Not Tony Soprano's New Jersey

Nope, it's not Soprano's territory here where I live in New Jersey. It's Roofus the Cat territory! He rules the roosts and the roofs. I took these yesterday morning on my way to work. I had just been thinking it was a perfect day for him to be up there -- cold, yet the sun shining on the building front. He wasn't there when I arrived to the train station, but showed up just as the train was coming.

I managed to come down with a case of gastroenteritis last night and well into today (my day off from work). I'm not sure if it's related to the boil water advisory here in this area -- huge broken water main the other day, but I've followed the rules -- or I just ate something funky or picked up a bug (but no one I know has had it). But I was so violently ill for about 18 hours that I'd almost prefer knee replacement again! I'm feeling better now, but I missed all my TV shows last night -- Bones, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, as well as Letterman. Blech. Plus now I have to be on antibiotics for a period so the knee replacement doesn't get infected. Perhaps my immunity defenses are still down from the surgery. One good thing ... now I have a bottle of Pepto-Bismo which hasn't expired two years ago!

I've watched my Bonnie Hunt Show recording from yesterday as well as today's show. She had Terence and Sarah from TAR on yesterday and he got all taken with her not liking him. Today she showed the perfect example -- when the couple came out to the stage yesterday, he was first and let the door slam on Sarah. I noticed it on the show, but I was thrilled Bonnie repeated the bit on today's show!


This last shot isn't Roofus the Cat, but I found the bike with the bad grafitti around it kind of interesting.

The Amazing Race - 11/16 Show Post

Yes, the show is starting late here in the NYC area once again. 60 Minutes started at a bit after 7:30 PM ET. So we should be up and running in a half-hour or so. I'll be putting the major updates here and my full show review will be posted over on TV Squad later tonight. But the real fun is in the comments and you're all invited to join in!

8:31 PM ET and it's AWN!

Nick and Starr did the FF and came in first again. They each won a waverunner. The others are on the detour or trying to get to the detour.

2. Toni and Dallas
3. Ken and Tina

Dandrew arrived 4th but had to go back to the detour as they didn't follow their clue.

4. (Again) Dandrew
5 Terence and Sarah -- Philiminated

Just Some Stuff

Dateline New Jersey: What some are saying appears to be an alien abduction happened earlier this morning on the gritty urban streets of Plainfield, NJ. According to witnesses, a group of people were innocently standing on a street corner near the Friends Shaker Meeting House when a bright light ensconced them, leaving only their shoes behind. Bystander Jorge Garcia said, "It was a blinding light. I had to close my eyes. When I opened them, there were only shoes where there once were people."

Okay, to be honest ... I saw these shoes and had to photograph them. I know. I'm an odd duck.

I'll be back later tonight with The Amazing Race post and hope to see you there!

Gray Friday and Not Much on TV (for me)

Today's weather here started off foggy and gray. Then it became misty and gray. The ornamental kale above shows the misty effect. In the winter, it will look like cabbage and has been called snow cabbage. It will lose its color. (Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them.)

It's one of the first nights this week with the exception of Big Bang and Survivor nights that I haven't felt like immediately napping after I got home from work. The problem is, when I do that I tend to wake up several hours later instead of my planned half-hour nap. Hopefully that will change since I'm now off the Coumadin as of last night.

Alas, there isn't much I'm interested in watching on TV tonight. Not to fear, I can watch the shows I recorded and catch up a bit!

I have the Survivor review up over on TV Squad and a new TV Shows Off the Beaten Path column up over on CliqueClack TV.

As much as I didn't care for the divorcees on The Amazing Race, I must give them kudos for being caring people. They've set up a charity called The Amazing Grace which will accept donations for an impoverished country visited by TAR each season. This season's start off country is Cambodia. Both women were struck by the poverty in the country.

Today's musical non sequitur:
The city lights, the pretty lights
They can warm the coldest nights
All the people going places
Smiling with electric faces
What they find the glow erases
What they've lost the glow replaces.
-- "Neon Rainbow" by The Boxtops

I leave you in the morning fog of the local train station.

Survivor Gabon: 11/13 Show Post

The show has started here on the East Coast. While I won't be live-blogging it per se, I will update this entry with the big news. My full review will be going up on TV Squad later tonight. As always, have fun in the comments!

Fang won reward and send Bob to Exile Island.

Merge on! Susie wins the first individual immunity building fire.

