Thoughts About Socks, American Idol, The Bachelor, Grammys 09- Most Unique Fashion Awards

So the Grammys for 2009 have been handed out and now's the time for my own fine and unique fashion awards for same.

Plus a cooking show overlooked but amongst the best…TOP CHEF.

Dancing With the Stars 09 Dancers Announced.

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Amidst talks of stimulus bills that are robberies of the treasury, we go to signs of spring, odes to missing socks, the prettiest handwriting in the world and much more.
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The Bachelor 09-Jason, continues on his quest for true love.

The favorite bachelorette as I see it has parents who refuse to participate in this bastardization of true love.

No surprise as to who was sent home.
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Hollywood rounds continue on for American Idol 2009 and some real surprises sent packing and some real drubs remain.

All with pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.

Pic of the Day





Ok, We’re Not Kidding Here…WHERE ARE THE SOCKS?

I am a person quite comfortable in a chill. I almost never wear a coat, even in the winter. I have hot flashes that could heat a small house. My only blanket is a thin affair with a wide weave that allows the cool air easy passage through its bulk.

My feet, as most of us I suspect, are a whole different matter. Socks are very important as cold feet are uncomfortable always.

Thus sockwear is quite important in the choosing. My fat calves don’t help the matter any either.

So I purchase some socks at the local outlet store, pretty things with silver weaves throughout as decoration. Only when I put the things on, the silvery thread tightens up so much that my leg is strangled, if such a thing can happen to a leg.

Back to the drawing board and Walmart has socks, of course, quite cheap and labeled as being for ladies with fat calves. I think this may just the ticket.

Well they worked fine. Problem is they only last through about three washings then the heels and toes have big holes and a hole is a sock is not much better than not wearing a sock at all. For a while I put a smaller sock, ie NOT a knee-high, over the holes but how dumb is this?

It was time for me to spend some bucks on something so important. The Vermont Country Store is a catalogue which sells old-fashioned kind of stuff. I had a coupon for free shipping. Featured prominently on its pages, alongside items such as “Evening in Paris” perfume, were knee-high socks, “all genuine warm wool”, for ladies with fat calves.

The things were on “sale” at $11.00 a pair if you purchased them two at a time. Damn. The Walmart socks were two bucks a pair but, of course, there was that problem with the holes.

I figured, buy about four pair of these things. They sure looked comfortable and warm and my experience with this retailer had been positive in the past. Plus there was my free shipping offer. I figured the cost of shipping socks couldn’t be all that high but free is always good.

Sure enough the socks are great. At times I sit and revel in the feel of comfort and warmth, and I smirk. With care these socks could last me a couple of years. Heck, I only wear the things in the winter. They sure are made well, that’s easy to ascertain by the feel of the soft wool and the perfect construction.

First laundry comes along and I figure it’s time to see how well they fare in the washer.

Out of the dryer…ONE SOCK!!!!

I search the dryer, the hamper, the nooks and crannies of the laundry room. One of my damn $11.00 socks is missing and hey, I’m not laughing anymore.

I never mistreated that sock. In fact, as indicated above, I complimented the thing for its softness, the luxurious feel. I even bragged to husband about the magnificent socks.

And it runs away from home at the first laundry?

There is no justice folks. I now make a public plea for my sock to come home. I am so sorry for any insult I have made on you.

Six Fingered Child



My daughter was the first to point out this most interesting story to me. She also sent me the link, where I got the above pic. HERE.

I don’t know why I am intrigued by this story except that I have, in my longish life, had very many six, seven and even eight-toed cats. They are quite common and the common wisdom is that the anomaly is a result of inbreeding.

In fact one of my current cats has six toes. She’s also deathly afraid of the new bedspread, as covered HERE. I don’t know if there is a connection to the toes and the rather weird bedspread phobia.

Further, I don’t know if the child with the many fingers is the result of inbreeding or not.

