Still Dancing

So its been a while since RNS checked in with Dancing with the Stars. At this point all couples have to dance two dances, so it should help clear out the riff raff (Marissa Jaret Winokaur, I'm talking to you.) I love Cristian. . . though he danced the Viennese Waltz tonight and his partner Cheryl said he had to treat her like a princess and pretend he was dancing with his young daughter. Adorable. . . right until they danced to "I'll Make Love to You," which if you are dancing to and imagining your young daughter, well thats just weird. R&B Sensation Mario (those are his own words) will be dancing soon. And does anyone else find both Shannon Elizabeth and her partner scary? I don't know what it is. . . but I wouldn't mind them leaving soon. The Star I do love is Jason Taylor who is just adorable and seems to just be having a great time with the whole thing. And he married the sister of his teammate. How can you not cheer for a man like that?

Andrew Lloyd Webber Night

Its Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber night on American Idol. . . which is the natural follow up to Mariah Carey night. Anyway, I want the bet saying whoever sings Cats go home. Points to Syesha for singing a lesser known ALW song. I appreciate that.

In a side note, Allison Janney is in audience. Reading her IMDB bio I couldn't figure out why - or what her ALW tie was other than some Broadway experience.

Ah, Jason Castro is singing Memory. . . good riddance my friend.

PS Jason just stated "I didn't know a cat was singing it. . . I'm kinda nervous, its apparently a popular song." Just for those sort of statements, you kinda want him to stick around another couple of weeks.

Are You Watching "The Paper"?

If not, you totally should. Its the latest MTV reality show, but its not like other MTV reality shows. Its about high school students who do stuff other than shop, hang out on the beach and hook up. (No offense Laguna, I still puffy heart you.) I want to feel sympathy for the lead, Amanda who is the editor in chief no one really likes, but she is a little ridiculous. Still, with the exception of Gianna who just needs to get over herself, I think the cast is exceedingly likable and I think its really great to be showcasing this kind of student. (You know, the type of student I was!) Even MTV seemed honestly impressed by the students - or at least enjoyed them more than others - as their thank you note posted on the school's website suggested. Check it out. Its on after the Hills and its a nice antidote to Heidi and Spencer. (No offense Speidi, I still puffy heart you too.)

Lorenzo Lamas is Confused

I don't know if loyal RNS readers have been enjoying all that the Bachelor: London Calling has to offer. . . but watching Lorenzo Lamas act as if he were a big star while meeting the Bachelor today (his daughter is one of the Bachelorettes or whatever the dates are called) was almost too much. He then explained, in his big movie star way, how his daughter was damaged because his big movie star ways kept him away from her while she was little. I also think the Bachelor is drinking Strongbow. . . which I approve of.

In Case You Weren't Already Super Excited for the Return of Gossip Girl - A Recap

Christine sent us this article, and only two pages in, it was clear that it was genius. Enjoy the below recap of GG adventures as you get ready for tonight's return. XOXO

Take the episode this fall where all of the kids went to a giant masquerade ball. Handsomely dim Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) is supposed to meet his girlfriend Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), the school’s virgin queen of mean, at the Social Event of the Season. But Nate may actually be in love with Blair’s best friend, Serena, whom he had sex with last year on the bar at the Campbell Apartment. While Nate was clearly thrilled by this experience, Serena was ashamed and fled to boarding school in Connecticut. But now she’s back because her brother Eric tried to commit suicide. Anyway, so Blair found out about Nate and Serena and they broke up, but then Nate’s parents pressured him to reunite with her and give her his great-grandmother’s ring ("the one that Cornelius Vanderbilt gave her"). See, Nate’s dad has a huge cocaine problem and is failing massively at work, and he needs to take Blair’s mom’s fashion company public in order to salvage his career. Meanwhile, Serena (Lively) has gone to the ball with a dork from Dalton (his IM handle is Rich Boy IV), but is really in love with Dan (Badgley), the intellectual outsider from Brooklyn, who loves her back with a sincerity heretofore unseen in any real-life teenage boy with unblemished skin. Did we mention that all of this is being narrated by an anonymous teenage blogger (voiced by Kristen Bell) who puts TMZ to shame? Oh, and Dan’s little sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen) has locked Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick), the show’s brooding Draco Malfoy type, on the roof in his underwear, since he once tried to date-rape her, and she’s rushing out of the building when Nate—whoops!—mistakes her for Serena, since they are wearing masks and both have 200 pounds of blonde hair extensions. So Nate kisses Jenny, thinking it’s Serena, and in the end everything is left perilously up in the air.