Whoops! Lost my pool player -- Charlie was voted out in yet another blindside by Kenny.

The Amazing Race - 11/09 Show

I know I'm a few minutes late getting this posted. But, once again, we're on a delay here. I don't know how late the show will start but I'm watching 60 Minutes now. Hopefully soon. I'll update when it starts here in the NYC area. My full review of the show will be posted later on TV Squad, but I'll get the important updates posted here.

8:25 PM ET - The show is finally starting here.

@@ at Kelly in the Roadblock.

First to Pit Stop are Nick and Starr -- they won a trip to Hawaii.
2. Toni and Dallas
3. Terence and Sarah
4. Ken and Tina
5. Andrew and Dan
6. Kelly and Christy -- Philiminated

NEWEST 'Dancing With the Stars' Blog Discussion

Boy, lots to talk about this season, eh? Here's your latest blog discussion post for Dancing With the Stars -- a place for you to talk about the show with your friends from the blog.

(At least Cloris Leachman is gone.)

NEW 'Grey's Anatomy' Blog Discussion Post

Folks have been asking for it, so here it is -- your new home for discussion of Grey's Anatomy. The official website for the show is here. But right here on the blog, you can gather in your comfy chairs with snacks discussing it with your friends. Have fun!

No Criminal Intent Tonight, Yet Tagged

Angry much? I found this poor pay phone in Plainfield, NJ.

Alas, I was looking forward to the debut of Jeff Goldblum on Law and Order: Criminal Intent tonight. Sniffle. They've decided to push it back until 2009 so they can air all sixteen new episodes in a row. Now, that doesn't matter to me with a show like L&O. I hate the long hiatus periods between mini-seasons on shows with continuity like Lost or Heroes. Grr.

Later tonight I'll get up new discussion posts for DWTS and Grey's. Do we need anything else?

An odd note: They're renaming the Triborough Bridge to the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. Yes, a worthy tribute. But it's going to be hard to remember -- they should have done it a few decades ago, don't you think?

Lastly, Donna in Al has tagged me with a meme. I usually don't get too involved with the tagging stuff as it can get overwhelming. But since most I know to tag have already been tagged, I'll answer and not tag anyone else. (Unless you want to get in it.) Here we go:

1. Clothes shopping. Hmm, I'm not so huge on this. Given my druthers I'm a jeans or slacks, sweaters and polo shirts, and sneakers kind of person. I do enjoy sweater shopping. I argue with high heels.

2. Furniture shopping. I'll occasionally buy a piece, but unless something breaks I don't have room. None of my furniture will be heirlooms and few pieces actually match. Hey, I like it that way!

3. Sweets. I'm a chocoholic. I like dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate ... as long as you don't mix nuts in it. I'm not so fond of cake unless it's chocolate. I refuse to admit I have a problem and you can't make me!

4. City. I live close to my lifetime all time favorite city in the world -- New York City. Unfortunately, I can't afford to live IN the city itself. What I pay for my apartment here wouldn't get me a tiny one-room studio in any sort of decent neighborhood in Manhattan or Brooklyn (the two places I would be if I could). Where I live now is a city, albeit small scale and Jersey-rough. But I enjoy my city. Even though it has a bad reputation, I find the folks friendly, polite, and I've never had any sort of problems at all. There are many good people here but folks tend to lump it in with a Newark or Elizabeth. Perhaps even an Orange. But I like the diversity and conveniences of living here. I can go to the top of the nearby hill and see the Manhattan skyline.

5. Drinks. I'm not a big drinker -- usually going months without alcohol. I like to try out micro-brew beers or drink things like frozen strawberry margaritas in the summertime. I can't stomach Scotch, hard bourbon or whiskey drinks, and never have had a martini in my life. More than a few glasses of wine tend to give me a headache. I learned my lesson about Rusty Nails when I was 19. (Drinking age was 18.) Talking non-alcoholic, I'm enjoying Coke Zero these days, but also like a good ginger beer, too.

6. Music. Eclectic. I have a bit of everything in my collection in every medium from vinyl to cassettes to 8-tracks (yes, I still can play them and tell myself I have to record them to another medium) to CDs and MP3s. Old jazz, rock, some country, even a bit of rap, lots of folk music, plenty of classical, a bit of gospel, you name it.

