What the?!

Didn't Sunday used to be a GOOD night for TV? There is NOTHING on! I'm aaaaalmost caught up on my backed-up TiVo queue. Oh kitty, what will we watch!?

So You Thayne You Can Dance

One of my early favorites on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is Thayne: the cutest guy with the worst name. His OCD almost makes me love him. There are still WAY too many contestants on this show to mention them all, but a few do stand out. I already mentioned "inThayne." Then there's choreographer Mandy Moore. I have never hated a dance number as much as her first number (pictured), and I would rank her second contemporary piece among the best on the show... ever.

Was Mary Murphy wearing separates from the Joan Collins Collection?

My LEAST favorite pieces were the krumping which just did NOT "hit." Watch David LaChapelle's mediocre documentary RIZE for some real hardcore krumping. And, I hated the Viennese Waltz for two reasons 1) as Nigel pointed out, it wasn't a Viennese Waltz, and 2) How could anyone possibly judge the performance (or even the choreography) when they set up SUCH a sob-story about the choreographer's sick daughter. And, then Mia Michaels who saw through the BS feel-good story to say that the piece itself was sh*t, but of course the overly-emotional audience boo-ed her down and ate the boo-hoo up with a stick. Lame.

If the show is going to have dance categories (like "hip-hop," "krumping," "Viennese Waltz," and "Argentine Tango") then they should be given that type of choreography to dance.

My favorite pieces were #3) the Broadway number that brought the house down; #2) the sexy "Argentine" tango; #1) and as much as I haaated her first number, Mandy Moore's 2nd contemporary piece was my favorite piece of the night. The foxtrot was also lovely.

I agree with the female contestant the judges sent home (barely). It was a close call. Each of the final 2 ladies danced in their own style on Wednesday's show and came up WAY short. I totally agree with the judge's choice for the male contestant sent packing. The other two guys in the "bottom" three were excellent.

Kiss My Big Fat Emmy

Well, Tyra "Me! Me! Me! ME!" Bank$ won a g-ddamnned Daytime Emmy! Now we'll NEVER hear the end of it. Though very humble and dignified (for Tyra) in her acceptance speech, I just know she is going to throw this in the gaunt faces of future ANTM models: "Do you think you could win a Daytime Emmy --like I have-- with photographs like that?!" Click on the "tiny crazy tyra" pix to enlarge them and feeeel the crazy like it's in the room with you. (Shiver!) Yes, I'm watching the Daytime Emmys. It's a bad habit. I actually only care about the talk show hosts, educational kids shows, and lifetime achievement awards. Years ago, my dear friend Steve told me a few Daytime Emmy "rules."
1. Supporting Actress nominees ALWAYS cry in their clips
2. 98% of winners will thank god or jesus or some combination of the two
3. It's surprising how many soap actors and actresses have multi-decade-long careers as the same character and never win an Emmy.
It was not a good night at the Daytime Emmys for me. Rachael "I Support The Taliban" Ray (see photo) won an Emmy instead of my only recently least favorite show THE VIEW. That just ain't right. Even with Hasselcoulter, they're still better than Rachael "Sunshine Is Flying Out Of My B#tthole" Ray. Ugh! THE VIEW has been chugging along through co-host disasters for ELEVEN years. They are now the talk show equivalent of La Lucci. Regis and Kelly are also Emmy-less after many years of consecutive nominations. I love Regis Philbin, but his lifetime Emmy speech was wooden and a bit rushed. I did enjoy the clip package, though. I wish Joy had gone up on stage with him!! Oh yeah, and Ellen won again. She needs to take her name out of the running next year like Oprah, so the others can have a chance.

