Ghost Hunters - Live!

It was another Halloween spent with the TAPS team at Fort Delaware. If you have been reading my blog on this, Fort Delaware was where the team saw the figure on thermal cam walk into a hallway, turn around and walk back. Real creepy stuff! This episode was live (on the east coast anyway) on Halloween. I was handing out candy while watching the TV and what self respecting Ghost Hunters fan would I be if I wasn't watching along on the computer as well! The team had a command central set up where fans could send in email questions as well as a "panic button" to press if fans saw something on the cameras via computer. One person emailed that she had seen a pair of disembodied legs crossing the courtyard. Not that it can't happen, but I'm thinking she may have had a bit too much witches brew while watching the show. I only say that because if there was something of that sort caught on tape, J&G usually show it. Speaking of the dynamic duo, they start off the investigation in the tunnels where they saw the figure from before. As they are walking around, you can clearly hear someone say, "you're not supposed to be here", maybe the spirits thought they should be home trick or treating. Next they go to the officer's quarters and hear footsteps and also get responses when Grant makes knocking sounds. They then go to the dungeon where Grant's jacket is clearly seen getting tugged by unseen hands. That was pretty wild when they played it back you could so see it! Just when you get over that, it happens a second time! Grant has the willies now and I can't say that I blame him since it gave me a chill, especially that second time. Steve and Tango go in the dungeon and end up playing with a bat which is kind of strange since Steve is afraid of anything except ghosts. They start getting high EMF readings but debunk them after finding bad wiring. Joe & Kris G along with special guest The Miz of ECW (whoever he is and whatever that is) are in the kitchen where The Miz (couldn't he use his real name for this?) gets bored and starts to provoke the spirits. It doesn't look like it works until Kris gets her jacket pulled (turned out she brushed up against something). There was not a lot of evidence this time, except Grant's jacket and the voice, but still a pretty good show. Jason does pronounce Fort Delaware haunted. Double D

Amazing Race-Bye to Terence and Sarah

First to depart are Nick and Starr at 10:14 pm on their way to Borat country of Kazakhstan.

10:24-Toni and Dallas

10:43- Terence and Sarah

Next to leave Ken and Tina

and lastly at 12:00-Frat boys, Andrew and Dan, gee are they still in it?

Teams are on three different flights with Andrew and Dan alone on the third flight with their only hope of catching up is that at their destination, the teams will have to spend the night and wait for their next challenge to open which is exactly what happens in Kazakhstan. All the teams meet at a chicken factory to look for the golden egg, except for Nick and Starr and Terence and Sarah who vie for the fast forward. Little do they know that they will have to eat a local dish of sheep's butt, yummy! Back at the chicken farm, teams have to look for one of seven golden eggs among 30,000 chickens. One thing I have to say, Kazakhstanian chickens look much happier than American chickens. Happy chickens come from Kazakhstan! Tina, who else? finds the golden egg the first. That team is like a pack of pit bulls, they keep fighting back. Next it's Toni and Dallas. After they find the egg, they have to take a crane truck to find the Mongol Warrior. It seems the crane truck driver doesn't know where to go and the Frat boys drive around Almaty like tourist on a sightseeing mission. Back at the fast forward, we knew Nick and Starr would wolf down that delicious dish in no time. I was so hoping Starr would puke. When Terence saw that it was meat and he's a vegetarian, why didn't they leave right then? They wasted so much time not eating and heaving that they should have left as soon as they saw what it was. I knew Terence the weakling would not be able to do it. Weak! After several lame attempts to swallow sheep's butt (boy my daughter better not complain about her dinners or I might have to make that dish for her, which looked like slimy, slithery, gelatinous, chewy yuck in gravy), Sarah and Terence finally leave the fast forward after Nick and Starr slurp down the dish and win. The next stop is to the Mongol Warrior whose falcon delivers their next clue which is either to act like fools, by dressing up in a cow costume or play like fools, playing instruments for money. Everyone chose wisely by dressing up like fools. Dallas had a little too much fun being the cow, I think he secretly liked that his mother was the cow's rear. Tina made poor Ken the butt of cow of course and plowed straight away her cow head on crooked. When Dallas and Toni made the milk stand, at least Dallas got it right by reading the clue at the bottom of the milk glass, unlike Tina drinking the milk and then didn't read the clue on the bottom of the glass nor did they follow instructions but instead changed their cow outfits, only to find out that they needed to be in costume when they delivered themselves to the butcher. They made some pretty silly mistakes for a team that seemed more savvy than most. Meanwhile, still lost in Almaty, Frat boys are trying to find someone that speaks English. What language do they speak in Kazakhstan? The entire time Frat boys bicker between themselves, like Shrek and Donkey, Tom and Jerry, Frick and Frack, Chip and Dale. Unfortunately for Terence and Sarah going up against Nick and Starr for the fast forward, didn't have a chance to make up time, no matter that the Frat boys goofed by taking a taxi to the pitstop when they were supposed to walk. Terence and Sarah are eliminated but in the end, all is well, as Terence says where ever life takes him, he'll take Visa, I'm mean Sarah! Aw how sweet now, I think there is a sheep's butt dish with Terence's name on it.-Single D

Reality Check-Tuscan Chicken Thighs and Giada's Polenta

Since we have to watch our budget when we go grocery shopping, I have been cooking a lot with chicken thighs and besides, my daughter only likes dark meat. This recipe is simple and quick and a great Sunday dinner.

