Big Brother-Revenge of the Nerds

Isn't the revenge of the nerds supposed to be sweet justice? Nerds rising up against the bullies and winning? And justice prevails in the land? Well not in Big Brother this season, as the head of the nerd herd, Ronnie shows that he is just a vile and cunning as the bullies we love to hate. Ronnie makes Russell, ole hommie, look like the sweet brother of a merry maid. It was so villainous of Ronnie to promise the "good" side of the house that he was 99.9% sure he was going to put up Russell for eviction after our hero Jeff won the POV. Whew that was close tho, who knew the hommie could count change? When Jeff was putting fistful of pennies into the bucket, I so totally thought he was going to go out like Ronnie and his quarter estimate. Come on, does $500.00 worth of quarters look like a 100 dollars worth of quarters? Ronnie sure threw that one, he's not that dumb, but he must think the audience is. What a jerk. Sure it's just about the game, but to throw innocent Jordan, who wouldn't hurt a butterfly under the bus and nominate her for eviction up against Laura was just despicable! Sure Ronnie knows that Laura can see right through his scheming. Big boobs does equal big brains. She was on to Ronnie before anyone else, she just didn't have the brains to play along with him and keep her mouth shut because there are people in the house not to be trusted, like Chima, and that other athlete girl, whatshername. I just hope whoever gets HOH next go round, gives Ronnie his due because I want to see him squeal like a stuck pig that he is!-Single D

Big Brother-Season 11

It is high school all over again and this time it's in the Big Brother house. Athletes, brainacs, offbeat (hey let's not sugar coat it, rejects, losers, dead beats) and the popular group. Wouldn't you know, the athletes win the first HOH which brings back the biggest athlete meat head from Season 10, Jessie. I hated him back then and I hate him even more now. The hate is in direct proportion to his ever increasing growth of his muscles and lack of neck thereof. I'm sure Big Brother is planning to utilized all of the teen angst from pimple popping to prom dates. And of course what better way to start off with than a zip popping word challenge which clearly showed who could spell and who couldn't, brainacs! Of course the meat heads win this one with the word "shotgun", we clearly know where Russell's head's at. Hey, isn't his hommie gang missing him right now? Russell and Ronnie getting into it was like watching a pit bull go up against a poodle. Ronnie might be in the brainac group but he is acting like he should be in the dummy group the way he is playing the game. And what's up with him being the champion of "Persuasive Talking"? He didn't display any persuasive talking when Russell was all up in his face. He was practically wetting his pants.

And poor Laura, aren't you sick of hearing her say "because of my large boobs". Hey she's the one that got Godzilla size breast implants. If she's not saying that, she displaying them, (ok, maybe I have breast envy, since I have none! Yah, yah, I admit it!)

I keep forgetting that BB is on three nights, so I've missed some of the screaming matches. Too bad they voted off Braden even if he did just graduate from "Ridgemont High" yesterday. Well, it's back to surfing dude.

Haven't warmed up to anyone yet, I just can't get passed their looks, they look all freaky to me. Boy I must be getting old! The other Donna was liking Lydia, I couldn't get past her clown red mouth crying after she had been nominated, ya think a girl all tatted up would have a harder shell. Didn't she ever think she'd might get nominated for eviction? Oh yeah that's right, she's not in the brainac group. The house better watch out for her, the offbeat girl is not to be trusted.

All the high school antics brings back my old school days. And yes, I wasn't always in the popular crowd, what!? I must confess, I did start out in the dorky group but being a fast learner, I knew the place to be in high school, was in the popular crowd where I started out in cheer and later became Queen of the Sweetheart dance, with my date, Gordon Asaoka. Gee, I wonder where he is now, probably some famous artist (he was very talented, I just didn't care for rice). -Single D

