Wrestling: Funk vs. Gweenz

Linguini and Garfunkel have definitely been getting along better since my last post. They're not BFF or anything but they have gotten to the point where they more than tolerate each other - sometimes, they even play together. Which is nice on those nights I'd rather eat my dinner than throw the one-legged hippo 4,000 times. :o) I caught them in the act the other day and started snapping away. Here's a little taste of Funk vs. Gweenz: The Smackdown.

There was no clear victor.




And as another example of their growing togetherness, here's a picture I took when someone thought I was taking too long getting his dinner ready. He's very lucky Funk's a good sharer.

TV Tidbits 99: Fall TV Info Extravaganza!

The new fall season is upon us and I have been quite remiss in keeping you all posted as to new series info and season premiere dates. Let me try to make up for lost ground with a couple charts and a few recommendations.

From EW.com: The new season (at least according to Nielsen) officially begins on Sept. 19, but several shows are firing up earlier. (This chart doesn't include midseason starts, like those for Cougar Town and 30 Rock [side note: Major boooo! I love those shows!])

MONDAY
Time	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
CBS	How I Met Your Mother (9/19)	2 Broke Girls (9/19)	Two and a Half Men (9/19)	Mike & Molly (9/26)	Hawaii Five-O (9/19)
NBC	The Sing-Off (9/19)				The Playboy Club (9/19)
FOX	Terra Nova (9/26)		House (10/3)
ABC	Dancing with the Stars (9/19)				Castle (9/19)
CW	Gossip Girl (9/26)		Hart of Dixie (9/26)
TUESDAY
Time	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
CBS	NCIS (9/20)		NCIS: Los Angeles (9/20)		Unforgettable (9/20)
NBC	The Biggest Loser (9/20)				Parenthood (9/13)
FOX	Glee (9/20)		New Girl (9/20)	Raising Hope (9/20)
ABC	Last Man Standing (10/11)	Man Up! (10/18)	Dancing with the Stars (9/20)		Body of Proof (9/20)
CW	90210 (9/13)		Ringer (9/13)
WEDNESDAY
Time	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
CBS	Survivor: South Pacific (9/14)		Criminal Minds (9/21)		CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (9/21)
NBC	Up All Night (9/14)	Free Agents (9/14)	Harry’s Law (9/21)		Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9/21)
FOX	The X-Factor (9/21)			I Hate My Teenage Daughter (11/23)
ABC	The Middle (9/21)	Suburgatory (9/28)	Modern Family (9/21)	Happy Endings (9/28)	Revenge (9/21)
CW	H8R (9/14)		America’s Next Top Model (9/14)
THURSDAY
Time	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
CBS	The Big Bang Theory (9/22)	How to Be a Gentleman (9/29)	Person of Interest (9/22)		The Mentalist (9/22)
NBC	Community (9/22)	Parks and Recreation (9/22)	The Office (9/22)	Whitney (9/22)	Prime Suspect (9/22)
FOX	The X-Factor results show (11/3)		Bones (11/3)
ABC	Charlies Angels (9/22)		Grey’s Anatomy (9/22)		Private Practice (9/29)
CW	The Vampire Diaries (9/15)		The Secret Circle (9/15)
FRIDAY
Time	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
CBS	A Gifted Man (9/23)		CSI: NY (9/23)		Blue Bloods (9/23)
NBC	Chuck (10/21)		Grimm (10/21)		Dateline (9/23)
FOX	Kitchen Nightmares (9/23)		Fringe (9/23)
ABC	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (9/25)		Shark Tank (TBA)		20/20 (9/16)
CW	Nikita (9/23)		Supernatural (9/23)
SATURDAY
Time	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
CBS	Rules of Engagement (9/24)	Comedytime Saturday	Crimetime Saturday		48 Hours Mystery (9/24)
NBC	Encore Programming
FOX	Cops (9/10)		Encore Programming
ABC	Saturday Night Football (9/3)
SUNDAY
Time	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
CBS	60 Minutes (9/25)/ The Amazing Race (9/25)		The Good Wife (9/25)		CSI: Miami (9/25)
NBC	Football Night in America (9/11)		NBC Sunday Night Football (9/11)
FOX	The Simpsons (9/25)	Allen Gregory (10/30)	Family Guy (9/25)	American Dad (9/25)
ABC	America’s Funniest Home Videos (10/2)/ Once Upon a Time (10/23)		Desperate Housewives (9/25)		Pan Am (9/25)
KEY: ABC: PINK | CBS: BLUE | FOX: ORANGE | NBC: GREEN | CW: PURPLE Note: New shows highlighted in red | NT: New Time Slot

And here's the same info plus a little extra in a slightly different form, courtesy of TV|Line:

Both EW.com and TV|Line have excellent and comprehensive 'Fall TV Central' sections (here and here, respectively) so if you feel you need more info on something in particular, they would be great sites to visit.

