LOST again

LOST's fifth season started tonight. When the show was first being teased, in the Spring of 2004, I was soooo pumped. They were advertising these two new shows, "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" to premiere in the fall, and both were on my list to watch. "LOST" looked very promising, and "Desperate Housewives" has Teri Hatcher, one of the goddesses of my youth.

At that point, The Lovely Steph Leann and I would flip through the television guides, sometimes the actual TV Guide--which, if you haven't heard, is on the brink of bankruptcy, mostly because... well, they completely suck.

They used to be this great, digest sized magazine that had three sections, the color pages of TV articles, the black and white TV grid, and the pay channels guide at the end. Oh, and the crossword at the end. A few years back, they went and changed it all up. The magazine went to a regular sized edition, they reduced the grids, the articles went from informative to US Weekly type glam crap, and the whole magazine just tanked. Things have gotten so bad there, the company was sold for a single dollar last year to a private company. Read last week that they ended up dropping The CW and MTV from their program listings. Heck, Mom was a subscriber for about 15 years... and she dropped them like a bad habit. No muss, no fuss.

Where was I?

Yes, The Lovely Steph Leann and I would flip through previews of the upcoming shows, and would pick out shows we wanted to see. Sometimes this worked great, like LOST and Desperate Housewives, other times it didn't work out so well. See "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Miss Match". Or heck, you might not.

So when LOST premiered on September 22nd, 2004, I was there in front of the television. And it was amazing. It was absolutely incredible, like nothing I had ever seen. Jack, Charlie, Kate, Michael, Locke, Hurley, Claire, Sun, Jin, Sayed, Sawyer, Shannon, Walt, Vincent, Boone... this was my show. This was a keeper.


...from the first five minutes, ever, of LOST...

So, as the weeks went by, I watched it more and more, week after week. In 2005, it was the 3rd Coolest Thing of 2005. As soon as the first season DVD came out, I bought it on release day. My intentions were to watch it again, to catch up on what I missed.

Well, season 2 started, and so I put season 1 on the shelf, and absorbed myself into season 2. By season 3, however, I ran into a problem. This show was becoming so complex, so involved, it was harder and harder to keep up with. I hit a wall, life was coming at me faster and faster and darn it, I missed an episode here, an episode there. No worries, right? The Lovely Steph Leann and I still had a VCR, three of 'em to be precise in Casa de Pesos, our apartment. Stacks of shows, though, were building up. "ER", "Desperate Housewives" and... "LOST".

Somewhere around February of season 3, right after Sawyer and Kate did the deed and Juliet's backstory was told, we stopped watching. I didn't want to. I really didn't. Somehow, all these people I knew were all about the show, the show that I felt like I discovered, cause darn it, I was raving about it for months when it first came on, and everyone was saying, "Haven't seen it", or "I heard about that show" or whatever.

So now, I sit on the couch in The Cabana. The first time in five season premieres that I didn't watch the season's first episode. It came on tonight, and I didn't even DVR it.

Do I want to? Absolutely.

But first, I have some catching up to do. I popped in Disc One of Season One about thirty minutes ago. I'm going to watch the show's pilot episode tonight, and do all I can to shoot through the seasons in the next few months. I'm going to see the story from the beginning.

What's funny about watching this is knowing now what I know about these characters. Its great when they show a scene of the plane and its passengers, and you can pick out just about everyone--something you couldn't do when you first watched it, because you didn't know who these guys even were.

And... the captain of the plane just got snatched up by whatever that monstery thing is on the island.

We don't do the VCR thing anymore, not with DVR. And we don't flip through TV show previews anymore to find shows we want to watch. I learned that lesson with Fox's "Drive", an excellent show that was cancelled after four episodes. I wanted to watch "Pushing Daisies", but I wanted to make sure it would last before I got involved. It reached Season 2, and I ordered it off of Netflix. I got it in the mail the day I learned that "Pushing Daisies" had been cancelled. So, without watching it, I sent it back, even though I love me some Kristen Chenoweth.

Currently, the only shows that The Lovely Steph Leann and I watch together, other than the random episode of "Clean House" on Style, is "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Grey's Anatomy". For the most part, she and I have seen just about all of those episodes together. We started watching "Heroes", and both loved the first season immensely, and bought the second season pretty quicklike. However, we've both heard the 2nd season is terrible, so that hasn't made us rush to watch it yet.

Anyway, I'm rambling, as I tend to do... bottom line is, I'm re-watching LOST and all its splendor. And I'm excited about it. I just started Pilot-Part II,with a lovely Shannon laying on the beach in a bikini, as Boone rolls his eyes.


Here's a LOST recap, everything you need to know from Season One to Season Three, all in 8 minutes and 15 seconds

Fear is sort of an odd thing... terror is just so crazy, so real. I made a choice. I'd let the fear in, let it take over, let it do its thing. But only for five seconds, that's all I would give it. So I started to count. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Then it was gone. -- Jack

The Votes are In

So, its raining like crazy by now, and I just got home from KidStuf practice... just in time to see the new results of Idol.

Notice the big weather map in the corner of the screen, highlighting the severe storm that is taking place somewhere probably 200 miles from here. Usually when weather comes up like this, they immediately go to James Spann, or Jerry Tracey, or the weather guy of the week over at CBS 42... Fox will mostly go to David Neal, but when Idol is on, you get (during commercials, no less) "coming up after Idol, we'll bring you the latest on the weather." Don't touch the cash cow.