The Bachelorette-2nd Chance Fantasy Suites in Maui

I don't know, it seems at this point Jillian is trying too hard to fall in love. What's left? Kiptyn, whose nice but non-committal attitude isn't sounding the wedding bells and Reid, whose my favorite remains elusive as well. Every time she tries to bring up the "L" word, love, Reid starts acting like he's seventeen and in high school. Her best bet, big goofy Ed. Gawd, what was he wearing on the catamaran? Did he steal Daisy Duke's swimming shorts? He's so seriously in love, that he flew his parents out to Maui to meet Jillian, this and his declaration of his undying love wins brownie points with her. However, once in the fantasy suite, he failed to perform. He was weeping in his pillow like a dejected lover. Guess he should have taken his Viagra before he went to the fantasy suite. Of course, Jillian has concerns that will this be a constant problem later on. Hey, I'd want to know if my man had performing problems, remember Kristin Davis's character in "Sex in the City"? During the rose ceremony, she had second thoughts and had to ask Ed if he was really attracted to her, because he sure didn't show it. How humiliating! Jillian decides to keep Ed over Reid (I'm assuming that Reid performed ok, no shocking scene of the bedroom lights suddenly flicking on). Looks like Ed will have to prove himself to her if he gets the chance. Maybe his shy turtle syndrome was due to the fact that his mom and dad were on the same island as them? In the limo on his way out, Reid is like maybe I should have told her that I liked her, well dud? Every girl wants to hear that you love them, why should she waste time. Looks like maybe Reid tries to make a comeback on the finale. Too late. I'm thinking she's leaning toward picking Ed because he's so smitten with her and why not take the sure thing. Looks like she might get her wish afterall and marry her best friend, because that's what he will be if he doesn't resolve the bedroom issue.

During the entire episode, all I could hear in the back ground was my daughter saying, "Is that all they do on this show is drink alcohol?" No dear, they do visit some very nices places! -Single D

The Bachelorette-So Long Wes!

Finally, Jillian gets the serious goods on Wes, my question is why did it take her that long? Wes got what he wanted (as he said in the limo on his way out, the only bachelor to make it to the final four with a girlfriend!). How evil, how despicable, how self centered! I have read some hopeful comments that what Wes said on the show was taken out of context, but it didn't appear that there was any editing on Monday night's episode, where Wes finally shows his true colors and it's all about Numero Uno (himself). A couple of blunders, like when Jillian asked Wes, what he said to Jake and Wes replied, I told him about my girlfriend, er my ex-girlfriend. Freudian slip and he all but said that it's only about him and his career. Would he consider moving away from Austin? Aw come on, we knew the answer to that. Wes got what he wanted, the hometown date so he could show off his group on TV and the free trip to Spain, which by the time he got there it seemed like he was so over the show and her. He even said he through with the acting. He wasn't into her in Spain and finally it got through Jillian's thick noggin that he's not here for her. Geez, she could have taken Jake to Spain, poor guy! So it's good riddance and good rubbish, hope his career crashes and burns. So what if he has a number one single, it's in Chihuahua Mexico for heavens sake!

Well enough blog time on Wes. I'm really beginning to like Reid's personality, witty, sarcastic and self deprecating. I love that in a guy. Lastly she really does have three really nice guys, but I'm thinking Kiptyn is not really that into her. Her best bet, Ed or Reid. She definitely has the hots for Ed, they couldn't keep their lips off each. And not doing the fantasy suite was a good thing, bully for her.

Hopefully Ed will win out, since he will need someone to support him now that he probably doesn't have a job any more. Oh by the way didn't Seville look awesome? That whole not speaking Spanish thing with her and Reid when they were in the food shop was absolutely hysterical, see I love it when a guy can make me laugh. -Single D

A Digital Camera Review

Thankfully this past weekend is finally over. I was deep into shopping therapy for some reason, guess you can only deprive yourself for long enough and besides, my husband was not on these shopping jags. Great diversion if you are arguing. When we fight, I shop, ALONE! I don't want him saying things; like why do you need that or that's too expensive! So what did I buy? A very cute zebra striped purse that has a peace sign in rhinestones on the front. I know a bit young for me. When my daughter saw it she said some of the girls in school have that purse. This same one? Well, similar she replies. Oh well, I've always had a penchant for zebra print and besides, I love it. It's not a Kathy bag, love those, but it's tickles my purse fetish anyway.

Next I bought a piece of luggage because we are going to Europe in a few weeks and I remembered our last trip there, we were lugging around big cumbersome square pieces of luggage that were really hard to maneuver around the trains and on the foot paths in Venice and everywhere else we went. By the time we got to Venice, we were so desperate to ditch those heavy square boxes on two wheels, that we sold them to the Sengal street vendors selling knock-off purses, which buy the way, never ever buy knock-off from them, you might end up with a Louie Vuitton purse with the initials of XL, or a Fendi with logo of LE. It's that bad there and they do not do refunds!

So I bought a 30" 360' roll around that can be pulled sideways. It's great, but I'll let you know how that works there on the trains.

