wake up america!!!

after watching tuesday nights idol, i see now more than ever that america needs to wake up and quit sleeping on allison! that was by far her best performance!

as for my other observations...

randy was back to form in his cardigan thus raising his cardigan wearing to a staggering 98.5% of the time...do the math folks

paula apparently left, not one, but two napkins sloppily tucked in her shirt from this afternoons lunch. you would think that with all of idols popularity, they would have someone check her appearance for her...at least they matched the rest of her shirt.

kara's defining moment (for me) came after simon pretty much put a curse on allison. he said that she was in danger of going home after saying the he didnt believe she thought she could win. she still interjected and told him he was off his rocker. which is true.


and now for the contestants

allison- have i said enough? wake up america! sheesh

matt- very sub par to me. i didnt like the advice jamie foxx gave him and thought he sounded terrible in that key.

kris- yaaaaawn...sorry, just thinking of his performance again made me doze off. im just not a fan of his voice

bette midler...i mean adam- uhhh....umm...well i struggle in how to describe this performance. first off, it was like a scene from some college play. in other words, very theatrical. and its this 'theatricalness' that has irked me from the start. he has a great voice, range, and is unique but i absolutely could not imagine the stuff he's been doing actually playing on a radio. thats just me though

danny- the best performance of the night, as well as, his best performance since 'hell week'. i voted for allison at least twenty times, but also had to vote for him a few times after that performance.


i think that because matt and allison have been in the bottom three several times, they are the leading candidates to be voted off. i honestly am not sure what to think as to who will have to leave. i teeter between matt/allison being voted off and a surprise cast off. either way, if allison gets a raw deal and gets the boot wednesday, i could very well being listening to her on the radio thursday while en route to providence place mall to pick up a new cardigan.

crap...what have i done?!

sometime ago, i was asked by my friend eric, who heads a marketing group i work with, if i would be interested in doing a rhode island version dancing with the stars. it would just be a one day competition and would obviously be for local 'celebrities'. personally not a fan of the word 'celebrity' but thats what was in the email eric sent but i digress. this event would be put on to promote the mentoring of kids, or adults that act like kids. i personally love the idea of mentoring and the impact it can have in the lives of not only the kids, but the mentors as well. if i can be honest for a sec, as good as i think the idea is, initially that really wasnt enough to get me to dance in front of people to be judged...just being honest people. i think i CAN dance, but the thought of doing a salsa, waltz, or even a break dance routine in front of people made me break out in hives. but after some careful consideration, i decided to go ahead and embarrass myself and commit to doing this dance off.

the only thing is/was, i was a little behind in preparing a routine because i was so initially undecided...well that and the hives. the hoedown will be on april 30 and my partner and i started working together the first week of april! no pressure at all! i must have scared the hell out of my partner, barb, during our first phone conversation. it went something like this...

barb: hello sammy? this is barb and i will be your dance partner

me: (trying to hide the dry heaving) oh...hey

barb: so we're a little behind everyone else, i gotta ask, what is your dance experience?

me: is that with or without the alcohol?! (i begin to laugh hysterically mainly to hide my nervousness)

barb: uhhh...

me: sorry about that...as for the dancing experience, do you meanlike in a club?

barb: uhh, not really??(now she's trying to hide the dry heaving)i mean more like tango, salsa, etc

me: ...wow...those are actual dance names? they sound like items from a mexican food joint menu.

barb: (silence)

me: (silence)

barb: (muffled weeping)

me: i do know how to do the running man, electric slide, and the cabbage patch though

barb: (sniffling) oh...okay then. can you just meet me at the studio at 2pm tomorrow so we can talk in person and officially meet?

me: sure thing. im pretty nervous about this whole thing, but i am very competitive so i know we can pull this off and whoop all the other contestants!

barb: (you think YOUR nervous you jerk athlete?! she thinks to herself) well its for fun and a good cause so feel free to leave your football ways at home.

me: yeah good cause schmoz, i wanna win baby! what are those dances you mentioned again? tang and samba was it?

