State Quarters Design Review: 2001 (New York to Kentucky)

A note on my grading: When I stated grading the coins I used +/- to distinguish between coins that were pretty close. I'm stopping that now because it makes me overthink the grades especially when comparing coins (and I'm going back to change Georgia from a A- to a B). This will make things a bit hard because there will be a few coins (like today's North Carolina and Rhode Island) that I'll want to rank inbetween grades. So to make things easier to understand here are my grade explanations: A - An outstanding excellent coin. B - A great to very good coin, that for one small reason or another just couldn't be an A. C - A very good to good coin that has some issues. D A sub par coin that could have been done better. F - just a bad design all around. In the end, to better differentiate between coins, I'll just rank them straight up 1-40. So, anyways, here are the quarters of 2001:

New York - New York played it safe and went with a full body view of Statue of Liberty. I'm not saying it's a bad choice but its clichéd. I might have gone with Niagara Falls, the Empire state building (considering they're the Empire State) or something else. But I guess it was better to go the "safe route" then the entirely obscure route (Victory at Saratoga? Did they mean the Travers Stakes at the race track?) Also, they fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you see it, didn't go with the World Trade Center Towers, which were knocked down about 9 months after the coin was released. So with another statue on a quarter, this coin ends up looking like a blatant rip-off of the Massachusetts coin (granted, with a much better known statue). The layout, however, is worse as the text is slightly muddled by the state map (at least they didn't use an outline). I like that the Hudson River and Erie Canal are shown and I also like the phrase "Gateway to Freedom" which is a nice change from an overused state nickname. Grade: C

North Carolina - I like that North Carolina didn't play around. They were either going with "First in Flight" or the Hatteras Lighthouse. They went with the same design as their license plate, and I think they did well. However, they made the same mistake as Virginia. Instead of designing for a coin it looks like they made a design and then "cut" it into the coin, as both have a harsh line drawn at the bottom of the design. A few other states (West Virginia, Iowa) did the same thing and I think it just doesn't look good. (Actually, the next few coins give a good example of how to "end" a design on a coin.) But besides that one problem, I like the North Carolina quarter. I'ld even grade it higher if it were a bit more original. Grade: B

Rhode Island - Last week I talked about how Connecticut could have gone with a sailing coin had they not done the Charter Oak quarter. If they had, they would have beaten Rhode Island to the "sailing" quarter simply by virtue of ratified the Constitution two years earlier (btw, Rhode Island was the last of the original 13 states to join the Union). Maryland could have also laid claim to the "sailing" quarter (ratifying a month after Connecticut) but in the end things worked out just fine... especially considering Rhode Island's nickname is "The Ocean State." So along with the sailboat, Rhode Island used the Newport Bridge and the state nickname in a very nice design. And as I mentioned earlier, Rhode Island's design perfectly avoids a straight line to define the end of the design (water). Grade: A


Vermont - I'm not sure if there is a rule against using things along state borders, like Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont. Not that Lake Champlain would have been better then a guy collecting maple syrup sap though. Oh and tucked away behind the dude and the trees is Camel's Hump Mountain, which I wouldn't have known had I not looked it up. In all, a very good coin but basically a regular coin. But at least they did two obvious things which saved it from being a bad quarter: First they didn't end the design by "cutting it" along the bottom. Second, they were creative enough to use the phrase "Freedom and Unity." Not that I'm against state nicknames, but in this case their nickname is pretty obvious (especially if you speak french): "The Green Mountain State." So we'll give Vermont a middle of the road grade. Grade: C

Kentucky - I should say that I like Vermont and Kentucky's quarters, it's just that they are average coins. They both went with things they are really known for (which coins like MA and VA missed on) so I feel bad giving them middle of the road... but I promise to rank them higher than those coins in the final ranking. Their problem is that they picked rather calm scenes that would have looked much better on a photo or travel poster. Kentucky went with a thoroughbred and another entity which requires looking up: The Federal Hill Mansion which looks like any other home/mansion. But, like Vermont, Kentucky should get points for not ending the design by "cutting it" at the bottom and for using "My Old Kentucky Home." (Although, that makes for a weird happening in that "Kentucky" appears twice on the quarter.) Finally, the alternate/proposed designs weren't any better in Kentucky's case, but I would have gone with a depiction of either Mammoth Cave or the stretch run of the Kentucky Derby. Grade: C

Next Time: Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi

State Quarters Design Review: 2000 (Massachusetts to Virginia)

Today, I'll continue my review of the U.S. state quarters. One quick link: Although I indirectly linked to it yesterday (for the alternate Delaware designs) I didn't link directly to the main page on this pretty cool site of alternate quarter designs. So, without further ado:

Massachusetts - I am not entirely resolved as to how I feel about the Massachussett quarter. In a pure layout design sense it's near perfect: the offset Minuteman statue and the text ("The Bay State") fit around the state perfectly and take up their respective spaces perfectly. Feature-wise it's pretty boring, though. The filled-in outline of the state is definitely better than the thin outline, but it's still pretty plain. That leaves the statue as the only attracting feature which makes it barely better than the Pennsylvania quarter. (Remember that full length statues don't make good coin subjects) In fact, I would have gone with the Boston Light design but I would have filled in the spaces around the lighthouse with text, ala Delaware and Cesar Romney. Not great but definitely better. Grade: C

Maryland - I should admit that I'm probably biased here since I associates myself with Maryland. But I like the Maryland quarter. I think the Maryland quarter is good. I just can't get it out of my head that it could have been better. They did well by placing plants (The White Oak in this case) on the edges (like Georgia), but I'm just not sure about the Maryland State House dome. It's very "statue-like" in that it takes a lot of vertical space. But at least that white space is filled by the text ("The Old Line State"). Personally, I would have like to see a rendering of the Chesapeake Bay on the quarter, but I'll deal with what we got. Grade: B

South Carolina - South Carolina started another bad and ugly trend: randomly stuffing things onto the design. South Carolina decided to throw the Carolina Wren, Yellow Jessamine and the Palmetto tree onto they're quarter. You might argue that Pennsylvania started this (with the text, statue and keystone outline) but South Carolina took it to another level. Sure, those things aren't entirely random because they are all related to the South Carolina (being the state bird, state flower and state tree), but design-wise it's too cluttered and just makes no sense. At least they combined two elements by having the wren perched on the jessamine, but they're both bigger than the tree! (Oh, we'll see alot of that pretty soon, btw.) Just a bad design/layout all around and one that sadly was emulated repeatedly by other states. Oh and did I mention it has the state's outline on it?! Grade: D

New Hampshire - I like and dislike the New Hampshire quarter. It should be noted that New Hampshire is one of those featureless states (remember, I mean "lacking features that work well on a coin"). New Hampshire liked "The Old Man of the Mountain" so much they put it on their license plates and their coin. Unfortunately, a rock formation that kinda looks like a face is pretty boring. The license looks nice because the image of the rock formation is in color, slightly faded and in the background. The coin, however, has the Old Man prominently displayed. But at least it's better than the generic alternatives. And layout-wise it's pretty good with text ("The Old Man of the Mountain") on the rock and the state motto ("Live Free or Die") in the white space. Grade: C

Virginia - If you think about it, aside from its natural beauty, Virginia is pretty featureless. But I'm still surprised no one came up with an interesting design, even with the early/alternate designs. I'm also taking off points because of a simple rule: You shouldn't be celebrating ANYTHING seven years before it happens. Back around 2000 Virginia made this design and they began issuing "Quadricentennial" license plates... SEVEN year ahead of time. Besides, celebrating the Susan Constant, Godspeed, Discovery, and Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, is just slightly more interesting than reading this sentence. So subject-wise it's not very interesting. Design-wise it's okay. What detracts from the design is how the water just abruptly ends at the bottom (Rhode Island did a much better job of handling water on it's coin). Oh and it's pretty weird that the middle ship is going the wrong way. Grade: C

Next: New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Kentucky.