Mainly my shopping quest was for a new digital camera, since the one I have is four years old and simply from the stone age. I went into Best Buy only knowing two things, it had to be slimmer than my old Fuji and it had to take really good videos. After all, I hate carrying a camera and a camcorder (not to mention that I would have to buy a new one, since the one I have is more than 6 years old and is the size of a small piece of luggage). In the camera section of Best Buy, I read the specs not really knowing the difference between a 1 mega pixel and a 12 mega pixel when a sales person comes up to me. I ask him which one takes video, he says all of them. Wow, the digital world is amazing. I say to him which one takes video that is formatted for the large screen, not your tiny square on the screen with audio that sounds like it's coming from a tin cup. At first he was going to try them out, when another person said that the only two cameras that are wide screen are two models of the Canon, which are in HD video. Good, only two to chose from, that narrows it. Now based on the look and size, I chose the one that has the largest viewing screen in the back and that is the narrowest and smallest and that is the Canon Power Shot SD960-IS 12.1 MP. The sales person says that Canon is also the most user friendly. Great sold! Never mind that I never did any price comparison, gee I hate it when I make rash decisions. But in this case, I'm happy. Back at home I make quick work of reading the instructions, sounds easy enough, takes great crystal clear pictures but the true test will be the video. My daughter and I make two test videos and hook up the camera to our HD TV. Playback was awesome! I was so happy! The video's HD is so crisp and clear and the audio is perfect. The camera kit provides you with the cable for TV hook-up so it's a breeze to watch the video on the wide screen. For all of you looking for a camera with great video capabilities, you can stop the search and buy this one. After I remembered that I didn't shop around, I called Best Buy to ask them if they still honor their best price deal which they said yes, for 30 days. At work, I shopped online and found that Walmart online on their Site 2 Store website, that camera was $299.98, same as I paid, except with one exception, Walmart's came with the 4GB memory card included in the package, which I paid for separately at Best Buy for $17.99. Oh well, if Best Buy won't honor it because it's different packaging, I'm still happy because now I need only carry my camera to my daughter's violin recitals and take videos and pictures!-Single D

The Bachelorette-Hometown Dates

I know, you were screaming at the TV set, weren't you? Screaming that Jillian, you're such an idiot, right? I couldn't stand last night's episode. It's apparent why Jillian isn't married, she falls for the wrong guy and in this case it's Wes. Never mind that you sent home the perfect man, never mind that he came back to warn you about Wes, never mind that Jake even knew the name of the girl that Wes was involved with, Laurel, never mind that you didn't even stop to think how much bravery it took for Jake to do that, and with narely a thank to boot. Why is it that women want what they can't have? Seriously, she knows that there's something he's holding back, she even said that, but she still is clinging to the idea of them. Well, I hope she gets what she deserves and that's certainly not Jake. He too good for her! Jake should be the next bachelor in my book. Hey Jake, where do I sign up? Call me! Of the four hometown dates, marry Kip and you'll be set up for life. Wasn't his parents home beautiful? We used to live in Carlsbad, right next door to Encinitas and let me tell you, it's heavenly. Perfect weather, perfect homes, perfect beaches (except don't go too near the power plant on the beach). Marry Reid (from Philly) if you want to be the all American suburban housewife. Marry Jesse and you'll inherit a winery and land in Carmel. How enchanting is that? Kovack Bros Winery, it's right out of Dennis Quaid's Parent Trap lifestyle. Marry Mike and welcome to the mid-Cali family right next to Magic Mountain. And marry Wes and it's hicksville white trash trailer living, in search of the next big hit and a cheating husband. Let's see, looks like she's leaning toward the trailer and a strumming on the ole banjo kinda of guy. I bet he was hoping to make it to the hometown dates just so his band could play for a TV audience, well, I'm glad they mostly did a voice over their music. What a snake! Well, she'll deserves him! I was so mad that she didn't get rid of Wes, I was screaming at the TV, throwing my slippers and candy wrappers. She couldn't hear me, but I'm sure my neighbors got an earful. Hopefully, there's maybe a small glimmer of hope with the reappearance of Ed. What, did he tell his boss to take this job and shove it? He never did tell us, but Jillian seems smitten, hopefully, he'll start working on his chances since she did keep him around, but cut lose, Jesse and Mike. Those two were definitely not her type anyway, she goes for dark haired guys, notice? She's not into blonds hence the letting go of Mr. Perfect. Next it's on to Spain, can't wait since that is the place we plan to vacation at the end of July!-Single D

Sidebar-supposed photo of the mysterious Laurel, owner of an Austin boutique and previous girl to ex-bachelor, Brad Womack. Humm, curious...

Michael Jackson

It is always so shocking when a celebrity that one has grown up with dies. No matter how or the circumstance. It wasn't enough that early in the day, Farrah Fawcett had succumbed in her heartbreaking battle against cancer. Her chronicles of her struggle was brave and courageous. I grew watching "Charlie's Angels" who didn't? She was really beautiful. The true love story between her and Ryan O'Neal is touching and poignant. And so when on the heels of her death came the shocking news that Michael Jackson had died I know a collective gasp could be heard around the world and in a moment, time stood still just like those other gut wrenching days of past; 9/11, the death of Princess Diana, the assassination of President Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy.

