Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Amazing Race begins
What will I ever do with my Tuesday nights? Oh yeah, The Amazing Race is back and this time they brought the "family". The show this season pits 10 families against each other.
In the first episode they were in NYC and Pennsylvania - including Fairmount Park in Philadelphia! Hilarious - They best quote so far is from the one mother who remarks "we have to go to Pennsylvania? I don't know if that's a state or what"
One family has already been sent home - a young couple with 2 kids - they were sweet - but they lacked the urgency needed to complete the tasks quickly.
9 teams left - the "loud" sisters from Illinois came in first and won $20K - not bad for 2 days of running around.
The most annoying team, so far is a family from New Jersey - 2 boys, mom and dad. The mom is a whiner and the boys are extremely rude to her - the circle of life.
The most unique team is a father with 3 sons-in-law - they seem to be getting along quite well, so far.
In the first episode they were in NYC and Pennsylvania - including Fairmount Park in Philadelphia! Hilarious - They best quote so far is from the one mother who remarks "we have to go to Pennsylvania? I don't know if that's a state or what"
One family has already been sent home - a young couple with 2 kids - they were sweet - but they lacked the urgency needed to complete the tasks quickly.
9 teams left - the "loud" sisters from Illinois came in first and won $20K - not bad for 2 days of running around.
The most annoying team, so far is a family from New Jersey - 2 boys, mom and dad. The mom is a whiner and the boys are extremely rude to her - the circle of life.
The most unique team is a father with 3 sons-in-law - they seem to be getting along quite well, so far.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
INXS has a new Lead Singer!
And his name is JD Fortune!!!!!!!
The finale was exciting. The final 3 rockers each sang a song of their choice; MiG sang Bohemian Rhapsody: JD sang You Can't Always Get What You Want; and, Marty sang Wish You Were Here. They were all good - but JD and Marty really outshown MiG and he was eliminated. Next each of Marty and JD sang with INXS. They then said nice things to each of them and then Tim Farriss told JD "You are Roit for our band!" - it was fabulous. Then JD and INXS sang a new song "easy easy" - It sounded just like it should - awesome!
Way to go Jason!
Photo of INXS (whoo whoo!) from Rockstar.MSN.com
Monday, September 19, 2005
INXS - The Finale
The final episode of Rockstar: INXS is this Tuesday (tomorrow) - I have no idea who is going to win. I know who I WANT to win - but we "can't always get whatcha want" - which, interestingly, is the song that JD will be singing in the Finale.
I can't wait until tomorrow - I'm not sure if the show is live or taped - but regardless - I don't think I want any spoilers - I think ;)
I can't wait until tomorrow - I'm not sure if the show is live or taped - but regardless - I don't think I want any spoilers - I think ;)
Monday, September 12, 2005
Kiss Kiss and Make up
Well, the meanness has been eradicated on the INXS board. The offender has been "booted" and the folks who had fled are back. I still have the blog available if we need it - so that's cool.
I'm glad it's "better" - because I really enjoy that board - the majority of the posters are great - and they are gaining members daily.
The world of television message boards is an amazing phenomenon; there are so many more sites than I ever realized and more opinions than can be counted. They have their own hierarchy and "royalty" (if you will). It's amazing. I'm a little frightened and a lot intimidated by it all. But it's fun to observe.
This is the last week of "performances" on the show (Rockstar: INXS) - next week is the final. I still think that JD Fortune is the person for the job - I hope that Our Band agrees.
I'm glad it's "better" - because I really enjoy that board - the majority of the posters are great - and they are gaining members daily.
The world of television message boards is an amazing phenomenon; there are so many more sites than I ever realized and more opinions than can be counted. They have their own hierarchy and "royalty" (if you will). It's amazing. I'm a little frightened and a lot intimidated by it all. But it's fun to observe.
This is the last week of "performances" on the show (Rockstar: INXS) - next week is the final. I still think that JD Fortune is the person for the job - I hope that Our Band agrees.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
This isn't Band Camp
Apparently not-niceness can run rampant even on message boards dedicated to a single theme/cause. There's some sort of craziness going on at that JD site I spoke of before. To the point that folks are quitting the board. It would seem that a few have lost sight of the fact that this is a TV show - and even though it's a "reality" show - it's not their reality.
So I might not go back - nothing was directed toward me, but negativity is a downer - and I just don't need that.
In the alternative I've started a JD blog and asked a few posters if they'd like to spend their exile there - We'll have fun.
Oh, and JD has made it to the final 4 - he gave some great performances this week - I really hope that the band noticed and I hope that it's what they want (need). ;)
So I might not go back - nothing was directed toward me, but negativity is a downer - and I just don't need that.
In the alternative I've started a JD blog and asked a few posters if they'd like to spend their exile there - We'll have fun.
