Big Brother Justice

Phew! How great was it to see Diane win Head of Household after 9 1/2 hours of pushing down that button? And, better than that, she did the right thing by putting up the two idiots, Jase and Scott. Hopefully one of them will be eliminated this week, even though the Power of Veto is still out there for the taking. They can't both win it! I think we are soon going to see the Four Horsemen turn on each other.

I never posted after Thursday's episode to cheer the dismissal of Holly. Thank God she is gone! She was so annoying. And, now Scott and Jase are free to be together because I really think that is what is going on there. Although, when you think about it, that was the stupidest decision ever - to get rid of someone on their side like that. Really stupid. How classic was it when Holly saw the Adria/Natalie twist? I don't think she even understood it. I almost wish that Natalie wouldn't come into the house for a few more weeks, to see more reactions like that.

Interesting Campaign Strategy

The Cleveland Browns training camp received a surprise visit from President Bush today. In town to help kickoff the International Children's Games, President Bush sure is making some smart campaign moves targeting those undecided voters in our key state of Ohio. First, he targets children from all the nations of the world (high voter turnout from among that group, I think) and then he hits up a professional football team's training camp, where the average salary is something like $800,000. So, I'm guessing most of them were already big fans of Bush anyway. I'll tell you one thing - that picture of Bush and Butch is enough to make me wish I had a dartboard.

Mirna and Schmirna Survive Another Week

Well, I'm not sure what to say about this week's The Amazing Race. I could care less about Bob and Joyce leaving. Bye! I was glad to see Chip inhale that caviar and grab first place with his wife, just as he was starting to get on my nerves. Good for them! Back on my good side. Those beauty queens were certainly annoying about the caviar, but they and their scary boyfriends are annoying pretty much the whole time. Is it that hard to eat caviar, by the way? At least it wasn't like cow testicles or pig intestines or some other disgusting food that gets eaten on other reality shows. The self-described fat pizza brothers aren't doing too well on the eating challenges, surprisingly. One would think that would be something they are good at. I really enjoyed how miserable the person who ate all that caviar looked at the pit stop. Phil could obviously tell which person had done all the eating. And what to say about Charla and Mirna. I know lots of people hate them, like my mother and the people in this article, but I am constantly changing my mind about them. One minute I'm annoyed that Charla is lying about needing to see a doctor to get on the waiting list for a flight and the next minute I'm laughing and cheering that they arrive in Frankfurt first. One minute I'm annoyed that Mirna is interrupting Colin's conversation with the bus station guy and the next minute I'm rooting for them to hurry up and block five goals. Very, very weird this love-hate relationship for them.

Rocco's on 22nd Closes

According to this article from the New York Post (via TV Tattle), The Restaurant is closing at the end of August. Poor, poor Rocco. Obviously, he'll have more time to make television appearances and to write more cookbooks this way so I'm not sure he should be too upset. Plus, I'm assuming Union Square or whatever his other restaurant is called is still open.

Convention, Day 2

I found Teresa's speech a little long and hard to pay attention to, but she made some good points: primarily, that it's okay for women to have opinions and instead of being called 'opinionated' should just be called 'smart' and 'well-informed'. Amen sista! I found it annoying that many of the male pundits afterward claim she won't attract the "Middle America" women - that the average US woman will be put off by her. Also interesting is that all of the female pundits seemed to disagree strongly with the know-it-all men. Hmm, I wonder who has a better idea on what women might think.

And, I'm sorry, but I think I found my future husband last night. Is it wrong that as Chris Heinz was introducing his mother, I was looking for a wedding ring? What a cutie. Add him to my crush list.

Heh - I Knew Big Brother Would Think of Something

I'm fairly positive that Adria is going to be eliminated this week, now that she is on the block, but I was wondering what CBS was going to do about their big twin twist, since she wouldn't be lasting long enough to bring both of them in the house. Well, I just saw the commercial that says that if Adria is evicted, her twin moves in! I kind of figured that would happen because there must be enough time alotted in the season to take into account both twin evictions were they both to come in the house. If they were both eliminated, the show would be left with an extra week in their season. ANYTHING they have to do to get rid of those Four Horsemen A-Holes is fine by me, fair or not. That Jase has REALLY got to go and I HOPE that one of the "good" people gets Head of Household this week or I will really stop watching.

