Mmmm. . . beer

Just a quick shout out for the new seasonal flavor, Blue Moon's Honey Moon. As some may know, Blue Moon is a Coors productions. Having lived in two of the beer capitals of the world - St. Louis and Colorado - (Anheuser-Busch and Coors, respectively) I have to say I much prefer Coors Light to Bud Light. I am also a big fan of Blue Moon with its wheaty goodness and an orange slice. Its like breakfast. (Fruit, grains. . . I mean its almost like a muffin.) Anyway, I love seasonal ales - it makes it seem like beer is something special and gives you a reason to buy it. I love no seasonal ale more than Summer - in fact my first love of seasonal ale is Sammy A's Summer Ale. Light, refreshing, kinda tastes like baseball, its delicious and its how I know its summer. But this year, I have gotten over my puppy love crush on Sammy and moved on the the Honey Moon - Blue Moon's summer flavor. It does not taste like Blue Moon but it is delicious. A little sweet, refreshing, awesome. I highly recommend.

ps I just now got the name. Honey Moon - like Honeymoon. I was thinking it was some astrological event, like a blue moon. When I googled it for the official site I got all these wedding suggestions and then a light went on and I giggled at how clever those Coors R&D guys are.

Television Traffic Jam

The problem is there is just too much good tv out there to talk about. Especially on Mondays and Tuesdays - then I feel like I can't blog about Wednesday's ANTM if I haven't talked about Tuesdays results on DWTS. So, I'm going to try to catch up all at once with a quick wrap up on the week's tv, or at least the stuff that isn't still sitting on my Tivo waiting to be watched.

Gossip Girl - OMFG, indeed. The show gets more and more awesome as the weeks go on. I have to say overall the strike improved television, getting wimpy bad plotlines out of the way and bringing shows back strong. Its like frozen orange juice without adding all the water. I also sat next to a real life Chuck Bass last night. After having dinner with a friend, I faced a long ride home on the metro and a tiny bladder. I decided to stop in a hotel to use their facilities and so as not to unfairly impose, had a glass of wine at the bar. This 20-something guy was there, chatting it up with Jorge the bartender about the new carpet in the lobby and why it was better than the old carpet. He was also allowed to control the television in the bar. Yeah, thats power.

DWTS - A lot of over hype about Cristian's arm. I wonder if the Chiliean Air Force will be paying for the surgery. Actually what is his status in the Air Force? Is he on a leave of absence whule starring in soap operas? Anyway, I hope he heals though I think that no disco ball trophy would be worth further injury. And I love Jason Taylor. I miss MNF and always having to watch but inevitably my kicker is playing in the game and I need him to score an improbable 27 points to when Fantasy Football that week. But point being, Jason's paso doble was a nice treat. And he's adorable. With a big A little dor, big A again. Yeah, AdorAble.

Idol - Again a lot of hype this week. Who cares if Idol is fixed or not. If you are watching it for the intense human drama, I think you're missing the point. You should be watching it for Neil Diamond and the awesome cover band renditions of his songs. Who cares if the winner is really chosen by my votes or not? I just like to watch the Idols try to make sense of Mariah Carey week followed by Andrew Lloyd Webber week followed by Neil Diamond - and trying to make it all topical to today's music. Awesome.

ANTM - Tyra is killing me. I am getting ready to either a) break up with ANTM or b) have to fast forward through Tyra's speaking parts. I love the Paulina addition though - and her passive agressive threat to take over as host of ANTM. And note to Tyra. . .stop calling yourself Momma. Its weird. Note to America - Whitney's size 10 body is really not obese. Lastly, note to Whitney - if you didn't have such a nasty attitude, you may be the first "plus size" (normal size) winner of ANTM. (Which B the W, who cares if Italian Vogue doesn't feature "plus size" models. . . when is the last time Italian Vogue featured on of the ANTM winners?? I think that the KMart contracts they end up with tend to be pretty well suited to the normal woman.)

The Bachelor - I will be shocked if Matt doesn't pick Shane. They seem sort of suited to each other. . . not really famous for any reason, but just sort of hanging out and spending money. But the real news is that apparently my favorite Bachelor Andy Baldwin is now stationed in DC. Oh yeah. And he loves the nightlife. I was going to say I can't wait to see him out and about, but I'm not so much out and about lately. . . perhaps I will have to start so I have the opportunity to see him and try to work the Duke ROTC connection.

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.