Oh "yeah," and there is a basketball game, too

It cracks me up how quickly the Cavaliers are now Usher-ful. Their Web site almost has more pictures of Usher than they have of Lebron and when I got my email newsletter about the game tonight, all it talked about was the fact that Usher would be there attending the game tonight. Like, if you didn't want to go to see the game, maybe go and see Usher sitting in the front row. I realize the team has lost six straight or whatever it is but I would think the basketball game would take precedence over who is sitting in the audience. How soon until they are selling an Usher jersey? Interestingly, from what I can see, Usher makes no mention of the Cavaliers on his Web site.

The Amazing Race - what is it? - 7

So I finally got around to watching the season premiere of The Amazing Race 7 today. I like it so far! It seems like there will be some sneaky play and that should be fun! Also, no model boyfriend-girlfriend teams, which is a huge plus. So far, I like Debbie & Bianca, who are clearly sneaky, smart and travel-savvy. I like when they told the groups to start digging in the 7:40 pile - how stupid are you if you listen to what other teams tell you? The only thing I don't like about them is their constant kissing of each other. Are they a couple or are they just weird? I also like Susan & Patrick - I think this is the first-ever mother-son team! Usually, it's father-daughter teams. I also love that they are planning on being sneaky and deceptive. Fun! Also, it doesn't hurt that they are from Ohio. But, the other Ohio team, Ray & Deana, does not impress me at all. I can't believe that Deana is 27, either. I put her at 37 at least. I don't mind if they are eliminated soon. Same goes for Ron & Kelly. I mean, it's horrible he was a POW and everything but she seems like an annoying priss and I was bummed they beat Ryan & Chuck to the mat by seconds. At least the latter had some personality. Also, as I look at their ages, I can understand why no one ever believes I'm as old as I am.

Oh and I'm not even going to talk about you-know-who.

Anyway, episode 2 airs tonight and the previews promise fighting - but not the Jonathan-Victoria kind!!

Coming to town...

Is it wrong that I'm excited that they are apparently going to build a Walgreens within walking distance to my apartment? Not that I'm probably going to still be living here when it's built, but any sort of retail expansion - bringing new stores into the city (there are no Walgreens here right now) - excites me. Yay.

Also, I can't believe that this intersection qualifies as a "busy" one. Scary. But that's small town living, I guess.

More readers perhaps...

So, Inside Pulse has now gotten some sort of partnership going with SirLinksaLot, which many might know as the preeminent source of television links on the net. If you want to read about a show, particularly a reality show, the best place to start is SirLinksaLot. As a result, Inside Pulse TV articles will be included in the SirLinksaLot lists. You can see for yourself that my very own American Idol recap from last night is listed! My name and column title (Cheri-Vision) is even there. I have to say that I think that is way cool. I definitely think that could mean an abundance of new readers - particularly when I do the recaps live and people want to see what happened immediately. I only kind of wish that it had been the case when I was doing Survivor recaps because I think they were much better. Or better yet, my Survivor profiles because they were unique and I didn't see a whole lot of content like that out there.

American Idol results

Yep, here's my latest LIVE recap, which was kind of live and kind of not because it wasn't posting on the site right at 9pm and then I got a phone call in the middle but, do I care? Anyway, I mean not to discourage anyone from reading the fine piece of journalism that is my recap but here are the highlights: Melinda, Sarah, Jared and Judd all got sent home. I honestly don't think there are any major surprises there. Sarah and Jared were pretty much shoo-ins to head home after their performances. I didn't really care for the other two, although Melinda did get some praise for her Celine Dion song, I think. Jared put us all to sleep with that horrible Marc Anthony song. Whatever... Anyone I remotely like is still in it for now so that's cool.

I'm getting the hang of doing the recaps too. It's a damn good thing I can type fast. Or maybe it's not because the recaps are way too wordy...

Roar!!

This is only one of the reasons why I wouldn't want to be working at the Reagan Presidential Library!

Recap mania

I am all over Inside Pulse. I finally finished last week's recap of The Bachelorette. Then, I tried my first American Idol recap and here it is! Tonight, I'll be doing the LIVE recap of tonight's American Idol. I also have my flagship column in the works... That should be up before the night is over.

American Idol finalists

Since my new recapping job is all American Idol all the time (hey - the damn show is on three times next week!), I thought I should read some info about the newly selected contestants. Here is an article (via TV Tattle) that talks about some of the accomplishments of the 24. Most notably: baseball player Ozzie Smith's son is one of them. Also, it seems like a really old crowd with a lot of over 25 people. In fact, there are THREE 29-year-olds. The cut off was 28, but you only had to be 28 at the time of the audition so apparently three have turned 29 since then. Not that I'm complaining. I'd rather see adults than the Diana DeGarmo types.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Today is my friend Rachel's birthday! Happy Birthday, Rachel! Hope your day is great!

On the topic of Survivor...

This is an interesting ranking of the top 50 moments in Survivor history. I wouldn't agree exactly with the order, but for the most part, he's dead-on. (article via TV Tattle).

Palau...

How weird it is to be watching Survivor as just a casual observer again - it's been years since I have done that and I have to say I loved it. SO relieved that I didn't have to try to figure out all those people's names because don't they all look alike? Well, a great deal of them anyway. Except for Wanda. Singing Wanda. Angie might think she has the outcast role all sewn up, but when it was her and Wanda standing there, waiting to be picked, EVERYONE and their mother knew Angie wasn't going anywhere. Who wants Little Miss Sing a Sucky Song on their team, no matter how many tattoos Angie might have? I did enjoy the picking of the teams (especially with each person picking the next person) and ironically, just like the last time that was done, in Thailand, we have a team with all young, buff people in Team Ulong. A team that lost the first challenge and got rid of their leader, too. Not saying I wasn't happy to see Jolanda go, because I was, but at least she was willing to step up and make some decisions. I just can't imagine them doing well - at all. But I know it's still early.

Basically, everyone I like is on Team Koror and that includes Tom (who seriously could be John Slattery's brother), Ian, Janu, Caryn (gotta love the hometown gal) and yes, Coby. I can see why some might not like Coby but I enjoy anyone who starts playing the game from the very first moment. He basically single-handedly got Jonathan eliminated and I know he looks kind of shitty for not picking Angie, but, hey, maybe he liked the idea of having an ally on the other team.

Man, though, when Koror's boat tipped over on the way to the new island - I laughed so hard! It was SO funny. But then I immediately realized the horror of that and remembered Jeff talking about the "heavily weighted" containers. Oops. Hopefully, that container with the flint won't be that hard to retrieve. Heck, it could be good practice for an upcoming challenge - there always seems to be a challenge like that.

Four days until the next Survivor...

