So You Think You Don't Like Reality TV

I consider myself sort of a TV snob I guess you could say. Ok, well, maybe Gossip Girl isn't Oscar or even Emmy worthy, but I mean I usually sort of bite my thumb at reality TV. There are a couple of shows that I say defy the laws of reality TV, such as the Amazing Race. That is a great show where you get to see new and exciting places every week and it really relies on people using their noggins to get through it. However, shows such as the Bachelor, Dancing With The Stars, Living Lohan (you could not pay me to watch that) and, yes, even American Idol I have always sort of looked on with disdain. I realize American Idol contestants are, for the most part, very talented, but I hear singing every day and Simon is just an ass. I mean why be mean to someone just for meanness sake? It is sort of cruel in my opinion.

However. My eyes have recently been opened to a new show. A glorious show. A show that I am not sure how I lived without watching in the past, even though my friends all told me how great it was and that I was sure to love it. A show called So You Think You Can Dance. Oh. My. Gosh. How I love this show. Even during the normal TV viewing season, there is only one show that I cannot miss on the night it actually airs and that is Lost. Everything else can wait until later thanks to my handy dandy DVR. But this is a new feeling for me. On Monday I start getting excited for the new episode and to see what dance style my favorite couples have chosen and what awesome dances they will have choreographed for them. On Tuesday I always start thinking the show comes on that night and then I get sad when I remember it is only Tuesday. Wednesday is THE day. Two hours of television bliss with me stomach down on my bed with my palms under my chin, eyes wide, with a big smile on my face.

This is how the show works. They went around to big cities and found people who can dance really well. Then they sent like 200 people to Vegas for boot camp. In Vegas they narrowed it down to only 20 people, 10 boys, 10 girls, and paired them up as couples to compete. Every week each couple draws a style of dancing and then have really talented choreographers teach them a dance in that style. The two hour show consists of Cat Deely introducing a clip of each couple practicing and goofing around with each other, then the couple coming out to the stage to perform each dance. I feel like such a dork, the entire two or three minutes that everyone dances, every muscle in my body is completely stiff. I guess I am nervous for them and just want everyone to do really well. I don't know, but afterwards, they face the judges. Nigel is the exec producer and is British and used to dance in his younger years. On first impression you would think 'oh he will be the Simon of the show and will bring everyone to tears with his hateful take on their dancing'. Not at all. He truly enjoys the dancing and is usually kind, with a few useful pointers in his comments. Mary Murphy is the ballroom dancing expert. And she is super annoying. She screams so loud sometimes I am surprised the other judges aren't deaf! Anyway, you get used to her though and she is usually very kind, but also uses constructive criticism to help the contestants along. Then there is always one guest judge who has some sort of background in dance, of course.

After the show you can call in and vote on your favorite couple. The next night (oh my gosh it is tonight and I can't wait!) they have the elimination round. They announce which three couples had the least amount of votes and each member of that couple has to do a solo to prove to the judges they should stay. Then the judges decide on one boy and one girl to eliminate. They haven't eliminated anyone that I have loved yet, but out of the remaining couples, I really like everyone. I definitely have two or three favorites (shout out to Twitchington!!!), but they are all just such talented people. I danced my entire life until college, and no I was nowhere in the vicinity of the world of talent that these people posses, but I still love to watch it and can appreciate just how difficult it is. The dances are so unique and interesting and truly an art form. The things that these choreographers come up with have moved me to tears a couple of times.

So anyway, to sum up, this show rocks. I love it. I will be super sad when it is over. And I will try not to be so quick to dismiss reality TV from now on. =)

That's it, I'm not having kids

Boomer,
originally uploaded by Sooner Trent.

So Boomer had to go to the vet today. He had a little red bump on his tummy that had just appeared a couple of weeks ago and seemed to be getting bigger so I felt like I needed to get it checked out. We had an appointment for today and a little before the appointment I was playing with him and felt two more bumps under his arms! So I load him up and we go down the street to the vet. First of all, we board him here sometimes so he isn't happy to be here in the first place, thinking I am going to leave him. Then we head in to an exam room where the guy who works there pokes and prods him just to get a feel for what I am talking about. He let's Boomer down off the table and is asking me if he has been acting normal otherwise, and if he is eating and going to the bathroom regularly. At this point, as if on cue, I look over and Boomer is going #2 right in the middle of the office! My first reaction was to say 'no!', but then I had to restrain myself from cracking up. It was so funny! He was like 'here let me show you'. So hilarious. So not only is my dog the cutest dog in the world (yes he is, and all of you who are tempted to post a comment saying no, YOUR dog is cuter, save it. you're wrong.), he also has a sense of humor. Who knew?

