfire on Friday and ended on Saturday night with the closing ceremony. The theme this year was "Pirates of the Catoctin" (it was held at Catoctin Mountain Park in Thurmont, MD). They had lots of pirate activities, obstacle courses, hikes, etc. and of course we had to walk between all the activities, as well as walking back to the cabin where we were staying from time to time. My body was so glad when it was over and I crashed on the sofa on Saturday night. Thank goodness I was able to catch a nap yesterday afternoon so I could stay awake and watch Eric and Danielle win. My only regret is that I forgot to grab my digital camera, so I have absolutely no pictures of the weekend! I thought I learned my lesson last year when I forgot the camera. Maybe next year I'll remember? Most likely not.

Idol Cleans House

As I said in a previous post, I cannot watch the American Idol results show because it just takes too long for them to deliver the bad news. I watch something else and use the "Picture-in-Picture" feature on my TV to watch the action. Not hearing it helps with the angst of waiting to see who gets voted off. I don't usually put it on till the last 10 minutes, but decided to watch at about 9:20 or so. I saw Phil Stacy get voted off. While I wasn't his biggest fan, I didn't think he was terrible. There were much worse than him...dare I say the name Sanj...NNNOOOOOOOO, I can't say it! I won't say it! So I knew Phil's time was coming. He just hasn't improved and the last few weeks weren't good genres for him. I was so disappointed when Chris got voted off instead of Blake. I think he sounded like a fool with all his beat-boxing during "You Give Love A Bad Name". Well, Blake, you give singing a bad name! My goodness. If he recorded that and it played on the radio, I would think the DJ had a bad CD that was stuck! Chris sounded really good and I hope he gets picked up by a label. Yes, he is very comparable to JT (and I like JT), but JT could stand some competition. Chris, I will miss you!

One of the other reality shows that was on last night that I like to watch is Clean House on the Style Network. I just cannot believe that people actually live like that! Now my mother can be a pack rat, and doesn't do "the purge" as often as she should, but she in no way lives with things all over the place to where you can't see the floor, or move around, or eat on the table, or sit or even breathe! I have to wonder if some of these families throw all this stuff in the rooms just to have these reality makeovers. If I had that much junk in my house, I would do the same thing. I mean, my family room and kitchen need a serious makeover! And I wouldn't mind somebody coming in and doing our basement over. It's already finished but the previous owners put that prickly stucko on the walls! I like Clean House because Niecy also "gifts" things to people when they are having trouble letting go of their items. Heck, Niecy, come to my house...I can have trouble letting go of something in order to get new furniture for my family room, or a new bed in the basement for my mother to sleep on when she visits. I have no problem causing a stink when you try to sell something in the yard sale that I absolutely MUST keep. The problem is that my husband and I do "the purge" at least once a year, so we don't have items like that. The other problem is that Niecy only goes to families in the LA area. Until such time as I can figure out how to to Niecy to my house to "gift" me items, I will have to figure out another way to get a free makeover for one or more of my rooms.

Dancing with The Bachelor

On Monday night I attempt to watch Dancing With The Stars and The Bachelor. I say "attempt" because I can't bring myself to watch every minute of either one, but I am still hooked. The only stars I like to watch this time around are Apollo and Billy Ray. I got hooked on Apollo the first time I saw him in that tight skating bodysuit speeding around the track in the Olympics. And Billy Ray Cyrus is just sexy for a 45 year old. My daughter watches Hannah Montana non-stop on Disney so I get to see him quite often. And I don't mind it one little bit! He seems to be holding his own out there, but I think Apollo will take the prize. As he should!

The Bachelor is one of those shows that I got hooked on from the first season. I'm still amazed that this show is on the air. It's now in it's 10th season and I can think of 3 relationships that have survived from that show. Only one of them ended up in marriage (that I ever heard) - Trista and Ryan. This year they went with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin, M.D. . Now he's not the sexiest man, and he seems a little nerdy, but there were 25 women just dying to meet him. Now he's narrowed it down to just 4 women, who get to take him home to Mom and Dad. From the previews it looks like the hometown date with Amber will be a bust. But we all know how the networks screw with us in the previews. They show just enough to keep you interested but always show things in a twisted way that makes us think one thing, when the truth is far from it. The year that Trista was the bachelorette I predicted that she would pick Ryan and that he would propose to her. No matter what ABC tried to with editing, they couldn't hide the fact that they were all over each other and in love. For this season, I started thinking a few weeks ago that Bevin was the one that he eventually picks, but now I'm thinking that Tessa is the one he fell in love with. He seems to have the attraction and comfortable relationship with each of them. I will be surprised if it doesn't come down to the two of them. I did notice that this year they are getting rid of the bachelorettes faster and the season is shorter. I guess ABC realized they don't need to drag it out. It seems most of the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows end in a proposal, but for Andy, I truly hope he does find his true love.

