So You Think You Can Dance: Los Angeles Auditions

The auditions are onto Los Angeles. Will we be mesmerized by talent once again? I won't be live blogging each and every audition, but I'll surely mention those who make an impression on me. Please feel free to share your thoughts in comments!

Sexy and provocative was up first. A sure bet to Vegas.

The next guy, DC, was fantastic -- a street style done incredibly amazingly! Woot!

It looks like LA hit the jackpot of dancing machines. You know that that means FAIL is up soon.

Not yet, though. Hero MacRae, a Japanese import (female) is a popper/locker sort, amazing! Straight onto Vegas. Who cares if she can waltz or cha-cha?

Previous dancer Janine's sister is up next -- Alexis Mason. Contemporary style, done very well. It's not my favorite genre of dance. I tend to lean a bit towards street dances. She's through to Vegas.

I love Patty Ann! The women this season should rule! She's another street style popper/locker. Two sisters, one on the heavy side, put on a tremendous audition. After choreography, both made it to Vegas.

Next week will be Las Vegas with 160 hopeful dancers looking to make the dream.

So You Think You Can Dance: NYC and Salt Lake City Auditions

Tonight's SYTYCD extravaganza covers the auditions in New York City and Salt Lake City, two very culturally different cities. We'll have to see how much the dance styles differ! I won't be able to live blog the show as thoroughly as I did last week, but I'm sure to comment now and then! And, you're all welcome to chime in with your thoughts in comments!

Salt Lake City is in the house first. I think they're Stomping the Yard! The two were good at it.

Annie, dancing to "Sweet Dreams are Made of This," is absolutely amazing! Onto Las Vegas! The dance with her father made me giggle.

The Ringo Starr "daughter" is very bizarre. And, of course, not the daughter of Ringo Starr or Richard Starkey (who IS Ringo Starr). No, she can't dance. NEXT!

NYC auditions are up and running! I thought the first audition, Princess Lockaroo (Sandra Cohen) would be a loser, but she was tremendously entertaining! Wow! Mesmerizing! Vegas.

Local guy from New Brunswick ... very nice. He's through. A lot of contemporary dancers are making it through to Vegas. Let's see how the krumper does ... talk about attitude! He's onto choreography.

Irish dancer Mary Kate is up, excellent! She's won all sorts of awards for Irish dancing, but can she get through choreography? She makes it to Vegas! Mr. Tough Krumper Attitude Man also makes it though ... crying.

The theater dancer dude is very good. I like him better than the judges. He's going onto choreography. He SHOULD have gone straight to Vegas! He makes it through to Vegas ... as he should.

Tomorrow night is the Los Angeles auditions show.

So You Think You Can Dance Season Premiere

While I don't watch Dancing With the Stars, I am addicted to So You Think You Can Dance. Tonight is the 2-hour season premiere. If you're watching, please feel free to chime in with comments! Alas, Blogger is going all kinds of whacko. I can't access my blog on Firefox, nor comment. I seem to be okay if I use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome. If you have problems posting comments, try to get in that way.

Are you ready for the hot tamale train?

Mary Murphy is back. Where are my ear plugs?
Whoa, starting off right -- this salsa couple is amazing! They're very young, the guy can't go on this season but she's on to choreography.

Melanie Moore up next. Decent contemporary. Judges didn't seem excited as they watched, but Nigel has "fallen in love" with her. Mary is overwhelmed. Lil C likes it, too. Onto Vegas.

Heh. Cat Deeley says, "Atlanter." Yes, these auditions are in Atlanta.

Dion and Damon - Hip hop. I enjoyed that! The two obviously had fun! Yay! They're both through to Vegas!

Here goes the people we won't know for a while -- several clips of folks going onto Vegas. A record of ten in a row sent straight through.

Marci has a sob story about being shot in a robbery with a bullet remaining in his shoulder. He's "gonna be a beast." Contemporary. Very smooth. Onto choreography. In choreography, Bianca (salsa girl) is onto Vegas. Marco moves on as well. I like him and I'm not a huge contemporary dance fan.

Kimberly with her non-competing partner. Another contemporary with lots of control. Excellent with the partner ... hmm. I wish he was competing! She moves on to Vegas.

