I'm Jackie and I watch TV. I'm not proud. Bookmark the blog now as your source for live feed reports from inside the 'Big Brother' house! Come, join in on the fun ...
Although Zoetawny has so much going on in her life right now, she took the time to make us an Easter logo for the blog. She does rock! I hope everyone has a good holiday.
Plus, I want to share some pictures I've taken during the week of our favorite roof cat, Roofus -- (clicking on any of the images will open them larger in a new window) --
Roofus on the move.
Roofus checking out the window.
Roofus thinking about the birds on the fire escape railing.
Whoa! I usually don't see Roofus when I return home from work (it's a morning thing), but there he is all curled up on the windowsill. This is the view from the train station.
Now, there's some New Jersey love if I ever saw New Jersey love, eh? Actually, it's rather foolish placement of an advertising sign with its bottom half behind the bench at the Dunellen (NJ) Train Station. The bottom half is WPIX Channel 11 Morning News. (Clicking on any of the images will open them larger in a new window.)
Onto some TV doings --
I was a bit disappointed that Bonnie Hunt didn't have Mike and Mel from The Amazing Race on her show this week. I could have gone without seeing Christie and Jodi the week before. I'm at work while The Bonnie Hunt Show is on, but I record it every day. Buddy TV ran an interview with them. I'm surprised to hear that Mike is a vegan and barely ate during the race. Here I was feeling all kinds of sorry for Mel due to his age and injuries (yet amazing perseverance) and Mike's not eating! I find it interesting to see that they thought Margie and Luke are more sneaky a team than shown.
I did watch Lost this week, but found it a bit confusing. I was tired when I watched it. Perhaps my mind just wasn't working quite right. Maybe the Lost Entangled will help me out.
I watched the finale of Life on Mars and got confused by that, too. A mind is a terrible thing to lose. Okay, they're really from Mars and it was all just a mission? Odd.
Taj needs to stop taking chances on Survivor! After all, she's my castaway in the blog pool! Sheesh!
Roofus was fast asleep in the gloomy fog near the Plainfield Train Station yesterday on my way to work.
Although it's been a bit on the cold side most days, spring has sprung. Achoo!
I walk this empty street On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams Where the city sleeps and I'm the only one and I walk alone
-- "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day
I thought the song went nicely with the photo I took walking to the train station pre-dawn ... which I did a few times this week. Every Monday lately, I've been going in early to work and I had to a few other days, too.
There is no Amazing Race nor a Cold Case tonight. But I'll be writing up my Reality Clack column for CliqueClack TV and I have an article in mind for TV Squad, too. At least I won't have the pressure of writing up two shows knowing I have to get up before 5 AM.
I hope the luck of the Irish was with everyone today ... and that you all won the lottery! Well, I guess we have to keep on working for a living. Zoetawny got Snoopy all Irish for this graphic! I was thinking of some years back -- skiing at Kelly's Irish Alps (Brodie Mountain) and Jiminy Peak, both in Massachusetts. Green snow, bagpipe players on the ski lifts, and some green beer, too. Ah, those were the days! For more than a decade and a half, I skied every St. Patrick's Day. I didn't ski today.
This is a shot I took of the same cat local city blogger Bernice snapped inside the office of the ex-rental car place. See, they can come and go. Sydney wondered why I was shy about peering in the window. Well, someone's going in there with the food (I think it's the same elderly guy). If it's him, he snapped at me a few years back when I was taking photos of the strays. I don't think he realizes I'm harmless.
And ... who's ruling the roost and the roofs? If you click on the image, the resulting larger image reveals a bird on the ledge right under Roofus the Cat.
Last in the photos today, the Big Apple Circus is back for its annual stint. I've never been. I have been to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, but not in years and years.
I'll be watching American Idol soon. I'm not as enamored with country night as some of the other genres. Hopefully they'll give me some fodder for another quick show-related post late tonight.
There was no waking up Roofus the Cat over by the Plainfield Train Station yesterday morning. Not even birds flying by could get his attention. Maybe he was out late the night before, eh?
Local town blogger Bernice, inspired by my Roofus photos, actually walked up to the ex-rental car place and snapped a photo of one of the (gorgeous) cats inside. I know I've posted a photo or two of another cat in there but she has more nerve than I do -- she went right up to the window. She notes in her blog entry that there's fresh food and water for the cats (that's inside and out) although the building has changed owners. I saw the older man who used to run the rental office not all that long ago going in. The whole area with the feral cats is slated for a construction project down the road.