Just saw a three minute clip for Kiefer Sutherland's new movie, "The Sentinel", also starring Michael Douglas. You also see Eva Longoria, from Desperate Housewives, but looking at all the trailers and previews, you'd never know it. She says like, four words combined in all the previews I've seen... its almost as if she's just the pretty face for the movie, with no line. "Eva, stand there, look all hot and crap, and don't say a word, okay?" Personally, I'm a Teri Hatcher fan myself, but thats me.

And the show is recapping last night's performances...

That Burger King commercial featuring the King in bed, waking up to see a guy sitting next to him, in front of a crowd of people... you know, the one advertising the McGriddle ripoff "The French Toast Sandwich"... completely freaks me out, yet amuses me at the same time. Sort of like any movie featuring Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen.

Speaking of, have you ever had the French Toast sticks at the BK? Being in college at Troy, I never was up early enough to actually eat breakfast (you know how it is... you get up just in time to put on clothes that don't match and rush off to make it to class about two minutes late). Anyway, when I would get hungry and go with Julie Echols and Jennifer Mullins to the Burger King, the BK would make me French Toast sticks, even though it was 9 pm. Loved that place. They took checks too... imagine my surprise when I first moved to Birmingham in 1998, when I tried to write a check at the BK on Hwy 31 they looked at me like "What the...?"

Back to the show... Rod Stewart is on the show. He's letting us know he's doing a 70s classics rock album soon, and Ryan is suggesting that as a theme for next year's show. Rod is now singing "The Way You Look Tonight"... which Frank Sinatra's version will never be topped. I actually wanted to use that song in my marriage proposal, back in the late 90s when I thought I'd propose to and marry Amy Wible, but that's a whole other story. Love you Steph.

Ryan just announced that next week, Andrea Bocelli will be the guest vocal coach, and the Idols will be taking on the "greatest love song of all time". You'll hear Whitney or Celine, I promise you.

And here we go... Ryan will be separating the Idols into two groups... Elliott is in Group 1, on the far side. Chris is Group 2. Paris is in Group 2. Elliott's gotta know this is bad.

Pickles is in Group 1. Yeah, this is bad. Steph's man Ace with the Ace Hair is in... Group 2? Really?

My Girl McPhee is in Group 1, with Pickles and Elliott. Oh boy. And Taylor? Ryan doesn't send him anywhere, he just tells him he's safe. One of these groups is the bottom three. Ryan tosses up the "Taylor, join which group you THINK is safe." And we go to commercial...

So our two groups are: Elliott, Pickles and My Girl McPhee... the other group is Daughtry, Paris and Ace. I am guessing... the Daughtry/Paris/Ace group is the bottom three. Just a guess.

And we're back... Taylor decides to go to Daughtry, as Ryan says "Taylor... I'm sorry..." then Taylor turns around and heads to Pickles, My Girl McPhee and Elliott... So Ryan says "Taylor... I'm sorry, you are correct." The bottom three is Paris and Daughtry and Ace.

Ryan sends Paris back to the couch. So either Daughtry or Ace will go home... and finally... ACE GOES HOME!!! The fact that The Yutz Currently Known as Ace Young is now going home is not the surprise... the face that Chris Daughtry has the second lowest number of votes is the shocker.

They show the "goodbye" montage for Ace, complete with the requisite "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. Don't you know that Daniel Powter feels like the luckiest guy alive? I mean, not only has he got a great song that is played on stations like 96.5 and 94.5, but also on "hip" stations like 103.7 The Q... and Idol sends people scrambling to their computers every week to look up "who sings this song?" (that's how I found it).

Oh yeah... and Ace is singing, but is cut off about 45 seconds into his song. Who cares.

Idols: The Whole Country Went to Pot (plus results!)

**Just Added... Idol Results, at the bottom of posting**

Here we are, again, late Tuesday night... normally, I'd be in bed having to work early tomorrow, but I'm working tomorrow night instead due to some schedule changes... that means I can sit up and watch Idol, and review it for my four faithful readers.

Normally, I would have read some reviews at least about the show, but not this night. I know nothing about what's going to happen... I can only hope that My Girl McPhee, Pickles, T-Hicks and Daughtry do well, and Bucky craps himself onstage. Wouldn't that be funny?

First up--Ryan Seacrest is sporting a half-beard thing. Its like he stopped shaving after last Wednesday's results show, and this is all he got. Of course, he is 31... and reportedly dating a 41 year old, so I guess he's trying to look more manly.

Tonight's theme is Country (which is like giving Bucky, and maybe Pickles, an advanced copy of the test), so fittingly they have a country star helping out the Idols... tonight's B-list celebrity musician helper is Kenny Rogers, who just had a new album out--and it debuted in the top 20 on Billboard. Man, he's looking well preserved.

Taylor is up first, and he's singing "Take Me Home Country Roads". Mad props to John Denver. There's even a violinist. I like the original, and I like the spin T-Hicks is putting on it. I kinda miss the blue leisure suit, though... and I miss his bouncy trouncy pouncy founcy fun-fun-fun-fun-fun. Randy wasn't too impressed with the vocals, and Paula actually gave him a negative review. "But I still love you!" Simon was bored. "Safe, boring, lazy..." Truly the wonderful thing about Taylor is he's the only one. Heeeeeeee's the only one.

