The Paper on MTV

After watching the final episode of the Amanda chronicles (seriously), I went over to MTV and watched the deleted stuff to find out what the other staffers are doing after college. I must say that it was nice to see that everyone is gearing up for college and trying to get past this invasion into the inner workings of their school newspaper.

A few comments on the last two episodes...

I agree with everyone that Amanda should have attended the ropes course. It is always a good exercise in team building and a leader should attend.



I still think that most everything out of Amanda's mouth seemed so scripted. Most of the other kids were able to speak to the camera and still sound like themselves (except Alex he got a little flustered) but she just seemed to be acting (and singing).



The "final showdown" between Alex and Amanda was just dumb. Alex seemed flustered and not ready for confrontation and Amanda spoke to him like a two year old (she does this a lot). I read all of the messages on MTV and I don't think Alex is horrible and mean. It seemed to me that he was bitter about the Editor thing (he does need to get over that) but he also picked up so much of the slack that I can understand the bitterness.



I hope that all of the kids are successful in their college ventures and that each of them can move on from this experience. It would have been nice to actually see more of the other members of the staff and not focus so much on Amanda but you "gotta have a gimmick" (my God I am becoming Amanda I just sang that in my head) and she was the gimmick.

Top Chef - Chicago

Just a quick note about last weeks episode (for a full recap check out David Dust's Blog). Horrible, awful, yucky, nasty Lisa is still around and Dale is gone? Please someone explain what is going on in the world. I know that some did not appreciate the passion that is (was) Dale but how on Earth can Lisa still be hanging around while someone that we all thought would make it to the final four is gone? I am sad and devastated at this turn of events. If Lisa makes it to the final four I will (to use an Antonio quote) throw up in my mouth. Although if she does not make it this means that Spike will and that is another issue in itself.



Top Chef on Wednesday night...who will be in the final four Lisa or Spike?? My God did you ever think I would say that?

The Paper on MTV

I have really tried to not take sides and to try as hard as I can (unsuccessfully usually) to really embrace the "character" that is Amanda. Sadly, this ends now. The girl is a strange mix of power hungry, fake smile, passive aggressive, crap that once again makes me thankful that none of us have to repeat high school.

I watched Monday's episode in awe from beginning to end. Amanda speaking to her dog about the homecoming traditions was my first clue that the girl was going to take me over the edge. I commend Mrs. Weiss for her attempt to keep the peace in the newspaper room but shifting the seating arrangement is not and will not make Amanda a better editor. When Amanda found the picture from the year before (before she became a power hungry pain) and put it on the board for all to see I truly believed that she thought this would make everyone like her again. Yeah that did not work. Adam responded but the others looked and walked away.



As for the homecoming, Adam won for Homecoming King (surprising yes but he has that personality that everyone loves or loves to hate) and everyone went to the dance. Before the dance Alex, Adam and Dan (where was Trevor) all went and had a spa day. Hilarious to watch and very male empowering (yeah right).



The only part of the show that my heart went out to Amanda was when her date texted her the night before the dance to tell her he could not go. Amanda went anyway (good for her) but she seemed (again editing) to follow Alex around for a good portion of the night.

Amanda needs to stop feeling and acting as if she is better than everyone else. She comes across as the girl who smiles to your face but behind that smile she is condescending and over powering. She also needs to get over Alex and move on. Amanda in general tries way too hard and this has a tendency to put people off (it did me).

The show has become a fascination for me to see what these kids will do next and who I can most relate too. Which one were you (or are you now) based on the different personalities on the show? I have decided I am a Gianna (smart ass but fun) or maybe a Dan (another smart ass but goofy too). By the way Gianna I would not have been in the photo either (wait were you?)

You never know what the day will bring....

Not only have I been home with a sick child for the last two days but today my power was out for over two hours. I have been unable to watch Gossip Girl from last night as well as How I Met Your Mother and The Paper. Bear with me as I try to make sense of my crazy life right now. Gotta go and get more Sprite for my child and try to get the laundry done. I will return.

Top Chef - Chicago

Not only was last nights episode a true test of my patience (I hate Lisa, I hate Lisa, I hate Lisa) it was also the first time in the history of me blogging that I actually wrote down items to remember. I don't usually take notes but the quotes in last nights Top Chef episode were too good to pass up. Here are just a few that struck my fancy;

"Dale is a little bitch." Spike as he reminisces about Dale's little meltdown in last weeks challenge.