Mary has a new word - "organtic." Lil C comes up with "gracefully clumsy" and "submissive to your own dominance."

White Chocolate, John, is up next. Already he's annoying me. Make him go away. "Very juvenile," says Nigel. Right. Buh-bye!

Kyre Walker has his grandmother in the audience. She dances her way up front. Miss Mandy, the grandmother, joined the judges. YES! He danced hip hop to "Sweet Dreams are Made of This." His grandmother is rough on him. Gah, Mary and Nigel say no. Lil C and Miss Mandy say yes to choreography so he moves on. He doesn't go to Vegas but I enjoyed his audition so much!

Hotlanta is over and it's onto San Francisco.

Tyce and another ballroom choreographer (Toni?) join Nigel to judge.

Amber Williams - contemporary - starts things off on a good note! "White girl freaky with ghetto funky" says the woman judge. Gah. WHO IS SHE? Amber goes to Vegas.

A tremendous B Boy dancer ... name? Ah, Timothy! The ballroom judge (now clarified as Toni Redpath, thanks Caela!) says no to choreography, Tyce and Nigel say yes. I hope he makes it. I like B Boys!

Aisha is scary. I might have nightmares now. Freestyle? Ex-stripper? EEK! The next dancer, Marcos, should partner with her. Bad auditions ensue.

Danielle has a sob story, so she should be good. Lost home, father deserted her. Contemporary. Toni is being rough on her. But Toni and Nigel send her onto choreography.

Ashley does "Ashley-style" which is contemporary. No formal training, it seems, but she's powerful. I thought she'd be a loser. Nigel sends her onto Vegas after he got the other two to say yes to choreography.

Time for a bunch of Vegas bound snippets sans names.

Sobbing dude who's here for dance is next. His last name is Addison, first name something like D'om'in'c. Painful to watch. He needs to cry some more.

In choreography B-Boy Timothy dropped out due to a "tweaked knee." Danielle, however, does just fine. She's onto Vegas.

A B-Boy with a rough life behind him, Jeffery, is up. WOW! Straight to Vegas!

Ryan (female) who almost made it last year, tries again. "Controlled abandon," says Toni. Onto Vegas.

Lilly, a mix of B-Girl and contemporary, makes it as do some others.

Turf dancing, a style from Oakland, is up next. They try to "take up the floor." Turfing has swagger, feetwork, pantomiming, storytelling. Levi does his audition. Very interesting. Pretty amazing stuff! Onto choreography. Aw, he doesn't make it.

All in all, a promising start to the season. NYC and Salt Lake City are the next cities. Your thoughts?

Talkin' TV

I know I haven't been posting all that much television talk as of late. Perhaps I'm in a bit of the doldrums awaiting Big Brother with its live feeds and a bit too ambitious posting schedule here and on TV Squad. As of now, there are still no official announcements on casting or possible twists. Since it's due to start on July 8, I expect casting to be announced somewhere around the end of June.

My latest feature article on the show is up over on TV Squad -- A Wish List for Big Brother 12. As usual, those who don't like either the show or reality TV in general are posting comments. I never understand why folks who don't like something take the time to read, then complain. There are plenty of shows I don't like. Guess what? I don't watch them, nor do I waste time reading about them! That's the marvel of living in this technological era -- tons of TV channels from which to choose, shows on the Internet, movies on demand, a collection of DVDs and books. Let others watch what they enjoy. It's a big enough world for us all.

So, what have I been watching?

I've gotten hooked on Persons Unknown, reasons unknown. It's weird, perhaps a bit contrived. But, since it's only thirteen episodes and nothing else I'm hooked on is in the 10 PM Monday time slot, there I am. It seems obvious that the "kidnapping" of the mother has something to do with the grandmother. But then, many things aren't as they appear. It leaves me confused. But I'm mesmerized for the hour. Plus, it's created by the person responsible for The Usual Suspects. That was nicely done.

I like The Good Guys on FOX. Oh, I wouldn't panic if I were to miss an episode. However, it's a fun little romp through a non-realistic world of cops and robbers. The whole timing bit reminds me of the backwards Indian wedding episode of Seinfeld.

