Ewww! Now I'm not hungry...

Have you ever noticed how rice - you know the white/brown/etc stuff you eat - look like maggots? Don't know why I noticed that, I haven't had any beer this morning. Hmmm.... maybe that's the problem....

Yelp.com

Yelp.com is a kind of social networking website but for restaurant reviews. It's kinda fun and I've used it a few times to search for good restaurants to eat at. Below on the right side I've added their blogging feature to show the restaurants I've reviewed. Check it out, it's fun!

American Idol last night

I just posted my thoughts on American Idol last night on my Idol Blog.

Ah, car salesmen...

I was looking at Parker Johnstone's Wilsonville Honda website at their Internet Specials. The wording for some of these cars just cracked me up. Here's one for a 2005 Accord Coupe:

This new San Marino Red 2005 Accord Coupe is stunning! Parker had it displayed at Portland International Raceway -- the racers said "WOW!" Parker's daughter saw this car when he brought it back to the dealership and said, "Please Daddy!" Parker said, "Sell this car... NOW!"

Ya, right, like I REALLY believe his daughter said that. Here's another one for a 2005 Accord Hybrid:

Fuel prices got you down? Squeamish about being "seen" in one of those funny looking hybrids? Have we got the ride for you! This 2005 Accord Hybrid is elegantly draped in graphite pearl which blends perfectly with the gray leather interior. All the bells and whistles... power this, power that, lots of CDs fit in the player... Only 12,640 miles on the odometer means that you'll enjoy thousands and thousands of miles of reliable, environmentally friendly motoring. Renee thought the $33,695.00 market price was justified, but she knows that our customers deserve "the friends and family" Internet Special price of $28,162.00. Don't tell Parker. He'll have a cow...

LOL!! Remember, don't tell Parker, we don't want him to have a cow! Do people really read these and say, "Wow, I'd better go get that right now!"? They are good prices, but I sure hope these were meant to be funny and not serious. Then again, being a computer geek and being rather logically minded, maybe these tactics really do work on others.

Stopping at a light, then inching up?

Ok, this is something I've just never figured out. Someone comes to a stop light and they stop like a car length behind the car in front of them. Then, little by little, they move forward until they are like 4 feet way from the car in front of them.

I've also seen people do this when they are at the front of the line. They'll stop again like a full car length behind the line then slowly move up until they are at the line. This can be a problem sometimes when they are in a turn lane and don't start moving up soon enough because they aren't close enough to the signal trip and miss the light. ARGH!!

What's with that?! Why not just stop close to the car in front or the line to begin with?



I just don't get it....

Genius is born!

I got this on a joke list I'm on. The caption read, "Every now and then a genius is born." I thought it was funny and this guy has a great idea, something I may have to try sometime. haha

Bridgeport Brewery's Renovation sucks!

Last night I went to Bridgeport Brewery to hang out with some friends. They have finally finished their 14+ month renovation and we were all excited to see what they did.

What a letdown! They made it more upscale and fancy. Their food was freaking expensive for little portions. No game room anymore. Gone was that cool pub feel. And you could no longer see the brewery behind the taps and kitchen, they walled it all off. It's just a fancy looking place now. The only good thing was the beer, and the people were friendly and nice.

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place, and if you never saw it before the renovation, you wouldn't think anything. It's a nice restaurant, just not a cool pub anymore, and the food is too expensive. I was quite disappointed and won't be going back anytime soon.

American Idol Top 12

Tonight starts the Top 12, where we vote for both men AND women together. I'm looking forward to it!

I noticed on the official American Idol website that they setup their own blogging capabilities. Anyone can signup for an account then create a blog. Not a ton of features, but still cool and fun. So from here forward, you can check out my thoughts on my Amercian Idol Blog.

Seems like I remember Ryan saying something about Stevie Wonder at the end of the results show last week. I wonder if that means they'll all be doing Stevie's tunes?

American Idol before the cuts

It's been a crazy week so I didn't get a chance to post my thoughts on the ladies yesterday. So here's both.

First, no one this week really stood out big for me like last week. They all seemed to just be so-so with a few that were pretty good, and a few that were pretty bad, but no extremes.

It's been two days now since I saw the ladies and don't remember much, which isn't a good sign. I do remember Lisa Tucker singing something that while good, didn't seem like her. Last year I remember that guy Anwar who had a really good voice and started off singing amazingly - remember when he did Moon River? Then it was like he felt he had to do something different than be himself and suddenly you could see he wasn't comfortable, wasn't singing well, wasn't having fun, and started to suck. I think if he would have stuck to being himself and doing what he loves, he would have done much better. Lisa's in danger of this. She needs to be herself, sing stuff she likes. Sure, take the chance now and then, but mostly have fun and do what she likes, she'll go farther that way.

Take Taylor Hicks. I don't think it was his BEST song or the BEST he could do, but he was being himself and having fun. When you're having fun, the audience can tell and they have fun too - and they will forget slight imperfections in the song. He did very well. Everyone needs to take his lead and do what they love. It might not be what the voting public wants, but I think they will go farther by doing that - but also remember to take chances too, pick songs that show off you and your voice. I thought Taylor picked the right song and does sound like Michael McDonald.

Ok, trying to focus on the ladies first. Mandisa was good and had fun. Kellie Pickler was ok but still has that "look" and personality that work great for her. I didn't care for Paris that much this week, thought she was boring. Kinnik didn't do anything for me - heck, I barely remember her singing just that I didn't like it. Ayla I liked, thought she did a good job, but not great. She is better than this, just needs to pick the right song. Don't rmember Katharine McPhee at all and barely remember Melissa McGhee. I think Kinnik is going home, and possibly Katharine, Melissa or Lisa - though I still hope Lisa sticks around.