"There is a fire inside my stomach like I am going to stab somebody or make some amazing food." Andrew with his wild eyed shaky look heading to the Top Chef kitchen.

"Put sexy back into salad" or "bring salad's sexy back" Padma and Sam (season 2 finalist) describing the Quickfire Challenge.

"There are people here who don't deserve to be here. They're not that great of chefs and their personalities suck ass." Lisa describing her fellow cheftestants. Really Lisa?

"I have one question for you..do you like burritos?" Richard for the 15th time trying to get the police officers to try his food. Richard shut up!

"Somebody f**ked with my rice." Lisa explaining to the judges that she was sabotaged and that is why her food was so bad.

I just could not resist. These people (especially Lisa) just open themselves up to ridicule. So anyway, last night basically went like this. The Quickfire Challenge was to reinvent the salad (and make it sexy, whatever). Surprisingly Spike won and his prize was that he could chose four items that all of the other cheftestants would be unable to use on the Elimination Challenge.

With Spike grinning and rubbing his hands together like the evil manipulator he is, Padma explained the Elimination Challenge. The challenge was to create a healthy (gourmet) boxed lunch for the Chicago Police Academy Cadets. Each meal had to consist of at least 1 fruit, 1 vegetable, 1 whole grain and 1 lean protein. Spike chose chicken, bread (asshole), lettuce (asshole again) and tomatoes for his dish which meant that no other chef could use these items.

Most of the meals went over OK with the police cadets. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that in the kitchen for preparation "someone" apparently messed with the burner on Lisa's stove and her rice was not cooked correctly (sabotage of course, never user error). The top two of the week were Stephanie and Dale with Dale pulling out another victory. He and Richard are neck and neck at this point. The bottom three were Spike (karma sucks), Andrew and Lisa. At this point I get excited, is it finally time for the bitch to leave. Oh hell no, she stabs Andrew in the back (all the judges knew he had forgotten his whole grain but she had to point it out) and Andrew leaves, a little crazy eyed but with his "honor" intact.



Just a small note (this recap is much longer than I anticipated). Lisa (bitch) made a big deal about Andrew not following the rules and not using an item in the required list. With that said, does anyone remember polish sausage? Yeah take that Lisa you bitch. Please do not let this he-woman make it to the finals. Restaurant wars next week!

America's Next Top Model - Cycle 10

Thank you Tyra! I thought I was going to have to boycott the show (especially after Fatima left) but the judges pulled through and made Whitney (instead of Anya) the new America's Next Top Model!

I must say it is a good day for normal sized girls and I am happy for Whitney. However, this season of the show was flat. I was bored. Maybe I have been watching too long and I am cynical abut these girls, or maybe the girls had very little personality. Whatever the case I was not excited about the finale last night at all. Now don't get me wrong, I am glad that Whitney won and was hoping it would be either her or Fatima but just watching the commercials for Cover Girl made me cringe. Not one of these girls nailed it and made me say yeah she has the stuff to go far. Plus neither Anya nor Whitney, on the runway for Versace, was all that impressive.

I am not sure what needs to be done for the next cycle but something has to. the same old format is not working anymore. The cheesiness has gotten old and the excitement has worn off.

But kudos to Whitney and her real size body. I hope that her winning was not a publicity stunt because Tyra knew the season was ho hum. And goodbye to Anya. I have to say thank God I never have to hear her speak again.

The Paper on MTV

I have finally watched Monday night's episode in its entirety. My Tivo/DVR malfunctioned (or maybe the damn Hills did not cut off when it should have) and I missed the last few minutes of the Paper. But lucky for me MTV.com allows you (me) to watch full episodes so I have caught up and can dish about the kids at Cypress Bay High School.

Monday night the kids were all excited about distributing the first issue of the Circuit. Amanda woke up raring to go and during the day of distribution alternated between being proud, being condescending (someone pointed out a typo oh no) and just in general letting the school know that she was the editor.