State Quarters Design Review: 1999 (Delaware to Connecticut)

As the great design connoisseur that I am, I have been following the U.S. state quarters program ever since the first quarter (Delaware) came out back in 1999. The last state quarter (Hawaii) will be released toward the end of 2008.

So since 5 quarters are released each year and two quarters have been released so far this year, there are 37 state quarters out there. The designs for the remaining 3 quarters in this year have been released so there are 40 designs so far.

What does that mean to you and me? Well, I’m going to review them and I’ll grade them like I were a high school teacher. We’ll go by year and we’ll start with 1999:

Delaware – A tough place to design for because, well, frankly Delaware isn’t all that scenic or “monumental.” Oh sure, they have nice beaches but otherwise it’s pretty flat and forgettable. So they decided to go with some dude, named Caesar Rodney, on a horse and two sets of text: Caesar’s name and “The First State.” I don’t have a problem with the “The First State” (especially since it fills up some white space) but putting the guy's name on the coin is… well stupid. Oh, and Caesar not being recognizable isn’t a good excuse because Franklin Roosevelt isn’t either and his name isn’t on the dime. Aside from that the design is carried out pretty well. Plus, it was definitely better than the other designs (“quill pen and parchment and the allegorical 'Lady Liberty'”). All in all, not a bad start. Grade: B


Pennsylvania - A bad, bland design that spawned a trend I don’t like: putting the outline of the state on the quarter. (I especially don’t like it considering how “boxy” Pennsylvania is.) State outlines are boring and on this quarter it messes with the text. But the outline here seems to be a necessity, from a design sense, as the statue (which is the statue on top of their state capitol) alone leaves too much white space. The keystone logo is pretty boring as well and just doesn’t help the aesthetics. However, the statue wasn’t entirely a bad choice since PA’s more recognizable features (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall) have already appeared on coins. And since it’s not good politics to concentrate on one of the two major cities (Pittsburgh or Philly), they had to go with a “not very good for a coin” statue. Grade: F (Although I might consider uping the grade to a D if the student came and explained to me the merits of the statue and the difficulty in finding a good symbol not from Philly or the ‘Burgh.)

New Jersey - Another tough place to design for because of the same reasons as Delaware. New Jersey might be a much more varied place than Delaware, but it also doesn’t have a unique memorable object. In fact, the memorable “object” they ended up using wasn’t even entirely in New Jersey, since George Washington crossed from Pennsylvania into New Jersey. Regardless, the design is simple and interesting. My only gripe being that the boat is overloaded and it’s hard to make out the details (but you have to expect that since it’s a copy of the famous painting.) Grade: B-

Georgia - The dull state outline makes an appearance on an otherwise good design. Georgia does a good job in going with the very recognizable peach (which they also use on license plates). I also like how they made the text interesting by putting it on a banner. They also do a good job of using plants along the edge (like the old wheat pennies). The only change I would make, would be to get rid of the outline, make the oak sprigs smaller and the peach bigger (almost “sitting” on top of the sprigs). Grade: B

Connecticut - The first quarter that made me think, “Now that’s a good design.” Connecticut was another “featureless state” (I’ll start calling states like Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey this to make it easier) but they could have gone with sailing (which Rhode Island did a good job with, but that’s for another day). But they came out of nowhere and hit a home run, with the Charter Oak. The design is simple and interesting with the stone wall on the right counterbalancing the text on the left. So we’ll just have to forgive them for feeling the need to explain the tree with the text (although I do like the font) and the fact that the tree no longer exists. Grade: A

Tomorrow: Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Virginia.

World Cup 2006

... is finally here. It'll begin today at noon (EST) with host Germany vs. Costa Rica. And I'll be somewhat useless until it ends on July 9. La Roja (Chile's national team) was officially eliminated in their final qualifying game last year. Although they were a longshot to get in, needing to beat Ecuador (they tied at 0) and a loss or tie by Colombia (they beat Paraguay, who had already qualified, 1-0) and a loss or a tie by Uruguay (who beat Argentina, who had already qualified, 1-0).

The sad thing is that of the three only Uruguay moved on, but not directly into the World Cup. They qualified for a home-and-away playoff against Australia to see who would make it to Germany. Uruguay squandered the opportunity by playing to two draws and then losing in a penalty shootout.

So thats what happened in bottom half of CONMEBOL qualifying... now on to what I think will happen.

I'll start by going to the end: I think Brazil will beat Germany for it's 6th World Cup title.

I know, everyone is predicting Brazil... sure, it's a safe bet. But I think im being bold by predicting them beating Germany because if Germany gets to the final, I think it will be TOUGH to beat them with the home crowd support. (Remember, Brazil couldn't beat France in the final when it was held in France... and the French fans are not as rabid as the Germans.)

Anyways, here are my predicted group results:

Group A: 1. Germany 2. Ecuador
Group B: 1. England 2. Sweden
Group C: 1. Netherlands 2. Argentina
Group D: 1. Mexico 2. Portugal
Group E: 1. Italy 2. United States
Group F: 1. Brazil 2. Croatia
Group G: 1. France 2. South Korea
Group H: 1. Spain 2. Tunisia

(BTW, those last two groups should be cakewalks for France and Spain... I pretty much threw darts at the wall to pick South Korea and Tunisia)

So that makes for these Round of 16 games (btw, why don't they ever call these Eighthfinals?):

Germany beats Sweden
Portugal beats Netherlands
Italy beats Croatia
France beats Tunisia
England beats Ecuador
Argentina beats Mexico
Brazil beats United States
Spain beats South Korea

Quarterfinals:

Germany beats Portugal
Italy beats France
Argentina beats England
Brazil beats Spain

Semifinals:

Germany beats Italy
Brazil beats Argentina

And I already told you the rest.

Redskins Lower Level Obstructed View Tickets

As I mentioned before, here are the views from the obstructed view tickets:

The view from my seat in section 220

The view from the end zone seats in section 213
(these might still be available)

Checking one off the list: Redskins Season Tickets

I have a list, as should everyone, of things I want to accomplish in my life. It spans from things I want to own (an island, a ferrari, etc) to things I want to see (Taj Mahal, Petra, etc.), from the quite useless (hit a hole in one in golf) to the more valuable (donate a million dollars). Some of the things, for "strategic" reasons (or just be mysterious), I won't reveal. Finally, some of the things have been checked off, like...

Today, I can officially call myself a Washington Redskins Season Ticket Holder. Sure it's for obstructed view seats, but there's a saying about a beggars and a choosers, something about a chooser not being able to beg or something... I don't remember. There is a post blocking about a 10 yard section of the field, but the seats are on the 40 yard line and everything else is entirely within sight.

I could have gotten a seat that was, practically, unblocked (the corner of an endzone was obstructed by a railing) but it was a single seat AND it was more than twice the price.

In case you're looking for tickets, they still have a few left... in fact, i would recommend the seats I didnt take in one endzone. They had about a third of the endzone (maybe half of the endzone for the other seat) obstructed but there was a big walkway in front of you, so there was endless legroom and you could probably stand up into the walkway to see the other side of the endzone if you had to.

Anyways, I'll be posting pictures of those seats (and mine) pretty soon.

The DC spelling bee.

The national spelling bee is this week and it got me thinking about how I've always thought it was an interesting show. Well, at least the national version has been interesting. Maybe because it was televised by ESPN or maybe because of spellers like Rebecca Sealfon (who won the bee and freaked out spelling the last word "euonym") but for whatever reason, I found it interesting. (And yes, I thought that before Spellbound came out.)