7. TV Series. Many too many to name.

8. Film. I'm a big Alfred Hitchcock buff. I have a gazillion movies on VHS and DVD ranging about all the genres except porno. Well, I have Midnight Cowboy which was originally rated X back when I was too young to see it. In today's world it only rates an R. I don't go to the movies much but do tend to collect them when the video stores sell 'em cheap.

9. Workout. I used to ski, rollerskate, and do all kinds of outdoor sports before my knees rebelled. Now I do about fifteen minutes a day on my stationary bike and do some exercises meant to rebuild the muscles in my knee. I also walk a lot.

10. Pastries. Mmm ... yes! I don't really have them often, but (of course) anything with chocolate is good. I also like things like apple turnovers and such.

11. Coffee. Yes, please. I grind my own beans and like to try different kinds. But I rarely buy the fancy ones at Starbucks unless it's beans to bring home.

Survivor Gabon - 11/06 Show Post

True, this isn't my Survivor logo -- it's an update on that ornamental kale I photographed a few weeks ago. I am alive, my apologies for not posting much. I'm still fighting extreme fatigue and I'm tending to fall asleep after getting home from work.

Tonight's musical non-sequitur which I meant to post on election day:
It's time for a new direction
It's time for jazz to die
On the fourth day of November
We need a purple high.
-- Prince "All the Critics Love You in New York"

The show has started here on the east coast. I'll update this with major events and post my review on TVS later. Everyone is welcome in comments!

Ohhh ... not a merge, a reshuffle with numbered stones, odd and even. New Kota: Bob, Marcus, Susie, Crystal, and Ken. New Fang: Sugar, Charlie, Matty, Randy, and Corinne.

Matty won Immunity for the new Fang tribe, good thing as he would have been the target had Fang lost.

Whoa ... Kenny worked his mojo on Susie and Marcus was voted off!

The Amazing Race - 11/02 Show

Oh my, the show is actually starting on time here tonight. That's two weeks in a row. They're spoiling us! While I won't be live-blogging tonight's show per se, I will update this post with important events. Later on tonight or early tomorrow morning, my review of tonight's episode will be up over on TV Squad.

Nick and Starr made it first to the Pit Stop, each won an electric car.
2. Kelly and Christy
3. Toni and Dallas
4. Terence and Sarah
5. Andrew and Dan
6. Ken and Tina -- Still in -- non-Philimination

They will encounter a speed bump in the next leg -- a task only they will have to do.

Happy Halloween!

Don't let the ghouls get you! Zoetawny made us a neat new Halloween graphic for the blog. Give her some candy!

My latest Survivor review is up over on TV Squad and a new "TV Shows Off the Beaten Path" should be posted over at CliqueClack TV sometime later today. And I'm off to work. I'm going as myself. I figure that can be scary enough.

Survivor: 10/30 Show

The show has started here on the East Coast. While I won't be live-blogging it per se, I will update this entry with the big news. My full review will be going up on TV Squad later tonight. As always, have fun in the comments!

Kota wins reward - helicopter trip for a picnic. Guess who went to Exile? Yep, Sugar. Kota also got letters from home.

Marcus won individual immunity and had to pick someone from Fang to give individual immunity. He chose Sugar hoping a power player will go from the tribe.

Whoa! Sugar betrayed Ace! Yay! He's been voted out, blindsided by Crystal, Kenny, and Sugar.

Kota voted out Dan.

I Interrupt This Blog ...

So, there I was heading to the train station to go off for my blood draw and ... what is that up there? Yes! Yes! It looks like ... the return of ...

... ROOFUS THE CAT!!!

Alas, I had to go to the track on the other side away from Roofus, but he moved and started grooming himself. It's him! I had to zoom more than usual, so the photos aren't the best. Today was the kind of day I see him there -- chilly but with sunshine on the building probably making it the purrfect napping spot.


If you click on the images, they will enlarge.

Double-Deckers, Rat Race, Rat Poison, and Survivor

Yep, I'm still alive. Tuesday I came home from work, fell asleep. Last night I worked late, picked up my rat poison ... er, Coumadin prescription, at Target, shopped some while there, and headed home catching one of the few new fancy-schmancy double-decker trains on my New Jersey Transit train line. Very cool trains. Sure, you have to do stairs to go either up or down but there are entrance level foyer kind of areas with seats. I bumped into a train friend I haven't seen since pre-surgery and I kidnapped him to sit in the top level with me. These night shots without a flash are lacking a bit as my arms were full of Target bags while taking them. Clicking on the images will enlarge them and show more detail.