For the marinade:

4 large cloves of garlic chopped and put in a bowl

1 sprig of rosemary, which I get from my garden, but I make sure I only use the top of the rosemary plant, since I'm sure Henry the chihuahua has peed on the bottom of the plant. Take leaves off stem and roughly chop

1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

the juice on one lemon a couple of pinches of Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

whisk in 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil

pour over chicken and let marinade for an hour

put in oven at 350 for about 1 hour or until done

A perfect companion dish for this chicken is Everyday Italian's chef, Giada Delaurentis's easy polenta recipe:

2 cups of salted (1 teaspoon) water-bring to a boil

stir in 2 tablespoons of butter (she just uses 1, but I think it needs two)

stir in 1 cup of cornmeal (yellow or white, I used white)

continue stirring and cook for about 3-5 minutes, usually when it is starting to get stiff, I remove from heat and quickly spread out in butter 9x11 dish. Let cool slightly and cut into squares.

Put polenta on plate and add chicken with the sauce over the the polenta.

Sheer heaven! I lick my plate every time and my daughter loves it!-Single D

Survivor Gabon-The New Nobag Tribe

Why is it that once someone is saved by blinding siding someone else that person takes full credit for it, case in point, the awesome blindside of Marcus by Crystal's persuasive talking to Susie, who turned out to be the swing vote with Kenny taking full credit for that play. In my opinion, Susie single handily change this game. When the tribes meet for the reward challenge, you had to lift the jaws of Corinne and Charlie off the grass. I thought Charlie would weep copious tears for the loss of Marcus and Corinne was just darn mad. She said Marcus deserved to be in this game more that some other people with Kenny challenging her to name names. Ah that would be anyone from the Fang tribe. The reward challenge is a sling shot golf challenge with Randy going head to head with Matty on how to shot the ball. Randy's got some real control issues. It was a pretty close game and I had to crack up when Kenny was holding Susie so she wouldn't lift off the ground when Professor Bob shot the ball. I wanted the underdogs of Kenny and Crystal to win but a couple of loose cannon shots seals their fate and the new Fang tribe with Matty, Corinne, Sugar, Charlie and Randy end up winning the reward. Poor Matty, he sure looked like he needed this one for his body and for his spirit. Fang is met by a very colorful tribe dressed in bold red for lunch. I have to say, that for being tribal in Africa, this tribe of the BWITI village looked perfectly happy in Eden. Even the children looked happy if not snotty nosed. First each survivor is washed, I'm sure they must really stink and then are treated to a feast and afterward it's a rousing all let loose dance soiree. Randy actually thinks that one of the tribal women is coming on to him, what is he kidding? He's such a jerk. Randy, you're mean, sour, bitter and no woman would want you even if you won a million dollars.

Back at Kota, Kenny catches three fish for Crystal and Susie which makes him feel like a real he- man, bo hunk of the jungle. Professor Bob is chosen to go to exile island by Corinne whose hoping he'll find the idol which he doesn't because Sugar has it. I thought they might plant another one, but the last clue lead to an empty post. Bob gets the idea of making an idol and does a pretty good job of fashioning one out of beads, rocks and wood.

For the immunity challenge it is an individual challenge where Jeff tells the two tribes that they have merged much to the glee of everyone. This individual challenge is to make fire. You would think that Kenny who has been making fire almost everyday would be good at it, but the real contest was between who knew, Sugar and Susie, with Susie winning it. See, I bet in ancient times, it was woman that made fire first! The merged tribe decides to call themselves Nobag that's Gabon backwards as suggested by gamer boy Kenny. The tribe is still split along old tribal sides, with Corinne, Charlie (whose still in mourning for Marcus), Bob and Randy and the other side, Kenny, Crystal, Susie and Matty. It almost seemed like Sugar was going to be the swing vote as each side lobbies to get her to vote their way. Old Kota wants Crystal gone and Kenny trumps up is own personal lame vendetta story to get Charlie out. I can't believe that they would want to get rid of Charlie when Corinne or Randy are the strongest players from Kota. In the end, I was holding my breath to see which way weepy Sugar would vote which proved that her alliance with Fang was still in tact and innocent Charlie was sent into the arms of an awaiting Marcus. Well, at least they will be able to keep each other company at the jury camp which I'm sure is a sweet consolation prize for Charlie. -Single D

