Sunday Sundries

It looks like Nick Carter has at long last found true love.



OK, OK. He's actually doing some "Save the dolphins" thing.

Simon Cowell describes Blake as a "brilliant entertainer" and has no prediction for the win this week on Idol. Weeks ago I described Blake as an "entertainer" so I'm a bit hyped to see Simon use the same term.

Blake won the coin toss but let Jordin choose whether to open or close. She chose to close on the finale so Blake will be signing first. A gentlemanly thing to do, sure, but possibly bad strategy if you want to win.

Duckie is being grumpy. That is not allowed! Kitty thinks he put me on block. It makes me wonder whether my trip to Oz will be full of personal drama or a chance to unwind and enjoy myself. I'm hoping for the later.

I still want to pick up some ice cream for the Idol finale viewing. I was sick today. I'm OK now, just hungry.

Lots of items have flowed through my mind lately. Imaginings of the future, really. Dating, not dating, lines of work, lines of education, places or ways of living. The nature of life and death. I don't see how I can be blamed for being depressed around Mother's day. She's barely been in the ground a year. I'm not in denial, more still shocked. When it comes to mind, I feel as though I'm on my first gasp after some terrible thing. I know from experience it takes years to get used to a parent's death, even one expected. Mother's was not.

There's been a lot of death on the outskirts in the past week or so too. Friends on-line with severely ill parents or grandparents or relatives passing. I had bad news about an acquaintance's cancer. Live is ugly. And stressful.

I'm tired--no, I'm very tired some days. These past few years have been a wringer making me even less interested in putting myself out there for a wife or boyfriend or even just someone to hang out with. Social interaction, relaxation, takes work for me. Somehow I feel guilty if I'm not doing something useful or productive and that keeps me from being more free with my time and energy. If you need help with something I'm happy to oblige and feel useful doing so. I'd like to work that in somewhere rather than just take a menial make-work job. Such a job would not pre-occupy my mind enough. I would simply be depressed and feel 'dead-ended.' I can't help the depressed part. It is what it is. "Be yourself," they say. As if!

I have tentatively concluded it was a (financial) mistake to live here, close to the house. I had hoped I'd have more interaction with the very last of my family but it hasn't worked that way. It isn't that I haven't tried. My interest in the kid's baseball, projects at the house and just taking my nephew to see Spider-Man had been shot down. It is what it is. I need to mull this over further. I have some ideas how to improve this.

I'm not interested in hook ups. The idea of someone touching me, at least as the aggressor or dominant character, makes my skin crawl. I'm more in need of simple affection. I could hire a lap dancer or stripper but I imagine it and can't sense any fulfillment for me. I have never been to a strip joint, a club, or a bar for that matter. I'd not go alone. It's a bit like traveling. Why go alone unless you know someone there already?

I happened to be reminded of a statement from Steve Jobs years ago about the journey being the reward. I like journeys more than destinations. I sense a path to happiness in there somewhere. It's something for me to meditate upon further. My ex-girlfriend once accused me of writing to avoid having children as my legacy. It's a thought I hadn't mulled in a lifetime. Perhaps she was only half-crazy after all?

My point in all this is I'm not getting younger. The directions I take will basically layout whatever time left of this life I've got. I'm not saying it'll be rigid and immutable but it will set a tone going forward. Essentially I put my own life on hold over the past... well, ten, maybe fifteen years. That means I have lots of pent up notions, random interests, unsatisfied wild impulses. They need sorting.

Speaking of sorting, I've been ruminating about whether to travel out of state in the next month or so. It's isn't the travel but who to contact, if anyone, while I'm there. I'd call it travel on personal business. There's still more information to gather but I want to go before July. It would only be a couple of days.

Weekend Bits

I've heard some comments about Eurovision before but I didn't expect this: Ukraine (video).

YouTube has Tickle Me Emo which I'm sure Duckie would say is me. This is doubly amusing because Father bought a "Tickle Me Elmo" for the SIL one Christmas because she was obsessed with having one. That may have been the Christmas Mother got nothing but dish towels and I was the only one who didn't laugh. That stuck with her. I got her dish towels because when we were shopping she picked some out thinking no one would've thought to get them.

Post holiday, we ended up jewelry shopping instead. She was very pissed. The mere thought of the stone on that ring frightens me even today. Where was I?

Bill Clinton's pal Lanny Davis is defending eHarmony against ads by a competitor highlighting their rejections of non-heterosexual applicants looking for mates. Read more in Wash. Post Lanny is an odd guy, not the usual true-blue flack. Since eHarmony's matching process is based on psychological studies of heterosexual couples it makes sense they wouldn't try to fit the square peg in the round hole and stick to candidates for whom the data is applicable. Duckie has no worries, I'm sure I'd be screened as not happy enough. I'd be more likely to sign up if their founder didn't talk in the ads with the soft, non-threating voice of a cult-leader. *shudder*

The Axes Fall

There was a surprise elimination last night on reality tv. I'm talking about Tabitha (along with Tyson) on "Shear Genius." The team elimination challenge was wedding party hair.

Tyson had won last week's elimination challenge and when he was instructed to assign teams for the short-cut challenge this week he (wisely) chose my girl Tabitha. They won that easily and got to pick their wedding party for the elimination challenge.

It was Tyson's work that really sunk them but add in their long-going rivalry and I think the judges felt they had to ditch them. More than half the judges looked horrified when Tabitha openly spoke ill of Tyson. To her credit, Tabitha took it in stride. She was satisfied because she knew Tyson was going home too.

Next week there's a one hour cast reunion after what I assume is the finale. One thing that held true was whoever wins the prior elimination challenge and gets their work on the "wall of fame" gets axed next. Tyson won last week and was out this week.

I thought the team thing was a complete co-opt.

OK, moving on. Melinda is out on Idol. I know the judges pretended that Melinda will have a successful career but I'm not so sure. A voice isn't enough. Personality plays a huge part. Even after all these weeks Melinda still exudes a shy lack of self-confidence when her performance ends. Reminds me of the SIL telling me I had no personality.

"Veronica Mars" comes to an end. "One Tree Hill" will fast forward four years when it returns in the spring.

Idol and Things

"Roxanne," "This Love" and "When I Get You Alone" were Blake's songs tonight. It's an uphill battle for him to be in the final two. The show judges want Jordin and Melinda. Comments online about Blake's performances have been generally positive.

We found out on Jay Leno last night that Melinda didn't audition to compete. She and her friends auditioned because they thought it was required to see the "funny people." Will she be the accidental Idol?

Jordin admitted to getting no where when she auditioned in L.A., eventually trying again in her state and being sent for another audition in Seattle. She's 17.

Rumors are running strong that "Veronica Mars" will not be back in the fall. I've put a crash cart on standby for Duckie. I really, really want ice cream. There are lame MacBook updates. I'm not in the market right now.

Melinda's songs were "I Believe in You and Me," "Nutbush City Limits," "I’m a Woman." Nutbush is a Tina Turner song and probably selected after some thought there was a bit of Tina in Melinda's Bon Jovi week "Have A Nice Day" performance.

"Wishing On A Star," "She Works Hard for the Money," "I Who Have Nothing" were Jordin's (17!) songs.

I changed the litter box. Kitty seems unmoved. By the clean litter box anyway. I can hear her. She's eating. I'm missing the large, black trash bags I use to line the litter box. I have more but can't find them. I stole one from the garage. My armpits itch. I hate deodorants!

Congrats to Apollo Anton Ono, Ms Ali and Joey Fatone making the finals on "Dancing With The Stars." Apollo, who I have expected to win it all, was almost eliminated tonight but Ian was sent packing instead. Voters got this elimination right.

Scatter-shot Tuesday

ABC did its upfronts today. "Desperate Housewives" is back. Let me pause to yawn over the rest of their schedule. Y-A-W-N. Ok, now I feel better.

Come on, they're making a series out of those annoying cavemen commercials!

Too many vitamins my increase prostate cancer risk. I guess your multivitamin does more than make you urine more yellow.

Televangelist Jerry Falwell is dead at 73. Amid contemporaries caught up in scandals, he seemed to walk the walk. Good for him.

Sleep's dream involved flower and plant shopping. And crossing streets at night. Among unknowns in the dream, there was also local TV man covering pedestrian risks, Lance Bass shopping for greenery and Mother being recapped on my adventure.

My help to find what flowering plant was sought seemed under-appreciated. This probably manifests some of my waking reflections on personal history of how I've never been the guy to have fun with, just the one to turn to for help. I might explore this in an upcoming post.

TV feels bleak tonight. Where's my enthusiasm for Blake? My goose-bumps for "The Shield"? Maybe a meal will help out. I sense my own bitterness. Bah.

Got ads and an auto-pay bill today. Kitty seemed unimpressed. It's cool and cloudy for a change.

It Was Only Monday?

I watched "Heroes." We got our two bodies.

I watched a bit of "Dancing with the Stars" and saw Lance Bass was again there with Alfonso Ribeiro to support Joey Fatone. Joey got a perfect 60/60 for his two semi-final performances. Last week he was top of the leader board but ended up bottom two with the voters. It's anyone's guess what will happen tomorrow. I'd like to see Apollo Anton Ono and Joey in the finals. I guess they do a final three. I don't like Ian from 90210. Mohammed Ali's daughter annoys me a bit. I'd probably rather have her there than Ian.

Monday was a very odd day. I took a nap this afternoon. But when I got up, I just haven't felt like eating. I don't feel bad, just not like eating. I feel peculiar. It wasn't the usual boiling emotions. I feel a little numb and disconnected today. My ears feel a bit constricted. Maybe I've got an illness coming on.

Kitty hung out with me on the sofa.

NBC announced it's schedule for the next season. "Heroes" stays on Mondays at 9pm and will get a six episode spin-off series during its hiatus called "Heroes: Origins" running during the usual hiatus periods. This is in hopes of avoiding viewer drop off that happened this season when the show was in repeats for weeks. Seems like a good idea.

The original "Law & Order" moves to Sundays from the Friday grave yard. It will return mid-season after football ends. SVU stays on Tuesday.