Anyways, last week this year's spelling bee for Washington DC schools aired on a local cable channel. (although it was taped at NBC's Channel 4 on Nebraska Ave.) Two iteresting/funny things happened.

First, in the first round, one contestant had to spell "mantilla" and asked for the country of origin. The moderator said she couldn't provide that but she could give the definition which explained that it was a scarf worn in "Spain and Latin America." The contestant got it wrong, but returned for the next round by appealing between rounds. Not surprisingly, she got the next word wrong as well.

But the best part came at the end of the show when they were down to two finalists. The rules dictate that if when one finalist gets a word wrong, the other finalist needs to spell that word correctly and then spell another word correctly. So one finalist needed to spell "aphemia" but spelled it "efemia." The bell is dinged and the rediculously clueless moderator then says "No. The correct spelling is..." Fortunately, she was stopped by the judges before she could start spelling the word but she STUPIDLY then says "I didn't say the first letter did I?" Which, um... GIVES AWAY THE FACT THAT THE FIRST SPELLER GOT THE FIRST LETTER WRONG!

No one seemed to care that the moderator practically gave away the first letter! To be honest, though, the girl (who spells it right and goes on to win the bee) seemed to have already known the correct spelling of "aphemia." But regardless, the moderator was gallingly irresponsible.

Is Nolan Ryan dead?

So I go to ESPN.com all the time (in fact, it's my home page at work). Roger Clemens is coming back to pitch for the Astros and they put up a little gallery of the best living pitchers but with a glaring omission. Nolan Ryan is nowhere to be seen on ESPN's photo gallery of the "Greatest Living Pitchers". They even numbered the guys they have in the list (putting Clemens at #1), which makes it seem like its a top ten list. Am I on crack? I even looked on Wikipedia to see if Ryan had died without me knowing... but he hasn't.

The Nats Game Day

Remember awhile back when I was "feeling less optimistic" about the Nats? Well, I still feel less optimistic (they probably won't reach last year's rather fortunate 81-81 record), but you've got to like their current winning streak of 4 in a row (and 6 of 7). What sucks is that I'm headed to the game today, so they'll probably lose. Why? Well first, they're on a streak and secondly they'll probably start a rookie (Zach Day was scheduled but he got hurt earlier in the week).

Oh well... hopefully this "reverse jinx" works... right?

The Da Vinci Critics Reviewed

Last weekend I was among the many people who, despite the bad reviews, went to see The DaVinci Code. And here are my responses to the major criticisms:

Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou mailed their performances in - I can see why people thought that, but I don't entirely agree. Hanks didn't play the character, of Robert Langdon, like he normally plays a character. Hanks's characters are usually witty and much more likeable but I don't remember thinking of Langdon as those things. "Movie Langdon" lacked the depth "Book Langdon" had, but thats not entirely Hanks's fault. On the other hand, I pretty much agree with the evaluation of Tautou's performance. (BTW, I didn't think Paul Bettany's performance as Silas was as good as I've heard a few critics say. Ian McKellen's performance was by far the best.)

It was too long and lacked action - Yes, it certainly was too long, but this isn't Mission Impossible. They had to the art history lessons or else things wouldn't make sense. Hopefully, I'm not ruining the book or movie if you havent read or seen it, but the resolution (once the big secret is revealed) took way too long.

They didn't take risks in an attempt to mollify Christians - Movie Langdon seemed much more skeptical about the theories than Book Langdon, but that didn't bother me. And I didn't take that as "mollifying Christians." In fact, I think the risk they should have taken was to play more with the story line, and not stay so true to the book. So maybe my view is skewed by having read the book. (I'ld like to see a review of the movie by someone who hasn't read the book.)

In the end, I liked the movie but it was too long and the overuse of post production graphics bothered me. They would have also done better to add a bit more comic relief, especially with Tom Hanks in the cast. Having said that, the movie really isn't as bad as "everyone" was saying. I guess, though, what "everyone" was saying was that the movie wasn't as good as everyone else was expecting... and with that I would have to agree. But, that doesn't make it a bad movie.

American Idol Season 5 Final Results: Taylor Hicks

If you believe Dial Idol, and I do, it wasn't even close. 45.5 to 37. Even if you apply the margin of error negatively to Taylor (44.4) and positively to Kat (38.2) it wasn't close.

What really surprised me was the caliber of stars that were present... my favorites being Mary J. Blige (who sung with my other favorite, Elliott) and Prince who of course sung alone. Apparently, not even the Idols knew that Prince was coming, but I would expect They definitely made it worth watching all 2 hours of it. My other favorite moment was when the Clay Aiken wannabe's practically soiled his pants when Clay Aiken appeared... all in all a good show with the right results..

American Idol 5: Last Chance to Vote

When Taylor came out singing Stevie Wonder's "In the City" I got scared. In the final day, he was flying in the face of rule #1 in my American Idol rule book, "Never sing a Stevie Wonder song." But he slam dunked it. Simply killed it. I thought Elliott made me amend the rule to add "unless you are Elliott Yamin" and now I have to add Taylor to that list... and I'ld even put him first with that song. That was just amazing.

Unfortunately for Taylor, he did too well and outsung his other performances. He could have walloped Kat, but stupidly broke another one of my American Idol rules ("Don't sing songs because you like them.") with his second song. Kat outsung him in the second round (like Simon said) but she just whiffed on the other two songs. Well maybe not whiffed... since she certainly did her best, it just wasn't good enough.

On Kat's last song Randy said a few things I disagree with. The song wasn't bad, it just wasn't a song Kat could sing. (I actually spent most of the time thinking Carrie Underwood would have hit that song out of the park.) "The singer" wasn't better than the song, it just wasn't her kind of song. Kat's type of song is Disney soundtrack songs... just note that those songs, while "entertaining," rarely make pop hits. (At least not since Fievel sung "Somewhere out There.")

So Taylor should win, but I'm hessitant because whoever paid for "a thousand roses" must be making every effort to have her win. I don't think Taylor has that kind of backing, so he's going to have to win with the "common people." Those people who vote once, twice or even 20 times. I just get the feeling the McPhans will make this close. We'll see...

Barbaro and the Triple Crown Drought

I can easily attribute my love of thoroughbred racing back to my grandfather. He was never a true gambler (in fact, when I was about 13, I learned a lesson about gambling at a race track in Chile with him... ask me if your curious) he just truly enjoyed the analytical aspect of the sport. I remember him spending part of his morning going over the daily form and then listening to the races on the radio that afternoon/evening without ever placing a bet. (I, of course, would at least put a few bucks down if I spent so much time on it... but thats a different discussion for another day.) So I didn't become as obsessed with the sport as him, but I am definitely a fan.

I remember being ten years old in 1987 hoping to see a Triple Crown Winner in Alysheba. Just 9 years prior, the last Triple Crown winner had been a chestnut colt named Affirmed. Alysheba's sire, Alydar, had come in second in each race. (Interesting note: that was the second year in a row that there was a Triple Crown winner. Seattle Slew had won it the previous year, 1977. And there were almost 3 straight winners but Spectacular Bid came in third in the Belmont after winning the Derby and the Preakness)

But the 1987 Belmont Stakes was won by a horse name Bet Twice. In fact, I don't even remember seeing Alysheba finish. I just remember being disappointed. I also remember being disappointed 2 years later, in 1989, when another "son" of Alydar, Easy Goer, denied Sunday Silence of a Triple Crown by winning the Belmont.

So then I started blaming the Belmont Stakes. It was a longer race and, for some reason I didn't understand, there were always more horses in that race then there were in the Preakness. So a horse could "get lucky" and win the Derby, have an easy time in the Preakness but then race against 14 horses in the Belmont.