Well, it's almost that time again and here is an article about the upcoming season where Jeff Probst makes all kinds of promises that probably won't come true concerning choices and new challenges. But, he confirms something I predicted about the 'three people going home in the first episode' rumor - which is that they pick teams and two people just don't get picked and head home.

Yay!

Tom Cavanagh, who I love from Ed, got a pilot deal with CBS. Not that it means he'll definitely be on TV regularly again, but the show does sound kind of interesting.

Fascinating news story...

This is a pretty neat story about a woman who talks for the first time in 20 years after being seriously injured in a car accident.

Sucky things, though: She thinks she is 22 and that it is the 1980s still. And the drunk driver who did this to her was sentenced to 6 months in jail.

Finale tonight

Don't forget - The Amazing Race finale airs tonight between 9pm and 11pm. I can't wait, although I'm not sure I'll be able to watch it live anyway. (Too much homework!) I will be praying that Kris & Jon win, though. Please let them win!!

More Super Bowl..

Well, I wrote my Inside Pulse column on the Super Bowl - just a bunch of stupid rhetorical questions - and I submitted it last night at like midnight and I guess one of these days it will actually show up on the site. Keep checking, I guess. I don't really understand what the deal is but then again, I can say that about most of the site...

Yawn

That's my take on the Super Bowl. Yawn. Close game, sure, but no surprise ending. Yawn. Commercials were blah. There were a couple that were kind of cute but I'm not sure what people will be talking about tomorrow. P Diddy driving a Pepsi truck? Cedric the Entertainer (aka Ceddy Bear) and his designated driver dance? Guy frozen from driving his Mustang Convertible in the winter? Yawn. Lastly, the half-time show? Yawn. Sorry, Sir Paul, I love your music but I was bored.

The best part is that now that it's over, the Browns have a new head coach and can get started on a new era.

Super Bowl Sunday

In honor of the Super Bowl, I thought it would be funny to share a story from The Onion that talks about how children are still traumatized from last year's Super Bowl halftime show. Enjoy.

Bachelorettes

Apparently, last year's "Bachelorette" Meredith is back on the market after her relationship fizzled with her choice, Ian. It kind of amuses me that this is news-worthy, but okay. Also, I forgot about that runner-up, Matthew, from her season until I read that article. He was C-U-T-E! Cuter than any of the guys on the show this season.

Anyway, as far as this season goes, I wrote my latest episode recap last night and here is the post.

TV Tonight

Tonight, American Idol finally will air its visit to Cleveland, which actually was the first locale for tryouts this season, but had not aired yet.

In other news, I hate to break it to you, but I'm fairly confident that this is a non-elimination round tonight on The Amazing Race. It's kind of a bummer, but at least I won't have to worry about having a panic attack every time someone gets ahead of Kris & Jon.

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.

100 Most Memorable TV Moments

I've been caught up watching this TVLand program all day, where they count down the top TV moments. (It's such a miserable day out so why not stay in and veg?) It's a pretty good show and I'm thinking maybe I'll work it into my Inside Pulse column this week. I'm pleased that most of the top moments are all history-related. I mean, people belittle television-watching all the time but it really is the place that has offered some amazing and memorable images. And when you think about the truly most memorable moments, they typically aren't scenes or episodes from shows but rather events or news stories seen live.

Speaking of Survivor...

Did anyone else see Colby on Joey last night? Yummy! Those guest star parts may be small but he's gotten some parts on some high-profile shows. Also, it took me about 22 minutes into the episode to remember that Lucy Liu and Matt LeBlanc were a couple in the Charlie's Angels movie.

Survivor - one more to go!

Well, I'm not sure why my recap is STILL not posted but someday it will be here. I was really rooting for Chris to vote out Twila, for some reason. I don't know why since I don't like Julie and had been rooting for Twila. Twila is getting on my nerves, though. Anyway, I definitely think it would have been MUCH smarter for Chris to keep Julie but I guess we'll see. What a wild final four, though, eh? I don't think there has ever been a more unbelievable final four in all the seasons of Survivor. All of these people were thisclose from getting booted many, many times and have been able to survive this long. Wow. I think Eliza is right that they are all deserving in some way. Except maybe Scout. To be able to keep yourself in the game when your alliances are turning on you and you end up outnumbered is amazing.

The Amazing Race

Speaking of Tuesday shows, I thought I'd chat a little about this week's Amazing Race since I watched it a couple hours ago. I was actually really wishing it was going to be an elimination round and the old fogies would go because, for some reason, they really annoy me. I simultaneously feel bad for them and admire them, but they still annoy me. I really like Kris & Jon so I'm glad that they were able to overcome their really stupid move in the beginning of the episode and end up in first place. They seem like such great people - especially comparing Kris to all those other whiny women like Hayden and Kendra. Ugh. Other than that, Jonathan and Victoria seemed more bearable this week - shockingly.

It should be interesting to see Don and Mary Jean try to gather money at the start of the next round, considering they are now broke and in a destitute country. Perhaps Don could get his hands on a cab and offer some rides - those drivers sure raked in the funds.

Other good news from the world of television...

According to The Futon Critic: "A whopping 7.0 million viewers tuned into Sunday's premiere of the telefilm, The Librarian, making it the most-watched original movie thus far in 2004 on basic cable." Heh. I should be so proud! Not that I've seen it - yet. I did tape it despite it looking rather hokey. I need to stand behind anything that promotes my future profession, though. And, wow, the most-watched original movie on basic cable in all of 2004? Pretty impressive.

Also from The Futon Critic: The new season of Celebrity Poker Showdown starts Jan. 25th! The first episode features: Brad Garrett, Catherine O'Hara, Curt Schilling, Ray Romano and Sara Rue. I'll be interested to see real-life interaction between Brad Garrett and Ray Romano. Somehow I'm guessing it isn't too different than TV-life. Anyway, I love this show. I'm not too happy about it airing on Tuesdays now, though, because I already have two Tuesday shows and there are many days where I have no shows. But I'll adapt. At least I don't have class on Tuesdays next semester...

The Late Late Show With...

Craig Ferguson!! That is supposed to be announced today and I'm pleased with the selection. He definitely was the best of the final four, and although I was secretly rooting for Michael Ian Black, I'm actually glad they went with Craig. Craig's week was good and got better, whereas Michael's week ended on a real down note. Also, Craig went first of the final four and theoretically had less time to prepare, also. Both ended their week of hosting with a gimmick - Craig started Formal Fridays and it was fun to watch and hopefully will continue. It would be great to see the guests dance formally every Friday - I'm sure those actors are looking for more opportunities to wear those fancy clothes sitting in their closet. Meanwhile, Black did a blood drive for the American Red Cross on his last night and collected a whopping four pints of blood. I'm not sure what the point was. Craig also had a hysterical bit where he tried out for an Elvis role. He was by far the best interviewer of the final four as well. If you remember, I was a big fan of Craig's from the first go-round - in a pleasantly surprised kind of way - and predicted him as a frontrunner even then. Kind of ironic that they are replacing a Craig with a Craig...

