djs111

Goodness! I checked Wiki, and Dragon's Den is everywhere. If I could (and I could understand what they were saying), I would watch them all. Wiki Dragon's Den

I will be watching Community, based mostly on John Oliver being there. I love him. Jane Lynch is hilarious - she is in a lot of great (to me) movies, like Best in Show, and she does great stand-up comedy on LOGO. That whole Second City crowd is wonderful.

I love Shark Tank!!!!! - it is a version of Dragon's Den, which is on BBCA (Tuesday night at 9 EST, I never miss it :-O). I think the original was Japanese or Australian. Heeee....I find the guys on Dragon's Den sexier than pretty much all the other guys on TV, because they are smart. And rich. Rich is good, too. They do have really good information about business. The Dragon's Den folks guested on a Friday night British talk show - the host said oh you guys are so picky, if I invented the wheel you all would say oh, that is just a square with the corners knocked off.....cracked me up. I did not like Dan for pretty much the entire design star season, but he won me over with that sea-themed kid's room. I had thought of him as just a pretty boy or something. And that craptastic back yard redo made me sort of dislike him. But I hated all the colors and all the accessories that Antonio used. Couchie, you mean Ty Pennington? yeah, he has gotten more annoying each year. I started getting tired of him on Changing Spaces. I don't watch his show, although I am sure he is a good person and I am happy for the people who get the house. I have learned not to read follow-up stories on the houses, though.

Yep. I think you nailed it. Heh, I wonder how many demographics design shows have, in reality. Anyway, here is a sample of the reaction at TwoP: I guess I should have known what was going to happen when Genevieve Gorder (she is so heavy-handed I cannot bear her show) praised all the irritating things about Antonio as her favorites. Blech. Blech. Again, I think HGTV may be overestimating the number of discrete demographics that watch design shows in the first place. Just the difference in the two approaches to hiding the TV - Dan's - elegant; Antonio's - heavy handed and yeah should there be that much wood around a fireplace. If that was my house I would have repainted all the walls the next day. And take out a sink? Wait until the other HGTV show folks hear about that!

I totally totally disagree with the choice for winner of Next Design Star. Totally and completely. There. Now I feel better.

I think you got the wrong person - I also remember someone saying something about the Neeleys being a bit antagonistic or something, but I don't think I have ever watched their show! I think it is on Saturday, when I am usually trying to catch up on work I should have done during the week, and when a lot of my HGTV and other home shows are on (Sell This House, How Not to Decorate, etc.) I do love Chopped, and yeah it is funny to see that woman actually smile. I also love the Ace of Cakes, and ALL the food competitions, and the Build a Better Burger shows are awesome!!!!! I think I have prolly OD'd on just plain cooking shows, unless there is something extra - like Brian Boitano having fun.

Winds up, and heaves a perfectly good egg at Fear! I couldn't stand Fieri for a long time, but I love when he visits restaurants and gets them to show exactly how they make their specialties - I never would have thought of some of that stuff! His cooking show is okay, yeah a bit bouncy, but it would be fun to cook with him. Ooops, sorry! ABC or at least not FN. I did think Ryan sold his little soul to Fox, though. There is something I don't like about Ryan, nothing to do with Clay, Ryan just seems shifty and seems like he would put hidden cameras in his mother's bedroom if he could get a sponsor. I won't watch that show - anyway, Jamie Oliver has had quite a few BBC shows and such, I have seen a lot of him. Jamie has a show on Food Network, Jamie at Home, Saturday mornings at 7:30, so I can watch him sans Ryan.

That new show on Food Network, What Would Brian Boitano Make?, cracks me up - it is a bit campy, but funny, and Boitano is having fun. Most memorable recipe - deep-fried bacon cone, filled with eggs and hash browns, a dab of sausage gravy, and topped with a biscuit. Heeee........there are healthy recipes, too. The title comes from a hilarious South Park song, What Would Brian Boitano Do?. I am currently addicted to it, it is insanely cheery. What Would Brian Boitano Do? Dunno if the extreme charm of Jamie Oliver can counteract the extreme creepiness and smarminess of Ryan Seacrest, for me. I kinda doubt it. Me too. Her schtick was how to prepare non-kid food so that kids would like it, I thought. Looks like the network already had a box to put her in. Wonder if the runner-up will show up in a show; he seemed like a natural. Melissa seems a bit unhappy and forced, but I am prolly projecting.

Count me in!