I recently downloaded Paula Abdul's video for the song "Vibeology" from her 1992 album Spellbound. Man, it took me back to the dances in the Samson High lunchroom... do they still do those? Anyway, if I ever figure out how to put videos onto my site, that will go up immediately. She may be a flake now, but she ruled in 1990-92.

Just saw the trailer for X-Men: The Last Stand... it is going to absolutely rock. That scene with Jean Grey in Wolverine's arms, pleading for him to kill her... I'm pumped.

Here comes Mandisa, singing "Any Man of Mine" by Shania Twain. She sounds fun, but her top is hideous... my mom made an afghan liked that once. Seriously... and I've refrained from saying this until now, because she never looked like this until now--she looks ginormous. The song was okay, though. Randy says "weird song choice." He liked the end, though (the last four bars). Paula says "you can sing the phone book..." but she (Paula) didn't like the song. Simon hated it all the way around. He said it was fun and cutesy, but not very good. I can see his point.

Simon just made a Desperate Housewives crack at Ryan, telling him to lose the beard.

Elliott Yahmean is singing "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks. Great song I remember from high school. And if I had played this version on a date back then, I would have gotten even less play than I did already--which was none. Well, there was this chick named Julie Phillips from Geneva, and I... wait, where was I? Oh yeah, Elliott. Randy loved it. Paula adores Elliott. She used the words "reckless abandon". Somebody smack her. Simon says "just a safe choice."

I'm beginning to like Elliott, because he honestly seems like a guy who is constantly thinking "how the crap did I get here? this rocks!" He seems pretty humble. I'm not on the Elliott Yahmean bandwagon, but I'm standing in the queue for a ticket.

Here comes Little Annoying Paris. She's like Starbuck's new Blackberry Green Tea Frappuccino... I can't decide if I loved it, or its the absolute worst thing ever. Its one or the other--there is no in-between.. She's singing Leann Rimes "How Do I Live?"... or perhaps its Trisha Yearwood's version? I like Trisha's better, so I'll say that Paris is copying Leann, because Trisha is a billion times better than Paris. Plus, Trisha's version is from "Con Air", one of my top five Nicolas Cage movies. Randy says he could tell that it was tough for Paris. Paula compliments before she gives criticism. And she actually gets booed. Simon smiles, says "I disagree with Paula" (and the crowd goes wild). He liked it alot. "Excellent choice of song, like early Dionne Warrick."

My algrebra teacher was Mrs. Maund, and she always looked like a little old white Dionne Warrick. In between all her cosines and theorems, I expected her to write 1-900-FUTURE NOW for the psychic hotline on the board.

Now, its time for Steph's Man with the Ace Hair, doing some song called "I Want to Cry", to which Kenny Rogers said "Ace matched with his song better than anyone else in the bunch." He's on a stool in the middle of the stage, with the Ron Burgundy "Hey Everyone, Come See How Good I Look!" Look on his face. This guy would have fit perfectly in N*Sync, as anyone but Timberlake. Randy said he was bored. Paula loved him (I would bet anything she's already left him her room key at least once). Simon liked it, finally. Ryan just revealed that Ace is single.

Oh, dear Pickles. Ryan is addressing with Pickles the whole "people are saying that the whole naive thing is just an act" and she's saying its not. So, either she's a very good actress and very deceptive, or completely stupid. Kenny is saying "she is what you see." Either way, two things I hate about most people, yet somehow I like Pickles. Maybe its her need for double sided tape tonight.

Anyway, she's doing "Fancy", as done by Reba. Remember, folks, this is an extremely loud, hard twangin' country song. She's starting from the middle of the audience tonight... good touch. And the song is great, in my opinion. To me, this was perfect for her. Randy says "Great". Paula loved it. Simon hates the song, but liked the performance. He said what we were all thinking... "It would be a shocker if you didn't do good tonight, wouldn't it?" This performance was what made me a Pickles fan to begin with.

I'd bet she would go nuts on "Sin Wagon", a song in my Top 10 All Time Best Thumping the Dashboard and Driving Fast Songs. (other songs in this catagory include "Everything Zen" by Bush, "Jesus Freak" by dcTalk and "Basic Instructions" by Burlap to Cashmere)

Daughtry is up next, singing keith Urban's "Making Memories of Us". His performance is like the Idol equivilent of Lloyd Dobler's boombox held high, blaring "In Your Eyes"... hard to resist. One thing about Daughtry is that he listens to the judges... Simon told him last week that although he was good at being a rocker, he needed to do something different, lest his rockerdom get old. And tonight, he did, and it rocked. Randy loved it. I think Paula just left Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair a note that says "Pass this key to Chris". Simon said it was boring.

Sidebar: I knew this frumpy, dopey looking guy in college named Matt Andress that would have girls fawning and throwing themselves at his feet simply by picking "Wonderful Tonight", one string at a time, on his mandolin. I only say this because it is a theory I have that for guys, it doesn't really matter what you look like, as long as you have style and attitude. Heck, Mike Dunn in 320-A of Alumni Hall was one of the goofiest, ugliest guys I've ever seen--and he scored alot. Alot. Even with Katharine Gates, while I was dating her. Of course, looking back, that was okay, because she was a really weird chick with a llama and... remind me to tell you this story later. (you only think I'm making up the part about the llama...)