Disparate Housewives

Having just watched the first 5 episodes of the 3rd season of WEEDS, I can safely say that even on her BEST day, Bree VanDeKamp Hodge wouldn't last 3 minutes in a lady-fight against Nancy Botwin. WEEDS' occasionally reluctant drug dealing queenpin, Nancy Botwin, would bite off Bree's extended pinky and spit it out onto Bree's ecru carpet. WEEDS packs more real human drama into 27 minutes than DESPERATE HOUSEFRAUS wrings out of a soggy 42 minutes. Though Mary Louise Parker is a revelation as Nancy, Elizabeth Perkins makes WEEDS' town lush Celia Hodes a force to be reckoned with on the level of an Alexis Carrington or Carmela Soprano. Nancy, Celia, and even Celia's kick-ass daughter, Isabelle, could MOP THE FLOOR with the desperate housewives (and make it look like an accident). In some scenes of WEEDS, I can't help being reminded of Lucille Ball at her zany best shoving chocolates in her mouth and into her shirt. Only, Nancy is skimming 20 pounds of marijuana out of her pool and drying it in the dryer. But she's all Lucy, and the best one since the original.

No Mo' Mole

Without giving too much away, 2 of my 3 favorite players have been executed from THE MOLE. Sadly, I barely care. THE new MOLE isn't as good as THE real MOLE. The producers have really watered down the original show and made it too predictable. The editing is pretty lame compared to shows like SURVIVOR. During the last 20 minutes of SURVIVOR even if I know who I think is going home, the editing makes me second guess myself. It builds drama toward a climax. One flaw with THE new MOLE is that the Execution Ceremony (why does that sound horrible?) isn't really dramatic. Viewers of THE new MOLE can see what's coming down the pike a looong way off. Or if they can't it doesn't really matter since the quiz is so random that it's like picking lotto numbers. Was the mole wearing spandex in the 'We're All Wearing Spandex' challenge?

Al Or Nothing

Though I remain a staunch (S-T-A-U-N-C-H) supporter of Hillary Clinton, I found Al Gore's endorsement of future President Barack Obama to be particularly moving. After so many nap-inducing speeches lately, it's nice to know that there is still some "fire" out there. Who knew it would come out of Al Gore?!

The High Holy Day

What is better than watching the Tony Awards? Nothing. It's sacred. I'm so excited that I can't even blog about it. I just have to watch it (very loud) and soak it all in. Here are a few of my favorite clips to get you in the mood. Ethel Merman is my all-time favorite lady singer. There, I said it.

I also love me some Kristin Chenoweth.

I love this number from THE DROWSY CHAPERONE. I would LOVE to see this show some day!

And, then there's Ms. Jennifer Holiday.

For All You Ball Fans Out There

No, not that kind of ball! Oh wait, not that kind either. Big black balls. Wait, that doesn't sound right either. Sigh, these balls....
Those balls. 400,000 of the cute li'l things are intended to create shade for Los Angeles' water sources to keep sunlight from producing dangerous bacterias and whatnots. It looks like a giant goth Ikea ball pit! Learn more about these black balls from Buzz Feed.

Brangelina. Mayerston. Beckerlake.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but I just couldn't help using a few of those words on this picture.

I Believe! In The Separation Of Church And State! Remember That?

Here's another alarming story about the elected members of the U.S. Government trying to turn our Republic into a Theocracy. Even worse is that the guy who they think Jebus told to lead them is George W. Retard. Can we get back to when the country was run by reality not by faith in false prophets? Via Raw Story via towleroad days of the state's legislative: "South Carolina's lieutenant governor announced Thursday that he is willing to put up $4,000 of his own money so his state can become the first in the nation to issue "I Believe" license plates with the image of a cross and a stained glass window. The legislation allowing the plates was one of several religious-themed bills to became laws in the closing session. The bills mean South Carolinians attending local government meetings could soon see the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer posted on walls, pray without fear of being sued and drive home in cars with the "I Believe" plates. Civil rights groups are considering lawsuits." Can I get a license plate that says, "I Don't Believe"?

TPIRness

Don't forget to check out Hunk du Jour today (and every Friday) for their weekly wrap-up of hunky hotties on THE PRICE IS RIGHT. In my opinion, not a very hot week, but some weeks...!!!

