Beyond Random

First of all, I have to note that while I compose this, I'm watching one of my favorite movies no one has ever seen. It's called Playing By Heart and stars (check it out) Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Ellen Burstyn, Dennis Quaid, Ryan Phillippe, Gillian Anderson and Jon Stewart. It's a quiet little movie about relationships, but it's beautifully acted and I am always amazed that it wasn't more successful just based on that cast.

How crazy is this picture? My cousin apparently flew from L.A. to Chicago on a plane with Mr. T, and she had the cajones to ask for a picture afterward, which, even though this man's fame peaked 20+ years ago, I still doubt I would have been able to do. Way to be, Suze! And good job spotting him without all that gold. Must make it easier for him to go through security, though, huh?

So, continuing on with the theme of family, this weekend was the beginning of the Passover holiday. We drove to Cleveland to have the seder with my parents, a meal that is fun when you have little kids. My mom went all out. She decorated the table with the seder plate I made in Sunday School in 1981, which is still awesome. She even picked up finger puppets that represented the ten plagues. When I asked where one could get such things, she said "I got them at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I guess this is the Beyond." No kidding!

I did something at my parents' that I haven't done in ages. I actually called the time and temperature. There were some computer issues and we weren't near a TV, so I actually picked up the phone and dialed the number. The best part was that there was a message that said the service might not be able to continue on without advertiser support. It asked callers to please EMAIL the reasons they want to keep the service going. Isn't that awesome? Because, honestly, how many of the people who routinely call the time and temp do you think even know what email is? I'm willing to bet it's a small percentage.

Some other random items:

I suddenly found myself missing Celebrity Poker Showdown the other day. I don't know why exactly, but it was sort of fun to watch some of the stars interact in that setting. And in the couple of years since it's gone off the air, so many great shows have come into their own and it would have been just phenomenal fun to watch table featuring the casts of shows like Lost, The Office and 30 Rock, among others.

I am now openly rooting for Cirie on Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites, based solely on her brilliant engineering of Ozzy's ouster this past week. Picking the exact right time to pounce when she knew he felt so comfortable he wouldn't play the hidden immunity idol? Genius.

On our trip, I discovered a business to business catalog in my husband's car which he had borrowed. Should I be concerned that he might develop feelings for one of the models? Some of them were quite attractive.

Sunday Morning Musings

OK, so technically, it's Sunday afternoon, but these musings have been in my head all morning. It just took me a bit to make it to the computer.

First of all, congrats to my spunkybean colleague, EJ, on his first "blogiversary". Why doesn't Hallmark make a card for such a momentous occasion? It's nice to get something other than bills in the mail, ya know? I think I'm gonna make a call. Anyway, good job EJ! We often joke that we share a brain on all things pop culture, but one area in which he has me beat hands down is Lost. If you're like me, and often find yourself fascinated but totally confused, look no further than EJ's recaps of each episode on the 'bean. He's super-insightful and also obsessed, which only benefits his readers.



Onto Survivor, where the "Fans vs Favorites" edition recently kicked off with the first tribal council vote-off (or "quit", if you ask Probst) of Jon Dalton, whose stupid nickname I will not repeat. Good riddance. This week, more time was spent with the "Fans" as the show attempted to introduce these ten people. As usual, it's going to take a while to get really exciting. I mean, the poor girl who got kicked off, Mary, had made no impression beyond the way she filled out a bikini. But, she was apparently alligned with the guy--Mikey B (ew, stop that)--who had big plans to run the show, only to be stopped by Joel, who is very large and hulking. Meanwhile, the goofy 40-something lady who still wears pigtails and looks a little like Ruth Buzzi is still there. (I know, I know, she had an immunity idol--it's gone now, as she soon will be). Also, Ozzy, sweetie? Word of advice. If you want to keep Amanda around for some more jungle lovin', best not to try to unhinge your jaw and swallow her whole, OK? Just relax.


Celebrity Apprentice drags along as well. I was sucked in early, and thus cannot escape its grasp. This week, Omarosa came full circle and was back in megabitch mode, calling Piers Morgan nasty names, bringing up his personal life and family in the context of a game show where money is being raised for charity, all in an effort to get him fired. Can we stop indulging this woman already and banish her from TV? Also, Stephen Baldwin called upon the cutest Baldwin, Billy, to help his cause this week. (For those keeping score, Alec is by far the most awesome Baldwin, but Billy's very pretty.) I totally saw Billy having drinks at bar at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills with Chazz Palminteri last August. Of course, no one I was with knew that's who he was having drinks with. (This is why you people call me at all hours of the day and night. Because I know this stuff!) So, who's Stephen going to trot out next? His sister-in-law Chynna Phillips? Maybe she can get that big Wilson Phillips reunion together. You know you want it. If you want some more laughs, EJ has the task of recapping this as well.