The other show, CI, appears off the schedule but I'm not ready to celebrate just yet because I saw an ad for the "season" (not *series*) finale.

I've seen the 1 minute preview of the "Bionic Woman" remake. It looks awful. "ER" returns although it should've been axed years ago.

NBC is a bad shape. I don't see next season being much of an improvement.

U.S. Stamp Prices Rise to 41 Cents TODAY

WASHINGTON (AP) - A reminder: Extra postage needed on those letters and packages. For a first-class card or letter the rate taking effect Monday is 41 cents for the first ounce, a 2-cent increase... Associated Press

Details on the new rates are available at http://www.usps.com or call 1-800-275-8777.

Naturally I have plenty of the "old" 39 cent stamps I haven't used and will have to buy some 2 cent stamps to make up the difference.

The post office are greedy bastards.

I Knew It!

I predicted Paula would be the one picking Blake's song.

Simon chose "I Believe in You and Me" for Melinda, Randy picked "Wishing on a Star" for Jordin and just as the rumors had said, Blake's singing "Roxanne" thanks to Paula.

Kitty is vomiting. :(

I think she has an official vomit spot: outside my bedroom door. This is the third time she's picked that spot.

"Roxanne" makes me want to vomit too. Blake needs to find someone to do a proper a capella national anthem arrangement for him. His rendition at the Seattle Mariners' game was just OK. I have a tiny hobby litmus test for singers. How do you sing the "Star-Spangled Banner." I didn't like Clay's version. I really *loved* Anthony Fedorov's though.

Make It Go Away

It's Mother's Day. Please make it go away. I haven't heard anything from my Brother about going out to the cemetery. If I'm lucky I can just hide in bed and pretend it never happened. I have no family. Only the cat.

I measured the height of the balcony to the concrete below. It's only 12 feet.

Mail was an add from my cable provider selling digital phone. I'm trying to care. The flyer went right to the conveniently located bin by the mail boxes.

My head and neck are aching. I'm tired and want to turn in. Kitty is having her "4am" snack. I saw a rumor Blake will sing Sting's "Roxanne" on Tuesday. I hate that song. He's trying to drive me away, isn't he?

Perhaps he's trying to take a dive and not risk getting into the finals with the hold he won't be a contract slave.

Thrilling Thursday?

Ok, it's not thrilling at all. The weather however improved. It's stuffy in the apartment but it's much cooler outside that earlier in the week. I vacuumed, refreshed kitty's catnip and checked the mail. Yes, dear readers, we got ads. Scintillating stuff.

I realized I missed VMars this week. I'll have to catch it online. Tonight its "Ugly Betty" but I'll probably watch it online at a later date.

Premier cable network HBO's chief technology officer (Wired) says DRM (Digital Rights Management) should be called something else. DRM is why you can't burn playable DVDs of the films and tv shows you buy on iTunes. It's why some online content providers only support Windows as Microsoft's DRM scheme for Windows Media Player clips is not available on Macs much less any other platform. DRM is why Microsoft's Zune is incompatible with its own Plays-for-Sure technology.

Digital Consumer Enablement, would more accurately describe technology that allows consumers "to use content in ways they haven't before," such as enjoying TV shows and movies on portable video players like iPods. "I don't want to use the term DRM any longer," said Zitter, who added that content-protection technology could enable various new applications for cable operators.

Riiiiiiiight, Bob. He also says while it's technically possible for them to disable analog output, FCC rules don't give them that authority. Disabling analog output would mean requiring "secure digital connection" for consumers.

Make no mistake about it, this is an important statement from one of America's leading entertainment providers (The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Oz). Ever since people could record to tape, the entertainment industry has cried foul. How dare you time-shift without paying us extra!

Wednesday Wrap-Up

Dr. Boogie might be on to something. Earlier in tonight's "Shear Genius" he remarked the "Wall of Fame" of challenge winners had turned into a curse. Each winner had been quickly eliminated after their win. Tonight was no different with last week's double-winner going home.

Tabitha's strategy to sink Tyson may have backfired. He won the elimination challenge. I love Tabitha--her look, her accent, her attitude.



The Idol results show was excruciating. The filler is toxic. TOXIC!

Pink performed, I fipped away. Sorry, Alicia, you bore me now. I did listen to Barry Gibb sing. I've always liked his falsetto and figured this might be the last time I see him perform. Nicely done. Lakisha was sent home.

What the hell was up with the mic problems?

It's cooled off tonight. The windows are wide open except the one at the top of the stairs' landing. Kitty is feeling a bit more active tonight. She didn't come in for TV though. Yay! She's in the room now rubbing her whiskers on a box.

Cell phone rang. There was no caller ID. It was the bank offering me a credit card. I told her to stuff it. Debt is evil.

Top 3

Congrats Blake! We'll see you next week.

TV and Emotions

ZabaSearch uses sampling to predict Idol results. It shows the same conclusion as DialIdol: Blake and Jordin safe. Melinda and LaKisha on the bubble. Both sites think LaKisha got the lowest vote totals.

We'll see what happens.

"The Hollywood Reporter" says "Veronica Mars" is "closer" to coming back after a favorable viewing of a proposal trailer for a season 4 which jumps ahead a few years and has the title character with the FBI. Would it stay in the fictional Neptune, CA? Would any of the supporting characters besides daddy Keith Mars be likely to return to the show?

---

I had a dream last night. I remember commented the kids playroom should have an extra window installed on the north wall. Father opted not to do a window there because he planned to put in a fireplace or something. In the dream Brother agreed and whined about cost. Kitty and a spider were hanging out in the northwest corner. Mother was in the kitchen. We were going somewhere and I hadn't slept much. She chastised me for not sleeping more and I said it wasn't as if anyone could tell the difference between me as fully rested and sleep deprived. For unknown reasons I decided to put on two pair of white underwear, boxers over briefs in the dream.

I think Duckie's conspiring with kitty to give me opaque and pedestrian dreams. Kitty is not spiteful enough to act alone. :D

I could use a nap. Or breakfast. One of those two will happen (the nap). Kitty is meowing oddly. I will investigate. OK, I'm not sure what that was about. She's napped all day on my bed. It's another hot day. So much for the break in the weather. I so love local forecasters. Mail was only a solicitation for canned goods from the post office. I made pasta and am finishing off my cranberry juice.

Three hours until Idol's result is official. Today my brain keeps swapping the name Clay in for Blake when I'm talking to Self or kitty about the show. I'm probably fighting with myself over embracing any significant level of emotional investment in Idol. Back with season 3, Mother and I voted heavily for Clay. After his controversial loss, we barely voted the following two seasons. Neither really care who won. Maybe my interest in Blake's Idol success is a good and healthy thing. Maybe it suggests a kind of emotional healing. Ugh. Makes me ill to think I might start to care again. I'm such a sucker. Ok, time for me to be avoidant.

The pasta isn't too bad. I'll have to buy more.

I put the ceiling fan on in this room.

Tuesday TV Wrap-Up

I might be done with "The Shield" now that Vick has confronted Shane about Lem's murder. "House" seemed to have an off night. Nothing can match Idol though.

It was "Barry Gibb" (of the "Bee Gees") night. Two songs each for a total of eight performances.

Simon told Lakisha she and Blake are at risk for elimination. Jordin (OMG SHE'S SEVENTEEN!!!) was not that impressive. One day she might be but she just isn't there now and I was again sorry she is being pushed into the finals. Some time back, Simon predicted Melinda vs. Jordin (17!). That's a terrible outcome. Even after all these weeks Melinda hasn't embraced "stardom" and tonight Simon said her first performance was like that of a background singer.

LaKisha really had a good range and is a little better grip on herself but has problems with consistency. By the time she hit the last note on her second song her voice was worn out.

I will assume Blake will be sent home on Wednesday and I can ignore Idol next week. Why? He's a guy, he's from the Pacific Northwest and there's no way he can compete in a shouting match with the Three Divas. His performances were not his best work which was a let down. Maybe he set the bar a little too high for himself with last week's performance.



Hoping for a break after a hot day, it was a dreary night of TV. Bah humbug.

Edit: DialIdol.com, the site which measures busy signal frequency to predict Idol results has Blake at the top followed by Jordin (predicting both to be safe) with Melinda and LaKisha on the bubble for tomorrow night. Fascinating.

Idol Final Four and More

Rumors say Blake chose "This Is Where I Came In" (from the 2001 album of the same name) and "You Should Be Dancing" as his two Bee Gee songs. Rumor mill also says Barry Gibb was surprised he didn't pick "Jive Talking." I'm glad he didn't.

For Blake, "Jive Talking" would be clichè. In fact he avoided all the songs *NSYNC performed in their a capella Bee Gee medley which had Timberlake beat-boxing on "Jive Talking." Blake beat-boxed over that same song during the Hollywood group performance.

I'm a little worried about all the falsettos in Bee Gee songs. So we don't have a triopoly of style with the "Three Divas" I hope Blake can make it back to the Top 3.

From the previews, tonight on the Shield it looks like Vick becomes suspicious of Shane being involved in Lem's murder.

Last night I caught up on "The Black Donnellys" which is now only viewable online. I don't have a lot to say. Tommy gives up his dream of becoming a painter for a life of organized crime to protect his neighborhood. We find out who killed their dad and why he was in a place to be killed.

Heroes was OK last night. It's the first of the final three episodes. It wasted too much time on Jessica and DL. Hiro confronted Sylar and survived. His sword did not but he has two days before New York is nuked. Mohinder was conceived in hopes he might provide a cure for his sister. Yawn.

Why Blake (and Jordin?) Can't Win

Idol's long been dominated by Southern contestants but just how far does that reach?

To my surprise four of five winners are from the South. Kelly Clarkson is from Texas which isn't really the proper South. Sure it's on the southern border with Mexico but it's Texas.

Of the runners-up, only Katherine McPhee was from outside the South. She was from Los Angeles.

Looking at the final four this season, Blake is from The Great Northwest, specifically Washington state. Jordin comes Arizona in the Southwest. Suddenly trends look bad for these two.

Melinda and LaKisha are our Southern contestants. The former from Tennessee and the later from Maryland.