The Secret Ingredient

I don't know how long ago it was, but I got hooked on Iron Chef and then Iron Chef America. Not that I am keen to a lot of the dishes they make, mainly because I either don't like some of the ingredients or I just can't eat them. Sunday night has turned into my Food Network night.

I love to sit and watch the Iron Chefs wield their spatulas, knives, and other tools while they throw food into the blast chiller, steamer, blender, deep frier or other cooking device. Since I am not creative, especially when it comes to cooking, I get mesmerized just watching these chefs decide what ingredients to put together. They always use foods that I've never heard of before and would probably be too afraid to eat. While I love my sweets, there are so many foods I won't try.

There are times that I wonder about the secret. Who comes up with it and how? Here are some of the secret ingredients from past shows: Lobster, Fennel, Bacon, Eggplant, frozen peas (not just peas, but FROZEN peas), honey, chocolate, coconut, wild boar, lentils, puff pastry, onion, eggs, asparagus, goat cheese. The chefs are required to come up with 5 dishes that use and spotlight the secret ingredient. So how many things can you do to frozen peas, or honey, or even puff pastry to make you win this competition. I mean, honey is honey, frozen peas are frozen peas. They can use the secret ingredient to make the dish, but are they really making that ingredient "the star" as some judges so eloquently put it. I don't think so...I think this is more about the overall cooking technique and creativeness of the chef.

My favorite chefs are Masaharu Morimoto and Mario Batali. They both seem to be able to come up with original dishes that the judges always love. I've seen many a time where cocky "Mr. I'm the Best" Bobby Flay goes into his comfort zone and uses spices, spices and more spices to create his dishes. I've seen him do it on his Throwdown show. It's like he doesn't know what to do, so he says "I'll throw some chili powder or other "hot" spice in there and fool them into thinking it's original. There are times when I would love to be in the studio just to smell the cooking, because even though I wouldn't eat most of it, I bet the aromas are just amazing. Plus you can't gain weight by just smelling.

We found it in his bag

I have been watching Survivor since the first day it was on CBS. I fell in love with it and have watched every season. There have been some really good seasons and some that were OK, and I don't even remember the winner or runner-ups at this point. I still remember everyone from the first season. I have my opinions on Richard Hatch but I will not dare to elaborate on those.

Instead, I will speak of last night's episode. Whoa Nelly! Mookie and Alex went through Yau Man's bag! (Which is where they found the immunity idol) Dude, that is just sooooo wrong on every level. I understand they are all there playing a game, but to go through someone's personal bag is NOT "outwitting" OR "outplaying". I ws so happy that the others in that alliance were more upset over the guys going through Yau Man's bag than the fact that they didn't know he has the idol. Mookie and Alex tried to pull one over on Yau Man and he stood his ground! Good for him!

Then at Tribal Council Mookie tried to call out Yau Man in front of Jeff. Jeff's reaction to "We found it in his bag" was priceless. Again, Jeff was more shocked at that part than the fact that Yau Man has the idol. I often wonder if Jeff comes up with his own questions/comments or if he is coached before he goes out there on what to ask. He doesn't seem privy to anything that has happened the 3 days prior unless it happened when he was with the contestants for challenges. There have been quite a few mentions of "Rats and Snakes" when the contestants refer to each other during tribal council. I don't remember so much mention since the very first season when Sue Hawk snarled "This island is full of, pretty much, only two things - snakes and rats. And in the end of Mother Nature, we have Richard The Snake, who knowingly went after prey; and Kelly, who turned into the rat that ran around like rats do on this island, trying to run from the snake."