Onto a bit of TV -- A post I made about reality show hosts should be up on TV Squad a bit later today. Tonight I'll be catching up with the last episode of The Celebrity Apprentice. That is ... after I get home from work. Saturdays tend to be a late workday for me.
I hope everyone has a good day! Spring can't get here soon enough!
Of course, you all know that tonight is Amazing Race night! As usual, I'll have a post up and running at 8 PM ET so we can gather and cheer on our teams as the show airs here on the East Coast. Everyone is welcome to hang out and party in the comments area!
But then I get into dilemma time blogging-wise. After TAR airs, I have to write up a review of the episode for TV Squad. Thankfully Cold Case isn't on tonight due to a special movie on CBS. If it was, I'd be writing up the episode for CliqueClack TV. I want to watch The Sopranos at either 10 PM or 11 PM on A&E (the episode is aired twice in a row) as I'm trying to catch the last handful of episodes.
But, throw into the mix the new two-hour episodes of The Celebrity Apprentice and I'm really getting dizzy! Although I gave up on Trump's plain ol' The Apprentice with its lackluster and grasping-at-straws last season, I enjoyed the first season of The Celebrity Apprentice. Since there is no Cold Case tonight, I'll be watching the show albeit a bit distracted as I'll be writing up TAR for TVS as it airs.
Next week I'll have to change my plans. Since I record the shows I write up in case I need to go back to clarify something and my recording technique is a bit antique and I can only record one show at a time, it looks like I'll probably be catching the repeat of Celeb Apprentice when it airs on Saturday nights. Hopefully they'll keep the Saturday night slot running with it (8-10 PM ET/PT) throughout the season. I'll be a week behind, but it's not like my Saturday night TV watching schedule is full or anything. I'm pretty excited about the cast this season and I adore Joan Rivers -- she's made me laugh on and off my entire life it seems. To be honest, I'd rather watch this show than Cold Case, but I've committed myself to the CC reviews whenever there are new episodes.
On Survivor this week we saw Jerry get voted out. Sigh. He was someone I wanted to like -- he seemed to be stable and get along with folks. However, it's been shown time and time again that if you get ill, chances are you're a goner. Well, not literally, but off the show! EW.com has a video interview with ex-castaway Eliza and Jerry. Now, Eliza was never one of my favorites, but she has Coach nailed! Jerry was interviewed in more depth by Reality TV World. Yep, a stomach virus is not a good thing in Tocantins.
Onto some off topic and a certain roof cat ...
I haven't felt too well all this past week. Unlike Jerry, it's not a stomach virus. It's basically that right knee. (The left knee replacement knee is fine.) The cortisone shot only worked a few days and it's getting progressively worse. In this economic atmosphere, I definitely need to hang onto my job although I've heard rumors that they might be offering early retirement packages to some folks and I'm probably in the eligible group.
But I need the health insurance and, to keep on working, I need to gather up my FMLA leave time so my job is protected. That should be sometime late summer. I'm going to have to go back to my orthopedic surgeon. I've been taking tons o' ibuprofen but, if I have to, maybe he can give me something stronger. I didn't want to take any heavier duty pain meds as I don't want to have a tolerance during recovery from surgery. The left knee was handled with Vicodin ES, which is amongst the milder meds in comparison. We'll see. But I must be able to work and walk until late summer.
In Roofus the Cat news, one of the local bloggers from my town has also spotted Roofus thanks to this blog. She focuses on a lot of the city politics and things which aren't covered by the local papers (which she retired from a while back as a reporter). We share an interest in local photographs and in the town although I'm not politically active -- I still like to know what's going on!
Roofus wasn't on his usual balcony roof yesterday. But I spotted him four rooftops over (click to make the image larger in a separate window) --
Then there's the commute --
Strangers on a train
One man uses his laptop while another catches a few winks while yet another one (me) uses the commute to take a few candid shots. Oh, I also read the paper and eat a donut sometimes.
Even stranger on the train
Oh my gosh, what's that in back of Napping Dude? All I could see was a hood, a nose, and mountain man beard. Oh, and a hand. Very scary man. I didn't get a better shot as he might have been able to see through the hood. He was giant, he was really hairy. Eek.
Welp, we're expecting up to a foot of snow overnight into Monday. While I don't really want the snow with my knee the way it is, no one is asking for my approval. If I can get to work, there's a lot I want to get done that I haven't been able to do as budget cuts have not only cut my hours, but made me work other jobs and neglect a bit of my own work. Priorities, grr. If I can get in and it's quiet (which it should be), I could get tons of stuff done. But, if we don't open or travel is almost impossible, I can take a day off and use paid time to cover it. I guess I'll know in the morning.