Like I asked my daughter, could this kid be his own grandpa?

Saving Katie Couric

This past week perky Katie Couric had some great “gets” as they call it in her business. She had an entire show where she had complete access to many of the Grammy 2009 nominees. This was a couple of days BEFORE the big show.

I watched it and I like to puke over that woman’s interview style.

I recall when Couric got the big title of anchor of CBS news what, two years ago? Many thought she’d never succeed and here CBS had given this vapid creature millions of dollars of pay and the liberals complain about CEO’s bonuses. At least the CEO’s actually WORK instead of, say, looking cute and asking vapid questions.

After the Grammy special, there was Katie Couric interviewing none other than “Sully”, the hero captain of the plane that he guided to land in the Hudson River. THIS was the “get” of all time.

I recall that Katie was the first to land an interview with Sarah Palin and it was perky Katie who supposedly brought Palin down.

Which she did no such thing but according to the libs, if you say something long enough, it becomes the truth.

So I tip my hat to Ms. Couric. I was one of the naysayers who thought she’d never succeed.

But I’d point out, softly, that even Pat Fish would succeed and be worth millions if I had all the world getting me access to the best interviews of the day.

I’m just sayin’.

Hints of Spring

I do my morning exercise routine at 8 in the am, come snow, rain or shine. As indicated above, given my warm knee socks, I don’t get cold although I’ll admit this winter’s been a cold one, global warming notwithstanding.

Part of the joy of the morning routine is listening to the bird fellows. February marks the beginning, however slight, of the switchover to spring.

It was late January that I HEARD the first American robin. Husband and I have a contest over who sees the first robin and it’s usually in January that one of these birds will be spotted. In my case I could hear the bird’s sharp bark from a bare tree somewhere directly above my head. Husband didn’t buy this as a first observation but I’ve got well-trained ears, damn it.



At any rate, this morning, 2/12/09, I laid my eyeballs on the first robin and he was a handsome fellow indeed. Robins are notorious early nesters and I swear this guy seemed to regard my yard as a real possible territory for his fine self. Soon I suspect he will be shouting from the tree tops to passing female robins that right down here is the finest territory, all established and void of challenging male robins. Said female will fall for his line as females of all species often do.

And if the first robin sighting doesn’t do it, consider that fine bird singer, the redwing blackbird. This is another bird that is amongst the first out and about and looking for a territory that he may entice female redwing blackbirds to join him.

He can’t sing worth a hoot. But he belts out that hoarse “onk-la-ree” call as if he was the next American Idol. I laid eyeballs on this fellow too and he seems to think my yard would also make a fine territory for him and his future mate.

In pursuit of further signs of spring I took a tour of the fallow and brown front-yard gardens. Which were, as is the norm, still brown and fallow this mid-February. Except for the azaleas! The azaleas in the front porch garden sported promising leafage that again promised beautiful bloom to come.



It Finally Happened…the Dog Got a Squirrel

….and folks, it wasn’t pretty.

I do give the squirrel-rodents plenty of warning before I slide the deck door to open and unleash the anxious dog after those bushy-tailed thieves who munch sunflower quite happily from my bird feeders, seed not meant for them but since when has a squirrel-rodent ever been fair? All squirrel-rodents are Democrats.

I have seen the squirrels go UNDER the big privacy fence separating my yard from neighbor. I’ve seen them go from ground level and up OVER the roof to the other side of our garden shed. I’ve seen them rather stupidly come DOWN from a safe tree to run across the yard and over the fence to the opposite neighboring yard.

This little squirrel-rodent didn’t make just such an attempt. For the dog, who has had her last dog nerve plucked over these squirrel-rodents who insist on coming inside of HER yard, caught the youngster.

This squirrel-rodent will NOT grow into an adult to reproduce and populate the world with little squirrel-rodents who can’t get away from a snarling dog, even WITH advance warning!

It’s Darwin’s law. At work. Here in a little swampy backyard in southern Delaware.