Although I was very young, I remembered being in Hawaii when news came of President Kennedy being shot. In elementary school, we were on a field trip to the sugar cane factory when the news hit. Everyone on the bus started to cry, first the adults and then the kids. I guess the kids were crying because the adults were crying. When Bobby Kennedy was shot, I remembered I was sleeping on couch in the living room in California (something was wrong with my bed and it was getting fixed). I remembered that my dad came in and turned on the TV set. Never mind that it was late and he had the news on, I knew something bad had happened. Strange names like Sirhan Sirhan and Jack Ruby filled the room.

Years later, on 9/11, I was getting ready for work when my husband came into the bathroom and said that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in NYC. We lived in Carlsbad, California then, I remembered I watched Good Morning America as I ate breakfast while they were showing the tower on fire. I remembered I had the news on in my car on my way to work in La Jolla, when Peter Jennings on the news had said another plane had crashed into the other tower, I was like what was going on? And then Peter Jennings, his voice incredulous said, the build has collapsed? I couldn't imagine what he was talking about. As I got into my office, all the TV's were on, people were standing around watching, shock and horror on their faces. We were all told to go home and so we went, sad and terrified.

And so, I know this too will be a day that will freeze in time as Pop Icon, Michael Jackson leaves this world. It will be one of those things of where were you when. I think I heard it best when someone on TV said, was it Hemingway that said, "Show me a hero and I'll show you a tragedy."

No matter what the world thought of him, his bizarre life, his strange actions, he will always and forever remain an American Icon.-Single D

Doubt-DVD Movie Review

I love any movie that has the great Meryl Streep in it, especially one that has Meryl donning a nun's outfit. Being a lapse Catholic, I secretly love all things Roman Catholic, from "Thorn Birds" to "Sister Act". Any movie with religious undertones pique my interest and so I waited anxiously for "Doubt" to make it's way into Blockbuster. I rushed in for several weeks only to find that it was out, gee must be a really good movie since it's such in demand. Finally, several weeks later there it was on the shelf! Victory! I take it home, plan the weekend around it. Don't bother me, I'll be watching videos this weekend! With the lights out, popcorn popped and water glass filled with ice, I sit. My daughter is in the other room, watching "Bunny House", I hear her laughing. Meryl plays the part of the sour nun perfectly and is the stereotypical nun I remembered from the days that my poor brother had to attend parochial school. Nuns that would whack knuckles at any laughter that ensued in class. Commit this to memory, there will be no laughter in class!

As the movie tried in all earnest to gain one's attention, I kept waiting for something to happen. I kept waiting for the critical scene, I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. I waited and waited and hoped with the outstanding supporting cast of Amy Adams and Seymour Hoffman surely it had to get better. It had to have more intrigue and suspense. But I was wrong. Sure in the end, there was that kernel of "Doubt", but was it enough to base an entire movie around? I think not. Meryl was superior in her restrained role, Amy great as the novice nun, and Seymour outstanding as the priest accused. But what really happened? Apparently not much. Sure, this coming off the Catholic priest scandal, we are supposed to assume something did transpire, but an entire movie based on conjecture and speculation? I guess that's where the name"Doubt" comes into play. Well, I doubt if I'll put this right up there with "The Exorcist" or "The Seventh Sign". I think Meryl should hang up her habit and that accent that wavered between Bostonian and Southern. No doubt you will not be missing a thing if you pass this one over. I should have watched "The Bunny House" with my daughter, no doubt there would have been a lot of laughter!-Single D

