Star Wars

Spike is airing the Star Wars movies marathon this Thanksgiving weekend, and we caught the end of Star Wars IV: A New Hope.  Awesome movie.  Mr. Y saw the movie in the theaters when he was 5, and it certainly left an impression on him.  I didn't see it until I was a freshman in college when it was re-released.  To this day I remember the date: Valentine's Day 1997.  It was 14 guys and me who went to see it together.  None of the other girls wanted to come with us.    I honestly didn't know much about it until all my guy friends educated me about it.  It turns out that I'm a lot of geekier than I thought, especially after dating Mr. Y.  I saw Galaxy Quest in college and thought it was a stupid movie, but after dating Mr. Y for a few years and watching it again, I laughed so hard.  So I credit Mr. Y for making me geekier.

Evan Kasprzak in Newsies

Mr. Y and I were watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade today, and spotted Evan Kasprzak as part of the cast of Newsies.  Newsies is coming to Broadway in March for a limited run.  I've always had a soft spot for Evan.  He won third place on So You Think You Can Dance season 5.  He was such a nice guy, but got totally beaten up by the judges.  The judges clearly thought he was not good enough to make it that far, but he was super popular so he never ended up in the bottom two.  He always accepted all the negative comments with grace and humility, and he was a great Broadway dancer.  So it's great to see him end up on Broadway.  Good luck, Evan!

Hugh Jackman on Broadway

I have mentioned before how I love Hugh Jackman.  He is currently doing a one-man show on Broadway, but only for 10 weeks.  According to news articles, he sings a few songs, especially from his last Broadway show, the Boy from Oz, tells stories, and interacts with the audience.  Front row tickets have been re-selling for as high as $1500 a ticket.

I tried checking for tickets, but the only tickets available are over $300 each, which is a bit steep.  Sigh.   Too bad - it would have been fun to see him.  :)

Dancing with the Stars - Winner!

Dancing with the Stars crowned its Season 13 winner tonight.  I was happy when Ricki and Derek were eliminated early on - I never really warmed to her, and I don't like Derek.  Plus he resurrected the awful crotch move with Ricki yesterday.  It wasn't good the first time around and it continues to suck.

SPOILER ALERT!

J.R. and Karina won!  I'm very happy with this result - I think J.R. deserves it, and Karina has been more likeable since last season, when she danced with Ralph Macchio.  J.R. has a great attitude, and his mom is so adorable.

Rob and Cheryl did not look too crushed.  They were certainly the dark horse of this competition - who would have thought that a Kardashian family member would do well and would get people to root for him?  He certainly did his part to redeem the family name after the whole Kim fiasco.

The best parts of the finale were actually Carson Kressley's dance to Vogue and Chynna Phillips redoing the Mission:Impossible dance.  Good for Chynna for doing it again, and Carson's dance was just hilarious.

How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother delivered quite a whopper last night.  SPOILER ALERT!

Robin is pregnant!  She was acting weird all episode about Lily and Marshall moving to the suburbs, and in the end we found out why.  She ended up telling Barney when he climbed through the window to join her in the bathroom.  Is Barney the father?  Or is it Kevin, her current boyfriend?

We know that Future Robin have kids.  Future Ted has mentioned it before.  However, is this one of the kids that he was talking about?

Sigh.  This show really is the Lost of sitcoms.

Hawaii Five-O - Another Recognition

Mr. Y and I were watching Hawaii Five-O tonight and there was this actor playing a guy named Billy Murphy.  Both Mr. Y and I thought we've seen him before, but we didn't know where for sure.  Then I realize that he was in an episode of Warehouse 13, playing a store clerk who thought Myka and Pete were kidnapping Hugo Miller, and had a hilarious bit with him, the shotgun, and a can of soda.  We confirmed it on IMDB.

This episode also has Courtney Ford, who has shown up in a few random shows.  She was in an episode of Big Bang Theory playing a hot girl who was interested in Leonard, and she was also in an episode of Human Target last season playing a murderous flight attendant.  She's also married to Brandon Routh, aka Superman himself.

Glee - Third Season Musings

I've had mixed feelings about this season's Glee.  Some of the musical numbers have been amazing, but the stories are getting more and more ridiculous.  I especially dislike the whole Quinn trying to get her baby back and Puck and Shelby hooking up.  The most disturbing thing about Puck and Shelby is that it does not look as wrong as it should have been, because Mark Salling really looks 30, not 18.  I haven't been compelled to get any of the music, yet.

On the other hand, there are episodes like "Asian F" and "The First Time" that redeems the show a bit more.  I thought "The First Time" did a great and realistic job on handling the subject of teenage sex, although I wish we had seen the entire West Side Story performance, and I was happy to see Harry Shum, Jr. got the spotlight in "Asian F."

This week's episode has some amazing musical numbers, especially the ending Adele mash-up.  I really hope the group will get together again soon.  Having them split up feels very disjointed, which I guess is the intent, but Glee is always strongest when all of them are together.

Dancing with the Stars - Semifinals Performance Show

Sorry I haven't blogged for awhile.  Things have been very busy, plus my hands start hurting again.  But I'd like to blog tonight about the semifinals of Dancing with the Stars.  Only four contestants are left: Hope Solo, J.R. Martinez, Ricki Lake, and Rob Kardashian.

