In the Last Couple Days

I feel like I have been blogging non-stop, but somehow the moment I stop, all kinds of craziness happen...

Celebrities in the News

• Hugh Grant dumped baked beans on paparazzi? Now anyone who has watched 'Bend It Like Beckham' has got to know that baked beans can do real damage and leave real scars!


• Alec Baldwin called his daughter a "pig", seems a bit odd. But then my own father called me a "turkey" a few times. Whatever that means. I don't think I am too emotionally scarred though.


• Richard Gere, I mean honestly if you are gonna pull an Adrian Brody on an Indian actress, at least go for a hotter one. Shilpa Shetty is like leftovers. The American version of, I don't know, maybe Meg Ryan... so like ten years ago.

Politics

I caught up on the Democratic debates on-line. Here were my takeaways.

• No one will straight up answer a question. I mean Hillary and Edwards dodged the hedge fund question like there was no tomorrow. Wonder if it has something to do with donor dollars, Chelsea's job, and Johnny boy's advisory board position. The only people who had the balls to answer questions were Gravel and Kucinich, the two crazies, who don't have a chance in hell of winning. Even Richardson, who I actually had some hope for, turned the gun control question into a question about treating mental illness. No wonder he is the NRA's favorite candidate.


• Apparently, John Edwards' daddy was a poor textile mill worker... blah... blah... blah. Isn't this the same story we have hear for the past four years? At least, he doesn't flip-flop on his family history. The sad thing is he appears to be the only Dem with a real chance of winning.


• Mike Gravel is crazy! In fact, I was not sure if I should laugh or well laugh during his pontifications (e.g., rants). Personally, I wish the guy had received a little more air time because quite simply he added some levity to a very scripted debate.


• Obama seems like less of a rock star than he did four years ago... I think he has finally become a real politician. He plays dodge ball like a pro!

Television and Books

• The Grey's spin-off sounds utterly wretched. How many prime time hospital soaps can TV stand? And how many outlandish diseases can they think of to keep these shows going?


• I am getting somewhat curious about the next Harry Potter book, which I find odd, since I am not even a super huge fan of the book. I wonder if Harry will kill Voldemort, or if it will be Neville, or maybe it will be Harry and Neville together. I really hope Hermione doesn't end up with Ron. I am just not that into guys with red hair. And image their children, yikes... freckled red heads with bushy hair and buck teeth. God forbid! Do you think Snape is bad? If he isn't bad, does that mean Draco could be good? Oh the confusion, and it all has to be resolved in several hundred pages, is it even possible?


• My old babysitter had a front page article in the Globe today. I feel like I should link to it!

Breaking News...

Well talk about shockers. John McCain finally, formally announced that he would run for President. Please like there were any doubts? I thought the Bush/Cheney ass-kissing done of late was all testament to his desire to win a Republican nomination. But personally I wouldn't want to listen to anything coming out of his lips... who knows where they have been.

According to my favorite news outlet, People, Posh Spice is all set to have her own new show. Allegedly, it is all set to focus on the life and times of Posh Spice. But there are numerous directions a show like this could go in.

(1) What do washed up Brits like Posh and Becks do when they hit the mean streets of LA?
(2) Is there such a thing as too much plastic surgery?
(3) Can white, British, ex-Spice girls really rap?


So everyone I know seems to adore Grey's Anatomy. But honestly, since the end of the first season I have just not been that into it. I was hoping against hope that Meredith would die at the end of the 3-part arc, but clearly the Fates are working against me. So here are some things I propose to the writers of the show to get me to start watching again.

1. Meredith dies. Yeah, I know it's not going to happen. They never kill the title character, except that one time on Dallas, but then they turned that whole season into a dream sequence. I will continue dreaming...
2. More McSteamy. 'Cuz I just think he's pretty hot. So he's an arrogant bastard, but I kind of wish I had gone to med school if the real world makes doctor's that look like him.
3. Christina having a Prestina baby and then getting a sex change. Let's face it, she totally wears the pants in any relationship. Did Christina even show up to last season's prom in a dress? Dude, the lady's a man.
4. George being gay. Every drama needs it's requisite gay character, even Desperate Housewives has one. If you compare George to Christina, he is definitely a girl. His brothers certainly seem to think so. Every woman on the show bullies him, especially Izzie. He's wife is larger than him. It all makes sense.
5. Izzie turning into a Dr. Kevorkian like character. I mean she already "killed" one patient. This could be like a serial killer plot line. All daytime soaps seem to have them, why not test it out in primetime.
6. Alex's sperm come back to haunt him. It turns out he has fathered like 20 children in the greater Seattle area. Hey. It fits his real life story. And it would likely also kill any chance of Addisex. How awesome would it be if Addison was the OB-GYN for all of Alex's illegitimates? Talk about buzz kill.