The Bachelorette-Canadian Train Ride

They've got a ticket to ride, but she don't care. I love that Beatles's song. That train ride through the Canadian Rockies looked absolutely fabulous! Had I known you could do that from Vancouver, I would have done it when we were there. Poor Robby, nothing like getting dumped and then left on the side of the tracks tossed out like yesterday's garbage. Man that's cold! The producers are getting ruthless on the dumping. The meaner, badder, bolder the more we watch, typical. Jillian cries that she doesn't like hurting people yet she's ok about leaving them stranded, looking like a fool in the ultimate dump. We got to see Wes's true side and finally the words spoken out of his smarie mouth that he doesn't care about the girl, just the fame. What does she have left? All boys and one bad guy. Does she have to quiz every guy about how serious they are and when they want to have kids? I'm getting sick of her same tired monologue and lame conversations. Thankfully the scenery was breathtaking to take the place of otherwise a wretched evening of bachelorette mayhem. Emerald Lake and Lake Louise in Banff go on my bucket list. Jillian did less crying this time, but she did manage to toss out my favorite guy, Mr. Perfect, Jake, who in the end said it best, "good guys do finish last". Now that she ejected him chosing to keep break dancer, Mike, I'm hoping that she does chose Wes, so there! Goodbye Mr. Perfect, white picket fence, 3 1/2 kids, big house in the burbs. Goodbye to foot freak, Tanner, to which my daughter said "What's wrong with him?". I'm wondering why didn't one of those two throw Wes under the bus when they left. Cowards! If she's so blinded by Wes's bad boyness not to see through his thinly veiled ambition of wanting to become the next big country star, then she deserves to get her heart broken which is surely in the cards for her if she ends up with him. He's so full of it, can't she see he's just playing her for a fool? Wes is like the wolf in the nursery picking off all the good wholesome boys. Looks like from the previews, his band does get some air time just as he hoped for. Hey Wes, go back to Chihuahua, they love you there and take Jillian with ya! I'm not disgusted, I'm not disgusted, oh yes I am!-Single D

A Father's Day Memory

A Family Portrait - I was cleaning out a closet the other day and found this old photograph of my father and his parents, Frank and Mary. They were from the old country of Italy and are the typical immigrant story. This photo was taken on the steps of my grandparents house in upstate New York in a small town called Friendship. I remember spending summers there and seeing my grandparents for the first time and my grandmother touching my face and saying bella, bella. I remembered their house smelled of brown eggs and malt and my dad bringing Grandpa Frank a mysterious bag of hops. Little did I know then Grandpa was a brewmister and brewed his own beer in the cellar. Grandma had chickens in the backyard and grew her own vegetables. I remember the heat of the summers and reading comics in the attic. And when we left for our long car trip back to California, Dad would cry beneath his sunglasses and silently wipe away the tears. When I made a copy of this picture for him, I knew he remember those days and I shared in his longing for them.-Single D

The Bachelorette-And So Ed Goes

For Michael the break dancer (I'm wondering what is he going to be when he grows up?) it's a one on one date as they zip line through the mountains. One thing, Jillian screams like a squealing piglet. Squeak, squeak. I just don't see those two together, he's way too immature for her. She needs a MAN! Dinner is in a wine cellar where the wine guy, you know the sommelier says he's going to teach them how to saber. Mike's like he's going to teach us how to fight? Ok he can be witty, but I just don't want someone whose personality is closer to my eleven year old daughter, brat man. During dinner, Mike tries and does displays his softer serious side and to which Jillian rewards by giving him a rose. The group date is snowmobiling. Now that looked like fun. Another junior brat man is Robby who quickly volunteers to ride with Jillian. Yep, he got it right when Jillian chose to drive, she's got way more testosterone than he does. Wes finally admits on camera, are you watching this Jillian? that sure he admits that appearing on TV will help his career, but clearly Jillian loves the bad boy. Aw come on Jillian, don't ya see Wes is someone so self centered, that if they were making love, Wes would probably be staring at the cover of his own CD or at his own reflection in the mirror thinking, damn, I'm hot!

Kiptynite sure looked better in his knit cap, but during their alone time, looked like Jillian had one too many drinks, she was all giggly and silly.

And then there's big, goofy, lovable lab, Ed telling Jillian, that he was on a conference call w/his boss and was given the ultimatum, either the show or your job. Now wait a minute, didn't I hear somewhere that everyone is isolated from outside communications? So how was it that Ed was on a conference call and didn't he tell them that this whole bachelor thing might last more than just a few weeks? He's not telling us the whole story, he probably wanted out thinking that he 1-was not attracted to her and it was a big waste of his time or that 2-he had a confidence problem and didn't stand a chance with the other guys. Either way, somethings rotten in Whistler. But Jillian being Jillian, is like, well, that's too bad, but it's all about me so here's a rose for some encouragement. She didn't care one drop that he might lose his job (if that was the case), she cried weepy tears because she was thinking why are all the guys leaving me am I not worthy? (Maybe she knew something we didn't?) Jillian cried so much in this episode, she was almost to the point of being grossly snotty and pathetic, I'm thinking Shannon here!