Is the VCR dead?

That's the question addressed in this New York Post column (via TV Tattle). I have to say that it really annoys me because the VCR is most definitely NOT dead - and I speak as someone with a Tivo-ish machine. I like both! I have to admit, though, that it does seem hard to find a regular old VCR anymore. They all seem to be those VCR-DVD combos and I already have a separate DVD player that works fine (although it is from like 1997 or 1998 and is the size of a microwave oven, practically). Anyway, as far as recording goes, VCRs definitely have some benefits over DVRs and when I'm just taping and retaping my soaps every day, I'm fine with the picture I get off of regular non-digital cable TV in my bedroom. One thing that really bothers me about the DVR is that there is no counter of any type. I like to know how much time is left in a program when I'm watching it and the only way to check that out on my DVR is to stop the program. DVD recorders are supposed to be nice, although most of them are still pretty pricey. However, Gateway's is only $150 and it seems to work well, according to my family members who have one. But, a package of VHS tapes is still a lot cheaper than a package of recordable DVDs right now. And I don't think you can record over and over on a DVD either.

The Apprentice episode 13

I DEFINITELY don't know which episode of The Apprentice it is, but I'm going by their Web site. Another less-than-surprising outcome, in my opinion. I was pretty sure that Kelly, Kevin and Jennifer were assured a final four spot but I wasn't sure which of the other two (Sandy or Ivana) would make it and after seeing the preview where Ivana takes her skirt off, I thought that was a goner move. And, of course, when they both became project managers, I knew whichever team lost would seal their fate. I wish the final four would have been Kelly, Kevin, Sandy and Ivana but Jennifer really seems to have them all snowed. I can't stand her, especially after the week where she couldn't figure out that jeans wheel. I have a feeling she is going to continue to snow people, though, and might actually make it to the final two. All I can hope then is that her teammates sabotage her just like Omarosa sabotaged Kwame last year. Anyway, only two more episodes!

Survivor episode 12

I'm not sure if I have that episode number correct but that's what I used for my recap so I'll stick with it. My recap should be up here sometime soon. Another pretty predictable episode for this season. Although there was talk about Eliza forcing a tie, I don't think that was really feasible. Maybe next week, there will be some re-shuffling with the use of Julie. Chris and Julie are friendly and Eliza and Julie are friendly so maybe they foresee bringing her to the final three instead and breaking up that Twila-Scout pair. Personally, I don't want to see Julie make it any farther than she has already, but I would be glad to see the Twila-Scout pair break up. I had been rooting for Twila but she seemed kind of cocky and obnoxious this episode now that she has the power and it seems to get only worse next episode. So I can't believe I'm actually rooting for Eliza to win right now. Hey, she is the person I go to school with... Oh, and also, what is up with everyone always making final four plans? The game doesn't end when there are four left.

Good news

When my DSL finally starting working again this afternoon, I was met with some great news: Butch Davis resigned! Yay! Good riddance. I have to say it would be kind of funny if the Browns won their remaining games without Butch. Of course, that isn't likely with the rash of injuries.

Inside Pulse

I got some articles to brag about. Well, maybe brag isn't the right word. This week's column provides some of my ideas as to how television could do more crossovers. I have to say that I don't think it is that bad of an article, considering I sat down and wrote it in about two hours. Usually, I take about eight hours or so. Seriously. If I could always churn something out that quickly, I wouldn't dread writing the column so much. It mostly has to do with ideas, though. And I did spend some time coming up with these ideas, I'll admit. Anyway, I also let last week's column pass unmentioned, but that is a damn fine collection of upcoming holiday programming. It's by no means complete, but it's pretty good. I love holiday programming!

Happy Anniversary Melanie and Nathan!

Two years - is that all? Hope your day was great :-)

No, I did not fall off the face of the Earth

Sorry I haven't been around in, oh, ten days. Had a busy couple of days in Syracuse last week and then headed home to Cleveland for the holidays and long weekend, where Internet access is minimal. I will try to be better during December since I only have TWO more days of class! Yay!

Go Buckeyes!!

Ohio State 37, Michigan 21. Enough said.

What a fight!

Did everyone see or hear about that fight at the Pacers/Pistons game Friday night? Wowza. It started with Piston Ben Wallace getting annoyed by a foul and shoving Pacer Ron Artest. And then it just exploded from there. The players were throwing punches and shoving each other for awhile. Artest, who actually tried to stay out of the melee on the court and laid down on the scorer's table to calm down, I suppose, got a couple drinks thrown on him by fans and that was it. Artest bolted into the stands to go after the schmuck-o who threw the drinks at him and really punched the daylights out of him. Some of his teammates' headed into the stands to go after other fans, too. It was way CRAZY! They ended up calling the game early (there was like 45 seconds left) and then as the Pacers were corralled into the locker room, they all got drenched by all these a-holes from the stands, who continued to throw drinks and bottles on them. It was seriously insane. Today, Commissioner David Stern issued indefinite suspensions for three of the Pacers and Ben Wallace of the Pistons. Indefinite suspensions! That's got to be a HUGE blow to the Pacers team, which started last night's game with only 10 players anyway. It's like their three best players who are suspended, too. But, come on. You don't go into the stands to start fighting with fans, no matter how big of an asshole they might be. Oh, and as Brent Musburger said, "Now Ron Artest will have all the time off he wants to promote his album."

Double whammy

And, how about that episode of The Apprentice? I knew from the moment that team got rid of Kelly that they were going to lose and I just knew it was finally going to be Maria's turn. There was no way she was winning this game and it would just be a matter of time before she got her due. So, no shocker there? But a double firing?! How exciting was that? I laughed when Wes said, "I would have at least liked my own cab" at the end. I can't wait to see the others' faces when they find out two people are gone.

Just as an aside, Jennifer really bugs me. I don't like how she is constantly sliding by, either. Or getting all the credit by the Levis guys. What was up with that? And, what is so difficult about understanding how a wheel works? Ugh. She sure did look pretty while posing for those pictures, though.

Survivor week 10

Well, another episode and another man is gone. Chad. I liked Chad but he really didn't have much of an impact on the game, when you think about it. He was just one of a crowd. As is typical at this point in the game, I wish somehow things would just get mixed up a little! Oy. At this point, I really see Leann winning. Not sure why. Because she's quiet and likable, I guess. Anyway, my recap should be up sometime tomorrow (well, later today), whenever they get to it. I feel like I added a lot more commentary than I usually do, but I know I was definitely a little goofy. That's what happens on four hours of sleep. So why am I not in bed, then? Good question!