What do you think? Have better suggestions?

And history appears to be repeating itself... just like Bush Sr. failed the read my lips test on taxes, so to did Junior fail to find the oft cited uranium in Iraq. And now, in what amounts to be one of the administrations biggest take backs, it appears that the North Korean nuclear arms program is not nearly as far along as the administration has led us to believe. When are the guys in Washington going to realize that the semi-lucid, very insane despots who run these countries are prone to saying random and crazy things to further consolidate what limited power they have. I mean seriously...

On My Last Nerve

Lately there are a lot of things that have been getting on my nerves. Quite frankly, I am at my wits end...

• Why are idiots sometimes right? It pains me to say this especially after all his nonsense about global warming, but Michael Crichton might actually be right about something. In his op-ed piece, Patenting Life, for the NYTimes, he very clearly lays out the problem with patenting human genes. Drug companies profit off of illness which seems somewhat distasteful, but those who have patents on genes have the ability to block the development of technology to detect and treat disease. That to me is beyond wrong. Kudos to Crichton for getting on the right side of this issue.
• Mitt Romney. How dare the flip-flopper come to my state, my state, not his state, to declare his candidacy. There are no words for my displeasure. If Romney cared so much about Michigan, instead of making speeches at the Ford Museum, he would have tried to fix Ford. Why not be the Governor of Michigan? Not man enough for the job??
• Princeton Basketball. In the cellar yet again. God. How I remember the days when we played Duke, UCLA, MSU, and now... now we suck. Big Time! It's enough to make a girl cry.
• Katie Couric. I too rejoiced when a woman finally got a seat at the anchor table, but honestly did it have to be her. I grew up on CBS News, and I never switched until her. Sure Dan's Ratherisms could be a bit much, but Katie is like a cheerleader, except way older. Somehow reporting on Iraq, which incidentally does not happen much on CBS anymore, and if it does it is with stupid Laura Logan who can't seem to decide if she is a reporter or a wannabe model, does not jive well with the perky, girl next door routine. Katie belongs to talk news, like Today. Why didn't they get Diane Sawyer or Christine Amanpour or Meredith Viera?
• Alex Karev is hot? Seriously, who are you kidding? McSteamy is the only hot one on Gray's. And honestly, if you really do think McDreamy is hot?? Certainly don't admit it. He looks like a complete fop. But I am simply astonished by the number of women who think Alex is hot. For those of you who do, please take some time out of your busy schedule to watch The Wedding Planner. Sadly, it is a JLo movie, but there are some drool worthy parts with Matthew McC. (Now he is hot!) Justin Chambers is in the movie. Yeah that guy who looks mentally deranged, is always on a moped, eats nothing but macaroni in cheese, and bears a startling resemblence to Alex Karev... How the boy modelled for Calvin Klein is beyond me.
• Bad bottled blondes. Why are we still talking about Anna Nicole? She's dead. It's sad, for so many reasons. But honestly, does she really warrant having her picture on the front page of the NYTimes or CNN (although it is rather like a rag these days).

Why Grey's Anatomy is Still Annoying...

I remember when ER used to do their special events. Like the time they were redeeming George Clooney's character for like the thousandth time, Doug really was kind of an arse, and he saved those kids trapped in a sewer drain pipe thing. But this episode was just utterly ridiculous. Why? Let me tell you...

Meredith: Well generally, I believe her character was created with the specific purpose of annoying me. She's a doctor. She should help people. They are bleeding bodies all over the place, and all she is doing is trying to take a non-hurt little girl to triage. Please. I get the kid needs her mom, and some how this all relates to Meredith's mommy issues, and she is projected on the girl, blah blah blah... but honestly get it together already. People are dying! And that whole thing at the end where she falls into the harbor. Ok, she is skinny as a stick, but reflexes force you to tread water, well I guess they force everyone except Meredith Grey to tread water. And all the drama around her fall, please, god does not love me enough to kill her off the show.

