Mother's Day is just a few days away, people. And for those of you still looking for that perfect Mother's Day gift, I highly suggest you head over to Proflowers pronto.
Is mom the crafty type? Loves to knit or crochet or needlepoint? How about a Stitch 'n' Bitch book?
Got a Jewish mother or mother-in-law who loves to cook? (That, by the way, is a rhetorical question.) Get her the "Nosh Now, Kvetch Later" kitchen apron.
And for the mom who has fond memories of drinking Champagne out of a shoe, consider the Domestic Diva Monogram Wine Shoe, which is a whole lot more sanitary.
As for me, all I want for Mother's Day is for my daughter to clean her drawers and closets (which are stuffed with doodled-on papers, gum wrappers, broken toys, and odds and ends) and refrain from complaining while I am awake. And, okay, maybe some dark chocolate-covered strawberries or a few really good dark chocolate truffles. (It's like he named them just for me. ;-)
On the other hand, I am a bit concerned about my growing fondness for Ke$ha...
I totally ♥ Ke$ha's "Your Love Is My Drug."
Ditto LaRoux's "Bulletproof," which is so 1980s New Wave/Techno Pop (i.e., totally awesome):
But just because I like the same music as my daughter, have the occasional shot of vodka before 5 p.m.*, dream of chucking it all and running off to Australia, and haven't changed out of my pajamas in four days** doesn't mean I'm having a mid-life crisis, does it?
Though my daughter thought I was kidding*** when, after she jokingly suggested that the spouse and I would fight over custody if we ever got divorced, I replied there would be no fight. The spouse could have her -- and she could come visit me once a month. (Seriously, is there a vaccine you can get to protect your sanity from teenagers? If so, sign me up.)
*Like you haven't. **The part about the PJs? Kidding! At least this week. ***Of COURSE, I was -- for those of you, who, like MY mother (who just wrote me a chastising note) thought I was serious.
Whether you are a Frank Sinatra fan or not (I'm in the former camp), ya gotta admit that Ol' Blue Eyes had a way with a song. The American Idol Season 9 contestants? Not so much. But with so many great Frank Sinatra songs to choose from and Harry Connick, Jr. as mentor, I am hoping the Top 5 make this a very good week. (For sure Aaron Kelly should benefit from this week's theme. Casey James? Not so much. Though I may be pleasantly surprised.)
Anyway, boys and girls, this is how it's done.
Btw, Harry Connick, Jr. and Frank Sinatra are far from the only ones to sing Jerome Kerns/Dorothy Fields' standard, "The Way You Look Tonight." It was originally sung by Fred Astaire in the movie Swing Time and has since been covered by many great artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Bublé, and Kris Allen.
And now, Sinatra fans, let the crooning (and judging) commence!
(Speaking of judges, what is up with Simon Cowell's man cleavage tonight?! Yikes.)
First up, Harry Connick, Jr. Did he really need to take a swipe at Shania Twain? Hasn't she suffered enough? But kudos to Connick for truly getting hands-on with the contestants, arranging the songs for them. And I love that he brought some of his band with him.
Now for the contestants...
Aaron Kelly: "Fly Me to the Moon" is a great song, but I don't think it was a great song choice for Aaron. Seemed too much of a reach (too high?) for him, and he was a bit off key. Kara DioGaurdi was right, it was good -- good enough to keep Aaron around for another week -- but it wasn't as good as Aaron's performance last week. Our grade for Aaron Kelly: B+
Casey James: Will it be "Blue Skies," nothing but blue skies, for Casey this week? Or will America rain on his parade? I'm thinking the latter right now. Connick created a good arrangement, for himself, not so much for Casey. And I agree with Randy Jackson that it was Casey's worst performance to date. It just didn't work. And no way are the judges going to criticize the arrangement, which was the problem. Our grade for Casey James: C+ (which is being nice, cause we are 90 percent sure Casey is going home tomorrow)
Crystal Bowersox: So will the "Summer Wind" blow favorably Crystal's way? Me thinks so. WHAT DID RANDY JUST SAY?! Was he listening to the same performance?! KINDA LIKED IT, Kara?! JUST OKAY, Simon?! Aaaaaiiiieeee. Well, I loved Crystal's performance of "Summer Wind." I thought it was beautiful and understated, and that she totally blew away the competition. The kid and I give Crystal Bowersox an A-, but the spouse gives her a B (boo).
Michael Lynche: Forget "The Way You Look Tonight"(and the hat). It's how you sound tonight that matters. And once again, I'm just not feeling Big Mike. Not a bad performance, just totally predictable, plodding, and not special. Yawn. ("It didn't have balls," said the spouse.) Good thing for Michael that Casey sucked and the judges loved it (though clearly we weren't listening to the same performance and when Simon hears the playback, he's going to change his opinion). Our grade for Michael Lynche: B
Lee DeWyze: So Harry Connick, Jr.'s wife thinks Lee is hot. Awkward. Though I kinda agree with her. ;-) Lee's take on "That's Life"? Best. Performance. Of. The. Night. And Lee sang it without a fedora. (Take that, Michael Lynche.) Our grade for Lee DeWyze: A ("He didn't blow it out of the water," said the spouse, but we all agree it was the best performance of the night and may have been Lee's best performance period.)
