#257 - soderling def. nadal 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2)

wow. now, it's no secret that i don't like rafael nadal, i don't like his style of play (although i have to admit he's pretty good), his greasy hair, his contorted facial expressions, his sleeveless shirts and capri pants (although he gave that up this year for equally annoying pink shirts), and most importantly, his butt-digging before each serve. but i think the thing i don't like most about him is that he's the perfect foil for roger federer... and i like roger.

for the past four years nadal has beaten roger federer in the french open. once during the semifinals (in 2005, the first french open nadal ever played) and three times during the finals. so i think it's pretty safe to say that if nadal hadn't been standing in his way, federer would have the career grand slam by now. well, this year it's on because nadal was beaten in the round of 16 by robin soderling.

it was a great match to watch, partly because soderling played pretty spectacularly (blasting nadal off the court) and partly just because nadal finally lost (after being 31-0 at the french open before this match). for the past four years (seems like at least) i've been trying to find someone to root for who could take out nadal (besides roger, because nadal's just got his number). tennis is all about match-ups and roger's game just doesn't match up to nadal's. in the past the guys who have given nadal trouble have been the ones who've really taken it to him, blasting shots and pushing nadal (even farther) back behind the baseline. someone with huge power, someone tall enough to handle nadal's high-kicking forehands, someone who actually isn't ranked that high, but can have a huge day if he's on for three or four sets. mikhail youzhny was one of the first to do so, then later on djokovic showed some signs, and juan martin del potro (a 6'6' guy with a two-handed backhand) did it earlier this year, but finally soderling came through. nadal and soderling had a great 5-set match at wimbledon two years ago... it wasn't the most sportsman-like match (soderling publically made fun of nadal's butt-digging, which was great, and totally got in his head), but it was good to see someone (besides roger) go out there and impose himself on nadal and show that he wants to beat him (not just that they want to win). this french open match didn't have much of that animosity, but it was a high-quality match for sure.

so, now that nadal's out, i'm pulling even harder for federer. i always thought that even though federer's clearly the second best clay-courter on tour, he would need help to win the french open. but i always thought that help would come from nadal's knees giving out on him or from someone like djokovic pulling him to some exhausting, 5-set semifinal before federer could finally beat him in a final. and knowing roger, he'd probably say to the press that he would have liked to beat the man who beat him for the past four years at this tournament for his first french open title, but inside i know he's popping a bottle of champange tonight. no way he's in any way sorry that nadal's out of the tournament early. so here we go roger, if he can win the french he'll not only gain the career grand slam (he's already got us open, aussie open, and wimbledon titles) but he'll tie pete sampras' all-time record of 14 grand slam titles, so go roger!

ps - in other tv news (and because i'd really feel embarrassed if i devoted a whole post to it), last night i watched the season finale of "the hills." haha. i got sucked into it because of lauren, i think she's way hot. she's got like the sweetest expressions. i mean, i have no idea what she's actually like because that "reality" show is entirely scripted i'm sure, so i'm not deluding myself to believe that anything that happens on that show actually happens, but it was a nice guilty pleasure at least. but last night's episode was lauren's last one, she's moving on to other things, but they're still gonna keep the show running? NO WAY would i watch it if lauren's not on it, now THAT would be truly embarrassing.

#256 - it's like betting against God

damn what a week. i learned more about insurance that i ever wanted to know in my life, although it's probably a good thing that i finally did learn what i did. long story short... i'm going through mortgage refinancing, and since financial corporations are damn greedy bastards and banks around the nation are failing and irresponsible people buy things they can't pay for, poor little financially responsible people like myself have to pay the price. haha, anyway they just passed some new refinancing laws this month and NO ONE seems to know how to interpret them. for the past two weeks i've been on the phone 24/7 with offices, agents, brokers, and everyone else under the sun trying to get a legitimate quote on all these new insurance requirements that need to be met before i can close my mortgage refinancing.

blah, it's a long and boring story and even i don't care to rehash all of it, but the bottom line is i'm so damn smart that i figured it all out (with some help, but i had to put together all the pieces, which was frustrating because aren't i paying people to do this for me?). the good this is everyone i was working with was really nice, but i still feel like i'm getting ripped off. well, i don't really like insurance in the first place, i mean, the concept of insurance. it's probably the way i was brought up (my parents don't even like investing in stocks, their philosophy is "if you don't have the money to pay for it now, don't buy it" and their idea of "saving" is putting everything you got in the bank, so it's no wonder i came out so conservative). remember that episode of the simpsons when ned flander's house got destroyed by a tornado or something and homer got everyone in town to rebuild his house because he didn't have insurance because ned saying having insurance "is like betting against God." haha. i mean, for the big stuff yeah you'd want to insure your car or your house, but like personal property? like my tv or whatever? man, if something happens to it that would suck, but then you'd just buy a new one.

