According to several recent articles around the Interwebs, the dynamic duo will appear on ‘The Cleveland Show,’ Fox’s ‘Family Guy’ spinoff, on November 22. They’ll serve as the angel and devil on Cleveland’s shoulder, which sounds like a very funny premise.
Ugh. Why does coming back from vacation always suck? This week was only really a half week for me, but the last couple of days have been kinda crappy. But in keeping with my recent attempt to keep a half-decent attitude, at least on Fridays, here are a few things making me happy today!
This lovely weather. I hate the winter. HATE. So sometimes I have a hard time really enjoying fall because I’m too bummed about shorter days and the impending cold. But so far, I’m ok with the days getting darker earlier because it’s been so danged nice in the morning.
Having very few plans this weekend. I have a few creative projects up my sleeve, but plan on also enjoying lots of the above. And perhaps even washing my dirty car, if the weather holds up. Me time = bliss.
Recovering my temporarily-missing cat yesterday. He’s an escape artist, and he gave me quite a scare. But just as I was about to scour the neighborhood, there he was at the front door. Whew.
Death Cab for Cutie Pandora Radio. There are some bands I just can’t seem to get enough of, regardless of them losing their indie cred and becoming mainstream or whatever. Death Cab is definitely one of those bands. Currently making my work day much more enjoyable.
Before I get into a brief recap of Wednesday night’s Top Chef Reunion Dinner, I have an important question. WHERE THE HELL IS SAM?
Women viewers no doubt remember this hottie, Sam Talbot, who was a finalist from season two. By anyone’s standards, he’s been one of (if not the) best looking cheftestants. Yet I NEVER see a word about him as it relates to the show, which seems really strange when you consider some of the other, less talented, alumni who still appear on the Top Chef site every now and then, providing commentary on the current season, or those participating in special events. So what gives, Bravo? Are you shunning Sam, or (more likely) is he, for some reason, shunning the show and distancing himself from it?
On to the show. And this is going to all sound completely hypocritical, I admit it. But I was both bothered by the producers’ need to focus on previous dramas (and totally felt the same way as Casey, I’m over it) yet also bothered by the LACK of drama. Where was Hosea and Leah? Or at least a mention of their fling? I mean if you’re going to dwell on the dumb things that people said and did in the past, why not at least go there, rather than looking for ways to revisit the childish bickering? I also missed Stephanie. I can only assume that the three of them weren’t there because they had prior, more important commitments, not because they weren’t invited. With all that said, here’s my obligatory best ofs/most likelies from the show. And finally, a prediction for next week!
Best case of forgetting how to cook: Dale, who said he had planned on retiring (huh?) had he not been cast on TC season 3, seemed to downright struggle in the kitchen. Dale, get to prepping in the retirement home, cause dang if you didn’t look out of your league as compared to the rest of the alums.
Most improved: Gawd, how I hated Ilan during his season. But whatdya know, he’s mellowed out and he’s actually a cutie! He seemed genuinely happy to see everyone, although slightly uncomfortable. He was downing that wine fast (and also seemed more interested in purchasing wine at the grocery store than food)! But out of all the previous cheftestants who were present, he did seem more down to earth than most. And I love his cute smile and glasses. Note to Bravo – more Ilan, less Marcel in future specials!
Best and worst choice of a host: I could hardly understand a word he said during his season. And had a bit of trouble at times during the reunion. But Fabio does have that Italian charm and he seemed really comfortable in the host position. I felt bad for him though, when he asked the questions that the producers wanted him to ask but just got lip for it. Which brings me to …
Best case of nothing changing: The old Marcel had stupid hair and was a douche. And whatdya know, the Marcel of today also has stupid hair and is a douche. I think he’s a victim of one too many sand kicks to the face when he was a kid. But I’d bet he had every single one coming.
Best display of mad skillz: Ilan and Marcel, aka Douche and Drunker, did bring their A-game. Sure, this wasn’t a competition. But rather than go into retirement mode like Dale, the boys from season two sure did impress. That Thai Snapper preparation was bad ass.