Jesse, the wine maker gets the other one on one date to a glacier, which was totally awesome. I like the initials in the snow. That was truly romantic. So since big, lovable lab, Ed left it was only one was being dismissed at the rose ceremony, which unfortunately was not Wes. He should have been eliminated just for wearing that hideous tweed looking jacket. What was that thing? Looked like he stole it off a homeless person. In the end, it was Mark that was given his walking papers. He didn't seem too upset, she should have gotten rid of him before she let Mike go. I guess with Mark, she knew his frozen personality would be too hard to thaw.-Single D

Get Me Out of Here I'm A Celebrity

Ok, I'll admit it, I have seen a few episodes of "Get Me Out of Here, I'm a Celebrity", but just by accident for the lack of something mind stimulating on TV (ya right). I haven't watched it with any regularity, but when I do catch it, it's like slowing down for an accident. You just can't help being a lookie loo. When I first heard of it, the name Sanjaya caught my attention, you know that borderline can't carry a tune, Mohawk sporting ex idol contestant wannabe, was going to be on it. Sanjaya a celebrity? Who knew? And who were all those other people? Ok, I do recognize Janice Dickinson, you just can't miss that foul, loud obnoxious mouth and Lou Diamond Phillips of "La Bamba" fame. Lou Diamond's head on the show looks more and more ETish, in a endearing sort of way but his body, well hubba hubba, that's not ET for sure. It is pumped up and brawny, looks like he pumps iron (do they still call it that?) in his spare time, so that's what D-listers do after the fame, either that or he's spent time in prison. Looks like the celebrities start out fairly fresh as they make their way to their camp in Costa Rica which looks more like a stage Hollywood setting. Are they really in the jungle of Costa Rica? Come on, they're on some back lot stage right, with a Starbucks right around the corner. With each episode the celebrities are becoming more and more cruddy, dirty and primitive. One night I happened on it to see the camp in night vision and there is Janice squatting in front of her cot. What is she doing? She's looking over here and over there. I'm thinking maybe she's trying to steal someone's food or boots or something, but then she gets up and goes back to bed. The next day, Lou comes to camp with a note from the producers that tells the celebrities not to pee in camp as it attracts rats and rats attract snakes. Oh no she wasn't, peeing on TV? She is so gross! As Lou says the cameras are rolling 24/7, uh dud! And the way she piggies the food with her mouth stuff she goes back for more, gee ya think she was an orphan (I know because I do that, and I was previously orphaned). And why is her face always so shiny, is that night creme or humidity? Just accentuates that awful plastic surgery.

No one knows or cares about Heidi and Spencer. Reality check Spencer, you are not the world's greatest celebrity. What are you famous for again?

Well if you happened to catch it, it might be some good mindless entertainment, from Janice peeing to a Steven Baldwin baptismal of Spencer, it's just plain fun.-Single D

The Bachelorette-Oh Canada!

It's thirteen to Vancouver, Canada, Jillian's hometown. Vancouver is a beautiful city. Clean, sparkling and hip. We went there last year, did the touristy thing in Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria. Whistler is a quaint mountain town which probably looks better when it is snow covered. The food there is hugely expensive as they have a captive audience, but the village is quaint. The day we went, never fails, my sister-in-law always brings the hot weather, it followed us from Seattle to Whistler as both places were having the hottest weather on record. Vancouver thankfully cooled down and it even rained. Don't bother going to Chinatown which I had heard was really large. It was only about two streets and was more like an after thought than a town. We then took the ferry from Vancouver over to Victoria Island. We stayed there for a few days, but essentially one could see it in a day. Victoria is quaint and there is a fabulous English style bakery which served something like a high tea. The best place to say of course is the Fairmont Victoria over looking the harbor. When you are on a small island, it is always wise to stay at the best location because that will be what you will remember the most. When we went to Quebec no question the place to stay is the Chateau Frontenac, absolutely beautiful over looking the St. Charles river. The rooms are beautiful with great views of the river and city. When you go there, stay inside the old city and eat lots of French Onion soup.

Jillian's first one on one date in her hometown is with Kiptyn. Kiptynite is letting Jillian win the kayak race over to Granville Island, one of my favorite spots in Vancouver. The food there is unbelievable! Fantastic bakeries and food vendors. Then it's back home, was that Jillian's place? Nice kitchen where she is making tortellini. No lingering over pasta tho, it's straight to kissing. She definitely has the hots for him. The group date is everyone else except for Mike and Mark who unfortunately get the dreaded two on one date, where one of them will be sent packing. Oh no, not my Mike! The group date is to an ice rink for that quirky sport of curling. My daughter is like why do they have to sweep it? Jesse looked kinda cute when he pushed the stone in the circle, but just when I thought that, he does some weird chicken happy dance. Red team win the prize of getting a dinner cruise date with Jillian. Hey the dinner was more of a prize for me. The crab dumped at the table looked awesome! Afterward she takes each one individually to get some alone time. Here she tells Jake that he needn't be so perfect, that he can be himself. You could so see his disappointment, yes Jillian I am perfect, I can't help it. Sigh! I think David had one too many shots of tequila because he was loud and obnoxious. He called Jillian a liar and kept adjusting her blouse, hey buddy hands off! I would have so slapped him! To Jillian she felt he totally disrespected her. Fate seal, so long trucker! When David went in for the kiss, Jillian turns her cheek which David says he's not used to being denied, I bet, denial could mean two black eyes. Jesse gets the rose for the evening and rightly so, he was very sweet.

