I should never have doubted you Taush

Tausha has been trying to get me to watch So You Think You Can Dance since the second season. I resisted until almost the end of last season, only because Taush was visiting me and I'd recorded the show for her to watch while she was here. I sat down and watched it with her and totally loved it. Joshua and Katee were my favorites. But I loved most all of the dancers I saw and there were so many excellent dances...

I again resisted, this time because there was no way it could compare to how wonderful last season was. Boy was I wrong...again! I'm a few episodes behind and have just watched the Top 20 dance episode and just adored it. There is no other show on TV that makes me smile throughout and finds me clapping at what I'm seeing. Not only that but there is some fantastic music on this show. And I learn something when I watch. This week? Pas de deux. I couldn't dance my way out of a paper bag and these people make dancing look so effortless. It is such a joy to watch this show. Hooray for it being on TV!

Real Parking Ticket

When I was home in Boise a few weeks ago I had quite the time trying to get my haircut.  I had to reschedule my appointment 4 times for various reasons.  And when I finally made it to my appointment I was completely focused on whether or not I was going to be able to explain to my hairstylist how I wanted my haircut that I parked Dad's car and walked into the salon without feeding the parking meter.  

It didn't even occur to me to pay the meter until I was walking out of the salon about an hour later.  And as I walked to the car I said to myself, gosh, I hope I didn't get a ticket.   But, of course I did.

And I put it to great use later that day cleaning out the snare drum for my nephew's graduation display.  Parking should be free.  Always.

White Trash like me...

I've upgraded both my TV and my DVR to HD...there are many things I like about the HD and the HD DVR (the picture size and quality, for two) and there are things I don't like about it (the DVR is difficult to program for one).  But I think my favorite thing is that after over 5 hours of on and off trouble shooting my remotes and DVR with and without the help of Comcast, I turned to my old friend the Internet and after searching through forum after forum I found that the problem was that my TV has a sensor in it that detects the light in the room and adjusts the picture quality which interferes somehow with the ability for my particular HD DVR model to receive the infrared signal from the remote.  The fix?

Place an empty CD case in front of the HD DVR's IR receiver.  And since I'm not exactly sure where that is, I've just placed it in front of the entire thing.  If that's not White Trash, I'm not sure what is.  

The amazing thing is...it totally works.  The remote now controls the HD DVR, where as without the CD case there, it won't.  Amazing.

Thanks the Internet.

So Rude!

As it has come time for one of my nieces or nephews to get a cell phone, I sit each of them down and give them a few Dos and Don'ts of cell phone usage.  The hugest thing for me is:  If you're spending time with someone and your cell phone rings...make it quick or don't answer it.  Unfortunately someone didn't tell the gentleman I saw on Saturday.

I was meeting a friend for lunch at Olive Garden on Saturday.  I arrived a bit early and she was running a bit late, so I was sitting alone at our table for a bit...with nothing really to do besides listen to other's conversations and surf the Internet on my phone.  And for a good 15 minutes this older gentleman was on the phone with someone from "back home."  He was talking about the weather here, how the hotel was and many other inane things...while his wife sat across the table pretending there was still food on her plate for her to pick at.

He was at a restaurant.  With his wife.  Put the phone down and talk to your wife or leave the restaurant and have your conversation.  

Please...some people's grandparents!

When did I move to a SoCal movie set?

Went to the Home Depot the other day to buy a fan before it gets unbearable here again.  (What they say about not needing air conditioning in Seattle is bogus...it can get HOT here.)  And what did I see?  A whole mess load of Latinos...just standing around the entrances.  

At first I thought they might be protesting something.  But no one had signs.  Then I realized they were standing around waiting for someone to drive by and offer them some work.  Why did I know this?  Because I saw it in a movie once, maybe twice.  I don't care what Denis Leary and Alec Baldwin say about TV rotting your brain, it sure makes me smarter...

Thoughts on the Tonys...

I wish I could see more Broadway plays...I wish they were not quite so expensive to see.

What is the deal with the sound?  This is an awards show celebrating live performance.  But the show can't get the mics to work properly.  They should've hired the sound guy from one of the nominated shows.

Apparently Next to Normal is about a woman dealing with depression.  If I broke into song with my family when I was depressed, I don't think I'd be depressed any longer.  I'd probably be laughing about how many times I changed keys during my solo.  

Carrie Fischer's weight makes me feel not so bad about mine.  And the heavier she gets the more she looks like her mom.  

Lauren Graham's dress...I think I liked it.  I liked the color, I liked the way it gathers below the waist but I'm not so fond of the bow.  Never really been fond of off-gift bows.  

Though I do quite enjoy my new TV and DVR...I do wish that it either had a 30 second skip button or automatic commercial skip.

It's late...will have to finish watching the Tony's later.  

Lee is my Joseph!

For the past few weeks I've been rather invested in the Any Dream Will Do series on BBC America.  I don't really watch American Idol, but these shows that are casting stunts for Broadway/West End shows I totally watch.  Because I love Broadway musicals.  Especially Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Such a great show.  In fact, I knew that once I started watching the show I would need to listen to my Joseph CD... but I couldn't find it anywhere.  So before I watched the first episode I had to order a new CD from amazon.  I then listened to it non-stop for weeks.  

And watched every episode of Any Dream will Do every week.  Debbie was watching it as well, so we'd discuss it.  In fact, on the way to McCall over Memorial Day weekend, we discussed it so much in the car that Lynda watched it the next week.  Which was the week I found out...

Andrew Lloyd Webber kept saving one of the singers, Lewis.  He was consistently getting the least amount of votes from the British public, and yet Andrew kept saving him EVERY week.  And finally, last week, I'd had enough.  I thought Lewis looked like too much like Barbie and sang too much like me (from the top of my throat, no real depth to my voice) to be Joseph.  I decided that though the show was happening in the UK, there had to be a way for me to vote online or via text message or something.  Lewis was NOT going to be my Joseph.  I preferred Lee, but Keith would do as well.  Just not Lewis.  I was very serious about it.  

A quick search of the Internet revealed that even though I was completely invested in this show, anticipating it every Sunday, anxious for the singers each week and crying with them when they cried (except for Lewis, because he cried ALL. THE. TIME.) and very serious about finding a way to vote for Lee, it didn't really matter.  Because the show originally aired in the UK in 2007.  Lee had indeed won, he was not only my Joseph, but apparently most of the voter's Joseph as well.  Not only that, he had already completed his West End contract as Joseph and had recently married won of the judges from Any Dream Will Do.  

I thought the knowledge of who had won would have tainted my viewing of the last episode tonight.  But it didn't.  Debbie called me to tell me that Lee had won when I had just begun watching the episode and I almost chided her for telling me who had won since I hadn't gotten there yet.  When I remembered that I already knew.  So kudos to BBC for making me forget what I thought I knew and drawing me in again for one last week of Joseph.

Yay Lee!