anyway, i don't even want to think about it anymore... and hopefully after this week i won't have to really. i went, i learned, i'm done.

so, on to happier things:

1. FRENCH OPEN
this picture makes me laugh. oh yeah, time for grand slam tennis again. i gotta say this is a fun tournament to watch, except for one problem. rafael nadal. i don't like that guy. at least he's not wearing his sleeveless shirts and capri pants anymore, but he's got this flourescent color scheme going on that just looks ridiculous (like shutter sunglasses and skinny pants). but roger's looking good (even though he had some tough matches already) and he just beat rafa in a two out of three set final in madrid i'm definately (like most everyone) hoping for another nadal vs. federer final!

2. so you think you can dance
okay, so it's just auditions right now, but that's the best part, because that's when they have the fun guys doing tricks. like, i could care less about ballroom dancing and even contemporary, but i like the hip-hop stuff and the pop/lock/trick do-ers. and in the auditions they have those guys who do insane tricks but don't get on the show because they can't do anything else (who cares if they can do other dances?). like just check this guy out, that's sick dude...
and man, this little toothpick of an asian girl is damn hot. she looks kinda like she could put on a little cocktail dress and campain for Miss Saigon... but maybe that's part of the appeal? i dunno, but damn this was hot.
3. now for something NOT happy. because spencer said that my posts are boring without me ragging on something, so this begins a new series called "hideous commercials that i hate and should burn and die." since i've been watching so many shows on FOX recently i've been seeing the most horrid commercials, so today's entry i saw during american idol (multiple times) and each time i saw it i called kristen to tell her "awful awful commercial is on again!" it's for comcast but don't ask me what the hell that is because i can't listen to it for more than one second without my ears burning and my eyes bleeding. the commercial incorporates three of my great hates: 1) animated humans, 2) talk-singing, and 3) rhyming. so enjoy, no, don't enjoy... abhor.

#255 - good choice

man, i'm a blogging fiend this week! anyway, this morning UH announced that Charlie Wade will be taking over as men's volleyball coach after Mike Wilton "retired" to go take an assistant job at BYU (it's been awhile coming, he's a high-priest or whatever in the mormon church and was interested in the head coaching job that opened up at BYU a few years back). i think this is a great choice for UH. of course, tino reyes and mike sealy (both assistance coaches for the men's and women's teams, respectively) would have made a lot of sense also, but i'm really glad to see charlie wade back. he was the assistant coach for the wahine for 10 or 11 years (some great years too, 1995-2005 i think, and he was credited for being instumental in signing kim willoughby, among others) and just from watching warm-ups it was pretty evident that he was good for them. three years ago he left to take the head coaching position at pacific university (a once top school who's slid a bit, but got a bump-up when he was there for just three years and i think is now on a winning track) so it's great to see him come back to hawaii.

i think this is the perfect time for the men's volleyball to make a positive change. i never really cared for wilton's "cauldron" system for choosing his starters, and although i liked the fact that he played a lot of different players, i always thought he was either too flaky in his decision-making, or too reliant on statistics. and since the men's team has also taken a slide (but has always had a lot of potential) recently, i think it's a great time for charlie wade to step in and right the ship. hope he can do so...

#254 - top idol season 8

oops, forgot to do my top performances post... so here's a more uplifting look-back at the past season, there WERE actually pretty awesome (and awesomely bad) moments, here are my top 8 performances:

8. adam lambert - cryin'
okay, i'll give him this one, adam doing aerosmith, that's something i can handle
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7. kris allen - falling slowly
this one i pick because it was so different from anything else all the other contestants were singing, it was like the little independent film that comes along and sweeps up all the award instead of the big-budget movies... that's kinda what kris was like
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6. matt giraud - human nature
back with matt all calm and at the piano is where i liked him best, less justin timberlake and before he started trying to be the fray and marvin gaye and everyone else under the sun
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5. danny gokey - hero
early on danny looked unstoppable huh? and for good reason, he was delivering solid stuff from the beginning... too bad he got too boring with all of it before long
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4. kris allen - ain't no sunshine
i still don't like this song very much, but he showed some talent singing it
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3. scott macintyre - just the way you are
blind scott. good for you blind scott. bad hair, good song.
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2. allison iraheta - cry baby
allison just got going a little too late in the competition, if she had been doing this stuff from the beginning she could really have challenged for the win i think
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1. kris allen - man in the mirror
his first performance and still my favorite, laid back, clear voice, cool.
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and the top 5 awesomely bad performances (just for fun):

