We've got pics and VIDEO you'll find nowhere else on the Internet plus fine reviews of both shows for yon cooking afficiandos.
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Quote of the DayRodney Dangerfield: |
| Web Site Worth the Visit Prank Site A list of over 1000 practical jokes and pranks that you can play on your friends and family. ABOVE SITE HERE |
| TIDBITS All About the Volume I was brainstorming for new tip ideas the other day and I got to thinking that we have never done a tip on the basics of your computer's volume controls before. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, go down to your system tray and double click on the little speaker icon (it looks like this: ). A new window will then open that is titled Master Volume. You'll see a bunch of sliders you can move around that help you get the perfect sound for your computer. But, what are you supposed to do with all of those? What do all the terms mean? Well, keep reading and I'll tell you! The first one you'll see is for the Master Volume itself. This is the one that gives you the most sound, depending on how much you want. It will let you know how loud it is by a little "thump" noise, so you can listen for that as well. The next one is Wave. The wave control has to do with any music you may play with special software, such as WaveOut. This one doesn't really affect your direct sound too much. After that comes the SW Synth. First of all, synth stands for synthesizer and this one deals with any synthesizing that has to be done within the software programs you use. This one is important if you're listening to a music CD or playing a game on your computer. The next one is CD/Video In and as you can probably guess, it comes into play with any audio or video files you may play on your PC. Lastly, there are the Line In and Microphone options. These both have to do with the connectors on your actual computer tower. Line In is mainly used for a stereo sound and the Microphone comes into play when you're using a mic along with your computer. Again, each control comes with a slider you can move up or down to get a sound volume you prefer. You can also control the balance of each by using the Balance slider. I personally like to have all mine set in the middle, with the Master Volume just a little bit higher. But either way you like it, you're now in sole control of your computer's volume. Isn't that the best feeling ever?! ~ Erin |
"The Next Food Network Star" 2007 Down to Top Three
The final FOUR are pictured below.
The final three who will be stars of this year's Food Network Food Network Star finale airing this Sunday night-7/15/07-are JAG, Amy and Rory.
Paul, alas, he of the comical face and wide smile, didn't make it past this round aired on 7/8/07.
This episode of The Next Food Network Star was called the Iron Chef challenge. Following the format of that show, the remaining four contenders were charged with creating three dishes from their "secret ingredient". The competing teams were Amy versus JAG and Rory versus Paul. While the opposing duo were competing with THEIR secret ingredient the two not competing were charged with providing commentary on the activities of the opposing team.
Amy and JAG, for example, had chicken as their secret ingredient. Rory and Paul were charged with narrating the activities of Amy and JAG from the "mini kitchen stadium" set up for the challenge. Alton Brown, much as is done in the real "Iron Chef" asked questions of the narrators.
An added interesting addition to this evening was the return of four contenders from the past to serve as sous chefs to the final four. Returning were Tommy, Mike, Colombe and Adrien.
The special ingredient for Paul and Rory was sea bass.
This was an interesting show in this reality cooking series. I've been very impressed with the Food Network and how this contest is edited and aired. There were two great surprises this week, at least surprises to me. First, Amy did a wonderful job, both with her food preparation and her narration. I've thought right along that Amy had talent and was a good cook. But I tend to look at these contenders as to whether my own fine self would tune in. I never envisioned Amy as a cook on Food Network I would much bother to watch. She's just a bit too "ordinary".
Paul, on the other hand, is wonderfully photogenic and has an engaging smile. Paul, however, did a perfectly terrible job on this evening of the Iron Chef challenge. He was entirely too unprofessional in his narration of food events during the "Iron Chef" challenge and didn't seem like he much cared at all.
Rory messed up her narration a bit too but Rory did prepare some great meals with that sea bass.
JAG? I just don't think JAG is going to win this.
Short video snippets follow that capture the contenders featured in all their glory. Or doom.
Amy's narration below...check out the great job she did.