Democratic National Convention

I posted about this yesterday but for some reason, it never hit the server. Republican interference perhaps?! Anyway, I didn't feel like re-typing it all. I was interested to see President Clinton's speech and wow, I liked it. I think it was a very good speech and most of the pundits seemed to agree. You can see or read it via this link on the official Democratic National Convention site. Tonight, I'm interested to hear Ron Reagan's speech. When even his eulogy to his father had some biting comments directed at President Bush, you have to wonder what his speech at the Democratic Convention is going to be like. Teresa Heinz Kerry speaks tonight, too. Unfortunately, for those of you without cable, your only option for watching is PBS.

Seacrest Out for Good

Apparently, On Air with Ryan Seacrest has been cancelled (according to this via TV Barn) - another talk show down the drain. As far as the other recently cancelled talk shows go (Living it Up! With Ali & Jack, The Wayne Brady Show), I would say Ryan's was one of the better. He had a nice mix of celebrities, gossip and music and didn't try to entertain us with stupid comedy and monologues. Or his own singing. Plus, he got lots of fans involved. But, oh well. It's not like he's hurting for a job. New daytime talk shows seem to rarely last more than a year nowadays anyway, at least on the major networks. It will be interesting to see how Tony Danza and Jane Pauley do this fall.

Speaking of my book club...

The choice for our next book club, which meets August 11th, is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I know I read this book way back in 1996 around the time it came out but I don't remember the slightest thing about it. So, whatever that tells you about the book. At least it's an easy read as I prepare to make my big move out-of-state... Oh, and there is the movie that is in theaters, too.

Jesus, Mary & Da Vinci

According to this ABC press release (via TV Barn), the network plans to re-air its special investigating the controversy surrounding The Da Vinci Code next week. I may actually tune in because I missed it the first time and have since read the book for my book club. Of course, I did read about it here at the time of our book club. I also have seen a similar special on The National Geographic Channel. Interesting.

Lance Makes it Six

Lance Armstrong won his sixth Tour de France today - an amazing accomplishment! No one has ever won six before. Apparently, Lance hasn't decided yet whether or not he will come back to try for a seventh win in 2005. It was an especially impressive run during that last time trial, in my opinion. But, one question: Is he even divorced yet?

Maybe This Time Holly Will Go

On Big Brother 5, the annoying Holly is once again up for eviction. Let's hope this time that her game boyfriend Jase doesn't save her again, should he win the Power of Veto. I find it incredibly amusing that they all seem to think she is this clever mastermind manipulating them all. I mean, they DO live with her right? I wouldn't doubt that she has actress ambitions but come on, all that stupid ditziness is not fake. Also of note, idiot Scott seems to think it is a smart move to lie to everyone and make them all think he is loaded and drives an Escalade and doesn't need the money. Well, did it occur to him that all those stories gives everyone else more ammunition to vote him out? Duh! No one wants to award $500,000 to someone who is already rich!

I might have to switch soaps...

Survivor hunk and Schick Quattro spokesperson Colby is coming to the soaps! TV Barn printed this press release from CBS Daytime that tells of Colby Donaldson hitting The Young & The Restless on Aug. 25th. I guess it's only a one-day thing. Too bad.

No Joan & Melissa!

According to this article (via TV Tattle), Joan and Melissa Rivers won't be able to do their thing at the Emmy red carpet this year, thanks to an exclusive contract between E! (the network they left) and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. At first I was a little perturbed because I enjoy Joan and Melissa, but, honestly, I just love red carpet coverage and I know E! is still going to have it, with or without Joan and Melissa.

Reality Roundup

For starters, I haven't had a chance to watch The Amazing Race yet. I planned on watching it this morning but our new Adelphia DVR/cable box was broken or something so there goes all the things saved on the hard drive...

I did watch Last Comic Standing and Big Brother, however. All I have to say about Big Brother is that I cannot stand that Scott and I cannot believe that Holly got saved. Ick ick ick. As far as Last Comic Standing goes, those people in the focus group were too funny and boy, did they take their job seriously. They must have been really well-paid for that because I remember once I got picked for one of those surveys at the mall where I had to watch a movie screener over and over and over and over and over again and it was all I could do to make it through. I just said the stupidest things about the movie promo so they would LET ME LEAVE!! But they wouldn't let me leave! And I think I got a measly $5 for it. It was seriously a hellacious experience. I'm glad Corey was the one to leave, not that I don't like him, but out of the three I think he was the least funniest. I guess he will be my pick for the wildcard next week, though, if someone has to come back. I'm sure they are just doing that to drag out the successful season. As far as I'm concerned, just move forward. What they should do is continue the face-to-face competitions until there are only three (instead of five) left and then let America vote on the top three.