May the bushy-tailed thief rest in peace.

There came to be as a result of this backyard drama, a lesson learned. For I had pondered NOT getting dog her rabies shots this year.

Now I didn’t give the notion all that much thought as I am a responsible dog owner. But it did cross my mind that poor dog NEVER leaves our property, all of her exercise consisting of walking in circles in our backyard, some ball games in that same backyard with the owner, and some time on our front porch. Which is because loose dogs in our neighborhood attacked her properly leashed and saddled self when I use to walk her upon the neighborhood roads.

So where’s she going to get rabies if no loose dogs will attack her?

I did hear Jo-Ann let loose with a yip of pain as she shook that squirrel back and forth in her mouth like she does so joyfully with her toys. Evidently this Darwinian squirrel-rodent WAS attempting to save itself and I don’t know, perhaps bit Jo-Ann, or maybe scratched. The last I saw of the poor dead creature before I pitchforked it over the back fence it was nowhere near alive so whatever defense it had made it had to be pitiful.

And Jo-Ann didn’t have any scratches or such on her. Point being that even though the dog never leaves our property, danger can, and DOES, come to HER.

We will be getting her the three year rabies shot next Thursday.

The So-Called Fairness Doctrine, Ulterior Motives and Freedom of Speech

The “fairness doctrine” is a law enacted in the late 1930’s which required users of public air waves to insure that equal time is given to all points of view, liberal, conservative and in-between. The law was repealed in the early 80’s I believe because what with cable, plentiful newspapers, and now the Internet, anyone who needs a point of view they prefer can find it easy enough.

The liberals want to bring back this “fairness doctrine”, perhaps with another name. It’s one of my greatest fears. Soon they will shut down this humble Blogger that nobody even reads.

It’s like the FIRST amendment in our Bill of Rights, that pesky Freedom of Speech.

Debbie Stabinow, some senator from somewhere, is behind a force trying to shut down right wing radio talk show hosts, thereby killing air time for anyone who would dare to go against their fine liberal dogma which would have liberals telling us how to think, what and when to worship, how to spend our money and with this new “stimulus” (heh) package, when we should live and die.

Not that Debbie’s husband was part of Air America, a liberal radio talk show failure has anything to do with her mission because folks, liberals are mean, teeny, tiny jealous people who love to tell you how to live because their lives are so small and void of joy. It would turn out, to no normal person’s surprise, that Americans DON’T tune in to liberal radio talk show because why get gloom and doom when life can be difficult enough?

President Obama, for example, NEVER expresses any optimism about America, about how resilient we are, how we’ve come through so much and came out strong. I have never seen a so-called leader behave like this guy. All he does is tell us that the sky is falling if we don’t vote for his theft of the American treasury and how we are doomed, oh joyless life, we are doomed. The guy depresses me every time he opens his mouth.

It’s not like the libs don’t already have the presidency, the House and the Senate. Can’t they let us pathetic right wing morons have our radio talk shows and leave us alone?

So I make a prediction. Take away our right to Free Speech and what Nixon called the “silent majority” will take to the streets. I mean can’t they leave us the hell alone? They’ve already won everything. Let them govern the way they want. All’s fair in love in war and as Obama likes to point out, they won.

Do they have to take away our harmless radio talk shows? Well yeah. Because liberals are mean unhappy people. They love gloom and doom. They sure don’t want us conservatives laughing at a Rush Limbaugh imitation. Joy is the enemy.

We WILL be silenced. The Messiah has ordained.

The Best Handwriting in the World

There really was, once upon a time, a national contest for the best handwriting in America. A young girl won who had a very nice handwriting that was perfectly in line with the Palmer method, evidently the benchmark of cursive script.

As it would turn out, my own fine self has the best handwriting in the world. I won by virtue of a contest on this Blog, entered only by me, and judged by me.

