Monday, March 31, 2008

Dancing with the Stars (week 3)

Well, it was a night of jive and tango. We started things off with Marlee Matlin who I thought was very impressive once again.

And I'm not sure what I like watching more at the moment, her dancing or the behind the scenes training banter with her partner. Loved her "you have to please me" comment LOL. She just cracks me up.

Carrie Ann is starting to be very nit-picky now, but I have a feeling that as the weeks go on if Marlee continues to move along in the competition she will blow them all out of the water.

Her scores were one point lower then last week, but 21/30 is still very good. I really want her to stay, she brings such great energy to the competition.

Just like Mel. B. did last season. Actually i should add Marissa Winokur to that as well.

Speaking of, I'm actually gonna have to agree with the judges on their assessment this week. It wasn't as good, but I wouldn't say it was boring. I think Xena fans are gonna have to get crackin'.

I haven't mentioned Steve Gutenberg up to this point but I give him props for his dance tonight I thought he did quite well.

I thought the best jive of the night was Derek (or as a friend of mine calls him Leonardo Dicaprio look-a-like) and Shannon.

In a jive it's all about choreography and Derek and his sister (Julianne) always do the most complicated stuff.

That seems to pay off and most importantly it's really fun to watch;). No wonder they keep those 2 around.

Best tango definitely goes to Priscilla, since it's all about precision and Priscilla is a perfectionist it was perfect for her, the acting was not half bad either.

And I really liked the dress she was wearing, I thought it looked very flattering on her.

My second favourite jive of the night was Edyta and Jason. I'm still in awe of how gracefully this guy moves.

And actually I should rephrase my earlier statement and say that aside from Derek and Julianne, Edyta has some of the best choreography on the show.

Kristi Yamaguchi kicked butt again with 27/30 for her tango. I'll honestly be surprised if she doesn't make it to the finale.

My predictions for who will go this week, either Mario or Adam.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

It's been fun


Well, my YMCA job workshop finally came to an end this week. It's funny how when you first start out something the days just drag on and on, but as you get towards the end the days just fly by.

It's also interesting how quickly something can become routine even if you don't like it much at first.

I never thought I would say this, but I'm going to miss it, not so much the YMCA or the activities just the people I was with.

It turned out to be enjoyable after all, even if I don't get anything out of it (well except for the cash that is;).

I have to make a couple of more trips over there in the next couple of weeks to talk to the facilitator on a one to one basis, so we'll see what happens with that.

The one thing I definitely won't miss is having to get up at 7 am. In fact I'm looking forward to some well deserved rest over the next couple of days. Especially since it looks like lots of April showers are on the way.

Hopefully after the rain we will actually get some sun and it will finally feel like spring.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Happy B-Day Lucy Lawless!



As I've done every year since starting this blog I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to Ms. Lawless (40 has never looked so good!). Cheers to many more:).

And although it's a day late Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Tapert.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Dancing with the Stars (week 2)

Tonight was another awesome night of dance, quick step turned out great for some not so great for others.

Poor Monica Seles still couldn't find her groove, and I think unless her fan-base goes dial crazy she will unfortunately be the first one to go tomorrow.

Marlee Matlin was amazing once again, btw. it was nice to see Jennifer Beals in the audience supporting her. I was wondering when she would show up.

Kristi Yamaguchi continues to forge ahead of the pack, quickly becoming the one to beat. I actually think Marlee will be able to give her a run for her money, along with Priscilla Presley who keeps surprising me.

My favourite male celebrity dancer by far is Edyta Sliwinska's partner Jason Taylor, I don't think I've ever seen a football star more graceful then this guy. He's definitely got the potential to go far in the competition.

Even Marissa Jared Winokur, improved this week. I'm not sure whether she's got the potential to win the whole she-bang. But one thing is for sure with the force of the Xena-verse (Xena fans) behind her she will be in for the long haul.

My predictions for who will go home tomorrow Penn Jillette and probably Monica Seles.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

More fun at the Y

I am now more then halfway through the job workshop, the weeks went by surprisingly fast actually. All I can say is that it's been interesting and very very exhausting, hence my lack of updates lately.

So, what have I been up to the past week?. Well, I've done more tests and group activities in the past two weeks then in high school and College combined lol. Since I've never been a fan of either that is the one aspect I definitely won't miss.

The experience itself has been a cluster ranging from fun, to frustrating, to down right boring lol. And to be honest I still don't feel any clearer on the whole choosing a career direction thing. Guess we'll see if that changes in the last week.

