I Survived a Japanese Game Show - Splat!

Having seen a few of the Japanese game shows, I just had to see this one. A group of ten people think they are going on a "traditional" reality show. What is traditional in the world of reality? You can get engaged, be stranded on an island, dance, sing, cook your way to the top or design yourself silly. Where is the traditional part? Anyway, everyone says they are there to kick butt and win money but they don't know at what.

The group is sent to Tokyo and shown where they will be living. A nice house in the 'burbs. One emerging diva doesn't like the beds on the floor while the guys go crazy over the remote controlled toilet. That's right guys, no reason to leave that toilet seat up! Next enters the mommason and, as she says, she is not their momma! She jumps on them right away to take off their shoes while in the house and to go to bed all in a tone that says she means business.

The next morning everyone gets up early so they can go on a tour of Tokyo, or so they think. They end up on a sound stage where they are told they will be watching a, you guessed it, a Japanese game show. The stage is pitch black and when the lights come up, the group is on the stage facing a rowdy Japanese audience and Romu, the host, who is a total nut. At least Romu speaks English and tells the group what they are going to do.

The group is split into two teams, the yellow penguin team and the green monkey team. They are dressed in business suits and given helmets with a tray on top. One person from each team has to eat mocchi balls (?) out of the trays while the tray wearer runs on a treadmill. Yep, it's a Japanese game show all right. When the one with the tray falls, they end up in a large bin of flour. Who ever eats the most mocchi balls wins. Most contestants did well with the treadmill but Darcy from the yellow team just can't figure out the treadmill and ends up in the flour bin before her player can eat her balls ;) Sorry, I couldn't help myself. The green team ends up with 10 mocchi balls and the yellow team starts to catch up with Romu saying in Japanese "look at his chubby face work!" That's the problem with this, Romu could be saying anything about you and you won't know it, just keep smiling and nodding.

The green monkey team wins and gets a real tour of Tokyo in a helicopter and then in a limo. They get treated like royalty while the yellow team finds out they have to be rickshaw drivers for two hours. At least they have a day to rest before carrying out their punishment.

The next day, mommason takes great pleasure in waking up the yellow team calling them "the losers" and to put on traditional rickshaw driver's uniforms. Our diva, Cathy, makes everyone wait while she takes her time getting ready. They go through their two hour shift pulling local citizens, most of whom do not speak English, around in the rickshaws. At the end, they have to decide on two people to play a game to decide who goes home. Darcy volunteers for one spot since she messed up on the mocchi ball challenge. Darcy tried to get Cathy sent up and everyone seemed to go along with it until Cathy channeled her inner politician and got the group to nominate Bilenda. Poor Bilenda, she is such a team player and so nice, why they listened to Cathy, I don't know. Weak as water the lot of them!

Darcy and Bilenda are dressed up as bugs to play bugs splat on windshield. Sounds lovely. The girls have to jump on to a trampoline and land on a "windshield" and leave their marker for points. Oh yeah, they also leave a green "splat" mark. Gross! It did look rather painful. Neither girl wants to go home and they tie. They go into overtime and Bilenda wins sending Darcy home. Darcy gets carried out of the studio on the shoulders of what looked like the Japanese CIA, all men dressed in dark business suits. Those Japanese sure are stylish!

I'm not too sure about this show. I guess I'll have to watch one more time to see happens! Double D

Hell's Kitchen-Final Two

To celebrate the final three Chef Ramsay will cook the chefs one of his signature dishes but not before their families come in to join them. Petrozza is like a 7 year old seeing his dad and girlfriend. Girlfriend? I thought he would be married with 10 kids! Everyone is seated in the restaurant while Chef whips up his dish. Both Corey and Petrozza are too engrossed with their families to take notice what is being served while spunky Christina has the smarts to say that she better know what's in this dish because he just might ask them to cook it. Her mother says that there's cream in it and Christina says there's also a white bean puree. After lunch, Chef does ask each one of them to cook the dish. That Christina is pretty smart and just might win this whole thing. I thought that was a good challenge had not that the chefs got to taste it again. Hey that's cheating! I think he should have let the chefs cook from memory and not by tasting it again, that would have been a real challenge. Corey says that the sauce is sweet and there must be some raspberry framboise in it which was correct. Petrozza and Christina chose the right kind of meat, venison, but Corey choses buffalo. Petrozza leaves off the puree and Christina gets the sauce wrong,shoulda listened to mom, but Christina wins it again and gets treated to a Hollywood double decker bus tour and lunch with her parents and Chef. Meanwhile, Petrozza and Corey get the ice crushing detail in the kitchen. Dinner service this time will feature how strong each one of them will be expediting food. Corey can't yell at the kitchen staff nor does she have a commanding presence. She was one giggle away from laughing hysterically. Petrozza manages to get into and Christina tries to channel Ramsay. I would have yelled and screamed and swear up and down just like Ramsay because that's what he wants. Be the Ramsay, be the Ramsay. Chef sets up the usual sabotage by leaving off certain ingredients to see if they will be caught before they leave the kitchen. The only one to catch it was Christina. I tell ya, that girl's got a lot on the ball. At the end of dinner service, Chef has the awful dilemma of getting rid of someone. This time it's really difficult because there is no one to hate, how awful is that! Send back Jen! They each have something different to offer, but it is Corey that is sent home with Christina whispering in her ear that she'll be on her team. What does that mean, if she wins will she hire Corey for the restaurant? I hope so, they both said that they work well together, however, if Christina sees what Corey has said about her, like= her voice is so high pitch it gets on my nerves she might think twice. Does Petrozza have a chance? Petrozza is always the bridesmaid never the bride. Can his runner up status in challenges outbeat Christina's moments of brillance? Which one will Chef chose? Average and steady or brilliant and learning? I'm thinking brilliant and learning-Christina-Single D