The dreaded two on one date, is a helicopter ride to Grouse Mountain, which looked totally amazing. Ah that's where the snow's at. Haven't been there! Mike talked non-stop which was probably his undoing, shut up! The more I looked at Mike, couldn't tell if he was good looking or looking cartoonish in a Bob Hope sort of way. I would of bet money that she was sending mild mannered Mark home, especially after when he was so nonchalant about relationships. Mike on the other hand was practically asking Jillian to marry him. My jaw fell to the floor when she sent Mike home, no wonder, no woman wants to be out talked by some guy.

The cocktail party everyone wanted to spill to Jillian about Wes's off handed comment that he could be in love with several women at the same time, (did that translate into that he has a girlfriend? Because I didn't get that.) The only one that had the nerve was Tanner, who didn't spill names but did tell Jillian that someone did have a girlfriend or some kind of agenda. Ah come on guys, grow a set! Now that's the difference between men and women. Women won't give it a second thought to spill names, it must be some sort of guy code. Jillian of course is upset and says the rose ceremony won't go on. Jake stands up like a man and calls the dastardly dude out, while Tanner tries to surreptitiously give the eye over to Wes. Tanner starts to get worried over his precarious spilling that he might get sent home, no worries, he is safe for another week. Jillian sends home Juan and David. David we knew, but Juan, maybe she had her suspicions about him, Jillian wrong guy, it's Wes you fool! With Juan and David gone, whose going to stir the pot? oh yeah, Tanner is still there.-Single D

The Bachelorette-Jillian, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

At first I thought when all the bachelors first stepped out of the limo, I thought a bus of Chippendale dancers let off. Now on closer inspection, I'm thinking, nah. Let's take stock of Jillian's front runners.

Wes, would be singing cowboy. Why do women fall for men who sing? My sister-in-law had a thing (still does) for guys wielding a guitar, never mind that they're married or otherwise involved. What chance does a groupie have? Can't tell what agenda Wes has yet, but he definitely ranks up there in bad boy stratosphere right along side anger control issues of David, the trucker, who told Jillian that he's used to being numero uno. Yeah right, maybe by force or fist. He's a take no prisoners kind of guy and if Jillian likes to be control then that's the guy for her, but it looks more like "Sleeping with the Enemy". Sure Juan may rub him the wrong way, but in my book I think Juan is just on the show to prove to his mama that he ain't gay. Come on Juan, it's ok, come out of the closet. I'm thinking David feels so threaten by Juan because he's probably subconsciously has his gay-dar pointing at Juan and doesn't know it.

Kiptyn's ok, if you like greasy looking guys, and he's going to lose his hair real fast. Ok, I know I'm shallow, I like hair, I can't help it (that's about the only thing going for my husband, just kidding dear!). Speaking of hair, Mike's best assets are those thick shiny locks but ease up on the hair gel dude. Girls like natural. Have yet to see a charming side to him, wait! yes we did in a black speedo! How could I forget! And Tanner, why is she keeping him around, that foot fetish thing, gads, he was practically salivating touching her feet and thinking what he would do to them if the cameras were off. Yuck, perv! Keep your fetishes to yourself. My bet is still for Jake, the pilot. Is he just too good to be true or what?

Poor Sasha, being sent home, he might of had potential. So what if he said his heart was never broken, I think Jillian did just that by sending him home. Right after Sasha told Jillian that story of his car crash which he barely survived, Jillian was moved to tears. Ok, now goodbye. That was cold! I still hear my daughter in the background saying, Sasha is a girl's name! And you're not going to tell me that Ed wasn't scared shitless having to repel down a high rise in downtown L.A. No way, no how, not for anyone, would I do that! Well not for someone, but maybe for money? Robby showed his sweet side during the cowboy video and certainly deserved to stay. I loved the brokeback scene between the two Mikes, that was totally funny, too bad it wasn't Juan playing that part. Tanner F and too wet behind the ears, Brad were sent home. Hopefully David and Juan will stay on for a few more episodes, otherwise, this season could be a sleeper.-Single D