barb: (faints)




anyway, we met up and she eventually figured that i could do just enough for her to work with. we've been practicing pretty regularly now and i think we're in good shape. we're doing a version of 'the salsa' and i just barfed thinking about doing it! wow! what have i got myself into!

as i stated, we got started a little bit later than everyone else and as a result, we didnt get a chance to jump on the fundraising part as early as the others. i was wondering if you could help me raise some funds to help mentor kids. its a GREAT cause and several kids/mentors will benefit. if you visit my page, you will see everything you need to know to donate and make a difference in the lives of many. and yes i may post the video of the performance...that is if we (i) dont lay an egg and really mess things up!

so please join me in making a complete and utter ass of myself...ahem, i mean join me in helping to enrich the lives of so many and have a good time doing it.

wish me luck!

more (quick) idol tidbits

a few judge related points...

i think kara is my new favorite judge. well not to say she supplanted anyone or anything, but she is indeed my favorite. to be frank, im not even really sure why. i did like her comments to lil. they went something like, 'i think everyone was waiting for you to do an artist like chaka khan, but it wasnt worth the wait.'...priceless.

i swear i have the same puzled looks on my face that simon has when paula blabbers out her critiques.

randy?! dawg?! whats up with the cardigan-less ensembles?! you had one on pretty much every week and i swear one week you had two on at once, but now you seem to have ditched em'! what gives?...dawg?

also, no one is allowed to say 'self indulgent' EXCEPT for simon! randy seems to have started saying it more and more and its getting really corny and copycat! that'd be like simon incessantly using the word 'dawg' or paula actually sounding coherent. c'mon. dawg. be original dawg, what??


anyway, on to the contestants.

first there was j-lo...i mean lil rounds. (sorry i couldnt pass that one up!) those hot-pants were the best part of her performance! it was hideous, the singing that is, from the first note!

then there was kris, i thought this was disco week, allen. ive said before that all his songs sound the same and this week was VERY indicative of just that. yeah he changed a disco song but he sang it like he ALWAYS does. pretty boring IMO

danny's performance was pretty good. you could tell he was out of his element some, but at least he attempted to do the theme. his singing was on point as always.

allison...what more can i say? she sounded awesome, but there was that damned phone she formed with her thumb and pinkie, but she gets a hall pass from me ; )

after allison was tina turner...ahem, i mean adam. once again, what more can i say? just not a fan of that extremely excrutiating high pitch shriek. (shudder)

matt was okay but sort of boring. he did enough to get him through to the next round, but thats mainly because he got saved the week before.

anoop's song was okay to listen to, but weird to watch. he just looks clumsy and lost up there. its like he wants to do more of that fast paced crap he's done before but knows the judges dont like it...for good reason that is!


going home will be anoop and lil. again, matt will get another week because he was saved the week before and will get more 'sympathy votes' if you will.

AI

another quick rundown of last nights nap inducer... i mean last nights show

car-di-gan...car-di-gan...car-di-gan!! i think the show should start with the crowd chanting 'car-di-gan' with a simultaneous thunderous foot stomp as randy takes his seat! i personally like cardigan sweaters from time to time, but c'mon. well i guess if simon can wear his snug t-shirt and paula can wear hideous jewelry/clothes all together, then i guess randy's car-di-gan's are welcome too right?

anyway, contestant time...really the only two that were different were adam and lil rounds. and by different, i dont necessarily mean good.

adam's was different in that it was upbeat. whereas lil's was different because it wreaked.

everyone else did a pretty good job, but they were all pretty boring, put you to sleep type songs. but again, they sang them well.

i even found allison's (voted for her 5 times) song to be yawn worthy AND she did that ridiculous hand gesture i cannot stand where they show their number or use their thumb and pinkie to mimic a phone! blech! either way, she is still my favorite to win it all.

pretty sure most would say lil will be ousted, and i agree, but i think she should have went last week.

corn dogs

i know i know, whats up with the corn dog title right? you'll know why soon.

im not sure if people actually read the profiles posted, but i usually read them when i click on a bloggers page.

at any rate, i just changed my random question they asked and the wife thought it was ridiculous enough that i should point it out. as for the corndog explanation, just read through my interests. so without further ado...