The start of the new season is always a stressful time in my house (mostly for me but whatever) - not only is my previously barren TiVo chockablock full of all the new episodes of shows we already watch, we have to decide to which new shows we will grant the coveted 'season pass.' *sigh* As you know, I have whittled our list of such shows down quite a bit over the past year but the beginning of the season makes me feel as though I need to give most shows at least a 3-episode trial run, to make sure I'm not missing out on some comedic or dramatic gold mine. It's so time consuming!!! I've done a bit of reading in order to prepare my initial picks and it looks like the most buzzed about new shows are (in no particular order): Terra Nova, Person of Interest, 2 Broke Girls, Up All Night, Pan Am and Prime Suspect. I really want to like some more comedies but I have to admit that none of them sound super enticing. I will mostly likely give Girls and Night a whirl since I've seen them on a couple different 'choice pick' lists but I'm reeeeally struggling trying to figure out what other (if any) comedies to try. Subpurgatory and Last Man Standing are on the fence but that's pushing it. Drama-wise, I'm thinking Nova and Interest, Grimm and/or Once Upon a Time and A Gifted Man will get the trial runs with Pan Am and The Playboy Club on the fence. But very, very precariously on the fence.

Whew!! If you're still with me, this is the last leg, I promise. I'm trying to cultivate a roster of shows which I should focus on for spoilers and such. Aside from the shows we already watch and like (HIMYM, Modern Family, The Mentalist, Grey's, 30 Rock, Cougar Town, Project Runway, Top Chef, etc.), I have The Good Wife, Bones, Glee, and... I can't remember. Do I have any others? Feel free to comment and let me know. Current spoilers that I have for you are as follows:




Question: Do you have any hints on what’s to come on the new season of GLEE, especially for Santana and Brittany, separately or together? —Ghislaine
Ausiello: The word around McKinley is that Brittany will make a serious run for class president. And in potentially related news, I hear there’s an intriguing/hilarious story behind this photo, and we’ll find out what it is in Episode 2.

Question: Beggars can’t be choosers, so I’ll take any GLEE scoop you can spare. —Colin
Ausiello: A new glee club provides fresh competish for New Directions — and this particular group is much closer to home.


Question: Is anything good going to happen for Meredith and Derek on GREY'S, or is it all depressing stuff? —Samantha
Ausiello: I hear Social Worker Janet (played Janora McDuffie), spied in the fresh batch of premiere pics, will return to Seattle Grace in October, which leads me to believe there’s trouble on the horizon with little Zola. On the brighter side, Derek continues to make progress on his and Mer’s McDream house. In fact, Episode 4 — aka the much-buzzed-about “all-male” hour — finds several of his colleagues lending a hand with construction.

Question: I, for one, love that Owen will be the new Chief on GREY'S. Any intel on how he’ll adjust to the new gig? —Theresa
Ausiello: He won’t be hiding out in his office, mostly because… well, he won’t have one. I hear he’ll decide to ditch the traditional office and instead roam the halls armed with nothing but an iPad-esque tablet.

Question: Can we get any spoilers on How I Met Your Mother‘s Barney and Robin? We love this couple! —Juliet
Ausiello: In the season opener, Lily urges Robin to crap or get off the pot with regard to Barney. “She encourages her to be honest about her feelings,” previews Alyson Hannigan. “‘Cause Robin’s playing it off like, ‘No, no, no.’ So Lily’s like, ‘Alright, then, prove it. Step up to the plate and tell Barney that it’s not going to happen.’ Something magical then happens, but you’ll have to stay tuned for that.”

Question: Any intel on which old girlfriend Ted runs into in the Sept. 26 episode of How I Met Your Mother? —Jane
Ausiello: Nope, but I can tell you that it leads to a scene Josh Radnor says will “reward longtime fans” of the show. Per the actor, Ted challenges the gang to guess the identity of his ex. “And I don’t think he’s prepared for four-and-a-half pages of guesses from them of who this girl could be,” says Radnor. “They basically list every single girl that Ted has had any sort of encounter with over six years. It’s a pretty comprehensive list.”