Of course nothing is ever easy and Amanda decides (with Alex's help?) that she wants to write Dan's humor column for the next issue. As you can imagine this does not go over well with the back row (Gianna, Trevor, Adam and Dan) and there is mutiny a brewing. Poor Mrs. Weiss (the advisor) decides to have a meeting in which nothing gets accomplished and all hell breaks loose. To make a bad situation worse, Alex is playing both sides and Amanda talks to her peers as if they are two.

Now I have read some of the comments about Trevor and Gianna and I must say that I disagree. Yes they are sarcastic and make little snide comments but who can blame them when Amanda steps on to her pedestal. Plus Trevor is hilarious when he does his Amanda impersonation and nothing that he says behind her back is anything that this boy will not say to her face.



Gianna seems to be a little bitter towards Amanda but she pulls no punches when Amanda steps on toes. I just love the infighting. At this point the one causing the most problems is Alex. Yes he deserved to be Editor and yes he is upset but he cannot feed Amanda one thing and feed his other friends something else. It just does not work and it makes him look like a little shit (which he may be but I don't think so).

OK, I saved the best for last...Adam (who won a superlative for Most Dramatic) has an all out Diva meltdown in the middle of the class and goes running down the hall crying. This from the boy who cannot understand why he was voted "Most Dramatic". The whole scene was something right out of a gay fight and I could not decide if Adam was really crying or about to laugh (always with the questions on "reality" television).



Next week Adam is up for homecoming king and he is actually soliciting votes. oh and Amanda is talking to her dog again. One last thought, in the preview for next week Amanda talks about how the events at school (like homecoming) are not her thing. Why is it that the kids least likely to get a date always say that? Not to be mean but seriously if you had a date it would be your thing. Think about that.

She Did It!!!

Finally Britney Spears has done something to contribute to the world. She has made the world a better place. Britney has saved How I Met Your Mother (to see full story click here) thus guaranteeing the wonderful (yet underrated) sitcom a spot on CBS's fall lineup. Although Britney's last appearance was less than stellar, people still tuned in to watch and Doogie and friends are coming back. So thank you Miss Spears for saving a show that I love but please do not return as a guest star!

Gossip Girl

How did this happen? I bitched and moaned about Dan and Serena being too boring (which they were) and now the evil Georgina has swooped in and stolen Dan away. And for some reason this bothers me (My God I am way too involved).

Last night on our favorite "tween soap" Serena finally admits to her crime. By the way there was no real crime. She was basically in a room when some random guy overdosed and she and the evil one (Georgina) did not call 911 or stick around to make sure the guy was alright. He died (so he was not OK) and Serena felt guilty. As Serena is trying to tell the story, Blair has called in Nate and Chuck to help. The most hilarious aspect of this whole scenario is when each member of the group discusses how bad he or she has been. All Chuck had to say was "I'm Chuck Bass" and I lost it. Funny stuff. Oh and Serena lies to Dan and tells him that she cheated on him to make him leave her alone because he is so judgemental (and she does not want him to look at her like a criminal...barf). Dan runs to Sarah (Georgina) who gives Dan some sob story about a stalker (which Dan believes, really?). The way Georgina figures it, if she can't blackmail Serena anymore than she will sleep with Dan.


On the old people front, Rufus's band played, Lily watched and all of her groupie tendencies came back. The night ended with a kiss between the two. By the way, Lily is supposed to marry Bart tomorrow (in TV land that is next Monday) so how will Rufus handle that?



Next week the wedding. Question is will it actually happen? Can Lily marry a man that she does not love (and do we care)? What did Dan do with Georgina and can this be taken back? Are Blair and Chuck ever going to get together again?



Till next week. XOXO

How I Met Your Mother

So I was a little disappointed last night with the entire episode. Not only am I writing letters to save this show but I made a plea yesterday on the blog and then last night's episode happened. I don't know if it was the Britney Spears return or if the cast was just not cohesive but I had very few laughs as I watched last night.

The basic premise of the episode was that Barney is still trying to get "back together" with Ted. He finally finds Abby (Spears) who has been bad mouthing him all over town and decides to pretend that they are married so Ted can see how not "awesome" it is to be in a relationship.



Once again Spears was passable but not great. She looked a little dazed and confused and seemed to be very unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. There were some funny moments (how could there not be with Neil Patrick Harris) but overall the entire guest role for her was a big disappointment.

