Year of the Monkey?

More like year of the Grim Reaper!

Dear 2016,

You suck!  And here's why!  This year we've lost the following people:

Lazy Days

Have you ever had a pajama day?

No?

Seriously you MUST try this.

Last night the hubby and I camped out in the front room, listening to Coast to Coast. I really like it when they do spooky stuff. Now I don't recommend sleeping in your front room, because I woke up with a sore back. But I digress... And honestly this is not part of pajama day.

I told my hubby to stay in jammies and today would be a lazy day. Everyone needs one or two of these. So we stayed in jammies, ate junk food and watched movies.

It started out with Sherlock Holmes. Which I'm sad to say was a disappointment to us. Kind of predictable and definitely left it open for a sequel.

Then we moved on to cheesy movies from the 80's. Gotta love that. First was Navy Seals. A must since we're in that general area. Plus my bff cut class to see this being filmed. Sorry didn't mean to rat you out there Greta. I think it was awesome and wished I had known you back then. Luckily she has the good taste to be there for Michael Beihn and not Charlie Sheen.

We've since moved on to Die Hard. Which we also consider a Christmas must. Plus that was before Bruce Willis was even considered an action star. And possibly, after that, we'll watch Red Dawn. I'm still having a hard time believing that they're remaking Red Dawn.

If you haven't seen any of these, then you are missing out on excellent 80's cheesiness. Gotta love it. Go on run out and get them. You know you'll love it.

Nearing The End

So tomorrow is the beginning of the end for this season of American Idol. Yes I admit I watched this season. And I was actually watching for the music, not the drama. Actually I really like the Ford commercials. I know I'm weird. Was it a fantastic season? I'm not so sure about that. This year they had 13 instead of 12, started a 'save' that could only be used once and added a fourth judge. Trying to create more drama. And do me that smells like a sinking ship floundering at sea.

But let's take a look at this season's contestants. Shall we?

During the first there were two contestants that were eliminated during Michael Jackson week. Yes you read that right, they did a Michael Jackson week. Jorge Nunez sang 'Never Can Say Goodbye' by the Jackson 5 and Jasmine Murray sang 'I'll Be There' by the Jackson 5. Obviously these were not well received since both went home. Alexis Grace's rendition of 'Dirty Diana' by Michael Jackson really rocked!

The second week they did Grand Ole Opry and the mentor was Randy Travis. Sadly Alexis Grace went home. She sang 'Jolene' by Dolly Parton. This was a massive mistake in my opinion. I was so NOT impressed with Adam Lambert's Middle Eastern twist on Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire'. I almost started hating him immediately. What a way to mess up a good song! I did truly enjoy Megan Joy's version of Patsy Cline's 'Walkin After Midnight'. And she even did it while she was recovering from the flu!

The third week was Motown Week and the mentor was Smokey Robinson. They were celebrating 50 years of Motown. Sadly Michael Sarver was eliminated. He sang 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg' by the Temptations. He was one of my favorites and I was hoping he'd make it to the top three. Honestly I think they should have eliminated Anoop Desai. He may have sounded good to others, but to me he sounded like a bad lounge act. His rendition of 'Ooo Baby Baby' by the Miracles made me want to hide under the blankets.

The fourth week was Popular Downloads. Really? Do they not have enough to draw from that they had to choose something like this? Insert the eye roll here. Megan Joy sang 'Turn Your Lights Down Low'. Which I agree with the judges. Not so much in the loving it department. But Simon was a prick about it, saying they wouldn't even consider saving her. Allison Iraheta sang 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt. Defintely showing her age there. While Scott MacIntrye sang Billy Joel's 'Just The Way You Are'. Very nice!

The fifth week was, predictably, Birth Year Songs. They do this one every year. And now these songs are making me feel old. Scott MacIntyre sang 'The Search Is Over' by Survivor and was sent home. Paula and Kara wanted to save Scott, but Randy and Simon did not. And it has to be a unanimous vote. Boo! He was another of my favorites. He did tend to use the piano as a crutch. I must say Adam Lambert made up for week two with 'Mad World'. And Danny Gokey sang 'Stand By Me' by Ben E. King. One of my favorites.