Blessedly Burmingham, Alabama, isn't represented this season. They already can claim winners Hicks and Studdard, along with runners-up Digarmo and Bice. Digarmo was living in Georgia when she was on Idol but was born in Burmingham. Four of ten finalists is a huge number for one city for what purports to be a national contest.

So why is this so? One theory at Forbes.com is text voting.

Some observers also wonder if (Idol) partnering exclusively with (AT&T) Cingular has influenced the show's results. According to NPD Group, 44% of Cingular subscribers are in the South. All five former Idol winners hail from below the Mason-Dixon line.

Oddly enough, if you extend the Mason-Dixon line across to the Pacific, Jordin comes back in. With L.A. falling below that imaginary line too, McPhee makes it a clean sweep for all 10 finalists. Makes you wonder about the "American" part of American Idol, doesn't it.

Consumers Are Morons

Why the hell do you put up with this?

There was a post on "Ars Technica" from someone trying to diagnose their crappy HDTV experience. Ok, this is television. T-frickin-V. Since cable-ready homes became commonplace some 30 or more years ago, TV has been ever more plug-and-play. It seemed to reach a peak when we didn't need external cable boxes anymore thanks to the advent of the "cable-ready" TV.

We're in the umpteenth year into the never-ending transition from analog to digital/H TV. Setting aside that a clearer picture doesn't make a bad show anything other than bad, why haven't I taken the hi-def leap?

Look at this reply on Ars: "Scroll down to 4:3 override and select either Off, 480I, or 480P. Use whichever looks best for your TV. This will mainly depend on the quality of your TV's processor compared to the quality of the cable box's processor... (blah) upconvert ... (blah) and 480P will feed a 480P converted signal. Use trial and error here. / Also, check that YBbPr Output is set to 720P or 1080I and TV TYPE set to 16:9."

Ooo-K!? What in the HELL is this? This isn't plug-and-play TV any more, this is the stuff of 12:00 flashing VCR nightmares!

Brother got a 40" SONY Bravia and mounted it above the fireplace for the SIL because, well, she demanded he buy one for her. I was up at the house early in the week and the TV was on. They've got DVR, digital this, blah, blah that. The picture sucked. I wanted to take a stick to the macro-blocking in the picture and beat it smooth.

I'm seeing the macro-blocking on my "old" analog cable setup. A lot of times it's from a crappy satellite feed to the cable station. Other times I'm not so sure satellite transmission's the source. It's distracting. Hey, I get annoyed with color banding on DVDs, do you think I'm not going to be annoyed by a pile of boxes littering the screen? Any moderate motion is the worst!

These are reasons why I haven't thrown down two grand on an HDTV, am not paying a couple hundred for "high-end" digital cable service for eight HDTV channels each month and just roll my eyes at TV in general. I'm a cheap bastard but the value proposition just isn't there.

Even those handful of HDTV channels, sometimes they look like crap. Other than playing a BluRay or DVD-HD on a 1080p true HDTV, you're watching a 1080i or 720p compressed to hell signal fed to you for a princely sum and somehow you love it! You're morons!

The macro-blocking makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a blunt instrument! You know, I'm sure I complained about that a few months ago when I was window shopping HDTVs. Thinking back, the BluRay playback on that 50" Panasonic 1080p screen was mesmerizing.

*That* is the quality you should be getting on every one of your premium HDTV channels and every damn bit of it should all have been plug-and-play. Wake me up when I can have that.

Idol Is Evil

Phil it out. The three divas are safe. Now they're dragging out the other elimination.

It's down to Chris and Blake.

Robin Thicke performed. Now Bon Jovi. Phil's Idol Journey retrospective has already played.

Across fandom, I know there will be a lot of gnashing of teeth over the break up of "CAKE" Chris/Blake. Will Blake stay? Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

Simon wants a Jordin / Melinda finale.

*snore*

YES! Blake is safe! Top 4! Kitty is here for the results. :D

"Three Divas and a Beatboxer"

TV Snoozeworthy

Idol stayed more or less the same when seeing it as when hearing it alone. Chris looked very uncomfortable on stage trying to rock out.

I was pleased the judges didn't sugarcoat some of the vocal problems. Randy tried to drum up sympathy votes for Jordin when her vocals veered well off their mark. Chris was told he did as much as he could with his song but maybe not enough to be back next week. Simon even literally kissed Lakisha for her return to form and told Blake his risk-taking is why he would be back next week! From Simon's mouth to voters' phones? We'll know soon enough. He was clearly the live audience favorite.

"House" was... *snore* although Hugh Laurie had some good lines. I hope Foreman leaves and this isn't just a fake two-weeks notice for ratings purposes.

"The Shield" didn't give me much to care about. Shane told the wife what he did, however. The preview for next week suggests Vick gets suspicious and starts to catch on. I still hope they end up killing Vick in the line of duty.

I may have missed VMars' return. I saw bits while flipped and the episode didn't look familiar but there was an on-screen teaser telling me "One Tree Hill" is new on Wednesday. I caught up with the "Shear Genius" from last week where Theodore goes home. He made the mistake of playing it safe. I love Tabitha for not equivocating. I can't imagine cutting hair with safety scissors. Somehow she did it and made the top 3. Maybe I'll check the next show.

Speaking of ratings earlier, it's May which means shows crawl back from reruns because it's the final ratings period of the season.

I'm Tingling.

I don't tingle. Wow, Blake. Just Wow.

First you teased your audience with opening the song doing vocal effects like lighting a fuse or the start of a spinning record. Then you showed you have vocal power. You brought the beat boxing back in a battle with a drummer. You slipped in a moment of vocal effects work from your pre-Idol performing days and you looked fantastic all in less than two minutes.

Amazing. Rickey had it nailed. A "Summertime" moment if there ever was one.

Idol Blaze of Glory?

It's Tuesday. This week's Idol coach is Bon Jovi. Be afraid. Be very afraid. I've heard the show, but not seen it so my first impressions by ear may change with the added visual. On with the victims and remember it's double-elimination this week.

Phil might have chosen his song based on what he thinks his chances are. Yes, he sang "Blaze of Glory" and I was disappointed. He has a powerful voice but he didn't sell the song. He tried to sing flat to sound more rock I guess. It didn't work for me as I had hoped. I actually figured this could be his week. I won't be surprised if he's not in the Top 4.

Jordin tortures "Livin’ on a Prayer." I'd swear she's missing notes almost from the start and never quite recovers. She misses a few words too I think. Sounds mostly like shouting than singing. Not a good week for her.

LaKisha takes on "Not a Love Song" and wrestles it to the ground. Fantastic. She's back to form and none too soon! She's had quite a few lackluster performances in recent weeks, this might be enough to ease her into the Top 4

With "You Give Love A Bad Name," Blake was up next but I've avoided his performance for now. He dyed the blond highlights out of his hair which is styled down, not spiked. Rickey.org had this to say: "OMG. Amazing. The Summertime moment of American Idol Season 6. Take a song by the neck and make it absolutely your own."

"The Summertime moment" was in Season 3 when in his critique, Simon told Fantasia her lips had never been put to better use than in her performance of "Summertime." It's a "family show" so Simon won't be saying that to Blake.

"Wanted Dead Or Alive" seemed like a good, strong choice for Chris's voice. He almost pulled it off vocally except he doesn't seem to be able to sustain the notes and the song turns messy after the first minute. It wasn't fabulous but not the worst heard. His risk for elimination will depend on how he looked on stage more than just the vocal. He wasn't his usual nasal self but I'd send Chris home just outside the Top 4.

Melinda wraps up the show with "Have a Nice Day" and it actually bored me enough to tune out after the first minute and check out other performances. On second take it wasn't awful just kind of dull which considering the texture of her vocals is odd. I think it might be that her voice isn't as forward as it could be in the mix. She'll be safe but I swear I'm *SICK* of the "surprised" look! Get over it!

Excluding Blake, I'd put Lakisha at the top, Melinda in the middle with maybe Chris then Phil and Jordin this week. However, the results of last week are added to this week to determine the pair cut from the show so it's anybody's guess how it'll pan out. Could there be only one guy in the Top 4 with three divas? Could be!

Congratulations, Anthony!

Anthony Fedorov, of "American Idol" 4, makes his debut as "Matt" tonight in "The Fantasticks."

Ugh Spoilers

I was reading a completely unrelated article and found out Theodore was cut from Shear Genius. Since he was my favorite guy, there's little reason to keep watching. I enjoy Tabitha but most of the contestants are insufferable bores. Wow, wasn't it just a week ago Theo was at the top of the class? One less show to tune in for.

I had forgotten all about Ugly Betty this week. I can tell my interest is minimal. It looks like the guy from accounting (and Jake 2.0) is in the episode however. I think I'll watch online.

Sanjaya says he's not gay although he said the girls around him treat him like their "gay best friend."

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It's after 2pm now. I was just about to post an update when the browser window hung up on Blogger. Damn it. I hate the new Blogger. I switched to Firefox and am trying again.

I checked the mail last hour.

Meds came. Yay me.

Along with the mountain of store ads, I got two solicitations: one for phone service and another for auto insurance. I ripped those up.

Bastards. If I wanted their service, I'd contact them. Leave me alone!

Rounding out today's pile of mail were two bills. Life insurance was demanding its quarterly payment and I had a credit card bill.

I got the insurance premium paid online when I remembered the barely used username and password.

I also paid a credit card $10 balance (meds co-pay), checked to see if there's any indication the cable bill payment actually got processed this time (I can't tell--maybe next week), and decided to run away to a cold climate. Ok, maybe not so much of the last one.

I was going to check on the other bill's timeliness and accuracy but I'm tired. It isn't due for 10 days and there's no mail service until Monday anyway. It can sit on the desk and mock me until another day.

I'm going to crash for awhile.

They Win

Ok, I got the utility bill online. They added the $107 to my bill. I paid it just to get it out of my face. Bastards. As it is, my useage was up. Could be too much TV or maybe just that fridge in the garage. I need to get that freezer emptied and unplug it.

Sneaky Bastards!