But that didn't make much sense because in 1988, the year between Alysheba and Sunday Silence, Risen Star won the Preakness and Belmont. Hansel did the same in 1991. Tabasco Cat did it again in 1994. In fact, in ever year since 1994, except for 2 years (1996 and 2000), a horse has won two, but not three, of the Triple Crown races. (Strangely, Thunder Gulch has been the only one to win the Derby and the Belmont in 1995.)

Horse trainers, Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lucas (Thunder Gulch and Tabasco Cat) are always involved in these near misses. Between 1997 and 1999 one of their horses won the Derby and Preakness only to lose the Belmont. Baffert's Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (who lost the Belmont by a nose in 1998) both came in second in the Belmont. One might even think the Triple Crown is cursed as Lucas's Charismatic won the Derby and Preakness in 1999 only to suffered a leg injury in the Belmont that year. (Charismatic was leading the race, faltered and had to be pulled up after race by his jockey.)

The past 4 years has seen well documented names like Smarty Jones (Derby and Preakness winner in 2004) and Funny Cide (Derby and Preakness winner in 2003) and the lesser remembered War Emblem, trained by Baffert, who won the Derby and Preakness in 2002. Understandibly not much is made in the press of a horse who losses the Derby but wins the Preakness and Belmont, like Afleet Alex (2005) and Point Given (2001).

So FINALLY we come to today's Preakness Stakes. An undefeated Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and now he is the favorite to win the Preakness. Actually reminds me alot of 2000's Fusaichi Pegasus and 2001's Monarchos, both horses who won were favorites in the Preakness, but didnt win either the Preakness or the Belmont (although Fusaichi Pegasus didn't run the Belmont after losing the Preakness). But I see Barbaro winning the Preakness, as he simply dominated the Derby and only 8 horses are challenging today. Just don't expect him to win the Belmont... I've already learned not to do that.

It's official: The DaVinci Code sucks!

I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of The DaVinci Code, but since practically every critic thinks it stinks, I think I'll stay home. No need to go see the movie... Oh wait a second, I forgot I hated movie critics and their collective conciousness.

In fact, I even have a fairly good method of determining whether or not I will like a movie. In general, if NBC4's Arch Campbell doesn't like a "young" movie, chances are high I will like it. In fact, I tend to like alot of the movies Arch doesn't. That also seems to happen with movies reviewed by the Washington Post's Desson Howe (who now goes by the name Desson Thomson).

So, we'll see how well this theory pans out for the DaVinci Code.

American Idol: Elliott is gone

As I gloomily predicted my main man Elliott is gone. What I didn't know was that apparently Elliott had to sing a song chosen by Paula Abdul... and Kat's song was chosen by Simon? Um... so exactly how is that fair? Who's song choice would you rather sing: A record producer who has made millions or a perpetually drunk has-been one hit wonder? Yeah, thats fair.

Yet even with that stacked against him, Elliott still received 33.06% of the vote. Which meant, Kat probably got 33.26% and Taylor probably got 33.68%. Pretty close, but as I said earlier today, I don't think next week's vote will be that close.

Taylor should roll unless one of two things happens: 1. He bombs, which there is no reason to think he would. or 2. his fanbase becomes complacent, which shouldn't happen considering how close this week's vote was.

And then there were 3 Idols

I didn't catch American Idol last night because I was having a dandy time trying to fix an issue with Verizon Wireless. I just moved to Verizon Wireless (from Cingular) and I almost had a horrible customer service experience at their store in Bethesda. Fortunately a Customer Service fiasco was averted but not soon enough for me to catch the end of Idol.

But that didn't keep me from voting, once again, repeatedly for Elliott. Apparently though, it seems it was all for naught. DialIdol, who has gotten the last two eliminated Idols correct (including the "shocking" Chris elimination) and usually gets the bottom group right, has Elliott in last place. Although he's statistically tied with Katharine McPhee, I'm just not feeling it.

But, I do have this prediciton for next week: If Elliott is eliminated, Kat is cooked. I just can't see her beating Taylor (unless the show really is rigged). She would have to put on the performance of a lifetime, and Taylor would have to break his legs to lose.

But if Katharine is eliminated, I think Elliott could give Taylor a run. And if hell freezes gets an ice rink and Elliott were to win it all, I think that would be a record for "Most bottom group appearances by an American Idol winner" with 4. Alas, I don't think Elliott is surviving this week as I get the feeling if it's close the fix will be in to save Katharine (like it could have been last week).

A "Shocking" Idol and a Crazy Robin

What can I say? Chris is gone, I'm happy and someone named Robin Givhan is insane. Well, maybe not insane, but he or she is certainly deluded.

Robin Givhan, in case you (like me a few hours ago) don't know, writes for the Washington Post. Oh yeah, and apparently Givhan thinks Chris was the best thing since American Idol invented sliced bread. At first I thought maybe Givhan was being facetious, but at no point is there a wink-wink, a just kidding or anything to make you think it was a joke. But it seems to be for real.

Givhan claimed Chris had "confidence and cool." Really, how cool a rock star can you be on American Idol? Also doesn't anyone remember he is a huge Creed fan? (And I'm pretty sure that is the closest the words "Creed" and "cool" will ever be without a "not" somewhere in between.) Givhan spends the entire article acting as if Chris was some sort of seminal artist, the likes of which had NEVER been seen on Idol. Which might have been true had there not been a season 4 with some guy named Bo Bice. Bice undoubtedly had the "rock-star growl" and "distinctivness" Givhan saw in Chris.

The crazier thing is that, although Givhan is pretty out there, he/she isn't exactly by him/herself. A bunch of news sources and tv shows seemed to at least agree that Chris's departure was a "shocker." So once again to use one of my favorite Pulp Fiction quotes... Well, allow me to retort!

I have already pointed out that, at least in the beginning, Chris screamed most of his songs. He got better about that recently but he never sung better than Taylor and, in my opinion, Elliott. Plus, Elliott and Taylor performed much better this week than Chris and Katharine. So really the only "shocker" was that Chris lost to Katharine... but I'm not all that surprised. Katharine is much more likeable (if less charismatic) and has improved much more than Chris (granted she had more room to improve on). So really, at best, it was a mild upset.

But even if you don't want to consider objective musical asthetics, you can check the previous bottom groups. When looking at that, there is no denying that the only favorite should be Taylor, who has never been in the bottom group. Elliott has been there 3 times, and Katharine and Chris had each been there once before. So, really, how much of a "shocker" is it when someone who had already been in the bottom group is booted?

So... pretty please, with sugar on top: don't be so shocked. Thanks!

Crashing Jetta Commercial

You may have caught one those very strange Jetta commercials recently where two guys are in a Jetta, leisurely driving down the road, when all of a sudden BAM! The Jetta hits a truck that pulls out of a driveway... Well, I thought it was an interesting commercial and I thought they made it look very realistic. Now I know why: It was a real crash using a normal Jetta and two stuntmen. Wow! Thats, um, kinda messed up, kinda cool, very weird and entirely interesting all rolled into one. Way to go Volkswagon!

American Idol... can Elliott possibly be safe?!

For the first time this year I spent way too much time voting on American Idol and I of course voted repeatedly for Elliott. In an entirely unscientific trial, I pulled a DialIdol and tried to "measured the busy signal." I called each contestant repeatedly and tried to see whose lines were the easiest to get through... Katharine's line picked up immediately, Chris's line picked up after one busy signal (After dialing Chris's line I felt like that guy in the "Crying Game" during the shower scene after he realizes the woman is man. You know the scene that is redone in "Ace Ventura"... anyways), and finally Taylor's and Elliott's lines took at least about 10 busy signals before getting through. So I have to think they're safe. Now we just need to hope that Katharine (who called herself "Kat" on her line) can beat out Chris this week.