Oh my gosh, Roofus the Cat was watching me take photos of him from his little balcony roof yesterday! (If you click on the image it will open larger in a new window.) I get the feeling that Roofus is one of those cats who does anything he can to avoid contact with humans. Actually, the feral cats near the train station are pretty amazing in their street smarts.
Once, at night, I saw a parked car with its lights on alongside the street. The ferals were crossing the street and, although the car was parked and not even running, each cat looked at the headlights and changed direction to run in back of it, not in front of it. I see the cats stop and look both ways before they run across the street as fast as they can. My own cat would be a goner in the feral cat world.
To my bit o' TV:
I'm still not really into anything airing on Friday nights. Usually that's okay as I can take time to watch daytime shows like The Bonnie Hunt Show which I record as I'm off to work. This week Bonnie was in reruns all week. I decided to take a brief nap after dinner and ended up waking up in time to watch Letterman. Argh. I hate when I do that!
But I do know why I was so tired. Y'see, after I watched Survivor on Thursday night, I wanted to watch C.S.I. before I got into writing my Survivor review for TV Squad and my TV Shows Off the Beaten path column for CliqueClack TV. So my plans already had me staying up pretty late writing when I have to get up at 5:45 AM for work. I watched C.S.I., turned to the computer determined to speed write my way through the two articles and then it happened ... my power went out. Poof. No storm. No nothing. No power. I looked out my windows and saw my own block was dark for as far as I could see yet the block in back of me had lights. I got out my scanner and heard fire and police talking about a pole down on the street in back of me. Yet they had power! Grr. It came back on about an hour later and I finished writing at about 1 AM. No wonder I power-napped.
Cold Case and The Big Bang Theory are both repeats this week. So I won't be writing them up for CliqueClack TV. Later today I'll write up my weekly Reality Clack for that site, though. It will go up on site tomorrow. Later tonight (of course), I'll be posting an Amazing Race post here and my full review of the show for TV Squad.
One thing I will certainly be watching tonight is the airing of The Sopranos on A&E. I got into the show over the summer when I was home recuperating from the knee replacement but kept wondering how I kept missing the last few episodes in the A&E airings. Well, duh. That's because they weren't showing them! But now on Sunday nights, they have the last handful. Sure, I know how it ends, but I want to see it for myself! If the entire thing wasn't so cost-prohibitive, I'd buy the DVDs.
For years I lived in the Danbury, CT area. I still read the online version of the local paper there. One of the most notorious American Idol contestants this year, Nick Mitchell (Norman Gentle), is from nearby Brookfield. When I first moved to CT, I lived in Bethel and his father's oil company was my heating oil supplier for the rented cabin I had. The Danbury News Times has an interview with Nick. Should he make it through this week? I just don't know. But I recall those Mitchell oil delivery payments I made way back when! I had to order a minimum of 150 gallons. Oy!
I probably won't watch any of the Oscars. I know, I know. But I don't think I've seen any of the movies up for wins and I'm not all that into Hollywood glitz and red carpet stuff. If any of you want a discussion blog post for the Oscars, let me know and I'll get one going for you.
Here's a different angle on the fancy-schmancy double-decker train from NJ Transit. I was standing on the ramp leading to the raised platform and had the camera at ground level of the platform. Most of the trains I ride are still the older one-level ones. But I'm seeing fancy-schmancy more often. In a way, it's not so good for my knee as, unless I sit in the vestibule area which is between levels, I have to go either up or down stairs. As much as I ride the trains, I'm still a window seat kind of person. I like to sit high and oversee the terrain. One thing I want to note -- as much as I ride the commuter trains, I've never been in the bathroom of one. Not once, never. I just don't want to know.
Today's musical non sequitur: Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind Dead kings, many things I can't define. Occasion, persuasions clutter your mind Incense and peppermints, the color of time. Who cares what games we choose? Little to win, but nothin' to lose. -- "Incense and Peppermints" by The Strawberry Alarm Clock
I haven't seen Roofus the Cat for nearly a week. Although I was pretty sure I was just missing him, I was a bit upset that he stood me up for my Saturday work commute. After all, Saturday is almost the "sure bet" day. Just a minute or two before my train was to arrive ...
Hey, what's that walking along the roofs?
Why, it's Roofus the Cat about to go onto the fire escape!
Look! It's Roofus ON the fire escape!
And, then the arrival to his favorite napping spot and my train comes in at the same time. Clicking on any of these images will make them open larger in a new window. Then you can just click back to this page.
Later tonight -- it's the blog party for the season premiere of The Amazing Race! C'mon back and join in on the fun!