Based on tonight's performances, I expect J.R., Ricki, and Rob to make it to the finals, but let's see if the viewers agree.  J.R. wasn't his best tonight because he had hurt his ankle, but I thought he was still the most compelling performer out there.  Each star also had videos talking about their backgrounds, and a lot of them are heartbreaking.

Hope Solo is from Richland, Washington, just like kdipity!  She had a sad childhood, with divorce and her dad going to jail for kidnapping Hope and her brother.  He eventually became homeless, but they reconnected later before he passed away.  I still don't connect with her as a dancer, and I think her time is up after this week.

J.R.'s story is obviously defined by his injuries in Iraq.  Hearing his mom talk was so sad but awesome at the same time - it was very touching.  She was a single mom, so he didn't have an easy childhood.  But his smile and enthusiasm are just infectious.  He's still my pick to win, if his ankles hold up.

Rob's baby video was so adorable.  The poor guy also had his sisters put dresses and make up on him when he was a child.  His dad's death clearly had a major effect on him, and it must have been really shocking to have him diagnosed and died within 8 weeks.   I admit I was kinda skeptical of Rob in the beginning because he's a Kardashian, but he turns out to be a great dancer, and actually seems like a nice guy.  It's easy to root for him now, especially since you can see him gaining confidence every week, and he did really well tonight.

Ricki was molested as a child and kept yo-yoing in her weight.  She has certainly gone through a lot as well, although I find it a bit harder to relate to her.  Something about her just puts me off, but I can't really explain it.  Maybe it's also because I don't really like Derek, either.  Her kids are cute, though.

Update on Battle of the Blades

I've written on Battle of the Blades before - the TV show in Canada where former hockey players team up with figure skaters to do figure skating routines.  It's basically Dancing with the Stars on ice.

I have been looking up past performances on Youtube, and they're pretty funny.  The hockey players tend to be really stiff, while the female figure skaters dance around them.  I would totally love this show if it airs in the U.S.

Mr. Y found out that one of the bloggers on Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy blog is actually covering the show.  He does not hide his disdain for the show, and his writing is pretty funny.  Check out the first two entries:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Battle-of-the-Blades-III-review-Recapping-Week-?urn=nhl-wp13406

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Battle-of-the-Blades-III-review-Week-1-8242-s-?urn=nhl-wp13504

The judges sound pretty bad, too.  Jeremy Roenick was just hitting on the female figure skaters, and Sandra Bezic spouts off crazy sayings.  She was already the Paula Abdul of the figure skating commentators, and now she sounds even worse.  Total train wreck.

I really, really wish this show airs here.  :)

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

So Mr. Y and I decided to take our three-year-old to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular this year.  We're going the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Crossing our fingers that this will work out.  We got special deals for the 9 a.m. show, so that's the one we chose.  We think the morning will work out better anyway because he'll be more awake.  The biggest question is whether he can sit through a 90-minute show.

I've seen the show twice, and both times were cheesy, but definitely fun.  It's definitely one of those classic New York Christmas things that everyone should try to do at least once.   We really hope the little one will enjoy it, and will be so entranced by all the spectacle that he forgets to misbehave.

The X Factor - America's Vote

I finally got a chance to watch this week's X-Factor, and the performances were all over the place.  I feel like the biggest problem with a lot of the performances was the song choice.  I don't know how much input the contestants have into the songs, but a lot of them seem to be the judges' choices, and some of the judges really misfired.  Case in point, Nicole choosing Lonestar's "I'm Already There" for Leroy Bell, Simon Cowell choosing an odd arrangement and changing the lyrics to "Walking On Sunshine" for Rachel Crow, and Paula putting Lakoda Rayne in a multi-colored dresses to represent the seasons and singing "Landslide."

My favorites were Melanie Amaro singing "Desperado" and Josh Krajcik singing "Jar of Hearts."  Both really made the songs their own, and their voices were amazing without the need of much backup.  Astro, as much as I hate to admit it, also did a great job.  His skills are getting better and better to match that ego.  Surprisingly, he wasn't as arrogant this time around.

In the end, the kids group InTENsity was kicked off.  The two lowest vote-getters were Stereo Hoggz and InTENsity, and they had to sing one more song before the judges decide who to kick off.  Poor Paula - both were her babies, and she was really upset.  But she does have the weakest contestants among all of them, so not surprising.

Steve Jones has improved slightly, but still stiff and not much humor.  After seeing him, I am actually appreciating Ryan Seacrest more.  Even though he tends to be on the smarmy side and likes to insert himself into the show, he makes it looks so easy.

Dancing with the Stars - Update

Well, my pick for the DWTS winner this season, David Arquette, was just kicked off.  Turned out I really overestimated his dancing abilities.  Although it was great o see him try so hard, and his daughter Coco is so cute.

My new pick: J.R. Martinez.  He stumbled last night, but I think he'll pull it together and will win the trophy.

Celebrity Splits

Unless you've been living under a rock, the big news in the celebrity world is the divorce of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries after only 72 days of marriage.  Not a surprise, although perhaps earlier than people had thought.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20541325,00.html

According to Kim, she got caught up in the hoopla of the televised wedding and did not know how to get off.  I do actually feel sorry for the two of them - although they did invite cameras into their lives, it still can't be easy to have your breakup splashed all over the tabloids.

Another divorce news is that Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie are also separating.  This news makes me sad, too.  They seem like such a cute couple, and a match made in indie heaven.  They did interviews recently related to her new show, New Girl, and they seemed happy.