Alas, no $100 for you!

You're probably aware of the failed plan by Republican leaders in congress to buy us off by giving taxpayers $100 in the form of "gas rebate." It, of course, didn't fly because 1. it probably would help pay for an average of 2 gas tanks and 2. people saw right through the bribe. Personally, I'm disappointed because I wouldn't mind getting the rebate and I seriously doubt it would have served its congressional incumbent saving purpose.

Anyways, I wouldn't blame rising gas prices on the congressional Republican leadership (although I think Bush's war has something, at least in small part, to do with it), but you have to admit: it reeks of a guilty conscience. You don't think Bill Frist has anything to be afraid of, do you?

So, The NY Times has a good article about the "rise and fall" of the plan, which is an interesting read. But, what I found most telling was a quote by Republican Senator Jim Thume of South Dakota.

"I never was in favor of that," Mr. Thune said Thursday. "We all got out there and tried to put our best face on it."

What does it say about a Senator who goes along with his leadership although he claims to have not been in favor of the plan. To me it says one of two things: He is either lying, because he was in favor of it and is now trying to distance himself from the idea OR he blindly and quietly follows his leadership when he thinks it is misguided.

Either way, I'm thinking South Dakota should be pretty darn proud of its junior Senator for being such a lemming or such a liar.

My morning drive to work with a Red Devil and Idol

I was driving to work this morning on I-270 doing about 65 or 70 mph. Kinda slow, but because no one around me was doing more than 60, I wasn't about to tempt fate. All of sudden, in my rear view mirror, I see a red BMW coming up pretty fast. So immediately I'm thinking "Great! I'll move over and get myself a 'blocker'." (the car, going slightly faster than you, who you follow so the police will radar/laser them instead of you).

As the car goes by, I check out its license plate and have a nice good morning chuckle. The car's license plate read "LUCIFUR". Why you would want Satan's license plate, I don't exactly know... but at least now I know: The Morning Star drives a bright red 325i.

Anyways, I didn't comment about Idol because I didn't watch it yesterday. I was right in thinking that Paris was going to leave this week (not exactly a stretch considering she was in the bottom 2 last week), and once again Dial Idol got it right (although they thought Katharine would be in the bottom 2). So for next week all I can say is: Taylor is too popular, Katharine is still building momentum and Chris inexplicably keeps getting loads of votes... so once again im thinking one of my favorites, Elliott, is leaving next week.

Kellie's gone, Wiz down 2=1 and the Nats finally win again

By now you should know that I think Peter King is insane... but I'll still steal an idea from him. Here are 3 Things I Think:

• Kellie deserved to go, and I didn't trust America to get rid of her. I was wrong in thinking that it would become a popularity contest, because America rightfully voted off the worst singer from the previous night. And just as I started to feel bad for Kellie, she's gone. Even Dial Idol (which had Kellie and Paris practically tied for last place) got the bottom two right so I'm thinking that means Paris is gone next week.
  
  
• I'm a liar: I broke down and watched parts of the Wizards game. I stupidly flipped over to the game only to see a REDICULOUS loose ball foul called on the Wizards. Then LeBron goes on to do whatever he wants, not getting called for any offensive fouls and gets defended like a baby since the refs are quick to call a defensive foul if you lay a finger on him. This time, unlike game one, they lose a game they should have won. Needless to say, I'm not watching the rest of the series, because I will break my TV if I keep watching how the NBA (and it's refs) gift wrap a pass into the second round for LeBron and the Cavs.
  
  
• I'm still optimistic about the Nats and it's almost May. Once again the only game I can see at home ends up being the Friday night games on Channel 20. Well, things started off well as the Nats take an early lead and don't seem inclined to give it up (like previous games). But of course all can't be as it seems, as I find out that my homie, John Patterson, is headed to the disable list. As Tony the Tiger would say: Grrrrrr-eat! (although he lacks my not so subtle sarcasm)
  
  But I shouldn't complain, since the Nats won. Now they're only 1.5 games out of second place in the NL East and 7.5 out of first. Not bad considering the tough time they've been having this season.
  

Wizards win and Nats lose on Idol night

The Nats lost another one-run game, but I'm still optimistic... In an iffy kind of way. So that means I'll probably be changing my tune by May.

At least the Wizards leave Cleveland tied at 1-1. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (since I don't think my TV enjoys me yelling at it), I didn't watch the game. I still feel the Cavs (and LeBron in particular) will keep getting the calls even away from Cleveland, so maybe I won't watch the next game either. Really, this weeks results and considering my superstitious side, that might be a good thing.

Finally, Idol was tonight and since I was cooking, I missed most of it. I entirely missed Katharine and Elliott. I started watching with Kellie (who sadly sucked it up again). Taylor was his usual darn good self and Paris was her usual stiff forced smile self. But I want to harp on Chris.

I have constantly complained of Chris's "forced raspy" and "unnatural" singing voice. Well, someone (today's guest star: Andrea Bocelli and some other guy I don't know) FINALLY pointed this out! I have been complaining about that this whole time and I am surprised it too so long to come up. But he has done admirably not using that "head voice," although he did slip back into it in tonight's otherwise great performance.

Alas, I still don't like him and am thinking he'll end up in the bottom three. And since it's gotten to the point where singing doesn't matter as much (since everyone, except for Kellie, is singing extremely well) charisma is going to go far. Taylor and Kellie have it, and the rest really don't. Katharine (from the short montage) seemed to do really well, so she seems safe... So that leaves Chris, Paris and Elliott in the bottom three.

Sadly, I think it's finally time for my other favorite, Elliott, to go. Not that I want him to go (I'ld RATHER it be Chris or secondly Paris) but it seems he just doesn't have the backing.

My Worlds of Sports - Nats win and the Wizards get "officially" screwed

Since I live in DC (and I get Comcast, which is still not playing MASN... yet another reason I hate Comcast) and since the Nats have only played 4 home games (2 of which were afternoon games) I have only been able to see 2 Nats games all season.

The first was a horribly dissapointing 5-3 loss to the Marlins a week ago friday (They started the first inning by scoring 3 runs and fell asleep for the rest of the game) and last night's exciting rain delayed 3-7 win against John Smoltz and the Braves (In which my favorite player, John Patterson who coincidentally wears #22, pitched excellently only to get a no decision on a couple of unlucky plays.)

So maybe I don't have a great perspective, but I'm still looking forward to the rest of the season. I don't see why at least 70 wins isn't possible. Sure they haven't started out all that well, but don't forget this: First, unlike last year they've been pretty unlucky in the close games. Second, only 3 of their first 16 games have been at home. (Sure, they lost those 3 games, and bad, but they played a hot Mets team.) Second, they're hitting, they're just not scoring runs... so that's fixable. So maybe I'm just overly optimistic because of last night, but thats not bad.

Now on to something I'm not optimistic about. As I type this the Wizards are losing to the Cavaliers, 59-41. The entire game has reminded my of why I really don't like watching the NBA (but of course I still do it)... The officiating SUCKS! It's terrible! I spend the entire time yelling at a glass box in my living room, and that is just pitiful. The worst thing is that star players (like LeBron James, in this game) get WAY too many calls. He gets a blocking foul anytime he runs in to someone.( Sure the Wizards aren't rebounding or playing defense all that well, but Cleveland isn't playing 18 points better.)

Sure, officiating can be bad in other sports (see this years Super Bowl, for instance) but since one star player can affect a game so much in the NBA, officials can really win or lose a game for a team. And I'm getting the feeling the Wizards might be a victim of the NBA's need to have LeBron James do well in his first playoff appearance.