Over in Marshall and Lily world, Lily has to sell her clothes to make enough money to fix their new apartment. She decides that she is going to try to sell her paintings instead but alas she is not that talented of a painter. Marshall discovers that her paintings do well in a Vet's office and that is how the two make the money they need to fix their floors.

At the end of the broadcast Marshall and Lily came back on to plug their website LilyandMarshallselltheirstuff.com to benefit the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.


It looks as if they are selling a bunch of stuff from the show. Does this mean that it may not come back? Next week is the season finale, how will it end?

Britney Spears back on How I Met Your Mother - Tonight

So little Miss Spears has decided to return to How I Met Your Mother tonight playing Barney's love interest while still having feelings (stalker feelings) towards Ted. It will be interesting so see how Britney handles the scrutiny this go round.



I read an article today in the Palm Beach Post stating that How I Met Your Mother had not been renewed for next season yet. Are you kidding me with this? This is undoubtedly the best sitcom on television right now (be quiet 30 Rock fans). Please watch! Please! How can you resist Barney (NPH to his friends Neil Patrick Harris otherwise). Don't let another great show go down in flames.

Question of the Day...Monday

What is the worst possible Mother's day gift that anyone can get? I did not win this year, my husband did well (I got a bike which I asked for). However, I have heard from a few friends that their Mother's Day was less than stellar. So here is the real question..how can a man that you have slept with, made and birthed children with, lived with and done virtually everything else with not know you well enough to find the "right" gift for your special day?

Kelly Taylor back to 90210

Did anyone else see the People article about Jennie Garth reprising her role on the new 90210 spinoff? So excited! She was my favorite character on the show but my how she has changed.





God I feel Old!

Question of the Day....Friday

Back to the gym; how do women work out with full make-up on and why? Today I saw a woman at the gym who not only had on full foundation, blush, lipstick and eye make-up but a closer look turned up false eyelashes! Now come on, are we to believe that after working out for an hour all of this make-up is still going to look perfect and if it does how? I know that the gym is a great place for the single ladies to meet a man but maybe just maybe these men want their women a little less high maintenance. Although with the amount of fake boobs trolling around at my gym (South Florida people), maybe not.

Top Chef - Chicago

With all of the great recaps out there about Top Chef (see David Dust's blog if you don't believe me) I have decided that when it comes to Top Chef I will keep it brief and to the point.

Basically last night after a relay QuickFire Challenge, the cheftestants (love it) were then told that the Elimination Challenge was all about planning the food for a wedding (125 people).



Two teams of four split up with one taking the bride's favorites and the other taking the groom's. The team who won (the bride's side) consisted of Richard, Antonia, Stephanie and Andrew (minus Andrew a real dream team). The losing team included Dale, Lisa (yuck), Nikki and Spike. The real kicker came when Spike and Dale had a throw down in the judging room. There was a lot of screaming and yelling about who did more work (by the way sounds like my house on the weekend). Caught in the crossfire, Nikki went home.



After Dale and Spike hugged it out, Nikki said her goodbyes and the group is down to seven. A few observations; Andrew is like a child with ADD. You never know how he is going to react or participate in anything. It's like a crap shoot. Dale showed his ass during judging with the "oh woe is me" (is that how you say that?) attitude. Someone on that team should have had the balls (or as Mark once said testicular fortitude) to be in charge. Every team needs a leader and this was so evident during last nights challenge. Spike's passive aggressive shit is not going to play much longer. He is worried about Spike and only Spike and eventually this attitude will come back to bite him in the ass (my goodness I am cussing a lot today). OH and Lisa (yuck, again) a doorag, are you kidding me? Please just do something and get booted, I can no longer listen to you bitch and I cannot look at the scowl (or sarcastic smirk) on your face any longer. Till next week.

Question of the Day....Thursday

I do not understand people who are rude to you just because they may not like their jobs. Now I know that this is a statement not a question so here is the question. If you hate your job why don't you find another one? I know that the market is iffy right now but I am talking about a check out girl at Publix (maybe 16 or 17). There are other retail jobs out there available that this girl may not have to interact with the public so much. I try to be as nice as possible when frequenting these places (I mean you have to go to the grocery store) but some of the people that work in these jobs just smack their gum, do not acknowledge you and basically act as if approaching their line is an imposition. I get enough of the rudeness and talking back at home. I don't need it when I am spending money as well. And I have stepped down from my pedestal, thank you.

