It’s an S and G Thing
It’s an S and G Thing by Roxanne McDonald
 |
She is now more the Salt of the earth and tryin’ like all get-out to convert her former rap partner Pepa. |
Episodes one and two of the realty TV-resuscitated act have some of the sound we so loved in the late nineties, some of
the real conversations and altercations we have come to love to hate on the telly, and even some extra good ol time religion.
Salt, Cheryl James/Wray, has returned to (sort of) apologize for just cutting out on Pepa, Sandy Denton. She has come to reunite with her partner, and revitalize their act. But more, it appears, Salt has come to spread the word. And it is actually quite surprising how accepting and compliant Pepa is.
In the first episode, Salt is adamant about not doing or saying anything or sashaying in any way she did in the past, being a woman of God now, and all. She goes pretty far in her reform, boldly changing the lyrics of the hit, “What a Man”, for example, never mind she can’t deal with performing “Push it” without losing it.
And she goes even further when a gig gets canceled or postponed and tells Pepa she has decided they should do a show in front of her church congregation—and just replace all the sexy allusions to a fine man to Him. And add Halleluiah!
Dress and Seamstress to Impress
Dress and Seamstress to Impress by Roxanne McDonald
 |
Emphasizing assets (er, external ones, of course) is again the running theme of “Beauty and the Geek,” episode 6—though this time more appealing to the geeks, who get to be immersed in comic book hero glory. |
After the geeks dress to impress (in the traditional makeover scene that’s so fun to watch), the beauties highlight their
best physical attributes (what else?) by way of superhero costume and accent (which is, well, not all that exciting, unfortunately). Beauty invents and models/presents. Geek constructs by sewing (gluing, etc.).
Shay becomes Steam, who can’t explain her backstory or her gifts, so we just have to rely on the mini-clothes look and wait a few beats till she’s done.
Erin morphs into Aqualita Splash, who doesn’t seam to have much power beyond that she takes from her “top dolphins” who are doing research? Okay.
Jasmine stretches her creative wit to come up with Princess Bedhead. Her power is that of sleep. Okay, hers is the most original presentation and while not necessarily well-thought out, is certainly quick with the yes-responses to the Comic-Con judges [Eric Powell, Dwight T. Albatross, Brian Lynch, and Chris Ryall] that makes them titter like mad.
Just What She Wants to Hear
Just What “The Bachelor”’s Hillary Wants to Hear by Roxanne McDonald
 |
Replay that episode of “The Bachelor”. Note how Hilary has selective hearing. Watch Hillary implode. |
Listen as Brad says “good friends” repeatedly, then tells us he doesn’t have the attraction he tried to have to Hillary. Hear Hillary tell us she is delighted with their attraction. Fast forward to Brad warning her again that are just “too good friends….” Watch Hillary get even more hopeful. Scream at
TV Hillary: pay attention! He is NOT saying anything good, here, and is trying to cut you loose as gently as he knows how!
This is not ambiguity. This is not convoluted courtship. It’s the very old, very cliché kiss of relationship death, Hill.
Years back, Oprah Winfrey issued a caveat: “If he SAYS he doesn’t want to commit, BELIEVE him.” Don’t try to change him or his mind. Forget growing on him, coming into favor. Let go of the possibility of his suddenly realizing what a gem in a dustbowl you are. Pay attention to what he is saying, not what you wish he were saying.
A Tat Does Not a Convict Make
America’s Kookiest Challenge?
A Tat Does Not a Convict Make: America’s Psychic Challenge, Episode 2 by Roxanne McDonald
 |
Is “America’s Psychic Challenge” a testament to the psychic gifts so many of us have that we don’t rightfully tap into? Will it be more groundbreaking than ordinary material realism? Is it an embarrassment even to the reality TV milieu? |
I’m still trying to decide how watch-worthy “America’s Psychic Challenge” is. In the meantime, herein I will summarize episode 2 for you so you can decide.
First Task
5 prisoners—one (cellmate #3) has a criminal record; four are decoys—in actuality, a minister, a physical therapist, a motivational speaker, and a special education teacher.
25 points to the psychic who identifies the one with a criminal past.
Joseph picks him pretty quickly, telling cellmate #3 to “be a power of example and an example of power,” meaning who knows what but earning 25 points.