25 Best Sports Movies

I started to get into these ESPN shows that are a part of the network's 25th anniversary. I saw some of the episode that ranked the 25 Most Outrageous Characters. Mike Tyson was tops - no surprise there. This one counts down the 25 best sports movies over the last 25 years. And, again, they got it right with the top spot - Hoosiers. No contest. That movie is awesome. I disagree with some of the other rankings, though. Seabiscuit should be higher - that was a fantastic movie. Jerry Maguire should be much lower (although I must admit that I have never seen most of the movie) - because I don't even consider that a real sports movie. And, although I admit to being biased, Major League deserves higher than #14. At least the fans put it higher. Speaking of the fans vs. the "experts" - it's interesting what a discrepancy there is between "Rudy." I'd definitely put it higher than #24.

The Homework Never Ends

I finally got my project finished for my big summer class on Friday - phew! - but now I have to get moving on reading the next book club book - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Book Club meets on Wednesday night. I started the book yesterday and honestly, am not really enjoying it. However, I am about halfway done already. I also found a cool site that is basically on online version of Cliffs Notes. For now, it is helping me understand what I have read so far but, if need be, it might help me finish the book much quickly!!

Another Anniversary

Today is my parents' wedding anniversary!  They have been together for 34 years. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

I'm Still Too Old - And I Still Can't Sing

American Idol has decided to raise the age limit for Season 4. Now contestants can be up to 28 years old, which apparently is 2 yrs more than before, although I thought the age limit was 25 before. They did not raise it on the lower end, however, despite all of Simon's grumblings about people (like Diana) being too young. That article also mentions that tryouts start here in Cleveland on August 4. Yay! Ryan, Paula, Randy and Simon are coming to Cleveland!!

See ya Mike!

So I was bad and watched Big Brother tonight instead of working on my big final project for school, but I wanted to see this whole twin thing play out finally, so I procrastinated. And, wow, how lame. So, Adria and her twin, Natalie, are sneaking in and out of the house. What's the point? If they make it five weeks, they will both get to stay in the house as individuals at that point. Sure, and then, in the sixth week, one of them will be targeted to go and in the seventh week, the other one will be targeted to go. Big deal. I don't see how in the world someone would let two twins stay in the house. Heck, most of them are questioning letting Michael and Jennifer stay as brother and sister and they've only known each other for a few days! Also, what happens if they ARE found out? It simply stops and one of them (presumably Adria) gets to stay? Honestly, I kind of am surprised that Diane hasn't figured it out since she seems to be so buddy-buddy with Adria. AND, she's a twin herself so you would think she would notice subtle differences between people. Those chicks must be good. Then again, why would you be looking for trouble from your ally?

That being said, with Marvin as HOH, I'm guessing he will probably stick with the plan of the "Four Horsemen" and will put up Adriatalie and/or Diane. Maybe not, though, because I imagine he wouldn't mind being alpha male and keeping some of those nice-looking ladies around. He's a bit of a wildcard. And, by the way, in my opinion, I would have saved Mike's ass, made him totally indebted to me and put up one of those gals this week. Then, I'd add someone else to my stable and have one less opponent. But that's just me - I'm not a cocky jerk thinking I've got the game in the bag after week one. Certainly those four idiots can count (maybe not...) and can realize that just because they are a solid four doesn't give them an advantage. There are 8 others out there, after all.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Today is my big brother's birthday! Happy Birthday to him. He is turning one year older than me.

Brian shares a birthday with such famous people as 90210'er Brian Austin Green (another Brian!), comedian Eddie Griffin (who I've seen in person!! He's way shorter than my brother, by the way.), former Felicity actors Scott Foley (cute!) and Amanda Foreman, One Life to Live old fogey Phil Carey, and three big-time politicians: Barry Goldwater, Jesse Ventura and Ohio's own favorite senator George Voinovich. Yay!

