Pat Fish's Blog: Thoughts-Air Force One, Dance Stars-Major Star Hurt, Amer Idol-Time for Him to Go

Thoughts on an Air Force One photoshop contest proving that the scare over New York did NOT have to happen.

Arlen gone, Biden gaffes, what's a bigwig and how did the name come about?

This and intriguing comments all ending with a smile.

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It was Rat Pack night with the most unlikely of mentors.

He was sent home and it was his time.

Down to four we have a prediction along with pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.

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The first dance team contest airs on 4/27/09 and we've got some complaints.

A major competitor has a busted rib and this might change the whole dynamic of this contest.

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Pic of the Day

Intriguing Comments

I did a review of this year’s “Hell’s Kitchen” contest as well as the ongoing “Celebrity Apprentice” contest HERE

Got a real nice Freepmail from a fine fellow Freeper about my review. I thought the comments so insightful they were worth inclusion in full in this Thoughts post.

enjoyed reading your blog reviews. My computer doesn’t do everything and for some reason won’t let me comment on Blogger sites. Anyway -

Thank you I have not seen good reviews on these two shows. I watch Celebrity Apprentice and Hell’s Kitchen and shake my head indeed. I also watch The Amazing Race.

CA - Love it but I love it better with common people living in the apartment. I thought it really jumped the shark when they went to L.A. and lived in tents. WTF? But I digress. Wow I can’t stand Melissa Rivers at all. The other week when she was in the Board Room and Joan Rives was upset in the apartment was something else. Joan packed up her bag and was ready to walk out if Melissa was fired. When I saw Joan throw her drink down and break the glass and then go through the door pulling her bag my thought was - that is why nepotism rules are a good thing. What a poor display by Joan to prepare for walking out because her baby might be unappreciated by the boss. I hate how Melissa always tells us she has years of experience of producing and she is so proud of producing the red carpet dog and pony show. I guess for the Academy Awards. I’m nobody and even I can tell that is one of the worst messes on tv.

HK - I am a foodie so I love this show. But at this stage of the game I am so sick and tired of beef wellingtons, rissoto, scallops, and “doori”. He can’t come up with new dishes for each show? I know nothing of the life of a chef but even in a very busy restaurant I would think the chefs would never be under such screaming pressure. I mean if they are then they should hire more help. Even at McDonald’s the orders are on an overhead screen for all to read. I would think real restaurants could have that. I understand how they want it to be entertaining and we all love to see others demeaned but IMHO I’m sick of it. By the way I assume those little eggs are quail eggs. I think that smoking is a hoot. Makes me wonder, too. I like to watch the challenges. That is my favorite part of all these shows like Survivor and Biggest Loser, too.

I researched the cast of HK and there are very amazing stories about the personal lives or should I say plights and bizarre twists and turns of Gordon Ramsey and Jean Philippe Susilovic. Oddly enough, Jean Phillippe’s background is the most intriguing.

By the way and I digress again, but I say I like Biggest Loser but in full disclosure I quit watching it a few weeks ago because I just cannot take all the crying. I’m fat so I can say the word fat and I don’t get all these fat people crying all the time. All the time. These are adults who were aware they’d be away from home, etc. I cannot stand the crying and blubbering. Especially the crying without any tears and the dainty dabbing under the dry eyes with a tissue wrapped around a long finger nail. And the men! The cry baby men! Once this guy won a phone call home and immediately was balling and we could hear his wife on the other end say, “Quit crying!” lol!

Ok. That’s my comment. I shall now release you back into the wild. Keep up the good job. Thank you very much.

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Via email I received the comment below about my book review of “A Shallow Grave in Trinity County”, reviewed HERE

Hello,

I quite surprisingly just found your recent review of "A Shallow Grave in Trinity County" when I Googled "Burton Abbott DNA."

I was eight years old living in San Francisco when this happened. I have to say, I absolutely cannot get it out of my mind, even 54 years later. The anniversary of the kidnapping was just the other day (April 28th) which led me to the googling. I have read both Shallow Grave and also "A Trail of Corn." Although the latter has a lot of information, it also rambles and makes statements and quotes that can't possibly be substantiated.

This all leads me to the subject of DNA. If the physical evidence is still in existence, they could compare the hair found in Abbott's back seat to hair from the autopsy or that taken from the Bryan home. I wonder what it takes to get a case like this reopened.