Apparently, One May Not Pants

Jamie "Look At M'balls!" Bayard was the first guy sent home from SYTYCD 4 last night. His hip-hop was weak, but two things that Nigel "Look At M'teeth!" Lythgoe --the show's judge and executive producer (the guy who is in charge of everything)-- said really surprised me. He said that he thought that "America" may have been offended by Jamie's pantsing, and he also said that going first during a loooong 2 hour show is like the kiss of death. He said something like, no one will remember the first routine by the end of the show. Well, BOTH of those reasons sound like an unfair advantage created BY the producers who could have cut the pantsing if they thought "America" would be offended. I also love that SYTYCD has SUCH an anti-American (government) bias. It's great! It's like the British's chance to get us back for getting them into Iraq. It's like he's saying, "America, you can't handle this show!" Anyway, the producers (and FOX's show-padding-machine) could have made the show 60 minutes or 90 minutes without so much stuff between all the performances. The contestant who sang first on AMERICAN IDOL this season was almost always in the bottom 3. I'll call it FOX-padding-syndrome. It's another example or symptom of the ever-growing storm of new millennium Quiz Show Scandal where reality game shows (shows with prizes and teams and such) have crossed the line of fair play and the only thing keeping the whole mess in check is that the desperate-for-attention contestants wouldn't dare cry foul for fear of not being invited to participate in upcoming shows and projects produced by the show's producers, dancers, choreographers, and crew.

So You Think You Can Pants

Here's I'm still looking for an image of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE contestant Jamie Bayard getting pantsed by his dance partner in their broadway-esque hip-hop lite routine. The self-admittedly straight yet clearly gay Jamie was exposed on tonight's first live performance show. Sadly, there was no wardrobe malfunction, but we were treated to his sexy shiny briefs and massive thighs. Were the briefs spray-mounted on? One wonders. I wonder. It's worth mentioning that in typical FOX fashion, the first 15 minutes (1/8) of the show went by before the first pair took the stage for their live dance. No one can "pad" a show like FOX! And then in the "not-padding" department, there's Mia Michaels. GODDAMN I love her! She is exactly the kind of nut-job super-brilliant choreographer I LOVE. Her pieces are always just breathtaking. They just stop me in my tracks. All I can do is watch and absorb. I'll probably watch her piece from tonight's show a few more times before TiVo plows the show under. She is speaking a language of dance that is so personal, and her gift is being able to pass that intensely emotional feeling onto the dancers and ultimately onto the audience. Though, her brilliance comes at a price. She seems like she'd be a mega-beeeotch to work with, but the results do speak for themselves. I would love to see an entire Mia Michaels show. Did I mention she's BRILLIANT?! I won't bore you with a play-by-play wrap-up of the whole show. There are still way too many contestants to keep them all straight (pun intended) in my head. Here are a few highlights. My favorite dance piece of the show was Mia Michaels' piece with Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura (fox!). Another standout was Katee Shean and Joshua Allen. I love that SYTYCD isn't afraid to "go there" with some controversial and usually anti-war and/or pro-peace messages in their choreography. Susie Garcia and Marquis Cunningham did a beautiful waltz. Marquis mentioned in his intro clip package that his family wasn't supportive of his dancing for reasons that sounded as if they were to blindly support a pro-masculine stereotype that dance is gay. Well, if you name your son Marquis, what do you expect?! Speaking of queer stuff, gayest outfit of the night easily goes to Chris Jarosz. I also love me some crazy Mary Murphy! Even she doesn't know what the hell she's talking about half the time, but it doesn't matter. And finally, to clear up any confusion, Kourtni is nothing like Courtney who is nothing like Chelsie nor Chelsea.