I just looked at the ingredients of the "Chocolate Chip" Dreyer's Slow Churn and what did I discover? The "Chocolate" is not quite chocolate. It's "chocolaty" instead!

INGREDIENTS: milk, skim milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, chocolaty chips (sugar, coconut oil, cocoa processed with alkali, partially hydrogenated coconut oil, cocoa, salt, soy lecithin, natural flavor),whey protein, egg yolks, tapioca maltodextrin, cellulose gum, mono and diglycerides, natural flavor, guar gum, carrageenan, dextrose, vitamin A palmitate, annatto color

I mention this because earlier in the week I urged readers to comment to the FDA about their considering a redefinition of chocolate to include what is called chocolaty under existing rules. You can see above the Dreyer's is using coconut oil instead of cocoa butter. Damn it.

"Natural flavor" is probably vanillin. It's "natural" so it's probably taken from vanilla beans and not synthesized from wood as is typical today.

Sorry Mother, I should've looked at the label more carefully. Mother was a food chemist before she had children.

Compare the Haagan-Dazs "Chocolate Chip" ingredients to the list above: Ingredients: Cream, Skim Milk (Lactose Reduced), Sugar, Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Vanilla), Egg Yolks, Corn Syrup, Natural Vanilla, Salt.

I admit to being disappointed but this will be a worthy experiment in taste, texture and so forth. I could've got a gallon of Haagan Dazs vanilla. It was only $15.

I don't "treat" myself to ice cream often enough to really warrant going on the cheap quality-wise. I should stick to the HD but then were would I get the self-loathing fix of buyer's remorse other than on price?

Fried Friday

It's Friday. I ignored the "Idol Gives Back" show. I had Duckie tell me who lost and he dragged it out just like Secrest. I was nervous for Blake but I'm finding myself less and less committed to the shoe (Edit: show, not shoe; thanks duckie.)

Next week is supposed to be a rock music theme. I think Phil might be able to do it if he picked a "Southern Rocker" but with the others it's "Just a bit outside" their zone.

I see a lot of discontentment with the Top 6 to Top 4 thing this coming week. I kind of laugh only because I didn't wait through two hours of self-indulgent begging for bucks and filler for that. At this point an hour of Idol results is full of filler. Two hours should be a criminal act! Read a live blog recap at Ricky.org.

I missed "Shear Genius" this week. It'll be repeated a hundred times so it's not a big deal. I ordered more checks. I have one left after paying the May rent. No sign of my ordered meds yet. I might just hide in bed today. I should go up to the grocery but I just can't get into the mood for it. Nothing is particularly critical yet.

I'm not fond staying shut into the apartment for weeks at a time but being outside, milling around other people, I find even more discomforting.

The face of movie ratings for decades, Jack Valenti, has died at 85. He is in the famous photo of Johnson being sworn in aboard the airplane after JFK was assassinated. The "champions" of "free speech" party introduced the film ratings system.

My intestines are rebelling. It's what launched me from bed this morning in fact. I don't recall eating anything unusual yesterday so I doubt it's food-borne illness. Based on how I generally feel, I'd guess the meds are making my guts goofy again. Traditionally a bit germ phobic--I used to eat pizza with a fork--I wash my hands even after using protective gloves and rinse my dishes a second time before use.

---

Update, it's 11:30am. I'm back from the grocery.

I just wasn't feeling good and the sun was already beating down on me when I left around 9:30. I almost turned around about two blocks from here. Along the way I pondered returning an abandoned cart up to the grocery but decided it wasn't my problem. I was feeling bad enough without adding to my caravan. When I got to the elementary school there was another cart, this one was overturned and belonged to a private store. In the cart were six empty cigarette boxes. It was an odd sight. The skeptic in me wondered if they were individualized to sell to kids on the sly. It wouldn't surprise me.

The grocery was vacant. Not really a surprise. Like Mother, I don't know how it stays open. I suppose I can't complain, it's a half-mile closer than my next option. I feel like all the blood was sucking from my veins and refilled under high-pressure. I got the things the cat needed: water and litter. I got another tube of hair ball gel for her too. She had barfed at the food dish this morning. I pulled the tablecloth and added some clothing for a laundry load. I thought I had a bag of laundry to do only to discovery it was clean! I'd washed it at the house and this was the laundry I pulled from the dryer when we took it to the neighbor.

So the cat got water and litter, what did I get? I got toilet paper. I thought I was going to fall down in the isle. It isn't as if I hadn't eaten this morning and I had my meds so it was a surprise sensation. It passed as a grazed along in the store.

After decoding the sales, comparing ply and numbers of sheets I settled on Charmin. I have to admit, I didn't know the classic "Squeezably Soft" Charmin is 1-ply! The 2-ply was the same sale price. As I did my calculus to decide what the hell to buy a disturbing feeling came over me when I noticed there were about a year's worth of toilet paper in a single roll under the Sheryl Crow plan. Think about that the next time you load a roll.

Chili was on a good sale ($1.75 ea). They only had five left on a "4 for" sale. Isn't that always the case? I got a rain check. Yes, I eat a lot of chili these days. It's tasty, filling, legumes are good for you and it's relatively low fat. I picked up more ravioli and stocked up on a bit of frozen items. I was going to get Haagen Dazs but it wasn't on sale and so guilt set in. I couldn't justify it. I decided to get a gallon of"Dreyer's Slow Churned" for $3. I got the 1/2 fat, not the "no sugar added" because it uses Splenda like that putrid blueberry yogurt I had a couple weeks ago--blech!

I looked for chocolate covered almonds on the candy isle. My favorite HD is called "Vanilla Swiss Almond," a vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered almonds mixed throughout. To my amazement I found three kinds of chocolate covered almonds on the isle. Dove had both milk and dark chocolate covered styles. Brachs only had milk style. I got one bag of Brachs and one of the Dove dark. I might've been able to get three pints of HD for what the two bags of almonds and gallon of Dreyer's cost but with eight pints to a gallon, I'm coming out ahead.

Mother and I used to indulge on Dove dark pieces from time to time. I *know* I like it.

I may have complained about the supermarket corn flakes in another entry but if I hadn't, let me say I'm convinced they are grown in a test tube. They tasted exactly like the bulk version that I'd been getting. I got a box of the bulk ones today because they were on sale. Although I definitely prefer another kind, at a different store, I wasn't going to pass up 48 oz of corn flakes for $3. Besides, I wasn't seriously going to walk to another store just for corn flakes. I'm not too disappointed. I've kind of made a deal with the devil when it comes to these alien flakes. I'm chea... frugal and a little sugar and enough milk and I can ignore their otherwise funky texture and faux corn taste. That last reference was a cheap shot. The box claims it's real germ-free corn.

I wore my boots to the grocery. I thought it would help keep my ankles for aching. On the positive side, it helped. Unfortunately, my achilles kept rubbing until it tore the skin. (Yes duckie, I took pix.)

The cat was hiding in the corner behind her bedroom chair when I brought the groceries up. She's moved to her living room chair for an afternoon nap. No meds in the mail today, only more ads. Grrr.

Kill The Pain

So my head is more aching than in pain thanks to some exercise, food, and pain meds. Ok, it's probably the pain meds more than anything. My head still feels as though the eyes were scooped out like ice cream and the head itself was torn off the spin and placed on a pike in front of Duckie's doorway.

The mail was of moderate interest. I had two bills and something from a food company. I haven't opened it. One bill was cable which was already paid... well, I attempted to pay it a few times already. I better check on that. The other was health care. They didn't get a payment. I'm in no position to argue. How I might've missed that I haven't a clue. Oh wait a second, the fog is clearing in my empty head. They had my new address wrong and the bill went God knows where. Now I remember. I called them to get the mailing address of the billing center. They are probably still trying to figure out how to process my check without the statement slip. No matter. It's paid up as soon as they get their mail.

Hey! It's my poisoned peanut butter refund. I'm rich and powerful now. I can buy some tainted pet food. Or something equally grand.

TV Zzz

I was a TV whore tonight. Lots of flipping tells me interest just wasn't there. Bits of SVU, CI, Idol, House, Shield, Dancing with the Stars...

I listened to the Idol performances online. Wow was it dreary. I tuned in anyway.

Covering a Clapton song, Chris sounded out of tune to me but he got ample praise while Blake was criticized although praised for sincerity on "Imagine." Blake had a voice 'squeak' on the first falsetto point but he looked great and sounded sincere in a way he didn't on "Love Song" or even "Somewhere Only We Know." I thought it well done although I thought him seated on a high chair next to the piano looked odd.

That said, I think Blake is at great risk for elimination. I'm not sure what was more dreary tonight, the songs or the Secrest-as-poverty pimp. LaKisha got dissed for yelling on Fantasia's first single "Believe." The show was pre-taped on Monday.

At this point I've lost interested in who wins Idol. When Blake leaves, so will I, and even he's not doing a lot to excite me.

House was even more dreary with the patient actually dying because of a simple infection because of a misdiagnosis. I guess it reminded me of Mother on some level.

The Shield did nothing for me tonight. I'm hoping Vick is killed in the line of duty. Next week it looks like Shane admits to what he did but who is he telling?

I got my meds called in. They still have my old phone number on file so I had to call more than once to deal with the automated system. My headache is getting fierce. I don't know if it's a lack of calories or eye strain. Aussies had a holiday today. Duckie refused to admit he misses work. :D

Save Chocolate From The FDA

It seems the FDA is asking for public comment (ends tomorrow, April 25!) about a proposed change to what can be called "chocolate" in the U.S. Big business wants to be able to substitute for veg oil for cocoa butter and whey protein for whole milk.

Chocolate-maker Guittard is not happy. There's more at the Candyblog including a link to send comment to the FDA.

Because You Demanded It!

U2 is bringing Spider-Man The Musical to Broadway.

Run, Spidey! Run like hell!

Get Off My Butt!

On the 19th in Springfield, TN, Sheryl Crow said, "I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting... I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit..."WA Post

Just... NO. UGH. I clean my butt with a wire brush if it needs it!

In related news, Doctors want Pap smears for gay men. (SF Chronicle)

It's Monday!