Oh, and JD has made it to the final 4 - he gave some great performances this week - I really hope that the band noticed and I hope that it's what they want (need). ;)
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
France IV
The next May I made another trip to Paris, this time with my mother, her sister, (Aunt) Donna, and her sister-in-law, (Aunt) Joanne. It was a short trip of just 6 days. We stayed down in Montparnasse, in a rather residential part of the city. As a group, our "paris" experience was quite varied. Aunt Joanne had never been, Mommy had been once, but not since the 1970s, Aunt Donna had been many times, but not in the last 10 years, and I had just been there the previous fall. So we did much of the tourist track (Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Versailles, Louvre). I did make it to some new places including Sainte Chappelle, Musee Rodin, inside the Grand Trianon, the Hameau and an extended excursion to the Galleries Lafayette.
On our very first day we walked down the Champs Ellyeses - up to the Arc de Triomphe - They were having a military procession - which turned out to be the American Foreign Legion (timing!) - It was a little misty and as I looked down the way, toward the Place de Concorde, I noticed that there was a rainbow - right there welcoming us to Paris - pretty cool. We had dinner at a lovely cafe on Washington - I don't remember the name but it was very close to the "Weekend" cafe where Michelle and Scott and I had dined the previous fall - the food was great - Aunt Donna had snails!
On Sunday we trekked out to Versailles - and yes, we got to see the fountains! And, again there was a thunderstorm, so they had to turn them off. The special thing for us was that it was early enough in the day that they turned the water and music back on - and we got to see it from the beginning - I know that sounds corny - but it was very cool. Even in France my favorite part of traveling is the gift shop - this go around they had limoges china renditions of Marie Antoinette's china - pearls and flowers - I'm a sucker for Marie Antoinette - and limoges -so it was an immediate sale - That evening we found the most wonderful restaurant, thanks to our hotel clerk: The Moulin Vert. Absolutely no one spoke english - which was a good sign - the food and atmosphere were amazing - I had the best asparagus ever - and the best dessert - ile floatant - the floating island - delicious!
The next day we spent the morning/afternoon in the Louvre - my favorites are the object d'art and furnishings - and I was able to find a "real" piece of the limoges I had bought at Versailles - And I bought even more when I got to the Galleries Lafayette.
It was an interesting group to travel with - and a wonderful opportunity to spend some more time in the City of Lights.
On our very first day we walked down the Champs Ellyeses - up to the Arc de Triomphe - They were having a military procession - which turned out to be the American Foreign Legion (timing!) - It was a little misty and as I looked down the way, toward the Place de Concorde, I noticed that there was a rainbow - right there welcoming us to Paris - pretty cool. We had dinner at a lovely cafe on Washington - I don't remember the name but it was very close to the "Weekend" cafe where Michelle and Scott and I had dined the previous fall - the food was great - Aunt Donna had snails!
On Sunday we trekked out to Versailles - and yes, we got to see the fountains! And, again there was a thunderstorm, so they had to turn them off. The special thing for us was that it was early enough in the day that they turned the water and music back on - and we got to see it from the beginning - I know that sounds corny - but it was very cool. Even in France my favorite part of traveling is the gift shop - this go around they had limoges china renditions of Marie Antoinette's china - pearls and flowers - I'm a sucker for Marie Antoinette - and limoges -so it was an immediate sale - That evening we found the most wonderful restaurant, thanks to our hotel clerk: The Moulin Vert. Absolutely no one spoke english - which was a good sign - the food and atmosphere were amazing - I had the best asparagus ever - and the best dessert - ile floatant - the floating island - delicious!
The next day we spent the morning/afternoon in the Louvre - my favorites are the object d'art and furnishings - and I was able to find a "real" piece of the limoges I had bought at Versailles - And I bought even more when I got to the Galleries Lafayette.
It was an interesting group to travel with - and a wonderful opportunity to spend some more time in the City of Lights.
Rockstar, you guessed it, INXS
So they're down to 5 "rockers" - and tonight is another elimination show. I'm really a little scared to admit that I stayed up until 3am voting last night while simultaneously "chatting" in a JD Fortune chat room. We had a fun time oooohing over JD's super performance and dissing (gently) the other performers. It's amazing how punchy one can get while typing in security codes to vote for a reality show. This is total insanity - but it's a fun way to go.
I finally got to see the "reality" show on Vh1 - I was visiting my mom, and she has cable - I missed the 8pm broadcast so I stayed up until 2am to watch the re-broadcast - It was so worth it. JD celebrated his birthday last week and they had a huge cake for him. It all ended with a massive "cake fight" with all 5 rockers covered in cake from head to toe (toes were also featured in some creative "wine fountain" configurations as well). It would seem that JD had a fun birthday.