Hurricane Regis

Holy CRAP! Regis Philbin KILLED on THE VIEW today! He's dragging his own show to the bottom of the sea, but he came on THE VIEW like a 25 year old Regis. He dished the dirt. He talked sex. He cracked one-liners that had jaws on the floor. Apparently, 9:00 AM is just to early for poor old Reeg. Then, Barabra Walters said that she thought that "just because of this one" referring to Whoopi Goldberg they (THE VIEW hosts) might win the Emmy this year, and Saint Joy Behar of The Eleven Years hit the ROOF (and understandably so!) She looked Barbara right in the eye and said, "I'll turn on you!" It was scary AND hilarious. I always said that I wouldn't take bets on who would melt down on live TV first, Barb or Reeg. Today, I thought they might both do it on the same show!

Yes, It's Snowing In June

That's a (live) view of Stevens Pass just north of Seattle where it had been snowing in June as recently as Tuesday 6/10. You can probably still see bits of snow here and there.

You Should Have That Mole Looked At

Monday night on ABC THEMOLE aired its second episode. Many reviews of THEMOLE keep "bitching" about how complicated THEMOLE is, but frankly it's not half as smart as it used to be, and it's still a lot more entertaining than many other shows out there. It's really too early to tell who the mole is, but I doubt it's Nicole who threatened to actually kill Paul in his sleep and leave no forensic evidence. ABC is ruthless, but I think they draw the line at publicly pre-announced murder. Nicole's one step away from crazy, and Paul wants to push her there. Bobby would be my lead candidate for the mole, but he's just too obvious. Like I said, no one really sticks out. The editing really sticks out in THEMOLE but not for the right reasons. When the show first aired, it was among the first serial reality game shows. The viewing public wasn't as aware then of the gross manipulation of the proceedings of the reality game shows by editors and producers. The old Mole made me think. So far, THEnewMOLE has kept my attention, but it's not making me think (except about Anderson Cooper).

Dance Dance Dance Dance Dance Revolution

I've seen hours and hours and hours and hours of dance in the past few days. I watched 4Th "TiVo hours" of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. I watched 2Th of STEP IT UP AND DANCE. I watched 2 1/2Th of RANDY JACKSON PRESENTS AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW BROUGHT TO YOU BY RANDY JACKSON AND RANDY JACKSON, DOG. And I watched 6 live and in-person hours of the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) at beautiful McCaw Hall at Seattle Center on Sunday. There's nothing better than a good ballet live. The men in tights! The ladies who are lighter than air! And, after 8 1/2Th (which is about 5 hours and 20 minutes; 1Th = 40 mins - except PBS and Disney Channel) of dance (much of it hip-hop) I was so pleased to be immersed in spectacular live ballet and modern dance. The matinee ballet was a trio of Jerome Robbins pieces which were powerful and beautiful and funny. I love dance that really makes me laugh and cry. "Fancy Free" was funny and breezy and very masculine. "In the Night" was so beautiful and classic. It had the most astounding lift work I've ever seen. And "The Concert" capped off the show with a hilarious and touching story featuring my favorite costumes of the day. The evening ballet was, EIGHT ENCORES, the final show of the PNB season which featured 8 of the season's best numbers and a few extra special encores thrown in. It was a delightful mix of classic ballet, modern ballet, and modern cutting edge dance. The sold out show was a who's who of Seattle dance. As PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal said, "I'm told there are 1500 people here tonight... and almost half of you paid for your ticket." The last piece on the program was "Caught" which uses strobe lights to make the dancer appear as if he or she is frozen in mid air almost floating as a still images across the stage. It must be seen to be believed, and even then... So, it would appear that dance is making a comeback. Get out there and support your local dancers, dance crews, and ballets.

Don't Get Jealous, Joel

Yes, Joel McHale, you are foxy too. Don't get jealous of my other straight-man crush, Mmmmmorgan Spurlock. There's enough of my misguided love to go around.

My favorite SOUP quotes from this week are:

About David Cook, "There's an American Idol contestant I'd like to have a baby with!"

About the following assortment of items somehow related to a challenge on THE MOLE: an antique battery, a bowler hat, a Bunsen burner, a Victrola, and a goat; Joel said, "Now all we need is a safe word and we can get this party started. Alright!" I love it when Joel talks dirty!