The commenter brings up a good question but you know, they found this girls school books plus her purse hidden inside of a laundry box in Burton Abbott’s basement. That’s proof enough for me in that Burton Abbott allegedly didn’t even know this girl.

I’m awarding Arlen Specter this week’s GOOD guy of the week award because when I heard he was leaving the Republican party to become a Democrat I immediately wanted to launch into the song “ding-dong the witch is dead”.

The conservative base of the Republican party has been sick and tired of Arlen Specter since he came up with the outrageous notion that Bill Clinton should be tried under Scottish law for the crime of lying under oath.

Specter’s last betrayal of voting for that outrageous porkulus bill theft of the U.S. treasury disguised as an economic stimulus package in betrayal of every Republican in the House who voted against it and most of the Republican senators.

He was going to lose the Republican primary in Pennsylvania and just how long does ole Arlen think he can spit in the face of his supporters without a complete rejection?

By me, Arlen is the good guy of the week and I thank him greatly. Please do not let the door hit you in the butt Mr. Specter and know that you will not be missed.

Boo, freaking, hoo.

Photoshopping Air Force One

Heh.

So one of my fave web sites, Freerepublic, has a contest inviting members to photoshop a pic of Air Force One over various landmarks.

CONTEST THREAD HERE

This is, if yon reader hasn’t guessed, in response to the infamous flight of Air Force One accompanied by two fighter planes over Manhattan last week. This event did scare the bejeebers out of a lot of folk and Obama, he knew nothing about it.

Anybody who believes this, I gotta a bridge to sell, real cheap.

And so the entries, some of the best compiled below, were made to prove it really wasn’t necessary to go scaring the hell out of people, that with a little art work and computer tweaking and wonders emerge.

Heh.

Biden Guilty of Candor

Joe Biden wins our Bad Guy of the Week Award for his comments that he would advise his family to avoid airplanes and subways during this swine flu alleged epidemic.

It was Patrick Buchanan who said that for once Joe’s only gaffe was being candor, of speaking a truth that many husbands and fathers across the fruited plains might express given the circumstances.

Still, Joe Biden is VP of the United States and he shouldn’t be champtioning hysteria.

Why They’re Called “Bigwigs”

Via email to me:

As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year (May and October) Women kept their hair covered, while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford good wigs made from wool. They couldn't wash the wigs, so to clean them they would carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell, and bake it for 30 minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term 'big wig.' Today we often use the term 'here comes the Big Wig' because someone appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.
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Ending With a Smile

DWS-Novel Group Dance Competition Begins on 4/27/09-Major Star Hurt

Okay so I watched the novel group dance competition that premiered on 4/27/09 and it was fun to watch. There was a whole bunch of backstage kind of footage and obviously there was an attempt to gear up the competition by giving the dance teams names and having various team members growl on camera about the damage to be done on the opposing team.

It was kind of cute.

I will never believe that the judging of this thing is fair in any way although judge the judges did and they all seemed to have a rationalization for points awarded. It’s just that they are judging what, six dancers in each team? I have to wonder if they can possibly catch all the “blunders” as Len calls them or, if they are so busy looking for blunders do the judges see the beauty of the steps of the non-blundering dancers?

At any rate there was a Team Mambo consisting of Lacey (standing in for Melissa, more on this later), Shawn and Chuck. Team Tango consisted of Ty, Gilles and Lil Kim. Team Mambo received 25 points for their performance while the Tango team got 28 points for their performance.

What’s really intriguing is that the judges remarked on Gilles “atrocious” footwork and Len saw Lil Kim make a blunder. Yet this team got the most points without such harsh criticism being levied at Team Mambo. Team Mambo is the team that I thought looked great, by the way, and yet, there you have it, the team of blunders and atrocious footwork got the most judge-awarded points. Hence my skepticism on the fairness of this new system.

Each member of a team receives the amount awarded for the performance of the entire team, making a team dance night’s points total of 60 points instead of the more normal 30.

Finally, I have some snippets of the team dances on my remix video below.

Next big news, Melissa Rycroft has a fractured rib! Hey, in my part of the world fractured ribs are big deals.

Before getting serious, allow me a wry smirk. First this poor child is thrown overboard by the alleged love of her life, Bachelor Star Jason Mesnick, right on television in front of the whole world. Some relief is given in that she was able to join the 2009 Dancing With the Stars show and Melissa is, indeed, a very fine dancer, a serious contender to win. Those of us who believe in the justice of the gods smile at the serendipity.