The Bachelorette-Home Dates

Is it the hometown dates already? First up is a trip to Breckenridge, Colorado to visit Jesse and his parents. I've been to Breckenridge and it is really cute, one main street with views of the snow covered mountains, breathtaking! Jesse shows DeAnna what he's like in his element. He's fantastic on the snow. After giving DeAnna a lesson in snow boarding he takes her to his modest home showing her his art wall of snow boards. Jesse for all his appearance is really neat, labeling his cupboards, plates, cups, saucers, who knew, Martha would be proud! Typical guy, having to label where to put his dishes, I just know DeAnna wanted to break out in peels of laughter. His parents show up with Dad sporting a cap with that fake long hair. I was like, omg, he's got long hair! Thank goodness it was just one of those caps, or I'd have to say, hillbilly, then again those caps scream hillbilly. Jesse is the only child and it's obvious he's loved very much. I really like his parents. Hey, if Jesse and DeAnna get married, they could be best friends with Ryan and previous bachelorette, Trista in Vail. Finally the long awaited kiss DeAnna had been waiting for as Jesse plants one on her in the sleigh ride through the snow. Wonder if it was worth the wait? Jesse is beginning to grow on me even if he reminds me of Sean Penn in his "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" days, but look how good he turned out. Next it's onto Dallas where Jeremy picks up DeAnna on his big bike, gotta love a hog between the legs. Jeremy takes DeAnna to his condo which is meticulously decorated. Jeremy brings out pictures of his mother and his journals he wrote when she was dying. Ok, even if I don't care for Jeremy, I did for a moment feel myself well up, just for about 1/2 a second. Next the brothers show up to give the third degree to DeAnna. One word DeAnna, run! Hey what's up with the crib notes of the bar exam on the walls as art, looks like he needs to display how wonderfully smart he is. The third hometown date is to Seattle to see Jason and meet his son, Ty. When DeAnna meets Jason at the Space Needle she tells Jason she doesn't know what it is. Come on-who doesn't know that landmark? Next it's on to Jason meeting up with his son whom he hasn't seen since he's been on the show. It's a very touching scene as DeAnna says it was such a movie perfect moment. DeAnna tells Ty that she brought him a present, a golf ball, obvious she's never been around small children! Jason and son have a very large extended family and they welcome her with a traditional Greek dinner. I thought that was very thoughtful and looks like she would fit right in. The last date is to North Carolina and Graham's home town. Graham meets DeAnna at his old school where his path to pro basketball was formed. You can so tell that DeAnna is totally smitten with him, she can't keep her hands off him. Graham takes her to his parents lovely house. His parents seemed nice enough but they didn't make food or anything, what's up with that. For me it's all about breaking bread together, nothing says welcome to the family like pot roast. Once alone, Graham calms up again and it looked like he wanted to tell DeAnna something, but snaps his mouth shut. Come on, what's up with this guy? Is he gay or something? He definitely is afraid to commit to anything, no wonder he's not had a girlfriend. DeAnna is put off and tries to coax it out of him but he can't open up and talk to her. DeAnna, one word of advice, lose him! DeAnna leaves with the look of frustration on her face. Back at the mansion and the rose ceremony, DeAnna looks still pissed at what transpired between her and Graham. I know she's torn with the choice of should she keep him and hope that he'll come around and get rid of someone whose committed to her. When she came out, she did not give her customary speech, not a happy camper, she went straight for the jugular and axed Graham. What was he smiling about, like he was happy to be going? He's a jerk. It was obvious DeAnna was torn in getting rid of him and once again her heart was broken. I bet if Graham would have opened up to her, he would have been the last man standing because you could so tell that she likes him the best. Graham writes her a note and tells her to read it in private, maybe he tells DeAnna his deep dark secret, like he's secretly a psycho or something. I think if he would have told her that he was falling in love with her on the way to the limo, she would have done a whoa, ok, ABC hello, I made a mistake, I meant to say Jason not Graham! Either way she did the right thing to cut him loose. Who wants a guy like that? He would take years of therapy to unravel. And besides Graham's name doesn't fit in with the 3 J's. At the end, DeAnna is afraid that maybe she won't fall in love (because she was in love with Graham), could a Brad ending be in store for the Bachelorette?-Single D http://primetime.tv.yahoo.com/ funny bachelorette clip!

Since I'm behind (again) this will be the cliff note version for me. This was hometown date episode and we start with Jesse in Colorado. The parents love DeAnna and after getting advise from dear old dad, Jesse finally lets loose and kisses DeAnna. I too, thought the labeling of the cabinets was a little weird. I've heard about those snowboarders, maybe after a little recreation he has to have his cabinets labeled!

Next is Dallas and Jeremy. That motorcycle looked so uncomfortable with them all hunched over. It was more like a crotch rocket than a cruise bike. You could so tell DeAnna didn't like his house except for the upstairs balcony looking over down town Dallas. Tear jerker moment with the pictures and journal. For a minute I really thought Jeremy had made that journal like yesterday to get sympathy from DeAnna. I'm such a cynic! Jeremys brothers let DeAnna know that they are there for him not her but they really like her.

Jason and Ty in Seattle are next. Did Jason morph into the Easter bunny? He was hopping around like he had to pee when DeAnna came into view! They took the Space Needle tour, how can you not know what the Space Needle is? She finally meets Ty and give him a golf ball. Golf ball? What's up with that? Maybe it's an inside joke. After dinner with the family, everyone dances and goes outside to play leap frog. OK, it was cute, but does anyone really do that? The family loves DeAnna.

She saves what she thinks is the best for last, Graham in N. Carolina. They have fun playing basketball at Graham's high school then it's off to meet the parents. Graham is obviously close with his parents, and himself, but stayed aloof with DeAnna. No dinner here, strange. Either they are cheap or they don't want to get attached to DeAnna. You know, if we feed her she might keep coming back! Mom doesn't waste any time by asking DeAnna if she can really find someone that will last in such a short time. Funny that we don't get to hear her answer, ummm. DeAnna's light bulb is finally going off that maybe Graham isn't ready for a serious relationship. The parents seem to like DeAnna.