5. norman gentle
how this guy ended up in the voting rounds i have no idea, but damn was it entertaining (especially when he started caressing the "american idol" sign)
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4. megan joy corkery
of course, there were many horrid megan joy performances to choose from, but this first one, with the awful shimmy-ing, was the one that brought us megan joy
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3. tatiana del toro
need i say anything else? except that this is her SECOND performance of this song
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2. anoop desai - beat it
i liked anoop, but this song was utterly an EPIC FAIL!
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1. adam lambert - ring of fire
no words. there are no words. just shudders.
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#253 - the end...

okay, now i can be a normal person again... idol is over.

i feel relieved... why? because i invested a lot into idol the past few seasons, too much, i've realized. after last season i was completely ready to dive into this season with the same fervor, but i was disappointed by all the changes that the new producers implemented and that led to me not liking this season so much. having now realized that this makes me look and sound completely nuts, i can now look back at the hilarity of the season with a less skeptical point of view and enjoy it for the ridiculousness all the changes brought. for example:

1. kara - at first i thought she would be a credible addition to the judges, but over the course of the season it became apparent that she's really just randy and paula put together, useless and retarded. haha. nah, she had some fun moments though... most notably the atrocity that was "no boundries." i mean, c'mon, that made for some great water-cooler talk the next day. plus, having 4 judges kept the show running long all season, which, in turn, prevented the judges from commenting on each contestant (remember those shows when only 2 judges spoke?) and probably reduced the number of songs performed in the last few weeks from 3 to 2. plus we all saw her business on the finale show and now no one will be able to take her seriously (if we ever did) again.

2. norman gentle - he actually made it to the voting rounds? sweet. who says it's a "singing competition?"

3. top 13 - how awesome was it when anoop was announced into the top 13? well, we could all have argued that jasmine really didn't need to be there (but i guess they really wanted another girl up there), but anyway it turned out okay because she got out right away and anoop was a much more interesting contestant

4. the save - now this was one change that i really enjoyed, although they needed a better format (like adding a commercial break after the "sing for your life" so the judges could actually listen to the song THEN decide), this was a great way to add something new to the show

5. tatiana del toro - oh man. how awesome was she? can she come back next year too?

okay, so looking back at my 8 years of watching idol i think i can safely say that the talent this year was probably up there with (if not) the best (although i personally still think last season was a bit better), but the production of the show has definately gone downhill... which is to be expected of a show going on it's 8th season. so i wonder... what happens next year? do they renew paula's contract that expires this year? does simon take off and go back to england for britian's got talent? i think if simon leaves the show is effectively over. but kara can replace paula without too much of a hitch. randy's pretty worthless, but too many changes would be damaging i think. anyway, i won't be keeping up with these contestants like i might have wanted to do last year, they don't interest me as much, and perhaps that means i'm moving toward being a more casual idol viewer... which is definately a step in the right (less crazy) direction.

oh well, so you think you can dance is next... i'm definately not as manic about that show... which may be why i find it so entertaining. hmm... we'll see...

oh ps - yay kris allen won! i probably wouldn't buy his album outright... but i'll preview it on itunes at least, maybe a song or two, good for him.

#252 - idol finale

EPIC FAIL! for the producers i mean. geez, remember when the finale was a big deal? like last year? this year it was just like another show. what's wrong with the producers this year, geez, the whole season sucked! if it wasn't for the fact that they actually had good singers it would have been a total disaster. i mean, if i was kris or adam (actually, just kris, because if i was adam i'd have more important problems) i'd feel totally jypped... gypped... jipped... gipped... how do you spell that word? i'd feel totally robbed of a big, spectacular finale. i mean, as cheesy as that big gospel chorus was for the final song, it made the show look good right? well, i guess it really didn't matter seeing as how the final song was a complete and hideous joke! seriously kara, is THAT song what you are worth as a judge? hmm... now that you think about it, it kinda fits huh? awful, both of them not only sounded pitchy singing it, they actually looked pained to sing it. and i don't blame them.