TV Tidbits 98: The Amazing Race 19

This is actually sort of old news by now - the info's been out a week! - but it'll be new to Robert and that's what counts. :o) So! Without further ado, here's the breakdown of this season's competitors:

And here's a slideshow of the teams. My early pick? It's tough to say. I guess I should pull for Sandy and Jeremy since the former is from Dublin but I feel more of a pull toward Cindy and Ernie. I cannot see myself ever rooting for someone who lists their current occupation as "soul searching" (twin Marie), recession or not.

Also, according to TV|Line, "Season 19 of The Amazing Race (premiering Sunday, Sept. 25) will include first-time visits to locations such as Indonesia, Malawi, Belgium and Denmark, and a new penalty called the “Hazard,” which will impact one team’s fate right from the starting line." Interesting... only time will tell if the Hazard will fare better than the Intersection.

Foothill's Adoptable Animals

I recently got a bee in my bonnet to help promote the Foothill animals and find them homes. Because we really shouldn't have any dogs or cats on campus right now - the goal has always been (and has, until this year, been accomplished) to have the animals during the school year but have them adopted out by before summer. No animal is supposed to spend more than one academic year at the school. Well, unfortunately, we fell a bit short this year - we still have one original dog and cat living in our kennels. We also have recently come into three new kitties, the result of surrenders needing some sort of placement ASAP. It absolutely breaks my heart to see these guys cooped up, day after day, with little human interaction; all they get are the few minutes allotted to them during Animal Care twice a day. So after one of my shifts a couple weeks back I took a few photos of each of our resident cats so I could post their photos on Facebook and the blog to get the word out. Here we go.

This is Billy. He's a three-year-old, 15-pound, domestic long-haired cat. He was hit by a car back in '10 and lost his front left leg as a result but he has no problem hopping around. I've seen him make some pretty big jumps; he gets along just fine. He's super friendly (the friendliest of all our cats, I think), very loving and likes to drink water from the tap. :o)

This is Cleopatra. She's also three years old, weighs 10 pounds, and is a domestic short-haired cat. She's a curious gal who has already been spayed and has lived at Foothill the longest of all our cats - she's definitely ready for her forever home.

This handsome fella is Mo Mo. He's a five-year-old, 15-pound, domestic medium-haired cat who has also been neutered. Mo Mo was surrendered along with his brother, Chopper, because his family had to move and could not bring the cats with them. He's a very sociable guy who loves pets and wrestling with Chopper so if they could be adopted together, that would be ideal.

And THIS big guy is the aforementioned Chopper: he's Mo Mo's litter mate, is neutered, and weighs in at a pleasantly plump 16.5 pounds. He is also a very social and affectionate guy and he loves scratching posts and chasing tennis balls. Lucky would be the house that adopts Mo Mo and Chopper! :o)

 

And because I am a weird animal lady, I whipped up a few posters for these guys. I did it pretty quickly and have since decided I might tweak'em a bit but if any of you would be willing to post them anywhere, lemme know and I'll e-mail you the original files. I REALLY want to find homes for these guys so any help - word-of-mouth, Fb posts, etc. - is welcome. :o)  

Darth Vader = Sith for "Wanker"

Ugh. I'll never forgive Lucas for changing the "Yub Nub" song at the end of Jedi. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know everyone hates the Ewoks but the original song rocked! (And the xylophone segment matched perfectly with the helmet playing @ 0:25!) The new one sounds like Yanni and Zamfir made guest appearances on Endor. Yuck.

From EW.com:

New 'Return of the Jedi' Blu-ray has questionable addition: Darth Vader screaming 'Nooooo!'

George Lucas has been tweaking the original Star Wars saga for so long now that it almost doesn’t make sense to complain anymore. At this late date, the tweaks have generally become so minor and unimportant (Oooo, now we’ll be bored by a digital Yoda in The Phantom Menace!) that the aging Star Wars fan almost feels the need to defend Lucas’ eternal tinkering: “Hey, so long as Lucas still lets us have our beloved original theatrical versions, with Han shooting first and John Motherfreaking Dykstra in the house, who cares if he turns the Max Rebo band from a badass space-jazz doo-wop band into an obnoxious late-90s swing-rock collective?”