Silvana touches each cellmate, does some automatic writing, and comes up with a clue—that the right one had something to do with four years, four months. She chooses #2, is told she is wrong, but is also told that #3 did his time in four years and four months!
Sylvana suggests she should at least get five points for that spot-on detail, but she gets zip.
Naryza likens her gift to that of one standing on top of a mountain while the rest (unpsychic ones) ar standing below on flat terrain. She may be flying too close to the sun, however, for she very quickly picks the one who “in his energy [is] a lot of regret.” She is wrong when she picks the motivational speaker.
Lynn enters the task with what she says she keeps getting: images of tattoos. Oh, THAT’s a gift of psychic proportions for sure. Quirkier, she asks to see each one’s arms—not asking to see any other body part a tat would possibly be on.
She guesses the only one she sees has a tat, and is wrong. She then whines a little about how hard it is to do interpretation without interaction. I guess feeling them up doesn’t count in her book.
The Good, the Bad, and the Boring
The Good, the Bad, and the Boring by Roxanne McDonald
 |
Fall’s TV lineup brings a few nice surprises and lands a few duds at the same time. |
For a good percentage of the population, fall is a time to stay inside more and get cozy with TV programming
targeting just such persons. Those who have been out getting some exercise and natural sunlight are primed for some quality TV. Those of us who stay inside year-round and are hooked to our sets by an invisible umbilicus are primed for new and maybe even better shows.
Eh. Some wishes fulfilled, some not so much.
“Tori and Dean: Inn Love” is one of those surprisingly engaging shows. For me, anyway. I had ignored the first couple of episodes thinking it was going to be another Jessica and Nick look-at-my-celebrity life kind of show, but Tori has such a cutesy sense of humor and an ambitious presences and Dean is industrious and equally well-humored, so the half-hour Lifetime TV segments really do have a gentle pull.
“The Reaper” I just accidentally fell into as it airs on the WB after “Beauty and the Geek”. So I gave it chance. It’s quirky and at times tries too hard to deliver the buddy-pic characters as innocuous everyman and best friend bozo with the yuck yucks. But it also has a quasi- “Charmed” or “Buffy…” meets “Smallville” appeal I bet will draw the teen, tween, and twenty-something demographic…with not only its youthful feel but its fairly original premise.
Out of the Mouths of Rubes
Out of the Mouths of Rubes by Roxanne McDonald
 |
What the hell, Peih-Gee and Jaime, what the hell? |
As if these messy little switches aren’t bad enough, nasty little Peih-Gee tosses sabotage into the mix. What if producers decide to teach you a lesson and keep the
teams the way they are? You just forfeited one of the strongest members of either tribe.
The switch brought out the sanest, the best, and the worst in each of the remaining players.
James – Considered a great athlete and “immunity hog,” James offers to work for Zhan Hu, telling us he has to work his way into the system all over again.
Sherea feels like she is starting over [too], and says her tribe never thought Fei Long would get to pick also—just that Zhan Hu would have two new, strong members. She also admits to not being the hardest of workers on her tribe, so here at the Fei Long camp she is going to have to step it up.
Todd, as ever, is ready to forge new bonds—excited as he is to meet and greet and shmooze in his favor.
Frosti is also instantly deflated, saying he feels outnumbered by old Fei Long members. Cautious but clever, Frosti looks to find where he can make himself most useful, for, as he tells us, that’s gonna keep him around.
John Robert, still irritating the hell out of every tribemate, makes a token gesture to wake early and cook breakfast and check traps—saying he will give his tribe a head start for the day. But still referring to himself in the third person, he reports that today was a bad day for Fei Long and a god-awful day for John Robert.
Fall Season 2007 TV Shows Overview So Far
The 2007 Fall Season TV Show Overview by Mike Liebner
You just never know what a new season of TV shows will bring you. It could be a super good season like when Desperate Housewives and Lost first appeared or it could be a dud.
 |
So far, this season, with a few exceptions seems to lean more towards duds from my perspective. A few returning shows are great… a few new ones are good… a few are outstanding… |
While I have not watched everything new that has come out, I really try my best to catch at least the first episode (pilot or premiere).