Also I have to say this even though I've mentioned it in a post last week, I am SO over the high school attitudes and complete lack of maturity.

This whole thing just reinforced why I liked being in College so much more, everyone there was on the same level.

Having said all that, I have made some good friends, with whom I'm really hoping to keep in touch.

Tomorrow we are learning about life balance and health. As part of that we will be making a trip to the gym (just when I thought all my high school nightmares were behind me LOL).

I am planning to enjoy the hell out of this weekend, especially since we will no doubt be overwhelmed with all the things we have left to do next week.

Dancing with the Stars: Ladies night off with a bang!

Last night was the first night of dancing for the ladies and I have to say the majority of them were quite impressive. Particularly former Olympic skater Kristi Yamaguchi, and Priscilla Prestley.

The dance of the night though went to Marlee Matlin, I think along with everyone in the audience I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how she did all those moves to the music perfectly and looked better doing them then all the other couples who can actually hear.

I'm not sure why but I knew she would be a good dancer, I just wasn't sure how her partner would get around the logistics.

All credit to both him and Marlee for pulling it off, it was inspiring. I want Marlee to stick around for the long haul. So please people vote for her;).

The only person who seemed to really be struggling was poor Monica Seles. Which was surprising I actually thought she would do well, being an athlete.

Strange as this may sound I'm actually hoping she sticks around longer. I think she could get better as the weeks go on, but I'm probably the only one, and she'll be the first one off the show lol.

The most enthusiastic performance I think in all 6 years of the show had to be Marissa Jared Winokur. She was like a kid in a candy store, so bubbly and full of energy. She could barely contain herself it was so fun to watch.

Just as I do with American Idol I'm always scouring the audience to see if there are any other famous celebs sitting on the sidelines.

As I was hoping Lucy Lawless came to cheer her best friend (Marissa) on, along with her daughter Daisy. They were both sitting next to last year's winner (and my fave) Helio Castroneves.

Hope this appearance means Lucy will be a regular (in the audience that is;). I am already eagerly anticipating next week.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles lives on!


No, you're not seeing things according to Hollywood Reporter sources FOX is giving the show a chance and renewing it for a 2nd season. Woo-freakin'-hoo!!.

If you've read my previous posts in regards to this fantastic show than you know I have become a real fan and therefore, I would have been extremely upset if it was cancelled prematurely without being given a real shot at survival.

Hopefully this renewal also means a full 22 episode season instead of a measly 9. But let's get back to FOX for a moment, I want to congratulate the FOX Network executives for finally getting something right. I was beginning to think they were incapable of such a thing, so it's nice to be proven wrong.

Also it looks like Terminator will be returning to a theatre near you for it's 4 installment in 2009. Sadly without the governor of California (Arnold Schwarzenegger). But I'm sure fans of the franchise will give it a go anyway.

For a full list of shows that are renewed, pending or on the bubble click here

Hmmm......ER is in the pending column (but so is Sarah Connor Chronicles and Bones, so here is hoping that's a good sign). And at least that's slightly better then being on the bubble.

Hopefully NBC will reveal more in that regard as we get closer to April 10th (when ER finally returns!). The month of April couldn't possibly get any better!.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Fun at the YMCA


Well, I survived my first day of the YMCA job workshop, but boy it was tough. Mainly the getting up early part.

I haven't had to get up anywhere past noon in a while, so it was quite a shock to my system. LOL

Losing an hour of sleep while switching to daylight savings certainly didn't help the adjustment.

As for the activities themselves, they were pretty much identical to ones I've done in high school, which included group teamwork exercises and personality/interest tests.

Basically pretty yawn-worthy stuff. Hoping it gets better later on, or staying awake is gonna be an issue lol.

Doing the True Colours test (for the 100th time!) took me right back to high school. Let's just say I'm SO glad those days are far behind me.

Finding my way has also been challenging, since I'm terrible at directions and usually have to go to the same place a couple of times before I remember all the correct bus stops. I'm sure by the end of the week I'll have things figured out.

As the day went on the group got bigger and bigger, to the point where I think we'll now be split into 2 separate ones not quite sure what that means yet.

That will all be made clear tomorrow. What else?, well I've met some nice people, the next 3 weeks are going to be an experience.

Whether that experience will be good or bad, remains to be seen.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

More computer issues


It seems the technology gods have not been kind to me this year in fact they have been down right cruel.

First my dvd drive dies on me and two days ago my computer power supply quit (all is well now and hoping it stays that way).

To top it all off I lost my cable t.v. due to what turned out to be a faulty cable connection (a conclusion which took almost 24 hours).