In Communicado

Oh I've been so busy the last few days, all because I had a huge major project due in one of my classes. I basically spent the last five days working on it non-stop. I'm CIPA-ed out. Now I have to get caught up on all my television-watching from the last week. Plus, I have to catch up on sleep (four hours just doesn't cut it), write my Survivor recap tonight, and do something about my mess of an apartment! Oh yeah, and I might try to find a job, too.

One thing I did sneak in during a break was Dream Job. Congratulations to Dave Holmes! I'm happy for him. Grant really choked, didn't he?

The Amazing Race news...

Don't forget that the new season starts tomorrow night. At 9pm, EST. But, before that, two of the hosts from The Early Show are going to take part in the first leg of the race, too! Harry Smith and weatherman Dave Price participated in the first leg and, while they aren't an official team, of course, it's going to be a great way to see behind-the-scenes of the show. Here's the info about that (via Futon Critic), which starts airing tomorrow morning. And, of course, it begs the question: When are they going to have a celebrity version of that show? That would be awesome! Of course, maybe not fair because the celebrities might be recognized in the other countries.

Meet Brian...

I like this article (via MediaBistro) that sort of atttempts to introduce us to Brian Williams, who will be taking over the NBC Nightly News from Tom Brokaw on Dec. 2nd. I've always really liked Brian, for some reason, so I'm happy for him. Although slightly disturbed to find he's a NASCAR fan...

The Apprentice

I haven't talked much about The Apprentice this season but I guess I will tonight. It was a pretty predictable episode, too, but I found it pretty amusing. I liked how Chris basically gave up as soon as he found out what the task was. Come on! What a quitter! All he needed was some marketing ideas and they could have won! That woman was out of control in offering help! But how funny was it when they showed all the people lined up waiting to get into Mosaic's sale and then switched to Apex and Ivana running to open the doors - to two people in line. Just funny! I also liked Wes helping the girls shop - "You look like a princess!" He made me laugh. This is the one time I really didn't understand why the project manager didn't bring three people into the boardroom, either. But I guess when you think that Chris was the project manager and made bad decisions from the start (from last week, really, when he called out his team in front of Trump), then it makes more sense.

Survivor episode 9

Well, I wrote my latest recap and hopefully it will be up sometime soon. Who knows? This episode was okay. There was lots of discussion of something different happening but in the end, exactly what was expected is what happened: Sarge got voted out. I'm kind of annoyed with all the talk about "gender wars" or the boys vs. the girls and stuff. This one article I read refers to Ami as a "man-hater" because she's been voting off the men. Give me a break! It's only a war of gender because the two original tribes were divided by gender! No one had a fit when the original members of Tagi stuck together in the first Survivor. Or how about when Lex-Tom-Ethan-Kim made it to the final four together in Africa? Same thing with Thailand. It's not unheard-of that a tribe sticks together throughout the game. In fact, it's kind of expected. It's called an Alliance! Anyway, it just annoys me that they are making a bigger deal out of it than need be. The girls aren't sticking together solely because they are all women - they are sticking together with the people they bonded with on Day One!

Happy Birthday Melanie!

Another day, another friend's birthday! Happy Birthday Melanie! She is a friend I used to work with and this is her first birthday as a mommy so I'm not sure any gift can ever be better than that :-). Hope your day was great!

Reading...

Ah, there used to be days when I read for pleasure. Sometimes I could read a whole book in one day. Lately, the only reading I've been doing is for school, though. So, when my classload dropped to only three classes last week, I was intent to read for pleasure again. I got a chance to finish a book I'd started in August, pre-grad school. Yay! Anyway, I read The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith. It's in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, which I got started on in my old book club, probably about a year ago. Anyway, I think it was the last book in the series and it was okay. Once I start a series, I feel compelled to read all of them. So, I did. So-so.

Happy Birthday Marci

Today is my friend Marci's birthday, so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! Marci and I have been friends since freshman year of college, so that's actually quite some time! We have kept in touch all this time despite living in different states and she is still one of my good friends! Anyway, I hope she has a great day :-)!!

Day of registering...

Today was the first day to register for courses for Spring Semester and luckily, everything went off without a hitch. Yay! I got into all the classes I wanted - and needed - unlike this current semester. I haven't entirely decided if I'm going to keep my schedule the way it is right now, but at least I'm enrolled in four classes.

IP article

Here is my latest column for Inside Pulse. I look ahead to The Amazing Race 6, which starts next week. Seriously, if anyone has ideas for columns, let me know because I am seriously stumped for ideas.

Dream Job

I'm enjoying this season of Dream Job and now we are down to two: Dave Holmes and Grant Thompson. I really thought Dave was going to be a goner after he totally f'ed up the assignment but luckily, Anish did also. He is the luckiest guy in the world because I'm sure he thought he was a goner, too. I honestly don't care which of the two of them wins because I like them both. But, truth be told, does anyone ever catch last season's winner Mike Hall on any Sportscenter telecast ever? Because I don't.

SNOW!

Well, gang, the first snowfall has hit my new city. There were a few flakes flying through the air as I headed to class but I wasn't really prepared for after class, when there was a measurable amount on the ground and on my car! Probably not even an inch, but still. It's snow. November 8. It looks like it is supposed to be warmer the rest of the week so I don't think this is the start of anything big. I hope. I'm not ready. I don't even have a snow brush.

Good grades

It's been a good 24 hours grade-wise. I got some scores back from my management class yesterday and I ended up getting 160 points out of 166 from three assignments. My "interview of a person in management" paper earned me 97 out of 100 points, but better than that, I was apparently the best in the class. Ha! Not that it really surprises me that I wrote a paper well, and especially comparing it to the others in my class. It's an online class and I can see how the others post. It's frightening, actually. This is graduate school so these people all somehow made it through undergrad.

In the class from hell, Intro. to Competitive Intelligence, I learned that I finished with an 'A' (that's all he would say) so that makes me happy that I've struggled through that class mentally but still ended up with an 'A'. We had the final 50% of our grade due last Monday so I've been waiting a week to hear my grade.

I'm addicted to...

Candy corn. Yep. I didn't have any all pre-Halloween when you could find them anywhere but then I got a big bag of it for 99 cents at Target (after-Halloween markdown) and I swear I ate the whole big bag in about two days. And now it's gone. Looking at the bag options, I think maybe it was the 24 oz. I refuse to believe it was the 50 oz. bag but honestly, I have no idea. It could have been. The bag itself is long gone. I ate them by the handfuls. And now, I feel like I'm going to go into withdrawal. Seriously. Yesterday, as my supply was dwindling down, all I thought about was which Target should I try to get more from but today, I was out running errands and I decided to just refrain. Now, I'm thinking that was a bad decision. Ugh. My favorite part of that site is the link for the nutritional information. Uh huh. Hey, at least they are fat free. Also interesting: serving size is 22 pieces. Where else can you find that? 22 pieces! That's probably close to TWO handfuls.