(the corn dog explanation is a click away)...

around town

a while back i posted about some of the odd or confusing sign posts ive seen around town. (you see that post here)

i dont know if i just havent noticed similar signs back in texas, but all these somewhat odd signs are from here in massachusetts.

anyway, here are three more signs i found amusement from...(not that thats hard or anything)

#1: so what year are we in again?



ive seen this particular sign quite a bit around town, and they are typically seen on the side of ramps entering the freeway. so i understand why the person and the bike are in the ghostbuster symbol, but the horse?? i guess i could understand the horse a little better if we were in say the 1800's! are there really that many people riding horses to the grocery store? are there really that many equestrian lovers slowing up traffic on freeway ramps that several signs had to be posted?


#2: float on duck...float on




i think i was just in a silly mood when i first saw this sign! it is actually posted in a shopping center where there is absolutely NO WATER!! that in and of itself is kinda weird to me, but just the sign in general is pretty comical. im not sure why the second duckling is apparently floating away.


#3: huh??




now for this one im sure ive seen in other places, but it wasnt til i got here that i found it funny...so which way willl the rig potentially flip over?

concise idol

just a few quick hits on last nights show:

generally speaking:

i am officially a kara fan! (i would have put her whole name, but i dont recall the spelling of her last name and i really dont feel like looking it up.) i actually like her input, she's not cookie cutter, but she is, oddly enough, still kinda annoying. for whatever reason, after last nights show, i became a fan...go figure

after watching paula 'dance' and gyrate during a few of the routines, who would have ever thought she was actually KNOWN for her moves! i mean, she was a damn laker girl! she looks absolutely dreadful and offbeat! once again...go figure

im right there with simon when paula is talking because i havent slightest as to what she's talking about.

im guessing randy must have joined some new religion/cult that involves it followers badly over-doing AND emphasizing lame slang phrases and wearing cardigan sweaters entirely too much! i mean damn has he worn anything else?!?!

now i would like to create awareness amongst idol viewers for a sec. i would like everyone to get on the same page and automatically NOT vote for ANY contestant that either: uses their hands to show their number to the crowd when seacrest is giving their digits OR uses their hand as a phone and mouths to the viewers to 'call them'.

for reasons unbeknownst to me, i find this wildly annoying!


as for the contestants:

allison- the bomb! also her outfit was still that 'quirky' look i think she's going for yet it didnt look like tsunami ripped through her wardrobe!

gokey- awesome

anoop- decent yet boring and repetitive

lil- sucked off yet another great opportunity. she'll be voted off tonite in my opinion

scott- average, boring, and predictable even W/O his piano

kris- terrible

matt- terrible. i dont know why it sounded so bad to me but apparently great to the judges

adam- honestly havent even seen the whole thing.

soooo...

--random alert--

okay so im at my daughters gymnastics practice yesterday and about halfway through, she motions to me that she's hungry. im not at all surprised because practice starts at 330 and but she's done with school at 240 so we have to bring her clothes and book it! so like a good dad, i go to the vending machine and purchase a small bag of cheese crackers. problem resolved and we're now good to go till dinner time. a few minutes later im just sitting there sending emails from my phone, texting, keeping my son from 'accidently' walking into the girls bathroom, and trying to imagine the place not smelling like corn chips.(i dont know why, buts its funny to me that little girls sweat stinks just as much as little boys). amongst all this, i look down at the bag of cheese crackers and for whatever reason begin to wonder why the bag of crackers look like this...




is it just me or should the bag read 'cheez itS'?? i always refer to them as 'cheez its', my kids refer to them as such, EVERYONE i know refers to them as 'cheez its' because ive never seen a bag containing a single cracker! when i googled it to get the image for this post, it also showed 'cheez its' as the first selection while 'cheez it' wasnt even an option.

so of course i did some research and also googled 'rice krispies' cereal and of course the box depicts the plural form because...well because there's more than one krispie located inside the box. duh

anyway, then i got really random and really stupid with the whole idea. i wondered if anyone could eat just one 'Lay' potato chip or how would i react to my kids asking for some 'goldfishes' as a snack. i then wondered if all the folks from the company actually refer to it as 'cheez it' and get mad when their kids or consumers call it otherwise. that would be hilarious to hear a 'cheez it' employee yell to their kids after they've made the 'mistake' of calling it by its plural name!