I've been watching both So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent. Tonight I will record the latter as SYTYCD is two hours. I'm still not sure whether I like the idea of only eleven new contestants and the return of the best from the other seasons. While I enjoy seeing folks like Twitch again, it seems to limit the possibilities for new dancers on the show. I guess we'll see how it works for tonight's first real competition show. The fact that it will be live intrigues me. I'd surely fall on my butt! But, then again, I never thought I could dance. Well, at least since I stopped being a teenager.

What are you watching and enjoying?

So You Think You Can Dance Finale Bulletin

Sigh. My favorite for the win came in second -- Brandon. Janine won the season. Sniffle.

So You Think You Can Dance Results Bulletin 7/23

Jason and Jeanette are gone. I think she was the best female in the competition and Jason always makes me smile. I'm sure both will do well down the road.

Bulletin: So You Think You Can Dance 7/09 Results Bulletin

Caitlyn is going home.
Phillip Chbeeb is out.

Nigel announced that both Phillip and Caitlyn will be on the tour.

'So You Think You Can Dance' 7/02 Results

From the East Coast airing --

Karla is going home.
Vitolio is going home.

Aww ...

Tonight's 'So You Think You Can Dance' and 'America's Got Talent' ... plus Julie's BB11 House Tour

Yikes. I've been posting so much today! Eep.



But I wanted to give folks a place to comment on So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent. I'm watching the first one and recording the second.

And here's another BB11 bonus -- Julie Chen's tour of the BB11 house:

So You Think You Can Dance 6/25 Results Bulletin

Osuka is gone for the girls.
Jonathon is gone for the guys.

I think that's about right, don't you?

So, What's New on TV Tonight?

A feral cat poses for my camera near the Plainfield (NJ) Train Station.

Ah, it's dilemma time. Although I do really consider I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here to be shoddy entertainment at its best, tonight is the finale. Add in the fact that America's Got Talent is airing its second show of the season after it ... and there's a block I kind of sort of would like to watch.

But, So You Think You Can Dance is on FOX opposite of those two NBC shows. Yes, it's two hours. Since this is the show I'm most likely to follow until the end of the season, it wins my live in person viewing time. I'll record the other two and may peek in on the first one to catch the winner.

Hmm ... then there's the 10 PM (ET) hour. Now, The Philanthropist on NBC is new but the whole premise of the show isn't quite grabbing me. ABC is having a health care question and answer Primetime with President Obama. I realize that's probably what I SHOULD watch. There's a new Real World on MTV. A&E has two new episodes of Tattoo Highway. Bravo has a new Top Chef Masters.

Decisions, decisions. What will you be watching?

Tonight's 'So You Think You Can Dance' ... and Stuff

"In the clearing stands a boxer ..." - "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel. Of course, this is more like The Boxer by Jackie. I met this dog this past Saturday. While I tend to have cats, I enjoy a good dog, too!

Speaking of cats, I finally spotted Roofus the Cat yesterday but I had grabbed the wrong camera going out of the door. Um ... I took the Pentax whose memory card was sitting in my computer. Argh! I haven't seen Roofus for quite a while and was relieved to see him. It would have been better with a working camera!

Onto the meat of the matter here tonight ...


It's the two-hour So You Think You Can Dance. None couples are taking the stage. And here's your place to discuss the action! Please feel free to share your thoughts on the show as it airs and afterwards, too. I'll be here.

So You Think You Can Dance - June 11 Results Show

Yes, I know I set up a blog discussion post for the show (which you can find on the sidebar). But, by popular demand, I'll be making a post for commenting each show. I'm not sure how involved I'll be able to get into actually posting about the SYTYCD after Big Brother 11 starts on July 9. But we'll worry about that when the time comes.

The show is starting here on the East Coast. I'm going to miss whoever leaves tonight -- they all have so much to offer us. I think this season has the most talented dancers ever! I'll update this post with big news as it airs and everyone is welcome to hang out in comments. Bring your own bottles ... er, snacks, please.

Kayla and Max, Randi and Evan, Phillip and Jeanine are safe. (Yay, Phillip!)