Sometimes my teams win...

Well, my President might not have been elected in the last week and the Cavs might be down 0-2 already this season, but at least I can claim success for TWO college football teams today: Syracuse pulled out a victory in double overtime over Pitt to give them second place in the Big East and a good shot at a Bowl Game, while Ohio State pulled out a squeaker against Michigan State. The score of that Ohio State game is highly deceiving of how close the game actually was. And, with the win, the Buckeyes are now "bowl eligible," which I guess is what happens after a team gets six wins. Yay!

Survivor episode 8

It's up to 8, right? Anyway, here's my recap from Thursday's show. I have to say, I wasn't too sad to see Rory go. I wanted to like him, but really he was just such a complainer. He couldn't figure out why the guys didn't really like him when he kept to himself and didn't help out at camp and then he couldn't figure out why the girls didn't want to include him in their alliance when they already had a solid alliance. I mean, I was glad he was able to stick it out and figure a way to stay longer then he should have, but stop complaining all the time! And, I understand him wanting to get rid of Ami because she is a major decision-maker in the female tribe, but I don't see how she treated him so badly, like he told all the guys and all the home viewers. He just strikes me as one of those guys who can't understand why no one likes him and never thinks he is to blame for any of it. Anyway, there was a little suspense finally in the 'which way will Twila & Julie vote?' plotline, but overall, the season is still way lame. I have to admit, though, that I think I've finally picked someone to root for and that is Twila. I think she was very smart to get rid of Rory and although the women still think they are on their side, I'm guessing before it is all said and done, she and Julie will be back with some of the men again. Twila and Julie are not going to roll over and let Ami take it home, like those loser "all-stars" did last year with Rob and Amber, I'm fairly certain. Or, at least, I hope.

Doesn't he remember "Gigli"?

Gossip guru Liz Smith reports (like towards the end of the fifth paragraph) that Ben Affleck is reportedly going to make one or more appearances on Alias when it returns this season. You know, because he's dating Jennifer Garner. Why don't these actors just stay out of each other's work?

I'm sorry for all you Phillies fans.

I remember a few weeks back I posted a story happy that former Indians manager Mike Hargrove got hired by the Seattle Mariners. Well, this week, it's the Philadelphia Phillies who hired an ex-Indians manager: Charlie Manual. WHAT are they THINKING? The man is a nice guy but a real dope. He beat out guys like Jim Leyland, Jim Fregosi, Buddy Bell and Don Baylor. It's frightening how much pull Jim Thome must have with that organization. Good riddance, I suppose. Now you really aren't going to get that ring.

Oh boy - I just noticed that David Bell is on the Phillies. They could have hired his father to coach him!

Screech!

I happened to be looking at the schedule of upcoming events on campus here and Dustin Diamond is coming! He played Screech on Saved by the Bell, if I need to actually tell anyone who he is. What the heck is that about? It's sponsored by Hillel, which is the Jewish group on campus so I assume he'll be talking about his faith, but I don't know. Maybe he's doing stand-up. The Hillel Web site doesn't even mention him coming.

As usual, though, it's on a Tuesday and I have class so even if I wanted to go, I couldn't. Every speaker/celebrity/author who has come to campus to speak and is the least bit interesting happens to come when I'm in class.

The day after...

Well, there isn't much left to say. I guess, looking on the bright side, things can't get much WORSE in the next four years, right? I have to say that when Kerry gave his concession speech this afternoon, he seemed really sad and disappointed and that's more than I can say for Gore last time around. I wonder if you are going to lose the Presidential election, is it better to lose it in a really close race like those two men did or is it better to lose like Walter Mondale did, when he only got like 13 electoral votes. One of the commentators today mentioned that John Kerry received the second-most votes for President in history, but is that supposed to make him feel better? Maybe it does. At least he still has his old job.

Even though I know the results, I've still been captivated by CNN's online election coverage. Their map is awesome. You can check the results state-by-state and county-by-county so I've spent a lot of time seeing who got votes where. It's really amazing to see that even in most of the "blue" states, the majority of the counties in those states are actually red. Kerry seems to be able to only win the highly-populated, big city counties. For instance, almost every single county in Illinois was won by Bush. Yet, Kerry won Cook County, where Chicago is, resoundingly and therefore, won the entire state. In fact, Kerry won more counties in Ohio than he did in some of the other states where he earned the electoral votes. Kerry won almost every major city in Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Akron, Canton, Dayton, and Youngstown. In fact, he won Cuyahoga County 67% to 33%, which is something for me to be proud of, I suppose. Unfortunately, the rural areas of Ohio outnumbered the big cities.

One last thing to say is that apparently, the main issue that drove voters to the voting booths is their desire for a candidate with "moral values." All I can say to that is WHAT THE F**K? Certainly John Kerry has moral values, but, regardless, what good are moral values when you don't have a job? Or a home? Or an education? Or when your children are dying in Iraq? And when did it become the President's job to infuse values into the country - isn't that a parents' job? Take some responsibility, people. If you are upset that you saw Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl - well, no one put a gun to your head to force you to watch the Super Bowl halftime show. If you don't like what Howard Stern says on the radio, listen to a different station! If you don't believe in abortion, then don't have one! If you think gay people shouldn't be married, then don't attend their weddings! I have a lot more respect for the people who kept Bush in office because of the Iraq issue than I do for the a-holes who voted on the "moral issues" agenda.

Election coverage...

I'm so nervous about the election as the results roll in and no resolution in sight. This stuff about Florida maybe needing until THURSDAY to count all their votes and the fact that Ohio (!) is just about dead-even. Oy oy oy. Give me a heart attack, why don't you?

I got home from school about 9:00 and had two hours of coverage to catch up on and it went remarkably fast. Fast-forward through all the local coverage. Fast-forward through 99% of the interviews. Fast-forward through some of the polling problems. I was all caught up by about 10:30. Not bad. At that point, I was able to start channel-surfing, which I much prefer for this kind of thing.

(11:18 pm) So, how sad is it that I'm preferring to watch MTV's election coverage rather than CNN's while Tom and Tim take a break for local news? Who decided to give Larry King a spot during the election coverage? Where is Anderson? Also, I have not even turned CBS on once. Not once.

Hey! Tom just called Ohio "Florida's twin." I don't like that, Brokaw.