The sixth week was Songs of the Cinema. The mentor for this week was Quentin Tarintino, which I thought was a really weird choice. But he was, in my opinion, quite good. No one was eliminated. The judges saved Matt Giraud. Really? He sang 'Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman' by Bryan Admas. Not impressed really. They save this hack? Threw away that save for someone with much more talent like Alexis or Allison.

The seventh week was Disco. Much harder this time around since two were to be eliminated since no one was eliminated the previous week. Lil Rounds sang 'I'm Every Woman' by Chaka Khan and Anoop Desai sang 'Dim All The Lights' by Donna Summers. Both went home. Honestly I thought Matt Giraud's version of the Bee Gee's 'Staying Alive' was sub par. Yet again the judges wasted a save on the wrong person. Lil Rounds was robbed.


The eighth week was Rat Pack Standards with Jaime Foxx as the mentor. He was very in your face with the contestants. Which I think freaked Danny Gokey out, but he did very well. So he must have remembered what he was taught. Matt Giraud's 'My Funny Valentine' by Frank Sinatra did not make it on to the next round. This took way to long to get this man eliminated. I thought the contestants did a really good job at this one.

The ninth week was Rock Week with Slash as the mentor. Okay that was just too cool! Slash? This should be very interesting. Allison Iraheta sang Janis Joplin's 'Cry Baby'. And she was sadly eliminated. Danny Gokey sang 'Dream On' by Aerosmith and I think it was awesome. I also loved the duet by Kris Allen and Danny Gokey of 'Renegade' by Styx. It was truly awesome. However, I thought Kris Allen's rendition of 'Come Together' by the Beatles sucked. I thought he should have gone home.

The tenth week was Judge's Choice and Contestant's Choice. Paula chose Terrence Trent D'Arby's 'Dance Little Sister'. Let's try choosing songs the audience would recognize you hack! Kara and Randy chose OneRepublic's 'Apologize' for Kris. And Simon chose U2's 'One' for Adam. Which was a very nice choice. Adam chose 'Cryin' by Aerosmith, which he did well. Kris chose 'Heartless' by Kayne West. And Danny chose Joe Cocker's 'You Are So Beautiful'. Sadly Danny was sent home. Which sucks! He was the last of my three picks. Honestly I thought he'd have been a part of the top two.

The final two are Adam Lambert and Kris Allen. Of the two, Adam has the most talent. I think Kris got in on his looks. Don't the girls know he's married? So for this week it will be the contestant's favorite, Simon Fuller's choice and the Winner's Single. I'm predicting that Adam Lambert will win. We'll see come Wednesday night.

I'm A Geek!

I had meant to post this sooner, but as some of you know the past few weeks have been a bit busy for me.

So a while ago I was working with the SOS on getting our auction items put together. One of the women there was doing a lot of the data entry so I was being the cheerleader and telling her how much she was appreciated. She, being the witty one, told me that if this was a horror movie I would be the first one to go. Not missing a beat, I replied 'Thank God! I don't want to have to run around for the next hour or so screaming and trying not to get killed. I'll sit here with my drink waiting for the rest of you to get offed.' They laughed, protested a bit and I then replied, 'Resistance is futile.' Which got them laughing harder.

Michelle's a geek!' One proclaimed. 'She knows about the Borg!'

Now most people would be offended by this statement. I know in my teen years I would have probably wanted to crawl in a hole. But I'm an adult now and words like geek really don't phase me anymore.

We went on to talk about how we watched Star Trek: The Next Generation when it originally aired. Of course this was nothing we would have freely admitted at the time for fear of being labeled a geek. One of the women even said that her husband would torment her if he knew, because he thought he was cool. And he's a nuke. Insert the eye roll here!

Man what a great group of gals! I really enjoyed working with them.

I digress, my geekdom goes back further. I watched the original Star Trek episodes, in reruns of course. I'm not that old. In fact it's one of the things that brought my sweet baboo and me closer. During a conversation I'd quipped 'Ah the trouble with tribbles.' At that moment he knew I was the one for him.

You'd think I'd matured as time went on and I grew older. But that is so not the case. It may no longer be Star Trek. Although I am anxiously awaiting the release of the latest Star Trek movie this May. It's ranged from many things. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series not the movie), Stargate SG-1, Battlestar Galactica (although the ending sucked for me on the latest one), Supernatural, and Firefly.

