Entries from February 2007 ↓

Tonight over dinner, Katherine asked me if I'd noticed anything unusual about the front door. I asked if she'd made a decoration that was hanging on the door. "Yes," she said. I told her that I would look at it after dinner.

What I found was an erasable slate hanging from the doorknob with, as best I can tell, the following:

   T
T2I04H
 I  S

I told her that it was very impressive, and asked her what it said.

"Night is the beautifulest," she said proudly and went off to play.

Scratch one charismatic old guy from the roster. Unlike John O'Hurley, George Hamilton and Jerry Springer, Vincent Pastore has decided that the rigorous training needed for the dancing program is too much for him, and he's bailing out.

Master P, you listening?

Word from producer Nigel Lythgoe is that Antonella Barba will not be kicked off the show for her dirty pictures. If you listen carefully you can hear Frenchie Davis swearing.

The decision is an interesting one. You have to figure that either they're thinking she's a bad enough singer that she'll be gone this week anyway, or else they're thinking that now she'll survive much longer than she should have since people will be voting for her in the hopes of more pictures coming out. Nigel even mentioned that AI is just as much a popularity contest as a singing contest. So did he tip his hand there? He expects her to last a few weeks now?

More American Idol stories…

Technorati: American Idol

Was I hearing things Monday night, or did Robin actually tell Lilly not to "go all Prisoner's Dilemma on me" when she was about to confess something about Marshall's car? The line was delivered so quickly and quietly, with no reaction at all, that I'm left wondering if I just misheard it and the geeky part of my brain filled in the rest.

Prisoner's Dilemma, for those who've never heard of it, is something of a logic game where you have to figure out the optimal strategy for winning over time. The general idea is that two prisoners have been sentenced, and are offered a deal – if one of them betrays the other, then he goes free and the other one gets 10 years. If they both betray each other, they both get 2 years. But if they both stay silent, they both get 6 months. So it's a cooperation game. If they both go for the benefit that is best for them (potential freedom by turning the other guy in), then they both lose and end up with 2 years. But if they both stay silent, knowing that they could be on the hook for up to 10 years, they could end up winning and getting out with just 6 months.

Since the game is about betraying and not just about confessing, I'm not really sure that Robin's prisoner's dilemma reference was accurate. Anybody? Did I just imagine it?

Update: It was still on my Tivo, and yes that's absolutely what she said: "Don't you go all prisoner's dilemma on me." So hey, if one of the writers of this episode is out there trolling the blogs, I just want to say "Noticed it. Nice."

Have I mentioned lately that my wife likes things grilled? She's all about the year round grilling. Which is fine by me, really, when weather permits. So when she said that we were grilling for dinner tonight it didn't dawn on me until too late that over the last week we've gotten a good foot of snow. I call her on the phone to tell her this while I'm driving home, and she goes over to the porch to survey the situation. "Looks fine," she says.

Looks fine, I come to learn, means that the grill is surrounded by a foot-high snowdrift on all sides. The side facing the house, where I would normally stand, is completely ice due to the gutter dripping down on it. This is going to be fun.

This is a precarious spot. I am standing on an icy hill, sloping down toward an open flame that will soon heat in excess of 500 degrees. This is not terribly smart. So I have perched myself with one foot braced back against the house, and one foot planted up against a wheel of the grill to avoid this happening. It is not a comfortable position, and certainly not the sort of summertime "hang out on the porch with a beer until the chicken's done" kind of time. I carefully step out, position myself so I don't do a faceplant into the flames, check the chicken, and then retrace my steps backwards to the house.

Elizabeth, my 2yr old, has locked me out of the house.

It's a sliding door, you see, which I have closed completely so that the kids who like to stand in the door and watch Daddy will not freeze. It does not take Elizabeth long to experiment with the little foot switch she sees Daddy step on, which locks the door. And, of course, she's incapable of pressing the unlock mechanism. Meanwhile Kerry is upstairs with the baby, I've got a plate in one hand covered in raw chicken bits and another hand with my grill tongs. I try to explain to Katherine, my 4 year old, how to unlock the door but she's not good in tense situations. Finally she just goes to get Kerry, who thankfully does not choose this opportunity to be funny, and lets me back in the house. 🙂

I love apollo anton Ohno!!! i'm so excited i can't wait to watch him Dance!

The biggest surprise of the night ends up being what Fantasia looks like these days.

Read more…

Update: Looking for the lyrics to This Is My Now? That's the original they sang for the final number this year, the one that won the songwriting contest.

How cool is it that they're using a Chris Daughtry song as the exit song this year? It's called "Home", although I'm sure people are going to come looking for it as "Be careful what you wish for" or "I'm going home". (The show picks it up in the middle, right at "I'm going home to the place where I belong…")

I actually have this CD, it's very good. I'm happier with it than I was with Bo Bice's effort.

UPDATE 5/8/2007: People are debating the lyrics in the comments, so I dug up the liner notes that come with the CD. There are as official as you're gonna get! Apparently the lyric sheet does not include every single "So" and "Well" and "Yeah", so I'm leaving those in. And vettegirl was right, it is "remains true".

I'm staring out into the night,
Trying to hide the pain.
I'm going to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.
And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.

I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from,
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
Well I'm going home.

The miles are getting longer, it seems,
The closer I get to you.
I've not always been the best man or friend for you.
But your love remain true and I don't know why.
You always seem to give me another try.

So I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from,
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
I'm going home.

Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all,
And then some you don't want.
Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all, yeah.

Awww, that's a shame. I liked Doug. Well, I like his podcast. I think the show made him look like a cocky idiot. But if they're getting rid of the weepy one, whatever her name was, I suppose that's a good thing.

Sorry to tell you… but DOUG will not be coming back as judge.
Peter Jones will be the only judge returning… with three new judges.
There will be a new host and a whole new production staff… to ensure a POWERFUL…. season TWO. Auditions are presently starting and the show will air in JULY! Here is praying from another entertaining show!
GOOD LUCK AI!