(11:34 pm) Seriously, I cannot change the channel fast enough when Karen Hughes comes on.

(11:40 pm) Hmm, ABC and CBS have given Florida to Bush. But no one else is. Fox News has Kerry way behind in votes compared to the others. I can't figure out which state(s) they won't give to him.

(12:32 am) NBC just had a reporter on the phone from Gambier, OH, home of Kenyon College, where we heard from a student that he has been in line for nearly 10 hours! Ten hours. Kudos to him for waiting that long but yo, that's crazy. They said they only have TWO voting booths for everyone in the city and the campus. I hope the people still in line are Kerry supporters, but I don't know if it will make a difference...

(12:36 am) Oh no. Jennings just announced he was going to be chatting with Ken Blackwell in a few moments. That is not a good thing. That man is evil.

(12:50 am) Blackwell was all right. According to TV Newser, Fox News gave Ohio to Bush. Here is the network that was hesitant to call any Kerry states early, yet they jump out quickly to give Ohio to Bush way before any other network. Therefore, he for all intents and purposes is the winner by their counts. I'm not doubting it, but just commenting on how eager they are to give it to Bush. I think I want Kerry to win Ohio just to prove them wrong now...

(12:59 am) Brokaw does it too. What is wrong with the country? MSNBC JUST gave Alaska to Bush also. So it's over. I'll repeat, what is WRONG with this country?

(1:19 am) I like how optimistic Wolf Blitzer is - he remarks that there are times in American history when people went to bed and woke up to find something completely different happened. Okay, Wolf. I do have to say that I like the CNN graphics with the constant running totals, though. Anyway, they've given New Hampshire to Kerry, which marks the first state that has switched from 2000.

(1:37 am) Hey! I don't think my vote has been counted yet. Mr. Head of the Republican Party in Ohio mentioned on NBC that 24,000 some odd absentee and provisional ballots from Cuyahoga County will be counted in 11 days. Does that mean mine? According to Blackwell, the absentee ballots get counted first. Who is right? (I imagine Blackwell knows better than Republican Party guy.)

(1:41 am) Blackwell is on CNN now being interviewed by Wolf, saying the same stuff he told Peter Jennings. He takes offense at being compared to Florida, too, though. Ohio is NOT Florida. For one thing, all of our senior citizens have moved to Florida. Uh oh. Wolf just implied Ken will be come the 'Kathryn Harris' of 2004.

(1:49 am) Like the second time I turn CBS on all night and who is Rather interviewing? Ken Blackwell. He is flubbing his words, though. I guess he's tired of repeating the same things over and over and over. CBS, though, has not declared Ohio either way and has also given Kerry Minnesota, but not New Hampshire yet.

(2:28 am) Edwards makes an appearance. "We've waited four years, we can wait one more night" and "Every vote will be counted." That was about it, not counting some thumbs-up signs. Yep, dude, that's what you would be doing for four years if you guys win.

(2:30 am) Wolf just announced Michigan for Kerry.

(2:32 am) I just noticed that Kerry got 90% of the vote in D.C. Why is that? Why is DC so Democratic? Oh, now Wolf is giving Minnesota to Kerry as well. Umm, CBS did that an hour ago... Iowa won't be announced until tomorrow, I guess. Well, later today, I think they mean.

(2:34 am) Okay, now Wolf is declaring Hawaii for Kerry. This is kind of a joke, the way they are about ready to call it a night and then suddenly bim-bam-boom three states. These old farts on CNN are half-asleep. Seriously. Larry King sounds like he's drunk. And the mic keeps cutting out.

Is it too late to change my vote?

Okay, yes it is. My ballot has probably already been counted. And I wouldn't really change my vote because of this. Probably. Maybe if there was another choice. However, today, just moments ago, on the special 'Presidential candidates' version of Sportscenter (yeah, I'm serious, even Sportscenter got into the fray), John Kerry just gave major love to Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick. Now I realize that Belichick is a beloved head coach in the part of the country where Kerry is from but when he was coach of the Browns, he was a major, MAJOR a-hole. Did I say major? Yes, I mean major. It's hard for me to believe he's become so fabulous in a mere ten years.

BOO!

Happy Halloween to everyone! This is probably one of my least favorite holidays - only because I hate wearing costumes, not because I don't like getting free candy! - but here I am today decked out in my Halloween shirt. It's the most dressed up I'll get today. I wonder if I will get any trick-or-treaters here in my new home. I'm guessing not since it is an apartment building. I don't even know of any children who live here. Anyone feel like sharing what their favorite costume of their childhood was? As far as originality goes, I really liked when I went as a drive-in movie theater, complete with Matchbox cars and a movie ad affixed to my chest. And my back (double feature). If I remember correctly, though, that wasn't even my idea, but my mom's.

Christmas with the Kranks

Not to say that it might not be funny, but is it really wise to put Tim Allen in yet another Christmas movie, particularly one where he does NOT play Santa? Christmas with the Kranks is exactly that. Apparently, as I read their Web site, this movie is based on John Grisham's Skipping Christmas novel. John Grisham wrote a comedy? And it's really funny? Hmm, not buying it... But it does make me a little curious.

Amen, brother, I find this SO annoying, too...

This article (via TV Tattle) talks about Trump's voiceover dubbings during The Apprentice and how annoying they are. I find it incredibly bothersome and it really distracts me. After it happens - and the author is wrong that it just takes place in the boardroom; it takes place at other times, too - I'm so distracted wondering what was changed or why there was dubbing. In fact, I've recently complained of it to more than one person. There's a vote in that article about why we think it's done and I'd put my money on the fact that they just want a better summation from Trump that neatly presents a "lesson" but, regardless, it's pretty annoying. I guess the main thing is why is it so obvious? I'm sure Jeff Probst does similar dubs during an episode of "Survivor" and we can't even tell. Perhaps Trump is so busy he must do his over the phone or something?

One reason I'm sad I moved...

Well, sad might be too strong a word but when they build a fantastic new shopping center 2 miles away from my home, it's pretty exciting! And it opened yesterday. Yay! I love the quote from the woman who says she got lost going to Legacy Village (a similar shopping center that opened a year ago on Cleveland's East side) and says you need a passport to go over there anyway. It's so typical of Clevelanders to not be able to go from one side of town to another. Of course, it's not like Syracuse is any different - the only difference is the other side is only 15 minutes away!

One reason I'm glad I moved...

President Bush was in my hometown yesterday. Yep, not even 2 miles from my parents' home. While it was nice to be able to see my hometown on CNN and Fox News, it makes me sick to read this article and hear what these people have to say about him.

New article

My latest article on Inside Pulse is up. It's all about the various guest hosts filling in on The Late Late Show. I've had that idea for awhile so now I'm out of ideas for articles again. Anyone?