I understand this is not always indicative of a show in the long run, but let’s face it - we can only watch so much tv before it affects us in strange ways (hmmmmm…)
Right out of the box I loved the new NBC tv show Chuck. Fresh and invigorating just like when Austin Powers first hit the scene, Chuck is a great 1 hour show. It’s refreshing how cool and hip this funny thriller is and how larger than life the characters are. It’s not very often I get drawn into a tv show that does not necessarily have a continuing storyline (individual self contained episodes like most tv detective shows), but this one pulled me in. The visuals and high tech editing are in themselves quite revolutionary and top notch. Check out “Chuck” if you haven’t already - it’s a winner!
Survivor China is back and the reality tv series is as good as ever. The challenges are especially good. China adds a whole new backdrop and freshness to the show. It’s a must see show! (read more…)
MENSA Man almost Makes Fifth Grader History
MENSA Man almost Makes Fifth Grader History by Roxanne McDonald
 |
Jason Ramsey makes it all the way to the million-dollar question before conceding he may be a MENSA member, but he is not smarter than a fifth grader. |
Bring on one Berklee College honors graduate with an IQ of 143; introduce him to the new class composed of Cody; Mackenzie, Nathan, Olivia, and Sierra; add three but see no more than one cheat used; and you have one of the only a few contestants to make it as far as the million-dollar
question on “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?”
Here are the questions Jason answered with apparent ease though with a feigned fear and trembling—born of the guy’s sweet humility, I imagine– that was adorable to watch:
FIRST GRADE MUSIC
1. What is the fifth word in the lyrics of “The Star-spangled Banner”?
a) light b) see c) red
FIRST GRADE GRAMMAR
2. How many singular nouns are in the following sentence? ‘The girls were mad at the boys because the boys threw snowballs at them.’
SECOND GRADE U.S. GEOGRAPHY
3. Yosemite National Park is located in what U.S. state?
THIRD GRADE ASTRONOMY
4. True or false? The Milky Way Galaxy contains more than one billion stars.
SECOND GRADE ANIMAL SCIENCE (CLASSROOM CLUB QUESTION from MCKENNA, ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL)
5. True or false? The Humpback Whale is cold-blooded.
THIRD GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES
6. The U.S. Declaration of Independence was written and signed in what year?
FOURTH GRADE U.S. HISTORY
7. U.S. president Hayes was elected into office in 1876. What was his first name?
FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE
8. What precious metal has the symbol ‘AG’ on the Periodic Table of the Elements?
FOURTH GRADE WORLD GEOGRAPHY
9. What is the capital of Brazil?
FIFTH GRADE DRAMA
10. “Two households both alike in dignity…” is the opening line to what Shakespeare play?
FIFTH GRADE WORLD GEOGRAPHY (FINAL QUESTION)
Jason drops out of school, and I forget the question he guessed at—an answer which would have been wrong, anyway! Yikes.
Dale Takes it Like a Man
Top Chef’s Dale Levitsky Takes it Like a Man by Roxanne McDonald
 |
Congratulations to tendentious Hung Huynh, but condolences to Dale Levitski, who should have won…just because I said so. |
Okay, granted, concessions go out to such writers as Josh Wolk of EW.com, who reminds us you can’t taste
personalities. (And forgiveness to the same who said that it was a surprise twist to learn Hung was friends with Marcel, for maybe Josh didn’t watch the pre-season teaser episode.)
But we at home don’t have the privilege of tasting anything but. And if we had our bets counted, I would have bankrolled Dale. Yeah, I would have been broke this morning, but I would still have gotten the satisfaction of backing a true winner.
And no offense to the beautiful and poised Jennifer Aniston look-alike, Casey Thompson, but were personality and impressive changing for the better the criteria, I would go with the the sometimes underdog, ofttimes dark horse Dale.
So he wrecked the team tarts. He learned to stay clear of experimental desserts, so that by the finale, when the three finalist cheftestants were given the surprise added challenge to cook a fourth dish (without the assistance of their celebrity sous chefs and with no spare prep time, per se), Dale acknowledged he wasn’t going there with the puffed-out pastries.
So he was missing the goat cheese for the goat cheese tarts (trying for tart success for second time in the season) ; he used his finesse to pull off a back-up dish that blew the judges away.