Below a pic of my beautiful handwriting, a talent which gets me nothing, earns me no Olympic medals and hey, I wouldn’t have won that handwriting contest more than likely for my script does not follow any rules, that’s for sure.

So congratulate me when you get a chance.



 


American Idol 2009-Down to 36

I consider the Hollywood rounds the most boring part of this competition. I understand that this early airing of the contest is just to try and gin up early interest; that the serious attention comes when the Top 15 are announced.

Still, the vignettes from the tryouts in the cities are interesting in that there are the goofs and wackos. It’s always fun to try and spot those who might win or come in the top five. The judges will from time to time during these early tryouts, get crazy and funny.

The Hollywood rounds are confusing and the viewer has not yet formed any particular passionate allegiance to the contenders. The show makes an attempt to be dramatic but the coy ways the judges announce who goes home, who continues on…it gets old and stale after a while.

Still and so, as a fine reviewer of the medium, it is my job to follow such things and so I shall. Below, the names of the top 36.

Arianna Afsar
Kris Allen
Felicia Barton *
Kendall Beard
Ann Marie Boskovich
Ricky Braddy
Matt Breitzke
Casey Carlson
Megan Corkrey
Tatiana Del Toro
Anoop Desai
Stephen Fowler
Matt Giraud
Danny Gokey
Alexis Grace
Mishavonna Henson
Allison Iraheta
Junot Joyner
Kai Kalama
Brent Keith
Adam Lambert
Jessica Langseth
Scott MacIntyre
Nathaniel Marshall
Kristen McNamara
Nick Mitchell
Jasmine Murray
Jorge Nunez
Lil Rounds
Michael Sarver
Von Smith
Jackie Tohn
Taylor Vaifanua
Jeanine Vailes
Alexander Wagner-Trugman
Stevie Wright

As a refresher, the names, in no particular order, of the prior seven winners of the title of American Idol.

Ruben Studdard
Kelly Clarkson
Taylor Hicks
David Cook
Fantasia Barrino
Carrie Underwood
Jordin Sparks

Now on to some of this year’s contenders, their pic and the clip of their initial tryout, who I think bring something extra to the competition.

When I first saw Alexis Grace, this year’s obligatory single mother although I think she said she has intentions of marrying her baby daddy, I thought she had that “star quality”. At the Hollywood rounds, she dyed some of her hair pink.

Alexis Grace




The most outstanding thing about Kai Katama is that I consider him to be the handsomest of all the male contenders in this year’s contest. A good looking guy who sings well…we haven’t had that on this competition for as long as I can remember.

Kai Katama




Scott Macintyre is also a pretty guy but more than that, he is legally blind. Now as I understand it he can see but his sight is comparable to looking at the world through a soda straw.

I think Scott has a chance to haul in the sympathy vote with his singing and looks.

Scott Macintyre




Jasmine Murray is the required youngster in the competition. She is the next Jordin Sparks. For her youth, age 17, singing talent and beauty, I think Jasmine will end up in the top five. She might win, we shall see.

Jasmine Murray




Frankly I don’t think Nicholas Mitchell has a chance to win this competition. In fact, I am surprised he made it this far.

For Mr. Mitchell hasn’t decided if he wants to be a comic or a singer. So for his audition (watch the clip of his audition below for a sample of his hijinks) and during Hollywood week, he couldn’t keep it serious.

Intriguingly, the judges kept pushing him through. I figure maybe Nicholas could be another Sanjaya type, a fellow who appeals to the goofs amongst us out here in la-la land. If nothing else, he brings us comic relief.

Nicholas Mitchell




Lil Rounds is married with a couple of kids. She is perfectly normal in terms of lifestyle. She has an outstanding voice and that star quality which can carry her to all sorts of heights. Lil is like Fantasia, only way more classy.

Lil Rounds




Three Left to Win Bachelor Jason

I did a search on the name Mesnick and it would turn out that Jason
IS Jewish.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, wink, wink.

