American Idol 7 Recap – 4/22 performance

OK, I know this isn’t an entertainment or reality blog, but now that we’re down to six contestants, I have a burning desire to report my feelings about this year’s AI. Terry and anyone else who’s disinterested, please surf away.

This week, we had Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber as the group’s mentor. I am not a huge fan of his works, but I appreciate them for being classics and through the advice he gave the contestants I do believe he is a genius and apparently very down to Earth. Most of these kids were clueless about his compositions (Quoting Jason Castro, “I didn’t know it was sung by a cat.”) I wonder what they have in store for us tonight as his showcase performance? Whatever he might be promoting, I will probably hit the Tivo fast forward.

First up, Syesha with “One Rock and Roll Too Many”. As I stated, I am not familiar with much of ALW’s work, and this song was foreign to me. However, she did a fair job singing (though she clearly missed a few notes) and a fantastic job with theatrical presentation. Easily my fave performance of hers, knowing she is full well near the bottom of my list of performers.

Next we had Jason Castro who sang “Memory”. Simply terrible. The judges were far too nice to him. Had this been the only performance I’d seen of his, I would ask What the heck is he doing in the top six? He is tied with Brooke as the weakest of the performers but will he go home?

Then our local girl (Mesa, AZ) Brooke White performed “You Must Love Me”. OK, I love Brooke, I think she is very talented but I also think she is made for studio recordings and not live performances. She started and stopped, then started again. For this, we can forgive her – if only it had been the FIRST time, which it was not. She hit the notes, she gave an emotional performance but she showed no confidence on stage. This performance made me see her as a vulnerable fawn cowering under a forest tree saying “Please don’t hurt me.” After being second-to-last last week she knows her butt is on the line and it shows.

Our next performer was David Archuleta who seems to have quite a following with women in their mid-40s and 50s from personal observations. He sang “Think of Me” and did quite well with the notes, though he forgot some of the lyrics and repeated one line about a hundred times in a row. This is forgiveable IMO (but won’t be if he does it again, as noted above). When I closed my eyes and really listened, he sounded like Kenny Loggins to me. He is unquestionably talented and a top contender for the #1 spot, and most likely will be in the top 2.

Carly Smithson sang “Jesus Christ Superstar” next, and what a performance. This was the highlight of the night for me and it gave me chills. Her strong voice was well suited for the song, and she made it her own by varying the chorus. I really like Carly and would love to see her excel but don’t think she’s likely to win the #1 spot because rockers never do. If rock has its due this year, then Carly will be the winner of AI (though she is Irish, which is a topic for another post).

Rounding out the night, our other rocker David Cook sang “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera. Throughout the show, I kept wondering, what would my favorite performer sing? Clearly Broadway is not his forte. Au contraire, Mr. Cook proved this a misconception because not only was he able to sing the song, his voice’s ghostly sound actually did the song justice and allowed him to bring his style into it. Surely it was a challenge for him, but he passed with flying colors.

Now all said, tonight’s results show should be an interesting one. I am not one to watch the whole show and torture myself over who is in the bottom three, etc. I simply despise the games that Ryan plays (I’m sure courtesy of the show’s producers who love the dramatic effects). I wll simply fast forward my Tivo and watch the last few minutes to see who is going home.

BUT – it is now the time when surprises are likely to happen. Clearly the bottom two should be Jason and Brooke, but often as we get closer to the end of the season we have a shocker. Remember when Constantine was voted off? Remember when Chris Daughtry left at #4? This could be the night someone “big” goes home so we’ll see.

Summer birthday, working like a dog, new restaurant, summer is here

So yesterday we had a birthday party for Justin. The conclusion: It sucks to have a summer birthday. Although he invited about 8 or 9 kids, 6 said they were coming and only 3 showed up. They had fun, I think, though one of the kids is just the brattiest little terd on earth. And it was hotter than hades again – but sticky humid from the rain. Next year, I’m going to let him pick one kid to sleep over and we’ll spoil them with a movie, dinner out and video games. It would have been cheaper and easier to just buy him some new titles for his PS2 than what I ended up doing – planning for 8 kids, baking a bday cake from scratch (will still do that part), researching and running games, getting prizes, making goodie bags and just overall running the show for 3 hours. I’m exhausted and actually Justin is taking a nap right now. Oh, and I truly believe that water balloons are the work of the devil.

Work has been busy as ever. My next big meeting is next week and I feel very unprepared. I’ve got a dozen other projects I’m working on too, which don’t just go away when I’m offsite working on something else. I’ve just been working on birthday and ordinary household stuff all weekend, and have no desire to do anything job-related.

Terry was sweet yesterday though, he recognized how I worked my butt off for that party and treated me to dinner last night, just the two of us. We went exploring a little bit, to an area we don’t normally go, and stumbled upon a restaurant called Bonefish Grill. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was excellent and the service was way above average. The atmosphere was elegant but we still felt at ease in our casual shorts and flip flops. The prices were fair, not cheap by any means, but well worth the meal. We enjoyed a light-crusted freshly baked bread dipped in olive oil and pesto. Terry had corn chowder with crabmeat and I opted for the dinner salad – both excellent. For an entree, Terry took the surf & turf and I had the filet mignon – both were fabulous. They had creme brulee on the menu – my favorite – so of course I couldn’t pass that up. We left stuffed and satisfied and made it home in time to batten down the hatches for the upcoming dust storm.