Reality Check-The Known or the Unknown

The other day was my daughter's 11th birthday. It seems as she gets older, birthdays are getting harder. No longer are the birthdays, of cake and invite 10 of your closest playmates over. Now it's full blown parties that cost hundreds of dollars and filled with not only buying your kid presents, but also giving out goodie bags for all those in attendance. This year she wanted to go to the Adventuredome here in Las Vegas. We took two of her friends, because that is all my car will safely hold and besides the price of admission is prohibitive. We let her and her friends run the gamut of the theme park, while we waited over foot long dogs that were grossly obscene in length and too much to eat. We sat with the other parents among the gift shops, food court and screaming kids. And finally after 5 hours, several cups of cappuccinos, 2 bottles of water, 3 cokes, and decidedly stinking heartburn from that foot long dog, we decided to call it a day. When I called my daughter to find out where they were, they were at the arcade. When we got there, the girls were delirious with giddiness, not from the rides or eating hot dogs and cokes, but because they had discovered a game that dispensed tickets freely. Tickets that they had collected in big plastic bags. Tickets that they could exchange for prizes. The more tickets the bigger the prizes. I'm like how did you get those tickets? Hopefully by not spending her entire birthday money on stupid arcade games. They rush me to the magical machine and lo and behold, two other kids are pulling tickets out of the magical machine. When they see me, they surreptitiously move away, looking like they had just robbed Fort Knox. We go to the machine, but the machine was empty and there were no more free tickets to be had. Back to the booth, we give the lady our bag of tickets. I know what you're thinking here, I should have told them to give the tickets back, because in the real world isn't that like stealing? The girls knew that they had practically committed a felony with their eyes shifting left and then right, but hey, the girls came across it and seized on it, I guess you could say they were entrepreneurial or at least that's the way I saw it. And besides, after a careful interrogation, I found out that it was her friend that discovered the magical machine and began pulling tickets, not my daughter, she was just an accomplice. I know, I know, that doesn't make it better or right, but I suspect if the booth attendant didn't say anything then we were good to go. And so, after it was all counted out, each girl got the big teddy bear and a good time was had by all.

Now back to the title of this post, the known or the unknown. After the party and several days later on my daughter's real birthday, it was on a Wednesday we gave her her the rest of her birthday gifts. Since she got the theme park party, we really didn't give her many presents, or at least anything she could get excited about. A shirt, a purse, socks, pjs. To this I did feel a little guilty that she didn't get anything on her wish list (it was all electronics). So I went out a bought her an IPOD Nano (to replace her shuffle we bought a couple of years ago). I had a brilliant idea. I told my husband that I would put the ipod in a shoe box. On a piece of paper, I wrote DS game/computer game. On the day of her birthday, I would give her the choice, the shoebox with the unknown or the paper with the game written on it (I told her previously that I would buy her a DS or computer game but that she would have to pick it out since I didn't know what she liked). Now as a kid, what do you think she chose? The known or the unknown? Everyone one I told said she would pick the unknown. My husband thought the unknown. I was hoping she would pick the unknown. That night came the moment of decision. She agonized over it for about 15 minutes. The shoebox was not wrapped, just a plain shoebox. The paper just had the words DS or computer game on it. In the end and to my amazement, she chose the paper. When she asked what was in the box, I said, she'll never know (well at least not until Christmas)!-Single D

Amazing Race-Paint and Numbers In India

The racers leave Bahia House in Delhi, India.

8:55 am-Starr and Nick

9:02-Kelly and Christy-are all their outfits matchy-matchy?

9:10-Dallas and Mom Toni

9:31-Terence and Sarah-hey Sarah those eyeglasses are too small for your face-makes you look like Mr. Magoo's wife.

9:44-Frat boys, Andrew and Dan

& last out of the gate at 9:51-Ken and Tina, still having to do the speed bump for being in last place last leg of the race.

Racers have to find an apartment for their next clue which is to participate in a "Holi Festival". Looks more like a paint ball fight. Here racers have to run through a crowd throwing paint to find a the clue hanging on a stand in the middle of chaos. Starr gets through the crowd relatively unscathed, looks like the participants didn't get the hang of it until they spy Nick standing innocently on the sidelines and pelt him with the powder dye. Next Dallas makes a charge through the crowd like a bull in the rink. Once again, Kelly and Christy make the stupid mistake of not reading or maybe not understanding what the clue said and Kelly brings back each ticket whether it was the right one or not. Each time she ran through the crowd she was hit with so much colored dye that she was black with mixed paint. Again she goes back. About after the fifth time, Christy says lets read the clue again. Uh duh! It did make for funny viewing but I did have to feel for the racers getting all that dye in their mouths, yuck! Three words for Kelly and Christy, stupid, stupid, stupid! They were so covered in paint none of the cabs would take them to their next destination. Tina and Ken make quick work of finding the right ticket but not before some one spills green dye onto Tina's hair. She just lost it and I know she wanted to say much harsher words than she did, but she held back. I would be like, your mother's eat beef!

Next it's on to the bird hospital, where funny Terence makes Sarah go into the bird cage and look under the sand box for the next clue. Sarah is like I'm so sorry birdies. Everyone had to go through the hospital without their shoes, what walk in India without shoes! Meanwhile, Ken and Tina's speedbump is to serve holy water to the thirsty temple goers. Looked like they gave water to the entire nation of India but managed to finish their speedbump in record time. The detour is either Bleary eyed or Teary eyed. Bleary eyed was to follow the power lines and write down the numbers and Teary eyed was to carry 2- 40lb sacks of chili and then make a chili powder out of the stuff. That did sound teary eyed and only Terence and Sarah chose to do that one. Not only did Terence have paint in his nose, he had chilies up it. That looked like agony! Dallas and Toni have a group of goodwill ambassadors, Indian children helping them find their destinations. How cute!