Ace is low and Top Chef

Once again, Dial Idol got it right, calling Chris, Paris and Ace in the bottom three. I didn't think Chris would drop but I was wrong, and Elliott was safe. So all is good in the land of reality TV...

Well, maybe not everything. A few weeks ago Top Chef took Project Runway's spot on Wednesday nights. I tried watching but I just couldn't get over a few things. First, most people watching TV can hear (American Idol) and see (Project Runway) things, but you can't taste food. Second, the host, Katie, was REALLY annoying (she seems too disinterested) and I just didn't like the judges, Gail and Tom. (Although, to be honest, I have grown to like Tom)

So I would sometimes catch the replays (Bravo does that alot) and eventually I started to watch it after the Idol results show. But (just like the Project Runway finale) I'm disappointed with the results of the last show.

In tonights episode there were 6 chefs left: Miguel (A big "teddy bear"-type of guy potrayed as somewhat of a dolt), Stephen (A young snobish wineloving fop who insists on condescendingly "educating" his customers), Dave (A slightly effeminate middle aged entrepreneur type), Tiffani (A heavyset, not very likeable bully with the most "high-end professional chef" experience of all the contestants), Lee Anne (Tiffani's twin: just as big, just as mean and just as unlikeable) and Harold (The most normal of the bunch and my favorite).

So two teams were formed: Blue (Miguel, Stephen and Lee Anne) and Red (Dave, Tiffani and Harold) and each team had to come up with a restaurant concept. Naturally Tiffani and Lee Anne took over for each team and the Red team ends up winning. A chef from the Blue team would take the fall and the judges decided Miguel had to go. He was criticized for mostly not speaking up and conforming too easily to role of sous chef and not "Top Chef." Good points... but the show is called "Top Chef" right? Not "Pushy Overbearing Loathsome Chef."

According to the host, the Blue team lost mainly because customers waited too long for their meals. That was entirely Stephen's fault as he once again insisted on explain instead of serving food. But Lee Anne CLEARLY took the role of "Top Chef" on the team and failed... so the judges decided to kick the sous chef off? In other words, you could put a turd on a plate and serve it while insulting your client's mother but you'll be safe as long as you took control of the team.

Sure they're looking for the Top Chef but, when you put them into teams, positions need to be taken. You can't have three Top Chefs on a single team (there's even a saying about that!). There NEEDS to be a sous chef, and you shouldn't be punished for accepting that role. Doing that doesn't mean you can't lead a kitchen, it just means you are willing to not rock the boat. Call me crazy, but on a show called "Top Chef", when you lead a kitchen and fail you should be held accountable.

Lee Anne wasn't. And the person mostly responsible for the loss (Stephen) wasn't held accountable either. Thats pretty weird considering that, on the Red team, Dave won the prize by not taking the "Top Chef" role. He was Stephen's equivalent working the "front end/service" side of the restaurant.

Once again, I'm dissapointed by the judges on a reality show... oh well, I go cry on my pillow now.

American Idol... my return

Because of my life away from TV, I’ve missed the past few American Idols… but alas, not tonight. So Rod Stewart is visiting and I’m already bored by him. Anyways, this should be an exercise in futility since Ace has got to go. But we’ll see what "American wants." Once again most of my comments are written as they sing (except for the rating, I fill that in at the end).

Chris - Very Good. By far, his best performance of the competition. It probably deserved a “Great” but he ruined it by throwing that annoying throaty voice half way through. Aside from that he definitely sang well.

Paris – Above average. Wore a strange orange/red suit. It’s good but not outstanding. I’m thinking Simon is going to call it a lounge-ish performance... but I’m entirely wrong: He loves it, and I’m now suspicious that he is drinking from Paula’s “Special Cup.” Oh, and Rod Stewart is nutsies for comparing her to Billie Holiday. Paris has a great voice but it’s NOT soulful like Holiday’s.

Taylor – Above average. Taylor is still one of my two favorites but his beginning is a little flat... disappointing at first but he definitely pulls it out in the end. I’m giving him an "above average" since I know he could do better. Simon puts it well saying "lame caberet, and then magic!"

Elliott – Very Good. So now I’m thinking the "standards" theme makes for a rough beginning from our contestants... but Elliott pulls it off outstandingly at the end. (BTW, why is Mimi Rogers there?) Simon says he is concerned... which is good because it should encourage people to vote for Elliott.

Kellie – Below Average. “Has got some personality. She’s a firecracker...” and “She’s bubbly, a lot of personality.” You would think those were good things, but you should have seen how deadpan Rod Stewart delivered those lines. Kellie is probably the worst of all the strained beginnings we’ve seen. Her voice got way too nasally... and wow! Was she flat on those notes at the end! “Uhhh... yeah.” Is Randy’s first comment, and that is putting it nicely. And for the first time, I feel bad for her when she said “I’m sorry” and “I won’t put you through the torture.” Ugh... I'm actually liking the "Minx."

Ace – Below Average. Well, at least Rod thinks he is “brilliant”... and WOW, he’s very creepy looking in that suit and hair in a pony tail. He’s pitchy (as Randy loves to say)... and he’s not getting better. Finishes off with a quivering lip/voice to hide the fact that he can’t hold a note. Oh and btw, saying that your falsetto voice is your money voice should not be a complement. And Simon is seriously drinking Auntie Paula’s Happy Juice when he calls Ace’s performance “charming.” (I can only hope that precipitates his impending demise by not encouraging people to vote for him.)

Katharine – Great. Singing a song I just have never liked but is pulling it off pretty well. Oooh, held that note a little too long, but is doing extremely well. I actually agree with Rod that she is made to sing theses types of songs.

So my best to worst: Katharine, Chris, Elliott, Taylor, Paris, Kellie and Ace. I don’t think Kellie will be in the bottom 3, although she deserves it, since she is so popular. Elliot is not as popular as Taylor so that should put Elliott, Paris and Ace in the bottom. We can only hope justice prevails and Ace heads home.

Google Calendar

Maybe you have heard the grumblings about Google becoming the next Microsoft. Well, considering how great I think gmail is and now that I have set up my Google Calendar I don't have a problem with them. So to use a good old Simpson reference: I, for one, would like to welcome our not-so-new overlords of the internet.

Why do I like Google's Calendar? Well first and foremost these two features: 1. Its free. And 2. it has sms alerts for your events... That means you can have event reminders text-messaged to your cell phone for free. That means alot to me because the fact that reminders never reached me was the biggest reason I never used a software calendar like iCal or Outlook. Too often I found myself logging on to my computer to be reminded, after the fact, that there was something I wanted to see on TV or that I wanted to bid on something on ebay.

That meant I needed something mobile, but I didn't like Palm and Pocket PCs. They are too bulky (don't fit comfortably in my pockets), have terrible battery lives (Heck, I'm lucky if I remember to recharge my phone) and they can lose data too easily. Since I practically always have my cell phone with me, it would have to be my solution. But most cell phones with good planner/calendars were too complicated (needed to buy a USB cable, didn't work with Macs, etc.), were too expensive and were, sometimes, just a big as a Palm (like the Pocket PC/cell phones).

So text messaging is a good solution... and you can get programs (like SMS Mac) that allow your iCal to text you event reminders. But you need to make sure your computer is on and connected to the internet. Google, however, is always on. (And, sure, there are other calendar programs online, but remember point #1 in this post? Google Calendar is free.) And finally... if you just NEED to use iCal or Outlook, Google Calendar lets you export your calendar, besides I'm sure someone will have an iCal/Google Calendar sync extension up pretty soon. So really... What else can you ask for?

Idol and Death Cab

I've lost my internet connection at home so that is mostly why my posts have been more erratic than usual.

