Nice find

Ted at BSYTYCD relentlessly scours the intrawebs for any sort of SYTYCD-related information to keep us rabid fans up to date and totally entertained. He does a wonderful job. Now that the show's back in full-swing, I probably visit his site at least a handful of times each day.

This morning, thanks to Ted, I found a site called Rhino Times, where Orson Scott Card has a column. He recently reviewed and critiqued the judges on SYTYCD (and a few other reality competition judges as well). I found his comments to be insightful, interesting and dead-on. Not surprising for someone who has penned some of the most thoughtful and human sci-novels around. What I love about his books is that he always gives the reader (me) a different perspective on a situation that they (again: me) wouldn't have thought of in the first place. Very clever, he is. His columns at Rhino Times provide that same kind of insight. I'm totally fascinated by his views on modern-day pop culture. He's definitely got some strong opinions, and while he may be a little verbose at times, his columns are worth checking out.

If you're a fan of his work, you must visit Uncle Orson Reviews Everything. Happy reading!

So, I know there was another two-hour SYTYCD bonanza on last night, but I went out to celebrate CGI's birthday and had to DVR it. I'm snuggled on the couch with a warm down blanket (Bay Area mornings have been c-c-c-cold as of late!), a bowl of cereal and the remote. I'm ready to rock.

(As an aside to the managers of Medjool's Sky Terrace bar, more heat lamps are needed for summer nights in San Francisco. Like Mark Twain said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." The man shits you not. With the fog and breeze, it was downright arctic up there. But the views, the drinks and especially the company were simply to die for. On a warmer night, I could totally fall in love with this place...)

According to DJC, who stayed home last night and watched the show, there is someone by the name of Phucdat Ngyuen who auditions in this segment. How did I get the spelling correct on that one, you ask? DJC wrote it down. Love it! Hee-hee!

Be back soon (I think). If I flake, happy Friday! Enjoy the weekend! =)

UPDATED: Brandon Bryant, you are my new hero. Holysmokes.

Again, thanks to kelxk3l. =)

Thursday morning couch potato report

Last night was the second two-hour installment of SYTYCD with stops in Salt Lake City, UT, and Dallas, TX. I have to say, as amazing as the LA auditions were, I had high hopes for this season to continue to blow me away. Yeah, Dallas and Salt Lake City..not so much. I found myself totally annoyed with Fox's constant need to display (and totally make fun of) mediocre, or just plain horrible, dancers. 40+ dancers made it to the next round in Las Vegas from Utah. We saw only a handful. Dallas was even worse.

But amongst the horridness and housewives who brought their children to the audition (they were in Utah, after all), there were several bright spots:

This is Kelli Baker from the Salt Lake auditions. I was not impressed with her ego at first, but then when I saw her dance, it all became clear. See, Kelli illustrates one of my favorite principles in life: Talk as much smack as you want...as long as you can back it up. Her audition was breathtaking. She most definitely can back it up. And how cute is Mandy Moore? (she's the judge on the far right, opposite of Nigel) Love her!

Joshua Allen was the *only* popper in last night's two-hour extravaganza to really impress me. So cool, he is. Like ice. Love the way he moves. And that leap at the end? WOW. Just wow.

This is Chelsie Hightower. While the video will give you her entire family life and background in agonizing detail, trust me on this one...You.Must.Watch. She is gorgeous. Oh my heavens, all my life I've wanted legs like hers! So pleasing to the eye. And we like that!! YAY!

All videos come courtesy of kelxk3l. Thanks! =) Check out her (or his?!) page if you want to see more auditions from last night's show. Ryann Race is another fun one to watch. And how can you not love that he is a DJ in a strip club...in Salt Lake City! LOL! Another performer I TOTALLY enjoyed was Gev Manoukian. The judges sent him to the choreography round, when I would have sent him straight through to the next round. Thankfully, he can dance and made it though anyways. =)

Another two-hour special airs tomorrow night, showcasing stops in Washington, DC and Charleston, SC. Hopefully, Fox will focus more on the amazing dancers and leave the jokers out...

New products and stuff

(Note: I cut the ever-living HELL out of my left thumb yesterday while trying to cut bread. My left thumb is my space bar thumb. Typing is really hard. Needless to say, my knife privileges have been revoked.)

I'm skipping the Tuesday Couch Potato Report this week (obviously). Because of the holiday weekend, most of the usual shows weren't on, and I just watched lots of movies....

On another note, I've been wanting to do a post for a while now on new things that I'm in love with, and I don't know why I picked today to do it, but recently, I've picked up a bunch of new items that deserve a little blog space...

First, I bought a new pair of running shoes. In the beginning, I LOVED them. But then, inexplicably, they went all sideways on me, and now I can't stand the way they feel. I have no idea what happened. I went the way of the Asics Oberon Gel and I think I'm feeling the reprocussions of betraying my love affair with New Balance. I'm still trying to make them work (with various inserts and whatnot), but I'm not holding my breath. Bummer...

Ok, so despite my love for hockey and burly sports, I love me a good pedicure. Here are a few cool things I've picked up recently to make my feets look bettah...