A Word from Someone Orange

B-Cat would like you to watch this

Just When I Was Ready to Cast the Hills Aside

Political Wars on the Hills

As I am sure most of you heard, Heidi Montag of the Hills "endorsed" Senator John McCain for president last week. (In a slightly less embarrassing moment than that, it turns out that Heidi is not even registered to vote. But I am sure that if she were, she would totally vote for Senator McCain.) In a bold move, sure to create a huge rift on the Hills set, Brody Jenner "endorsed" Senator Barack Obama for president today, saying "He's just cool!" Jenner tells E! "I mean, he's young, and I think people would take us more seriously with Iraq and everything." I agree, Brody, we do need a president who will take things more seriously, what with Iraq and everything. No word as to whether Brody is actually a registered voter.

Oh, and BTW, this is my new favorite blog - http://www.justinbobby.com/

Sequels = Awesome x 2

Last night I stumbled onto the magic that is Save the Last Dance 2. I fell asleep before its dramatic conclusion - mistakenly thinking that if it was on MTV last night, it would be one 13 more times this week, but my Tivo can't find it. Anyway, while watching this artistic gem, I was reminded that sequels are often more awesome than the originals. This is definitely true with STLD2, which picks up where STLD ended - with our heroine going off to Juilliard. (Remember she was at the first try out for Julliard when her mom died in the car accident?) Anyway, Julia Stiles was unavailable for this movie so there is a new blonde, who has the same jungle fever, this time for a hip hop loving Julliard drop out guest lecturing at Julliard. (Don't think about that one too much.) So what other movies fit this mold, you may ask? Well, we've already covered the Cutting Edge trilogy and I am hard pressed to not say that CE3 was not the most superior. I've heard say that Step Up 2 was better than Step Up. And Toy Story 2? By far my favorite. The moral of this story - STLD2 totally worth a Netflix queue.

Teri Hatcher - Before He Cheats - Idol Gives Back 2008

This week was the second Idol Gives Back special, which is really no different than any other tele-thon. You know, except that its so much more awesome. There was a lot of greatness but there is one performance I would like Idol Takes Back to take back.
Teri Hatcher and the "Band from TV" performed Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats." It wasn't good. And there was so much going on, it was distracting. I kept waiting for Teri Hatcher to stop "singing" and say, just kidding, but she didn't. Like a car accident I was unable to turn away, or fast forward the Tivo, through this performance, but as I watched, I kept discovering more things to stare at - like a Where's Waldo picture where you realize that in the right hand corner there is a monkey stealing one of the balloon seller's balloons and floating into the air to try to reach the bunch of bananas in the tree. But anyway, the "Band from TV" was really from TV. Greg Grunberg on drums, James Denton on guitar, Bachelor Bob on backup vocals. According to wikipedia, many other celebrities claim membership in this band, I only spotted those four, but that was special enough. Enjoy.

What is up with the Hills?

I am not ashamed to admit it, I love The Hills. Yes, the pseudo-reality show on MTV that follows the true like escapades of Lauren Conrad ("LC") and her friends, Audrina and Whitney, plus her nemesises - nemesi? - Heidi and Spencer. I thought last season, though a little predetermined, was pretty good, right down to the idea the Brody Jenner had spread the vicious nasty rumors of Lauren and the great fight scene at Les Deux. But this season, starting in Paris and now back in LA, I just find that the Hills is lacking something. Maybe its because everything has already been talked about in US Weekly. Maybe its because Lauren's non-acting acting is getting quite bad. Maybe its because they've asked Heidi to improve coming up with such stories as - "I'll never forget when Spencer and I were here for breakfast and he said 'I'm going to get the Muscle Breakfast' and I said why because you have no muscles and he said 'Shut up.' It was so funny." It early in the season, tonight is LC's birthday so maybe something exciting will happen. Or maybe the promise that Kristen might stop by the show will come true. Anything to save the dull dull dullness that has become the Hills. Even last week's declaration from Whitney's new boss - "You have to wear black. Everyone here wears black," didn't hold my interest. Hills, I expect better.

American Soldier

When I started this blog I promised myself that it would not become a place to voice my feelings about my job or my position as an Army wife or my husband's role as an IRR member. So it won't. But I just want to say, I love Toby Keith. I love his song "American Soldier" and I wish more people had his dedication to the USO and the service. Him and LT Dan. They love Soldiers. And they rock. Oh, and Denzel Washington. He loves Soldiers too. Good for him. Boo Jesse Bradford.