i do blame the idol producers though... after such a great year last season this one stunk up to the high heavens. however, i am very glad that my favorite kris made it to the finale (and i actually think he might win), so that was consolation i guess. look, i can't even talk about the contestants' performances because so much went wrong on the other side of the camera. but let's recap quickly:

adam:
- mad world - creepy much? with the mist and trenchcoat he looked like he was going to an anime convention... in the worst possible way. way over-camped, i wish he had sung a new song, but not sure they had a choice in that...
- a change is going to come - yes, THAT is what he sang and not "a change goin' come," get it? it was pretty dull, a crap song to pick for him i think, they should've kept with the "glam-rock" as they say and just run with it...
- kara's crap song - ouch. ouch. ouch. painful... and this time not because of him.

kris:
- ain't no sunshine - very nice, i liked it the first time, and i liked it the second time as well...
- what's going on - a good pick for him i think, i thought he was going for a laid-back performance (as simon criticized) and so i liked it that way... in fact, that's why i liked a lot of his performances this year, all the way back to "man in the mirror..."
- kara's hideous career-ender of a song - yeowch! i like how even kara said she hopes people vote for him based on the season and not on HER OWN SONG.

one last note, as the judges were both blasting kara's epic failure (holy crap is that really going to be the winning record?), kissing every inch of adam's gayer-than-thou ass, and completely writing kris off the show before the vote ("you should be proud to standing right where you are now... because you'll go no further"), they too (like the producers) failed in their jobs because obviously when you predict someone's going to win, there's gonna be a backlash of people voting extra JUST to prove you wrong.... which is what i think will happen tonight.

i think a combination of three things will happen:
1. adam's and kris' actual fans may cancel themselves out
2. danny gokey's fans will vote for kris
3. people will anti-vote for adam because of all the over-hype he's gotten from the producers/judges/katy perry

therefore, my official predictions are:
1. kris allen will win american idol
2. the two-hour finale will be just as amateurish as the entire season has been already
3. no one will care about any of the previous contestants as they come on to sing lame and uninteresting songs
4. the show will run 44 minutes overtime and everyone with dvr will have to go on votefortheworst.com to find out who won
5. we will consider all of season 8 an epic fail.

but we'll see...

#251 - punch out!!

dude, guess who's got two thumbs and just got the most awesomest 2009 halloween costume idea? this guy...

yes that's right, it's back... punch out!! with TWO exclaimation points!! yes two exclaimation points are extremely necessary for this game (and this post) because how awesome was this game?!remember glass joe? von kaiser? piston honda? don flamenco? king hippo? the great tiger? soda popinski? bald bull? mike tyson? oh well, no mike tyson, but how awesome was it? the music, the star punches, referee mario, the pink sweatsuit, the beeps that play when the words come out on the screen between rounds, and pressing select to restore your health once a match? fan-frickin'-tastic!remember how you had to low punch bald bull on his third hop or get KO-ed? and, of course, no one will ever forget the king hippo strategy... i hope that all translates from "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out" (for nes) to "Punch-Out!!" for wii:yup, that's right, punch-out is coming to wii, i already preordered it... this will be the first wii game that i've bought in awhile, and i'm kinda bummed that i didn't just wait until monday and buy it in the store... but it was $10 off at amazon.com on preorder plus free shipping, so i'll wait the extra week or so to get it in the mail.in the meantime, i'm gonna dust off the old NES and play mike tyson's punch out for a refresher... also, this new wave of retro nintendo recently (which i'm totally loving) has been so awesome that i've already decided my halloween 2009 costume... i'm totally going as "little mac" this year. i'm gonna ebay the green boxing gloves, black boots, grab me some green shorts and a black tank and i'll be ready for the world circuit! it's on...

#250 - federer finally!!

a very special post for #250... today roger federer FINALLY beat rafa nadal on clay, in a final, for the first time in two years! he won the madrid masters series championship with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the now #1 rafael nadal. this is his 15th masters series title (andre agassi has a record 17), but his first in a very long while (nadal and djokovic had been collecting them recently).

oh man, for awhile there it looked like he was never gonna be able to get over the nadal roadblock, but congratulations to federer, he finally did it... let's hope he can keep the win streak alive into the french open!