At the rose ceremony, DeAnna sends Graham home telling him he is the one person she was falling in love with. Are you kidding me?! She is all about opening up and being honest, all that Graham isn't and she was falling for him? Goes to show that opposites do attract. If she is so in love with this guy why send him home? I guess there is that whole don't want to get my heart broken thing. So now she has to chose from three other guys and all she will be thinking about will be Graham. Not so fair for the other guys. Double D

The Next Food Network Star-Coast Guard Feeding

For this episode it's Tyler Florence as guest judge. Did I mention I saw Tyler Florence eating at an outdoor cafe in Sausalito? Yep, he was just sitting there eating a salad (alone, no entourage or anything!) looking out onto main street. As I passed by with my sister in law in tow, we walked by the table and I said, he looks familiar, but I couldn't place the name. Then my sister in law, whose as subtle as a pink elephant said that's Tyler Florence! She made me walk back and forth several times so she could get a good look at him. After it became obvious we were walking back and forth, we then hid in the hedges to watch him eat. Ok, sounds stalkerazzi, but we only did it for all of 10 seconds ok, ok, 10 minutes, thank goodness my husband called me or we'd still be there! Tyler does have very soft looking hands (he doesn't do his own dishes, ummmm? And he looks exactly the same in person) . This first challenge involves a 60 seconds teaching video with a food item. Aaron's item is a pineapple, but he's more interested in showing how to display the top than cutting the prickly skin. Shane's is a coconut, but he has no idea how to get it open. Hasn't he ever watched Survivor? Nipa was totally flipping out, she hates to touch fish, in this case squid. OMG how ever does she cook? SIU! (suck it up!). Kelsey wins the challenge with her lamb boning. The major challenge involves cooking a dish for Red Lobster, but with a twist, cooking two dishes one for the Red Lobster menu and then one with a uncommon ingredient, fish with stuff like, coffee, chocolate, marshmellow creme, fruit loops, grape jelly, what the? I definitely don't like my fish tasting like a flutter nutter! How's Nipa going to do this challenge when she hates to handle fish? Nipa pares down her fish to one tiny bit and throws away the rest, doesn't she know there are people starving in India? The crew then takes their dishes aboard a Coast Guard cutter to give a short presentation of their dish to the 30 men and woman aboard. Adam decides that he will do his Dick Van Dyke falling over the ottoman prat and falls on the floor but that stunt falls flat on it's face-cue cricket sounds. Next Nipa thinks she might win over the audience with a lesson in Bollywood dancing. Well heck, if her career peters out in cooking she could become a Bolly dancer, hahaha! I slay myself! Lisa's meanwhile is in the kitchen as we watch her take a huge fall dousing herself with sauce on her $300.00 shirt. Yikes, a $300.00 shirt? My whole closet is probably worth $300.00! She does manage to remain cool and collective and gave a very heart felt presentation, even if she still looks like Gephetto's daughter. Kelsey again wins the challenge. She's managing to rein in her bubbly and looks like a front runner to win this thing and Nipa is sent packing, if you can't handle the fish better get out of the kitchen!-Single D

See Kelsey's winning receipe below:

Macadamia Crusted Tilapia with White Chocolate Beurre Blanc Recipe courtesy Kelsey Nixon

1/2 cup all-purpose flour 2 large eggs 3 cups macadamia nuts 6 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 tablespoons olive oil White Chocolate Beurre Blanc, recipe follows Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place flour in shallow bowl. Whisk eggs in small bowl to blend. Finely grind nuts in processor. Transfer nuts to another bowl. Season fish with salt and pepper. Coat fish with flour. Dip fish into eggs, then macadamia nuts, coating completely. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in each of 2 heavy large skillets over medium heat. Place 3 fillets in each skillet; cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer fillets to large baking sheet. Bake fish until just opaque in center, about 7 minutes. Top with White Chocolate Beurre Blanc and serve. White Chocolate Beurre Blanc: 1/3 cup shallot, minced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon garlic, minced 2/3 cup dry white wine 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup coconut milk 2 tablespoons white chocolate Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Cook shallots in olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes, adding garlic in the last minute. Deglaze with wine and reduce by half. Add cream and coconut milk and reduce by half once more. Remove sauce from heat and mount with white chocolate until sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper A viewer, who may not be a professional cook, provided this recipe. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe and therefore, we cannot make representation as to the results.

The Next Design Star-Oaklawn Mansion

It's a junk sale at the Design Star house and junk is right, could they find a more pitiful assortment of stuff? Everyone is roused from their beds with the loud call of Clive's obnoxious bull horn. They are told by Clive to pick their treasure carefully, like you know they will have to do something with it, a duh! Mike has a sheet wrapped around his scrawny body as he grabs for a cylindrical glass vase. Can you say phallic! He wishes. Stephanie picks the pink flamingo, like why? I confess, I have a pink flamingo in my garden but I don't want to look at it inside my house. The designers are told to bring their stuff to a mansion called Oaklawn once owned by "Stand by your Man" Tammy Wynette and George Jones. I'm having the greatest urge to sip sweet tea and sit on the veranda right now. The mansion has 4 identical sitting rooms, what else do genteel southern ladies have to do back then, but sit? And one haunted basement, does Ghost Hunters know about this? The designers are paired up by the paint can draw, with each team one given one of the sitting rooms to do a makeover with their junk finds. Their first taste of the haunting was the framed number one flying off the wall and crashing to the floor. Oooooh! I'm wondering if any of the designers felt a rush of cold air around them? The designers have three days and $5,000 to complete their projects. Tracee survived last episodes beheading and is paired with Jennifer, who is willing to give her a second chance to redeem herself after throwing her team under the bus last time. I'm just wondering who divided up the work load and chose Tracee to go to the store while Jennifer painted. Bad idea, Tracee spent 5 hours picking out two chairs, (which Jennifer hated) and paint, gee go figure.

