Archives for March 2009

March Madness: Now With Even More Crazy!

15 March 2009 by

It’s been a fun few days at our house, what with having my sister-in-law and nephews here for a visit, making a trip to Five Guys, seeing The Gabe Dixon Band and The Dave Barnes in concert and celebrating a certain little boy’s birthday.

But today was mighty special, too, because our beloved MSU Bulldogs played the Tennessee Volunteers for the SEC basketball tournament championship, which means that you cannot imagine the level of enthusiasm that was on display in our living room between noon and 2:30 central. It got so lively during the last twenty minutes of the game that I kept feeling like I needed to be closer to the TV, JUST A LITTLE BIT CLOSER, so I hopped off the couch and sat on the living room rug with my face about ten inches away from the screen. I clapped and yelled so loudly that at one point the little man asked if me I could please try to be more quiet, and I responded by saying, “BABY, YOU KNOW THAT MAMA HAS A SPECIAL BRAND OF CRAZY THAT COMES OUT WHEN THE BULLDOGS PLAY BASKETBALL.”

I feelt that it’s better to be up front about these things since my crazy is in fact his heritage. His precious, blessed heritage.

Anyway, sitting with my nose pressed up to the TV was all worth it in the end because I’ll be doggone diggity if we didn’t beat those Vols and win the tournament and secure a spot in the NCAA tournament as a result.

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photo by The Associated Press

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HAPPY THIS MAKES ME?

So the Bulldogs are headed to Portland to play the University of Washington this Thursday (any of you in Portland? any of you Washington fans? any of you scared by the level of my obsession?), and I’m headed back to the living room to watch today’s game one more time before I go to bed.

I think it’ll be even better this time since I know the outcome and won’t suffer from the hand-wringing anxiety and crippling nausea that characterized the first go-round. But by the same token, I cannot wait for the hand-wringing anxiety and crippling nausea that’s in store for me this Thursday when we square off against Washington.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Filed Under: Beloved Bulldogs

But I’m Sure It Was Perfectly Hysterical

12 March 2009 by

Not that anybody actually, you know, CARES, but I’m not doing an “Office” recap tonight because, well, I haven’t watched it yet. My sister-in-law and my nephews are visiting us for a few days, and we are very busy having all manner of fun, not to mention that we have big plans to celebrate a very special birthday AND watch lots of SEC tournament basketball.

I am understandably delighted.

And now I must go to bed.

Have a great Friday, y’all!

Filed Under: Rambling

Engraved Euniques Giveaway Winner

12 March 2009 by

The winner of the Engraved Euniques giveaway is…

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…commenter #260 – votemom.

Thanks so much for your great participation, everybody!

Filed Under: Rambling

American Idol, Top 13

10 March 2009 by

So as you can imagine I’m a little eh about the whole Michael Jackson theme night. I get that he’s written and recorded lots of great songs, but I’m just a little tired of them. However, I’m willing to deal with the MJ theme, because I just got to watch a super-cheesy introduction of the judges and Ryan Seacrest, and that, THAT IS WHAT MAKES THIS SHOW SO WORTH IT.

Anyhoo. Here we go.

Lil Rounds – “The Way You Make Me Feel” – I have never in my life thought of this song as “sassy,” but I’ll be dadgummed if Lil didn’t make it sassy. It was a little slow, but it was distinctive as all get out. She’s a natural performer – fun, infectious – and I think she could probably sing anything and make it sound good. And I’m going to start praying right now that I get to hear her sing a gospel song before this season is over, oh have mercy.

Scott MacIntyre – “Keep the Faith” – This is a great song choice for him, and he seems much more comfortable behind the piano than he does when he’s performing without it. I don’t think he has the strongest voice in the competition, so he’s going to have to find a way to wow us with originality and stage presence.

[Somebody please make Paula stop talking.]

Danny Gokey – “PYT” – I TRIPLE LOVED the bluesy / soulful take on this song, and I adored his energy. This was the opposite of boring for sure. He has such a fun confidence on stage, and it was a total joy to listen to him. I don’t know any other way to say it.