Anyway, so then the guy comes back with the doctor and Boomer runs under my chair to hide. We have to drag him out and then the doctor proceeds to aspirate (nice word for sticking a needle in and drawing cells from) the bumps. Boomer was such a champ, but I almost passed out. One of the bumps started bleeding afterward and I almost died. So this is my question. How am I supposed to have kids? I can't even handle my dog getting injected, what if a doctor tries to give my child a shot and I cold cock him? Not kidding. I am worried about this. I guess parents just learn to live with this stuff?

Anyway, just so you know, Boomer is fine. The two lumps under his arms are nothing but random fat deposits and the bump on the stomach is an infection, for which he got a shot of steroids and some antibiotics. That's right, my dog's on steroids. =)

On a totally separate note and for no other reason but to let the world know what a total nerd I am, I would like to tell you what just came in the mail for me. An electronic dictionary/translator! I always wish I had a dictionary when I am reading and don't know what a word means so i wanted to get a pocket dictionary to have in my purse. But I also am always wondering how to say things in Spanish, and lately Italian, and this also translates Spanish, German, Italian...and a couple other languages. Pretty cool huh? What's that? It's not cool? Oh well, I don't care.

My very belated birthday party

Ok, so remember a few blogs ago when I talked about Lake Como and how I celebrated my birthday there? Well, my birthday was technically May 11. However, I always do something to celebrate with my girlfriends, and seeing as how it was my 30th birthday we definitely had to do something big right? Jason keeps reminding me how we were in Italy and saw the Last Supper on my birthday. Ok, yeah, that was pretty big, but it is my 30th birthday! I need my friends to comfort me. =)

So, my friend KC rocks my socks off and she said she would throw me a party at her house. Her pool parties are my favorite thing every summer anyway, so I knew it would be greatness! She and her man Tom decided on a Regatta yachting theme. She even sent out formal invitations. Pretty fancy no? So I sort of felt like a fraud having my birthday party over a month after my actual birthday, but I got over it. =)

So my party was this past Saturday and it rocked! KC had gotten all these cute sailing themed decorations, like life preservers and anchors and even these cute straws that had boats on them. It actually rained some that morning so I was a little nervous, but it cleared off and ended up being a perfect day for a pool party. Tom had invented a game called Beergata (get it? Regatta + Beer?) so we played a couple rounds of that and Mikey had brought this torpedo thing that lended hours of under water amusement. We also tried to have boat races in the pool, but one of the boats broke so that didn't work out so well. I would also like to brag on my watermelon seed spitting skills. I'm pretty sure I won, although everyone kept SAYING they couldn't see where mine went. You don't have to be jealous guys! ;)

As far as food, well Tamra usually makes this stuff called Fiesta dip and it is my fave and a must have at pool parties, but she was in Chicago, so Lacey was kind enough to make that AND her famous chicken dip. Then KC had gotten these cheddar brats that were so dang tasty! Shawna made the cutest dessert. It was a ring of cupcakes, held together on top with frosting going all the way around made to look like a life preserver! I was trying to post a picture of it, but I am at work and some silly firewall isn't letting me upload pictures to my Flickr account. Do they really think their network security is more important than my blogging? What's that? I am actually supposed to be working? Oh well, another time maybe.

So basically my birthday party was awesome, and now we are back to trying to redo our bathrooms. We finally got the tile in and the toilets put back in. We started painting last night and will try to finish that tonight, as well as maybe hang a mirror or light fixture. We still have lots to do, but I promise to post some before and after pictures when they are done. It can only look better than it did before so I am excited!

TGIF

So, this is my first post that really has no purpose. I have just promised to start writing more about what has been going on with me and Jason. So I will start writing more, but bear with me as I get a feel of how to just write about random occurrences as opposed to specific ideas or happenings. I am a little OCD, in case you couldn't tell, and setting out to write a post without an outline or guiding premise is a little daunting for me, but I will just commence with my usual rambling and see how it goes.

We have been having some remodeling done on our bathrooms, both master and guest, and so that sort of took up our whole weekend last weekend and has us living out of our downstairs bathroom until the tile guy comes next week. They took off all the hideous early 90's wallpaper and textured the walls last week, at which time they also ripped out the toilets from the wall and floor. They can't be replaced until the tile is down, plus we have no mirrors on the walls so we are having to get ready and do everything in our tiny half bath. Kind of weird, but I am excited for when they are done. It is going to look SO much better. We have almost all our fixtures replaced, we just still need new light fixtures and mirrors. It is really dang hard to find huge mirrors for a bathroom that aren't $1000. We also bought paint this week and started taping everything so we can paint this weekend hopefully, if the tile guy isn't here.