Heck my best buddy and I will discuss episodes on end. We used to call each other after some of the shows to dissect them. And we still think that Firefly is shiny! And we don't just watch the show for the gorgeous men. Although, it does help.

So for all those who think to taunt someone with the word geek and mean it as a slur. I say geeks rule! Who else could have the imagination to come up with some of the most fun TV to watch. And I proudly say I'm a geek!

And for anyone to whom read this post and is completely confused all I have to say is ask a geek. Just prepare for a long discussion.

It's Jayne! The man they call Jayne. Er. Um. Not really.

So as I stated in my last blog, I would wait until my sweet baboo got home to open that box. It was hard, but I managed.

He got home yesterday. And almost as soon as we walked in the door that box was opened. He did wait so I could take some photos.

As you can see there is straw in the box just like on the show. Like I said, it's all the details that this woman puts into the packages.
On top was the letter, just like in the show! And underneath the letter was that glorious hat. The one that had been anxiously awaited on.

My sweet baboo read the letter aloud just like Jayne did. I nearly fell to the floor I was laughing so hard. He'll do just about anything to make me laugh.

And that's one of the many reasons that I love him.
Of course I had to take a picture of him wearing the hat. Wouldn't be a good blog without one. Cunning dontcha think?

It fits perfectly! I love the way it looks on him. And it's nice and warm. A very good thing since he's come home to a very cold week. Possible snow has been predicted for the upcoming days.

And yes, that is straw on the hat. My sweetie was a bit impatient. He put it on before we got all the straw off it. But what the heck! Jayne didn't spend a lot of time getting the straw off when he received his hat.
Not only were there wonderful details to the package, inside and out. There was also a card with the care instructions on it. Isn't that cool?

It is 85% wool and 15% mohair. Much like the one that Jayne had. How much more authentic can you get? The back of the card has the company, Wear With Style, contact information as well as a cartoon drawing of Jayne in his hat drinking mudder's milk. Too cool!
This sticker with Blue Sun was included in the box as well. We just don't want River anywhere near it. ;-)

Just another one of those fantastic details that makes this so 'shiny'.

Makes one wonder who she got to make the stamps and the designs from. I'm not complaining, I'm applauding. It's all so well done!

And it's so rare to find a place that would put the time and effort into such details. It makes a person feel very special.

I may have to order myself one. It looks really comfortable.

Cunning Don'tcha Think?

This hat became famous in an episode titled 'The Message' in the series 'Firefly'. If you haven't seen it then this post may not make any sense to you. Go watch an episode or two. I'll wait.

Did you watch it? Was it not awesome?

This hat, worn by Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin) became a cult item that Firefly Fanatics had to have. Now normally I'm not one do such things, but my sweet baboo saw this and wanted it. There are many sites out their dedicated to just the hat. You can get a pattern to knit it yourself. But I'm not that talented. I don't knit.

After much searching, my sweet baboo found a site through one of the forums that he frequents. I emailed the woman to place my order. That was December 8, 2008. She warned me that there was a wait, so I had her put my name on the list. And today I received a package!

So it took a little over a month, but she had warned me about it. If you're a fan of the show and just dying to have one of these lovely hats the site is called Wear With Style. If you're wondering the reason for her doing this then wonder no more. If I need more, I will go to her. What makes everything 'shiny' is the details.

These last four pictures are the outside of the box. It's a bit hard to see what some of them say, but I'll help. They are stamps of all the places the box would have gone through like on the show. I can be a bit of a Firefly geek, so I'll help. And if I get something wrong, let me know. Of course then you'll be admitting you're a bigger geek.

So really think about that before calling me out.

The first photo has two stamps. The red stamp reads Eavesdown Docks 3.10.2518 Persephone. This is in Serenity Part 1 & 2. Simon brought River here after he have her rescued. And you meet everyone. It was not aired as the first episode even though it was meant to be. FOX is so stupid. It was also mentioned in Shindig. Which was another very good episode. Mal dances.