Not that I've worn anything but flip-flops and running shoes lately, but I used to spend lots and lots of time in stylish high-heeled torture devices. Apparently, Yoga Toes are great for stretching the feet out after a long day of modern-day footbinding. So far, I'm liking the way my feet feel after wearing them for about 30 minutes. I can't tolerate any longer than that, which apparently means that I need them! Stay tuned!

For super-smooth feet, look no further than the Ped Egg. Strange name, great product. Just be aware that even though the product description claims to catch all the dead skin, it doesn't. Using this thing should still be done over a trash can.

And lastly, once your feet are relaxed and dead skin-free, polish them up for sandal season with Nic's Sticks from OPI...if you can figure out how to control the brush. In theory, putting quick drying nail polish in pen form is a great idea. You can take them with you wherever you are and touch up chips in no time. YAY! Right?! Well, not quite. The execution of said idea is all kinds of off. First, the polish is too thick and doesn't go on smoothly, leaving lines and clumps. Secondly, the brush is the strangest thing I have ever seen. It's too wide and very hard to control, leaving polish all over the surrounding skin (note: this could just be due to operator error, but I struggle even with my dominant hand). I picked up "Feeling Girly" and "Do You Deliver?". Despite the problems, one coat of the light pink polish looks pretty cute. Any more than one coat, and its a mess. I've given up on "Do You Deliver?" even though I LOVE the color itself. It's a great red.

Ok, so it took me nearly an hour to type this post out, so I'm gonna give my thumb a rest for the day. Catch ya'll tomorrow, when I'm sure I'll have more amazing SYTYCD audition videos to post. Cheers!

The Crosses

Last year, I did a Memorial Day post that featured the lyrics from John Mayer's "Belief" and a few pictures from a hillside in Lafayette, CA. I didn't explain much about why that hillside is covered in wooden crosses, but did include a link to the project's website. I think they explain it best here. This was the hillside on Memorial Day 2007:

And here is that same hillside from yesterday:

I glance at this landmark every time I drive by it on the freeway and I'm always a bit saddened as I see the count continually climb. I think the second picture gives you a pretty good idea of the sheer number of crosses on this hill. What's even more saddening (and maddening!) is that each of those white wooden crosses represents an U.S. Armed Forces life lost to the seemingly never-ending war in Iraq. And if Iraqi casualties were to be added in...well, let's just say that there isn't a hillside in Lafayette big enough.

Even though the war has fallen out of daily media coverage, memorials like this one serve as a grim reminder that we are still a nation at war and that people, families, are still losing their loved ones every day. I appreciate what the Lafayette volunteers do to keep that hillside up. I also appreciate every single man and woman over in Iraq, although I'm not happy about the fact that they're still there, or that they didn't get to BBQ with their families yesterday, or that the volunteers have to continually add crosses to that hillside.

Hopefully someone someday will put a stop to the violence and they'll all come home. Hopefully soon.

Oh my stars....

UPDATED: Now with the new and totally improved William Wingfield audition video! YAY! That previous one was killing me. I mean, who even has an old-school TV like that anymore? But really, when the dancing is that amazing, who cares? I still got chills either way.

SYTYCD is back with a vengeance! After only the first stop on the nation-wide audition tour, the judges must be SO tired. Maybe Fox edited it this way, but there was so much stinkin' talent! I smiled for two straight hours. Here are some of the highlights from last night's show:

This is Robert Muraine. Like Mary, I've never seen anything like this. I think Mia's face at :27 and :43 says it all. Totally. Freaking. Amazing.

Here we have Phillip Chbeeb, a fave of mine from last season who didn't get very far in the competition. So glad to see he came back for another go this year. Between him and Robert, I wonder how it is that people learn to move like that. Insane. And so damn cool. (pardon the lame logo in the corner of the vid!)

And lastly, this piece seriously left me speechless:

I've been watching this show for a looong time now, and I'm fairly certain that no one has done anything like William Wingfield did here. His free-form dance was totally remarkable and breathtaking. Nigel didn't think it was right for the audition, but you know what? It got everyone's attention and left them wanting to see more, which is *exactly* what a successful audition should accomplish. LOVE!

Oh man, this looks to be a great season! The judges are positive and not annoying, the dancing is unreal and it was great to see dancers from past seasons make a cameo or two. Can't wait to see what the other cities have to bring! =)

Two guys, a girl and the "slimmest ones possible"

The location: The "feminine protection" aisle at Walgreen's earlier today.

The participants: Me. One seriously agitated bald man who looks to be on the verge of losing it, but is holding it together in the hopes of finding a Walgreen's employee to help him. He succeeds. The third player is a teenage, uber-nerdy, pimple-faced guy.

The scene: Seriously agitated bald man asks teenage guy for help because he needs to find "the slimmest tampons possible". Teenage pizza face looks like he's gonna throw up. He manages to say, "I don't even know what that means." Despite the fact that this could be seriously funny if I just stand back and watch, I step in.

Me: *deep sigh* "Two guys in the tampon aisle. Goodness. Sir, let me help you."