#249 - 6'4"

6'4"

that's amber kaufman's WAC championship gold medal high jump. it's also her personal record, a UH record, and the highest outdoor high jump by any woman (collegiate or otherwise) in the US this year. that's just amazing, imagine, that's like completely jumping over any of her volleyball teammates with at least an inch to spare! they showed it on the news tonight and i still have no idea how anyone can do that.

anyway, that news clip got me searching on the internet and you wouldn't believe how many wahine volleyball clips there are on youtube (or maybe you would, how rude of me to assume that you wouldn't believe, sorry, because i hate when tv show commercials tell me the same thing... "you won't believe what happens in the last 10 seconds!"). and that got me thinking about volleyball last season... i greatly under-rated last season. for some reason in my mind it wasn't so great (it's that darn new mexico state that's making me change my WAC views)... but really, they ended up 31-4 and in the NCAA regional finals (after all those willoughby/kahumoku/kamana'o years i guess i got too used to the final fours), losing to national runner-up stanford. and along the way they beat minnesota, USC, purdue, and, in what was easily the best game of the year, washington.

nevermind "best game of the year," that was in my top 5 games i've ever been to! it was fantastic! there's even a great clip of it on youtube featuring amber kaufman, because she had a record 12 aces or something like that against #9 washington (who also ended the season in the regional finals, losing to nebraska). man, i totally lost my voice after that game, and i forgot all about it because it was at the beginning of the season. who knew kanani herring/danielson would go on to be the star of the team (along with kaufman) and be the WAC freshman of the year (and, a lot of coaches thought, should have been the national freshman of the year as well)? but that was a classic. right up there with hawaii's win of USC in the regional semifinals (when hawaii was a BIG underdog) when they went 5 games and kamana'o reeled off 12 straight points after being down 2-3 in game 5 to win it 15-5. and also the two stanford matches during the willoughby/kahumoku years, those were spectacular games... i don't go to all of the games ('cause they're all on tv), but i know which ones are gonna be the great ones, and i make sure to go to those. next year's got some doozies, so if you wanna start planning (i already am), mark your calendar for:

Aug. 30 - vs. UCLA
Sep. 5 - vs. Texas! (exclaimation point on this one, plus texas has destiny hooker, who beat out amber kaufman for the gold in high jump at the NCAA indoor championships)
Sep. 6 - vs. California
Sep. 12 - vs. Stanford
Oct. 17 - vs. New Mexico State

and to get your wahine volleyball appetite going...


PS - TENNIS UPDATE!
tomorrow, nadal vs. federer for another masters series event, the last one before the french open. kind of bittersweet though, because novak djokovic had 3 match points against nadal in the semifinals but nadal somehow wins again, sigh. so now root for federer okay... root HARD! go roger!

#248 - surprise anyone?

alright! my top pick for idol this year is in the finale! that doesn't happen too often, i mean, that my top pick from the very beginning of the competition makes it all the way to the end. the only ones that did were carrie underwood (and even though i picked her from the beginning, she went up and down for me), katharine mcphee, and archuleta... and only carrie underwood actually won. so now that kris (with his jason mraz-y vibe but unfortunate dull personality and dumb slant-mouth) actually made it to the finale i can relax ('cause realistically there's no way he's gonna be able to beat adam). but i think i did pretty good in my predictions and top picks this year... i mean, of course i had adam way down on the list, but kris and allison did very well.

still, i am just a little bit excited about the finale because either way (good or horrific) adam will be a trip, and with kris in there instead of gokey at least we'll get some variety and even a chance of a really cool performance, so go kris!

#247 - the awesomeness that is dollhouse... and some other awesomeness as well

OH MAN! HOW AWESOME IS THIS?!? a hand-held NES! this one is going straight to the top of my wishlist... heck, i might just buy it already (although i am a little concerned that the A and B buttons are in a vertical configuration... not liking that actually). but this is just one of the most awesome things i will be bringing you today.

well, what do you know? i'm feeling a little generous, possibly because summer is about to start and i'm very much looking forward to some free days (i've already got a vigorous non-schedule of surfing, workouts, tennis, swimming, etc. anticipated) so today's blog is going to explore all the things that are awesomely great right exactly now:

1. dollhouse -
joss whedon is so much the man. how awesome is this show? super awesome. how many super awesome things are there about dollhouse? tons! along with the always fantastic writing from joss whedon, the cast is great, in addition to the hottie up there, pretty much all the women are gorgeous and just recently they added another joss whedon alumni (from firefly)...alan tudyk as the main villian (the crazy, schizo villian, which is always fun). they also revealed that amy acker (joss whedon alum from angel)who we all thought was the dollhouse doctor, is actually a doll! wooooooooooo!

2. the big bang theory - man, i've been so surprised at how much i like this show. i just started watching it this year after mostly blowing it off since it actually began and i can't believe it, but i find myself laughing just as much as i laugh at the office, huh. i think it's because i relate to sheldon, i think in an extreme world i might probably be that guy, haha, i'm not that bad though, still, i understand. also, i kinda like the clothes they wear on that show, i mean, a few of their shirts are on thinkgeek.com and so it's my kind of style, haha. it's a bit scary, but i understand a lot of their nerd jokes and i'm not sure, but i think i might be a nerd too...