I survived another weekend. Kitty was sick again. I gave her a bit more hair-ball gel and changed her water. She seems OK otherwise. It rained again. Score one for Weatherbug.

"Heroes" is back from reruns tonight. I don't know yet if I care. I watched "Ugly Betty" on streaming video yesterday. I hadn't missed anything. I felt even the Vanessa Williams character was having an off night. With Daniel fooling around in fountains, can shark jumping be far behind?

Did they have to cast Leslie Jordan imbd profile as the gossip writer? I'm still recovering from his time on "Boston Legal."

I tuned into "Desp. Housewives" live and was disappointed this week: no Andrew. Gabby, however, had perhaps her best scene in a year. Every time she ignores her husband and does her own thing Lynnette reminds me of the SIL.

Ryan Carnes who played Andrew's lover two seasons ago was in a "Dr. Who" in pig-faced latex makeup recently. He's getting more work. Good on him. (Nathan writes to tell me it wasn't Ryan under the makeup. :/)



Reading a web board I saw the holy grail reason to update to CS3 (Creative Suite 3). No, it isn't because it has Universal apps native on Intel-based Macs. When you (accidentally) click on the logos at the top of the toolbox the damned software doesn't launch a browser to advertise Adobe products anymore! Fantastic! Now all I need is to rob a bank.

CS3 retails for $1799.99.

Forget it. The Mac is PowerPC anyway.

I'm tired of wankers on tech sites complaining, claiming a virtual apocalypse with their system(s) and offering scant detail. Slashdot has a "story" about Quicktime causing Windows Vista to blue-screen (BSOD) but only when playing .MOV files from a local hard disk on a particular Toshiba Tablet PC. It's 2007. Even on Microsoft's products, the only thing that should do that is a hardware or hardware driver problem, not a userland program.

Given the infamous problems with the early shipping NVidia graphics drivers for Vista (and perhaps other brands too), I wouldn't look at Quicktime as the culprit. Fascinatingly, on Windows in "Quicktime Preferences" Apple includes an "Advanced" tab which lets you alter how video is played back by the system: using GDI only (in a kind of Quicktime "Safe mode") or with various Direct X accelerations. Since Windows 95, Microsoft has included the ability to turn off different acceleration features to troubleshoot. Bah.

A Piece Of History?

The infamous Goatse.cx domain is up for sale. If Duckie was awake I could see if he wanted to bid. I'll have to email him, bidding is already at $15K.

Read about using the goatse.cx image to get 200,000 Myspace users to stop linking to a pirate image on one guy's site.

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In personal news I got my cable bill alert, went to their pay site and find to my horror my payment last month was not successful. I had made two payments in equal amounts online. Only one cleared. The other says "Eftrevrsl." I checked my bank balance and it wasn't a problem nor did it indicate a second payment was attempted. I paid the bill by plastic this time.

Duckie may have a point in just billing to a credit card and paying that card off each month. There might be less trouble than direct payments from the bank, troubles I've seen before. I also noticed the bank has taken $11 in "monthly fees" out.

Supposedly I was going to avoid that by signing up for their online banking. Obviously not. I need to get that sorted before they come around for May's "monthly fee." With a 0.2% APR on their saving account, do you realize how much I'd have to have in the account to earn back their fee each month? It's something like $132,000, isn't it? Not a chance in hell of that happening. If I had that kind of money to bank, I'd be a fool to take that kind of yield!

From The WTF? File...

So I see this headline today and read the article: Transgender Student Runs for Prom King That's when I notice this detail: She has no current plans, however, to permanently alter her gender through hormones or surgery.

She sometimes goes by Tony and usually by Cinthia.

Is it really right to call her transgender?

The Odd and The Annoying

Doctors remove woman’s gallbladder through vagina.

I got a second letter from the utility company telling me they were going to add the balance due on the house account to my account here at the apt. So much for having cleared this up by the phone last week. Grrr.

I'm not bothering with "Ugly Betty" tonight.

Dreams are really making sleep tiresome. The latest scene was back at uni, involved a soldier-boy's missing hat that I was trying to return, discussing my grades and slow progress with Mother and a full-size new white pickup being replaced with a blue one at the house. The white pickup had been damaged in the cargo bed. Father never owned a white truck. Many of these scenes were influenced by news, things I watched or thought about. The truck, for example, probably comes from a segment on a man who ran his truck into a gate. The steal bar ran thought the grill, engine compartment and the man, destroying part of his small intestine. He lived.

In the prior segment, they showed the student who had scissors thrown and stuck in his arm. You've probably see the video on YouTube or elsewhere. He's now a Marine and was due to serve in Iraq. The friend who through the scissors was expelled from the school when the video leaked online.

401!

This is my 401st post on this blog. Who knew? Ok, on to Idol. Two groups as expected: Sanjaya, Lakisha, Blake and Phil, Chris, Jordin with Melinda asked to pick which group she was in. Like Bo, she declined to choose and stayed in the middle.

They do this because it's meant to be a "surprise" which tells us that Phil, et al. are safe and they are. Blake makes his first appearance in the bottom three but is immediately safe and so is Lakisha. We're finally rid of the bizarre Sanjaya!

I'm not quite sure what to make of the groups. I suppose there's more play week-to-week in the rankings than I had anticipated.

It's Wednesday which means Criminal Minds (a repeat) and Shear Genius are on. I'm not really up for TV so I think I'll take a pass. With The Black Donnelly's viewable by streaming online only now I don't know I can be bothered to watch.

I need to eat in hopes of improving a sour mood after a very rough sleep. Sleep has been anything but restful by playing very vivid dreams about Mother, moving, housing--even old gammaneighbor and her gaggle made an appearance last night! Kitty joined me on the bed at some point and decided my hair needed shaping. That could account for why she barfed a few minutes ago.

TV Tuesday

Starting late, I caught five of the Idol performances on country night. Sanjaya was bad enough to make me sound good. It was his turn when I put the show on.

Blake got the "pimp spot" at the end of the show. It wasn't fantastic *but* he "raised his game" (gotta use those cliches!) on his vocal power. Good work on that, Blake. I've seen some say online he was off pitch but I really didn't take note of that. I was looking at other things in her performance. I suspect he'll be back next week.

Chris may have stepped in it. He talked back to Simon when he was criticized as being "nasally" he defended it as being a style of singing. While that kind of interaction with the judges is usually bad he pulled the Virginia Tech sympathy card out so it might be a wash. Still, I won't be surprised to see him in the bottom 3 with Phil but who will be the third? Could it be Blake or will we finally get rid of Sanjaya?

Melinda had a nice performance. I hated the outfit. It looked like an old curtain worn as a bath towel. Inexplicably Simon thought she looked better than last week. I'm overjoyed to see he called her out on the tiresome "surprise" at getting praise from the judges. She was probably best of the five I saw. Lakisha left me cold and judges agreed.

It'll probably one of those result shows where they split the seven into two groups of three and the middle person has to decide with which group to stand. Two years ago a shrewd Bo Bice refused to budge.

The Shield was a good episode but it did not leave my jaw on the floor this week. I was a little disappointed in the Abu Ghraib overtones of Vic's interrogation of Eduardo. For me the new House was only note worthy for what he did to his friend Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard).

I did plenty of flipping and caught bits of Cold Case, SVU, Pussy Cat Dolls, CSI: Miami, Criminal Intent and a Mythbusters which showed it's possible to put a fire out with sound. Lance Bass was cheering Joey Fatone on again on "Dancing with the Stars." He seems to be a permanent fixture with nothing better to do or he's hot for one of the dancers.

Programming Notes

A country music theme brings Martina McBride as guest "coach" on Idol. I can't stand McBride after an insufferable overplay of "Independence Day."

Next week is the vomit-inducing "Idol Gives Back" show. The contestant's theme will be "life anthems."

That Wednesday is a two hour telethon results show featuring Gwen Stefani, Pink, Annie Lennox, Michael Buble, Kelly Clarkson and Il Divo. We're "raising awareness" of starving children in Africa. How very 1980's!

The first image from "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," a Fox tv pilot has appeared online. The show stars Lena Headey as Sarah and Thomas Dekker as John.

Dekker played the controversial gay character Zack in "Heroes."

Lou Pearlman

I know at least a few of those reading know his name. He was the money-man behind Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, O-Town and Aaron Carter's careers. He's on the run after apparently stealing hundreds of millions in dollars.

Because It's Friday The 13th

That'll teach you not to pet me!

Today's Random Links

JC Chasez has a new song on previewing on AOL. It is called “You Ruined Me.” (I couldn’t get AOL’s site to play it for me.)

Women may be able to produce their own sperm soon. Read about this technology.

British PM Tony Blair blames murders on black culture

Mac Disappointment

It was announced today the next release of Mac OS X, 10.5 Leopard, would not ship in spring after all. That is, it won’t ship in spring of the northern hemisphere. Instead Apple will release a “feature complete” beta to developers in June and release Leopard to customers in October. This delay is supposedly caused by need of key Leopard QA and developers on the iPhone. On the upside of this delay it gives some added hope there might really be those “secret” features as yet unrevealed.

I don’t care about the iPhone. I hate phones. It makes a neat demo and Apple has to get it right on the launch. They can’t afford to have the negative reaction that came with Sony’s release of the PS3.

Rumors say the new developer release of Leopard has no use of “brushed metal” and instead uses the dreary iTunes 7 look in its place. Yuck. I use Aqua4iTunes to change the iTunes 7 appearance to something less sullen on the Mac.

Mostly Right On Idol.

Yesterday I said, "I'll guess Chris, Phil, Haley are the bottom 3 and Phil goes home." and tonight they were the bottom three. Yay me.

Chris was safe. Who went home?

It wasn't Phil. Yay Phil. I scored on the bottom three guess. I've seen rumors of next week's theme being country music. One word: YUCK.

I watched the finale of Top Design on BRAVO. Congrats to Matt. See the lofts he and Carisa did here. I wasn't sure Matt was going to win. His loft's initial impression told me corporate lobby. It was not somewhere I'd want to live. I like 'master' the bedroom and his bathroom wasn't as frightful as his competitor's. Considering they had around $150,000 (most of that as pieces to be memoed from the Pacific Design Center), and two months for design, I was left rather unimpressed.