Yep, you know I have to go off topic at times. I'm going to give you a taste of my week behind me in photos I've taken. Plus, if there is enough interest, I'll make a Superbowl discussion post later today. I'm not a huge football fan and there aren't any local teams for me this time around. So, I may or may not be watching some or all of the game (and the commercials). I might just get drawn into The Sopranos marathon on A&E. But if you want me to set up a discussion post for you, just let me know!
Onto the week in photos:
On Wednesday I laid the first tracks at the Plainfield Train Station. Yes, I had my bulky boots on. But, yeah ... I have big feet, too.
Again, the Plainfield (NJ) Train Station area on Wednesday morning. Obviously Roofus the Cat is hunkering down somewhere out of the elements.
I was up before dawn cracked on Friday due to the fact I was leaving work early for my doctor's appointment ... which ended up being canceled. Argh. No Roofus at that hour.
But, come our usual Saturday morning meeting time on my way to work, there's Roofus sleeping in the sun!
This is a bit fuzzy if you click on it for the bigger image. Roofus has awakened and is watching pigeons fly from atop the building yesterday morning.
Let me know about the football post and check out my first part posts on Survivor and The Amazing Race casting!
Today's musical non sequitur: Gitchi Gitchi Ya Ya Ta Ta Gitchi Gitchi Ya Ya Here Mocha Choco Lata Ya Ya Creole Lady Marmalade -- "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle
This sign for Broadway.com is way off base -- "18 million people in NYC and only 70,000 Broadway seats." Um, NYC is more like 8 million, not 18. What's up with that? I apologize for the quality of the image. I took it out the train window.
In TV doings, my latest review of Cold Case and my latest Reality Clack column are both up over on CliqueClack TV.Tonight's Big Bang Theory is a repeat, so I won't be rewriting the review I posted a while back. At least Letterman is new this week. Phew!
Today marks the Year of the Ox. Happy New Year! The big parade in Chinatown is Sunday. I'm toying with the idea of going into the city for it. A lot will depend on the weather and, of course, how I feel.
I've got a bit of bad news for the regular readers ... well, for me, at least. It's nothing which will affect the blog or anything. But I've been having problems with my right knee (my original bad knee which was operated on ten years ago). I have a visit scheduled with the orthopedic surgeon this coming Friday. Right now I have to work longer before I can have any sort of operation as I have to build up my short term disability. I generally don't put too much stock in them, but I'm going to ask for a cortisone shot in the knee to buy me a few months. I'm probably going to end up with a second knee replacement. Thankfully, I only have two knees!
In better news, I saw Roofus the cat on Saturday morning and forgot to post the photos! (Clicking on them will make the image open larger in a new window.)
Today's musical non sequitur: Workin' in a coal mine Goin' down down down Workin' in a coal mine Whoop! About to slip down -- "Working in a Coal Mine" by Lee Dorsey
If decorative kale could shiver, it would be shivering. It's been really cold here for over a week. But that didn't stop Roofus the cat from catching some early morning rays today. Read on for TV stuff!
I've learned my lesson. Never again will I whine about nothing on television. Tonight I'll be watching the three hours of Lost. The first hour is actually that questions answered thing they previously aired. However, with the long hiatus, I need a refresher. I won't be blogging the show in depth here as I found I was missing too much when I did it. But I'll surely zap up a short commentary post on it.
I plan on recording both American Idol and Criminal Minds. I haven't even really thought about the 10 PM (ET) hour -- chances are that I'll be recording something then, too. And I have yet to watch my Bonnie Hunt Show I recorded today while I was at work. So much to watch, so little time.
We're in the beginning of a bitter cold spell here in New Jersey. But early this morning on my way to work, I spotted a certain Roofus the cat taking a nap in his favorite spot. I think the sun probably heats the bricks some. He didn't look uncomfortable, but I was shivering. (Remember, if you click on the image it will open up in a new window much larger than it is here.) Now it's on to American Idol ...
Heh. Yes, I'm using this for the bad auditions. In reality, it's on the side of the Friends Meeting House (Shakers) in Plainfield, NJ and it's regarding the war. But it fits this situation to a lesser extent.
The bad were bad once again tonight on American Idol. However, I was more impressed with the folks they showed making it through tonight in the Kansas City auditions than I was with the ones from Phoenix. I'm not too keen on Jason Castro's younger brother, but I doubt he'll make it through Hollywood (two) Weeks. The last young woman (mother of three children, living in hotel with husband and kids due to tornado) was the best of the women so far. As for the guys, I liked the ones the judges enjoyed -- the welder, Anuup, the teacher who recently lost his wife, and the marching coach guy.