I really didn't like any of the rooms except for Matt and Mike's black painted sitting room. At first Matt was like, I'm not feeling the black to which Mike said that it could be primer if they didn't like it. Primer? How do you cover black paint? In the end, it was Mike's and Matt's room that won the judges, but leave it to Vern to notice that the other walls were left unadorned. Is Matt gay? I always say two gays are better than one when it comes to design. I totally hated D. Paul and Trish's Linda Blair split pea green vomit room with those heavy antique Jed Clampett couches. D. Paul deserved to be in the bottom two for spending 3 days on crown molding which he insisted that the judges would take notice. Yeah, they took notice alright and said why did you do that, huh, huh? And Vern said he didn't even notice it, he's so subtle. That made D. Paul even more De-flated. And what in the world was Stephanie going to do with that hideous pink flamingo? Well take it apart of course. That was crafty by taking the pink flamingo apart, but did she have to create an entire line of flamingo products?

In the end, it was Tracee again in the bottom two, with De-flated er D. Paul, and was once again Ms. Congeniality was spared as D. Paul is sent packing, back to the bayou with ya. Is Tracee going to cry at every episode? So you be the judge, pictures falling, sconces hurling through the air and paint trays being mysteriously moved. Ghost or what? I'm just wondering who is going to clean the halls, the ghost? -Single D

Ghost Hunters - Fort Delaware

The team goes to Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, Delaware. This place is huge! It was used as a POW camp during the civil war. Apparitions of a cleaning woman are seen as well as a cook and a confederate soldier. The winner of the hunt for the hunter will be joining the team. I wondered if we would be seeing him again.

J & G go to the officer's quarters to do EVP work. They ask the spirits if they want to communicate and show themselves by way of the K2 meters and the meters go crazy. Looks like they got some "live" ones!

In the tunnels, Joe & Tango ask if there is anyone there could they throw something. A few seconds later they hear what sounds like a rock being thrown. Later, J & G go to the tunnels and hear voices. J & G continue on down the tunnel and they catch a figure on thermal that walks across the hallway, stops, turns and walks back. Thinking there may be another investigator there, Jason runs down the hall but doesn't find anyone. They decide to leave the thermal camera in the tunnel to see if anything else happens. They go to kitchen to see if they can draw out the spirit of the cook by talking about cooking and hear a loud bang which does not have a source.

Going over the tapes, you can hear something say "show some respect" and "kitchen". On video we see the figure in the tunnel as well as what looks like someone's head and shoulders peeking down the hall. The video on this was amazing! If J & G hadn't accounted for all of the investigators at the time, I would swear someone was trying to pull one over on them. It gave me the chills. Jason declares the fort haunted. After seeing that video I would say so!

Congrats to Kris for becoming a full fledged investigator! Ghost Hunters International is back in two weeks, can't wait! Double D

Ghost Hunters - Keep it in the Family

The team goes to the 200 year old Red Mill in Clinton, New Jersey. Reports here are the usual footsteps as well as the sound of a typewriter and the apparition of a little girl.

Steve and Tango start in the mill room and have an altercation with a spider. The spider gets on Tango and he tells Steve to get it off him. Did you forget who you are talking to? Steve is afraid of everything (except ghosts)!

J & G go to the 2nd floor and hear the footsteps. Grant tries to make contact with the little girl and tells her it would be funny if she would tug on Jason's pant leg. Across the room, Jason feels a pull on his pant leg! Later, Grant feels the same thing. Looks like the little girl just wants to play.

Nothing was caught on video but one EVP from Grant telling the girl to pull on Jason's pants yields a response of "come on". Jason says the mill has paranormal activity but stops short of calling it haunted.

The next investigation has Tango's dad going along to help. The investigation is at the Proprietary House in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Jersey has a lot of haunted places. They get UFOs too. Ummm....... The Proprietary House is the home of the last Royal Governor of New Jersey which just happens to have been Ben Franklin's son, William. The reports here are, you guessed it, footsteps, voices, a beam of light coming out of the walls and the figure of a little boy is seen playing with a ball.

J & G start in the drawing room telling the spirits it's customary to present one's self when someone enters your home. Right after that, they both hear footsteps and see a shadow. Well, they did say to show yourself! Grant also gets his ear flicked after provoking a spirit. That will teach you, you can't be rude to a ghost!

Kris & Joe to into the room where a man threw his nephew out of the window. When they don't have any luck, Kris suggests they provoke the spirits so she says, "come out you pathetic loser!" It's OK to be rude to a bad ghost.

Tango & Tango dad are in the tea room doing EVP work and dad asks "are you afraid of us?" and they hear a voice.

The team get the footsteps on audio as well as the response to Tango dad's question are you afraid of us, no.

Jason will not declare the property haunted but says there is paranormal activity. Double D