Starr and Nick and Dallas and Toni team up to find the numbers and make quick work of it, while Andrew and Dan tie with Kelly and Christi as the dumbest teams in history. Dumb and Dumber! They both were looking at the wrong numbers on the power poles and I would have said that Frat boys should leave, but with that stupid mistake at the paint festival, Kelly and Christy deserved to be sent home.

Laugh out loud incidents peppered this episode, like Terence snorting water in his nose to get the paint out, Kelly getting pelted with so much paint, Kelly and Christy getting a cab driver who looked like he was giving them a tour of India and the welcoming committee of one with Phil had to be called back to the mat each time a racer finish because he was more interested in watering the grass. Overall, one of the better episodes, definitely one of the funnier ones. Kelly and Christy make it to the mat last barely being edged out by the Frat boys whom I'm sure will be the next to go. I think Frat boys and Kelly and Christy should hook up after the race, they have a lot in common! Ken and Tina prove their stuff once more and make a strong comeback. -Single D

Nick & Starr get to the festival challenge first where Starr runs through the crowd without getting hit with any dye and climbs the ladder. The crowd, mostly men, gather under the ladder. I think they were just looking up Starr's shorts and forgot to hit her with the dye. Kelly kept grabbing the wrong envelopes. Terence is whining that he got hit in the nose then starts freaking out when they take a pedicab. Is this guy for real? I'll bet he's making his doctor rich!

The next challenge is to follow power lines and write down the numbers or make chili powder. I'm all about the chilis! Terence and Sarah do the chili powder thing with Terence coughing and spluttering the whole time. Ken and Tina make up ground while Kelly and Chris keep losing it and come in last. I'm sure the teams will be more than happy to leave India behind, I know it's not on my short list of places to visit. Double D

Survivor Gabon-Greatest Coup of the Season

I was hoping that the tribes would split one more time. Poor Fang being the underdogs this entire time. Both tribes think the feast signals a merge. Kenny spies a note under a pot but reacts too slowly as Charlie grabs the note and says that there is an hidden immunity idol and reads the clue. Everyone is afraid to react because as Kenny says, it's like accepting the apple in the Garden of Eden. If you take it you're doomed. Randy reads the clue and uncovers the idol in about 10 seconds. It is offered up like a sacrificial lamb, but no one bites. Marcus and Randy agree that it should be sealed in a bottle and tossed out to sea and with that fling of the arm the idol is set free, while everyone deep down inside was silently screaming, I want it, I want it!Then Jeff announces that the tribes will be split once more, with two new tribes of Kota being Randy, Matty, Sugar, Corinne and Charlie and Fang comprised of Kenny, Crystal, Marcus, Professor Bob and Susie. The real challenge here is how can the Fang survive the odds of 2 against 3 on each of the new tribes? The immunity challenge was how long can one keep their arms up to hold sticks. Crystal once again proves that she is such a weakling. She held it for one second and she's supposed to be some Olympic talent? Everyone pretty much loses it quickly and it's down to Matty and Bob. For an old guy, Bob has gumption. It was pretty gripping to see who would let go first and you could so feel their pain. Matty, whose pole was just inches away from being knocked off, was hooting and acting all deranged, while Bob suffered in silence. Both men's arms were shaking but Bob's post finally fell off and Matty won it for Kota. Back at Fang camp, the discussion is who is going to get voted off as Marcus finds out that Crystal is a cousin to one of his best friends and they both make a promise not to write each other's name down. Crystal however tells us, the viewing audience, that it's all just game playing so we know she's not keeping her word. Marcus think he has this game all sewn up and tells everyone that it's Kenny that will be going, but he forgot one important thing, that Susie is the swing vote and hasn't he been lobbying to get her out, isn't she Kota's target? When Marcus tells Crystal that Kenny is out, she gets into action and acts like the mother lion to protect one of her own. Crystal tells Susie that she doesn't have a chance if she sides with Marcus, who promised her the final three spot. Crystal says how can that be, since it will be Marcus, Charlie and Corinne at the final three. Drama and suspense surrounded whether Susie would be the sheep or the ram at the tribal council. Crystal and Susie pull off the greatest coup in this season so far by dramatically blindsiding the strongest player this season, Marcus. Wow, that was so good. Marcus failed to see that Susie was his Achilles heel and if he would have been smart, he would have lobbied to get Susie out and have Kenny and Crystal vote his way, but instead he chose to go against Crystal and in the end didn't see it coming. Satisfying TV at it's best, can't wait to see Kota's jaw drop when they see that Marcus was vote off!-Single D It was feast time with a twist, an immunity idol that everyone wanted but no one claimed so it was sacrificed to the ocean. I'm waiting for it to wash up on shore and someone finding it! After the split it was like old home week when Marcus finds out Crystal is the cousin of his best friend. How can you vote out family? Susie, feeling like the superior swing vote, tells Marcus that she could go either way at tribal but letting him she needs to be in the final three. Good luck with that Susie! She pretty much said she would flip which would make anyone want to vote her out. The challenge is balancing poles on the backs of their hands. I figured Crystal would be a shoe in for this one but before I could finish the comment, out she went. Weak as water! What was her Olympic event? A staring contest? It comes down between Matty and Bob. I was cheering for Matty until he got cocky and started laughing at Bob. Never count out the old dude! Matty came to his senses with a little prodding from Jeff and he out lasted Bob for immunity. Back at camp, Susie is so confident that Marcus will take her to the final three that she really doesn't listen to Crystal. At tribal, Ken lets loose his frustration at Marcus which doesn't help to keep him off the block but he gets saved when Marcus is sent packing. Double D