Christina: I gotta say, I used to love the girl. Sure she was a type-A, uber-competitive freak, but hell, I can relate to that. I mean, I am Asian too. But her entitlement issues are really beginning to irk me. Ok, so you are engaged and formally Prestina, but you don't want to tell anyone really, but you do want to be reap all the benefits of being Burke's butt buddy. Honestly. I am glad Burke, the gayhatemongerer, told Christina she was not needed and that she better go suture up some patients. Christina needs someone to teach her her place.

Addison: Ok. I am still totally jealous of the red hair and the fact that she got to hook up with McSteamy, but I wish she would stop drooling (literally!) over Alex. Yes, he was a Calvin Klein model, but technically not on this show, and if you evaluate by those merits alone, I am not sure he qualifies for super hot status - yet! We need women who do not have relationship issues, and now that they have effectively turned Addison into the brainless, hospital whore (she is definitely giving Meredith a run for her money), the only respectable woman left is Bailey.

Izzy: The show was actually so friggin' bad, one of the only likable characters was Izzy. Shit!

Don't worry there is plenty more hate to go around. But apparently, there are two more weeks of this story arc to go, so I will save some of it for next week.

Disappointments?

This week has been thoroughly disappointing on a number of fronts.

1. NCAA Basketball - Who are the people who put together these polls? And why is the Big Ten getting like no respect? It is unbelievable. Only three teams in the Top 25. My annoyance knows no bounds!


2. ABC Drama - So I used to be a huge ABC fan: LOST, Desperate Housewives, Grey's etc. But there haven't been new episodes of LOST in months, and watching Kate and Sawyer get their groove on has scarred me for life. Personally I think LOST is going the way of the X-Files with unresolved plot lines and too many random characters. Don't even get me started on Grey's. That show just annoys the beejeezus out of me. George the "sex machine"? WTH? I thought he was gay. What was it Isaiah Washington called him? If by the end of the season every intern hasn't slept with every resident at least once I will be officially shocked. And while Prestina is one of the all time annoying couples of primetime, if Addisex happens, I think I may, to quote Addison, vomit in my mouth.


3. Desperate Housewives - Are we already on reruns? Talk about disappointing. That being said, I do rather like this episode. The Gabby-Carlos battle has just begun escalating to War of the Roses proportions. And the pre-Marcia Cross pregnancy episodes are nice, in that Bree's breasts are not bigger than her head.


4. The Super Bowl - I know it hasn't happened yet, but I am already disappointed and waiting for next year. The Bears bore me. Rex Grossman couldn't throw a football if his life depended on it. And I am so over the Colts. Every year is supposed to be the year of Peyton, but it never is. There is no reason to think this year will be any different.


5. Housing Costs - A 440sq ft apartment for $2900/mo. That's over $6.50/sq ft/month. That's like the cost of a lunch per sq.ft. per month. Talk about intense. At this rate renting a cardboard box in Manhattan will run me upwards of a $100/mo, especially in a chic neighborhood. How on earth did Rachel afford her fabulous Manhattan apartment on a Barrista's salary?


6. Bad Books - I have read too many as of late: The Last Templar, True Lies of a Drama Queen, Love, Rosie. It is time for me to return to good book reading. Next on my list is Elementals. I have faith is A.S. Byatt!


7. Baking - I actually tried to be domestic and failed! Not enough eggs to make cupcakes, so I tried cookies. But they burned. And they were hard. And it was tragic. Thank god for conversation hearts. They take the edge off things.

Why I No Longer Like Grey's

I simply can *not* abide by Grey's any longer. It irritates the crap out of my why??