Hell's Kitchen-Battle of the Final Four

Let's do the Single D's analysis of the final four: Petrozza, the only man left standing. His chances are slim. If he were an animal he would be a rather large domestic hog not only in physical resemblance but in habits (although I heard swine are actually very neat, who said that?). His work stations looks like a herd of stampeding pork running amok. Jen the line chef would be executive chef, who is she auditioning for the Devil? Let's see, cold, calculating, heartless, non-team player, yeah, I would want her cooking in my kitchen. Did I mention heartless? I think her cornrows have been twisted too tight making her lose all sense of reality. Hey Jen, there are other cooks in the kitchen! Ok, she does know how to cook, but if she continually alienates people who is she going to cook for? Corey, a perplexing blend of bitchiness and low self esteem, a squishy lanky blond wrapped up in a chef coat straight jacket. She took a quick early lead and then started to second guess herself and offering herself up as a sacrificial lamb. Hey Corey, get a grip, focus, stop waffling and piss off! Do I sound like Gordon Ramsay? Christina, winner of the most challenges. Doe eyed, lispy sounding, how old is she, 7? Recent culinary grad, greatest potential but cries at the drop of a chef hat. I don't think she has the sass to command a kitchen and no one that young should make more money than me! She needs to wipe her nose, pay her dues and then maybe. Best bet to win, Corey. I think Chef Ramsay is trying to show his softer side by telling the chefs that this is the mother of all challenges. They will have one hour to cook up a lunch dish for 80 people. Christina makes an island chicken sandwich, Cory a salmon BLT, Petrozza a Monte Cristo (love those, hey anything deep fried!) and Jen with a grilled grouper. Immediately Corey falls behind and barely manages to get her food out when chef announces the arrival of the guests, 80 pregnant women. Ha ha Chef, mother of all challenges, who writes this stuff? The winner, Christina by two votes over Petrozza and earns her a $1,000 shopping trip to Beverly Hills! Whoo-hoo! Love it, but does Chef have to go? He acts like the doting father over Christina while she tries on outfit after outfit. Ah, Christina, you better start exercising, I can see all that taste testing is going to your hips! When Christina comes back, everyone is jealous and won't give her the time of day as she ask what can she do to get ready for the dinner service. Well, you can take those precious clothes you bought and put them down the garbage disposal! Come on people, grow up and Christina grow a set! Finally, Petrozza and Corey relent and start talking to her, while Jen is still fuming, I shoulda went shopping that girl's not no taste, like you have a figure, I'm thinking stock pot here! During the dinner service, Chef burns his hand not once but twice on pots that Christina gives him, while Jen is secretly enjoying her misery as her horns poke out even further. Corey asks Jen to help out with the eggs which Jen chooses to ignore. Hey JEN, anyone home? I would have taken the largest sauce pan and knocked her over the head with it, someone needs to bash in those horns! Dinner service ends with Chef saying that this was the best service ever, but someone has to be eliminated. Back in the dorm, Corey suggest that they each write two names down, but not the same two names. Read my lips here, not the same two names. When they tally the votes, Jen writes Christina's name twice. Jen's playing by her own rules I guess, either that or she doesn't know how to count. Chef ask which two for elimination-Christina lispiably says, Jen and Corey (there's that sacrificial lamb thing again). Jen because she has no sense of team playing, there is an I in team for Jen and Corey, because she is not living up to what is expected. For one split second, Christina (and I) thought Chef was going to have an Alzheimer moment and get rid of Corey, but he managed to snap back and remember that Jen is the nightmare from Elm street and sent Jen packing. Sorry Jen, if you would have just a little more soul and a lot more heart you might have made it to that top level, instead, you insisted on listening to that devil on your shoulder. Get an attitude adjustment and piss off!-Single D

Top Chef Finale

I have to warn you, this was the most boring finale Top Chef has had to date! No real excitement. With two really good chefs and one sour puss, the only thing to hope for is that Lisa doesn't win. With that said, the chefs have to make a four course tasting menu. They get help from some famous chefs that I don't know. Actually, I did recognise the one with the accent since he has been a guest judge. Our top chefs aren't too sure how to go about working with the pros and Stephanie ends up hovering over her chef and she thinks she is offending him. Richard pulls out some of his gadgets which impresses all of the chefs & Lisa is getting along with her chef which surprises everyone, maybe because her chef is a woman.

Day two and chefs find out they are on their own with no pro-chef help. Lisa says she wants her menu to reflect her personality, big, bold, spicy and sweet. What part of Lisa is sweet?! Big and bold, yes, sweet, NOT! Chef Tom comes in to check on the chefs who don't seem to want to talk to him. All Richard would say is that his menu is abstract. Does that mean we won't be able to tell what it is on the plate? Lisa says she is on track and Stephanie is nervous about her dessert.

The setting for the final meal/judging is beautiful. Crystal chandeliers, fine china, fresh flowers all in a mansion in Puerto Rico. The only thing that would have made it better is if it were all open air. That would make any meal taste better. As the chefs present their courses, Stephanie seems to have won the first course with seared snapper in fois gras topped with salad greens. Lisa takes the second course with her coconut soup with lemon grass. I thought sure (hoping really) that Stephanie would beat Lisa with her lobster ravioli and quail egg but chef Tom had to jump in and ask the judges what they thought about the leeks which did her in.

Third course and Stephanie shines again serving lamb with mushrooms, blackberries, pistachios and olives. That sounds just awful but the judges loved it. Richard, who hasn't even shown up on the radar, comes through with dessert. He made a repeat of his banana scallop with bacon ice cream. Bacon ice cream?! Again, sounds terrible but the judges loved it.

At judges table, Richard tells the judges he choked while Stephanie says her dessert could have been better and, of course, Lisa thinks she did no wrong. The judges tell Stephanie just when they think they have her figured out she surprises them. At this point, I'm on the edge of my sofa thinking that comment could go either way and talking to the TV saying don't pick Lisa, PLEASE don't pick Lisa! The judges crown Stephanie Top Chef and I jumped up cheering like I was at a football game! Thank goodness! I was so afraid that Lisa was going to somehow pull it off again. Apparently Lisa thought so to because the look on her face would turn the judges hair white. Get over your bad attitude self Lisa! Congrats, snaps and kudos to Stephanie! Double D

Tila Tequila-Shot at Love # 2-Cancun

Cancun, final three dates, Bo pouting cause he can't go jet skiing, Kristi pouting cause she doesn't like horseback riding, Bo happy after spending the night with Tila, Kristi and Brittany pouting, Kristi happy after spending the night with Tila, Bo and Brittany pouting, Brittany happy after spending the night with Tila, (isn't Tila exhausted by now?), Bo pouting, Kristi vexed, Brittany eliminated, Bo happy, Kristi happy, Single D vexed!-Single D