Don't you love that the only name I remembered was Anuup? ;-)
Oh my gosh, isn't television horrid with reruns this week? I guess they think that everyone is out of town visiting relatives or something. But some of us had to work. Last night my police scanner was much more interesting than my television. There were two shootings and two cars were torched in my city (Plainfield, NJ), yet nothing in the local news. Thankfully, none of the incidents were in my particular neighborhood, but it's quite peaceful where I live. Well, except for new tenants downstairs who think the hallways are a place to have their children exercise everyday -- thump, thump, thump as they run the halls for at least an hour every night! Ack. THAT is going to stop!
Due to the dearth of anything to watch on TV this past week, I'll give you some photos I took. In the beginning of the week we had snow and ice. Yesterday it was foggy all day and pea soup at night. Today it's supposed to get up to the mid-sixties. Clicking on any of these images will bring up a larger image.
Last night it was foggy as I caught the NJ Transit train home from work.
The fog didn't stop Roofus the cat from making his usual Saturday appearance as I headed to work. He seems to be taking quite the cat nap!
Is that a skunk or is it our buddy Roofus the cat up there in the morning fog?
Yesterday the ornamental kale was covered with dew from the fog and condensation from our last snow.
Here's what the kale looked like on Friday as I went to work (above).
This is what it looked like on Tuesday as I headed to work.
Again, the bunch o' ornamental kale in the snow on Tuesday morning.
This was my Plainfield 'hood on Tuesday morning, similar to the shot I posted last week.
"Go home --> your in the wrong hood." Um, I found the misspelled graffiti in Bridgewater, NJ. Bridgewater is generally upper middle-class to wealthy. Huh. Let them come to my town and see if they're in the right 'hood or not! @@
Here's an update on the local ornamental kale. As you see, its edges are turning white. As the winter progresses, it will all turn an off-white and look a lot more like a cabbage sitting in the snow.
Yesterday was Saturday and, almost as if on schedule, I had a date with Roofus the Cat as I headed into work. You can click on any of these images to get a larger picture. Here he is at about halfway zoom on my camera from the station platform. My full zoom ones from yesterday turned out too fuzzy. He's grooming away.
This is what the scene looks like totally unzoomed. Ignore the icky green "Yellow" cabs! The building on the right is the condemned one. Its entire roof and back wall are caving in. The two in the center have businesses on the first floors, apartments on the upper floors. Right now, I think only one apartment facing the street has anyone living in it. Very transient area and many of the immigrants who take those places go away for the winter due to lack of work. The Chotola apartment building tends to get a bit more stable tenants and is usually fully occupied.
This is where I first spotted Roofus the Cat from the street level yesterday. Can you see him?
Onto television doings! Tonight is the big three-hour Survivor finale and reunion show! Can you believe it's gone by this fast? At 8 PM ET, I'll open up a post in which I'll give the big updates East Coast time and the comments will be your Survivor finale party place! Graphic arteest Zoetawny has made us all a new finale graphic and everyone is invited. Bring your own bottle and snacks, please!
In yesterday's mail I received a cool screener of TCM's (Turner Classic Movies) The Age of Believing: The Disney Live-Action Classics. I haven't watched it yet and the show itself is on tonight at 7 PM ET/PT on TCM. It's interviews with folks like Kurt Russell, Dick Van Dyke, Dean Jones, Tim Conway, Michelle Lee ... and many more. It delves into the move to live-action from strictly animated Disney films. Unfortunately it's 90 minutes, so it would buck up against the first half-hour of Survivor tonight. But it is being re-aired next Sunday at 11:45 PM if you wish to watch or record it. Angela Lansbury is the narrator. This one is dear to my heart as the Disney movies, both live-action and animated, played such a role in my younger days. I figured, due to the ages of many of the readers here, you might feel the same.
Actually, TCM has a great movie roster for today, too (all times ET/PT): Noon:The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1970) - Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero 1:45 PM:The Strongest Man in the World (1975) - Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Phil Silvers, Dick Van Patten 3:30 PM:The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) - Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk 5:15 PM:Son of Flubber (1963) - Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk, Ed Wynn 7:00 PM:The Age of Believing: The Disney Live-Action Classics 8:30 PM:The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) - Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Bill Bixby, Susan Clark 10:15 PM:The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979) - Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Tim Matheson, Kenneth Mars, Jack Elam
I know I'll be watching The Absent-Minded Professor -- I haven't seen that one since I was a child!
Today's musical non sequitur: Caviar and cigarettes Well-versed in etiquette Extraordinarily nice She's a Killer ... Queen -- "Killer Queen" by Queen
Roofus checking out the window.
Roofus checking out the window.
