Celebrity Apprentice, Amazing Race, Survivor, Roofus the Cat and other stuff!

Let's talk us some TV ...

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.

Survivor Tocantins - "Mama Said There Would Be Days Like This" - Ep. 3

Welcome one! Welcome all! While my more extensive show review will be posted later at TV Squad, this post will be updated with events and my thoughts as the show airs here on the East Coast. Everyone is invited to party in the comments -- just remember, if you make a mess in there, you have to clean it up.

Jalapao won reward -- comfy stuff. They chose Brendan to go to Exile again. He chose Taj again to accompany him. Tonight there is finally a separate immunity challenge.

Jalapao wins Immunity! Jerry is worried he'll be the target because he hasn't been feeling well.

Brendan found the hidden idol at his camp. Yay!

Jerry was indeed voted out.

American Idol - The Second Twelve

Well, tonight was the second group of twelve. Obviously, I didn't go into what each one sang this week. But I figured a quick post with those who I think will make and/or I liked --

My picks for the top three would be: Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, and Megan Joy Corkrey. Of those three, I think Adam would have the teenage female fans, but I find Megan the most intriguing.

It's too bad Nick Mitchell had to be Norman tonight, but it was funny. He's so not right for the show, but I got a giggle. I never giggled back in the days I was paying the Norbert E. Mitchell Oil Company my bills back in CT.

I kind of like Kai -- he's got a disheveled John Stamos thing going on. I feel I should note that the Jimmy Ruffin song he sang, "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?" was released the year AFTER "Satisfaction" (sung by Adam Lambert) was -- 1966 vs. 1965. They gave grief to Kai about the "old" song, yet loved Lambert. Sure, it was a different kind of song and Lambert rocked his out ... but!

The Amazing Race - 02/22 - "Your Target is Your Partner's Face"

Yes, it's time for ... The Amazing Race! Yay! I'll be writing a more thorough review for TV Squad a bit later tonight, but this is the place for the party! I'll update the post here with important events and all are welcome to join us in the comments area.For the second week in a row, we're starting on time here on the East Coast. We're going to get spoiled, eh?

Off to Germany!

Pit Stop
1. Tammy and Victor
2. Mel and Mike
3. Amanda and Kris
4. Margie and Luke
5. Brad and Victoria
6. Jaime and Cara (14 hours after the first team)
7. Kisha and Jen
8. Mark and Michael
9. Christie and Jodi
10. Linda and Steve - Philiminated

Sunday, Sunday - Some Off Topic and a Bit o' TV

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