The Bachelorette-Mid Season Check Up and the Final Four

The first hour was devoted to DeAnna batting her eyelashes (maybe she has dry eye?) and telling Chris Hanson that she really doesn't want to keep guys around that she has no feelings for, like the chef Robert, (I would have kept him around so he could cook for me), Fred, (I would have kept him around because he would have been nice to me) and Brian, (I would have kept him around because he's eye candy, yummy!). I did like the two second bios on the remaining bachelors. My favorite was Sean, who knew that dude's high maintenance! What can I say, the guy's got a tanning booth and sauna in his home and as he says, the darker the thinner (isn't that the darker the deader-skin cancer?) He did score points being a mama's boy and lives one street over from her, which could be a good thing or a nightmare, depending on how mommie dearest she is. I thought it was funny when Ron (eliminated barber, er, hair stylest) gave Sean a hair make over. Looked good but what about Jesse's hair? Next it was Jason, who is a golfer, which never sits well with me. One of my old boss used to say, golfing is for guys that can't have sex! Jason claims he's a risk taker, how much of a risk taker can you be if you play golf? Jeremy on the other hand, loves taking risk in sky diving, bungee plunging, and fast motorcycles. I think he just has the need to show off how macho he is, not! He seems like he would be a control freak, careful DeAnna! Next it was Graham, does he remind you of a mechanic? Shouldn't he be looking under the hood of some car or something?

It's off to Palm Springs for the remaining 6 bachelors and Sean gets the first single date, a ride up the PS tram for a romantic dinner at the top. More like a frigid dinner, but it looked like DeAnna was warming up to mama's boy, Sean and she invited him to her room for dessert, no just dessert! The next day it's helicopter rides out to the desert for some ATV action. Self professed idiot Twilly got to ride with DeAnna alone in the copter, a perfect chance to get some alone time, if not for the fact the Twilly got motion sickness and DeAnna was just grateful that he didn't puke all over her. After riding in the desert and getting all dusty, it's back to the Palmer Resort for a dip in the pool. Jesse gets alone time with DeAnna and she really wants him to kiss her as she leans forward, her lips leading the way, but Jesse is oblivious. Yak, yak, yak. He's talking but what is he saying? Unfortunately he misses out of closing the deal when Graham snatches her away, which was surprising since he really hasn't made a move on his own. Did you noticed in the hammock how starry eyed DeAnna was gazing up at Graham, but Graham wasn't really looking in her direction making eye contact? His body language is just tense, could he be in the closet?

The following night it's a date with Jeremy. She picks him up in a vintage convertible about the size of a small Carnival Cruise ship, how do you park a thing like that? It's dinner at Frank Sinatra's old house. It's just what I would have imagined his house would look like, so fifties, but a bit bizarre. Having dinner at a house that is practically a museum piece was very strange. I think the whole date just looked so awkward, right down to the karaoke singing (I can hear the dogs howling) to taking a dip in the pool. Why does every date end with a dip in the pool? I wouldn't want to mess my hair and makeup, of course if I don't have any make-up on I look like Madame Mao grandmother-ouch!

Back to the mansion and it's back to reality, when the guys show up, Chris announces that there will be no cocktail party tonight, DeAnna has made up her mind. And when she makes up her mind, it's no party. So it's down to the business of getting rid of the two that she doesn't want, Twilly and Sean. Well no surprise there with Twilly, but Sean? I think she should have given him a chance, but then again, like she said, if she's not attracted to him, then it's off with ya. -Single D

Mid season check up. Translates into, we didn't enough footage and we are booked for another week so we will do a recap and sell it as a tell all by DeAnna. Oh no it wasn't! The only thing she told was that Ryan never told her he was a virgin. Like that would have made a difference, she may have gotten rid of him even sooner! And I still think she WAY over reacted at the BBQ. Come on girl, it was supposed to be a party. She really expected these guys to pour their hearts out at a function that was meant to be a kick back and relax time. Granted, I was surprised no one took advantage (Jeremy) but for her to react like that leads me to believe DeAnna may be a bit high maintenance and not the little sweetheart we think she is.

We get to see Ryan & Trista at home with their adorable baby, Max. Even Trista thinks Graham is hot. Will somebody please tell me what it is with this guy? He always looks like he is trying to grow a beard but it never gets any thicker. Surprises all around as we find out that Twilly is an artist and Sean is high maintenance. He puts more stuff on his face and hair than I do! However, he does like the finer things. Hey, as long as he has the money, great!

The group goes to Palm Springs for a week and Sean gets the first one on one date. They go on the tram to the top of the mountain. I've been on that tram and it rotates as it goes up the mountain so you get a view from all angles. They had dinner at the top and Sean starts talking and talking and talking. DeAnna didn't seem to mind since she invited him for dessert. After dessert they hit the hammock (she has a thing for hammocks) and Sean makes his move to kiss DeAnna. Looks like Sean will be sticking around after all.

The group date includes everyone but Jeremy. A helicopter comes to pick up the group and DeAnna says sorry but the helicopter is for her and Twilly much to his delight. Poor Twilly, he finally gets a chance to be alone with DeAnna and everything goes wrong. First he can't get the door to the helicopter open, then he gets motion sickness, then he can't get the door open when they land. I actually felt sorry for the guy. The only way it could have been worse is if he had actually puked on DeAnna!

The group go out to the open desert to ride ATVs. Jesse was showing off doing wheelies and falls off and Twilly, still cursed, couldn't get his ATV to start when it was time to go back. At the resort, they have a pool party and DeAnna quizzes Jason about how it would be to go on a hometown date with him. Jesse takes DeAnna away where she tells him she thought he was hot on the ATV. OK Jesse that's your cue! DeAnna was hoping he would kiss her and even moved in a little closer but Jesse was totally oblivious. Men! I swear you have to take the reins on some of them! Graham steps in and sweeps DeAnna off to, you guessed it, the hammock. Graham was talking and staring off into space, did he even know DeAnna was there? It's all about Graham honey. There's a reason he has never had a serious relationship.