"Shear Genius" debuted after "Top Design" and with Jacklyn Smith hosting I naturally stayed tuned-in. The show really hasn't sold me on itself. I will probably check in next week if I think of it. I like Theodore and Tabitha. The best part of the show, other than looking at Jacklyn Smith, was the guts they had to actually kick off the most obnoxious character, Paul Jean, right off.

I'm a little curious about "Dr Boogie" who affects a gay stereotypical nelly character and said he was not gay when saying he couldn't take is eyes off the show's male "mentor."

Here's a look at arrogant little Paul Jean's losing "Final Cut"

Fishes Out Of Water On Idol

Updated Top eight brings us latin sounds with guest coach JLo trying to save her new (bombing) album.

When I can say Sanjaya performing "Bésame Mucho" was probably top 3--he got the show-closing "pimp spot"--you know the show had a bad night. Most of the performers sounded horribly uncomfortable in the genre.

Melinda's rendition of "Sway" reminded me of Ella Fitzgerald performing "Girl from Ipanema." Apparently Simon didn't like it. I haven't watched the show yet, only heard the performances. I have watched now and Simon thought she didn't look like she was having fun and seemed too old. I can agree but liked it.

The other "divas" seemed to have no idea what they were doing.

Lakisha butchered "Conga." It sounded to me like she wasn't "listen[ing] to the rhythm" as the lyric advises but fighting it, trying to make it R&B. Even Paula was unhappy so I'm curious how it'll play.

Jordin who I had good things to say about last week tried another Gloria Estefan hit "Rhythm is Gonna Get Ya" and she sounded amateurish at best. It was like she was trying to immitate Kelly Clarkson's first-season takes on Aretha songs. Unfortunately for Jordin this was Latin night. JLo praised the injection of soul/R&B stylings. Jordin looked better performing than it sounded which would puts her in a better position.

Batting 7th for the night, Blake actually seemed to get the theme in his performance of "I Need To Know" and although his vocal didn't sound perfect, overall it may have been the strongest performance of the night since he's usually very good on stage. We'll see how that goes. Simon said he was best of the night. I wasn't thrilled with the camera work. JLo actually called Blake in to help Haley by beat-boxing during her coaching session. I was flabbergasted.

There was a piano which and a piano like a drum is a percussion instrument. I wonder why that wouldn't be sufficient to provide the beat for Haley to practice singing with.

Speaking of her, Haley appears to be all about her legs again but she seemed to be trying to embrace the genre but didn't have the vocal prowess to do it. Unfortunately she took a swing at Gloria's hit "Turn the Beat Around." I see a pattern in tonight's failures for the girls: Gloria Estefan is a better singer than you might expect ladies. They didn't learn this lesson from past seasons. Tisk, tisk.

I don't know what to say about Chris and Phil. Chris was nasal, with too much R&B styling attempted on "Smooth"--JLo complimented it during the coaching. The judges were carrying Chris' water. They clearly want to keep him around awhile. Phil sucked a bit of life out of "Maria, Maria" but at least he was fairly in tune. I didn't like the R&B vocal flavoring. If Phil looked like Chris he'd be safe.

Who goes home? With so many clunkers, I don't know. I suspect Melinda, Blake and Sanjaya are safe for another week. Phil probably should be back based on his vocal performance but he isn't very popular.

I'll guess Chris, Phil, Haley are the bottom 3 and Phil goes home. I don't agree with JLo or the judges who liked the R&B bits tossed into the Latin songs. It sounded ridiculously out of place. From Simon's comments I'm a fuddy-duddy for liking Melinda but not Chris or Lakisha tonight. I disagree. Blake once again showed you could modernize without breaking the song. I still wish his voice was stronger than it is.

At The Margins

It was obviously coming; NBC has axed "The Black Donnellys" which is just too mature for network TV. It would really be a better fit on a cable channel like FX which hosts "The Shield."

I tried to tune in tonight with kitty and there was a moronic unscripted improv show "Oh My God! I'm Glad You're Here!" I check a TBD fan site and discovered this week's episode would be streamed online.

NBC's streaming is poor quality. I had to start it twice to get audio to generally sync with the picture. ABC has the best episode streaming of the networks in my experience.

Easter was just me with the cat, no email or call from the Brother & the herd. I asked Duckie if I should be annoyed and he suggested I look at it as a blessing for not having to put up with their craziness. That's a nice way to paper over things.

Well I just spent an hour or so digging through the garage looking for something. I found it! Yay me! It was not just the last place I looked but the only place I'd skipped over before. I'd all but decided I had a false memory of it being in the garage when I checked that other box.

What is it? It's facial/body scrubber. I'd guess it's 20 years old although I wouldn't be surprised to learn it's even older. Was it Mother's? Grandmother's? No, somehow I recall it was for we boys to use for facials to help with acne. I don't remember it getting used much at all but when it was, it was usually on my skin.

I brought it up to the apartment and it died out. Wondering if I could fix it, I fetched my toolkit and pulled it apart. It's a simple mechanism, just a small motor and two gears. I could hear Mother harping about buying another one, are you sure you can fix it, do you know how it goes together. I got it working. Yay me.

I cleaned toilet, washed mirrors, did laundry, took out trash today too.

More later.

Happy Easter?

I saw this pun online and couldn't resist sharing.



We gave RL & A candy crosses, which don't normally include the "Prince of Peeps," for their first Easter with us.

If you laughed, you'll burn in Hell too. :)

More and more I think Hell is memories you can't escape. You know the ones, they stalk you, club you with guilt or anxiety...

Update: Johnny Hart of the sometimes controversial B.C. comic strip (B.C. at Creator's Syndicate) has passed of a stroke at 76. It wasn't my favorite by far but I often read it when I was taking the local paper. I was stunned he'd been working on B.C. for 49 years. He also worked on the Wizard of Id. (at Creator's Syndicate)

Update Missing?

No new post today. There was one up for a few hours but I decided to pull it and keep it as a draft for now.

Not feeling great today. Liquid/soft diet time. Grrr.

Mailing Morons and TV

We got mail today. There's a bill, not necessarily unusual. It isn't mine, not necessarily unusual either. It was originally addressed to the SIL.

The post office put the forwarding address sticker for her on the envelope then put another, this time for me, on top of that one. I pulled one sticker off and dropped it back in the mail. We'll see what happens. I could've been "nice" and walked it up (2 mile round trip) but I'm a lazy bastard who wants to avoid the crabby SIL.

From the forwarding sticker, it could be her fault anyway. It only lists family name, not a first name. Either she didn't do one for each of her and Brother or someone at the post office was especially lazy. Who really knows anymore?

I had a very hard time sleeping. There's nothing in particular bothering me. I did binge eat yesterday. It wasn't that I over-indulged across the whole day just that I compacted more food into a shorted time period. Clearly a part of me wanted to feel physically bad and bloated for over-eating. This is annoying to be sure.

The Shield started up again last night. I haven't finished watching season 5 so I'm a bit behind, however a channel has been running a pair of shows a night so I'll be caught up to the new season quickly. I noted these syndicated episodes are only rated TV-14, not TV-MA. Since I haven't seen them before, I don't know if these are edited for content vs. their originally aired version. Why would cable channel which claims to be "television for men" need to edit a show for content?

Top Design is the final three tonight. I hope the right royal country cow gets eliminated. She has some skill, sure, but her attitude is out of control. Of the other two, I'm not sure whose work I prefer.

I'm hungry. I wish the cat would cook for me. Tisk.

It's now Thursday. Top Design cut the architect. When I saw her room I knew she was in trouble. It wasn't finished enough. Unfortunately the pain in the butt is in the finals. I'm not surprised because it gives the final showdown a sharp contrast. At least I'm not alone in loathing her, the viewer "vote" wanted to send her home something like 69%. Gay, straight or... oops, wrong show, Matt better win this thing. Starting after the Top Design final is a new show. I might watch this hair stylist challenge but only because Jacklyn Smith is the hostess. I'll tune in for the premier.

I saw the last few shows of the Shield season 5 last night. Wow. Unfortunately it backs up my sense the show may have jumped the shark. I don't believe there's any way Kavenaugh would be getting so many shots at taking down Vick & co. in the real world.

No Surprises On Idol

The result isn't a surprise. Gina had a bad week and wasn't going to win.

Phil's problem isn't his voice but his look. If he looked like Chris or Blake he'd make Top 4. It's a shame. Simon was right that Phil's performance seems dark in tone. That's something he could work on performance-wise but he might be too late in the competition to change perception.

Two weeks in a row Blake's bored me. I know Bennett told him to slow the tempo down on the song but I think that was bad advice for Blake. I've always kind of figured he might peak at Top 4 but now I'm not sure he'll hold on. He's good on stage, a top 3 performer, but his voice just isn't pulling it off enough. Fortunately, he is pretty good at song choice but he'll ultimately be at the mercy of the theme. I'm not seeing much of Blake's own charm. I thought the judges were wrong about Diana Ross week, adding the beat to the song was just what Blake can do well.

I'm disappointed in the "top 3." Another set of "Divas" like season 3? Melinda is the most polished but the first part of the song was boring. She coasted a bit this week. Lakisha is OK, not on Melinda's level, but not so consistent.

For the first time I recognized how Jordin is a big threat and I'm glad. I'd rather see her in the finals than either of the other pair. There's a bit of natural charisma the others are lacking. Melinda usually makes up for it in experience as a performer. On Melinda I have to say her humility shtick (genuine or not) is tiresome.

Sanjaya is this season's "around too long" contestant like the "goat girl" in season 2, "miss constipation" in season 3, "the red head" in season 4, and so on. The over-focus on him is harming Blake and maybe some of the others who would benefit from genuine buzz.

Chris's voice is often irritating. Some of the gymnastics he attempts aren't well suited to his skills. He doesn't seem self-possessed on stage as much as putting on a performance. I keep seeing Timberlake when I see and hear him and I have an ongoing revulsion to "Mistuh" JT.

I think Jordin could win it.

Do Stylists Hate Their Clients?