Is it bad that, after last week's bottom three appearance, I'm actually nervous for My Girl McPhee? Don't they have therapists for this kind of stuff?

My Girl McPhee is singing "The Elvis in Me". Because my beautiful, wonderful, incredible, loyal, fantastic wife Stephanie reads this blog, I'll say only this: McPhee did well. Randy liked it. Paula loved it. Simon says "I don't know what to say..." to which My Girl McPhee says "you don't like country music... its okay. just say it." And Simon replies "You're right, I hate it." I think what makes me like McPhee over Pickles, besides the hotness factor, is that McPhee looks like she's always having fun... Pickles looks like she's trying to just do well.

I just saw a commercial for Cingular, where you can get ringtones for songs that Idols have sung... I'm not to that point. Yet.

And here comes Bucky. Bucky. When the theme is TV Themes, he's all about singing "Bad Boys" from Cops. And I have no clue what this dude is singing--for that matter, what he's even saying. Unlike Elliott, who is growing on me, I'm totally against Bucky. The costume department of Young Guns II called... they want their coat back. Randy says "aight". Paula loved it. Simon says "eh, okay."

I will say this... Kenny Rogers was great tonight. The Gambler actually had criticism for the Idols, telling them what not to do, how to fix things and such. Good times.

My prediction for the bottom three this week: Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair, Bucky... and either Elliott Yahmean, or (gulp) My Girl McPhee.

______________________

Read Entertainment Weekly's review of tonight's show right here. The first paragraph is priceless.

________________

Its early Thursday morning, and its time to watch the results from American Idol. I worked last night, so I had to put the show on tape once again... but I'm here with my handy VCR remote and TV to give you the play by play.

They just brought out Kenny Rogers... he's had so many facelifts, he almost looks Oriental. Ryan is asking him about the group and such, but what I want to know is, "What the *&^% happened to Kenny Rogers Roasters???? here is the chicken?!?!?! Darn you Kenny!!!!"

While he's singing, I'll just tell you they used to have "All You Can Eat Chicken Bashes" on Mondays at Kenny Rogers Roasters, which was located where the McAllisters is now on Highway 31 (across from Ellis Piano). Michael, Tom, Shawn and I used to go over, plunk down the $6.95, and absolutely gorge ourselves on as much chicken, mac n cheese, mashin' taters, glazed apples and other stuff. Good times, very very good times. Then they closed. I felt like Kramer in the Kenny episode... I had a piece of chicken in one hand, other hand outstretched, and in a soft whimpering voice, whispered "...kenny...? ...kenny...?"

And back to the show we go. They showed the new Idol Ford commercial, a take off of the Hollies "Just One Look". And then Ryan took a potshot at Pickles. Bad Ryan, bad Ryan. Just announced that next week will be a show on the music of Queen. Wow.

Here comes the results...with 9 Idols left, its that time in the year when they stop doing the usual elimination process (go one by one, announcing the bottom three along the way...) This time they are splitting the groups in the groups of 3, with one of the groups actually being the bottom 3.

Taylor goes to Group 1. Mandisa goes to Group 2. Elliott Yahmean joins Mandisa in Group 2. Paris becomes the third-and final-person in Group 2. Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair starts Group 3. Pickles joins Taylor in Group 1, almost assuring that Group 1 is the safe one to be in. All they need is Daughtry to seal that deal.

And Daughtry joins Taylor and Pickles in Group 1. So that's gotta be the safe group. That leaves this year's Scott Savol, Bucky, and My Girl McPhee in Group 3 with Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair. Sigh. This could really go either way... Bucky is the liability in one group (with Ace) while Elliott Yahmean is the liability in the other, though having Mandisa and Paris there doesn't hurt.

As good looking as I think My Girl McPhee is, she needs to kick her clothing stylist in the teeth. Why is it out of all American Idol's resources, she can't come up with better clothes than what she does? Surely she doesn't think the mini skirt and the boots go well together?

Ryan announces that Group 1, with Pickles, Taylor and Daughtry, is safe. Duh. Perhaps one of thoes would be in the bottom three (My Girl McPhee was last week), but surely not ALL three at the same time. Now Ryan announces that My Girl McPhee, Bucky (Bucky?) and Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair are safe.

Leaving Paris, Mandisa and Elliott are in the bottom three. Really? Paris has a smile that says "You have to be $*&%@*^# kidding me". He does send Paris back to the couch, though.

With Elliott and Mandisa, this could really be a toss-up. Simon reminds us that America votes, and predicts that Elliott will stay. And Mandisa is going home.

Ever seen Ocean's 12, when Benedict blows up Rusty's old car... Rusty looks on, simply saying "...huh...". Thats kind of what this moment does for me. Huh.

She's holding back her tears, and the audience has this "Mandisa and not Bucky???" aura about them... as does some of the Idols, I think. And she name-drops Jesus again... I love it!

Okay, two funny things about this: Paris, who bawls every week when people get dropped, especially when Chicken Little and Lisa Turtle got punted, is not shedding a single tear. "Yes, I have the full black vote!! Go me! Go me!".

The funniest thing is they show the Idols when Mandisa's name is announced, and Taylor has his hands up like he's about to clap... he realizes suddenly that no one else is clapping, so he freezes, hands stopping in mid clap, with a "...uhhh..." mouth open look. Only his eyes dart around, like he's looking for someone else to clap... either he just knew it was going to be Elliott going, and he was clapping, or he heard "Mandisa" and figured everyone would clap, only they didn't. Funny stuff.