Top Design-Finale

I've been having the darnest time trying to adjust to the weather change and the time change. Yes kids, we really do have a weather change in Las Vegas. I have lived here several years and the weather immediately turns from summer into winter on Halloween night or the day after. It's really a dramatic and noticeable change. And with the time change, my sleep cycle is completely thrown off. So last night I tried to watch the Top Design finale, between bouts of eyes wide shut and eyes wide open. Top Design brought back recently booted, Andrea, who said that she shouldn't have made the choice to leave because she felt like she could have designed a whole house, well duh, you didn't give yourself a chance. Eddie, whose forced smile and unlikely pairing with his never to be my friend, Preston, was the last partner he wanted to be paired with. I wanted to slap that silly, frozen smile off Eddie's face. And Natalie. She's so bland, I almost forgot who she was. So between designing their houses and the end result, I had my eyes wide shut. I woke up just in time to see the finish products. I wasn't crazy about Ondine's 50's style house. The couches were pink, small and uncomfortable. Who watches TV on couches like that? But one of my favorite, I wish I could do that in my house item, was the square cut mirror headboard that she designed. I would love to do that in my living room. I think over all, my favorite was Preston's as a complete house. That was a house I could live in, especially the office with it's beautiful detailed moulding and the master bedroom with that heavenly canopy. Sweet dreams! I thought the dining room was elegant and tasteful. All the while, Adler while going through both Ondine's and Preston's, had that look of tasting sour milk. You could so tell that Adler's favorite designer was Nathan. I guess Adler likes rooms that can't be lived in. The dining room table was fit for breakfast only, one could never do dinner on a small square table like that and that paper plate light fixture looked like a fire hazard to me. I did like the painting, so simple-take a blank canvas and drip different streaks of paint, let dry and hang. Something DaVinci could copy. How simple is that? I think I might have to try that. Overall in the end, design outweighed function as they crowned stalker eye Nathan and give him the 100,000 grand. Hey Nathan, you looked much better when you had hair, less stalkerish and more artist designerish.-Single D

Ghost Hunters - Catch up

Since I have been on hiatus, I have a few sites to catch you all up on. So with no further ado...... Oak Alley Plantation, Wacherie LA. Used in the movie "Interview with a Vampire" (Brat Pitt was SO yummy!) the plantation was built in 1831 by slave labor. A lady in black is assumed to be Celina, the owner of the plantation, objects moving and empty chairs rocking are some of the reported activity. J&G get a hit on the thermal cam on the 2nd floor. As J&G are in Celina's room encouraging her to talk to them or sit on the bed to make the depression so many people have seen, Grant sees a shadow by the bed then sees something looking in the window. Grant dashes to the balcony but no one is there. Barry and Joe check out the driveway and see "one of those armadillo things" as Barry says. Obviously they don't have those in Ireland. Kris W. & Kris G. go to the attic and find a rack of clothes. Kris G thinks this is really cool and decides to look through the clothes. She gets about 1/4 of the way through the rack and both girls get a good scare when a HUGE cockroach disappears down the collar of one of the dresses. EEEEWWW! J&G return to Celina's room and try to provoke her into responding to them. Jason feels a cold spot so Grant asks her to light the flashlight as Jason demonstrates how to light it. As they talk to her, the flashlight lights up! Jason goes over to the flashlight and finds the light as well as the area around it extremely cold. The team show the findings to the plantation manager who was excited with the findings. Jason says he would like to come back to determine who is in the house. He says there is some nifty stuff going on but won't say it's haunted. Theodores in Springfield, MA is the oldest pool hall in North America and where TAPS tech manager, Steve, hangs out and plays in a band. A lot of people have reported hearing voices as well as the sounds of pool being played when no one is in the pool room. Full body apparitions, especially one of a small boy, are also seen. For whatever reason, there is a full human skeleton stored at Theodores. Don't know why that is, just thought I would let you know. J&G start out in the billiard room and see shadows moving around, hear footsteps and something kept moving the scoring beads. Kris W & Kris G go to the 5th floor where Kris W starts to provoke the spirits. There is something about a petite girl with a high voice that just doesn't inspire fear. Just kidding Kris, glad you are on the show! Kris G joins in the provocation and gets a cold breeze on her arm. Steve & Tango go the basement and have a discussion about the word prior. These two have become the comedy relief of TAPS. While reviewing the tapes, there is a figure on the thermal cam. A voice is caught on tape saying "welcome to Theodores". At least it's a nice spirit! Leominster, MA, the LeBlanc house. The house is a Victorian mansion that has been turned into 2 apartments. I wan't able to find any pictures since this is a private residence. Oh well! Reports here are of an apparition in the basement, another apparition of a child, knocking sounds and pans rattling in the kitchen. Also the 2nd floor seems to have a lot kids (who aren't there) running around and laughing. At least they are having a good time!