Home Alone... for adults?

Gag! I was just about to write about this lame-ass movie starring Ben Affleck that came out this weekend when what I do see on TV but the new Bennifer at the Red Sox game? I'm not sure why I hate Jennifer Garner so much, but I really do. I guess I can't imagine what is so spectacular about her that she is able to get such good-looking men when I sit at home alone on a Saturday night... but I digress.

Does ANYONE think Surviving Christmas looks remotely enjoyable? I just don't understand it. It has some relatively good actors in it, too: Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate, Catherine O'Hara. Oh, but of course it has Catherine O'Hara in it because it looks exactly like Home Alone! Could the script be a lot better than the previews make it look? It got horrible reviews so I say 'no'. And why is a Christmas movie coming out on October 22nd? It probably won't even be around at Christmastime! Crazy.

Gag!

The Red Sox won. Ick. If it was ANY other team, I would be thrilled and excited to see a comeback like that but more than I hate the Red Sox, I hate Red Sox fans the most. They act like they are so downtrodden and are the biggest fans for any team in the entire world. So what if they haven't won a World Series since like 1916 or whatver, at least they were in one somewhat recently, in 1986. And, did anyone ever hear of the New England Patriots? They've won two Super Bowls in the last three years! And who can even count how many times the Celtics won a championship. It's like 16 championships. SIXTEEN! Even the Bruins have Stanley Cup Championships. Yeah, I don't want to hear how horrible it is for Boston fans. Go NL!

Celebrity gossip via my cell phone

According to this bit of news (via MediaBistro), Us Weekly will start sending breaking celebrity news headlines to its subscribers via cell phone text messaging for free. Then, there is a fee for reading the complete story. As a subscriber to Us Weekly, this intrigues me. Would I want to be at the grocery store and get a text message telling me that Britney's pregnant? Umm, probably not. Probably wouldn't care. But it is free so maybe I'll try it out. Although my cell phone provider isn't listed.

Another interesting thing: the average Us Weekly subscriber is described as "highly educated, relatively affluent women with the average age of 32, who tend to live in metropolitan areas." Umm, me to a tee, except the part about being relatively affluent.

TV ratings report

I wrote out this super-long post about The Futon Critic's awesome ratings report but, wouldn't you know, it wouldn't post and I lost it. I'm not typing it again, but it is very interesting in comparing ratings so far this season to last season. CSI: NY has improved upon the ratings in that time period of a year ago (when The Brotherhood of Poland, NH was airing) by a whopping 151.70%. Not far behind is Desperate Housewives, which has improved upon Alias's ratings by 123.40%. I wonder what that means for Alias's planned return in January, especially in that time slot. My personal favorite stat is that Hawaii has lost over 20% of the ratings compared to Ed in the same timeslot last year. Ha! They should never have cancelled Ed! Of course, Hawaii has been cancelled, too.

Yay Grover!

Mike Hargrove was hired as manager by the Seattle Mariners so good for him! That means he's leaving the Indians organization again and the Cleveland area but he deserves to be a manager again. He got the Indians to two World Series, don't forget!

Got my ballot

For anyone following the drama of my absentee ballot, I did receive it today! Yay! They knew I was going to call and inquire about it tomorrow if I hadn't received it and they didn't want to have to talk to me obviously so they just sent it. Ha. Anyway, I have to pencil in time to vote this weekend...

More apologies

Again, sorry to be out of touch for a few days but I had my first out-of-town visitors this weekend! Yay! My brother, his wife and their dog came from Cleveland to visit Thursday night and we spent Friday and Saturday doing tourist-y things. Friday, we drove to Ithaca and saw Taugannock Falls. Here is a very awesome picture of what we saw - none of us were bright enough to remember to bring our own camera, though. We had lunch here and drove through the Cornell campus. Then, that evening, we saw the comedy of Wanda Sykes back at the SU campus.

On Saturday, we went to the mall, toured the SU campus and then had dinner here. Overall, it was a good time and I'm very glad they came to visit me. However, I had no time to update this blog - or to do homework (oops!).

Who are novelists voting for?

This is an interesting article (via MediaBistro) where a bunch of novelists were asked who they were voting for and why... Interesting to see people who are good writers for a living describe why they feel strongly about their candidate.

Related, sort of, is information about this initiative, known as Operation Ohio, where famous novelists have volunteered their time to call people in swing states and remind them to vote. Unfortunately, you have to be under 25.

Phew!

Sorry I've been out of commission for a few days, but I had a ton 'o homework the last few days, including having to make a poster for one of my classes. Yes, a poster for a graduate class. But, it wasn't bad really, although mine was probably one of the worst in the class since it didn't occur to me to print things off the computer to make it prettier. Hey, the last time I made a poster for school, the only person in America who probably even had a computer was Bill Gates! I do think I have good penmanship, though. I will say that I was one of the few who actually followed the directions for the assignment, though. We were supposed to describe ONE function and just about everyone described MULTIPLE functions. Read the details, gang.

While I'm griping about my classes, let me just tell you how much I hate my Competitive Intelligence class. First, the prof is basically non-existent. It's an online class so it's not like he isn't showing up to the classroom, but really, it is like that. He has no online presence at all. He doesn't respond to anyone's questions. He doesn't even show up each week to give us the weekly reading assignments. He jets off to Europe for a week. He answers emails with like one-word answers. So, we have two assignments - that's it - that form our grade for the semester. One was due yesterday. I labored my ASS off for that man and then, today, he sent us an email at nooon that said he would have them graded by the end of the afternoon. What? He is devoting about 10 minutes to 50% of my grade? Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Anyway, I have a wee bit of a break with major homework assignments so I am quite relieved. And I'm getting visitors this weekend so yay!

Another program to catch...

This is something I meant to DVR today but forgot to do: Frontline's The Choice 2004. Not that I haven't made my choice but I'm interested to watch things like that and see what they have to say. Interesting that we can watch it online, though. That's cool. Saves some space on my DVR hard drive.

Speaking of politics, don't forget the final debate is tomorrow (well, later tonight).

Blow Out redux?

From The Futon Critic comes this announcement that CNBC is going to be carrying that old Bravo reality show Blow Out starting Thursday. Hmm, I wonder if I should try to watch it again. I gave it a shot when it aired on Bravo, taped most of the episodes, and then decided I just wasn't that interested. I guess I'm still not...

Guess what time it is?

Since it's Tuesday, it's time for another article on Inside Pulse. This one is about two new shows I watched this fall: life as we know it and Clubhouse . Meh - neither impressed me much.

