Click here for my latest article. The other day my wife and I were at Wal-Mart. We were in the record section, and we listened to the samples from Kelly Clarkson's and Fantasia's new albums. I liked Kelly's album a lot better. I can see how she won the first Idol. Fantasia was the special guest on tonight's show. Fantasia looked a bit worn-out compared to the last time we've seen her. Let's hope that her apparent weariness is the result of a massive publicit...
Click here for my latest article. Tonight's theme was "Showtunes." I am sure that this announcement sent groans throughout the livingrooms of America, but it turned out to be a reasonably fun challenge to see the remaining nine contestants push themselves a bit in a genre that would destine many of them for failure. Possibly the question on everyone's mind as the singing was about to start: Would Bo Bice sing "Tomorrow"? Once in awhile Simon and Ryan take digs at each other, mai...
**I have tried to post some pictures, however I am having slight troubles with my geocities account. If you don't see the pictures now, rest assured that they'll be up shortly. April is here. Spring has sprung. The trees are budding. The birds have returned. That means that it is once again time to put up our Koinibori (Japanese carp streamers to celebrate childrens' day.) I put up our koinobori pole on Sunday. *** Last night my wife and I to...
As I am writing this article, I am listening to a radio report on BBC radio. It says that due to increasing demand, oil prices may soon exceed $100 per barrel. Such a high oil price would cause a reduction in consumption, and a rush to develop alternative technologies. Alternative technologies would presumably be more eco-friendly than those reliant on fossil fuels. (Namely oil) In a sense, market pressures could possibly drive a move toward more environmentally-protective ener...
I have my calendar (figuratively) marked for Monday's start of the baseball season. The Twins and Mariners will be playing game one (for me) beginning at 4:00 Central Time on Monday. That means that I will be able to catch most of the game after work on that day. I don't mind when the Twins play on the West Coast during my summer vacation; but during the school year, it is pretty tough to stay up for the night games in Seattle. Twins are looking good this year. The s...
Recently the amateur sumo association in Japan has encouraged the use of sumo shorts. Article from bbc.uk In order to encourage teenagers to participate in sumo, the amateur sumo association has advocated ridding the sport of the traditional mawashi (sometimes referred to as "loincloths") in favor of something resembling bicycle shorts. Competing in shorts apparently makes the youngsters less self-conscious than competing in the traditional sumo near-nakedness. Fortunately in ...
On Monday morning when my son and I woke up, I noticed that he had been sick. Since then we have enjoyed lots of vomit, terribly messy diapers, sleepless nights, and a cranky baby. My wife and I each had to spend a day home from work too. He hasn't been able to keep much in the way of food down. He's been sucking down ice cubes, electrolyte drink, and eating a bit of apple sauce and bananas. I'd bet that he's looking forward to the point that he can eat real food again...
I write weekly articles discussing the American Idol TV series. Yesterday when I was thinking about my weblog, I had a thought: Which already famous performers (present or past) would have made good Idol contestants? Let me set out a few criteria: The artist should be American (sorry Freddie Mercury, Celine Dion, Robert Plant, Seal, and Geddy Lee.) The artist should have a melodic (or at least nice-sounding) voice with the ability to sing various genres of popular music. Go...
Click here for my latest article The fallout from the 1990s night is over. Anwar, Jessica , and Nadia found themselves in the bottom-three. In the end, Jessica was eliminated. That's sad, as she had been one of my favorite performers. (I think that either Scott or Anwar deserved to be eliminated this week on the strength of last night's performance.) Nadia found herself in the bottom three for two weeks in a row. Even though the was the first one back...
Click here for my latest article Tonight's 1990s-themed show surprised me. Usually when I watch American Idol, I am very familiar with most of the songs that the contestants sing. On tonight's show, I was only familiar with Bo Bice's song. I suppose that popular music loses its appeal once the audience graduates from high school. (I graduated in 1990.) The Performances: (Tonight I wasn't able to identify all the songs. Sorry...) 1) Bo Bice sang a song...
Bob Casey, the 44-year veteran PA announcer for the Minnesota Twins died today at 80. The most famous announcements of my lifetime probably came with how he called Kirby Puckett's name. Casey was a fixture with the Twins, and his absence will definitely be felt. As a teenager I didn't really care for Casey's over-the-top announcements. As I approached my current age, I began to appreciate the unique charm that Casey brought to the Twins. He added a little bit of atmosp...
Entertainment Weekly magazine recently compiled a list of the top-20 funniest Monty Python sketches. You can read the article by clicking this link. As usual, there are certain items included in any "top x" list that can be the source of argument, but in general I found this top twenty list to be pretty fair. Here are the sketches that Entertainment Weekly chose as the top ten: 1. The Spanish Inquisition (Good choice for number one!) 2. Ministry of Silly Walks (The one tha...
Click here for my latest article. Tonight's results' show was one of the rare occasions where "they got it exactly right." The performers who had the weakest performances on Monday: Anthony Federov, Mikalah Gordon, and Nadia Turner, found themselves in the bottom three. In the end, Mikalah was eliminated. That's probably good for her and the competition, as she wasn't able to keep up with her competitors. What happens from now will be very interesting. It ...
(Added March 23rd.) I just heard that because of an error in numbering the contestants after the show, the voting will be re-done after tonight's recap show. Maybe they'll show some recaps, and then viewers will be allowed to vote after the show. We'll see what happens. Click here for my latest article. Tonight's theme was "Number One Songs from the Billboard Magazine Chart." As a group, the contestants performed their songs really well. I really enjoyed tonig...
I heard today that Barry Bonds arrived at training camp on crutches after knee surgery. After blaming the media for "getting to him", Bonds indicated that he will be out for at least the first half of (and possibly the whole) baseball season. The timing of the surgery and the announcement are a bit fishy. Inactive players don't show a performance dropoff since they're not playing. Do injured players have to take drug tests? If this knee injury ends up being "career threateni...