And yet, there is something horrifically familiar about the decision — much-discussed on the internet and officially confirmed by the New York Times — to make Darth Vader squeal “Noooo!” during the climax of Return of the Jedi on the film’s new Blu-Ray edition. First, because it makes one of the few subtle moments in Jedi feel just as hackneyed and forced as everything else in that Ewok-plagued film. Second, because now we know that George Lucas will not rest until every member of the Skywalker family screams like a girl. And third, because this new “Noooo!” is a slap-in-the-face reminder of the infamous “Nooo!” that ended Revenge of the Sith, the precise moment when Darth Vader stopped being one of the great villains in cinema history and started being a punchline.

So what I’m saying is, just watch the new “Noooo!” and see if your heart doesn’t hurt:

I Found It!

Just like I said I would. I didn't rest and *poof* the missing photo album (that I didn't realize I was missing) was located under the futon. Random. But I found the note from Grandma re: the hamburger mandate and here it is:

I actually couldn't remove it safely from the photo album so it's a scan of the entire page. (Those legs in the upper left corner belong to John Stovall - it's a photo of him in France while on his mission.) Very sweet. :o) And I'm SO RELIEVED I found it! It's an important memory. Plus, it drives me absolutely bonkers when I can't find things. I just cannot rest.



And, as an added random bonus, here's a photo of the Loyd/Buckmaster ladies I found a few pages before the card. It was taken in October 1999 so there might be another photo of the same peeps all together in one photo but I don't think there is. So even though Grandma looks... let's go with unenthused... I thought I'd post it.

Movie Morsels 72: Magic Mike

It's been quite a long while since I've indulged in a Hot Men post and this is the perfect thing to break the drought! You may or may not know that Channing Tatum was an exotic dancer back in his salad days; you also may or may not know that a movie is in the works based on his experiences during that time. (He actually mentioned wanting to make such a movie way back when he told all about his burnt penis last year.) Now, a movie about male strippers pretty much has my interest from the get-go. I mean, even if it's a male Showgirls it's still worth a look-see just for curiosity's sake. But! This one stars these guys, which means they could read the phone book for two hours and it'd still be pretty easy to sit through.

Channing Tatum - the mentor

Alex Pettyfer - the protege

Matthew McConaughey - the club owner

Matthew Bomer

William Levy

Joe Manganiello

Am I right or am I right? Sure, it'll probably be super cheesy but who cares?!

8/24 UPDATE: According to People en Espanol (via dlisted), William Levy has dropped out of the movie. Bummer!!! :o(  He would have been some nice eye candy. Mew.

Baby Bacon

Leah and Quentin were in Fremont yesterday for a family party and asked if they could pop by afterward for a short visit. Of course they could! Not only had I not seen the Bacons for several months but neither Robert nor I had met little Ellie since her birth last month. We always have such a good time with them, it was really nice to grab a moment to catch up. I had the same talk with Ellie that I'd had with Elliott - "try not to look too cute, be really annoying and cry a lot!" - so that Robert wouldn't be wrapped around her finger but, just like Elliott, Ellie did not comply. She was adorable and sweet and even I was sucked in. For a little while. :o)

The finger grasp? Really, Ellie? Wow. I underestimated your wily ways.

The Gweeners

I have been a neglectful cat owner. By this stage of his time with us Garfunkel had gads of posts on the blog and poor Linguini has only four. I have been taking lots of photos; I just haven't taken the time to post them. See? Neglectful. Well, that all changes today! Revel in the following photos of Linguini in all his glory!!

Napping with Funk. They don't do this as often as you'd think.

The first and only time he slept in his own bed.

Chin strap!

"Oh, well, hello there! You would... like me to move?"

The boys relaxing on the couch.

He slept with his head up as long as he could... Then it just flopped over.

He LOVES to sleep on my shoes. No idea why.

"Peek-a-boo!" I see you. :o)

Hangin' on the back of the couch.

Modeling his new tag.

TV Tidbits 97: Colbert Super PAC

I usually watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report while I'm getting ready for school or work; since I've done neither for the past several weeks, I am a bit behind on my viewing schedule. Which is why I watched the August 4th episode of the Report just yesterday and why this post seems late but really isn't. The clip is SO hilarious I had no choice but to share - not only did I laugh out loud but Robert did his seldom-heard-but-beloved foot-stomping cackle so you know it's funny! (If you don't have time for the entire video, start at the 1:45 mark... It's worth it, I promise!)

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