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.

At Least TNT Has Fresh Shows ...

... which aren't about pseudo-celebs in a jungle!

The Closer is new at 9 PM ET/PT ... and here's a peek --





Then, at 10 PM ET/PT, it's a new Raising the Bar --



I've already screened both of these episodes and, trust me ... much better than watching those fools in the jungle!

It's June 12; Do You Know Where Your TV Signal Is?

Wall Street has really taken an economical hit, eh? I took this photo in Plainfield, NJ.

Oh no! It's DTV Transition Day!
I hope everyone is either set with cable service, satellite, or have their DTV converter boxes and a good UHF/VHF antenna. Where I first moved when I came to NJ (about a mile from where I am now), I had actual reception with rabbit ears. I could pick up all of the NYC stations, all the Jersey ones, and even two Philly ones.

I was in the midst of moving here to this apartment when 9/11 happened. I had both places for a few weeks and found I had snowy reception of most of the NYC stations, no Philly. But then when the towers went down, I lost all reception as the transmitters for the stations were atop of one of the towers. So I've had basic cable ever since.

I didn't have any issues today and didn't expect any. Eventually I plan on getting a DTV converter and perhaps a decent in-home UHF/VHF antenna for one of my old unused 13" color televisions (or maybe the ancient 12" B&W one). It sounds like I might actually have reception with it. We'll see.

Off TV Topic, but sometimes money does fall from the sky
Oh, I'm not talking about a ton of money. I'm talking about $90. Yep, it fell from the sky. It seems I was part of a class action lawsuit with no knowledge about the lawsuit at all. If they sent me something previously, I probably shredded it as junk mail.

As it is, I was skeptical of the check I received yesterday. It was a lawsuit against an insurance company whose name meant absolutely nothing to me. I thought it was a scam -- you know, cash the check and get charged for some sort of never-ending deductions from your bank account.

So I went to the online URL in the letter with the check. The FAQ document cleared it all up. When I bought my last car over a decade ago, I paid it off a few years early. Although I had contacted the loan company for the exact balance owed, no thought was given to the insurance which came along with the car loan. I gave up the car more than a few years ago as it got all persnickity on me. Apparently the $90 check I received is thanks to someone named Poole who sued and started a class action suit against the insurance company. According to the paperwork, it's actually only 45% of my loss. But seeing as I didn't realize I lost anything, it's money from the sky.

Tonight, tonight
Right now as I type this, I have old reruns of Roseanne on from TVLand. At 9 PM I intend to watch Mental. It's the episode from earlier this week with David Carradine's last television performance. I missed it the first airing, so it's on the slate for tonight. That whole thing with his death is just plain old bizarre. I doubt that when I die it will be anything which compromises my integrity (I lead a boring life). But, sheesh ... I do feel bad for the family.

I will be watching A&E's 11 PM showing of Criminal Minds. A lot of this series is fresh to me as I missed most of the shows on their initial airing. So, even if it's an old repeat, I probably haven't seen it.

More off topic
I stopped by yesterday and visited my physical therapist who dealt with my knee replacement. He finally has his website up and I invite everyone who has aches and pains to take a peek. And, if you're anywhere in the area and in need of physical therapy, I highly recommend him.

I've been loading a lot of my older photos to my Photobucket account (linked on the sidebar). If you want to take a slideshow gander, just head here.

That's it for now. I hope you all survived the DTV transition!

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.