America's Next Top Model - Cycle 10

Ding dong the man is gone! Finally, finally, finally the judges had the good sense to get rid of Dominique and for the first time put a plus-sized model in the final three. I have no illusions, my guess is that Fatima and Anya will be the final two but I was happy for Whitney and so glad to see Dominique finally go home.

This week started with a photography challenge where the models had to use what they had learned to take pictures of Paulina. Both Fatima and Whitney did well (with Fatima winning her first challenge) but Anya and Dominique were all over the place. Once again, Anya speaks and I fast forward. I cannot listen to her voice and Dominique just never shuts up, which is worse?

The photos this week were a staged "red carpet" event where the models were "caught" by the paparazzi with their boyfriend. Nigel was the photographer (is it just me or is he totally full of himself) and none of the shots were that great. Not one of the girls got the concept and as Mr. J stated "they were all too posey".

The judging began and based on the photos alone I knew that it would come down to Fatima and Dominique but I had it in my head that the judges would once again pick Dominique. Thank god they did not. Her picture looked like a him, there is no better way to state it. She (he, it) looked like a drag queen and even her outfit in judging screamed trash!



So Fatima stays another week (yeah) and next week is the Cover Girl commercial. I am interested (and fascinated) to see how Anya handles speaking in a commercial. Yeah for the plus-size girls everywhere (which by the way is a size 8 people). Good for Whitney. I still don't think she will win but I am impressed with how far she has come. Good riddance to the man. As you look at the girls she (he, it) beat out over the course of the show you have to wonder what kept her (him) around for so long? Tyra, glasses?

The Paper on MTV

The first deadline is fast approaching and I was interested to see how Amanda handled things. This show has really hooked me by the way. Oh and I love Adam. As he directs (orders) everyone to go and get ads for the paper, he calmly sits eating (drinking?) a smoothie and laments about how hard he is working.

As I said, the deadline is approaching and once again Amanda (bless her heart) does not step up. It seems as if Alex is doing all of the work (good editing, I don't know) and Amanda is obsessing over her editorial and her senior class pictures. Yes fans you knew you were in trouble when the girl walks in with her proofs for her photos and asks everyone (everyone!) in the classroom to place a check next to the one they like. The faces on Giana and Trevor were priceless (and Dan too) as this request was being made.

The show has become the "I Hate Amanda show" and I find it funny yet sad. Amanda thinks these kids are her friends and all of them seem to be talking about her constantly. The paper was finally put to rest with a lot of yelling (Adam) and screaming (Adam, again)and the issue was completed on time.



Again, thanks to Alex the paper happened. I do think that he is going out of his way to do a good job so that the teacher (Mrs. Weiss) will regret her choice of Amanda. Not sure about that motivation but if it gets things done then more power to him.

Just a few last observances; Alex, pull up your pants, please! Such a cute boy but the pants need to sit on your hips. Adam, love love love the fact that you ditched the paper to attend "High School Musical" on ice. Hilarious and certainly telling. Plus you knew the dance. I love it!

Next week Amanda stands up for herself. It must be all the inner strength she is getting from the yoga (and answering her phone while doing it, my god it is an epidemic now I am picking on the poor girl). Watch what happens.

Question of the Day....Wednesday

This is a deep one...when is the news going to have something positive or good to discuss? Every night I watch Brian Williams (secret crush) in hopes that things will get better; gas prices will go down, the housing market will rebound, the war will be drawing to a close. And every night I turn off the news (actually I just change the channel) and I am depressed. Something has got to give. Small rant for the day and a little depressing, sorry about that.

Gossip Girl

Serena killed someone? Seriously what will they think of next. I knew it had to be bad but I figured porno bad, not murder bad. And that was not even the main story last night. Slow down and back up..here it is.

In a nutshell, Eric is gay (we figured) and he was hooking up with Jenny's new beau Asher. Jenny lies to everyone that she has slept with Asher so that no one will believe that he is gay.



Georgina (the demon) announces to Lily and Serena over dinner that she saw Eric kissing another boy. Eric is outed and attends Asher and Jenny's party where everyone finds out the truth about Asher and Eric. Jenny is dethroned because she lied and Blair steps back in to her rightful place as the "queen". Meanwhile Serena cannot shake Georgina and when Georgina starts hanging out with Dan and Vanessa, Serena realizes that she has to tell someone her secret.