• I have never seen a more annoyingly, self-absorbed character on TV since Ally McBeal and Tyra Banks.
• The whole Prestina (I made that up Prestina. Prestina = Preston Burke + Christina Yang) storyline. Christina has generally been a bitch to Burke from the very beginning. (1) She lied to Burke about moving in with him when she kept her own apartment. (2) She left him when he got shot and was unable to use his hand. (3) She pushed him into performing surgery too soon. (4) She became the boss of him. Call me old-fashioned, but I like a guy who can stand up for himself. And Christina emasculated Burke. On top of that, she rats him out. Now some who believe in the kinder, gentler Christina might believe her conscience got the best of her. But those of who actually watch the show realize that Christina's conscience is stunted and most of anything/everything she does is driven by self-interest. She is Darwin's survival of the fittest at its finest. I think she turned in Burke because he embarrassed her in the OR. Lame! I guess they are just trying to write Isaiah Washington off the show since he choked McDreamy.
• Izzy. Will the Denny storyline never die? Denny died. Can't we just let the storyline rest in piece. I am not sure Izzy even realizes that she did anything wrong by cutting Denny's LVAD wire. If the hospital is going to fire Burke for operating with a slight tremor, then they should definitely fire Izzy for stealing a heart and trying to send a patient into cardiac arrest.
• What a waste of McSteamy. I was hoping he and Addison would get together, but look likes it is going to be Addex (yes, that would be Addison + Alex). Not sure I am loving this idea. Now I know Justin Chambers was supposed to be a Calvin Klein underwear model or something of that sort. But honestly, he just doesn't do it for me. There is something slightly neanderthal-ish about him.

Now there are plenty of other things about the show I do not like. In fact, the only thing I even moderately like is George. I think I am going to switch back to CSI. Grissom may be annoying, but the show itself tends not to be.

Potpourri

Grey's Anatomy

Quite frankly, I am not sure why I even watch this show. Meredith and Derek annoy me. They are both so dirty and I hate their goo-goo eyes. Yes, yes, Addison cheated on Derek, and it was awful and bad of her, but when they decided to try again, he should have really tried. Instead, he kept undressing Meredith with his eyes. Nastiness. And I don't like his hair. I bet he uses more product than I do and that is just wrong!

Meredith reminds me an awful lot of Ally McBeal. They both have this birdy look going on. And they are both whiny (e.g., Meredith does a "poor me" every episode, even the episode in which Izzy's fiance died) and selfish (e.g., can't own up to the lost panties, sleeping with a married man, etc., etc.). Worst of all she was mean to George. Poor, clueless, socially inept George. If anyone deserves niceness it's him. Although he does seem to be awfully rude to girls who aren't Meredith. I felt bad for Callie today when he told her to move out. Is it just me, or is Callie being like twice the size of George kinda freaky?

I don't even know where to begin with the Izzy story line. They should have just kept her with Alex. They work. The whole Denny, dying patient, I love you thing made no sense at all. She stole a heart! Stole a man's life, and they are going to reinstate her? What kind of hospital is this? Remind me not to ever go there.

I like Addison. Yeah, she cheated on her husband. But at least she cheated up! Mark is hot! And he is in the previews for the next episode. I like Addison because she has red hair. Sadly, red hair does not work on Indian skin. Trust me. I tried!

Peace in the Middle East?

I have nothing to offer on this topic other than that it seems like a land far far away. Perhaps someday the story will end with "and they lived happily ever after". But that seems like a long ways away.

Republican Perverts...

Personally, I think the e-mails Foley sent to teenagers in the Page program are despicable. But it does bother me that this news story has replaced other more serious stories on the front page. Yes, Foley is a bad bad man, but at the end of the day, no one was hurt. Yes, there should be an investigation, since most of the teenagers were underage, but it isn't a front page story.

Is America obsessed with sex? The Bill/Monica episode was like a circus freak show with all the coverage it got. TomKat's sex life was grist for the entertainment magazines. It's all quite ridiculous in my opinion. How about a little less sex and a little more "is North Korea going to explode an atom bomb over Japan" or "is Iraq's US-led self-destruction complete yet" or "will the US ever balance it's budget again"? (You know it really bothers me that the government made it hard for people to file for personal bankruptcy - wonder how much in political contributions the credit card companies make - yet the government relies on China to keep it from declaring bankruptcy... hmmm... makes you wonder).

Last but not Least

Anna Nicole Smith. Gross much? I remember when she was the svelte Guess girl. I used to love Guess! And now she is a trashy, trailer-park looking, bottled blonde. She's like Marilyn Monroe on meth, crack, and heroine. She's like the "here's your brain on drugs" commercial they used to do with an egg on a skillet. Yikes!