Add the painting and remodeling of my bedroom and you have what I call a fun-filled weekend.

And unfortunately this week promises to be tough as well due to the 32 cm of snow we received over the past couple of days.

Travelling (to a job workshop I'm attending) will no doubt be a complete nightmare. You'll have to forgive the obvious bitchy tone of this blog.

What can I say?. Losing the computer and the cable in one weekend = one cranky geek.

Hopefully all the hardship will be worth it and I will finally have a paying job at the end of it. We'll see.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

More BSG season 4 goodness

Just for the heck of it here is another spoiler-ish YouTube video courtesy of HypaSpace Weekly this time with some actor interviews.

I'm sure a lot of you may have already seen it, but it's like the saying goes "you can never have too much of a good thing" ;).



To say I'm looking forward to more of these in the coming weeks would be an understatement. Season 4 can't get here fast enough!. Especially with March being a t.v. wasteland.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Martina Hingis returns to tennis in an exhibition!!


Nearly 4 months after retiring and receiving a 2 year tennis ban (testing positive for cocaine, which I still think is total BS). Martina Hingis will be back on the court participating in a Liverpool Exhibition Tournament.

She will play three exhibition matches from June 13-15 during the unofficial Liverpool International, which features ATP, WTA players and a Legends division two weeks before Wimbledon.

This bit of news was like a breath of fresh air compared to all the negative articles floating around in regards to Hingis these days. And to be completely honest something I never thought I would see.

But it's comforting to know that I'm not alone in believing she's innocent and it is also good to know that despite a lot of people who have given up on her (like her sponsors for instance). There are still some people out there willing to completely back her up.

And I have to give the organizer Anders Borg a lot of credit, defending Hingis (especially to the hypocrites at ITF) could not have been easy. But I'm certainly glad he did it.

“Of course, she has never taken drugs. Martina took more than 200 drug tests throughout her career and never failed one. To claim that she took drugs actually during the Wimbledon Championship, and not a performance-enhancing drug but a recreational one, is just absurd.

“I remain confident that she is a splendid role model for the 4,000 youngsters we invite to the tournament and I’m thrilled she is coming.”

I thought this was particularly well put, and again something I've been saying since the very start.

If only more organizers came out and said the same thing (in the very beginning of this whole fiasco) maybe she wouldn't have received a ban in the first place or at the very least received a shorter one (I think 2 years was over kill).

It will be nice watching Hingis play again (well assuming the tourney is televised, which I highly doubt), the sport is just not the same without her. I'm looking forward to some nice action shots from the event.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Canadian BSG fans rejoice!

This was already reported on the Galactica Sitrep blog (linked on here). But I thought awesome news like this bore repeating.

According to Mark Askwith a producer of SPACE (Canadian version of the Sci-Fi Channel). The 4th (and sadly final season) of Battlestar Galactica will start airing in Canada exactly at the same time as the U.S. (April 4th).

Woo-fraking-hoo!!. I knew there was a reason I liked this channel (aside from it's great programing that is;).

If that isn't enough check out this new trailer promoting the new season (Warning slightly spoiler-ish).



Seriously, is it April yet?!

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Painting woes part deux


Ok, so we've now done painting 3 weekends in a row, and I'm about to go insane!.

I honestly can't understand (and neither does my mom) why my dad is insisting on doing this now instead of waiting a couple of months. It's not exactly paint friendly weather, in fact it's about as opposite as you can get.

That's not the part that's the most irritating though, it's turning the whole place up-side down during the process that really bites. And getting high on the paint fumes isn't exactly any fun either.

Just kidding on that last part.......well, ok not entirely lol, we do stay in the non-painted rooms while the walls dry.

But because paint fumes travel in the air you can't escape the smell entirely and end up a little light headed in the process. Even with the windows open.

Yep, that's painting in the winter for ya!. *sigh*

I am going to be locked out of my computer room tomorrow due to it being painted. Which is why I'm writing this after midnight, but I guess that's nothing new since that seems to be the time I am at my most creative.

I'm hoping to have the room back by Sunday, let me rephrase that I better get it back by then or I am not responsible for the withdrawal mood swings lol.

Next weekend is when the real fun starts. That is when my room will have it's turn to be 'refreshed'. Oh the chaos that will bring lol. Especially since it's the room with the most stuff in it.

It also means I'll be forced to sleep on the couch, which will no doubt make me appreciate my bed more then I already do lol.

It definitely promises to be one hell of a weekend, but at least we'll be done before Easter or at least that's the goal lol.