My Husband-The Handyman

Recently our Whirlpool refrigerator/freezer ice maker started making a column of ice from one corner of the ice maker. This column of ice would attach itself from the bottom of the tray to the ice cubes below. Now generally this would not be a problem (I kept breaking off the column) except for two things. The ice column would clump the ice cubes below and thereby not let any cubes into the chamber for release and the column of ice was brownish and had a grit in it. Now how did grit get into the water? So I thought maybe it was time for a new water filter. Got the filter, put it in, then something curious happened. The ice maker stopped working of course. Now why would the ice maker breakdown? The refrigerator is less than 6 years old which by today's standard would mean it's ancient. My husband's parents gold Kenmore lasted 20 years, granted it's ice making capacity was a little tired and sluggish, but it still worked and made ice. My whole family groaned as the ice maker came to a complete halt. My daughter said in a confused stated, "Now what are we going to do?" "Are we going to have to live like hobos? (her favorite word for poor people) as I pull out the plastic ice cube trays from storage. It's probably time to buy a new refrigerator because the plastic veggie bin drawer has been broken for two years (we buy a lot of produce) and now the ice maker is caput. We make a trip to the local R.C. Willey's, on Saturday's its free hot dogs and soda-hey it's free lunch and you don't have to buy anything and we check out the prices of new fridges. Of course the one I want cost over $2500.00 with the new French Doors and bottom freezer. Anything with the word French in it will spiral the price upwards. I go home depressed. Maybe we can live without ice making capabilities. Nothing wrong with making ice, my mother did it, my grandmother did it, well maybe she didn't, she's was old world Italian. Well heck, at least we don't have to keep our ice in a block in the ice shed like "Little House on the Prairie". My husband complains that the ice from the trays are too big for the water bottles. I tell him put the cubes in a plastic bag and crush them with a mallet, he's looking at me like I'm crazy. This of course sent him over the edge to try to fix this problem. Now let me tell you, my husband never was nor will be a handyman, it's like he has two left hands and no functioning logic, you know, use a hammer when it calls for a screwdriver. Me, I have more testosterone than my male chihuahua, so I am more capable of figuring out things and I semi-read the directions and I'm also Asian. This past week he went on a crusade to fix our ice maker. He called several appliance repair places which tell him the fix will probably cost over $300.00. That tears it! We need to buy a new fridge right now! He finally talks to one nice appliance guy that tells him that it's the ice unit which is an easy fix and only involves three screws. That excites him! Only three screws he chants! The appliance guy tells him the part cost less than $100.00 and can easily be installed himself. I'm thinking nothing is that easy, what's the catch? He finds the part in town (which is considerably less expensive that ordering it from Whirlpool), we drive to the other side of town, which my daughter exclaims, it this hobotown? We go into the appliance store, I'm still doubtful. There are parakeets flying around and chirping, that makes me feel a little better. I ask the guy is this the problem with our ice maker? He's like, look lady, if I knew that, I would be a millionaire. We buy the part, never mind there are signs all over the store screaming, NO REFUNDS! My husband wants to take the part home immediately, no stops at our local Target store for our weekly stop. He takes his prize into the house like it was the off spring of the Dalai Lama, and quickly starts to work on installing it. For myself, I remain calm, because I know later, I will be screaming that we just blew $100.00 for a wrong part and we need to buy the French door refrigerator, never mind that it will now cost $2600.00! He holds the part in, but his hands are too big to get the tiny screws in the holes, he claims they aren't a match. Oh boy, here we go. I go in, patience still in tack. I place the screw in the hole, he screws it in. After it is in place all three screws home, he says I hope I put in the wire plug in good enough. Great! why would you think that after the thing was all screwed in? We shut the freezer and say our novenas. An hour later we peek. No ice, but some suspicious brown residue at the bottom of the bin. We pull the bin out, my husband says he wiped out the bottom of it (you know husband style cleaning), we rinse it again, by this time I'm thinking maybe we should have rinsed out the ice maker too, you know all that storage dust and all. We carefully place back the bin, I place my finger in the ice maker, it feels like there's ice there, or maybe it's just cold. We shut the door. I tell my husband, I haven't heard the water run through the ice maker and right when I said that, we heard a clunk in the freezer. I wouldn't have registered it, except my husband ran to the freezer and screamed, "We have ice!" I rush with disbelief and peer into the bin, yep, sure enough there's ice at the bottom. Maybe it was a fluke, couldn't possibly be that easy! Hours later and ice is being make a record speed, my husband's chest is puffed up like some sort of pigeon doing his happy dance. I fixed it, I fixed it! He jumps up and down like a seven year old! Boy am I never going to hear the end of it. My daughter is just happy we're normal again, not hobos. Myself, a little relieved, a little disappointed I'm not getting that French door refrigerator and in the background I could hear my husband on the phone to the appliance store-hey do you have a vegetable bin for a Whirlpool?-Single D