The only reason I even cared is an incident with Naomi’s father during the episode of The Bachelor aired on 2/9/09 in which Jason visited the families and home towns of the final four contenders: Naomi, Melissa, Jillian and Molly.

Naomi’s father launched into a sermon from the mount about how we all must love Jesus. Now this scene was so obviously inserted and the language about loving Jesus, along with Jason’s wry comment during a solo camera vignette that Naomi’s father sure loved Jesus, that I concluded, as the show obviously wanted me to do, that Jason is Jewish.

I’ll be honest here and know that some of my best friends are Jews, that I had been suspicious as Jason has a Jewish nose if ever one existed. But beyond that I didn’t think it much mattered. I figured Jason knew the level of his Jewishness, he likely knew the religious affiliation of the females contending for his heart. He could make his choice based on whether he thought a clash of faiths might be a problem with the female who captured his heart. Well hell, maybe some of the female finalists are Jewish, I don’t know.

But that bit with Naomi’s father and his very obvious statement that one must love Jesus, well it was a read-between-the-lines moment but obviously Naomi’s father had a problem with Jason’s Jewishness.

Naomi was sent home that same night and I don’t blame Jason. If she’s got an anti-semite father I would think this would make an inter-faith marriage all the more difficult.

I didn’t much like Naomi at any rate. I think she’s too young for Jason at age 24. Her family is too kookie for me to comprehend, witness the dead bird funeral, and that spiteful father of hers is a real turn-off.







The other interesting event this past week is Melissa’s parents who refused to appear on camera for this series.

So Melissa had to introduce Jason to some of her friends, hardly the same thing.

Melissa said her parents were very “private”, a rare and refreshing thing in this day of Youtube and Myspace. I suspect they don’t like this method of meeting a mate and didn’t want to be a part of it.

In fact I’m not sure how I’d feel about being part of such a thing should my daughter ever decide to participate in such a public and potentially humiliating endeavor of that which should be so personal. Since this is very unlikely ever, I didn’t give it all that much thought. Those young ladies chose to do this, they are all adult, I’m sure that despite the weeping and teeth-gnashing, they know that only one can win the thing. I seriously doubt that all that much deep true love happens as the show is unfolding. Perhaps later, after the Bachelor or Bachelorette chooses the finalist but I’m not convinced the contenders aren’t there just to have a CHANCE to date the series’ star.

But Melissa’s parents didn’t participate in the show and people with principals, what a concept.

I do think this will hurt Melissa in the end but who knows? No doubt should Jason consider Melissa his life’s love he will eventually meet Melissa’s parents.

Jillian’s Canadian family seemed almost normal. Molly’s family started out normal but then there was the weird thing with the hats.

Below, a clip remix of the show. Check out the kisses and you decide who Jason REALLY likes.




Grammys 2009 Annual Fish Fashion Awards/Review

Just for giggles and memory, here’s a link to last year’s Grammy fashion awards as compiled by The Wise I.

My DVR did something weird while taping this show. Thus I lost about half the program but no fear, I found some pics and had enough of my own to present my fantastic fashion awards as is my wont.

Since I missed quite a bit of the show, about half due to either strange sounds like aliens speaking or a voice repeating over and over that I’ve got the Spanish speaking broadcast of this show and to get English I should hit some button. I rebooted that hellacious cable box from Comcast (this is the THIRD one, folks…where do they make these things…Kenya?) and was able to get part of the show on DVR.

So I have a few comments gleaned from that which the cable box from hell plus the little kitchen TV allowed me to see of the award show.

First, Al Gore, sheesh will this guy ever go away? He won the best speaking album award for his alleged book “Earth in the Balance”, that book nonsense about global warming, the scam to end all scams. Gore won a Nobel prize too, yeah right, life is fair folks. I gotta complain now before the Fairness Doctrine shuts us all up who dare to critique these icons of intellectualism.

