TV, TV & more TV

Haven’t been to sleep before 1am since Gideon has been away (well, apart from last night). Back to old habits – how fickle. It’s strange, I’m both bored and restless (probably reflected in the length and directionless ambiance of this blog entry), it’s as if there is slightly less incentive to do things, including sleep… go figure. I hate being dependant on anyone, but I think I sorta am at the moment. I guess it doesn’t help that I can’t really keep myself busy catching up with people – usual remedy for feeling a little down.


Tonight was going to be a big night. I was going to go to the monthly Dance Social, and dance and socialise (what else do you do at a dance social?). It was also going to be my first time driving on the roads in a manual. I ended up chickening out. :( I’m using the weather as an excuse. :p

I think today has been my first experience of real proper monsoon weather here. The skies turned a dark grey just after lunch and it has been storming, windy and raining consistently since the middle of today. My sneakers were mini pools by the time I got home. It really hasn’t stopped since after lunch. Will have to check the 24 hour rainfall tomorrow morning. They are saying that there is a chance of a cyclone this weekend… I really hope not. The idea of hiding out in the windowless stuffy shoebox storeroom is not at all appealing. Anyway, I figured that having to concentrate on the wet roads and the heavy rain was probably a bit much on top of having to remember how to change gears at the same time. Might give it a go in the next few days instead.


Tomorrow will try and make an effort to go to Casuarina to do some window shopping, and must go to the post office to pick up a mystery parcel that has turned up. Very cool!

What I have done in the last week is watch a lot of TV. Monday night was a very busy night. Not only were the Oscars on, but some DVD’s from my sister arrived in the mail. So during the ads and the boring bits, I managed to fit in the final two episodes of American Idol and some of the finale of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD). TV heaven, in the land of Gayle. Here is my wrap up of a very long night!


The Oscars:


Was a pretty good show mostly. Ellen was a reasonable host. Mostly told jokes that people understood (unlike Letterman) and didn’t seem to offend too many people. Has she had work done? There were a couple of slightly off kilter jokes that didn’t work, eg. The vacuum cleaner.


Highlights for me were:
1. The Start, introducing every single one of the nominees was a really classy and fun way to start;
2. Alan Arkin, the dark horse winning best supporting actor for Little Miss Sunshine;
3. Little Miss Sunshine winning best original screenplay *Yay*;
4. Al Gore
5. Melissa Etheridge (she’s starting to look old!) winning for best song, beating no less than 3 songs from Dream Girls and the token Randy Newman song – and I did think it was the best song.


And of course it wouldn’t really be an Oscars night without talking about the fashion! There weren’t any real shockers for a change, although I have to say that I quite disliked what Gwyneth was wearing, and the annoying one sided hair in her face when she was presenting.

I thought Helen Mirren looked gorgeous and classy, and very suitable for the Best Female Actor.

Jodie Foster was a surprise, she looked about 25 years old and the dress was quite nice apart from the bit under the bust. Usual honourable mentions were Nicole Kidman(although maybe that big bow was a bit contentious), Kate Winslet and Kelly Preston. Must also give a special mention to Robert Downey Jnr for looking extremely sexy. Reece Witherspoon looked stunning, if not a bit on the too skinny side.

But my favourite of all, and it seems to be the same almost every year, was Cate Blanchett – she is pure class.

American Idol:


We have just finished watchin Season 5, and in America they are already down to their finalists in Season 6. Geez we are behind. Having not seen much of the rest of season 5, it is difficult to comment. And yet, why not? One thing is obvious, that is the talent in the US Idol is definitely higher than Oz Idol. I guess they have many more star struck wannabes to pick from. Of the top 3, Elliot was probably my favourite – very soulful white boy…although fairly dorky and not so much stage presence. He only came 3rd. The guy who won, Taylor Hicks, was somewhat unconventional, especially for a US audience – looks a bit like a 40 year old accountant – I guess he won the hearts of the viewers with his personality, but I didn’t find him completely convincing unfortunately.

SYTYCD:


I had already looked up the results on the net, so it probably wasn’t as exciting as it should have been. Still it was cool see some of the dances I had missed, and some of the awesome ones that I really wanted to see again (still can’t get over that Mambo by Benji and Heidi). What amazing talent. I challenge anyone to start watching the next series and not get hooked. And it doesn't hurt that there is a very cute judge on the panel (Dan Karaty - who incidently had a cameo on Music & Lyrics).But seriously, learning one type of dance is difficult enough, but having to perform professionally in everything from Paso Doble to disco to hip hop with the energy they have, is just amazing. And my favourite won! Go Benji! Always nice to have a happy ending. However, I question whether “winning” a year’s contract dancing in Las Vegas in the Celine Dion show is really all that good. Surely there are better gigs?


Oh. And must make special mention that Dancing with the Stars is back on. Love it. But Darryl Sommers… is he for real??