Alright, well, my top four--My Girl McPhee, Daughtry, Taylor and Pickles--are all safe. If we can just chunk Bucky, I think we'll have ourselves a real competition. And as I stopped the tape, I am watching a Shakira video... not sure that there is any woman that the world says I should be attracted to that I find least attrative. Excpet maybe Pam Anderson. And Anna Nicole Smith. Its always good when the last two sentences of your long posting include the words "Pam Anderson" and "Anna Nicole Smith".

The Super Bowl XL Diary

Note: Even though what you read was typed pretty much as it happened, I have gone back and added various links from this site. Nothing else has been edited.

Oh, and real quick... The Sports Guy's own running Super Bowl Diary is right here. Yes, its funnier than mine, but hey, I think I have my moments. Mos Def aside, that is.

2:06pm... Just got home from lunch with The Lovely Steph Leann, plus two others in our Sunday School class, Brian & Jessica Mays. We ate at Formosa. Turned on ABC, it reminded me of the Rolling Stones performing at halftime tonight. Excuse me while I poke out my eyes with a sharp turkey baster.

5:11pm... Got here at the Nipps a little while ago... just saw the procession of Super Bowl MVPs... they were missing some.

5:12pm... Aaron Neville is singing the Star Spangled Banner. I watched "Philadelphia" yesterday. I think Aaron has Tom Hanks' leisions on his face. Now Aretha Franklin is singing. Wookiee said "It looks like someone is baking loaves of bread in her dress."

5:13pm... Aretha just ate the microphone. Mikey just said "this is the worst opening of any Super Bowl." Wookiee added "how many chincillas died to make that coat?"

5:19pm... Harrison Ford is doing "Oh the Places You Go" with a football theme. I can barely hear it over the noise in the room, yet I have the urge to set my hair on fire with a stick and some flint, a la Survivor.

5:29pm... Typing in scores that everyone is picking, so I missed not only the coin toss (why the heck was Tom Brady there??), I missed the kickoff. Most people here are rooting for Seattle, mostly because of Shaun Alexander. I hope he stays with Seattle next year, and doesnt take the paycheck.

5:33... Bud Light does another hilarious commercial--the Bud Light around the office. The Whopperettes? Not so much. That King creeps me out. And Brooke Burke is standing IN a hamburger.

5:35... Okay... Seattle punted, Pittsburgh has the ball. Ben Roethoelesothis Burger behind center. And we have our first Tautaupauapu sighting (dad Mosi). Wookiee says the best thing about Jerome Bettis--"When its 3rd and 3, he gets you 3 yards. When its 3rd and 15... he gets you 3 yards."

5:40... Magic Fridge. Magic Fridge. Good stuff.

5:40... Bruce Willis' new movie... DieHard 4: 16 Blocked Hostage, Deep Rising with the Last Boy Jackel. My Sixth Sense is telling me I've seen this before. Sean Hall just walked in with a shirt that says "Big Daddy". I think I will laugh at him now.

5:48... Josh is keeping a running tab on Bud Light's bill. At 2.4 a pop, we're up to 9 million dollars. FedEx may be my favorite so far. Only cause he kicked the dinosaur. Thats funny.

5:55... Hasselback just tossed a TD... called back. Come on Blue... let them play!! The same guy reffed the Vandy/Florida game. Seattle got a field goal. 3-0 Seattle. According to Josh, Bud Light is up to 11.5 million. Paula Mackey won the first quarter prize in our score game.

6:10... Suzy Kolber has something coming out of her head. Its weird. Joe Jurevicius is rocking tonight too. Bud Light just went up to $14.0. In a Brokeback Animals commercial, of all things.
6:17pm... When monkeys and Quiet Riot are in an ad together... comedy gold. And Cadillac has an Escalade commercial with a bunch of models in it. Mikey yelled "Blue Steel!". I replied "Magnum!". In a related story, Ben just tossed it for it all... and Seattle's Boulware caught it. Seattle is going to win this game.

6:21pm... MI-3. I am all about seeing Philip Seymour Hoffman as a bad guy. P.S.Hoff rocks. Sybil and Dan just came in. Did you know that Dove now has the Dove Self Esteem Fund? Orlando Jones Sighting!! We have just had an Orlando Jones sighting!! ABC's "The Evidence", with Orlando and the guy from Silk Stockings.

6:28pm... Antwan Randle-El just got hurt. And Berman is narrating a Shaggy Dog commercial. Do you think he likes doing that, or his bosses make him? When does he have enough clout to not do crap like this? If Berman isn't exempt, none of them have it... and Kermit is in a Ford commercial. One about global warming and hybrids. Kermit has been sucked into the liberal view. I will now play in traffic.

6:30pm... Big Ben tossed one of those "you make it, you look cool, you miss it, you look like a 'tard" passes to Hines Ward. Ken Nipp pointed out, "Where's Bettis?" Guess they don't need three yards just yet. Benny tossed another long pass, they are taking it down the field. Don't you know that he's so happy he's not with the Jets? Can you imagine the Elton John jokes he'd get, like, all the freakin' time?