Paul's narration below....he did a lousy job. At one point he referred to Alton Brown as "Allen".
Rory's narration below....Rory couldn't stop being a flirt.
Remaining Contenders in Food Network's Next Star 2007 as of this date:
JAG
Amy
Rory
My guess as to the finalists in the order listed are:
RORY-WINNER
Amy-second place
JAG-third place
Links to prior reviews of the Next Food Network Star 2007:
Food Network Star's web site
6/3/07-The 2007 Search for the Next Food Network Star Begins
The Cover of Bon Appetit
Feeding the NJ Nets Fans
The Fried Meatloaf Caper
If You Hate It, Cook It
Down to the Top Three
"Hell's Kitchen" 2007-So Fake I Almost Gagged
I can see a group of writers and editors for this series sitting around a table. I imagine the following commentary.
"You know," one editor would wave a pen in the air, "Julia hasn't been screamed at hardly at all by Chef Ramsey."
"Something else," another editor might say, "we need to make Jen sound more professional. It's possible she might win this thing and we've hardly lauded her at all."
"Ramsey was complaining that we need some more drama in the show. A fire in the kitchen he suggests," yet another editor opines.
"We've got another challenge," a breathless editor shouts after running into the room, a bit late for this planning meeting. The eyes of all editors look up. "This week's win is a cover shoot for "In Touch" magazine. Ramsey says he wants to be on the cover with the GIRLS. So we need to write the script so that the girls win. We can add some heightened drama for the guys, give them more face time. But what good is having a professional hair stylist and cosmotologist give the winners of this week's challenge a makeover if it's a bunch of guys?"
And so the episode for the Monday 7/8/07 was written and I don't believe a thing that allegedly happened that night wasn't scripted and rehearsed in advance.
Now I understand that these melodramatic reality shows, even "The Next Food Network Star" have a little drama "encouraged" now and again. These sorts of contests have viewers and if the viewers get bored they tend to move on. But this "Hell's Kitchen" series seems so fake that I'm losing belief in the entire concept of the series.
On this night there were several segments that made no sense at all. One was Chef Ramsey's tirade against Julia. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Below is a short snippet of this rather odd tirade against Julia that yon reader may decide how authentic it looks.
The guys lost the challenge in this episode and their punishment was something nuts like going through trash bags. The girls on the other hand went to that photoshoot for "InTouch" magazine and of course Chef Ramsey wanted to be photographed with a bunch of pretty girls for that magazine's cover. Another weird and out-of-place segment was when Chef Ramsey summoned Rock to come down to that same InTouch studio to fetch even more trash for the guys to go through. Evidently the scene was meant to somehow make Rock jealous but it was a bit too forced for me to believe it.
That alleged fire that Bonnie started also seemed fake and brought nothing to the show. A short video snippet of this event is below that, again, yon reader can decide.
Melissa worked with the guys this week and even keeping her around for another week made no sense. It was a no-brainer that she would be gone soon.
Gordon Ramsey has a new TV series due to premiere this fall I believe. He will be critiquing various restaurants and eateries according to the advance hype. Methinks he and the "Hell's Kitchen" creators are over-doing the drama on this 2007 contest in hopes of attracting viewers for his new series.
Remaining Contenders for Hell's Kitchen 2007 as of this writing:
Bonnie
Rock
Josh
Jen
Julia
I'm not ready to make any predictions of winners for the 2007 Hell's Kitchen series and likely never will. For I'm sure that Chef Ramsey has decided by now who will win and the producers are busy writing the show to make it happen.
Links to prior reviews of Hell's Kitchen 2007:
Web site for Hell's Kitchen
Amidst Much Cussing, on 6/4/07 the 2007 Hell's Kitchen Competition Begins
The Girls Win Everything Including Fileting the Fish
The Spaghetti Caper
The Taste Test
The Saga of the Wedding and the Duck
Lobsters
More TV Reviews HERE
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