TV Newsy Bits (and Schtuff) - Sunday, January 6, 2008

A New York City subway train, rather subdued and uncrowded. I'll get into the TV Newsy Bits in a moment, but I must tell a tale of urban apartment living first.

Y'see, I live in a fairly large multi-story (but not high-rise) apartment building in urban (as opposed to suburban) New Jersey. I have neighbors on top of me, below me, on both sides, and across the hall. The building itself is an elevator building with about 40 apartments, an intercom system for a supposedly secure building, and a laundry room in the basement. The neighborhood is quiet with apartment buildings, senior citizen housing, some large older houses cut up into apartments, and churches. My biggest complaint about the neighborhood itself are adults on bicycles on the sidewalks, as well as the senior citizen gang with flags atop their motorized scooters who terrorize the sidewalks making me step into yards.

But this isn't about the neighborhood. It's about last night. Well, actually it started before that. The apartment abutting my dining room turned computer/library/home office and kitchen has been vacant for some time. That apartment was traditionally the super's apartment, but the last family man super left months ago. The new super is single and has a studio apartment on the first floor.

I know they renovated the apartment long ago, but heard noises in there this past Wednesday. It sounded like maintenance workers and I heard no more from the apartment until last night when I got home around 8 PM. There was a stereo going ... a very loud one.

Sigh. New neighbors throwing their first party? At one point my intercom buzzed. When I used the talk button, no one answered. No way was I going to buzz anyone into the building when I wasn't expecting any company. And the beat went on next door. It had to be blaring in there because I never ever even heard the first superintendent, the second one there had a surround-sound system and, while that was annoying, it paled in comparison to the music last night.

Then there was a flurry of activity in the hallway and banging on the door over there. I peeked out my window and saw several police cars at the back of the building (which is very odd as they would come in the front for most things). It turns out NO ONE still lives there! A bunch of people commandeered the vacant apartment for a party!

How did they find the apartment? How did they get into the building and then the apartment? The cops said about 30 people were in there! How did they have electricity in there? The apartments come with heat, hot water, and cooking gas, but the power has to be turned on for each individual tenant.

How did I not really hear any unusual hall traffic, no voices from the apartment and just the music blaring? Apparently some of the party-goers were roaming the hallways and smoking cigarettes in the elevator. One of the tenants on the first floor called the police about the strangers in the hallway. But here, the apartment was right next to me and I didn't hear anything in the hallways. I believe they had to be coming in through the back door of the building away from me.

In the end, I'm relieved I don't have new partying neighbors there. I didn't call the police because it wasn't all that late at night and I didn't want my first introduction to neighbors being a call to the police before 10 PM on a Saturday night. My other neighbors have parties and make noise occasionally but we all get along and know we can say something if it gets too much. No one takes advantage although I know when the guy downstairs is having a football game party or the folks upstairs have a small party. They say I'm very quiet, but I've been known to crank my stereo on occasion. Living in an apartment building takes some tolerance of others, but I guess I was a bit too tolerant last night, eh?

Onto today's TV Newsy Bits:

• Ohh ... lots of news about the upcoming Survivor Micronesia -- fan and firefighter Joel Anderson has a write-up as does fan motivational speaker Alexis Jones and the returning Ami Cusack. I didn't care for her in Vanuatu. As a matter of fact, Vanuatu was my least favorite season on the show. I'm so not looking forward to Jonny Fairplay, either. Yeah, I understand that they want a villain, but he just creeps me out. But the concept of the season itself sounds fresh. I'm looking forward to seeing the fans kick Ami and Jonny's butts while Yau-Man makes me smile!
• Our friends over at Buddy TV say the finalists are in place to be cast for Big Brother 9 and that there are rumors it will be a shorter season than the typical three month run we see in the summertime. And, yes ... before I get asked again ... it seems the show will have another new season come July.
• The latest in the ongoing Britney Spears saga is that Dr. Phil "rescued" her from the hospital. I'm sure he'll turn it into ratings for himself. I think it's just a sad situation and it's very scary to think of K-Fed as a level-headed parent. Those poor kids.
• Matthew Fox spilled the Lost beans as he knows them for EW.com. Verrry interesting.
  
• Tonight we'll have another episode of The Amazing Race. I'm thinking it must be the finale next week as we're at the final four now. The finale always pits the last three teams in the final leg. I'll put up an east coast spoilers post when it starts here. It's very likely there will be a football delay. I haven't looked at the schedule, just guessing.

Today's musical non-sequitur:
Chickity China the Chinese chicken
You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin'
Watchin' X-Files with no lights on
We're dans la maison
I hope the Smoking Man's in this one
-- "One Week" - Barenaked Ladies