Michael Sarver – “You Are Not Alone” – He has a beautiful voice, and I think this song was probably a good choice for him (he seems to do well with the Sentimental Ballad). That being said, he seemed to lose his way a little bit in the second half of the song. Plus, I think having to follow Danny was a tough draw. All in all, though, well done.

Jasmine Murray – “I’ll Be There” – This has absolutely nothing to do with the song, but I just want to be perfectly clear that I give her MAJOR style points for tonight’s ensemble. And her lip gloss was perfection. Anyway, I was a little concerned that this song was going to be boring, but she kept it pretty interesting. She was a little screamy on the chorus, but overall she did a really nice job. It’ll be interesting to see how her song selections and performances change as the competition moves forward.

Kris Allen – “Remember The Time” – I wasn’t expecting the John Mayer-ish take on this song, but I loved it. I don’t remember him very much from the auditions, but I just looked over at David and said, “He’s really good!” The guitar seemed sort of unnecessary given the fact that I couldn’t hear it at all, but if it made him more comfortable on stage then I’m all for it. So far he’s the biggest surprise of the night for me.

[Please make Paula stop talking.]

Allison Iraheta – “Give In To Me” – Is it just me or is this song just a smidge inappropriate for a sixteen year-old? Am I being oversensitive about this? You can tell me if I’m being oversensitive. Performance-wise it wasn’t really my thing, but she handled the song well. She definitely stands out from the pack with her edgy style, but it was just a little too rough around the edges for my personal taste.

Anoop Desai – “Beat It” – I so appreciate Anoop’s jacket – it’s a nice little wink to the early 80s. But I have to say that I think he picked the wrong song. This song was always secondary to the dancing that accompanied it, and if you’re not going to put a new twist on it, you’re going to look like an imitation. Anoop has a great voice, and he needs to show it off – but this performance didn’t do him any favors.

Jorge Nuñez – “Never Can Say Goodbye” – I thought this started off okay, but it went downhill fast. I kept expecting for Ryan Seacrest to say, “Ladies and gentlemen – Burt Bacharach!” – because it just felt very dated and sort of like a commercial for one of those KTEL Love Song compilations. Jorge has a really nice voice, but I’m not so sure he’s going to be around much longer for us to hear it.

Megan Joy Corkrey – “Rockin’ Robin” – Okay. Did anybody else think that the arrangement for this song sounded like something the Brady kids would have used when they entered a talent show to win the money to fix the portrait that Jan ruined when she ran into it with her bike? The whole thing just felt a little dated and out-of-touch to me – because there’s no way someone would watch this and think “Oh! Give her a record deal! Right now!” She’s way more talented than this performance showed. AND SHE CAWED AT THE END.

Adam Lambert – “Black & White” – AND THE TONY GOES TO… – oh, sorry. Wrong show. He is so stinkin’ talented, and it’s way obvious that he has tons of stage experience. I’m having a little bit of the same reaction to him that I had to David Cook at first – he just seems to have this whole thing figured out already (his image, his vocal style, etc.), and I feel like I’m trying to play catch-up. He’s a phenomenal entertainer, though – and he has a big ole voice for sure.

Matt Giraud – “Human Nature” – OH COME ON NOW WITH YOUR JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE-ISH VIBE. This was totally modern and original – until the end. Because I thought the ending was weird. I loved seeing him behind the piano, though, and I think of all the people in the Top 13, Matt is the one most likely to record a CD that I’d actually buy. Not that anyone cares, of course, but I just thought I’d share.

Alexis Grace – “Dirty Diana” – There’s no question that she can sing (SANG), but this song feels like it comes to a dead stop when it hits the chorus, and that sort of affected my ability to get into the performance. Plus, it seemed like she overcompensated on the chorus because she knew that it was dragging. So it was a little uneven, but I like her style.

Overall I think this was a mighty fine start to the round of 13 – some really strong, memorable performances, and considering what we have had to endure in past seasons, tonight’s weak links seemed comparatively strong.

What did y’all think? Who’s your pick for the best and not-so-best of the night? Which two do you think will be voted off tomorrow night?

If you’d like to add your American Idol post to the Mr. Linky, please make sure to use the permalink for your post and not your general blog URL.