The kitchen has high EMF readings which explains the creepy feelings everyone has there. Steve gets a voice on tape responding to him asking if a door was open or closed, the voice says open. The thermal camera shows something moving in one of the bedrooms and audio tape caught what sounds like someone coughing and wheezing in the basement. During the time of the coughing & wheezing, it was discovered that the basement had once caught fire. Is it haunted? J&G still say that there isn't enough evidence to say that but, there is certainly something going on. Double D

Amazing Race-Hot and Sweaty in India

Leaving beautiful Cambodia first are Nick and Starr at 11:22 pm, followed by Toni and Dallas just 10 minutes behind with the Frat boys leaving last. All boarded the same flight to Delhi, India, which as always promises to be a bag of mix confusion. A budding romance is occurring between Starr and Dallas. At least she doesn't think he looks like teen wolf. First at the road block to paint one of the local tut tut taxis green, are Nick and Starr. How are they always the first ones off the plane? Joining them surprisingly are frat boys, Dan and Andrew, with all the other teams lost in India somewhere. The driving looks totally confusing, with cars, taxis and cows sharing the road equally. Tina and Ken are having an especially hard time with their cab driver trying to find Moonlight Motors, but Tina insist she knows the way. Sometime later they are still lost in India. Finally all teams arrive to the road block to join in the painting. Tina trying to make up some lost time is bossing poor Ken on how to tape and paint. Which is exactly what Terence is doing to poor Sarah. I think Tina and Terence should hook up with Ken and Sarah pairing off, then Tina and Terence can really duke it out, they're both such A-type personalities. I thought Sarah should have spray painted Terence's face for pestering her. Hey, doesn't she remind you of another currently famous Sarah? The detour is to either launder money or launder clothes. Humm, that was a hard one to choose. Ironing clothes seems like cake but it really was the more daunting of task. Teams had to iron 20 pieces of clothing. Not too hard right? First off, was this the Indian version of a public Laundromat? I guess they've never heard of washing machines and dryers. There were guys manually slapping clothes on stone just like in biblical times and where the women were ironing dried (probably sun dried) clothes. The irons were something from the 1800's, some kind of heavy hot charcoal heated thing. I had to crack up how Nick and Starr were just so prepared by bringing their own gloves. Who knew? The other teams are like where did you get your gloves? Starr's like their ours, yep we're that good! And what was Andrew frat boy ironing? It looked like some grandma panties as he complains that he can't iron these. The Frat boys are having a real difficult time of it. Hey, it's just ironing! They make it seem like it's the most difficult thing in the world and when a big gust of wind blew all their hard ironing on the ground even the spectators had a good laugh. The only teams to chose launder money were Ken and Tina and Sarah and Terence. See those two teams really are on the same wave length. Here the teams had to fashion an Indian version of a money lei out of rupees and give it to the groom. What a mob scene, hope no one yells fire! That definitely was the easier task, the only thing hard was trying to find someone to make a money exchange. Both teams after finishing the leis are trying to find the groom. Now wouldn't you think it would be someone in ceremonial garb possibly at some special table? Tina kept asking everyone in the mob if he were the groom. Finally, when Tina and Ken finished their task, Tina was like oh our taxi guy waited, bless his heart. I would have been like, get lost taxi man since he didn't have the slightest clue where anything was. The unfortunate taxi rides cost Ken and Tina their last place finish with Nick and Starr one again placing first, Kelly and Christy second and Mom and Dallas third. Fortunately for Ken (quit your weeping and tell Tina where to get off) and Tina this was really a non elimination round and will suffer a speed bump on the next leg of the race which means they will not be able to make any mistakes or be on the next plane home.-Single D

Ghost Adventures

So I come across this new show called Ghost Adventures and of course I'm going to check it out. As long as it's not Most Haunted with that so called psychic and his imaginary friend (he says it's a spirit guide) partnered with a "jump at anything" woman, I'll watch.

We have Zak, Nick and camera man Aaron who go to a site and get locked in for the duration of their investigation. The first episode I watched, it looked to me that Zak is either suffering from roid rage or he's had so much Starbucks that he is afraid of his own shadow. After Zak screams and runs from a number of things, he yells at Nick not to run when he ran from the men's room after hearing a loud bang. Obviously the lock down thing doesn't work when all parties get so spooked that they jump from a second story window.

I watched a few more episodes, in fragments I'm afraid because I was out of town and doing other things, and with each episode, Zak had more equipment but seemed just as jumpy. I'll check out the show again when I can really pay attention and give a better report. In the meantime, happy haunting! Double D

Survivor Gabon-Can't Cry Over Spilled Rice

Tensions are running high on the Fang tribe after losing once again! Crystal spills the rice and Matty and Ace give her the looks of death. Ok, maybe Matty and Ace didn't say anything, but I know they wanted to say, you stupid idiot! So Crystal tries to pick up every grain of rice and even refrains from eating her portion. Come on, are they really starving? Yes, I guess they are since they all look like skin and bones. I think dieters should sign up, what a great weight loss program, surviving on rice and fruits. That must wreck havoc on one's constitution if you get my drift.