"A SHOT AT LOVE WITH TILA TEQUILA is like FEAR FACTOR if Joe Rogan was a bisexual Asian midget chick... where's my plate of goat taint?!"

I love that he calls Denise Richards: It's Complicated "Denise Richards' Colon... It's Complicated"!

My favorite moment of every week's show is when Joel "takes some E!" and dances around to hot, gay dance beats. I would actually watch a 30 minute show of just that. But, enough about me.

Mmmmmorgan Spurlock

I have the HUGEST crush on documentarian Morgan Spurlock, director of SUPER SIZE ME and creator and occasional star of the kick-ass FX series 30 DAYS. Even if you don't watch it for the sexy hunk of pale fleshy man flesh, Mmmmorgan, 30 DAYS is one of the BEST documentary hours on TV. The premise is that Mmmmmorgan or someone else lives a life completely outside their comfort zone for --you guessed it-- 30 days. In this season's premiere episode (which I think was this week --I'm waaay behind on my TiVo!), Mmmmorgan was a coal miner for 30 DAYS. Next week an NFL star will live for 30 DAYS in a wheelchair. Previous episodes have had right-wing Christian nutjobs living with gays in The Castro. A "patriot" living with a Muslim family. 30 days is a looong time when you're thrown into completely upside down circumstances. I could go on and on about Mmmmorgan in jail for 30 days. He was hardcore sexy behind bars. Maybe it's his super-gay leather-daddy moustache? [Sorry, guys, he's married.] Maybe it's his pale, fleshy bod? Whatever it is, Mr. Morgan is the sexiest documentarian since... hmmm, ever? Ok, enough about me. Definitely set your TiVo for 30 DAYS and catch as many episodes as you can. The show is also available on DVD for you Netflixters.

So You Think You Can Pass

The ever aDORable, Travis Wall of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE did a "surprise" number to end the show's multi-city, multi-hour audition tour shows. It was a surprise because --apparently-- no one knew it was him since he was dressed like a hoochie. His performance started off a little weird because he was SO gay that it hurt my eyes to watch it. I mean, "It's Rainin'Men"?! Come on! That's not even FUNNY any more. But, as it dawned on (the straight) people that she was really a he, Travis did some appropriately amazing dance moves (once he put the umbrella down --I'm not kidding). Awwww, li'l Travis.

Why, TiVo, Why?!

Uh oh, looks like I may have to cancel my TiVo service and sell my TiVo. My beloved TiVo has gone right-wing nut-job on me.

TiVo Sponsors “SuperDad” Contest with Right-Wing Focus on the Family
Nominate the GBTQ Dads in YOUR Life Today!

Dear Friends and Family,

I just found out that TiVo, the home entertainment company servicing millions of families nationwide, is working with James Dobson’s Focus on the Family on a “SuperDad Essay Contest” for Father’s Day. As you can imagine, Focus on the Family is only looking for one type of “super” dads and they certainly are not part of our community. That a national company many of our families send checks to each month would sponsor a Father’s Day contest with Focus on the Family is horrendous. I need you — all of you — to help us respond.

I won’t often ask you to visit Focus on the Family’s website, but today I am. The Family Equality Council is organizing a response to this discriminatory contest, asking you to nominate yourself or the GBTQ dads in your life. To do so, you have to visit www.family.org/fathersday/, sign up for their parenting forums (message boards), and submit your nomination (100 words or less) through the boards. I’m encouraging two-dad families to submit joint stories, highlighting the greatness of both dads in one entry!

In addition, I’m asking that you copy the text of your nomination and email it to OUTSpoken@familyequality.org, so we can feature your beautiful stories and hard work on Family Equality Council’s Blog and with others in our community!

This is a great opportunity for GBTQ dads in our community and their family members and friends to share the real stories of their lives and let TiVo and Focus on the Family know that all dads can be Super Dads!