Bucky is gone... but I'm willing to bet that Ace wasn't too far back in the voting. In fact, I think it's practically a sure thing Ace is gone next week.

Anyways, I was at the Death Cab for Cutie concert on tuesday night when something occured to me. The opening act was a band called The Cribs... and I am pretty sure their lead singer would have been ridiculed by even Paula on American Idol. Anyways, it was a pretty damn good show, but I was disappointed they didn't play "Brothers on a Hotel Bed." Oh well, all the idiots who like to scream during the quiet songs would have ruined it anyways.

Oh and remember Lollapalooza? I thought it had died out a few years ago when they tried to revive it and failed miserably by, in essence, charging way too much. Well apparently it's still not dead as it became a one day festival in Chicago last year. That festival seemed to have done well enough that they're doing it again this year. The bands are all pretty much the same: alt/indie's from today (Death Cab, The Shins, The New Pornographers, Iron & Wine, Eels, Built to Spill, Matisyahu), alt/indie's from yesterday (Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Flaming Lips, Blues Traveler, Reverend Horton Heat, Nada Surf). Considering how "unethnic" (for lack of a better word) the lineup is you would expect a few artists such as Manu Chao, Common and Blackalicious. What I didn't expect was to see Kanye West in the lineup!

This guy practically cleaned up on Grammys back in February and now hes doing what, in essence, is a second-rate festival?

Worse than Watergate

I had thought that George Bush was so far enough removed from decision making in the White House that he would be able to avoid the many scandals of his administration and his party. But apparently Scooter Libby (remember him?) said that Bush approved the CIA leaks.

All these things coming out about the Bush administration make John Dean's book title, Worse than Watergate, seem tame. Is there any doubt that if Richard Nixon were alive today he would be punch-a-baby-in-the-face mad that he had to resign because such lesser charges?

Mandisa going home and it's "Unanimous"?

One of the best voices on Idol has been shotdown by a bad theme and a terrible song. I didn't watch last night so I don't know how bad the song was yesterday but tonight it was pretty bad.

What surprised me is that DialIdol predicted Mandisa going home. In fact, they got the bottom three (Paris, Elliott and Mandisa) exactly right. (Last week they got Bucky and Katharine being in the bottom three right, but missed on Lisa going home). It's disappointing but almost expected. She had the voice but not much else.

Anyways, now I'm watching "Unanimous" and it is amazingly annoying... like "Deal or No Deal." Both shows end on "cliffhangers" where you won't know what is in a suitcase or who is castoff unless you watch the next episode. Well that might have worked back in the 1950s when there were only 3 networks to chose from, but nowadays there are hundreds of other things to watch. Does this even work? I personally have missed the resolution of both cliffhanger that I have seen, so it's definitely not working with me.

George Friggin Mason on to the Final Four

What can I say but "wow."

I unfortunately didn't watch the game, so I am now kicking myself. Apparantly it was an awesome game and according to deadspin, Jim Calhoun wasn't crying up a storm like he was in the Washington game. (He was actually complaining about having to play an "away" game against the Patriots on Saturday.)

So it's great to see a local team do good and (I might be making this up) be the first Virginia team to make the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four. Not that Virginia is a collegiate basketball powerhouse, but the Virginia Beach area has had it's share of good/great players.

So in keeping with my doubting (reverse karma) posts allow me to say this: There is no way Mason is getting by Florida right? They'ld have to beat a team on a roll (SEC Tournament Champions) with a "media darling" in Joakim Noah on April Fool's Day. That just can't happen, right?

edit: Virginia made it to the Final Four in 1981, and I should have said Division I Final Four since, for instance, DII has seen Virginia Union there the past few years. Still you would have thought Virginia Tech (or even Richmond or Old Dominion) had a better chance to get to the Final Four before George Mason did.

Little Kevin is gone and Mason is still alive

* Fortunately DialIdol was wrong, Elliot is safe and Kevin is gone. I have to say that after all that anti-Kevin talk, I'm gonna miss him. I'll miss my weekly ritual of making fun of his awkward moves and subpar voice. Now we only have Taylor's quirks (although I won't be saying too many negative words about him considering I like him and he can actually sing) and Chris's fake raspy "rock star" voice to mock.

Have I mentioned how I don't like Chris's singing voice because it's annoyingly fake in a John Mayer kind of way? (That is to say, his singing voice isn't natural in comparison to his talking voice.) I have? Well, I think it bears mentioning again now that Kevin is gone.

Oh and enough people have visited this site looking for either the name of, words to, artist of or something about the "bad day" song played when American Idol contestants are kicked off the show. The song is, shockingly, called "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter on the soon to be released album, Daniel Powter. Although considering it's the number one downloaded song on iTunes, you should already know this. If you want the lyrics, they can be found here, but be sure to have a popup blocker for that site.

* Remember how I slighted the Missouri Valley Conference by pointing out that Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa lost in the first round, and that Bradley was the only team that impressed me. Well, I'm not trying to slight George Mason, but they got lucky in having to play Wichita State. Like I said last week, Wichita State got lucky playing a terrible Seton Hall team (that shouldn't have been there) and then they had a hard time getting by a very overated #2 Tennessee team.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a homer, so I'm rooting for Mason. I just don't see how they'll get by UConn, especially after watching the UConn/Washington game last night. Not only is UConn a good team, but they get favorable calls all night. The refs were constantly putting UConn on the line, and consequently 2 or 3 Washington players fouled out in overtime. UConn might have gotten the game into overtime on ability/merit (with Rashad Anderson's multiple killer 3s), but they definitely got some help from the refs in overtime. It's actually "Duke scary," how many calls UConn gets. Apparantly, Jim Calhoun knows how to work the Refs to perfection... So good luck Mason.

American Idol: 11-10... say it ain't so!

So I've ODed on Idol of late and didn't do commentary, and now I've got a good reason. According to DialIdol.com, Bucky, Lisa and Elliot are in the bottom three... AND Elliot is supposedly in last place. If that's true, this show is a joke! argghh.... We'll see in a few minutes.

And the hits just keep on coming!

Tom Cruise's character in A Few Good Men, Daniel Kaffee, is one of my all-time favorite movie characters. Beautifully written and perfectly overacted, Kaffee is bright and witty... as great a character as Charlie Babbitt, but infinitely more likeable.

Anyways, right after JoAnne (Demi Moore) tells him that she's going to Cuba with them, Kaffee mubles to himself, "and the hits just keep on coming!" He said it in an annoyed way, meaning "hits" in the bad sense of the word (not in the good radio music "hits" sense). I'm using it both sense.

First, "hits" in bad sense: So the Terps ended their season with an underwhelming performance against Manhattan in the NIT. They didn't want to be there and it showed, yielding more points in the first half then they have all season (and this is a team that played Duke, the 3rd highest scoring offense in the nation, 2 times this year). They probably didn't deserve to be in the NCAA tournament but neither did Air Force, Utah State, Seton Hall and probably Northern Iowa.

I also don't see what all the talk and hype about the Missouri Valley Conference was. Creighton and Missouri State might have gotten screwed, but the teams that got in aren't exactly shining. Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa didn't make it into the weekend, both losing their first games. Wichita State has had an easy trip into the Sweet Sixteen playing a team that should have been in the NIT (Seton Hall) and beating the worst #2 seed (Tennessee which lost 4 of it's last 6 games going into the tourney). Only Bradley has been impressive. (side note: I'm watching them against Pitt as I type this, and Cindy points out that it says "Brad Pitt" where the scores are shown. Of course she notices that...)

Second, "hits" in the good sense: I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that Terrell Owens is a Cowboy.