6:34... Ben just had approximately 32 minutes to throw the ball--but he got the ball to the five. Mikey just predicted they'd put the Bus in for the TD... and here's a Go Daddy ad. Back to the game, the Seahawks are holding the Steelers from scoring. Who knew they could play ball? Earl asked a great question... "Do we need another "Poseidon?"

6:41pm... Got a TD in. Controversial play, but the ball did in fact break the plane. Just went downstairs and had a piece of Sybil's frozen icebox lemon pie. It rocked my face off.

6:50pm... Hass tossed a TD... but the guy was out of bounds. The refs are going to review it. Came back. Seattle is moving this ball... for Pittsburgh, defense schmefense. This game is moving fast too... Earl says "Dont they know they have Grey's Anatomy coming on? Lets go with this!"

6:53pm... Seattle's FG kicker just pulled a Scott Norwood and shanked the ball wide. Pittsburgh kneels for the second quarter's end. Tommy takes the $20 Best Buy card. They just had Cower in an interview... you know he had three daughters? Man, I hope they take after their mom, whoever she is. And Holmgren is pretty ticked off at the refs... he just gave Suzy Kolber the shaft. And here comes the Rolling Stones during halftime. Whoopee. I don't know that I could be any more excited.

Now that its halftime, let me just say this about the ads... there is an awful lot of violence in these commercials.. I've seen dinosaurs being kicked, women being tackled, punches, kicks, and just now, a cell phone tossed twice at a guys face. Very violent. Funny as crap, but violent.

Desperate Housewives commercials are all over the screen too. Oh, here's another one with some guy getting nailed by his son in a swing.

7:01pm... The Stones are setting up--Jimmy just said "I hope Mick Jaggar doesn't have a wardrobe malfunction." Michael Irvin is doing game review on halftime... which leads to a great room discussion on Irvin's drug bust and DUI a few months ago, and how ESPN suspended him for one whole week. Almost ruined his career, that did.

7:06pm... Oh, so this commercial for "Lost" just came on. When Eko and Locke started the film about Dharma, instead you see Robert Palmer singing "Addicted to Love", though they changed the "Love" part to "Lost". Naturally.

The Stones are playing now... Sybil says "I'm not so sure Jaggar doesnt look better now than he did a few years ago." He sounds awful. Jimmy says "Take all their ages, combine them... you get more than the total age of Europe". Earl just sang along... "you stop me up..." I'm not convinced Keith Richards isn't actually dead, and they are doing a Weekend at Bernies and propping him up. Earl called for Driveshaft.

Michael pointed out the proverbial roof-dropping stuff when the sashes dropped from the ceiling. I never thought I'd think this, but I miss Britney and Aerosmith. Jason said he thought he just saw some woman throwing their depends on the stage.

Makes me wonder if Carly Simon and Mick Jaggar just pass their lips back and forth. Earl said that they've never been seen together. Its plausible. I think he's scanning the crowd to see how many of the audience are his own kids.

We are now all discussing the best ways to kill ourselves with a hot metal spatula.

Jimmy: Keith Richards should have died at 41.
Earl: He embalmed himself.
Michael: Is that Michael McDonald on keyboards?

Man... its over.... thank goodness thats over. The chick on the Belk commercial is pretty hot. And for some reason, I'm strangely attracted to Sandra Oh... maybe I should like Lucy Liu as my favorite Asian chick, but Sandra just has something going on. And we've just had a Sean Hall Big Daddy sighting upstairs.

7:30pm...
Michael: I think Jerome Bettis gets bigger everytime they show him.
Ken Nipp: He had lunch.

7:32pm... Willie Parker just busted WIDE open for a TD. Earl said "are they going to review this?" Someone asked if that was Bettis, to which Jason replied "He'd have an asthma attack before he got there."

7:35pm... ABC keeps showing Lost promos, which makes Earl and Jimmy wince--they have only seen Season One. And we just found out that Willie Parker made the longest running play--75 yards--in Super Bowl History.

7:37pm... Random room discussion on Mos Def, the pronunciation of his name and his recent movies.

7:38pm... This just in... Shaun Alexander IS actually in the game. Jonathan Marbutt just pointed out that the dead guy on the ice in "Fargo" is Prince. And the Seahawks just missed another field goal. Score: Pittsburgh 14, Seattle 3

7:43... Holy crap. Fabio. We just saw Fabio in a Super Bowl XL commercial. Very funny junk.

7:47pm... Michael observed the obvious. Seattle is falling apart. Pittsburgh is getting the ball down the field, with Hines Ward and now the Bus have gained some major yardage.

7:50pm... That Hummer commercial. Its good to see Aretha Franklin and the Iron Giant still have careers.

7:52pm... SEATTLE GOT THE INT!! Herndon took it down the field, but ran out of steam towards the end. The awesome block on Big Ben was the best though... classic. Now they are trying to get the ball in the end zone. And...

7:53pm... Seattle score. Wookiee just went Wookiee Berserker. Pittsburgh 14, Seattle 10. And in ads, when you add Spandau Ballet, Taco Bell and a hot chick, you get a great commercial.

8:07pm... Pittsburgh just punted the ball down to the four yard line. Seattle is going to have it work cut out for them.

8:09pm... Just observed Roethlisburger's name on the shirt. I mentioned that the chick that sewed those letters on his jersey probably got overtime. Michael replied that Hasselbeck is worth more in Scrabble, because of the C and K on the end.