Jason and Caitlin are safe (Bollywood). Melissa and Ade are safe. Ashley and Kupono are safe (crash test dummies). Tony and Paris are in the bottom three couples.

Vitolio and Asuka are in the bottom three. Brandon and Janette are safe. Jonathan and Karla are in the bottom three.

Paris is going home. Tony is going home.

I'm Being Entertained (not by I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here)

Cat in a window, Plainfield, NJ

Don't ask me what's going on with that screen. I believe the cat lives inside the house or maybe he just sits there for the view. I don't know.

I'm here to report that I'm finally having a great TV night! Am I watching pseudo-celebs eat bugs and have rats bite them? Nope! I'm watching the first night of the top twenty dancers on So You Think You Can Dance. What a fantastic group!

I think my heart is going to be with Phillip Chbeeb through the season. However, my favorite number was the crash test dummies dance. I'm glad I never vote on these shows. As I'm typing this, only one performance remains. Now, this is entertainment! I don't want to be a part of deciding who's going to go home. They should all stay another week!

The only drawback to the show tonight was my sucky Comcast cable. Similar to an incident last week in which all of my NYC stations lost signal, tonight's signal for all the NYC stations cut in and out, pixeled, froze, aired with no volume, etc. That went on for the first half hour. Grr.

A very little known fact about me:
My mother made me take tap dance starting at the age of five. That lasted until I took jazz dance at eight. Unfortunately, the only dance style I ever got to be good at was square dancing in backwoods upstate New York bars when I was a teen (with my parents and their friends and their friends' kids). These were the kind of places which had signs up which read "Dance at your own risk." Oh ... and I was also heavy into disco dancing on roller skates for a number of years.

But, to quote an old Genesis song:
No, I can't dance, I can't talk.
The only thing about me is the way I walk.
No, I can't dance, I can't sing
I'm just standing here selling everything.

But I can walk.

Um. Let's make that last line ... "but I can limp."

Someone asked me if I have a date set for the next knee surgery. Not yet. I'm thinking late fall. While I don't want it so late it would spread out my deductible into two years, but an overlap of years for the physical therapy insurance limitations would be a good idea. Since that's just a co-pay and the deductible doesn't come into play, it might be worth considering. The drawback is I'd be returning to work and going to PT on ice and snow. I don't know. I just know the knee can't make it through another winter.

Leather-clad dude on Plainfield (NJ) street corner.
No, that's not where Dog the Bounty Hunter works.
At least, I don't think so.

So You Think You Can Dance Blog Discussion

It's the 5th season of So You Think You Can Dance and here's your place to chat about the show with your friends ... even if you know you can't dance, or you can dance, but you could never do THAT! I don't blog about this show on a regular basis, but I'm a fan. I'll be joining you in comments, for sure.

Jump aboard -- we're all hot tamales on this train!

So You Think You Can Dance, Some Off Topic, and Hooked on a Commercial

I'm sitting here watching So You Think You Can Dance. I have no clue why I always get so addicted to this show but don't care for Dancing With the Stars. Maybe it's because it often has more of a street vibe and/or because the kids on the show work so hard to achieve their dreams.

Obviously, since it's the first night, we're in the auditions phase. Do you want me to set up a discussion post for this season? I'm sure to comment, but don't know if I'm up to blogging each show.

Some off topic --

Due to so much rain and timing, I haven't seen Roofus the Cat lately. However, local blogger Bernice emailed me and told me she spotted Roofus inside the garage building where the food and litter box sit. I'll keep looking! BTW -- if you look at her blog, the new Senior Citizen Center is just a few doors down from where I took all my kale shots and I walk by there on my way to the train every day. It's just a bit away from my own neighborhood and is where the business district starts up.

Many of my commuting NJ Transit trains have gone to the fancy-schmancy double-deckers. If you sit in the top level, it tends to sway a bit like a boat on a mild sea. If you sit in the lower level, you bang your head when you stand and there's a step up to the seats (which I've already tripped over). If you sit at the main level in the bikes/handicap area, the seats aren't as comfortable and it's like a fancy-schmancy version of the NYC subways with passengers facing each other.


Above is a shot of the nearly empty lower level on one of my rides. The conductor is watching me shoot him. Oops. (Clicking on the image will open it larger in a new window.)


