Big Brother 11 News

Today was media day for Big Brother 11. They showed off the new house to press folks. And, here it is! Okay, I lie. It's a vintage Metro North train car I saw sitting when I headed into the city for dinner last week. If you click on it, a large image will open in a new window.

Anyway ... here's the skinny I picked up from folks who were invited to the media event --

• Allison Grodner said it's going to be an interesting cast (doesn't she always say that?).
• The media event had people from media, television, print, and the Internet living a week's worth of events in one day while in the new house.
  
• Remember, I wasn't invited. (Sniffle)
• The cast is all but finalized. They're not sequestered pre-show yet. I'm thinking we might get some official announcements perhaps midweek next week or Friday (July 3) at the latest.
• This season's twist is supposed to be unique, but something everyone can relate to. Um, okay. I'm not so sure I can always relate to her brilliant ideas, but ...!
• The house is eco-friendly and green this year.

And that's the big news. Just a teaser, I say!


People are waiting in anticipation of Big Brother 11.

Belated Bloggy Bits

Finally! I've been trying to post an entry since I got home from work! Blogger has been out of order and I couldn't even get a comment on my last entry to post.

But I have to talk about my dinner with two fine blog friends last night. It never fails that when I meet folks I've befriended online, they're people who I find truly enjoyable to be around. Of course, meeting up with a bad element from online is what we all see on the news. And that certainly happens. But it all depends on the venue involved.

Last night's dinner with blog friends RBennie and Becky could have been dangerous. Yep. We could have stayed out all night talking until we were hoarse. We could have eaten far more calories than humanly possible. We could have gone shopping! We could have giggled until we started hiccupping or something.

It makes me feel so good inside that this blog has created such a fantastic community of really GOOD people. We may all live in various places around the country, but when we meet up ... it's like we've been "in person" friends for years. RBennie in person has that voice of reason with humor thrown in (but that voice of reason within couldn't stop her from having at least a bit of the triple chocolate cake!). Becky is such a firecracker (which is a good thing)! She kept us in giggles all evening ... I love it!

Both Becky and RBennie are exactly the kind of friends I like in my life -- kind, interesting, witty, intelligent women with whom you can have a good time. I have a feeling they also might be good shoulders to cry on, but we did no crying last night. Lots of giggling.

I don't want to just slap up photos taken of us last night. I myself am always a bit camera shy. But here's a bit of my journey --

Newark Penn Station ... where is my train? That's not my train. Why is my train late? I need to get to Midtown!

Finally, New York City, just as I pictured it ... skyscrapers and everything. Oh, wait. That's from a Stevie Wonder song ("Living for the City"). It's been horrible with rain this month here. However, the skies stopped for our Ladies Evening Out. All that was left was the fog. It usurped the Empire State Building.

Here's where we had our dinner -- O'Reilly's Pub and Restaurant.

After leaving Becky and her friend at Penn Station to catch their train back to Long Island, I walked over to Times Square just for the heck of it. Er, not really for that reason. I had to go to Port Authority as I took a bus home. If I'm in the city late, I usually catch the bus back home as the bus stop is across the street from my apartment while the train station is six (dark and scary) blocks away. Port Authority is on 42nd Street right at the edge of Times Square. I peeked at the pedestrian mall bit, but I'm not impressed. Even without cars right at Times Square, it's still a sensory overload.

Becky and RBennie ... thank you for an enjoyable time last night! You're both sweeties! And fun, too!

Tonight, Tonight

I won't be able to post the results for So You Think You Can Dance or I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here tonight because I'm heading into the city after work to meet up with blog buddies RBennie and Becky after work. We're going to have dinner (food is always a good thing) and I don't anticipate being home until the shows are over.

No, I won't be taking a taxi into Manhattan. I'll just take the train, thank you very much. I spotted this NYC cab in nearby Westfield on Monday. I have no clue what it would cost!

If someone would be so kind as to post who got the boot on both shows, please have at it!

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!