American Idol is kickin' into high gear at long last, with the announcement of their Top 24 this past week. A lot of these kids sound pretty good, but there are also many we've never seen before, which drives me buggy. Don has gone into painstaking detail on all of this, and I have a feeling he may even talk to someone who made the Top 50, but got no screentime, in the very near future. It'll all be at--you guessed it--spunkybean.com!

Project Runway is wrapping up, and they eliminated Sweet P this week, which was to be expected. She was a nice lady and made some nice stuff, but doesn't have all the tools to do an entire line. I agree that Christian and Jillian do, as long as the latter gives herself enough time to complete things. And that leaves Rami and Chris to have a "Three Look-Off" for the last spot at Bryant Park. Sounds like something out of West Side Story. You know the producers were snickering when they let Rami loose in the Greek and Roman room on the Metropolitan Museum of Art to get his inspiration for the last challenge. Like he even cared about the other two rooms he had to choose from. Giving Rami to choice to drape or not to drape is like giving Amy Winehouse the choice to smoke crack or not. The answer is obvious. I still think he'll end up beating Chris for the spot.

Lastly, if you're into Big Brother at all, I'm your girl. This special winter season started out of the gate quickly with the "couples" twist, meaning that the houseguests play in teams of two, including being voted off that way. Precious few of these people are very bright or very mature (I actually watched a little of Big Brother After Dark last night, and it was one of the most vapid things I've ever seen. But I watched it for about a half hour anyway.) and the crazy factor is way high. You have at least a month until anything new comes back, so please, join me!

Holy Crap!

So, I tried to stay up last night and catch as much as I could of the return of our intrepid late night talk show hosts. I managed to catch most of Dave and some of Jay, but did not hold on for Conan or Craig, which I might have to DVR tonight just out of curiosity. I have to say Dave--who, in Robin Williams best joke, did resemble General Lee with his scruffy gray beard--seemed like he was a little rusty, which surprised me. I really thought he might be a little more polished, ya know, for Dave.

Sidebar: Robin Williams was his usual ADD self at first, but really settled down (must've taken some Ritalin at the break) to discuss his USO trip, and was still funny, but so much easier to watch in that mode.

Jay, on the other hand, in the small sections I saw, seemed kind of pumped to get back at it and do his best on his own. The man does have a very long career of stand-up to back him up, so he should be able to handle this, at least to a degree. I'm starting to get the feeling his show, which was all schtick and formula before, might get better without writers. I could be wrong--it was one show--but, maybe Jay will get to show his real stuff for the first time in years. Back when I was in college (when dinosaurs roamed the earth), he actually came and did stand up for our Parents' weekend and he was damn funny! This could be interesting. Dave's got Ellen Page of Juno fame on tonight, so y'all know I'm there. I don't even know who Jay's got, but I'm just loving that this whole drama is unfolding regardless, especially since there's not much else on!

In other news--and Lord, I hope no one's eating--the new Survivor cast was announced today. I always like to check these to see if I know someone, as I figure the odds are I will someday know someone on a reality show. No such luck this time, but I'm relieved to know that no plastic surgeons are going hungry--there's once again more than enough silicone on display. And I chuckled at the sight of the 22-year-old kid from Hell, Michigan, because he looks like Andy Gibb and David Cassidy had a baby, between the hair and the swim trunks. He just needs a puka shell necklace. He's adorable!

So here's the stomach-turning part...if you watch this installment of Survivor, you're going to have to endure another round of Jon Dalton, aka Johnny Fairlplay, aka the Biggest Asshat in Recorded History. I hate this man with the fire of a thousand burning suns, though I may be understating myself slightly. He's beyond vile. I didn't watch Survivor: China, so I'm not up on those two, other than what Don has said on his blog, and he seems to love James. The rest of them, eh. (Except Ozzie. Yowza! How you doin'?) I am glad we don't have to see Steph or Bobby Jon again, because, enough already.

Thoughts?