Speaking of dust storms, as of yesterday, our monsoon season has just started. You can really feel the humidity in the air and the cicadas are noisier than ever. Things won’t be getting drier or cooler now til at least the end of September, mid-October. I’m content to just sit and soak up the A/C. I’m paying nearly $200 a month for it (budget plan) so I’d better enjoy it!

Movies, fun in the sun and homemade apple pie

Wow those weekends really do pass by quickly don’t they? Our clan had a great one – filled with fun, sun and good friends. On Friday, aside from the movie which you already know Terry and I saw, we also tried a new restaurant (new for us, been around forever) called Flancer’s. It’s close, and the food is good. They turn tables quickly, getting guests in and out in a hurry, which I imagine they have to do to stay in business since the place is so small.

On Saturday my friend Kathy and I went to lunch at Friday’s and gobbled up their delicious Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad before going to see the movie Waitress starring Keri Russell. What a cute movie! It reminded me of Where the Heart is. Keri stars as Jenna, a waitress working in a pie diner, trapped in a miserable marriage with an unwanted pregnancy. She has an affair with her OBGYN (which in my opinion, is kind of creepy) who is also married. Jenna also has a talent for making the most delicous pies in the world, including “Marshmallow Mermaid Pie”, “I Hate My Husband Pie”, and “My Husband is Going to Kill Me Because I’m Having an Affair Pie”. Supporting parts included the other two waitresses in the diner, who also found romance in their otherwise-dull lives. The story was very heartwarming and the only thing that kind of bugged me (and Kathy too) was the romanticizing of having an extramarital affair. If you think you can get past that, I’d highly recommend it for your next chick flick movie night. You will likely have to rent the DVD though, since I doubt it will be in theaters much longer.

Saturday was a long (but fun) day – in the afternoon I was working on the couch in the living room and the doorbell rang. It was our friend Brian from the “old neighborhood”. He was in the area and decided to just stop by. We had plans to go to Barb & Todd’s for a barbecue, but knowing how good-natured they are, I invited Brian to tag along with us. It was so much fun hanging out with Brian again, and our “new” neighbors loved him too. He fit right in with our crowd and we are all hoping he will join us more often.

Yesterday, Father’s Day, Terry did pretty much nothing, which was certainly an appropriate way to spend the day. Justin went with a friend to Hamilton Pool and the poor baby came home looking as red as a lobster. I went grocery shopping then taught Eric how to make an apple pie from scratch, his present to his Dad. He was such a good student! Very patient and good at listening to instructions. The pie came out absolutely perfect and we enjoyed it a la mode after our steak & potato dinner – all of Terry’s favorites. Overall I think a pretty good Father’s Day for Terry!

Knocked Up

Terry and I went to see the movie Knocked Up, by the creator of The 40-Year-Old Virgin last night. The premise is that a successful and beautiful young woman (Alison) has a one-night-stand with a jobless, pot-smoking, less-than-attractive, loser (Ben) – and ends up pregnant. They decide to try and make it work and as they learn about each other they observe Alison’s sister’s relationship with her husband and children. It’s basically a cute movie and if were not for a lot of “guy humor” (which was funny enough that I actually laughed instead of rolling my eyes) would be more like a “chick flick”. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good laugh who doesn’t mind some of the gross stuff (above and beyond There’s Something About Mary). My rating 3.5 out of 5.

• Click here to read more about it on Yanoo! Movies

Books: Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Who wouldn’t love Rebecca Bloomwood? She’s funny, hip, fashionable, a bit quirky and of course, British! Rebecca (or Becky) likes to shop – what woman doesn’t? But Becky has a talent for justifying purchases that border on the absurd, and in Confessions of a Shopaholic author Sophie Kinsella has a talent for capturing the spirit of every avid female shopper. Of course, like any good chick-lit writer, Kinsella takes it up a notch.

Becky, who ironically works as a personal finance writer, buys only the best gifts for her friends. She finds a great deal on a Hermes scarf for a friend, but since it’s such a great deal, why not pick one up for herself in a different color? She needs some cute strappy sandals to go with a special occasion dress, but when she finds some in the perfect orange color, she discovers they also come in the most adorable green too! Before you know it, she’s using her overdraft (in England, apparently known as bank credit) – only when the bank won’t extend it for her she runs into trouble and expends her energy running from her troubles.

Of course we all know that things will catch up with her and the story revolves around her relationships with best friend and roommate Suze and her love interest Luke, intertwined with lessons in personal responsibility.

Each book is fun and at times laugh-out-loud funny, and each book is written well enough that you just can’t wait to read the next. I have read the first three in the series (this one, plus Shopaholic Takes Manhattan and Shopaholic Ties the Knot), but there are two others in the series as well that I will soon be working on – Shopaholic & Sister and Shopaholic & Baby.

Synopsis: If you’re looking for a fun, easy, light read a la Bridget Jones these books are for you. They’re not heavy or thought-provoking so perfect for travel or beach/poolside reading. My rating: 5 out of 5