There's a fancy-schmancy at my train station. One thing which will take getting used to -- you can't flip the seats. Half of each car faces backwards for the trips. They're only two-seaters instead of two-seaters down one side and three-seaters down the other. I can't sprawl my stuff. BUT ... the seatbacks are one-piece molded plastic. No one in back me can poke me with their feet working them between the seatback and the seat itself. I hate toes poking me in the butt! I'm funny like that.

I'm still putting in extra time at work, but it's paying off as we're acing all of our audits. Phew! Also, I went for my year follow-up with my orthopedic surgeon for the knee replacement. He's happy. I'm happy. My knee can grin if I hold it sideways (the scar). He gave me another cortisone shot in the other knee. Hopefully it will last more than four days. My plans are to get the knee done before winter. I have to build up financial doings and stuff.

Hooked on a feeling commercial
"Front, back, side to side, front front back back side to side, up down ..." I have mad hamster love going on for those Kia hamster commercials. The songs are catchy, but the hamsters are the bee's knees. Or something like that.

The Holiday Weekend, TV Briefs and Da Knee

Every year I have a front row seat to the 4th of July parade which passes by my apartment. Sure, the street is closed off for hours, cars parked overnight start getting towed at 5 AM, no one can enter or leave my block by car from about 10 AM until noon. But, hey ... it's a parade. This year it didn't feature the marching band from Washington, DC which has been a part of the parade for more than a few years, but the local high school marching band, several floats, clowns, stepping groups, all of the local youth sport groups, rap groups, salsa, fire companies, reggae groups, police departments, Ronald McDonald and his NYMetro Ronald McDonald showmobile, church groups, scouts, and more joined in. My personal favorite each year is the black cowboys on dancing horses.

My knee wasn't quite up to standing through the entire parade this year and due to the elevator being out of commission because of an electrical storm the night before, I couldn't manage getting a chair down to the front lawn. I watched most of the parade from my recliner chair looking out the window. But I did go down long enough to snap some shots of the black cowboys and a clown or two. I live in a rather rough town in NJ, but this annual parade is always a celebration of family, children, and the diversity of folks who live here. To me, that's a big part of what being an American is all about.

TV Briefly

• Groomer Has It - I actually missed having this show on my Saturday night schedule last night. When it was down to the final two last week (Jonathan and Artist), I was rooting for an Artist win even though I think Jonathan is technically a better dog groomer. I didn't think Artist had any chance to win but I adore his personality and how he seriously worked to improve each week. He has a good heart and sometimes chose the hard route intead of the easy win. On the other hand, I found Jonathan a bit too smug and arrogant. I was thrilled for Artist when he won the big prize. Yay!
• America's Got Talent - So far, i'm not overly thrilled with the talent. Sure, the sword swallowing guy was cool -- you don't see that every day anymore. I think my favorite so far was the guy who sang "Walking in Memphis" last week or the week before. One thing I enjoy about this show is seeing Jerry Springer out of his typical element. I don't watch his show, but I have to give the man kudos -- he's a very intelligent guy, ex-mayor of Cincinnati (I believe that was his city), and has turned trash TV into a personal fortune.
• A rerun of Crossing Jordan - On Thursdays I have to go for my blood draw for my weekly dosage levels of my warfarin (Coumadin). I've found that Crossing Jordan is on A&E at 8 AM weekdays and tend to watch it as I missed many of the episodes when they aired. This past Thursday, they had a mysterious case. Uh-oh, the guy was poisoned by (as they said it on the show), "Warfarin, rat poison!" Eep, I needed that reminder on my blood draw day, right?
• So You Think You Can Dance - I haven't been surprised by the people who have left each week, not yet anyway. I still favor Twitch as my sentimental favorite, but I'm enjoying Joshua more and more each week even though I think he's a bit chunky for a dancer. I find Thayne's smile increasingly annoying and wish he'd stop it. Gev's solo this week was amazing! As for the girls, I think Katee is my favorite. I'm not sure how Comfort slides by each week -- I don't think she put much effort in her solo at all this week.
• The Late Show with David Letterman - Grr, reruns all this week. Grr.
• Mad About You on TV Land - Argh, just when I discovered they show it, it seems the scheduling has been cut. It's now on in the middle of the night. Maybe the fact that I'm haunted by insomnia is a good thing. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this show before they ruined it by bringing in a baby.
• Third Watch - I never watched the show faithfully, but I have found it at 7 AM on A&E. I'm now remembering why I wasn't faithful. Oh my gosh, this show is just way too busy! I recall some years ago I was in Little Italy (Manhattan) and watched them filming the show. To this date, I've never seen that episode and still wonder if I might be in the background of some of the shots.