Now she has a fractured rib and might have to drop out?

What’s really fascinating is how the host and hostess neither mentioned the Melissa Rycroft rib problem until it was almost her turn to dance. This was very intentional. For there was all of America by now with viewers dedicated, all curious to see the final showdown with Gilles, Melissa, Shawn and coming up the rear, Lil Kim.

Without Melissa in the final countdown this is going to be a rather lackluster final. Shawn is good but she likely won’t beat Gilles. Lil Kim gets better every week and she might be able to nudge out Gilles but that’s still quite iffy. Melissa was a definite and serious contender to beat Gilles.

Melissa did get to perform using the DWS rule that the last tape available can be used for the judge’s point awards. The tape used, included in the remix video below, was kind of sad looking in that it was basically something called “marking”. Which is, I conclude, toned down movements of the dance to be performed as “mark” to where in the routine the moves will occur. Neither the professional or Melissa wore a costume and hey, something is definitely lost with being judged in this manner.

What’s even sadder, the dance that Melissa and her partner would have performed was to be the Jive, a dance that is the sort of stuff that Melissa does great.

Melissa received 21 points for her performance based on the last rehearsal tape and 25 points for the group dance where Lacey stood in Melissa’s stead.

Shawn and Mark performed a Samba. Len commented that he thought that Shawn should be dancing better at this point in the performance and this is an issue with Shawn. Her performances are not that dependable. At times she looks exquisite, at times she dances like the gawky teen she is. Carrie Ann, however, awarded Shawn a perfect ten. Shawn received 27 points for the performance and 25 points for the group dance, bringing her total points for the night to 52.

Ty and Chelsea performed a Salsa. Ty is a cute little shy fellow and he has certainly improved in his dance performance since this contest began. The judges were effusive in their praise for Ty.

Ty and his partner Chelsea were awarded 24 points and add the 28 points Ty got for the group dance bringing his total to 52 points for the night.

Edyta and Gilles danced a Lindy Hop and Gilles tried mightily to look as Geekish as possible.

Gilles had been criticized for not doing well with those fast type of dances, his dark handsome looks working well with such as the Mambo and Paso Doble but out of place in a Jive.

Gilles looked like the Bob’s Big Boy icon in fact and hey, I thought he did a pretty good Lindy Hop.

Gilles got 27 points from the judges for the Lindy Hop plus 28 points for the group dance, bringing his total for the night to 55 points out of 60. Gilles got the second highest score for the night.

Lil Kim and Derek danced a Paso Doble. Derek is a great professional, the best of the lot. He looked great this night. What was interesting with this performance was that both Lil Kim’s and Derek’s arm movement was every bit as terrific as the feet movement. I have a short bit of this in the video remix below.

Lil Kim received 28 points for the Paso Doble and added to her 28 points for the group dance, Lil Kim came in on top with a total of 56 points for the performance.

Chuck Wicks and his fiancé Julianne danced a Cha-Cha. I thought Chuck looked very sexy.

Len commented that Chuck needed to work on his arm movement which is interesting in that Lil Kim and Derek who immediately proceeded Chuck displayed such great arm movement. So too is a short video included with the alleged awkward arm movement of Chuck that needs improvement.

Chuck got 26 points for his performance, added to the 25 given for the group dance and Chuck and Julianne’s point total was 51 for the night.

On elimination night, Melissa was in attendance but she was very vague about whether she’d be back the following week.

Melissa and Chuck ended up in the bottom two. I pondered during the overhyped moments until the couple eliminated is finally named if America would punish Melissa by sending her home for that fractured rib.

Chuck Wicks was sent home instead of Melissa but I doubt Melissa Rycroft can survive another pathetic entry of a rehearsal tape, no costumes, no makeup, no joy, no hype, and avoid elimination.

-Ty Murray-Jewel’s husband, rodeo star-sent home 4/27/09
-Holly Madison-on “Girls Next Door”-sent home 3.31.09
-Belinda Carlisle-lead singer Go-Go's-sent home-sent home 3/17/09
-David Alan Grier-Actor-sent home 4/7/09
-Shawn Johnson-17 years old...olympic gold medal winner
-Lil Kim-rapper, singer and actress
-Gilles Marini-Actor
-Steve-o-MTV Star
-Melissa Rycroft-Bachelor star
-Denise Richards-Actress-married to a Sheen-sent home-3/24/09
-Lawrence Taylor-NY Giants football Hall of Famer
-Chuck Wicks-singer and songwriter
-Steve Wozniak-Apple computer wiz-sent home 3/31/09

Below the video remix for the group dances on Dancing With the Stars on 4/27/09, with my wise commentary spliced in.