The reward challenge is a game of keep away and who by the way let Sugar play? She is so totally useless in any challenge. She looked like a school girl saying to the boys, aw come on. Fang once again loses the fruits and letters from home. Everyone gets a letter but did Randy get one? He wasn't crying crocodile tears like everyone else was. He was just sitting there like he didn't have anyone back home who loves hims, gee I wonder why?

The immunity challenge features a log roll, where professor Bob says he was the log rolling champ back home,yeah, but how many years ago was that? Jeff Probst says that this time both tribes will be going to tribal council and that this challenge is for individual immunity. We know who will reign over individual immunities and that would be first time winner, Marcus. After winning the immunity, Jeff announces that Marcus can now give an immunity to the other tribe, which Crystal is like pick me, pick me! Of course he totally over looks her to give the immunity to Sugar. Now she has two immunities. Back at camp, Kenny tells Sugar that Ace needs to be voted out as he's the snake of the tribe as the cameras pan to the snakes slithering in the jungle. Ace asks Sugar for the idol and I thought she might give in to his request, but that only served to confirm to her that Ace is a snake. At tribal Fang is still going on about the spilt rice and Crystal gets her defenses up. Ace is blindsided by the tribe and is voted out.

Back at Kota, Susie opens her big mouth to Corine by saying that she almost voted Corine out so now Corine has a vendetta against her. Is Susie that dumb? In the end, the tribe succumbed to the fear that Dan had the idol and voted him out. Dan's game playing was just awful. Hasn't he ever watched Survivor before, probably not, he's probably just another mactor. Let's hope next episode, the tribes merge, how much longer can Fang survive?-Single D

Top Design Sends Martha's Eddie Home

It must have been a sad day at the Martha household, when Eddie was sent home. I never thought Miss fancy name, plain Jane, Ondine would have out lasted Eddie, the stylist from Martha Stewart. I thought for sure he would have made it into the final two opposite stalker eye Nathan. Unfortunately, for the last two challenges, Eddie just totally flopped. In the previous challenge designing a room around a chandelier, I think Margaret Russell said that he took a stunning crystal chandelier and made it look like a dime store purchase. He drabbed it up with all that heavy Martha Stewart furniture, sorry Martha! The light fixture totally disappeared among the gold leaf leaves wall treatment. Where was the sparkle, where was the drama? Looking back at the pictures of the light rooms I really think Andrea's room was really great, better than Eddie's and Ondine's. The green room with the swanky glam furniture really did have an elegant feel. Too bad she dismissed herself and her talent.

In the semi finals, Eddie chose to do the master suite that was another ode to the drab. In the words of Eddie himself, why should I do stunning when I can just do drab? (ok something to that effect!). Where was the master in the master bedroom? It spoke Grandma slept here. I hated, hated those white lattice garden trellis. Isn't that something they would do in design 101? Both Eddie and Nathan's room lacked the pizazz, style and drama. And I hated Eddie's white lattice garden trellis, did I say that already? Nathan's room was mix of bland white bread with the quirky plain stupid mixed in, like the jar of nails. What was up with that? He said that was supposed to be sexy, yeah maybe in the world of a dominatrix or leather face from Texas Chainsaw.

I hate to admit it, but Ondine's small office room was really nice. I have always been partial to black and white, so dramatic.

In the end, I think the judges knew that they could expect the unexpected from Nathan and that was the only thing that saved him against Eddie. For Eddie, it would have been more Martha. In Eddie's defense, Margaret Russell really came to his rescue. I was thinking maybe she has some personal ties to Martha Stewart not to diss Eddie like guest judge Jeff Lewis of Flipping Out. He more like flipped out on Eddie, on what he was wearing and on what he did. He said he could so totally match who did what room by how the designers were dressed. Ok, so Eddie looked like something of a 1920's throw back, but hey, look at Jonathan Adler's sense of clothing style, it's the same as Eddie's. Well, sorry to see ya go Eddie but it's back to Martha's house with ya.-Single D

Reality Check-Yipee, I Finally Know My Neighbor's Name!