Emmy Nominations

The Emmy nominations were announced this morning and here is a complete list. It's a lot of the same as always, I think, with a few notable surprises, if you can call it that. For instance, I can't believe Will & Grace is up for Best Comedy this year. I thought it was horrible this year. And all those critics must be so thrilled that Arrested Development got some nominations. I'm 'eh' about it - take it or leave it. I think I'm most surprised about John Ritter's nomination - not so much that he wasn't a funny guy, but he was only in like three episodes before his unfortunate passing. But you kind of know he's going to be a shoo-in, don't you think? Maybe not. I'm glad that Kristin Davis was finally nominated for supporting actress for Sex & the City, although I find it a little annoying that three of the slots in that category are from that show. I'm sure that will be a place to sit when all those bickering ladies have to sit together. I hope she or Cynthia wins and not Kim. I'm glad Sean Hayes was nominated, as usual. He's the only thing I still love about Will & Grace. Well, and Eric. But too bad the storylines are so lame. Yay for Victor Garber. And Matt LeBlanc. (And Drea De Matteo, too - suddenly Joey has some credibility!) And I'm really thrilled with Amber Tamblyn's nomination. Go Amber! Also, good call on the Reality-Competition nominees. Those probably are the five best reality shows on the air: American Idol, The Amazing Race, Last Comic Standing, The Apprentice and Survivor. Oh well, can't wait. Sept. 19th.

Go All-Stars

Today is Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Surprisingly, my hometown team, the Cleveland Indians, have FIVE players in the game. That is the second-most of any team. You would think that we were in first place or something. Anyway, go AL! They had six runs in the first inning off of Roger Clemens so it looks good!

Last Comic Standing Spoiler??

In this week's TV Guide (the one that starts with the listings for July 18), there is an article about Last Comic Standing where they have six contestants tell us why we should vote for them. Well, currently, there are 7 people. So, I'm wondering if the person not in the article is the person who goes home tonight! I hope because it's this person. And I don't think that person is funny.

I Love the 90s

VH-1 is debuting some new programs this week, not the least of which is I Love the 90s, their latest attempt to capitalize off the success of the I Love the 80s (which was followed by I Love the 70s and I Love the 80s Strikes Back - neither of which was as great as the original). I can't wait to catch them all but, unfortunately, I'm a little busy this week with my final project for the class I'm taking, so I'll have to watch them later. I'm not sure if the 90s will be as fun to watch as the 80s because it sort of lacks that "Oh yeah! I remember that!!" excitement. After all, 1999 was only 5 years ago.

Another new show is A2Z, which sounds like an interesting, mindless thing to tune into when you might be looking for something to watch. The only bad thing about this show is that Ant is involved in this, since I saw him promoting it on Dennis Miller last week. However, checking out its site, it seems you can get all the interesting tidbits about the chosen celebrity without having to even watch the program!

One Year and Still Together!

Happy Anniversary to my brother and his wife as they celebrate one year as husband and wife today! Congratulations Brian & Melissa!

Welcome to the World, Jake!

Congratulations to my friends Melanie and Nathan, who became proud parents of Jacob Harrison today. I'm very happy for them!!!

Out of Town

Just a short note to let everyone know I'm going out of town for a few days and will probably not be checking in... I will be taking a laptop but whether or not the Internet access will be working is always questionable. Not to mention that I might not have any spare time. I have 2 1/2 days to check out about 60 apartments!

Reality Roundup

Normally, I would give a much more detailed discussion of the big night in reality programming that was last night, but I'm so crazy busy right now that I am only going to touch on them all...

First up, Last Comic Standing. Yay! Ant got squashed! I was happy to see him go. I think Gary is funnier, not to mention that Ant was kind of annoying with the whole alliance thing. I think he was lying at the end when he said he wasn't the one pulling the strings. Who else would it be?


Next, Big Brother. Or, should I say, Big "Half" Brother? I have to say they have sucked me in, so far. It was interesting to see Michael realize that Jennifer (or Nicademus or whatever she calls herself - and I think it's funny that CBS isn't backing her and has her on their site as 'Jennifer') was his half-sister. I expected there to be more drama around it than there was. I mean, she has a unique last name and how many people have fathers with half a foot that they lost in Vietnam? Those are some pretty unique characteristics. It took him all of three seconds to realize they shared a father. It really is fascinating to me, though, especially to hear them both talk so differently about this man who is their father. I still hope Jennifer is eliminated first, because I want to see what kind of stuff CBS will pull to keep her in the game to keep up the drama.