Best dressed: OK, some of these guys and girls really needed a stylist! I guess the point was to be comfortable, but jeez, this was on TV for chrissakes. The exception was Hung. The boy looked GOOD.
Best quote: Harold – “I’m really looking foward to dinner and hanging out with everybody. We can sit here and drink some wine and be very civilized.” Yeah, because that’s exactly what the producers were going for. A meal where everyone can show how civilized they are. Riiiiight.
Next week … a new episode, yay! Who will be ELIminated? hmmmmm …
Here’s a blurb about H&O’s recently released box set, “Do What You Want, Be What You Are,” from Creative Loafing’s Crib Notes blog. I’m pretty much a Hall & Oates completist, so while I have most of the songs included on the new box set (save for some live cuts and previously unreleased tunes), you can be sure that I’m adding it to my wishlist. It spans four decades (yes, four DECADES — and that alone is pretty impressive, regardless of what you might think of the duo’s music) of material, and from what other reviews are reporting, includes some very comprehensive liner notes which are just an added bonus to the great tunes.
Just a few things that are making me happy on this day:
The new Swell Season record, which my husband was so sweet to pick up for me yesterday.
The fact that I’m going to be spending Halloween and my anniversary with said sweet husband in Savannah.
The fact that I got to play these this week.
Friday lunch breaks that consist of fish tacos and margaritas.
This very lovely video, and the fact that I get to release Tracy’s lovely EP this winter!
What makes you happy on this rainy Friday?
While I’ve never been much of a fan, RR apparently has excellent taste in music. According to her blog, she’s on a mission to help get Hall and Oates inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (no, they haven’t been inducted already. and yes, that is a complete travesty. I mean, the “Hall” of fame is practically named after half of them. Cease and desist, anyone???).
So if you’re a fan, check out her blog and leave a comment (I did, see if you can find it 
).
*Note – H&O Humpday is a new blog “feature” if you will that I intend to update each Wednesday with H&O videos, news, fun facts, whatever. So if you have anything to contribute, send it my way (kim at eskimokissrecords dot com)!
**Another note – I feel it’s important to mention that during the few minutes it took for me to compose this post, H&O’s “Wait for Me,” one of my faves, came up on my iTunes shuffle. Yay.
I was fortunate enough to get a chance to liveblog the Regina Spektor show at the Tabernacle, courtesy of Clear, who was doing a promotion for their Internet services. So I’m writing this post while at the show!
First off, driving in the ATL was a complete bitch tonight. Like nothing I’ve seen in my five years of living here. Thanks, Bono. So a last minute decision to drive rather than taking MARTA turned out to be the first of many bad driving decisions of my night (cue “Bad Driver”). But luckily, I made it just in time for Miss Spektor to take the stage.
Clear had us set up in one of the side rooms, with absolutely NO view of the stage. Lame. Could hear fine though and could step just outside the room to see whenever I needed to. Regina had a rather small band comprised of a couple of string players and a drummer, and started the show on piano. After a few new tunes off her most recent CD (which included two of my faves, “Eet” and “Folding Chair,” making for a great start to the show), she went into an older tune that I didn’t recognize. From then on she played a great mix of tunes of her most recent release, “Far,” and the older “Begin to Hope.” She switched to electric guitar for a few songs, which was a nice change of pace from the piano and full band. “Bobbin’ For Apples” was especially entertaining, despite Spektor screwing up the beginning and dropping the F- bomb (but that only seemed appropriate for that particular song).
After about an hour-and-a-half set (which closed with a rousing version of “Love, You’re a Whore”), Regina exited the stage. All in all, a really fun show, maybe not the spectacle that, say, the U2 show down the street might have been, but Regina’s got some pipes for sure, and some great songs. So, thank you, Clear! I definitely got my money’s worth ($10 parking), AND the Internet service while I was there was flawless and very speedy. Ironically, on the way home while I was talking to my husband he mentioned that our Internet at home (Comcast) was acting screwy … hmmm … don’t test me Comcast! Clear got me into a show for free AND had reliable Internet service!