Jeremy's one on one date is dinner at Frank Sinatra's house. Were they allowed to touch anything in the house? They went into the studio, put on a record and tried to sing. I really could have done without hearing that. I guess the editors had some time to fill in because they were both awful singers! Dancing pool side was romantic. I'm starting to get jealous! After dinner they get in Ol' Blue Eye's pool but there wasn't any swimming going on.

DeAnna decides to chuck the cocktail party since she already knows what, or who, she wants. She sends home Twilly and Sean. I was surprised she kept Jesse since he seems to have developed cold feet of late. I think she should have kept Sean. He came out kind of full of himself but ended up as a nice guy. Next week, home town dates! Double D

Ghost Hunters - Duped

The first investigation is in Cape Cod, MA. This is one place that is on my bucket list, it looks so quaint and the shopping potential....... The Colonial House Inn which was built in 1730 is the site of doors slamming, babies crying, apparitions working in the garden and shadows. The carriage house was the scene of a suicide and now people hear a man crying here.

J & G start in the widow's watch of the carriage house. Jason starts feeling cold while Grant stays toasty, so they change places and Grant gets cold while Jason warms up. Tango & Kris debunk the shadow in room 102 saying that passing cars are casting the shadows.

Room 208 is a room that can't be rented because people get such a creepy feeling that they request to change rooms. J & G found the ceiling fan medium speed was broken giving off a hum which gives people the sensation of being watched. To prove the point, they send Kris in while the fan was off and again with the fan in the broken position. She didn't have any problem while the fan was off but with the fan "on" she started getting that creepy feeling.

Nothing was caught on audio or video and Jason tells the owner there is not enough evidence to declare the Inn haunted.

Moss Beach Distillery in Moss Beach CA is the next investigation. The distillery is the supposed home of an apparition the owner call the blue lady. Reports are that the blue lady plays with the light fixtures in the bar, people hear her laugh in the ladies room and glasses clinking and voices are heard.

J & G go into the ladies room and immediately hear laughter. They find a sensor on the door which triggers a speaker in the ceiling. They also find a mirror with a film over. When they pull off the mirror they find a mask of a woman's face behind the mirror. It's beginning to look like the place is rigged like a fun house.

In the hallway of the basement, J & G find another speaker set up int he ceiling tiles. Suspecting the set up, they go to the bar to check out the light fixtures. Grant goes into the ceiling and finds timers attached to moveable arms which makes the lights move.

J & G are understandably upset for getting played and want to confront the owner. They meet with the manager and stay cool asking why didn't he tell them about the fake stuff. The manager claims it slipped his mind. I'm not buying that. If it slipped his mind, why would he tell the team about the lights moving and the laughter in the ladies room? Jason tells the manager they didn't get any evidence and says the distillery is not haunted. Sorry this happened to you guys, hopefully the next case will be a real one! Double D

The Next Food Network Star

As in the previous blog on the Next Design Star, I can't resist a good cooking show. I am coming in the third episode of this food competition to find that surprise, surprise, Martha Stewart is going to be on it. Love, love, love her! I've been a Martha fan way before she even went to jail. Only Martha could leave jail and still be on top of her game smelling like french perfume and pork roast. Bobby Flay gives the chefs a very Iron Chefseque task-your mysterious ingredient-the russet PoTaTo! Make a dish representing your culinary point of view and give a one minute TV presentation, definitely not for the camera shy. I love this kind of challenge, it's so food network stuff. I think Aaron's potato wrapped bacon thing looked so scrumptious I just wanted to sleep with it and apparently the judges thought so as well, as Bobby said he would put that on his menu. Now that's high praise. And Adam's bacon cheese fries, need I say more?-ok I'm getting hungry! Jeffery looked like a deer caught in the headlights when he went on to his presentation. I thought he was going to be totally prepared, he was writing a book in the green room. Lisa was all confidence before she went on, but when she went on, she must have misunderstood the directions (what's there to misunderstand?) and she used only 15 seconds of her time explaining her dish and point of view, something to this effect, "This is my dish and I made it, " with the other 45 seconds standing in stone silence as she stared at the judges (they stared back) with the TV camera rolling-can you say-awkward! And hey what's up with her makeup and hair style? Does she have a father named Ghepetto and a brother named Pinocchio? She has a very marionette look about her (where's her strings?) and would be perfect if she were auditioning for ringmaster for Cirque de Soliel.

The next challenge is to make a product for branding and packing. What's up with Nipa and her sugar and cayenne powder for peanuts? She kept saying that the portions is what makes it special, wooooo! It's two ingredients. Hey Nipa, it's not rocket science. And there's Kelsey-ok maybe she's a little young and not experienced any hardship, has not known the brutal cruel world, where you had to work and scrape your fingers to the bone. Maybe she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and had everything handed to her on a silver platter, can you tell I'm jealous of her sunny disposition? Can anyone be that happy? Even when she cries she still looks happy! The surprise judge was as I said Martha Stewart, love, love, love her! She sampled everyone's dish, liked Aaron's vinaigrette dressing the best, although he kept whining that it would have been better with cayenne pepper in it. Hey blame Nipa for buying out all the cayenne. Martha kinda of looked down her nose at Kelsey's saucy sloppy joes, which Martha says she doesn't eat much of that kind of food, probably reminds her too much of her prison days! ha! I wanted to cringe when Adam started singing to Martha, hey Adam, stick to cooking the bacon cheese fries! In the end, it's so long Jeffery he needed to put a little more soul or spice into his cooking and definitely lacked TV charisma. -Single D

The Next Design Star

There are two things that I love, love, love. All things cooking and all things interior design and that is why I watch Top Chef (which Double D blogs on), Hell's Kitchen (cause I think Gordon Ramsay is cute in a piss off kinda way) and now the Next Design Star and the Next Cooking Star. I love the Next Design Star/Next Food Star, because I am an HGTV junkie and Food Network junkie. Or as my husband would say, just a reality show junkie and that is why I am here and you are reading this. My absolute favorite designer is Divine Design star Candace Olsen. Her designs are truly amazing and no one can hold a taffeta curtain next to her. So with this show it's interesting to see if any up and coming designer can become the next Candace Olsen, seriously doubt this. Last season's winner, Kim Myles and her show Myles of Style is lacking style for me and what's his name, David Bromstad (I cheated, I had to look it up) also doesn't flip my ottoman. This season's lineup started with a limo ride to the Nashville countryside where the they are dropped off by a pile of suspicious looking lumber and toolboxes. Doesn't look good. Each one speculates that they might have to build their own living quarters, eeks! Designing and building a house, that would be a first, what is this Extreme Home Make Over?