3. snl - ha, good stuff

hmm... if that doesn't work, try this link

4. tennis - hey tennis is great! who knew? our mixed doubles season is over now, and sure i came out 2-2, but i had fun, it was lax, all my partners were a lot of fun and i was lucky to have fun opponents too. y'know i've been taking tennis lessons for so long and at least when i was in high school i had a good reason for taking them (i was on a high school team), but after i restarted when i graduated from undergrad i felt kind of dumb because i really wasn't playing competitive at all, so now that i'm actually on a team and playing real games i feel little more justified (and not so completely embarrassed that i'm still taking lessons with like, high school kids). but since i'm playing mostly alongside and with beginners they're a whole lot more fun than more serious players so i'm seeing the fun side, and not worrying about sucking too much and making tons of errors anymore (plus, post-match beer-fests are great as well).

5. volleyball - well, volleyball is almost over too, but i had a lot more fun this year than last. since i don't get to play AT ALL besides during the season, i've found that my skills have gotten better over this season especially and that makes it a lot more fun when you're not completely shanking balls all over the place. but also there's less crabby old people playing, or maybe they've just loosened up this year, either way that's been more fun too.

6. being active - i think i'm in a good mood just because i've been able to be more active recently... doing something physically strenuous every single day definately heightens my mood significantly. and since the weather's actually been hot it's been real easy to get out there and do something. i really hope this continues, but one thing i definately need more sleep! every night i tell myself to go to bed earlier but it never happens, ugh.

7. american idol? i dunno about this one... we'll see what happens tonight, but i just can't get behind this season. and now tonight they're only singing two songs each instead of three? seriously, who's completely dropping the ball here? well, at least tonight i have time to blog in full, so here goes:

- danny gokey - damn, paula's picks always SUCK! she likes those upbeat or jazzy type songs that pretty much anyone with any kind of voice could sing and not really have to be a good singer (probably because those are the only kind of songs she can sing, ha). junk song, junk performance. he still comes off as an ass on tv, he thinks he's hot snip up there on the stage.

- kris allen - much better song for kris. did he really need to play the piano? looks like he's got someone else playing along with him and he doesn't look so comfortable... more like squished. oops, he can't hit the high notes either. not so great, sounded like the original, only junker. uh oh, he better have a good last song. yow, kara's got claws.

- adam lambert - okay, i really liked the first 45 seconds or so... then he took of the microphone and out came the whiny-girlie voice, and it was all downhill from there (and with him, once things go "downhill," man it's a damn steep hill). if he would only sing like he did during that first part for the rest of the song i could actually root for him, but he can't, so i won't.

- danny gokey pt. 2 - sucked. y'know, when he said the title, i actually thought it was a fantastic song choice for him, but then somehow he managed to turn the arrangement into a gospel/praise song and then it was generic, boring and sucky. still sounds like an ass.

- kris allen pt. 2 - okay, i heard a rock version of heartless (by the fray) on the radio last week and i really liked it... so here's hoping kris does something along the same lines... well, i did like it, but he definately could've used some instrumental or vocal back-up there. in fact, i think it would've been pretty hot with some added strength behind it, but it just fell kinda short without it. still, i'm voting for him for the final.

- adam lambert pt. 2 - ah, okay, i've been waiting for him to do aerosmith, and cryin'? great choice. aw crap. i liked it. dammit. well, that is a performance i can vote for though (aside from the sneers). if he does rock like this (and NOT the girly/gay stuff), then he might be okay after idol. thank you simon for taking some realism into account, yes, shut the other three up please.

ps - where's american idol rap week? i've been waiting for that... let's see some busta rhymes.

oh, okay, so let's get rid of gokey finally and have kris and adam in the final... that'd be okay by me.

#246 - aww crap

aww crap, allison's out.

i really wished danny would've gotten out, cause i don't want to see him for two more weeks, but i'm really glad that kris is still in. i thought for sure he was gonna be out. and if that hideous scream of danny's still couldn't get him out, then what will? it'll be between danny and adam and then who the crap am i gonna root for? i might have to root for adam! *shiver*

also, can paula be any more full of herself?

also, was that no doubt performance prerecorded?

also, what the crap is up with idol? geez.

but, now that idol is winding down, it's time to start thinking about so you think you can dance... did you see the commercials? even though this show can be super-gay, i gotta say that the talent is so much better when you compare it to idol. i mean, EVERYONE on so you think you can dance can really dance, no so with the singing on idol. plus, i love hip-hop/breaking stuff, that's damn cool.

also, i'm super bummed that allison got out! how awesome was her last song though? right?