It was tough for me to bring myself to recap this episode, because believe it or not, I’m pretty distressed over the outcome. Yep, I was definitely on Team Mattin since episode 1. Accent + mandkerchief = best character of the season (and really, how cute was he about the whole camping thing?!?). As if it wasn’t enough to lose Hector last week, now I’m extra bummed that my favorite Frenchie won’t be part of my Wednesday nights anymore (gotta make plans to visit his restaurant in San Fran!) But that aside, at least the season is getting a little more interesting, as we’re starting to see some of the early slackers (namely, Laurine) step it up a bit, and the brother drama is continuing to give the show some promise of a very exciting conclusion.
And now, for this week’s award winners …
Best example of someone deciding to compete, finally: As I mentioned, Laurine really stepped it up; it’s good to see a strong female in addition to Jenn and the hit-or-miss Ashley.
Best quote: A toss-up this week, between Eli’s “I think [camping] is asinine… we got electricity for a reason” (really, I can’t say I disagree) and Ash’s “I can’t handle being on the bottom!” (TMI much?).
Most likely to make me want to eat my television: Wow, while it didn’t land her in the top four (surprisingly), I gotta say, Jenn’s Snapper and cold salad looked friggin fantastic.
Most likely to be adversely affected by heat, thus causing him to think he’s filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Ron. WTF. a sword??? Does anyone have a sword??? Um, sure, it’s right here in my knife bag, beside my throwing stars and numchucks. WTF?
and, while we’re on the subject …
Most likely to pack the knives swords next week: Ron, your accent and friendly demeanor has been a nice enough addition, but it’s gotten pretty obvious that you’re out of your league. How do you say goodbye in Creole?
Most likely to go all the way: This is getting tougher and tougher. Currently I feel like it’s a toss up between the two brothers. And while I would much rather see Michael V. left standing at the end, right now I’m feeling like Bryan has a slightly better chance, simply due to experience.
If you read last week’s recap then you know I totally nailed it with my pick for this week’s loser. Yay me. Wasn’t a difficult choice though. Eve seemed nice enough, and I’m sure eating at her restaurant is a pleasant experience. I think she was just really out of her element, as she attested to in her exit video (and I actually wrote that before watching the video. So perhaps we did know her pretty well after all?).
Outside of the girls getting completely waxed by the guys (is any girl cheftestant capable of going the distance this season other than Jennifer?), there’s not too much to really say about Episode 2. Perhaps last week just seemed way more exciting because it was the kick-off of the new season, but comparatively, this episode was totally meh to me. But one thing that was completely clear, regardless of this season being filmed in Sin City, it should be named Top Chef: Atlanta. Did Hector, Eli and Kevin kill it or what? Between their own competition within a competition, and the sibling rivalry, this should prove to be an interesting season.
Without further adieu, here’s the fun stuff:
Most insightful quote: “When you have mushy on mushy, it’s not nice.” (guest judge Todd English) I won’t elaborate on that other than saying I think Ashley might beg to differ.
Best shoes: Unfortunately I couldn’t find an image online showing them, but man, did anyone else notice the bright pink Crocs that Chef Ron was sportin’?!? A big black man with pink shoes equals total awesomeness. With camouflaged pants, no less. Now that, my friends, takes some cojones to pull off!
Most likely to bust his ass/Best form while running: Oh, Eli. We’re very proud of you, but boy do you look funny when you run. I just knew you were going to totally wipe out as you entered Whole Foods last episode. So close!
Most likely to go all the way: Very hard to judge by this week, but now I’m leaning towards one of the Volt brothers. And because something about Bryan just really irks me, I gotta go with Michael.
Most likely to pack the knives next week: Oh Jesse, I really, really like you. But you just ain’t bringin’ it. You still have the best tats of the season though!