anyhow im apparently tired and amused very easily, but i warned you this was a random post. im headed to bed after i have bowl cereal. hmm, i think i'll some fruit loop tonight ; )

more idol...

so a quick recap before tonite's elimination show.

allison-- she is still my favorite and my choice to win the whole thing. my only complaint was the obvious...that atrocious outfit she wore! apparently she lost a bet and the result was that she had to have a 4 year old dress her. hehe, im being somewhat silly but the only real problem i had was with the light socket hair.

gokey-- he did a great job as well. i wasnt familiar with the song and not really a fan of the genre all together, so that says alot in my mind. similar to my not being a country music fan, but i like carrie underwood's stuff.(i would quip here but that is just entirely too easy.)

matt-- similar to gokey, he did a song i wasnt familiar with, but not like danny, he sucked...i mean he sucked bad. even the keyboard didnt sound good and it was very distracting from an already crap performance. he didnt deserve to be in the bottom two last week and oddly enough, i dont think he does this week either. that was a terrible performance but overall he is still very talented but is doing a terrible job of demonstrating it.

lil rounds-- she really let me down. she's been struggling with song choice, which could have something to do with the genre being thrust upon her, so i just knew she was going to pick something that would showcase her ability...as soon as i heard what she was doing i was dumbfounded. she actually did a decent job of singing it, but it was just extremely 'ho-hum' to me. she left alot of meat on that bone!

adam-- wow, once again, i dont know what to make of the guy. i do know that high pitched shrill is terrible and i dont see it sounding very good or relative on the radio, cd, ipod, walkman, satellite radio, etc. i know this is all my opinion and probably in the minority on this one, but he is entertaining to watch and all but c'mon...i think he's more suited for theatre or even vegas. again, im just not a fan

kris-- last time i said i found him to be boring and everything sounds the same, and i kinda still do, but he did a really good job with the song and changed it up quite nicely. overall i think he's pretty good but could his cd sounding like the same song over and over and over and...well you know what i mean.

megan--okay okay already. she's pretty and has some pretty cool looking tats, but lets be real, she continuously butchers whatever song she does, even if its the right song! i thought she would do bob marley well, but she murdered that song and buried it in a remote jungle! i think what the problem is is that she has parts or aspects of her voice that are unique and sound well in certain songs, but she doesnt know WHEN to use those unique parts! she over emphasizes it and uses that raspy unique sound entirely too much. she is starting to get irritating and what makes it worse is that doesnt seem to care. i liked her to begin w/ but her time on idol is probably coming close to being over.

scott-- his best performance but im still not all that impressed. his voice is average and i think his strongest aspect is playing the piano. from what he says, he is also a songwriter. i would say that songwriter and playing the piano should be his focus. i must also add that the genre he is best at is not really a favorite of mine so i may be a little bias in my not being a fan of his muzak.

and lastly there's anoop--uhhh, looks as if he's back to that bobby brown-esque type nonsense. that was a terrible rendition of 'caught up' and i really think he'll be voted off this week because of it. i really do think he can sing well but if wants to be a r&b artist that is definitely NOT the type of r&b he should be doing! he looked so awkward and sounded just as equaly bad. for all the guys on idol, a litmus test for how you've done is this: the more random paula is, the worse you've done! and when she assessed anoops performance, she was all over the place. i think it went something like this:

paula-- 'anoop...i love...that song...i love you.....i would like...to see more...when you...do a song.....like that. i also love...that your name..ends..with a 'p'............as you well know my name......BEGINS with a 'p'...and that is....totally...awesome....i mean how....cool..is that?!...im wearing a pink....outfit...you know...what else starts...with a 'p'?

anoop-- whats that paula?

paula--peanut butter!!!!

hehe, anyway, not sure if you caught that last part, but it was a sight to see!

lets see what america says tonight and who has to leave??