Da Knee and Da Health
I still have eight visits left of my physical therapy to complete the twenty visits allowed by my insurance company. That translates to four weeks as I'm now going twice a week. I'm going to try to appeal for more but I'm not too optimistic about them allowing it. The extension (leg out straight) is perfect and that's actually more of an obstacle than the bend in this surgery. Many folks have problems with straightening the leg and that results in a limp. I have no problems with that.

My bend unaided is usually still around 115 with 120 being the goal and more bend possible. Technically, anything 90 degrees or more is considered successful. But the more bend, the more you can do. Despite the horrible condition before the surgery, my bend (range of motion) was good. So, it's expected that I should achieve higher than 120 degrees. That Baker's Cyst on the back of the knee seems to be what's holding back the bend -- I get to a certain point and it's agony. On the other hand, I'm doing well with the exercise bike and my strength is improving.

Although I'm walking most of the time unaided, I still bring along either one crutch or a cane when I expect to be on my feet a lot. When I walk, the knee isn't painful, per se. It's a bit unstable, wobbly, stiff, and weird. It's after I do a lot on it that it's painful. It's still bigger than my other knee, but it's not all that swollen anymore. I still have odd pains coming out of nowhere at times and the huge numb spot on the lateral side of the knee, The scar itself loves to change colors -- in the morning it's white and really looking good, by evening (or after exercise), it's reddish-purple and angry-looking.

Then there's the blood clot and rat poison er, ... Coumadin/warfarin issues. I still have pain in my left calf (the knee replacement is on the left, too) from the clot. They tell me that might last for my lifetime. I've had some adverse reactions to my dosage of warfarin and they're still jockeying it about each week. Although my return to work isn't expected anytime soon, I will have to be cleared by the vascular surgeon as well as the orthopedic surgeon. In the meantime, all I can do is watch the dietary restrictions, have my blood drawn weekly, follow the dosage, carry my medical alert card, try to avoid cuts, and let the doctor's office know if I exhibit odd symptoms. This is just about as much fun as a knee replacement!

So, there you go. I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend! The weather has been stormy here, but it held off for the parade on Friday.

So You Think You Can Dance Discussion Post

Although I'm personally in the "So You Think You Can Walk" stage right now, this is a show I really enjoy.

I won't be blogging about it each episode, but I think it warrants a discussion post. I know I'm sure to add some thoughts in the comments section.

The link to this post will be added to the sidebar and I hope everyone who watches the show jumps in with their opinions!

'So You Think You Can Dance' - Season Finale - East Coast Updates

This post is going to be more the major news than outright blogging. I had to record the first hour due to Big Brother 8. But I wanted to get it started so folks can jump in with their thoughts in the comments area.

I will most definitely be posting the winner, so c'mon back! It seems that no news has been announced, group dances and couples dancing seem to be what's happening.

Whoops, there goes Lacey! She's not going to win and has been eliminated.

Neil has been eliminated.

Cat and Nigel cheated using the JibJab widget. I'll have to post the link one of these days.

The competition is now between Sabra and Danny, both worthy dancers, indeed!

SABRA WINS!

'Big Brother 8' Live Feeds TV Squad and STUFF

There is a new entry up over on TV Squad which covers the live feeds from this morning until the feeds block before the live show.

When the Big Brother 8 live show starts here on the East Coast, I'll open a live-blogging post for it and all comments are welcome!

Since the So You Think You Can Dance finale is two hours tonight, I have to tape the first hour due to BB8. At 9 PM ET, I'll open up an East Coast Updates post so you can converse in the comments area and I can post major updates. I will post the winner by 10 PM ET.