Teenage guy nearly trips over his own feet as he runs out of sight. Seriously agitated bald man looks totally relieved. He explains his situation and I offer two options. This seems to confuse him terribly. I realize my mistake and offer only one option. He quickly snags the box out of my hand and thanks me over his shoulder as he too runs out of sight.

Now, if I were ever to send my man to the store to buy me a very specific kind of tampon, I'd make damn sure that he knew *exactly* what kind I needed to minimize the time he had to spend hunting for them. The woman that sent the poor guy I helped today...she's maaaaad at him for something. Bless his heart. She sent him out with no further information or instructions other than "slimmest ones possible".

Hilarious.

Congratualtions...

...to David Archuleta. He becomes the latest in a long line of talented people to NOT win it all, despite being the best at their respective reality competition disciplines. He joins:

*Danny Tidwell, from Season 3's SYTYCD. I still maintain that no one from this upcoming season (or any season, for that matter) will ever be as good as Danny. And yet, somehow, incredibly, he lost out...

*Kaba Modern, from Season 1 of America's Best Dance Crew. They didn't even make it to the finals, although there have been articles (like this one) out there hinting at foul play. Hella whack. They were amazing.

*Uli Herzner from Season 3 of Project Runway. She lost out to Jeffrey, whose clothes I would buy only if I were going to a costume party as a 80s rocker chick or a gothed-out cokewhore. Uli's line, on the other hand, was clean and interesting, with plenty of movement. I'd wear her stuff any day.

(there are more...I just felt like only mentioning those three because they stand out the most to me)

And now, we can add David Archuleta to that list. Last night's American Idol finale was bullshit. There. I said it. David Cook? Did anyone who voted actually *listen* to him sing? And moreover, did anyone watch him? He might have an OK voice (similar to Chad Kroeger's from Collective Soul...kinda monotone, kinda scruffy), but there's just nothing behind his eyes. The same can almost be said for David Archuleta, but here's the big difference: Cook is 25. Archuleta is 17. David A., although more charismatic than his competitor, still lacks a little on-stage maturity that can probably be chalked up to his age. Bright lights, big city. No matter, though. He more than makes up for it with his strong, beautiful vocals. Archuleta can sell it. The same cannot be said for David C.

Once David C. gets in the studio and has the help of a sound engineer to digitize his meh-ness, he'll crank out a pretty good CD that will sell a few copies here and there. But David A. will always have that "wow" factor. Couple that with the fact that he is so young, and I think we'll be seeing him for years and years. Does David C. have that kind of staying power? Only time will tell, but I look for him to disappear into the background with other Idol "winners" like Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard. He just doesn't do it for me. At all. (His reaction to winning, though, was *very* endearing and kinda melted my icy heart...for like a second.)

David A., you were robbed, my friend. At least you're in good company...

Exersize: Ur doin it rong

Yesterday, I headed over to meet up with DeKap for our weekly stumble run up and down the stairs of Alta Plaza. I was sore from the previous day's run and wasn't really up for it, but if he was ready to go, I'd soldier through.

Thankfully, he wasn't. He and I have both been a little down in the dumps lately (but for very different reasons) and running was the last thing that either of us wanted to do. So, on a sunny but windy afternoon in the city by the bay, the only exercise that DeKap and I got came from walking two blocks uphill to the local bar, consuming a few drinks (mmmm, lychee and pineapple infused vodka martinis), walking across the street to grab some gelato (mmmm, lavender gelato), and then walking the same two blocks downhill to get back to his place.

And as good as running would have felt afterwards, not running, consuming lots of calories and chilling with a good friend for a bit felt even better. Sometimes when things don't work out as planned, it ends up being exactly what you needed...

Tuesday morning couch potato report

Good morning! Welcome to your weekly update of all the televised crap you can handle. Weeeee!

First up to bat this time around, we've got the Food Network. Aaaah, the glorious Food Network. All food, all the time. And most of it, with the glaring exception of anything that Rachael Ray makes, looks deeeee-lish! I just can't imagine that food prepared by someone that obnoxious could be any good. But that's just me. Plenty of people that watch her wildly gesticulate while cooking love her. But, in the same obnoxious vein, we find the lovably awesome Guy Fieri. Not familiar? This is our guy:

Yeah, he's the one featured in the latest T.G.I.Friday's commercials. He hosts several shows on the Food Network, but my favorite is called "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". He travels all around the nation looking for the most unique places to get home-cooked grub. He stands in the kitchens and patiently watches while the owners of the places he visits make their specialty dishes. Then comes the fun part. He always chows down on whatever is made, usually in a gluttonous manner. Not sure why, but it's *so* satisfying to watch him inhale the food. And thanks to yesterday's show, DJC and I will have to visit this place at some point. Mangia!

So, last night was the season finale of CSI Miami. I decided to DVR Miss Rap Supreme, which airs at the same time, only because all of the CSI episodes have been previously available On Demand. I woke up today, all excited to watch Horatio in all his one-liner glory, only to find that last night's episode is NOT AVAILABLE. NOOOOOOOOOO! As entertaining as Miss Rap Supreme was, I want my CSI!! Maybe it'll show up in the On Demand section later in the day. Fingers crossed...

And only two more days until SYTYCD returns! WHOOO-HOOOO!