That's all for tonight, hep cats. Will be back with the results tomorrow. J-TWO-O out.
UPDATED 05/05/10: I'm sorry. Did someone forget to email me the memo about American Idol changing its name to The Harry Connick, Jr. Show? And believe me, it is pretty hard to upstage Lady Gaga (especially in that outfit), but somehow Connick did it. (Snark aside, I wouldn't mind catching his show when it comes to Broadway this summer.) 9:52: First shock of the night, Casey was NOT in the bottom two. Whoa. (I was sure Casey and Aaron were going to be in the bottom two this week.) 9:55: Not a shocker, Aaron's going home. Until next week, when we get to hear "Songs of the Cinema"...
UPDATED 05/07/10: Apparently Lady Gaga is crying like a baby over the fact that Fox/American Idol producers cut her air time Wednesday, splicing together her performance of "Bad Romance" and "Alejandro," mostly editing out the former. You can read all about it, as well as link to the uncut version, here.
As many of you know, I am a HUGE New York Mets fan -- and have been for longer than I would like to print. (Let's just say I remember when Tom Seaver was traded.) And unlike certain fair weather fans (e.g., the spouse, Craig Carton), I REFUSE to root for the New York Yankees when my team is struggling.
Sure, I'll turn off the TV when, say, Mets pitching ace Johan Santana gives up a grand slam after walking the pitcher, causing my Mets to lose to the Phillies 11-5. But that doesn't mean I won't be watching the game the following night (and praying that Ollie Perez doesn't have to be relieved in the third or fourth inning).
Anyway, getting back to this morning's post, every weekday morning the spouse and I wake up to Boomer & Carton on WFAN. And this morning we were fortunate enough to catch producer Al Dukes' latest Mets song, "I See Ollie, I See Maine," sung (and I use that word loosely) to the tune of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain." And truly, this may be Al Dukes' best Mets pitcher song EVER.
WFAN's Al Dukes' "I See Ollie, I See Maine":
Let us just hope that it lights a fire under Mets pitcher John Maine, like Al's last Maine song did, and that Maine wins one for the Mets tonight in Cincinnati.
All hail the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín! For without the good general and his army, there would be no Cinco de Mayo and, more importantly, no good reason for millions of Americans to get drunk in the middle of the week (at least this year)!
What's that I hear my Mexican readers saying? Cinco de Mayo is barely acknowledged, let alone a holiday, in Mexico? That it is, rather, a United States-based celebration of our Mexican neighbors to the South, those long-forgotten heroes who drove the French from Mexico (much like Saint Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland), who now the good people of Arizona are doing their darndest to prevent from crossing our borders -- the very same people who celebrate Cinco de Mayo every year with a festival and chihuahua races?!
Well, I'll be.
FYI, apparently Chandler, Arizona, isn't the only place celebrating Cinco de Mayo with the annual running of the chihuahuas. Petco sponsors several of these races (and not just on Cinco de Mayo), including this one:
(You can see this year's Chandler Chihuahua Race here.)
For other ways to properly celebrate Cinco de Mayo, watch this helpful how-to (or Howcast) video titled "How to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo":
This week was, like, freaky animals week in the news. First, we had the story of Einstein, or "My Little Pony," as my friend and fellow blogger Dave S. referred to the tiny pinto -- or "half-pinto." Only 14 inches tall and weighing just 6 pounds at birth a week ago, Einstein may very well be the world's smallest horse. Or, if not the smallest, definitely the cutest.
Then yesterday, I read about the tale (tail?) of Darius, the 4'3", 50-pound rabbit. (Though really the owner, an Englishwoman who had herself surgically transformed into the live-action version of Jessica Rabbit, should have called him "Harvey.")
Darius holds the Guinness World Record as world's biggest rabbit (based on his length), but he is only 13 months old and is still growing. YIKES!
And what do you give a 50-pound rabbit to eat? Anything he wants! But seriously folks, Darius eats 12 carrots, six apples and two cabbages a day (and possibly the neighbor's dog).
All I can say is the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog has got nothing on Darius. (And no, J-THREE-O, you can not have a bunny.)
Wishing you all a hoppy weekend! (Mint Julep anyone?)
It took me a few viewings (and, okay, the spouse saying "it's an ad for Weber grills") to realize this ad was for Weber grills*, I was so distracted by all the dancing and the booty-shaking song playing in the background:
For the record, we have both a Weber gas grill and a Weber charcoal grill, but neither, despite the delicious food they produce, has had me dancing around our deck or slapping a spatula on my booty.
UPDATED: I love how on the Weber Grills page on Facebook fans have posted pictures of their Weber grills -- just the grills. Smokin'.
I started this blog to amuse myself, my friends, and my family. If you are not amused, just click on some other blog. You got millions to choose from. If you are amused, spread the word -- and the link! To contact me, send an email to moodyqt33 [at symbol] hotmail.com.
Mother's Day is just a few days away, people. And for those of you still looking for that perfect Mother's Day gift, I highly suggest you head over to Proflowers pronto.
Got a Jewish mother or mother-in-law who loves to cook? (That, by the way, is a rhetorical question.) Get her the "Nosh Now, Kvetch Later" kitchen apron.
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