Death in the family

My great-aunt Thelma passed away over the weekend. She was nearly 90.

Dave's back

David Letterman is back doing new shows this week and will have his first opportunity to pay homage to Johnny Carson. Sure enough, he did. It's an all-Johnny tribute. Done better than Jay's, I'm sure. But I'm biased. Check it out tonight.

Tax Free Week Returns!

One of the coolest things about moving to New York is the tax free week. Starting tomorrow and through Feb 6th is the second of these in the five months I've been here. The article says that this is the last one, though.

Inside Pulse writings...

I have two new articles posted on Inside Pulse: one is my recap of The Bachelorette in which I do a LOT of Fabrice-bashing. Like I have any other choice. And, my regular flagship column is about The Ashlee Simpson Show. Hey, it's no surprise to anyone that I never have any good ideas for that column.

Oscars...

The Oscar nominations were announced today and here they are. I don't think there are any big surprises. Clint Eastwood was nominated for Best Actor, over Paul Giamatti - that was a bit of a surprise, I guess. The Aviator is the big movie of the year, with 11 nominations total. Of course, I haven't seen any of the nominated movies or performances, save Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but there's still time. Ray comes out on video next week.

Couple of interesting television tidbits...

By way of TV Tattle, I learned today that Paige Davis is leaving Trading Spaces in March as they go to a "hostless" format. I'm a little intruiged but I have to say that since I very rarely watch the show anymore, it doesn't really affect me. It does surprise me a little, though, as she has become so synonymous with the show that most people don't even realize she wasn't the only host. I doubt Paige will have any trouble landing on her feet, though. Am I the only one who foresees her helping to host The View while Elisabeth is on maternity leave?

Interesting tidbit #2: In the controversial Desperate Housewives-Monday Night Football promo, Nicollette Sheridan was supposed to seduce John Madden, not Terrell Owens. Ew. And people were offended by what they saw - imagine what they might have seen.

Super Bowl Set

Well, unfortunately, the New England Patriots are heading to yet another Super Bowl under the "genius" of their head coach, Bill Belichik. Needless to say, I'm rooting for their opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles have a cuter mascot, anyway. The Super Bowl is February 6. Yes, that means two weeks of hype.

Watching The Apprentice...

They roped me in to the new season, at least so far, even though I told myself I wasn't going to watch. But, I have to say, that I'm already sick to death of the stupid 'book smarts vs. street smarts' hook. The street smarts people seem like a lot better candidates than the book smarts, but that has nothing to do with their education. It's because they are idiots. Not everyone who goes to college is intelligent - I think we all know that. I also don't really like the idea that they are trying to devalue an education. Someone without one might win a reality show, but that doesn't mean that person will be hired at every job. Also, it seems like the majority of the "street smarts" are real estate agents and, last time I checked, you do need some sort of education for that whether it is a college degree or not.

That being said, I was glad to see Todd get booted. He sucked. And, Danny, oy. How annoying is he? And how bad was he with that marketing plan? Of course he's from Cleveland, too, to further bring my hometown down. He graduated from Cleveland State, too, so does that really say a whole lot for his education? I'm not sure. And, doesn't he look like a thin Michael Moore? And his teammate Erin looks like Ashlee Simpson. Stephanie reminds me of Ereka from Season 1, too. On the other team, Tana looks a little like Amy from the first season and Tara looks a little like Omarosa.

Tax Evasion

One of the more surprising news stories of the last couple of days is first Survivor winner Richard Hatch not paying his taxes on his $1 million winnings. Huh? What was he thinking? He won the money on national television with like the biggest television viewing audience of the year watching. Did he think the IRS wouldn't find out? If I worked at the IRS, those reality show winners would be the first people I'd check out.

I'm Back!!

So, I've been a little MIA for the last month or so. I was out of town and did not have regular computer access so I didn't bother to try to post. I kept up with my Inside Pulse duties, though, and here is my latest column. It's about the Golden Globes.