For the guys, as I said, I liked Taylor. Kevin I didn't care for even though Randy and Paula thought he did great. I'm just not a fan of that really fast vibrato. Will was boring. Gedeon was just ok, nothing special. Bucky I'm getting to like mainly because he's genuine, though he's not my favorite singer. Ace was good, but he spent too much time singing way up there in his falsetto. It was like he couldn't decide if he wanted to sing the song really high or low, it was weird fo me, but he can sing. Last week I really liked Elliott, but this week didn't care for him that much. Once again that fast vibrato and a boring song. And Chris who really rocked the place last week was just ok this week. His voice was good, but his song choice was not. I think Will is going home, and possibly Gedeon or Kevin. But everyone seems to think Kevin's good, and quite often when Simon says bad stuff about someone, they get voted through. If it were my vote, he'd be gone this week, I think Gedeon is a better singer. Then again, neither of them will win this.

Overall, a boring week, no one really making me go, "WOW!!" Hopefully next week will be better.

American Idol Results - 3/2

Marci didn't watch the girls and I still had it on DVR, so we watched them before the results show. After watching it, we both agreed Brenna needed to go - don't like the attitude and honestly, she didn't do a good job. It was a little harder to pick who else would go, but we thought Heather might be one of them, and we were right.

The guys were easier to pick, and we were right on with David and Sway leaving.

I hope the others learn a few lessons from this week, mainly SONG SELECTION! Pick something that will show YOU off. And don't pick something where you will be compared to the original, like songs by Mariah Carey. Can't wait to see what they do next week!

American Idol - 10 Guys

Last night the guys were TONS better than the girls! I think this year a guy will win. There were a few so-so performances, but overall they were very good! So here's what I remember after sleeping on it.

The guy who went last - Chris Daughtry - was VERY good. While I don't like the type of music he sang, he did an amazing job and had a great stage performance! He shocked me.

Elliot Yamin was also very good. I enjoyed his song a lot. Very different from what Chris sang, so I'm not sure which guy I like better. But I'm sure both will be around long enough for me to figure that out.

Gedeon McKinney was the other big standout for me. Don't remember what he sang, just that I enjoyed it a lot and thought he did very good.

I thought Ace Young did not do well at all, but the judges really liked it. To me a lot of notes sounded out of tune, sharp. But there have been plenty of times I thought the person sucked and everyone (even Simon) loved it, so maybe my ears just heard wrong. ;) Ace wasn't THAT bad, just so-so for me.

The two worst were David Radford (sang the Sinatra song) and Sway. Both just missed the mark. I'm sure David is going home tonight and Sway might. But right on their heals was Kevin Covais. He can sing well, but this was a bad performance, and he's not going to with the competition. Since he's only 16, if he can stick around long enough, he might learn a lot to help him in the future - maybe come back another year? He might also go home tonight.

Will Maker was better than I thought he would be, but still nothing special. Same with Bucky Covington.

Then there's Taylor Hicks. The dude looks like he's 40, not 29. But he can sing well and has a fantastic personality. I think he'll stick around for a few weeks, but won't win this.

I still am not sure which girls will go home tonight, but I think David, Sway and Kevin are in the bottom, with at least one of them going home. Guess we'll see tonight!

American Idol - 10 Ladies

I decided to wait until this morning to write my review of the ladies last night because I wanted to see what I remembered, what stood out. The first thing that I remember is the judges. After watching American Idol since the beginning, I'm convinced the producers WANT them to take jabs at each other like they do, especially Randy and Paula at Simon. While Simon may be a bit harsh at times, I find I agree with him 98% of the time. And I'm sick of Ryan. Since he started hosting this show his fame and everything has taken off big time. Now he has a big head. Ryan, get a grip, come back down to earth and be a normal person again - and quit jabbing at Simon every chance you get, it's gotten old.

The lady I remember the most is Lisa Tucker. She's only 16 but WOW!! What a voice! As Paula said, I listen to her sing and I have a hard time remembering she's only 16. I thought she did great. I don't remember the song she sang, but I remember it was really amazing, especially how she ended it. I'm not sure if she can win this, but she should go far and have a future in the industry.

The 2nd lady is Mandisa. She really has quite a voice and personality. I can see how she could easily win this. But as the judges said all night - and have said every since this show began - song selection, song selection, song selection. This was not a good song selection for her.

The other lady I remember is Brenna Gethers. Not because she sang well, but because of her attitude. Actually, I didn't like song she sang or her performance, it was rather blah. But her attitude just sucked. She thinks she's awesome but really, she wasn't all that great. Then again, I DID remember her, so maybe that counts for something.

I did like a few others, like Kellie Pickler mainly for the same reasons Simon said, she's just a likeable person, which isn't a bad thing, though her song choice didn't do much for me. The gal who did the Donna Summer tune was very boring, looked like she was just going through the moves, The gal who did the cowboy thing was also rather bland. But the jock gal was good. I liked what Simon said, "If we said next week you have to juggle, you'd go out and learn how to juggle and do it quite well by next week." She's got promise, she just needs to learn to relax a little and have fun.

I said it above but I'll say it again. Each year the judges say the same thing, so you'd think by now the people in this years competition would know better. Song selection, song selection, song selection. Pick something that will show you off, not something because you like the song. It's good that you do like it, but it can also be very boring to watch and won't show you off. At least towards the end the judges were all in agreement about stuff and not jabbing too much.

After sleeping on it, very few of them I remember well, some I don't remember at all. Not sure who will get voted off, and I won't be voting - I don't vote until like the final six or so, just depends on the contestants and who I like. Tonight we'll see what the guys can do and I'll write about it tomorrow.