Filed Under: TV Is My Friend

Linky Interwebby Awesomeness 03.10.09

10 March 2009 by

– Stock market down? Necklines up.

– Rachael Ray is doing something called March Menu Mania (oh, basketball tournament time, I adore you), and the Round 1 competitors have given me some great supper / hearty appetizer ideas.

– I loved this list of spring’s top 10 fashion finds for under $30. And I’m betting we can count on Big Mama to find even more great sources for all of the trends. Just a hunch.

– Beth Moore needs some input from ministers’ wives. So if you qualify, click on over.

Filed Under: Daily Awesome

Jack Bauer’s Going To Be Ticked When He Realizes That He Has To Spring Forward

9 March 2009 by

So right now it’s 9:48 in the PM, only my body thinks it’s 8:48, which means that while my head is thinking, Oh, I should be getting ready for bed, my body is thinking, Do we have any brownies? I think maybe I should make some brownies.

I am resisting the brownies, however. Mainly because we don’t have any brownie mix. But if we did I think we all know that I’d be licking batter off a spoon instead of typing this here post.

Ish-ahs. I got ’em.

I was a little apprehensive about how tonight was going to pan out for me TV-wise since “The Bachelor” is over and Molly and Jason have ridden off into the proverbial reality television sunset (FOR THE TIME BEING), but I have to say that tonight’s offerings did not disappoint. I watched “24,” which is actually really good this season if you’re willing to suspend all disbelief and accept the fact that sure, bad guys sporting jaunty camouflage hats could easily overtake the White House using only a hydraulic drill, a laptop and some assorted weaponry.

And if you completely accept the fact that if the president were located in some sort of safe room within the White House, it would be completely impossible for the vice-president to determine her whereabouts by using one of the six hundred computers at his secure remote location.

(I mean, seriously. The president has been taken hostage and the vice-president is really going to say, “Do we know if she’s in the safe room?”)

(HOW ‘BOUT YOU WALK OVER TO THAT BANK OF COMPUTERS AND SEE IF THE NATIONAL SECURITY CODE TO SEAL THE TITANIUM DOOR OF THE SAFE ROOM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED, CAPTAIN BRILLIANT?)

(I’m sorry. Perhaps I am far too invested in this particular storyline.)

Anyway, I watched the first half of “Dancing with the Stars” before “24,” and I watched the second half after, mainly because I could not wait to see Melissa from “The Bachelor.” If you watched you know that she performed beautifully, and I don’t think there’s any doubt that she’ll make it through to the next round.

However.

I need to say something.

The costume that they made Melissa wear?

WAS HORRIBLE.

I mean, it’s bad enough that she had to go through the final rose ceremony wearing that Dwight Schrutian mustard-colored shift dress, but tonight’s turquoise costume was just flat-out insult to injury.

I couldn’t decide if the sleeves reminded me of lattice or overlapped noodles that had fallen victim to a bedazzler. And then there was the turquoise faux-tattoo nestled in the small of her back that beautifully complimented the complete absence of fabric around her stomach, not to mention the big honkin’ turquoise rose in her hair that reminded me of something Dottie West would have worn on an album cover back in 1974.

Frankly, I just think the girl has been through enough without the fine people at ABC Wardrobe making her look like she’s a contestant in the 1982 Miss America pageant. I honestly wondered for a few minutes if the costume people were so short on time that they made her wear Nancy O’Dell’s costume, but then I decided that couldn’t be the case since Nancy tends to wear shorter skirts AND showing that much stomach would not be appropriate for a hard-hitting journalist from “Access Hollywood.”

However, I do think that Nancy would have totally worn that big turquoise rose – perhaps at the base of a tasteful chignon. Or maybe even as an accent to a sweeping side ponytail. Her hair versatility is quite inspirational, you know.

So now I guess I’m going to get in the bed (it’s 10:39! no! it’s 9:39! WHERE ARE THOSE IMAGINARY BROWNIES?) and pretend like I’m tired and then not sleep and then be completely worn out again tomorrow morning (WHO DREAMED UP THIS TIME CHANGE NONSENSE?).

Hope y’all have fun pretending like you’re tired and then not sleeping, too.

Filed Under: Rambling, TV Is My Friend
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