I was actually surprised to see Alex vote for Mookie, but Mookie not vote for Alex. I would have expected it from Mookie before Alex. Mookie seemed like a bigger back stabber, but then Alex IS an attorney and is right at home in shark infested waters. As you can see, I don't care for Alex...I mean, he doesn't even have the cute thing going on.

I would love to be on Survivor but I don't think I could get past the eating challenge(s), sleeping on leaves, the bugs, the snakes, having to use the bathroom in the middle of nowhere, the bugs, the snakes, starving, thirst, the bugs, the snakes, never changing my clothes and oh yeah, did I mention the bugs and the snakes?

Idol gives Back

So what can I say about the show last night? I don't like to watch the weekly results show because I don't want to sit through the agony of waiting to see who is voted off. On top of that I can't stand that they make the person who was voted off sing one more time. How do they expect someone to sing when they've just had the rug pulled out from under them? Seriously!

I sat down to watch last night since it was the "concert" for Idol Gives Back. My cable started having problems and the picture was all messed up for the first 30 minutes. I decided to go back for a little while but just wasn't all that interested in the performances. See, I don't feel that you need to have a concert so that people can donate. The stars don't need to give their time to a concert, they just need to give their money. Idol has been promoting this enough that all they have to do is ASK people to go to the Idol website and donate. Why do we have to be bribed with a concert to donate to a good cause? I donate without listening to a concert. I'm selfish in the way that if I am at a concert, it is for my enjoyment, and not because it's an incentive to donate.

As for the results...HOW HOW HOW could that do that to poor Jordin! If I was her, I would have a coronary right there on the stage! Then how would they feel? I still don't understand how Chris and Jordin were in the bottom. Phil has been good in the last few shows, but I don't think he can hold it up there with the likes of Melinda, Jordin and Chris. If you haven't guessed it by now, I DO NOT like Blake. I think he has such a monotone voice with no feeling. I don't understand where the judges said that he sang John Lennon's classic with feeling. He was putting me to sleep. All I could think was "How dare he sing a master like John Lennon like that". I think the judges were supposed to be supernice this week because of "Idol Gives Back". I've never heard Simon be so positive to everyone in one show, ever!

Now we have to wait another week for the results. I still like Idol because I think Ryan really lightens things up and is a good host. Some of the tit for tat between him and Simon go a little far, but for now Idol still has my interest.

My First Blog

I have a blog! Wow, I can't believe it. My first time blogging. I've commented on other people's blogs, but never had my own. So why do I have a blog now? Why after years of posting comments and reading others, do I have one? It all comes down to one reason.... Peer Pressure. That's right, I caved in to peer pressure. No, not from my fellow bloggers, but from my friendly co-workers. See, I have been having these conversations with my friends at work and we get to talking about TV and how I have turned into a media junkie. More specifically, a Reality TV junkie. We get to talking about the reality shows I watch and I of course give my unsolicited opinions. Many times it has been suggested that I have my own TV talk show to "give my opinion". Then the idea of a blog came up. With the help of those peer pressure firendly co-workers, I decided to blog about the reality TV shows I watch.

Now, I'm not one to blog every day and I'm not even sure if I'll be able to keep it up, but I am going to give it my best. So for my first entry...oh wait, I've already started my first entry. LOL Ok, so I'll keep this one short...I think.

Last night I was surfing the onscreen TV Guide that came with my new 47" flat sceen TV. I saw that ESPN2HD was showing the Met-Rx 2006 World's Strongest Man Competition. I LOVE watching it. I just think it's amazing how men from all over the world lift these objects (like a car) to win the title of Worlds Strongest Man. What hooked me even more last night was that there were 2 Americans fighting for the title. I hadn't seen a WSM where an American had won. Granted I have only watched for the last 5 years or so. Anyway, it came down to Mariusz Pudzianowski from Poland (I did that without looking it up folks), Phil Pfister from the US and Don Pope from the US. The announcers were saying that it was 24 years since an American won the title. So I was glued to the TV to see if Phil could pull it off. It looked hopeful but it would not be by a landslide. By the final event, Phil had closed to 1 point behind Mariusz. The Atlas Stones was last. They have to pick up different size/weight stones and place them on a platform. The men were neck and neck and then on the last stone Phil got his stone up there within a second or two before Mariusz had his settled. USA brings it home!

So there you have it. My very first blog about my Reality TV addiction. Thanks for reading!