Saw Inglourious Basterds. Very violent, very funny, typical Tarantino movie, really entertaining! The first morning $5 viewing was at 11:30 am, and it was almost sold out. Avatar looks to be really good, or at least the movie will be very beautiful. Hard to get excited about the 435th animated Scrooge movie, this time with Jim Carrey, but the animation looks remarkable. I was wondering what happened to Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes movie - evidently Guy Ritchie felt it was missing a really evil Moriarty, so he asked Brad Pitt to be Moriarty, and so now they are shooting new footage. Mmmmmm, Downey, Jude Law, Brad Pitt..... Inception with DiCaprio looks good, but looks like it borrowed heavily from The Matrix and Minority Report. AND Robert Downey Jr. will be the vampire Lestat in a remake!!!!!!! Or no he will not!!!!! Anyway, there are rumours which he debunked, dangit.

I sure knew who was going home!!!!!!! Can't pick a winner as yet, but that woman from my hometown, Philly, is my favorite - I wanted to not like her at all, but her attitude (and vices) are kinda familiar.......and I like her accent, even though it is actually not pronounced. But maybe that's because I used to tawk like that :-) I thought the judging was pretty fair. And who the heck would deep-fry a rib chop or whatever? Yikes!!!!! I hope the 26 days at sea (or whatever) guy does not repeat that every episode, because I do really like him, and his food looked really good. Not so much bah humbug, it is a moving story, I just am not that much into backstories on these shows. And Fear, they better all get done when time is up!!!!!! :-O I thought all four winners seemed really good. The girl whose sauce was too bland (bearing in mind the show is edited like crazy) didn't whine about how the white wine she wanted to use was gone. That was a nice surprise. I see we have the requisite male chauvinist pig already. I went to TwoP - looks like my Philly girl is the favorite, yay!!! MCPig guy Mike seems to be universally hated - and these people actually go to the restaurants these chefs come from, they are going so far as to email the restaurant he works at, which is creepy, but I guess I should not be surprised. And it is agreed that Padma seems much more sentient this year. She did seem more calm and more connected. I missed when MCP asked Jennifer (Phillygirl) if she was the pastry chef at the Ripert restaurant. She is head chef. Anyone remember what she answered?

Yes, they are same old, same old. But I have grown to kinda lurve the predictability, like knowing just what kind of jokes a comedian will tell. CMSU how he is Directed To Grow and Change (to fit MY idea of what he should do with his career/life/preferences) - but the minute he gives a different answer that is not the desired one, he has deliberately lied or misdirected or whatever. No wonder he says answering questions is a chore. It IS a chore. Or, at least, the reactions are tedious. I am pretty sure that if he is writing anything, no one will know about it unless he is happy with it. Do some artists get up every day and twitter that they have scheduled creative writing from 2 - 4 pm? Heeeee.....the way the fandom reacts, I would never tell anyone anything, just release it and turn off the computer. Demographics - I think demographics is part of what has changed radio so much. I think the demographics thing is now like a snake eating its own tail. Everything is focused on that. No more just throwing music out there and seeing who likes it. A typical radio lineup used to be wildly differing kinds of music - how else would people hear new things? Not the top 40 (more like top three or four) radio, any more.

We saw District 9 this morning. We LOVED it!!!!!!!! It is very violent, like being inside a video game. Cross between Independence Day, The Defiant Ones, and that old Dennis Quaid movie where he learns to bond with an alien. The acting is good, especially the lead, who is a new guy. Not a big budget, but very well done. Lots of social commentary, it is set in Johannesburg, and apartheid is skewered, with a dose of corporate weaponry and genetic testing. I don't look for movies to be Important and Change My Life, keep that in mind! On the other hand, the movie made me think about more than just the violence. Two previews looked hilarious (well, to me and Jacob, anyway!) - Woody Harrelson stoned and killing zombies (not a stretch, I think) in Zombietown USA and also a movie called The Vampire's Assistant. Evidently it is more difficult than it would seem to be turned into a vampire by John C. Reilly and then be his assistant. We decided that Final destination 2 or whatever just looked stupidly gory. Legion looks good, mainly because it is v. nice to gaze at Paul Bettany in a black leather biker Angel suit. Um, Paul is wearing the suit.

Thanks, tribeca! - and I recommend Bill Rancic's We Mean Business show to those who may be interested in how to run a small business. He seems like a genuinely smart and nice guy.

Of course it is illegal! But then again, it is asked early on, and there is no way to prove why I was not hired.

Bwahahahaha! Sorry. Two weeks notice seems to be de riguer. Any package that comes with that is generally as little as the company can get away with and keep the departee from suing. Just had my resume submitted for another job - where my hopes die is when I am asked when I graduated from high school. I have de-aged my resume - "Over 20 years experience" is better than what evidently reads like "from 1812 to 1903, I taught CICS even though computers were not invented as yet."

Probably the Mariott offers a wedding package deal that includes breakfast and is making a lot more money from that. Great to watch Invisible - he looks so bouncy and happy! Happy Birthday, KAndre!!!!!!!

Thanx for all the pictures!!!!!!!!! And I adore Torchwood!!!!!! and Captain Jack!!!!!!!!!