8:11pm... We are watching the game on the fifty inch upstairs. Downstairs is the smaller tv, albeit in HD. In the basement is DDR--Dance Dance Revolution--for the people who don't care about the game. Out in the hall is Ashley, Amy, Jennifer and a few others playing Uno.

8:17pm... Toyota Tacoma commercial. Price is $15,445. As shown? $31K and some change. Jason says "What do you mean you want a steering wheel with your truck?"

8:20pm... Random exchange:
Jason: Does anyone watch The Shield?
Michael: They had Glenn Close, but they got rid of her. I heard Anthony Anderson was really good last year.
Me: I heard he got snubbed at the Golden Globes
Michael: He might have won if he didn't rape that girl.
Me: All he had to do was score 81 points in a NBA game and no one would remember it.

8:22pm... Hass just tossed an interception. Ty just left. He said "I have a long week." I understand. Mine is seven days long.

8:28pm... Big Ben just tossed the smack out of that ball. Antwan Randel-Els caught it. Pittsburgh 20-10. Someone mentioned Kordell Stewart. Thought he was dead.

8:29pm... Just saw Richard Dean Anderson in a classic MacGyver commercial for Mastercard. Could be my favorite commercial of the night... random thought. If I go see Brokeback Mountain, no matter how bad I have to go to the bathroom, I will NOT go after that movie with all those guys who are coming out of the theater. Standing at a urinal might never be as uncomfortable.

8:30pm... Hass just had a great run. AND THEN FUMBLED THE FLIPPIN' BALL!!!! Pittsburgh gets it. They are reviewing the play now... this is pretty big at this point.

8:35pm... Yosemite Sam in a borderline-porn commercial for a truck. Actually it was kinda funny.

8:36pm... Seattle gets the ball back, because Hasselbeck was down by contact. So the lesson here is, When you are in the Super Bowl, HOLD ONTO THE FREAKIN' BALL!!!!!!!!!!!! Class dismissed.

8:37pm... Madden is giving us math lessons. What the crap is he talking about? "Here's a guy that when is helmet is knocked off, he's bare headed."

8:39pm... Jennifer Adams just left. I forgot how borderline hot she is. Hasselbeck just got taken down, so Seattle gives the ball back. Six minutes and some change, Pittsburgh leads 21-10.

8:43pm... I think Bettis just called out for some fried chicken.

8:46pm... The ref just pulled a Brokeback on one of the players. Why cain't I quit you? Pittsburgh just got a "monster first down", according to Al Michaels.

8:47pm... Random discussion on "Havoc" and "Brokeback Mountain" parts with Anne Hathaway, who was Princess Mia in The Princess Diaries movies. She got naked in both. No comment.

8:49pm... Jerome Bettis, Motivational Speaker. They showed him, mic'ed up, giving the guys the rah-rah. Big Ben Rotheleistheilisberger got another first down. Looks like this might just be it. Sgt Slaught... er, Bill Cower is pretty excited. Seattle used their final timeout. Three and some change left, the only time the clock will stop now is the 2 minute warning.

8:53pm... Random Matthew Lillard sighting in the stands. Seattle has the ball back with 2:04 left. They are down 11 points. This could be a pretty good ending, provided that Hasselbeck doesn't goob it up.

8:55pm... 1:51, no time outs, Seattle has the ball on the 20. Matt Hass is tossing in the middle, which is bad, because the clock is running like a beast. And Joe Jurevicius just caught a massive pass, rolled over a guy and kept running. That rocked. 1 minute left.

8:57pm... Two crappy passes from Hass. Seattle has to try the FG, then hope the onside kick works later.

9pm... Three seconds. Game over. Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10. Jerome Bettis has come home to win the Super Bowl, in case you haven't heard that angle lately. Bill Cower, who has been coaching for 143 years, has won the gauntlet of the NFL and won the championship. Pittsburgh now joins Dallas and San Francisco as the only team with five Super Bowl wins in franchise history.

9:04pm... According to Josh, Bud Light spent 19 million on commercials this year. Paula Mackey, Tommy McLeod, The Lovely Steph Leann and Mikey Nipp walk away with the gift card prizes.

9:07pm... my blog counter was at 74 this afternoon. Don't think I haven't noticed some of you people have been looking at my blog site. Its at 95 now. You people rock.

9:11pm... Trophy presentations now. Bart Starr is presenting the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Slaughter and the Steelers. Daniel Rooney, the really old guy, looks bored. I mean, he won five now (four in the 70s) as owner of the Steelers. He doesnt care.

9:13pm... Hines Ward wins the Super Bowl MVP now. I'm shocked they dont give it to Bettis, because he's a hometown boy, he's been playing for so long, and he's such a good guy. Mackey just said "The Bus is up there. He must be getting a Bus Trophy."

9:14pm... Jerome Bettis just retired on the podium. I wonder if they call his kid The Short Bus.

9:20pm... They are showing the Sports Illustrated special Pittsburgh Championship Pack. I'd give anything for them to accidentally show the Seattle Championship Pack commercial I know they had to make (in case Seattle won).

9:22pm... So thats Super Bowl XL. I hope you enjoyed the blog, I hope you liked the updates. We'll do this running diary gimmack for The Oscars in March. See you soon!

2005's Best Television

Everyone else is doing top ten lists... why can't I?