I'm thinking whoever styles Jesse McCartney hates him. The suit makes me itch by looking at it. The off-kilter trucker hat needs to be burnt! He was performing at the Nick Kid's Choice Awards:



Update: Clay Aiken has a new look. F*cking hell.

April Fools

I can't stand this date. All the faux "news stories" really ruin attempts to enjoy my routine. Since there's so damned little I enjoy now, it's doubly irritating. Bah.

Back to yesterday's visit to the house. The SIL was up-tight which was one reason Brother came down with the fridge. He remarked he wished he had a lawyer on speed-dial and advised me to stay single. He told me our uncle had a license plate holder on his orange van: "Happiness is being single." Even into his third marriage he kept the holder. I remember the van, even attending that wedding (that marriage stuck) but was too young to have taken note of the holder. I reassured Brother staying single wouldn't be a problem. Besides, Duckie wouldn't elope to Canada.

What else? I saw the kids. A and RL were still in their baseball uniforms. Although I noticed what they were wearing, I completely overlooked asking them about their games. Mother would've remembered.

MD was hobbling around all grins while A was trying to put things in a bookcase. The carpet cleaner is finally returned. I can't even remember how long ago it was borrowed. I still don't have the vacuum. It's lost somewhere in the cardboard jungle. The SIL couldn't figure out where to start on things. The new pantry looks OK with things in it and isn't full at this time but I have to say the quality was no where near what I'd expect of myself for free much less at $60/hr. The flaws of the new wallboard, put up where Brother and I pulled down old paneling, makes my skin cry out in horror. I did keep my mouth shut and complimented the fact there were actually walls to be seen rather than the paneling. After 30+ years it was a drastic thing and about 30 years overdo. Brother later told me he had it done because of Mother and even that she's dead she deserved to finally be rid of the damned paneling. Of course, there's still a wall with paneling but it's unobtrusive.

I wish my mood was better. It's been rather morbid over the past couple of weeks, more so than before. A downturn isn't usual for me this time of year but it's more aggressive than I remember.

I tried a couple Mac software products that let you scan barcodes to catalog books and films with your Firewire/iLink/IEEE-1394 video cam. "Delicious Library" seems to work pretty well. It reads the codes with reliability. Pulling information off of Amazon is a bit slow and sometimes the process falls short. Of the random selection of DVDs I tried, it couldn't find the governor's "Jingle All The Way" and didn't bring down the cover-art for "True Lies." The competitor I won't mention. None of the DVDs scanned and it took a half-hour to get it to recognize a hand-full of book barcodes. They need to do more work on fundamental scanning reliability. As nifty as having such an inventory might be, it seems a little pointless for me unless I want to divest myself of films. When Mother was around, it might've been fun to use although I kept track of our DVD purchases with a simple, manually entered list of titles. There are other things I'd like to track though. Food purchases, for example, so I could profile my activities. For years I've kept a photo log of toys and educational things I buy for the niece and nephews to avoid duplicates. Before gift-giving events come up, I'd send off photos to get approval or confirmation it wasn't a duplicate otherwise purchased. Since no one else was buying the educational stuff, it was fairly easy on us.

Rent is paid, health coverage is paid (although my bill was sent to the wrong address). I got a credit card bill for $0.00. I wish I was happier. Forget happy, just less self-loathing would be a turn. My hard drive cable has arrived in CA so it could actually arrive tomorrow as expected. I'm not sure I saved anything by ordering online for about $10 less. Maybe I did. I ordered the cable for the "old" desktop VAIO. One of the hard disks reported failure and after backing it up for a last time, I pulled the cable and the cable itself tore away from the plug which stuck in the drive. In 20 years I've never had that happen to a ribbon cable before.

Speaking of SONY products, the SIL got her HDTV, a 40" Bravia. I didn't note if it's 720p or 1080p.

Cynical Much?

I was reading a celebrity gossip site (not Perez) to pass the time and saw a story about Shane West. I don't watch ER but I remember Shane from his days as Eli on "Once and Again." Supposedly he was seen at a party for GQ kissing an occasional actor on "Boston Legal." No, he wasn't kissing William Shatner's butt. Sorry.

The claim got the gay gossip chirping and the expected PR flack denials flew.

It just happens Shane and Ashton Holmes are playing gay in an upcoming film. Am I just too cynical assuming this story only happened as a viral marketing ploy for the film?

I was up to the house a bit. I didn't walk up there. Brother called about delivering the fridge. The garage is packed. The kid's playroom is filled. I cynically chuckle since the SIL had complained about there being so much junk in the house when it was still Mother's. We had nothing on the warehouse going on now!

I hate the new lounge sofas. They're amorphous "leather" blobs. Out of proportion to the room, it's like looking at the super-obese. I'm talking those 700 lbs waves and folds of flesh. Yuck.

The dining floor is down and there's some tile left over. I wish Mother'd been able to see the tile extend throughout the dining room.

We had wanted to do it but she decided it would have been too much for me to do and, maybe more so, we didn't have enough tile to do the bedrooms and dining both.

There's more to write about the house but I just can't be bothered right now. I had ravioli and find it wasn't enough to satisfy my food craving. Maybe I'll do some crackers or something.

A $6000 poll later and it seems Californians would rather have gay marriage than legalize ferrets as pets. In the USA, only CA and Hawaii ban pet ferrets.

Happy 31.

Must. Hold. On. To. Sanity.

Been up since 7. He was supposed to come at 10 but Brother didn't call me back until 11:30. Ok. Yes, Duckie, we know this isn't unusual. Keep reading anyway. :P

Instead of waiting for him, I walked up to the house anyway.

We were going to lay tile in the dining. I checked the carpet put down in RL's room and it stuck. I then vacuumed in the room. First, we needed to clear out the niece's room and disassemble Father's deathbed for pick up tomorrow. Mother would be pleased to see it go. While we were doing that, the SIL arrived. "Mullet-man," who had put the bamboo flooring in the master was still working on the pantry. She tended to some painting in RL's room. None of the rooms she painted have been finished.

We cleared out the dining room, ready to start on the tile. The SIL got huffy. And said, "Don't do that! "Mullet-man" will want to prep it. OK, at this point I'm like WTF? He costs $60/hr. Brother had managed to talk her out of using Mullet-man to blow up the wall between lounge and dining. He'd been working on the pantry for days now. I'm not saying it won't be nice, only that it's slow moving and they want to move in this weekend. Yes, really. Seriously. No kidding!

There's only bare concrete. The SIL thinks "Mullet-man" would wash it with paint thinner like he did the master. Well, I doubt he would because he was gluing the hardwood to that floor. This is done differently. But let's assume he does it that way. She's moving in this weekend. A dining room full of paint thinner will be wonderful for the children, don't you think? Yes. I thought so too.

I admit I said a few things. I reminded her that we can do the work. I wondered why I was even there. I was insulted, really. Part of her argument is "Mullet-man" "needs the work" but they aren't running a charity! Brother is not with limitless funding and time matters.

Before this bit came about Brother notices the red wine was missing from the rack. It had been put in the fridge. You don't chill red wine but not before I realized that's where it had gone I noted my fridge full of food had been thrown out after i was told to go leave it there by SIL. :( Even "Mullet-man's" food was thrown out! SIL denied knowledge of any of this. It was her friend who did it. UGH!

Along the way I pinched the skin on my left pointer finger between a hammer and pry-bar trying to get a nail out. It didn't bruise as badly I was feared. (Did I just hear a cry from Duckie for pix?) I tried to figure why WiFi wasn't working at the house and narrowed it down to the cable modem. The laptop could see the router both via ethernet and WiFi and direct connecting to the modem made no difference. Since they didn't have a computer there to test it when installed, I said just call and have them replace the modem.

While I was troubling shooting the WiFi (that would be SIL's laptop, btw) SIL decided to run off in a snit. I think she blamed me for causing trouble. No doubt. There I go trying to bring some rationality to her insane world. The shame of it all! Brother was not happy that she was dashing off.

Neither of us knew that to do. She wanted to lounge cleared for the carpet cleaner coming tomorrow. HUH??? So, we have four carpeted rooms, they can't have anything if they're being cleaned. Dining room? No, it has no floor and you don't want to impede a floor going in. What about the niece's room? Well, that bed needs to be moved out so you can fill it up. That would leave the master which "Mullet-man" was working in!! I guess there's the roof. Or let's haul it to the apt. (I'm kidding about that last one, Duckie.)

Anyway, I wasted a day, lost food and the topper was coming back to a PC saying, 'RED ALERT! HD is crashing! Quick! Back up!' That was my day.

Edited to add this: I finally caught up to "Ugly Betty" this week. It sucked. This was probably the lamest show of the season. On Idol, I'm glad to see Blake will be back again this coming week for the Top 10. Unlike the judges I preferred his change up on "You Keep Me Hanging On" from last week although he picked the right song for his voice this week. He still needs to work on his vocal control.

"

Must Be A Monday

I went to bed early last night because my eyes felt like they wanted to pop from my skull and roll down the road. Feeling better this morning. Yay me. There wasn't rain over night. Big surprise. Supposedly rain will come tonight instead. We'll see.

I called my old neighbor Sunday evening. There was a remarkable lack of energy in his voice. He asked me to step in when I come up to the Brother's house next. Could happen Today.

Brother emailed late telling me about the house destruction on-going. I guess laminated wood flooring is going in the Master instead of the carpet I bought on the estate's behalf. As part of a Caribbean theme, the walls are as bright aqua blue.

He asked me if I'd like to help tear down the wall Father built to solve an echo problem in the dining room. With the dining carpet gone and being replaced with more of the tile I put throughout the hallways and kitchen you can be sure any echo problem will be back with a vengeance. It'll be even more significant if they do remove the popcorn acoustic ceiling texture. It's an ugly look but serves a function. I have 10 ft ceilings at the apt and no acoustic texture. There is some echo but it doesn't bother me. With squealing kids, I'd be one badly frayed nerve.

The tile laying is being tossed to a dad for one of SIL's old childcare gigs. He'll probably be building the pantry as well. He needs work.

