Click here for my latest article. Tonight's episode of American Idol (days one and two from Hollywood), marked the beginning of the "more enjoyable" part of the yearly series for me. The singers are better, expectations have been raised, and the rivalries get intense. I can hardly wait for next week's group competition. Before that, a number of the weaker contestants need to be weeded-out, and tonight we were able to catch (mainly-fleeting) glimpses of those who will...
Click here for my latest article. Well, here's my second go at it. For some reason my first attempt at writing this article was erased by the JU site. That was a bummer, as I was half-way done. So tonight was the last night of the auditions. Yay! I am looking forward to the Hollywood round. As the previous season five audition shows have gone, so went this episode. A few good auditions, mixed in with a ton of lousy ones, none probably havi...
One of the best things about changing cable/ satellite service providers is discovering new channels. In my family's recent switch, we sadly lost the Game Show Network, but gained Boomerang (among others). Boomerang is a channel (which is an extension of Cartoon Network) that had been playing "classic" cartoons. When I began to receive Boomerang, I was happy to see lots of "Popeye", "Looney Tunes", "Tom and Jerry", "Underdog", and the like. For some reason, the programming staff at Boome...
Click here for my latest article Only one more audition show left before the show moves to Hollywood. Watching tonight's show from Austin, Texas, I was struck by the number of "bad" auditions that have been aired this season, as well as a spike in country singers. (I think that neither is a good thing.) Tonight's show was once again interesting, although a little skimpy on the "highlights". Tonight's "Highlights" Simon Cowell has license to say a lot of thing...
Click here for my latest article. The auditions continue, and it actually seems that we're getting near the end. Thusfar there seems to have been a number of capable singers who have gone through, but I am still not "excited" about anyone yet. I suppose that sooner-or-later someone will emerge as my favorite in the contest. Tonight's Las Vegas episode featured a lot of poor auditions with a few goodies sprinkled in. I will comment on a few. Tonight's Ido...
A few years ago, my wife and I watched "Kill Bill" in a movie theater. I remember being essentially entertained my the movie, but I also remember feeling unsettled by the whole experience. After seeing the first movie, I figured that I "might as well" see "volume 2", but there wasn't much urgency. I found "Volume 2" on TV the other day, and I recorded it. (We watched it last night after the kids were sleeping.) I really liked "Volume 2". It was interesting, excit...
Click here for my latest article These audition shows are really hard to write about! Tonight's show was entertaining enough, but it didn't leave as much of an impression as other shows have. The main "news" of the show was that Paula and Randy had pestered Simon enough after two days, that Simon left before the end of auditions. (I really don't understand why Randy and Paula were going after Simon so harshly. It was really unwarranted.) One singer could possibly ...
Click here for my latest article The third audition episode was held in North Carolina, home of Clay Aiken and Fantasia Barrino. It was a fun two-hour episode. (The shows are really heavy on the commercials this year, aren't they? I started watching twenty minutes after the show had started, and was already at "real time" by just a little after the second hour started.) Not so many memorable things from tonight's show, besides one contestant: Kelly Pickler . ...
On Friday night I received a telemarketing call from my cable company. Instead of instantly hanging up, I actually listened. Apparently my promotional rate was expiring, but the cable company was willing to give me everything that I already have for one year, plus HBO and Cinemax, plus the Starz movie pack, for what would be $8 less than they had intended to charge me once my promotional rate ends. Nice. So now I have access to all sorts of movie channels. I suppose I ...
Click here for my latest article Once again, my wife and I were on survival mode. We're still sick, but I think that each of us is noticably better. We both went to the doctor today, and we both heard that we're dealing with viruses. (Going to the doctor, one is always hopeful that it'll be something bacteriological, so at least something can be done about it. Anyway, we have a few medicines to help deal with symptoms, and we're gradually getting better. Tonight's American Idol audit...
Click here for my latest article. Welcome back for what seems to be another exciting year of American Idol. Visit my website to read capsules and commentary. (The website seems to heat-up once the competition does...) Sadly today, my wife and I are both battling colds. I ended up watching the show myself, interrupted by bouts of coughing. Needless to say, I will probably enjoy this show more the second time I watch it. So considering my basic state-of-health...
Today my wife, my kids, and I were out shopping. During our outing, I had to refer to a yellow pages at a gas station. Fortunately I was able to find the entry of the store which I had been looking for. (Ironically -but not related to this article- the address in the book was wrong) This experience reminded me of something that I have seen in movies. Often, one will see a character refer to a phone book at some point in a movie or TV show. Once that person ...
So I am at home, helping my younger son stay sleeping. I am watching a show called "Rock Fest" on the VH1 Classics channel. The show starts with videos by: Queen, Alice Cooper, and Ozzy Osbourne. (followed by Ted Nugent and ZZ Top...) The seventeen-year-old within me is super-excited about this trifecta (without commercial interruption.) But there I sit with a baby, enjoying what I would have REALLY liked fifteen years ago. (Except then they wouldn't play those thre...
Yesterday a package arrived in the mail from my mother in-law from Japan. She sent us the last three episodes of the Japanese weekly late-night show, "Ainori." Wickpedia Link The biggest event of 2005's final show would be the end of the three-year "Hide saga". This one young man, Hide (prononced "hid-day"), has spent the past three years (through 14 different countries) in the love wagon, in search of true love. In these three years, Hide has been invited to return to ...
One of the channels on my television is VH1 Classics. As the name implies, they play older videos. The Classics channel is great. Lots of videos, not a lot of speaking, and the commercials are very infrequent. It is a very enjoyable way to watch music videos. Lately I have noticed a slight growth in the all-talk and talk-intensive types of shows. There is a program called "Hanging With..." which is a half interview/ half video show. I also saw a show w...