The purple stamp reads Santo Goose Juggling Tourney Champ 2515. Santo was mentioned in 'Our Mrs. Reynolds'. Wash mentions it to Zoe when they get into a bit of a tift. She stormed off. Also mentioned in Shindig.

The second photo only has one stamp. It's blue and reads JIANGYIN Prairie Paradise. This is from Safe. Simon is kidnapped and River is called a witch.

The third photo has two stamps as well. The green one is Capital City Osiris. Simon and River were both born there. It is mentioned in many episodes. It is mentioned in Serenity and Safe.

The second stamp, which is blue, reads New Dunsmuir 1.24.2518 Beaumonde. This is a place in 'Our Mrs. Reynolds'.

The fourth and final photo has only one stamp. It says Canton 2.20.2518, Your Source for Quality Mud. This is from the episode called Jaynestown. Very good. A bit of singing in it. Which made me laugh.

I have to admit that I got help from another Firefly site. Hey that's what the resources are for.

I won't open this until my sweetie gets home. Which is soon. The creator says that the hat comes in a box packed in straw with a handwritten note, the same text as Jayne's mom wrote to him.

It's Baaaack!

So last night American Idol started again. Let the insanity begin!

It was a two hour show last night and should be the same tonight. From the rock star in a box (Oh please!) to sexual chocolate (Get over yourself little man.) to bikini girl (Someone needs to get over herself.)

Also this year they have a new judge, Kara DioGuardi. Someone I knew nothing about. And I'm not sure how she'll do. She is a songwriter. She has appeared on over 100 million records, including Grammy award winning artists like Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Gwen Stefani, Pink and Santana. Her songs have also been included in the albums of Britney Spears, Jewel, and many more. She's also helped Idol winners and contestants with their albums. Some of them have been Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Bo Bice and Clay Aiken, just to name a few.

Does this mean Paula is out the door? Is Paula going to be as nutty as she has been? Or has she chilled out? We'll see if the wackiness of Paula will pop out.

Just from last night I saw only three people that I hoped would go on to compete to be the next American Idol. We'll see who else they chose tonight. I know already of one that needs to go. I think she's just their for controversy. That and possibly a drool factor for the guys.

Don't Frak With Me Tonight!

To anyone who would even think of calling me tonight... DON'T! Battlestar Galactica season four starts tonight. If you didn't know this I have to ask what rock have you been living under? And if anyone disturbs me during this they will die.

This is the final season of this show, much to my dismay. And even though I have DVR I don't want to be disturbed. I'm truly a geek! And I don't care to admit it. I promise to be a much more rational person tomorrow after I've gotten my BSG fix.

Top Ten Reasons To Watch Battlestar Galactica

Just too funny! And if you don't care for any of these reasons than I have to doubt your enthusiasm for Battlestar Galactica.

It's Back...

What you may ask? American Idol. I know you can stop your groaning. So I watched it. I swear it's like watching a car wreck. I couldn't help myself. There weren't as many train wrecks shown this year as last. Don't get me wrong there were some doozies tonight. Like the guy who wore a belly dancer outfit and then went and got a body wax at their suggestion. Yikes!

And I think Simon actually got a heart. He was nicer than he has been in the past. Oh he still told people when they were awful, but he wasn't nearly as harsh as he has been in the past. Although he did make a comment about people being happy for their friends or family and how he didn't understand that. Huh?

And of course there was the stalker song that one guy sang to Paula. Creepy!

I'm sure tomorrow night will be even better. The hubby brought up an interesting point. Why do people let their loved ones go through this when they obviously can't sing? Delusions of grandeur is my only answer.

Although I don't think anyone wants to win Idol any more. Those who do seem to fade into mediocrity anymore. The runner ups seem to do better. Just look at Daughtry. He's doing so well and he only made it to the top four in 2006. And Blake Lewis rocks! He was the runner up for last year's Idol for anyone who's been living under a rock. And my favorite in case you couldn't tell.

A Blast From The Past

Holy cow! I remember watching this back when I was in high school. It was a hoot to watch back then. Titan was an original Gladiator. Cool to see he's in good shape and can still do this.



So I've watched it the past two nights with the hubby. They do a lot more about the contenders history, which I could care less about. But it's still pretty good. It's the only show that I've ever watched that the hubby got loud over. I know it'll become a staple in our household.