#245 - problems with idol

i am sacrificing a little bit of sleep tonight because i just came home from cinco de mayo night at kiyomi's house and re-watched idol... and man i'm having such a hard time liking idol this year, and i'm not an idol hater, i WANT to like idol, but they're making it very hard for me this year. i'm not quite sure where idol went wrong, because last year was easily my favorite of all seasons, but i think it may start with idol getting rid of producer nigel lythgoe (he's also that third judge on so you think you can dance?). now, i don't know what a "producer" does, exactly, but i'm under the impression that they're pretty much in charge of how they want the show to run, and that whole "running of the show" is what this year lacks in spades. let's list them:

- 4 judges = 3 useless ones + simon. it's bad enough that we had randy before, then at least paula could be the trainwreck that she is and it would just be funny, then simon could come in and give a real opinion. but now we've got useless randy, then kara using horny analogies to butter up her favorites to the point where her opinion is now completely devoid of merit, paula trainwrecking it up as usual, and now simon has to spend all his time commenting on the stupidity of the judging table to even start with the contestants. it didn't work with the celebrity judges, it doesn't work now. also, can we quit it with the hyperbole already? geez, i don't need three dumbasses yelling at how great everyone is each week, it gets old doesn't it? give your opinion, your critique, and move on.

- overtime again. seriously, so first you can't get the show to end in under an hour with only 8 contestants. then you don't let all the judges speak in order to save time and still can't end under an hour. then you don't let the contestants sing two songs like they normally do when it's down to the top 5 and can't get it to end under an hour. then when it's top 4 they can only sing one song and a duet (count that, it's 6 total songs) and still can't end in under an hour? really?! (sounds like a topic for "really!? with seth and amy").

- duets. hate it. save the duets for the exhibition after the competition is over (like how they usually do on the last results show after the finale). this is just retarded. of course adam and allison are gonna kill danny and kris doing a duet on rock week, geez. c'mon, this is still a competition right? am i going to vote for a pair? no, i vote for only ONE person, and only ONE person wins. boo, idol.

okay, so with that out of the way, let's get down to the contestants:

1. adam lambert - can he sing well? yes. does he suit rock? yes, glam rock. do i want to listen to him? no. will i vote for him? no.

2. allison iraheta - good job, but of course she was gonna do well during rock week. i can't believe kara suggested "another little piece of my heart," could you be anymore generic? i think they should start retiring some songs from the idol songlists already. so yay allison, i will vote for her.

duet #1 - crapfest. great song, but sucks as a duet and totally did not match the dueters. remember when chris daughtry did it awhile back? that was believable, this one not so much.

3. kris allen - i really like this song, but i liked it when carly smithson sang it last year (i kinda regret not buying that one on itunes). this version was crap. but of course kris is not a rock singer, but he did it in his own laid back kinda way which i thought was pretty cool, but not up to par. still, i like his style and i hope he sticks around next week so i will vote for him.

4. danny gokey - EPIC FAIL! hey, remember when michael johns sang this last season and then was quickly booted off the show? yeah, i remember that. think it'll happen this time? i doubt it, but i hope so. this guy still comes off as a douchebag, he might not be, but that's how he seems on tv. no vote.

duet #2 - of course adam and allison make a great pair for rock week, but what a craptacular song, like i told everyone tonight, there's a reason why "slow ride" is the first song you play on guitar hero...

so all in all, i hope danny gets kicked off this week. that being said, they're all good singers and i don't mind seeing any of the four for two more weeks through the finale (even adam, even though i don't like him, at least he provides a foil and a point of conversation). who i would like to see get booted this week is the producer in charge of managing this show, seriously, dude, you've got to be able to do better than this.

also, did anyone else see those two amigos with the sombreros in the audience sitting behind simon? awesome!