Then I went home and fell asleep sometime during the Obama half-hour. Sigh. My stamina is really shot. But I woke up at five this morning ... what a joy!

Still no sightings of Roofus the cat. But it has been overcast, raining, sleeting, extremely windy, and snowing each time I've been at the station. In the past when I saw him, it was when sun was shining on the building. It's been a rough weather week around here.

I'm off to go visit the vampires. Countdown time -- two more weeks after this one. (Yay!) At least it's not snowing today and it's supposed to be nice tomorrow for the kids. I'll be posting the Survivor post tonight when the show starts. I hope to see you there!

Tv Stuff and My Return to the Rat Race

Just another plant in the wall. I always enjoy man vs. nature kind of shots. I took this last week at the old stone wall surrounding the Old Presbyterian Graveyard in Bound Brook, NJ. I also took some interesting old grave shots ... but I'll save them for Halloween.

I returned to work today. I lived. But I'm really tired. I didn't review The Big Bang Theory for CliqueClack TV as it was a rerun. My Reality Clack column went up there this morning and tomorrow morning (Tuesday), a Halloween special post with a video I made will be posted around 9:00 ET. All of my work there can be found at this author link, but check out the place ... quite a bit happening! Last night my review of The Amazing Race went up over on TV Squad.

I watched Heroes tonight, but I'm getting more mind-muddled by the week with the show. I don't know -- since they have Marlo and Bubbles from The Wire on it, maybe all we need is McNulty to look into the case and explain it all.

I think I'm going to have to head to bed early. I've got to get used to this working for a living kind of thing again. Grr, now that my 401K has been hit so hard lately, I'm not thinking early retirement!

The Amazing Race - 10/26 Show

Oh my, the show is actually starting on time here tonight. I just might faint. While I won't be live-blogging tonight's show per se, I will update this post with important events. Later on tonight or early tomorrow morning, my review of tonight's episode will be up over on TV Squad.

Pit Stop Order
1. Starr and Nick - Won a trip to St. Jean
2. Toni and Dallas
3. Terence and Sarah
4. Ken and Tina
5. Kelly and Christy
6. Andrew and Dan
7. Ty and Aja - Philiminated

There goes my team in the blog pool!

OFF TOPIC: I'm So Vein, I Thought This Clot Was About Me

The sign outside my pharmacy. Er, okay. It's a pest control place I walked by today. But it reminds me of my Coumadin! Hmm ... maybe I can give them my leftovers when I ... get off Coumadin in three weeks! Yes, I'm leaving the rat poison and vampires behind in just three more weeks. The good news is that no new clots have formed. The bad news is that there is a bit of vein damage and an increased possibility of blood clots in the future. The doctor said that the risks of continuing on with it at this point are more dangerous than the possibility of another clot when mine was directly connected to the knee replacement.

Below is a shot I took of knee replacement parts and other knee implements of destruction. I took that at the orthopedic surgeon's office yesterday. Yes, I do have a metal stake down my tibia and some of those parts.

Thank you all for your concern.

TV Squad, CliqueClack TV, and Signs of the Times

Roaming the neighborhood near my orthopedic surgeon's office yesterday, I found these two signs about a block apart. The first one is so welcoming, so um ... bilingually friendly. The second is forbidding. Sure enough, as I was shooting the second sign, a very vicious watchdog started barking furiously at me. But they're both typically New Jersey -- a rising Latino immigrant population meets The Sopranos.

My latest Survivor review is up over on TV Squad for your perusal. Later today (not sure when), my latest TV Shows Off the Beaten Path column will go live over on CliqueClack TV.

As for me, I'll be heading out to the vascular surgeon appointment before long. I'll let you know when I know.

Survivor Gabon: 10/23 Show

The show has started here on the East Coast. While I won't be live-blogging it per se, I will update this entry with the big news. My full review will be going up on TV Squad later tonight. As always, have fun in the comments. But if you make a mess, you have to clean it up yourself! I've had enough to do with cleaning up Mandarin spam for days now. Sorry about missing a few. I reported the spam blog owner, but still getting it. You guys only saw a few -- it's been about two dozen a day all week.

Argh ... Sugar gave Ace the idol for "safekeeping."

Kota won reward -- baked goods, coffee, tea. They once again sent Sugar to Exile Island.

Kota won Immunity again, thanks to Ace thinking he's Boy Wonder on Fang.

Kelly was voted out.