Why does that make me happy? Well, I've had this habit over the years and you'd think by now I would know how to rectify it quickly. As a cafe owner in San Francisco, La Dolce Vita, back in the 80's and 90's we had our group of regulars that would come in to eat every weekend. As owners we would come to know our groupies on a first name basis. I remember one couple in particular, they were your typical Haight Ashbury gamer geeks. He had longish brown hair and horn rimmed glasses, his wife, a rather stout woman of ample proportions would come in almost every weekend to have breakfast. They would always order the same thing, french toast with the fresh fruit and whipped creme and read the Sunday newspaper or books. I remember I would wait on them, "hi Susan and so and so" (funny, I don't remember his name). I would see Susan on the street and say, "Hi Susan", or at the neighborhood Korean produce market, "Hi Susan", or at the local video store, "Hi Susan". One weekend they came in and ate and then left. She left her books on the seat. When her husband came back to retrieve them, I said, tell Susan Hi for me. He then said, "Her name is Cheryl, not Susan!" Now why would someone who came in every weekend keep letting me call her Susan? And so it began, a succession of wrong name calling. Like my neighbor in Denver, a nice man named Peter, or so I thought. It turned out it was the name of his German Shepard dog. This I found out one day when I was backing my car out of the garage. I could hear this muffled choking sound, but I couldn't determine where it was coming from. I turned my car stereo down to listen. When I looked to right where the sound was coming from I saw the German Shepard hanging by his collar over the wooden fence strangling himself. Peter had jumped the fence but his leash had hold of him over the gate. As I ran to the front of the house, I knocked desperately on the front door. The neighbor next door said they weren't home. I told them that Peter was hanging from the back fence strangling himself. I screamed he's almost dead but I was afraid to get him off the gate. Alarmed the neighbor ran with me to the back alley. When we got there, the neighbor paused but for a split second then jumped into action pulling the strangling dog off the fence. Of course he saved the dog, but in between gasping for breath and laughing, he told me that the dog's name was Jack, not Peter, Peter was the dog's owner. Ok, slight mistake! And so the tradition continues here in Las Vegas. Our neighbor, a lovely Italian lady with a penchant for yorkies whose name I always thought was Melana, until one day my daughter corrected me and said, Mom that's the dog's name. I was like what? I then told her to ask the neighbor what her name was, since she being a kid and all can get away with stuff like that. The next day she excitedly told me she asked the lady next door what her name was. She said she couldn't remember what it was, but that it started with an M. I'm like great! So the other day, when we were getting into our car and she was outside with her two yorkies, Melena and Mia, I said to her that maybe we should exchange numbers just in case of an emergency (what a light bulb idea!). Ah ha, she'd have to give me her name when she wrote her number down, ya think! No, it was just her number, home phone and cell! I was exasperated! Finally, my husband pipes up and says, how exactly do you spell your name and gives her back pen and paper to which she writes Marilia! Gee why can't owners call their dogs something like Fluffy or Fido? Single D

Amazing Race-Angkor Wat and Bayon Temple

Ok, another place to add to my bucket list of places to see is Angkor Wat, Cambodia. What a wonder. That is the next destination for the racers to get to with Tina and Ken leaving Summerhill New Zealand first at 6: 00 am, while Aja and Ty were the last to leave at 3:00 pm. How did they get so far behind and how were they supposed to catch up? All other teams depart on two separate flights and catch up in Singapore while Aja and Ty are the last ones to leave and arrive in Cambodia. I have to admit they did manage to keep a positive attitude during the entire time they were in last place. Once in Siem Reap Cambodia, Nick and Starr get the jump over everyone and get to the clue station first where they have to hand pump 25 liters of gas into a truck. Soon the rest of the teams arrive with the Frat boys, Andrew and Dan, scratching their heads like Laurel and Hardy, not having any idea on how to pump the gas into the canister. Gee Olly I think you do it this way. Uh dud? Just pump it for goodness sake and put some muscle in it! These guys do not have a mechanical bone in their boneheads. Gee, even Kelly and Christy were able to pump it quickly and they are the femme equivalent of Laurel and Hardy. Teen wolf and wolf mom as dubbed by Kelly and Christy make quick work of it as well. Ok, so Dallas has a full head of hair. I think those girls would make fun of anyone, hair or no hair. From there the teams take the truck they filled with gas onto their next location, which once on their way, Starr is questioning if the driver knows where they are going. She makes him stop to ask for directions while all the other teams start to pass them.

Sometimes, it's better not to second guess yourself. The next stop is jumping into traditional Cambodian boats into an Asian water society. Kelly and Christy are stunned by the poverty, however, those people looked happy to me. It is another world but hey, they have a floating basketball court, how nice is that? The next task is village life or village work. Both task looked pretty easy, either gathering items, like a doll, toy teeth and a basketball or collecting baskets of fish traps and delivering fish, although for that one the water looked muddy and murky. And I would also be wondering if it was infested with disease. How is it that Kelly and Christy always get so screwed up when it comes to following directions? Oh right, they are the boneheads too. They forgot that they need to get the clue before starting their challenges. A typical Kelly and Christy comment when they went to the dentist to collect the teeth, "Do we get the teeth from that patient?" Hello, it says toy teeth! Sarah and Terence's boat break down, I think in defiance of Sarah yelling faster, faster. I'm wondering if Amazing Race compensates that poor boat owner for getting the most annoying vocal racer of the group? Speaking of Sarah over zealous urging for faster, faster, Terence and Sarah were stopped by the po-po in New Zealand, clocked at going 117 kilometers, 17 kilometers over the limit. For that infraction, Sarah and Terence will incur a 30 minute penalty on the outbound leg of the race.

For the road block, it's a trip to Angkor Wat to look for the echo chamber. This looked daunting as there were so many different rooms. Tina passes right through the chamber without knowing it. First to the mat at the pit stop at the Bayon Temple were Nick and Starr with Tina commenting to Ken that we should have been first. Come on Tina, you can't always be first. Teen wolf, Dallas and mom placed a good second as Aja and Ty were eliminated. And once again, I thought this has got to be a non elimination round, but it wasn't and Aja and Ty were sent home. This leg of the race brought the two of them closer together, so that Ty says maybe he's ready to make the big move to LA to be with Aja. Well good for them, they do make a cute couple.-Single D