Survivor Micronesia: The Trailer

I was looking for something else on YouTube and came across this. I just had to share.

TV Newsy Bits and Bloggy Bits, Too - Sunday, January 20, 2008

Again, I used layers to show the construction dude in color while the rest in black and white. I took the shot in a subway station (NYC) if it isn't obvious. Clicking on the photo will bring up a larger image.

In Bloggy Newsy Bits -- I'm still awaiting an email from the winner of IN STEREO WHERE AVAILABLE signed by the author. I sent out a second email and if I don't hear back within the week, I'll draw another name. I'm just about finished reading my own copy of the novel and should be posting on it by the end of the week.

In TV Newsy Bits --

• I'll be putting up an East Coast Update post for the finale of The Amazing Race when it starts here in the NYC area. I know CBS in this area isn't showing the BIG game (NY Giants against Green Bay Packers), but I just turned on the station and they're talking football instead of the news which should be on. Hopefully TAR will start on time.
• Oh, wait. I guess they're talking another big game -- Patriots win. But if you're in this area, the only game hyped forever has been the Giants.
• Suzanne Pleshette has died at the age of 70. For some reason, I thought she would be so much older than that. When I was a teenager and she was Bob Newhart's wife, she seemed so adult. I didn't realize she was less than 20 years older than I am. I always enjoyed watching her on television and in movies.

Today's musical non-sequitur:
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone
-- "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day

A Quick Take on 'The Celebrity Apprentice' - Ep. 3

Before getting into the show -- a winner has been drawn for the book giveaway. I'm waiting on email confirmation to make the announcement. Thanks to all who entered!

And then there's tonight's episode. Yikes. No, Omarosa wasn't as bad as graphic artist Zoetawny's depiction here tonight. Perhaps she had an off day, but she was human.

I don't know what to say. Gene Simmons went aboard the womens' team to act as project manager at Trump's bidding. Now, I think that so far this season, Gene's been the shining star.

Well, tonight the skies went dark with storm clouds and snuffed out the stars, shining and otherwise.

I understood the task -- Kodak wasn't wanting so much to promote themselves as a company. What they wanted to promote was their new printer and the fact that the ink for it is half what it is for other printers. I know exactly where Kodak is coming from. I've been disgusted that new printers sometimes cost very little while the ink cartridges are sky high.

Gene made a few errors. By not going to the meeting with the executives, he didn't realize how much they wanted to push the ink savings, not the company itself. So, he didn't go to the meeting, he had the concept of the promotion wrong, and then he topped it off by standing by his "creative vision" and bringing the wrong people (Omarosa and Jenny) to the boardroom when Trump was giving him Nely on a silver platter for the firing.

Oh, Gene, how could you do it?

Yes, I did think the "It's a Kodak World" slogan is perfect ... if they wanted to promote the company. Yes, the presentation looked so much better than the guys ... but he didn't think ink! ACK. (Of course, had I been the PM, I'd obviously go with a "When you think Kodak, THINK INK" slogan, but I ain't no celebrity.)

Oh, Gene. Oh, Gene. Trump did make the only choice he could as much as he annoys me. And, while it was fun watching Gene Simmons put Trump on the spot, losing Gene on the show just outright stinks.

But he did it to himself.

Sigh. Silly KISSer.

'American Idol 7' - The Dallas Auditions Live Blogged

Another night of auditions, this time it's Dallas -- where they found Kelly Clarkson. As the show airs here, I'll post on some of the stuff (or auditions) I find interesting and you're invited to post your thoughts in the comments!

Jessica Brown is up first. She's not rocking my socks, but she can indeed sing. She got her golden ticket.

Paul Stafford is ready to audition. Um. He better stick to cleaning off the bases at the park. For me he's coming across as a smarter Tom Cullen (THE STAND). M-O-O-N spells "no."

Beth Maddox is going to sing a Kelly Clarkson song. Well, yeah. She could be compared to Kelly Clarkson if Kelly got hooked on helium. No go to Hollywood for her. How do some of these folks sing in public and think they actually can sing?

An hour of bad auditions ahead for the judges. And they're much worse than Beth.

Alaina Whitaker, a Carrie Underwood comparable, can sing. Nothing I'd buy, but she's got potential for Hollywood methinks. And she makes it. Not that I'm in complete agreement with Princess Leia from last night, but I wonder how many perky blondes can fit on one Hollywood stage?

A sweet young man who has a rather lofty view of love and has never kissed a girl, Bruce Dickson, sings "Ain't No Sunshine." Hmmm ... interesting. Nice looking guy. He doesn't make it

Pia (ZPIA) is up. She has a black blonde Annie Lennox thing going on. It's onto Hollywood for her.

Brandon Green, who collects fingernail peelings, is up. His hobby creeps me out. He also dresses a bit odd. Thankfully, though he's not horrible, I don't think he's all that thrilling. Paula likes him, as does Randy. Simon said no, but he's going to Hollywood. I hope he doesn't bring out his collection too often.

Kayla Hatfield, mother of two, has a tragic car accident sob story which did a job on the left side of her face. She's perky. Oh, my. She does Janis Joplin, not too horribly either. It all seems a bit incongruous, though. Simon says yes, Paula says no. Simon is rooting for her. Randy likes her and sends her through.

Erick Mauldin is odd. We're in for a run of bad audition snippets.

Kady Malloy does impersonations of singers. Her Britney is spot on. Ohhh ... she's good. She's another cute blonde, but I won't hold that against her. Onto Hollywood she goes. Simon thinks she's the best so far this year.

Eleven made it through to Hollywood on the first day and it's onto the second ... after the commercial break, that is.