Clive Pearse tells them that they will have $100,000 and 7 days to build a space where they will live. Tall order. He leaves the designers in a quandary as they scramble to decide how to do this when Clive comes back-ok punk'd, just kidding he tells them as they board a boat that takes them across the river to their house. Once inside they are shown rooms, dining room, living room, sun room and 2 bedrooms. Their mission, to divide up the space and design their living quarters. The house is really amazing, a stately mansion with old architecture. The designers divide themselves up into groups of two to four with only Scottie choosing to do one of the bedrooms by himself. What was he thinking? That could either be genius or disaster, in this case disaster. Doing a room by yourself, you have no one to blame things on if the room goes totally wrong. Who will you throw under the bus, point the finger at and tell the judges it was his idea, huh? huh? This decision eventually became his undoing and as Clive says, his show was cancelled. Vern Yip, the judge, was really harsh on him saying that his design, so seventies, was all wrong right down to the color choice (burnt orange) to the beds laying end to end, who wants to smell stinky feet? The best design was the other bedroom designed by carpenters Matt and Mickey V. with their unique 4 beds/loft bed design. Well, duh they are carpenters and know wood. I thought the living room was a beautiful room with dark blue grey walls and the silver insets in the bookcase. I wasn't too crazy about the dining room with it's beautiful fireplace mantel distressed brown or as judge Martha McCulley said, you turned the wood table white and the white fireplace brown, one word in my book, why? In the end, I guess the judges thought getting rid of the one that worked alone was the choice, so it's cut for Scottie, Mr. Bowtie, you look like you should be teaching a college course not designing rooms.-Single D

Top Chef - Puerto Rico

I'm behind I know. We had company so I am playing catch up. Thanks for bearing with me! After a six month break, the chefs are in Puerto Rico for the finals. During the break Stephanie says she was enjoying life by traveling to Thailand, Viet Nam and Cambodia. Thailand sounds good but Cambodia? Antonia opened her restaurant and has been cooking non stop. We don't get to hear what Richard and Lisa have been up to but it's clear the other chefs didn't expect Lisa to still be around. The quickfire challenge is to make two kinds of fritters and they have to include plantains. Stephanie makes a tuna fritter and a pork & shrimp fritter. Antonia comes up with crispy oysters and a fried yellow plantain while Richard makes pork meatballs with plantain and green plantain chips. Lisa makes tostones with pan roasted duck with mango papaya salsa and a sweet plantain with onions and chorizo. What a setting these guys have to cook in with the surf in the background. I was wondering how they could concentrate. Anyway, Stephanie wins the quickfire just edging out Lisa. The chefs get to relax a little and attend a party with traditional dancers, a band and a whole pig being roasted on a spit. That's my kind of party, dancing and a whole lot of pig! At least the chefs didn't have to good at this party. The finale is being held at a fort which is the home of the governor of Puerto Rico. For the challenge, each chef is given a whole pig to make two dishes using different parts of the pig. The chefs get help from, who else, chefs that have already packed their knives. Stephanie's advantage for winning quickfire is she gets to chose who cooks with whom. She picks Dale for herself and pairs Lisa with Andrew who pretty much hate each other. They all walk into the kitchen and there lying on the counters are the pigs. After seeing that, it will take awhile before I can eat a pork chop. They were white and, well, dead. It's one thing to see them on a spit all brown and crispy and quite another to see them laying there all white and dead looking. Call me quirky! Off to market they go and Andrew gets someone who doesn't speak English so he tries to refer to what he wants by color. He comes off, as he said, looking like a retard. Somehow he manages to get the ingredients he needs and it's back to the kitchen. The kitchen is very cramped with all those chefs in one place and they start to get a little cranky. Lisa kept stepping in on Andrew saying she could do better on all he was doing. I would have said, have at it and left if I was him. He is only trying to help. They all get to prep their dishes and come back the next day to finish. On the way out we see a container full of Stephanie's pork bellies on the counter. When the chefs arrive the next day, Stephanie and Dale find out their mistake and have to trash the dish and start over. They decide to go with chicharrones, coconut pork and pork satay on sugar cane. Richard makes BBQ pork shoulder, ribs and pork belly. Antonia also makes pork belly and also pork sausage and curried pork. Lisa has pork rellena, pork belly (of course) and adobo pork tostone. What's up with all the pork belly? And is it any good? Stephanie is nervous at the judging since she had to start from scratch but relaxes when the judges seem to like her dishes. Richard was looking pretty frazzled. As the guests were commenting on the chefs and their dishes, one guest said he had been Puerto Rican all his life, in reference to the food. I'm thinking, good for you, I've been American all my life but I can tell good food from bad also. It just seemed like an odd thing to say. At judges table, Richard and Stephanie are the judges favorites with Richard winning. His prize is a car. I think this is the first time they have given a car. Not bad! That leaves Lisa and Antonia as the least favorite. Lisa immediately defends her dishes and took on that famous attitude. The judges didn't like Antonia's undercooked beans. After the judges have their discussion, they call back Lisa and Antonia and Lisa turns on her death ray glare. In a shocker, at least to me, Antonia is told to pack her knives and go. In the war room everyone is hugging Antonia goodbye with Lisa sulking. Lisa finally confronts Steph & Richard saying why don't you congratulate me? For what?! That girl and her attitude should have been sent packing long ago. Double D