Others can and should participate, as well. The Family Equality Council has created a petition for parents, family and friends to sign. The petition is aimed at TiVo and will let them know just how many LGBTQ-parented families and supporters are out there! Click here to sign the petition now!

Last summer more than 50 families sent their stories to Adoption.com in response to their discriminatory actions online (read about it here). I want to increase that number 10-fold this year. Let’s send 500+ nominations to Focus on the Family’s “SuperDad” contest and show them how truly super our GBTQ dads are!

Thank you for your time and for celebrating all loving families with us each and every day!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director

Jennifer Chrisler also released a statement to TiVo, Inc. this afternoon:

Jennifer Chrisler’s Letter to TiVo, Inc.

Please join our efforts to let TiVo know that working with discriminatory organizations like Focus on the Family is the wrong way to do business with all American families. Sign the petition and nominate the GBTQ dads in your life today!

"Liars! Identcal Liars!" Has A Nice Ring To It

Please to enjoy. I love MoveOn.Org

This Mole's For You

I'm happy to report that THE new MOLE is pretty good. It's usually tough to judge a "new" reality show from the first few episodes, but I enjoyed last night's premiere. They've traded a little bit of the intrigue and mystery of the previous incarnation of THE MOLE for "new millennium" drama. There's more "dun dun DUUUN" and less "hmmmmm." The new host is better than I thought he would be, but I will always miss my little Anderson Coopster who was the best MOLE host ever! The show also suffers from the FOX-syndrome where they rush through sections of the show too quickly and drag other sections out too long. Perhaps the pace will self-correct as more players are eliminated. I have NO idea who the mole is, but the following players are my favorites. Contetant bios from ABC's THE MOLE site.

"Paul has the accent and demeanor that clearly reveals he's an Italian New Yorker from Yonkers. Paul works 9 to 5 as a machinist for a utility company and as a wedding DJ on the weekends."

Liz rocks!! "Liz has more energy than people half her age. She lives life to the fullest and does not let age stand in her way. She won't hesitate to shock people with her outlandish sense of humor. Liz is a widow. When her husband passed away, she decided to adopt two children and raise them on her own." 6/9/2008 update: Liz was executed on the second episode.

"Bobby [is a fox,] loves games, competing, and winning, though you may not know it from his low key exterior. He is a hardcore fan of The Mole and used to host Mole watching parties in his basement. He knows the game well and has a solid strategy to form coalitions with less intelligent players that he can lead astray."

First She Loses Her Daughter

Now she lost her husband, again. According to the News Of The World, the Nirvana frontman's remains – the location of which has previously been kept secret – were taken from the Los Angeles home of his widow Courtney Love.

The ashes were said to have been kept in a "pink teddy bear-shaped bag along with a lock of his hair" and were taken with some jewellery and clothes.

Some of the Nirvana frontman's ashes were previously scattered near his home in Washington State and some at a New York Buddhist temple, with his widow retaining the rest.

The Widow Love slurred, "They were all I had left of my husband. [Except for his millions of dollars.] I used to take them everywhere with me just so I could feel Kurt was still with me. Now it feels like I have lost him all over again."

Probst Fans: Better Than A&E's Biography

If --like me-- you are a fan of SURVIVOR and the perpetually sexy Jeff Probst you will be KICKING yourself for missing this morning's LIVE WITH JEFF PROBST AND KELLY. The Probster shared MANY intimate details from his youth and a couple of unbelievable photos of himself in spandex pants with feathered hair circa 1980something. Once again, I can't stress enough that every American human should be watching LIVE WITH _____ & KELLY every morning. if you missed the Probst-a-thon this morning, you can catch it online. The "host chat" is really the best part of the show. Unless the guest is someone super special, I fast forward through. But, the opening of the show is really the best live chat on TV. Plus, some mornings you get to wake up to Kelly wearing some crazy-ass dress. Below is a dress Kelly wore on May 28 (not pictured on Kelly). I ordered two before she even sat down!