Picking the next Trading Spaces designer

The latest Trading Spaces gimmick is that the viewers can choose the next designer. Tonight's show featured rooms designed - in only 12 hrs.! - by four contenders. Online voting is open. Not that I watch Trading Spaces very much anymore, but I don't care much anyway. It's probably better when the producers pick the designers anyway. I think it is kind of unfair that one of the contestants is Jon, who won the Trading Spaces: Home Free competition in the spring. The audience is already familiar with him and, instead of just seeing one room he's done, has seen like four now. Not to mention that he was liked enough by the viewers to win his mortgage! Of course, on the other hand, I guess some might resist voting for him since he's already a winner. Personally, I didn't really form a strong opinion about any of them.

life as we know it

I caught the new ABC show, life as we know it, because it re-airs on ABC Family during the weekend. I'm not that impressed. I don't know if I'll watch it again. First of all, what's up with the lower case 'l' in the title? Also, the storyline about the teacher liking the one boy? Eww. Isn't that inappropriate? And unlikely? Maybe I'm clueless and that sort of thing happens a lot more frequently than I think, but I'm guessing she isn't going to go for the dorky kid if she is interested in anyone. Also, Kelly Osbourne? I wanted to like her, but I don't know. I think she was trying to ditch her accent in some scenes and wasn't in other scenes.

Overall, I felt they tried to push too much into the first episode (we had to immediately find out that his mom his cheating on his dad? And with the hockey coach, no less? Granted, he was good-looking, but couldn't they have introduced another character into the mix? I'm not buying that the hockey coach would be with Dino's mom at all). I wasn't buying a lot of it. Maybe I'll check out one more episode before I write it off. It might be better if they sort of delayed the storylines a bit and concentrated on just ONE or TWO an episode. Of course, I'm guessing it isn't going to be sticking around long if they keep it in that time slot. It's up against The Apprentice and CSI. And, I think The O.C. is going to be on at 9:00 pm Thursdays, too.

Sports news

So, it's the Red Sox vs. the Yankees again, with the winner heading to the World Series. I really hate whenever I have to root for the Yankees, but, with this match-up, I root for the Yankees. At least Kenny Lofton is on their team. I've liked him for years.

Also, what happened to Ohio State this year? They are now 0-2 in the Big Ten. Ouch.

What's new on The Apprentice

As opposed to Survivor, I was happy to see Pamela go. What made her so sure she was God's gift to the women's team? I don't have a problem with her leadership strategy because, hey, each to their own, but she was SUCH a bitch to them. And then she seemed surprised that they targeted her in the boardroom? Yeah, how shocking. It's one thing to lead but it's another thing to treat them like dirt. I'm not a fan of Stacy's, but she has a point that if you ask her to do the legal work, expect her as a lawyer to do it thoroughly.

Also, last I checked, it was Donald Trump who was hiring someone to work for him, not America. If he wants to fire someone because they act irrationally or because they have a large ego and give up their immunity, well, he's entitled. He needs to choose one person to hire and until that person is chosen, I don't get the crying about the order that the others go. (See here.) I don't think any of the firings have been unjustified. It's a G-A-M-E! Sure, it sucks that Trump put Pamela in that position but you know, oh well. I'm not really sure why he was so taken with Pamela in the first place - didn't she lose the first time she was project manager, too?

Random post script: I loved the behind-the-scenes QVC stuff. I might even watch the guys on Monday night as they try to sell more grills.

Survivor episode 4

Here is my latest Survivor recap. I thought the episode was okay. I loved Da or whatever his name was - the tribal guy who the women won for 24 hours (sounds kinky!). I'm sad to see Brady go and I am pretty stumped by the guy's plan to vote out all the physical strength - and the fisherman. I can't wait to see next week's EARTHQUAKE but I'm not happy to see a tribal switch/mix as was alluded to in the preview. Why can't they keep things as they are? Although, if it leads to more strategy, I can't really complain. And if it leads to John K. sticking around, again, can't complain. It sucks getting rid of all the eye candy.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday so I hope she has a very good day! Sorry I can't be there with you today.

Comic cancellation

Rumor has it (via Fresh Hell and TV Barn) that Last Comic Standing has been cancelled, despite there being only one episode left - the episode where they'll announce the winner. According to their official Web site, the announcement of the winner will come during the Father of the Pride marathon. I'm not exactly sure I call that cancelled, though. It simply means that NBC doesn't want to waste an hour or half-hour of fluff around the announcement of the winner. Seriously, I remember discussing with someone that they should do this with American Idol. Why waste a half-hour (or an hour) of programming when everyone knows to tune in at the end to see who was eliminated? Why not put the announcement in the middle of another program that you hope to draw fans to? I think it's kind of a smart strategy. Weird that they would start that with the finale, but still kind of a smart move.

American Idol auditions

I can't believe the American Idol auditions are still taking place, just because it seems like months ago when they were back in Cleveland. Oh wait, it WAS months ago! Anyway, this wannabe idol has been tracking her audition process for months on her blog, but apparently, now that she has auditioned, she can't talk about what happened. I don't know. There were plenty of people on the news in Cleveland telling whether they were asked back or not for the next round. Why is she so special?

Vice-Presidential debate

This thing is DRIVING me crazy! Can either candidate answer the question put before them without going off on some ridiculous, canned tangent on some topic they intended to discuss? Just answer the question, whether you like it or not. I did like the antagonism, though. Kerry and Bush were too fake-polite.

That link is to the transcript, in case someone wants to read it.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Here is my latest Inside Pulse column. Sorry that I haven't been around much this last week. I probably won't be around much this coming week, either. I have SO much homework. Hate it. A week from now, I should have a small bit of a reprieve. Kind of. It is midterms time.

Absentee Ballot

As some of you know, I've been a little curious/worried about the whole absentee voting process and when I can expect my ballot, whether they got my application, etc... Well, considering the postcard I got in the mail this weekend asking me to re-elect my Congressman, I'm guessing that they do indeed have my request and that I can expect to receive the ballot in the next month. Phew!

And, Dennis, you don't have to worry.

Double dose of The Apprentice

This is an interesting idea from the New York Daily News (via TV Tattle) about the airing of The Apprentice twice a week. It talks about how the added boardroom scenes on the Saturday shows really paint a different picture and suggests that instead of airing two similar episodes each week, the network should air two different episodes, American Idol-style, with one show depicting the task and the second show depicting the boardroom and the outcome. I think it's a really good idea, actually. And I'm surprised Trump didn't think of it...

Destiny

If anyone doubts that Jeff Probst and I are destined to be a couple (and yes, I'm sure that's pretty much everyone!), think again after reading this article from the Deseret Morning News (via TV Tattle). Jeff talks about basically the same thing I just wrote my IP column about - the sixteenth minute of fame for reality stars. It's really too eerie.