Douglas Davidson is worried about his vocal chords. He's slightly strange. He goes for "Livin' On a Prayer." He's no john Bon Jovi. Yikes. He also has odd arm movements. Not sure what's going on with him, but he's so not good. Security escorts him out.

Angela (Reilly?) is accompanied by her husband Chad. She has lots of energy and a loving husband who's easy on the eyes. But she doesn't have a ticket to Hollywood.

A Governor of Oklahoma wannabe, Kyle Ensley, is up. Not the worst, but I'm shocked that Simon passes him onto Hollywood. Randy says no. It's up to Paula. Onto Hollywood!

Tammy Tuzinski, who reminds me of a female comedian Steven Wright when she talks, sings in an odd sing-song kind of voice. Just an odd duck, I guess.

Colton Swon can sing. Not necessarily my favorite, but he should make it. He does.

Yikes. Trannies, grannies and guys in bad drag.

Now a farmer with a sexy tractor. Drew Poppelreiter is a throwback to another time and place. But he's better looking than the young cowboy we saw last year or the year before. He can sing, definitely country. Simon says no. Randy says yes. Paula has no wow factor from him, but says yes.

Kyle Reinnick thinks he all that with is guyliner, even. Startling. Simon said it was slightly disturbing and demonic. No, he won't go to Hollywood.

Another run of bad audition snippets. They aren't spending as much time expanding on the naughty bits in much detail this season. Just snippets.

Nina Shaw is from the same town as Kelly Clarkson. She sings a Whitney song and Simon thinks she oversings. Paula thinks she's pageanty. Randy likes her jazz style. Simon said no, Paula yes. She's through. She looks pageanty coming out of the door with her ticket, I think.

I'm not sure what to make of the last audition. Dressed like a pimp of some sort, Reynaldo Lupez (sp?) is 44. Why bother? Niow, that wasn't worth any sort of build-up. I'd rather see the wicked witch from the bad snippets expanded upon.

Okay. It made me laugh when Paula, Randy, and Ryan joined him. Paula was a hoot!

24 made it through to Hollywood. Next week heads to San Diego.

TV Newsy Bits - Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Yeah, it's a gritty photo I took along the NJ Transit train line I frequent. I enjoy grit at times. I actually loved it back when the NYC subway trains were graffiti covered. These days, the subway car exteriors are graffiti-less and the scratched into the plexiglass windows "art" just isn't the same for me. On the other hand, the city and subway system are much safer than they were back in the old days. Oh, I miss the tokens, too. I think I still have a few around somewhere. MetroCards just aren't as memory worthy for the saving. Clicking on the photo above will enlarge it.

On another front, our huge snowstorm forecast for Monday morning never came. You would think with all the technology today, the weather forecasters wouldn't be so entirely off base. It rained a very little bit and that was it. Last night we had some flurries. We're supposed to have another cold blast starting Sunday and they're probably right about that. With my knee the way it is, I'd just as soon not deal with any snow and ice. The ski areas seem to be getting snow, that's fine by me. It can stay away here this season.

At my workplace, everyone seems to be sick with either a horrible cold or the norovirus (stomach flu). I have neither (knock on wood). I'm in my usual winter state of sneezing and congestion. I don't think it's an illness as I go through it for the entire winter every winter. I think it's due to dry heat. One of these days I'll buy a humidifier.

Enough about me. To start off today's TV Newsy Bits, I want to mention some commercials I've been seeing lately --

• I'm not sure if ShopRite is a national chain supermarket or not. But, if you're familiar with them -- it's the time of year for their can-can sale. They sell lots of brand-brands in everything can-cans. Every year when the sale is on, I get the song stuck in my head. It's almost enough to make me want to dance. I found a clip on YouTube if you're not familiar with the commercials. That's an old ad -- the song remains the same, but the prices surely have changed. After it's stuck in your head too, you might want to put a hex on me or something.
• What is going through the minds of the Dominoes Pizza folks with their latest ad campaign? You cannot tell me they don't know the Internet meaning behind the acronym they're using on the commercials. They're advertising the BFD. On the Internet for years and years, that's short for Big [f-bleeping] Deal. They're calling it Big Fantastic Deal. But I know otherwise and so does anyone who has visited message boards anywhere.
• Did you see Sarah Reinertsen from Amazing Race 10 on the Lincoln car commercial? When I first noticed the commercial, I recognized her artificial leg before I realized it was her. I said to myself, "I know that prosthesis!" Hopefully she left that dolt Peter and it would be great if she did do well in a marathon. I have nothing but respect for her but he was horrible.

In other TV Newsy Bits --

• I watched two hours of Greatest TV Reality Moments on VH1 the other day. I do miss the days when both MTV and VH1 focused on music videos almost entirely, but I think I'm getting hooked on some of the shows of this ilk on VH1 now. Included in this show was Charla in her armor falling over on Amazing Race, but not Evel Dick dumping iced tea on Jen's head. If it repeats when you're not watching anything else, go for it.
  
• I haven't watched Leno since his return without writers, but I have caught some of Conan O'Brien sans writers. Actually, I think I like Conan's show better without the writers. It forces him to be creative and he's good at sight gags, self-deprecation, and general silliness. I'm still not thrilled with the local weatherman who reminds me of Conan, but I've giggled and chuckled at the bits I've seen of the show since its return. Good work, Conan!
• Although the commercials for the upcoming Big Brother 9 hint at "dirty little secrets," there isn't all that much concrete news out there yet -- mainly speculation. I found this article interesting, but I fear they don't have any more actual insight than many of the show's huge fans.

Today's musical non-sequitur:
Rich relations give you a
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don't take too much
-- "God Bless the Child" as sung by Billie Holiday