Finally, The Amazing Race. It was exciting, as always, and there are some early leaders for Most Disliked Team. I can't stand Marshall & Lance and both of the Christie/Brandon/Colin/Nicole groups. Those two girls are seriously indistinguishable without their boyfriends. I am not a big fan of Bob & Joyce so far. I don't mind the twins, although they should open their eyes a bit. And Chip & Kim seem cool. I was happy to see them get way ahead (although their stupid mistake hurt them). And, surprise of all surprises, Alison didn't bother me too much. Yet. Finally, I found Mirna pretty irritating. I mean, why does she have to hold Charla's hand everywhere they go and then tell us, in the next breath, that this woman is so strong and amazing and can do anything? I think Charla should have found a different partner! Oh, and last but not least. How gross was that injury of Jim's? I laughed at first when I saw the people hit the deck at the start but 25 stitches is no laughing matter! Everytime I see that pair, I can't stop thinking that Marsha is a dead-ringer for Debra Messing.

CBS Reality Shows

Tonight are the premieres of the two big CBS reality shows: Big Brother and The Amazing Race. Every year I say I'm not going to watch Big Brother because it's annoying, but every year I get sucked in to those idiots and end up watching it pretty religiously. This year, there is a big "twist" where two of the people are related but do not know it. I'm not sure how CBS plans for this to work out, but I hope one of the two gets eliminated early before a big reveal. The Amazing Race is a completely different story because I LOVE that show. I cannot WAIT!!

Product Review: Crest Whitestrips

I'd been pondering the usage of one of those tooth whitening products for some time but only decided to go ahead and purchase one after it was marked down and put on the clearance rack at my local Target. With a coupon and the marked down price, it came to like $4, which is a really good deal. Not only that, but it came packaged with a tube of toothpaste, which is why it was on clearance, I assume. Big packaging, limited space. So, I bought and tried Crest Night Effects.

Verdict: Waste of money. I don't think my teeth were particularly yellow or brown or discolored at all before using the product, but after using the product, they certainly weren't noticeably whiter either. On top of that, there was barely enough of the product to cover my teeth. The package comes with 14 individual packets and 14 little applicator brushes. Obviously, you are supposed to use one package a night for 14 straight nights. You put it on after you brush your teeth before bed and keep it on all night. Fine. Well, some of the packets had enough cream to cover most of my teeth, but some of the packets only had enough to cover like 4 teeth. Not one packet covered all my teeth. Oh, it might be useful to know that I only have 24 teeth, too, unlike the average adult who has 32 teeth. So, if the product can't cover my 24 teeth, those of you with the normal number of teeth will really struggle. I always started with the same teeth so my top front teeth did get the full 14-day allotment without the result. The brush is kind of difficult to use, too, because the cream stuff tends to stick to it and not come off on my teeth. Once you put it on, it makes your teeth feel pretty grimy, which didn't bother me but I know might bother some. It didn't have a bad taste or anything, at least, and seemed to brush off very easily in the morning. Anyway, bottom line, like I said: waste of money.

Holiday or Not?

Hope everyone had a Happy Independence Day! We spent most of today wondering if it was a holiday or not. For instance: No Mail = Holiday. Day Off of Work = Holiday. Banks closed = Holiday. Mall open regular hours = Not holiday. Grocery Store closed = Holiday. Garbage pickup = Not holiday. But, see, we just assumed that the mall would be closing early and that the garbage would not be picked up. We were wrong. While it doesn't really hurt us to have a few extra hours to shop, it does kind of suck to have garbage stinking up the house for an extra week. Oops.

Celebrity Poker Showdown Finale

Another enjoyable episode. Did anyone else notice that the players were eliminated in the same order that their episodes aired?

40 Greatest Reality TV Moments

Has anyone caught this show that's been playing on VH-1? I've seen bits and pieces, but really, it's better to just check out the list on the Web if you, like me, are curious at the ranking but don't have the patience to sit through two hours of programming. I agree with some of them, especially the top two. I mean, seriously, Justin Timberlake's Punk'd episode is a high that the show has not reached again, in my opinion. (Too bad it aired in like the very first episode.) And Sue Hawk's speech was seriously awesome. But, number three is stupid. And I don't even want to talk about number four or number five. As memorable as William Hung is, does he deserve the number four spot? Ditto Omarosa. I have only seen one episode of Cheaters, but boy, if the host got STABBED during an episode, I should think it should get a higher ranking. And ditto Stephen's slap of Irene from Real World: Seattle. That deserves to be higher than the Joe Millionaire and Average Joe: Hawaii finale reveals just on sheer reality importance alone. Honestly, there should be a lot more Real World moments on the list anyway.