The Ten Best Television Shows of 2005

1--LOST.
By far one of my all time favorite shows, ever. Are you watching this show? If you aren't, don't even try it now. Rent the first season dvd, take a half day and watch about six episodes... it will suck you in and keep you revving for more. One thing seemingly so insignificant in one episode will turn up to be a major part of another episode, seven episodes later... it makes you go back and rewatch things to see what you missed... keep an eye on the background at all times, but don't lose sight of whats happening to Jack, Claire, Kate, Charlie, Locke, Sawyer, Hurley, Sun, Jin, Walt, Michael, Sayid, Boone and Shannon on the fateful flight of Oceanic Airlines 815.

2--MY NAME IS EARL.
This show is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen... Jason Lee (Vanilla Sky, Kevin Smith's movies, the voice of Syndrome in The Incredibles) is flawless as trailer trash Earl Hickey, trying to improve his karma by going back and fixing all that has gone wrong in his life.

3--SURVIVOR.
Eleven seasons in, and its still the granddaddy of all reality shows... well, perhaps thats The Real World, but Survivor is a front runner. If you have never seen it, season 12 will be popping up in February, where the show goes to Panama for its new Exile Island, a concept yet unseen in Survivordom. My personal favorite season ever was Season 2 in Australia, if only because the hottest thing to ever walk a Survivor aisle was in that season, speaking of Elisabeth Filarski (now she's Elisabeth Hasselback, and you can see her on The View in the mornings). And to top it off, she's a Republican AND a Christian!!

4--DIRTY JOBS.
This one comes on the Discovery Channel at various times... have you ever wondered what it was like cleansing a sewage tank? Perhaps cleaning a grease pit at a Mexican restaurant? Or going on a trash run through San Francisco's Chinatown district? Probably not... but this guy, Mike Rowe, does all this stuff. He spends time with people, doing the dirtiest jobs in America (stirring cheese??), all the stuff we take for granted. Of course, the show is only made better by his quick wit and great expressions when something comes up even he can't handle.

5--COLD CASE.
First of all, I love Kathryn Morris. I would watch her read a science book and enjoy it completely. (She was the grieving mom/wife of Tom Cruise in the movie Minority Report) However, this show is not only underrated, but brilliant... the premise is, Lily Rush (Morris) leads a police team that investigates unsolved crimes, using old evidence and new techniques to figure it out... some crimes are from a few years ago, some are decades old. Just a great show all around.

6--CITY CONFIDENTIAL.
This one is here because I'm a total nerd. I love forensic shows, and stuff on A&E and the like and this one is the best of them all. Simply a tale told of a small town, usually a town that you wouldn't mind living in... except there is always a catch. Usually its murder. It used to be narrated by the wonderful Paul Winfield, but since his death in 2004, Keith David took over. Still a great storyteller, though.

7--COLD CASE FILES.
Like the show of the similar name, old cases are solved... however, this one is real. Bill Kurtis is the narrator, and its like he's a grandfather telling you a tale, except this tale is full of homicides and serial killers. This stuff fascinates me, I can't help it. It recently celebrated its 100th episode with a story about the Green River Killer. Fantastic episode.

8--CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION.
Let me be clear... I have only seen one or two episodes of this show this season. Usually, Stephanie and I rent the DVDs of the previous season during the summer, hence we saw all of Season Four last summer and will see Season Five next summer. (Currently on tv is Season Six). But I would have to put this show down as one of my favorite shows, because it just rocks. Warrick Brown is a mack daddy, and the only reason I didnt rank this higher is because I haven't seen all the episodes.

9--SCRUBS.
Unfortunately, my old employer, NBC, likes to move this show around alot, and doesn't give it the fair shake it deserves. This is one of the most clever, funniest, sharpest shows on television. It will return to the line up I think in January, so I would say check it out. I have the first two seasons on DVD and I love it!

10--DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.
Yes, yes, this show is not the cleanest show in the world. And yes, Season One was better. But still... it rocks. Simply a modern day soap opera for men & women, featuring four neighbors who consider themselves best friends, yet don't know much about each other in the least. Like Lost, it would be hard just to jump aboard and start watching. In fact, I don't know that I recommend it...

Shows I Watch Even Though I Don't Like To Admit It
Clean Sweep on TLC
Pimp My Ride
E!'s True Hollywood Story

Shows I Haven't Seen, or Have Quit Watching, but They Were Excellent and I Wish I Hadn't Stopped:
Veronica Mars
Prison Break

Dave's All Time Top Favorite Shows Ever on Television:
1. The Wonder Years (I grew up with Kevin Arnold. We were like brothers)
2. Doogie Howser MD (Doogie was the original blogger, before anyone knew what blogs were)
3. The A-Team (Now its a silly show... then it was the coolest thing ever)
4. Lost* (i would rank it here... has the potential to climb or drop, depending on the future)
5. Home Improvement (bar none, one of the top two or three funniest shows ever on TV)
6. Scarecrow & Mrs. King (comedy drama from back in the 80s. I used to watch this with my parents)
7. Scrubs* (see note for Lost)
8. The Dukes of Hazzard (at the time, it was fantastic. now its a little hokey, i'll admit)
9. Friends (we became friends my freshman year in college... ten years of my life were spent with ross, rachel, monica, phoebe, chandler and joey)
10. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation* (will definately move up my the time its all over)
Honorable Mention: Judging Amy, Knight Rider, You Can't Do That on Television, Hey Dude!, The Cosby Show

How About You?