#244 - 24/7 live

sunday night i went to my last 24/7 dance production. my youngest cousin is graduating high school this year so she's the last one to go and watch. it's actually been a pretty cool experience going to watch the two of them dance. when they were little they were in a real cutsey-type of dance school so they did cute kinda of dances for the grandmas and parents, but when they got older they joined 24/7 danceforce and man that has been an eye-opening experience.

first of all, those 24/7 people seriously just dance all day every day. that's like their lives, completely, i don't know how my cousins balanced that and high school, but i give them credit because they kept both up pretty well. secondly, 24/7 is much less for the grandparents and much more a "contemporary" dance kinda thing... meaning the guys dance like girls, the girls bare skin, and the guys bare even more skin. it's gross. like sometimes they don't have enough background girl dancers (or something, maybe the guys just like to dance the girl parts) so they have one or two guys dress up like girls and dance the same way, it's so distracting.

i mean, i actually do like it when the guys dance like guys, like the hip-hop stuff is cool and the b-boy stuff is damn cool, but unfortunately that's way more the exception rather than the rule. which is too bad, because they do the hip-hop stuff really well, but they LOVE to do those contemporary dances, y'know, the kind where they dance twice as fast as the music, like they look all spastic dancing to slow songs, that kind.

one thing i gotta hand to them though, even though it's super gay, it's a damn production! music, lights, video, group choreography, even transitions between numbers, everything is pretty awesomely put together. this time they had a live band and live singers instead of taped music, a cool idea, and even more surprisingly the band and singers (most of them) were pretty darn good too.

anyway, it's an eye opening experience for sure. it's just a totally different crowd from what i'm used to. i mean, growing up a school-teacher's kid, and having a whole bunch of school-teacher kids as friends, and now working around nothing but school-teachers has given me a pretty naive and nerdy social network, so going to something like this totally lets me see a different group of people. a super gay different group of people, but fun nonetheless. i mean, where else can i go watch my cousin dance (pretty awesomely i might add) and also see about 5 guys with mohawk-mullets just walking around during intermission? seriously, their hair was like a foot tall at least, it was awesome (in a very creepy way). also, i don't see any of those school-teachery type of girls either, they're a more trendy type of girls that i don't get to meet often (except you have to be careful because they're probably all in high school, haha). plus, just sitting around outside the theater waiting for my cousin to come out to give her a lei is entertaining in itself... the number 1 thing over-heard at the 24/7 performance:

"you did so good, you weren't just a backstreet boy, you were nsync!"

haha, a different experience, for sure.

#243 - wash

one more episode of dollhouse left... and it's been a great (but short season). i've always thought that topher had some elements of wash in his lines (great joss whedon writing) and lo and behold, who shows up as a guest actor last friday? wash! wash from firefly. and i was thinking "alright! another former joss whedon actor, but too bad he's just a bit part, i'd like to see him on for more episodes than just one." and what happens? lo and behold he turns out to be alpha... did not see that one coming. good stuff.

okay, so if you haven't been watching dollhouse... then go away, i don't like you. i mean, then you won't have a clue what i'm talking about but that's okay, maybe that will spur your curiosity and you'll start watching, well tough luck there's only one episode left, haha, serves you right for not watching it earlier. i mean, then you can get hooked now and watch reruns later.

in other news... i had to wait all the way from november to may, but finally the weather is hot enough and the skies clear enough to spend a great surfing day at the beach! seriously, this is the first time since october that i've gone surfing and i wasn't freezing my ass off cold. and it was a spectacular first day back too, the sky was clear blue, which made the water sparkling clear, i must've been about a dozen turtles, the wind was calm so the surf was clean as well. and it was decent sized, a bunch of shoulder-high rides and some sets that were probably head-high (well, my head-high, which is shoulder-high for other people). so i guess this year we skipped spring and went straight from winter to summer huh? seems like.

also, this is the first saturday in about two months that i've been free too. i mean, i've been having tennis each saturday, which has been great, by the way, i'm so glad i'm getting the opportunity to actually play competitively, with fun, non-intensely-pressured people, i just gotta get that confident mentality back in my head. i never really was much of a "gamer," i tend to choke much more often than i come up clutch. it's so frustrating, i had a match a week ago and i totally choked hard. it was like when i was trying to keep the ball in it would hardly reach the bottom of the net and then when i tried to swing out it's go soaring for the back fence. like i know i gotta keep swinging through to get that spin on the ball, but my arm always wants to slow down when i need to be accelerating. it's completely mental. in practice i can hit every ball in, but come game time it's like i forget how to even swing the racket. and especially since i play with mostly beginners i'm always hitting soft balls or little dinks and it kills me that i can barely keep my shots in the court! haha, but that's what it's all about isn't it? good practice for me to keep focused and keep my mind straight. days like today really help with that... sun, surf, kua'aina avocado burgers for lunch and i'm all good. i definately need a lot more of these in the future, gotta clear my head, let the junk stuff be washed away and come up clean.