I took my grandson to see it last Friday. He has read all the books, I have not. He was PISSED OFF because they left two very important happenings out. won't spoiler it, but I have read the same complaint elsewhere. I enjoyed it, but I wished for more action - and aside from my inordinate love of Snape, I didn't like any of the actors/characters as much as I liked Gary Oldman and a few others. Characters were not as interesting or something. We can't wait for Sherlock Holmes. :-)

Well now I have to slap a HYPOCRITE hat on mah head - I watched that master chef show and in the hand-tied-behind-your-back challenge, the female chef got some help, one of the guys held the eggs so she could cut the tops off......and wow! I was impressed that when she won with what looked like the bestest eggs ever, no argument, not one of the guys whined that she had help. If it was the regular top chef show, there would have been bitching. But the guys also seemed to feel that yeah, she was actually the best chef, and they seemed happy she won. Although the stakes were not nearly anywhere as important as top chef. But I think she would have won without those challenge stars. I predict Debbie goes home next week. I would have sent her and Jamica both home last night, really. I love Guy Fieri's shows. I went to the Kuma Corner website to get some cheeseburger ideas, I love how he makes the food sound so good and look so logical to make. Can't stand Paula since she judged last year's show. Have seen all of Rachel Ray's shows. I like the low-carb guy, and Throwdown. I don't watch anything regularly, though, even the competitions get rerun a bunch, no hurry. I miss Two Fat Ladies on BBC.

I think the judges tried to point out to Debbie that her first instinct was to lie and say the capers were in the dressing, instead of just saying oops she forgot them. Most of what they are looking for is being good on camera, but I think there is a concern with truthiness and do they want to work with her. Debbie tends to rationalise away things and make excuses. Melissa was awesome with those peppers - those are hotter than jalapenos (at least they did not give her Scotch Bonnets!) - I admit I was hoping for some drama. Yeah, I think she should win. But her nerves and her desire to have that show are getting to her a bit. Considering she is not a chef, she is doubly awesome and I think there is a niche for her. I am getting tired of hearing about Debbie's Korean ancestry, for some reason. And I laughed when a judge pointed out to Jamica that the Jamaican Shrimp was mentioned several times, catchy title, but not spicy. Plus she was rude, and when called on it said tough beans, that's how she is. Yikes! Fear, I absolutely believe the rules should be followed for a game show. Else what is the point of having it? Everybody on the show applied for it and knew the rules and should have been able to practice. If they can't follow the rules, just try and be a guest on someone else's show or something. And have you ever seen Gordon Ramsey ream someone out for cooking too slow? Restaurants are businesses, the quicker you cook, the more table turnover. Plus the judges are looking for innovation and imagination. Aaaaaar, humbug!!!!!

Technical cry for help! I have an HP Compaq 6710b laptop - I have an extra monitor attached, thank goodness, because the laptop screen goes black, I can get it to work if I jiggle the microswitch thingy that gets pushed in when the laptop is closed. Jiggling that thingy makes the screen come on for about 5 seconds. And now I need to keep the laptop closed all the time, and work on the extra monitor. Anyone have experience with this problem????

Bwah! Perfect segue (although I wish I had a Segway!) to what happened to me yesterday..... My truck would not run due to evil electrical-connectal demon-spawned problemos. So I walked 4.8 miles home. 97 degrees, Florida-style. In FitFlops. Which are designed to keep you always a little bit off-balanced with each step, to force you to use all your leg and waistage-area (ok, butt) muscles. Dang. On a fitness scale, I am at the bottom, where it says "sentient pudding". I lurve my FitFlops, but now I will make sure I have some sort of sneakers or whatever in my truck, I can hardly walk to the garage (well, driveway) today.

If he had only failed to finish once, yeah I agree with you. But all three times? To let him win would not be fair to the others - and perhaps their food would have been better if they had taken more time. Rules is rules. He just needs to be on Top Chef where he would have more time - but I bet he would still take all the time and need ten more minutes! I would also kick out anyone who just disregards one of the ingredients because they don't know what to do with it, and uses it as a garnish or whatever.

I like the mom too, but I wish the guy who talks like Harvey Fierstein was better, because he is fun to watch. There is a sweetness about him, or something. They have not gotten rid of anyone who shouldn't be gone, yet, but if it looks like they have picked their person already and keep him/her no matter how they screw up, I will stop watching. That attitude, of course, totally depends on if I like the same person! :-O On How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, on BBC, Andrew Lloyd-Webber keeps saving one of the girls who keeps getting the lowest votes. Three times! I know I could just google and find out who won, but it is funny to think he may already see his Maria - and it is his production - and then see who really wins. He gave a front-runner a hard song to sing, cheerfully admitted it was not in her range, and then sat back and watched her get blasted.