I seem more sensitive to sounds, the abrasiveness of so much music these days is like being run back-and-forth across a cheese grater. I've sought refuge with Radio Disney streaming for now. Black-Eyed-Peas up now with "Let's Get It Started." "Let's get ig'nant?" I had to look that up. Supposedly it's akin to "unplugging" and "zoning out" while dancing rather than a repudiation of knowledge. I wonder what level of penetration the meaning gets with listeners. Talking of double-meanings, "YMCA" now playing on Radio Disney! Hilarious!!

I'd always taken the song "YMCA" at face value. I also loathed literary analysis in school but I'm digressing. I tend to do that a lot with things which is probably why I just assume "it's all lies" now as a defense mechanism. Readers of this blog have probably heard the stories that "YMCA" is really about gay men "hooking up."

I just had the cat blog reading. She barfed on the carpet over-night. The food wasn't digested. That's the second time since we moved, not bad for her.

Interim Posting

I'm running behind on my entries. In the mean time, I went up to the office to complain about the kitchen skin. It's just not draining today. Period. The other day I tried to use the disposal in hopes of getting it flowing and the water drained in the disposal side and came back up on the other. I also ended up with two sinks of goo. I got that cleaned up and it did eventually drain. Last night it cooperated but today not one bit.

Since I'm self-hating depressive or something, I could stand the sink torment but I was puzzled by the building's exterior lights running all day long. That wasn't so with the other buildings. I don't know if these lights run on a timer or light sensor. I'll guess timer. The office will mention it to maintenance.

I called in a refill again. Of course it didn't go right the first time. I put in my new phone number and said, "Let me transfer you to an agent." It's Sunday so all those minutes were wasted. Let's try again and put in the old phone number. Ok, that worked. That means I have to call again tomorrow and tell them to update the damned phone number already! Oh, and help me get online since I never did get that temp password. Of course, I'm using a cell so all calls cost. So much for "toll-free numbers."

I watched "High School Musical" today. It was not high art but it passed the time. My old neighbor's grandson looks like Zac Efron. Maybe it's the hair. I used to see Efron play in WB's "Summerland" (Wikipedia) with singer Jesse McCartney and Ryan Kwanten (IMDB) which no Aussies seem to like! Bizarre.

I missed the sad, pathetic product that is Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Limited Numbered Signature Edition. Really! The box is "signed" by Bill Gates hisself! [sic]

Of course Apple's done this on actual computers rather than packaging. Back in 1987 or so, it had the "Woz" limited-edition IIgs. (pic) Woz, of course, was the engineering mind behind the Apple II, aka Steve Wozniak. Steve Job's signature, along with other members of the first Mac's team are carved on the inside (folklore.org) of the original's case. There were a few laser-engraved signature iPods for awhile too.

AOL's Top 12 Most Annoying (Idol) Songs

I can't disagree with the list. I didn't see American Idol season 1 but I know many of these were performed in season 2. Numbers 10, 8 & 3 were sung by Trenyce. Clay also performed three of these: 2 (semi-finals), 4 (won the "Wild Card" spot), & 12 (eliminated him early).

12. 'Open Arms' by Journey 
11. 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder
10. 'Let's Stay Together' by Al Green
 9. 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' by Queen
 8. 'I'm Every Woman' by Chaka Khan
 7. 'One Last Cry' by Brian McKnight
 6. 'I Believe I Can Fly' by R. Kelly
 5. 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' by Stevie Wonder
 4. 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me' by Elton John
 3. 'I Have Nothing' by Whitney Houston
 2. 'Unchained Melody' by The Righteous Brothers
 1. 'Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)' by Phil Collins

Most Overdone Songs

The Three Little Pigs Puppies?

From "The Death of Civilization is at Hand" file comes a story from the UK. The 150 year old children's classic story of the Three Little Pigs has been renamed for a school production to avoid possibly offending Muslim tots. No Muslims have objected to the original title, this is just some nutter trying to be "sensitive" and "multicultural." In fact, there's been objection *TO* the change because Muslims think it makes them seem like freaks. The prohibition is about eating pigs, not reading about them!

On the Clay Aiken front, it seems his gay-fling accuser John Paulus is now claiming he made it all up. Well, not he alone. He now says it was a conspiracy hated by Aiken haters who agreed to help him meet a porn producer if he played the part of Clay's secret gay lover. At this point, I just don't care. I was a registered Claymate but his albums have been disappointing with the most recent a completely lifeless disc of covers. That's really amazing as his singing covers in the Idol competition breathed so much life into them that he built a devoted fan base to start with! I don't know why he's packed on the pounds either but the chins look bad on someone with such a slender frame.

Congratulations to Anthony Fedorov for being cast in The Fantasticks.

"THE FANTASTICKS, the world’s longest running musical, are proud to announce that “American Idol” Top-Four Finalist, Anthony Fedorov, will step into the role of “Matt” on Tuesday, May 1, 2007."

It's Good To Burn.

I'm trying Listerine citris flavor. It doesn't taste bad but I'd forgotten how much that stuff burns by the end of the 30 seconds. On the upside it doesn't make my stomach rebel like many antiseptic mouthwashes.

I felt bad today and consequently slept. Sometimes in bed, sometimes on the floor. I'm feeling better this evening but not 100%. I didn't watch Idol live but I've heard the performances. Blake was disappointing in the vocal department but far from the worst. He did, however, have an interesting arrangement for "You Keep Me Hanging On" which I think could've been cool as a full song. It seemed to end suddenly but we had a tantilizing glimpse at what he had in mind. At least he was different.

It was "Diana Ross" week. Two or three forgot their words. Melinda is still near the top although she did "Home" which is one of those songs I'd permanently retire from Idol along with the Whitney Houston song book. Sanjaya should go home but I think Brandon was worst this week. Attempting "You Can't Hurry Love," his voice broke, he forgot words and generally it was just a mess.

Tiny Little Boxes

It finally happened. The U-Haul came and now I have a garage full of boxes. There's lots of stuff here now that I did not want. Lucky me. I then joined the caravan. SIL had the minivan, Brother the U-Haul. I rode with him. We took the truck back, stopping for petrol. It was so very cheap--only $3.02/gal. That's about a half dollar over national average that I heard on radio today. Yes, sarcasm on the cheap.

I waited in the minivan with the youngest nephew. He was napping. He's huge how. A giant! He walks, waves saying "bye-bye" and shares too. I didn't need the milk and potato chip although I did play with his toy now and then, when offered. That makes him smile. Sometimes he shows teeth too. He's too happy.

Can I say that the new blogger is a pain? I'll be typing and randomly Firefox will end my lines as if I've kit the Return key. Very annoying. I'm so glad Google decided it was out of beta. Ugh.

So, U-Haul back, another reserved for the move of them into the house. Now we went back to the house but interruption! They were here for the bin. The bin was very full! Frightfully full! But more scary was when the truck lifted it up and here came the water rushing out. Yuck, what an odor. Can't believe it was all rainwater.

The baby nephew is walking. He tried to share his potato chips with me but I only accepted his toy when he offered. The potato chip had milk on it a combination I'd rather avoid. Just a year old, he talks a bit. He'll wave and say, "bye-bye." He also smiles easily. That's so not me.

The niece had some independent testing done and is only at 50% for a Kindergartener except i the one category she's only 9% in ability. She's very confused about T-Ball. I guess she ran from first base to the pitcher's mound. The SIL said they're really beginning to see the adverse effects of the birth mother's drug abuse during the pregnancy. Long-time readers know the niece is the third child taken from the woman. Makes me want to bang my head on the edge of a desk. Meanwhile Madge, Angelina and others go abroad to buy their pets... um, for adoptions.

In happier news, I found the missing red purse. It was among the stuff brought to the apartment yesterday. I'd have sworn it was already here but, in retrospect, I realize I was thinking of having had it on Mother's chair at the house rather than the apartment. I don't know if I've shared about the red purse. Mother hated attention. She'd been looking for a new purse for some time and while she was shopping for other things she said, "Go pick me out a purse," and let me tell you that is no easy task! There are hundreds of styles in any given department store. She already had three or four that were unused, buyer's remorse, purchases. If she ever used a daily purse that wasn't black, I don't remember it. Anyway, we settled upon a few and I convinced her the red one was it. I insisted she check in a mirror. It was a tough sell. Even when she got home, I had to talk shame her into actually switching over to it. But I finally moved that mountain. She embraced it pretty quickly. It's a great design for her uses regardless of the color. It ended up as her last purse. She was ultimately very happy with it. When I think about Mother, I can't not think of her and her every-day purses. Although she was a modern slacks-and-jeans wearing woman, she always had the purse with her unless she was literally going around to pick us up from our school bus stop. Driving, the purse was always under her legs. It had all kinds of things from a plastic rain scarf to meds to a tape measure. I'd say it's as notable for what you wouldn't find in it: a mirror or make-up.

The duckie is online so I'll wrap this up now and demand to know why he hasn't commented!

The History Boys

Excellent. Well worth my time. IMDB entry

I had vague knowledge of it from award-winning success as a play. I really enjoyed it. It had lots of depth that you almost never see on screen in a comedy.

---

The cat is meowing at me. I'm getting drowsy. I'll probably walk about for a bit though. TV on Friday's is simply awful. Free-to-air radio was a bore.

I've been listening to another streaming station which is just starting and it's a bit unfocused. I'm not really a fan of "rock" in the Creed-mold. I find the vocal sound causes me irritation. I'm irritated on my own, I need music to improve my mood damn it!

Did I say the meds came? Ok, that's one less piece of drama in my life. I already ate one of my pair of ice creams. I was just in that kind of mood tonight. There's a chance I didn't have a house-related dream during my day nap. I don't really remember a particular dream so I'll take that as a bonus.

It's already feeling stuffy in the apartment, I think I'll crack a window while I'm on the balconey. No Duckie yet tonight. Has it been two days? I can't be sure. There is some thinking I've got pending on the nature of life and whether "happiness" is a bedrock element. On the way to the grocery I pondering how long my life had been about filling gaps. Once I was old enough, I fell into a support role and then really took that with me to uni and beyond. I've not really spent much time on what excites me about living, if anything. I've been through a few days this week where I was completely nihilistic about life.