Also in my pitiful notes is a comment about Justin Timberlake and his poor excuse for a sense of humor. Something about a “general” store that was not funny. I also note that the band Coldplay seemed void of talent to this admittedly older woman. Hey, they won lots of awards so what do I know? Except that one part where some guy sat and tapped out some godawful song on a tinny piano was boring as all get out.

Finally, one of my favorite songs, “Stay”, by Sugarland, won a major award so all was not lost.

Beyond that, below my tongue-in-cheek fashion awards and below that, a short video obtained from Comcast’s pathetic excuse for a DVR cable box of the few highlights of this year’s show.











Dancers on “Dancing With the Stars” 2009 Announced

This hit ABC series is scheduled to premier on 3/9/09. I do have a separate Blog set up for critiquing this reality series that I quite enjoy, HERE.

This year there are some unique changes. First, we have two couples competing on the series, Ty Murray and Jewel AND Chuck Wicks and Julianna Hough. Hough was a professional dancer on this series so I guess she will be the same while her husband, Chuck Wicks will be a contender.

Also, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff, who are newly engaged, will be working together as professional dancers for this year’s contest.

There’s something for us boobs out here in la-la land, something called “Design a Dance”. I imagine we’ll hear more about this as the contest unfolds.

Finally, this year we will have something called a “dance-off”. This is featured on another dancing show, Bruno and Carrie Ann’s show I believe. This rule requires that the two bottom dancers as voted by the audience will have to “dance off” and the judges will pick one to be eliminated. Although I reserve the right to be wrong about this and will catch up on the new rules in due course.

With no further ado, the 2009 “Dancing With the Stars” contenders:

-Ty Murray
-Jewel
-Belinda Carlisle-lead singer Go-Go's
-David Alan Grier-Actor
-Shawn Johnson-17 years old...olympic gold medal winner
-Lil Kim-rapper, singer and actress
-Gilles Marini-Actor
-Steve-o-MTV Star
-Nancy O'Dell-TV hostess..."Access America"
-Denise Richards-Actress-married to a Sheen
-Lawrence Taylor-NY Giants football Hall of Famer
-Chuck Wicks-singer and songwriter
-Steve Wozniak-Apple computer wiz

Top Chef 2009

Bravo’s Top Chef cooking competition is not quite as homey as Food Network’s “Next Food Network Star”. For one thing, the contenders are generally well-trained and experienced chefs or graduates of fancy cooking schools. The Food Network Star is more apt to be a master of macaroni and cheese than Fois Gras.

Still I find this contest moves quickly along and I enjoy watching the new show each week. The show begins with something called a “quickfire” challenge. Usually some famous chef I never heard of is the judge of this short contest. This past week the quickfire challenge was to make something new and unique with eggs.



The winner of this challenge is, in the early stages of the contest, immune from elimination after the major challenge later in the show. Later in the contest, the winner of the quickfire challenge gets some special advantage in the major challenge, like being able to pick a key ingredient over the others or first choice at choosing a partner if the challenge so requires.

Carla won the quickfire challenge with the eggs. While the other contenders made everything from soup to nuts with the simple egg, Carla made green eggs and ham (think Dr. Seuss) and won praises from the famous chef I never heard of.

The contest is now down to four finalists and the entire contest will be moving to Puerto Rico. My favorite is Carla. Carla is someone I’d quite enjoy spending an afternoon with and hey, I’d eat her cooking. She used to be a model than went to cooking school. She’s quirky, smart and pleasant as all get out. Rather strange looking too, but in a pleasant way. Her smile lights the evening sky.

Stephan, it would seem, is likely destined to win but I will always love Carla.

The semi-finals of this contest from Puerto Rico begins this coming Weds. Night at 10 pm-2/18/09. First run episodes of each contest airs on Weds. Nights at 10 pm.

Tune in for the semi-finals and finals and tell me if Carla isn’t a sweetie.
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