She ends up at Blair's and tells her that she killed someone. Roll credits as we all wonder what exactly is on that video that Georgina has.

So now we wonder..how did Serena kill someone? Was it accidental? Did Georgina do it and pin it on Serena? How will Serena get out of this one and will she and Dan ever go back to the way they were (boring)? So many plotlines to develop and not enough season left.

It was nice to see little Jenny return to her roots after lying, cheating and stealing to get ahead. For some reason I don't think that the feud is over. By the way, where was my eye candy Nate (and Chuck for that matter) last night? If I am going to watch I need something to look at. Till next week. XOXO.

Question of the Day....Tuesday

Why does everything that tastes good have to be so bad for us? I hate trying to lose weight and I especially hate it when I have to watch what I eat. I know, I know moderation is the key but moderation does not always help us to lose the last 5 to 7 pounds. I love fried chicken, I love coca cola (regular not diet), I love ice cream (the real stuff), and I love chips. I have no will power when it comes to any one of these items. Please let me be skinny without trying (and independently wealthy too).

Oprah with Tom Cruise

OK, I will admit over the past few years I have jumped on the bandwagon of "Tom Cruise is weird and in a cult" thinking. I still saw most of his movies but I thought that the speed in which he and Katie Holmes had a child and then married seemed a little bizarre and of course no one really understands the whole Scientology thing.



However, as I watched the Oprah interview (both parts) on Friday and Monday my opinion changed just a little. I still thought the beginning when Katie was at the house to say "hi" to Oprah seemed a little contrived but when the man sat down and spoke of his family and his life he did not seem as bad as I once thought. I had to give him a little credit when he spoke of the horrific things that people have said regarding his family and his children he seemed so calm, whereas I would have sued and sued again. Oprah was her usually gushy self and the interview played just as she wanted but again at least they seemed relaxed together. The second part in the studio was fine. Tom received kudos from friends and cast mates (what was up with Jada Pinkett Smith's hair)



and as a fan looking back I realized how many of his movies I actually loved (and still love). I may not believe everything that the man says but my heart went out to him (just a little) when I heard him speak as a father trying to protect his children. Twenty five years in the business...my goodness I feel extremely old.

Question of the Day.....Monday

Why do women who are over 70 (at least) find it appropriate to just wear a jog bra to the gym and no t-shirt over their stomach? I find this odd that a grandmother is fine with showing her stomach (yuck old skin) and the rest of us are working our behinds off just to look good in clothes. Good for them for working out but I don't want to see anyone's stomach over the age of 60. Ageism I know but there has to be a limit.

America's Next Top Model - Cycle 10

I cannot stop watching this show but once again I am in a quandary. How is it possible that any of the judges think that Dominique is attractive? I will reiterate the fact that I think she looks like a man and move on but is anyone else shocked that she (he, it) is still around?



This week had the models learning about action posing with a gladiator coach. The challenge was a picture challenge and out of the five I agreed with the J's, Whitney's photos were the best. Fatima looked as if she could not hold the sword and Dominique (shock) looked like she (he oh whatever) was posing too much.



The photos this week were high fashion with the girls in funky wigs (think Eva and Ya-Ya in their final fashion show, cycle 3 or 4 maybe). Then the big surprise; Tyra walks in holding the camera. As she states "Mama is here" I kind of wanted to throw up. Now I like Tyra Banks. I admire the hell out of her and am impressed with what she has done but she is just too much. Too forthcoming in front of the camera, too impressed with herself sometimes, too serious about things that don't seem that important (smile with your eyes anyone) and too loud. The "mama" thing put me over the edge and I had to fast forward through most of the shoot.



At judging the writing was on the wall. The judges were super impressed with Fatima (her photo was great), Dominique (please?) and Anya (again?).



Katarzyna and Whitney both had weak photo shoots and the judges continued to point out that Katarzyna had no personality, so she was the one to go home. Who in the hell am I going to pull for now? I don't like Dominique or Anya and Whitney will never win because a plus size girl will not be America's Next Top Model so I guess I have to get excited about Fatima. Next week will take them all to the final three.