(read more…)
Survivor China Astrology
Survivor China Astrology by Roxanne McDonald
|
Does it matter that thus far, more fire signs (five) and more rabbits (three) have won “Survivor” than any other signs? Does the fact that Aaron and John are Rabbit and Dog signs, respectively, contribute to how they have consistently been at odds? Does it make sense that Amanda, a Leo, and Todd, an Aquarius, have made the first alliance? |
I’ll leave the speculation to you, and offer just some surface research details here (not including already
eliminated contestants):
By Western Astrological Terms
Aaron Reisberger born April 25, 1975 Taurus (earth)
Amanda Kimmel born August 3, 1984 Leo (fire)
Courtney Yates born March 26, 1981 Aries (fire)
Dave Cruser born October 26, 1969 Scorpio (water)
Denise Martin born May 5, 1967 Taurus (earth)
Erik Huffman born January 31, 1981 Aquarius (air)
Frosti Zernow born February 15, 1987 Aquarius (air)
Jaime Dugan born June 30, 1985 Cancer (water)
James Clement born March 9, 1977 Pisces (water)
Jean-Robert Bellande born September 17, 1970 Virgo (earth)
Leslie Nease born March 25, 1969 Aries (fire)
Peih-Gee Law born April 7, 1978 Aries (fire)
Sherea Lloyd born July 31, 1081 Leo (fire)
Todd Herzog born January 29, 1985 Aquarius (air)
Will Appear on TV for Food
Will Appear on TV for Food by Roxanne McDonald
|
We all get that many reality TV contestants audition in hopes of landing more than a seasonal contract. So how promotional for the models, for example, is a show like “Beauty and the Geek”? |
I just got curious when I was skimming the Wikipedia pages on “Beauty and the Geek” and saw so many
individual modeling webpage links that I almost forgot what the show is really—in my opinion—about.
That is, as I was checking for birthdates so I could explore astrological compatibility (for what I think is a much more interesting article), I was instead distracted by the number of “beauties” furthering the marketing of their “model” looks. So, out of even further curiosity, I thought I’d look into who has done what or made it where after [and because of?] “Beauty and the Geek.”
What the Beauties Have Gotten Out of the Show
First, some have put more into the show than they have gotten out of it, so far:
The first-ever (season 4) male beauty (which I still says is debatable), Sam Horrigan, arrived on the set with a legion of listings already, so Sam gets the trophy for making obvious the reality TV star factor. “Beauty and the Geek” is obviously another notch on his marginal stardom belt.
Hollie Winnard (season 4) has also come not as a complete unknown but as one with the indicators ablazing: she has appeared as the suicide girl in Death Plots (2005); as the virgin in Hoodoo for Voodoo (2006); as Tanya in All Wrapped Up (2007); and as Dominatrix in the yet to show Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! (2007).
So much for actors or wannabe actors mixing in with common folk on reality TV competitions, following in the footsteps of the dude (forgettable) who was an actor who made it onto “Survivor”—though not for long.
Amanda Hanshaw, the first in season 4 to go home (along with partner, Tony Tran), also has quite a repertoire going. Among dozens of honorifics, Hanshaw was Cherished Beauty, IMI Talent, and Haines Girl; has been Miss Jack Daniels and Miss Corona (2006); and has a portfolio layout complete with a stunning body shot (no pun intended) at OneModelPlace.com. I liked Amanda, so I won’t rag on her gig-grubbing efforts.
Erin Schneider and Jasmine Moore also have MySpace pages, though they are set to private and I could care less whether this is to build suspense about season 4 of B and the G or keep results secret or whatever.
Take Two, They’re Small
Take Two, They’re Small: Bret Michaels Almost Chooses TWO Rocks of Love by Roxanne McDonald
 |
If he had his way, he would have had two rocker girlfriends. But Bret Michaels made the best choice possible, according to many of us on the sidelines. |
Maybe it was really a final test when Bret asked Heather and Jes if they would both be his girlfriend. But more, it
would have been one of those dream-on scenarios for the beautiful rocker seeking all the qualities of one woman as they were embodied by the remaining two…between whom Bret couldn’t, for a minute, there, choose.
We kinda knew—or hoped—that it wouldn’t be Heather. Not that there’s anything all that scandalous about her being a stripper, but she seemed a bit too rough around the edges. (If only she would have abstained from the loads of make-up: my God was she beautiful without any at all.) She was also what Bret consistently called a good “friend”, which we know is a moniker that won’t wash off as easily as all that face gunk.
In almost every episode, Bret commented on what a fine friend Heather was/is.
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