Other than dealing with the bathrooms, we went to see Mates of State Wednesday night. They are sort of my newest favorite band. I discovered them on Myspace because they cover this song of Phantom Planet's called California. I love that song and they covered it well so after listening to them mostly on myspace for a while I finally bought all their CDs and now totally love them. They will be at ACL this year too. So anyway, me and some friends met at Gloria's before the show and ate there. It made me miss living down there so much. We used to eat at Gloria's weekly just about, and the one in Addison just isn't the same. I ate about three bowls of the bean dip by myself - it's SO good - and me and Jason split the sour cream chicken enchiladas - also SO good. We headed over to the show around 8:30ish I think and the second band, Black Joe Lewis, was already on. I actually ran in to an old friend of mine who writes really good reviews of shows/music/etc, so instead of writing what I am sure would be a piss poor review, I will just give you the link to his.

http://www.douchebagface.com/index.php/2008/06/12/headlights-black-joe-lewis-mates-of-state-granada-61108

Pretty good no? Anyway, my review is that the show was awesome. They sang my two favorite songs - Goods and The Re-Arranger - so that made my week for sure.

Yesterday, I was super tired from staying out so late. We were supposed to meet some friends downtown somewhere for an outdoor concert thing, but I fell asleep around 5 and didn't wake up until about 7 and was just not feeling too much like it. So instead I put in season 3 of Veronica Mars and continued to watch that while eating my dinner of cereal in my PJs. Then I had dreams all night about being friends with the cast of VM and how they went to Tyler with me for a party with my friends from high school. Annnd I am pretty sure I was dating Piz from season 3. Weird, but I'm not gonna lie - I pretty much always dream about VM characters when I am in marathon VM watching mode. I am almost done watching season 3 and I am getting sad cause I know it is almost over. Again. I will give myself some time and then start watching from Season 1 again. After all, NONE of my summer shows are on this summer. Entourage and Big Love both are on hiatus until fall or spring. Blah. Although, I am sort of loving So You Think You Can Dance. My friend Lacey turned me on to it and man those people are talented. But that is another blog for another time...

So how did I do on my first non subject blog? Were you bored? Spellbound? Comments? Suggestions?

Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the oh my gosh I am already bored...

So, I went to see Indiana Jones this weekend. I love all the others and I had to see this. I mean there was never a question of whether or not I would see it, even if it had gotten terrible reviews. The reviews were mixed, but everyone that I knew who had seen it didn't like it. They warned me not to go, but like I said. I had no choice. Plus Ebert gave it 3 and 1/2 stars and me and Ebs usually see eye to eye, so I still go in thinking I will like it.

!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Jason had told me there were aliens in it so I was prepared for that. I mean I like a good alien movie, just wasn't sure how aliens and Indiana Jones went together, but I put my trust in the almighty Spielberg and figured he could make it work. So you find out pretty soon in that Cate Blanchett's Russian mob is looking for aliens for some reason. None of this bothered me so far. I also liked that the movie didn't ignore the issue of Indy's age. He isn't quite as spry as he used to be - although he is MUCH more agile than any other 65 year old I know - and I thought it was smart that the movie recognized that from the beginning. It helps the audience to believe a little more I think.

So Indy teams up with Shia La Beouf - who is a total cutie and, in my opinion, a good actor - and they head to the Amazon area. They find a crystal skull that can speak to them through its eyes, little Amazonians living in caves, Shia's mom who is Indy's ex, an old man driven crazy by the skulls power, giant ants that carry a man in to their ant hill and...if it sounds a little ridiculous, that's because it is. I was enjoying the movie for the most part until about an hour or so in. As soon as Shia is straddling two cars, sword fighthing Cate while getting hit in the nether regions by very tall grass or trees, I was done. From this point on I think I looked at Jason and said 'Really?' about ten times. I now will steal from Amy Poehler and Seth Myers in Weekend Update with a section called Really?

Really?
Shia is straddling your car and another car and you are trying to get him off your car. Your options are a) fight him with a sword until he falls back in to his car or b) drive away, and you pick a. Really?

You are driving toward a cliff at full speed because you know there is a tree there that will gracefully lower your apparently water proof vehicle in to the river below you without drowning all of you. All to beat the people, climbing down the cliff with ropes, to reach the cave with the skulls first and you didn't think you might just stop the car and cut everyone's ropes. Really? Not to mention you go over three more water falls in the same car without a single drowning incident OR losing your crystal skull. Really?

Then you are out of the river only to realize you need to cross it again AND get through the waterfall to the cave that looks like a skull so you can reunite the skulls and gain control of the Kingdom. And you apparently can just hyper jump in to the cave since we see you there half a second later without a drop of water on you. Really?

You get the idea. It starts getting stupid and just gets stupider. I won't tell you how it ends...you wouldn't believe me anyway...but it is about the same. I wanted to like it and didn't, although I am glad I saw it. I mean I couldn't have not, so it doesn't really matter. I just hope that there are no more sequels and maybe we can just pretend this one didn't happen? That makes more sense than the movie did.