American Idol 09-Standards From the Rat Pack Era

Jamie Foxx…say what?

How on earth is Jamie Foxx judged to be an appropriate mentor for a night featuring the classics from the famed “Rat Pack” era? Said Rat Pack featuring Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior and other good-time Charlie Hollywood types?

It could be, I suppose and just throwing it out there, that Jamie Foxx had a song to promote and hey, exposure on American Idol, especially now that the competition was down to the top five, is good for one’s career.

So how did they do?

Kris Allen began the evening with “The Way You Look Tonight”.

Kris is a nice-looking fellow and is beloved by the very-important 10 to 14 year old crowd. The song is a good one and suited Kris to a T.

I have all along maintained that I do not especially like Kris as a performer and consider him in the same league as Anoop. Yet Kris has never been in the bottom three before this and the judges always praise him greatly. I suppose it’s possible he’ll win this thing.

Judge Randy thought he was great, that this performance was his best to date. Simon however, kind of agreed with me, calling Kris’ performance “wet”.

Ryan even asked Simon what he met by “wet” and hey, I don’t know what Simon meant. I did not think Kris’ performance all that spectacular although it was nice, yes it was, it was nice. And he did do a great falsetto at the end of the tune that was impressive.

I give Allison Ireheta the nomination for the second best performance of the night with her rendition of “Someone to Watch Over Me”. Allison just turned 17 or so we were told.

Allison looked great and she is better with her interview skills.

The judges were mostly impressed by Allison’s performance and goodness, the child sang a tune from an era that was way before her time.

Simon, however, predicted that Allison might be in trouble in the week coming up. This causes me to wonder yet again if Simon isn’t trying to influence this outcome. Could Simon have no need for another young female singer but have a real void for handsome young men that pre-teens will adore?

I’m just sayin’

In fact on elimination night Allison was NOT in the bottom three but was in the top two in terms of audience votes, along with Danny Gokey.

In a real surprising turn of events, both Adam Lambert and Kris Allen were in the bottom three, along with Matt Giraud, who was eliminated and it was his time.

Speaking of Matt Giraud, he performed “My Funny Valentine” and my guess is that Matt was voted off handily. I’m thinking that Matt’s vote total was so small that it threw both Adam and Kris down in the bottom three with him but, again I speculate, Adam and Kris’ vote totals were probably closer to the top two than they were to Matt Giraud’s.

First, it was an awful rendition of the song. I don’t know what Matt was trying to prove but again, Simon like it and called it “absolutely brilliant”.

It was certainly NOT absolutely brilliant and I go back to the curiousness of Simon calling a pitchy warbling performance the stuff of brilliance.

Matt Giraud gets my nomination for the worst performance of this Rat Pack night.

Danny Gokey sang “Come Rain or Come Shine” and I give Danny my award for the best performance of the night. It was good and hey, Danny my best nominee, and Allison, my second best nominee, hey, they were in the top two, never mind Simon’s outrageous comments.

Adam Lambert sang “You Know How I Feel” and I think Adam gave the third best performance of the night.

Adam can always be counted on to give a unique rendition of a tune and so he did, so he did. I adored Adam’s white suit and his happening, full-of-himself entrance.

Now there’s four left on American Idol 2009 and I’ll predict:

Fourth-Kris Allen
Third-Danny Gokey
Second-Allison Ireheta
WINNER-Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert
Alexis Grace-sent home 3/18/09
Allison Iraheta
Anoop Desai-sent home 4/22/09
Danny Gokey
Jasmine Murray-sent home 3/11/09
Jorge Nunez-sent home 3/11/09
Kris Allen
Lil Rounds-sent home 4/22/09
Matt Giraud-voted off 4/15/09-saved by judges-voted off for good 4/28/09
Megan Joy-sent home 4/1/09
Michael Sarver-sent home 3/28/09
Scott MacIntyre-sent home 4/8/09

Below a remix of my top three nominees for Rat Pack night as well as the worst. Along with my own fine commentary spliced in.