It makes them that much more unlikeable. (side note: on my old site I used to have a bunch of lists, including the unlikeable sports teams like the Cowboys, Duke, and the Lakers. I'll bring that back soon.) Plus, although he's a very good player, Dallas needs alot more help to be a good team... so the break/blow up is much more imminent than it was in Philly. (And it only took about a year and half there)

So the Cowboys have added a cancer to their team, and I can't help but laugh. Earlier in the off season, know-it-all sportswriters (I'm looking at you Peter King) claimed that the Redskins would be making a play for Owens. The Skins, wisely, didn't go near him. And now the Cowboys get to deal with him.

But I guess Cowboy fans could try to be optimistic. Maybe T.O. really has changed. Maybe he has learned his lesson. Maybe the third team is the charm. Maybe Owens needs a tough coach like Bill Parcells. Maybe Owen's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, wasn't lying when he said "There was so much interest in Terrell, there was no reason to do anything but that kind of deal." (refering to the unprotected contract Owens got from the Cowboys) Maybe Owens will be satisfied with playing on a worse team than Philly. Yeah... maybe... keep hoping.

American Idol Final 12: The first cut (isn't the deepest)

Sorry about the cheesy joke.

Anyways, I was at the Wizards/Bobcats game (Wizards won 107-99) so I didn't get to see tonight's American Idol. But I was happy to find out that I was right... Melissa is gone.

Apparently, though, that wasn't the juicy part. The fact that Ace and Lisa were in the bottom 3 was. The even juicier fact was that DialIdol.com predicted it. Apparently, they figured it out by "measuring the busy signal" for each contestant. Pretty freakin smart I say. But it was a little too smart for American Idol. They sent DialIdol a cease and desist letter. Exactly what the did wrong I don't know but it sure sounds frivolous.

So I get to say I was right about Melissa (and a whole week early at that) and now we get to look forward to a couple of interesting upcoming weeks.

American Idol: The Final 12

Remember my first rule of American Idol? It stated ""Never, under any circumstances, do a Stevie Wonder song" and I recently ammended it to "Never, under any circumstances, do a Stevie Wonder song, unless you're name is Elliot." I guess the rule doesn't apply this week since everyone HAD to do a Stevie Wonder song. And the good thing about that is that since everyone has to sing tough songs, it evens out the field.

So this week I won't comment on everyone, I'll just throw out a few comments:

• This is when contestants seems to get rediculous stylists, makeup artists, etc. to help them form an image. Some girls start wearing dresses (Melissa), some guys wear suits (Taylor) and Kevin wears makeup... that is to say things get interesting.
  
• Elliot kinda disappointed me until the end of his song. Nonetheless, he is still one of my favorites along with Taylor and Mandisa.
  
• Kevin. Wow. I'll agree with everyone in saying that he's cute, but does anyone seriously think this kid is American Idol material? The only purpose I see for him is as a sort of "broom wagon." (If you're not familiar with the broom wagon, it is a vehicle that follows the racers in a cycling race. It, in essence, marks the end of the race, if it catches up to you, you're out of the race.) In other words, if you can't be more interesting then Kevin, you better have one darn good voice because he'll catch up to you in "interestingness."
  
• This can no longer be just a rumor: Katharine McPhee HAS to be pregnant. Why else would she wear a dress that looks like a muumuu?
  
• I am, for once, not annoyed by Chris' voice. He didn't force that raspy voice and he did a great job of combining the original and the Chili Pepper's version of "Higher Ground."
  

Finally, I still think Melissa should be gone. She sung better this week but so did most everyone else. So maybe we'll be surprised this week...

Flavor does not disappoint!

The season finale of Flavor Flav has come and it was classic. If you tivo-ed it and don't want me to ruin it for you... stop reading now.

Contrary to the rumor that New York would win, Flavor sent New York packing telling her "Ima roll with Hoopz." At first, New York played it off valiantly (as she had promised Flav she would still love him if he picked Hoopz) but she then broke down crying in the limo as she left. As Hoopz stated things she was thinking ("I hope New York is crying her eyes out" and "She's probably drinking herself into a coma") the producers obliged and showed New York doing exactly those things. Hoopz actually seemed to enjoy sending New York home crying more than she enjoyed her win. You just can't blame her.

New York was annoying and cocky, and the producers made sure you knew it by playing each instance New York said something arrogant (which was alot). So it was nice to, as New York said, see "good vs. evil." (although, I'm fairly certain she thought of herself as good and Hoopz as evil) It was nice to see things go the way they did. It was nice to see, after the Project Runway debacle, that all is good in the world of Reality TV.

Redskins free agency, the Terps, and the Wizards

So many things have happened in DC area sports in the past few days:

Redskins News:
LaVar Arrington was released. It's no secret that I am a big Arrington fan, so this move bothers me. But I'm willing to believe, for now, that this is for the better. What is making me optimistic is that in the first day of free agency, they're already making moves I'm liking. Signing Brandon Lloyd and going after Antwaan Randle El, Andre Carter, and Adam Archuleta are great starts. Lloyd should be an EXCELLENT No. 2 wideout behind Santana Moss.

Maryland Terrapins:
My beloved Terps lost ugly on friday night to Boston College in the ACC Tournament. They needed that win to pretty much assure a trip to NCAA tournament, and they came up short and looked bad doing it. After more than about a decade of NCAA tourney trips, the Terps will most likely, be playing in the NIT for 2 years in a row... that sucks.

Wizards:
The Detroit Pistons have lost all of 12 times this year. Two of those times have been to the Wizards, including last nights 110-92 drubbing at the newly christen Verizon Center. Now, since I'm talking about them, they'll probably lose to the Bobcats on Tuesday.

Flavor of Love Finale

Now that the Project Runway finale has disappointed me, I now get disappointed by one of my other favorite shows, "Flavor of Love." The finale is this Sunday night at 10, but it appears things aren't as they might seem. (I know, I know... I shouldn't expect reality from "Reality TV".)

First a little background in case you haven't been watching: Flavor Flav has a TV show called "Flavor of Love" on VH1. Basically, it's "The Bachelor" with Flavor Flav as the bachelor. At the beginning of the show Flav gave each girl a nickname (Applez, Goldie, Peaches, etc.) and so far, 18 girls have not recieved a clock (been eliminated). There are now two girls left: Hoopz, a young, sporty and generally likeable girl and New York, a downright evil, conceited older lady.

Interesting enough so far, but I've yet to get to the good part. In the last show, three contestants remained. Hoopz had received her clock, and it was becoming apparent that Pumkin (yes spelled without the other 'p') was going to lose out to New York for the final clock. New York and Pumkin start arguing, and as Pumkin leaves she spits a big loogie in New York's face. New York goes postal and literally claws at Pumkin. Pumkin gets away and New York starts chasing her. Eventually they're separated, Pumkin leaves crying and New York gets her clock while vowing to get back at Pumkin.

A debacle of a show, but interesting nonetheless. But now Brooke Thompson (Pumkin's real name) says that she knew she was getting eliminated and was asked by producers to provide a "big ending." She also says the spit was digitally enhanced. Maybe she's lying, but she sure did look like she knew she wasn't getting a clock at the beginning of the elimination round.

It's the equivalent of finding out the Easter Bunny isn't real... just disappointing (but not a "Santa Claus isn't real" level disappointment). What's even more disappointing is that rumor has it that New York wins. Oh well, they're showing the whole season this Sunday starting at 2 PM and ending in with the finale at 10 PM... rest assured I'll be watching at 10.

American Gothic visits DC

American Gothic, the classic early 20th century American painting, by Grant Wood is making it's first visit in 40 years to our fair city.

So if you live in the DC area, make sure you head to the Rewick Gallery to check it out. If you haven't been to the Renwick keep this in mind: it is part of the Smithsonian, so admission is free, but it is not on the Mall. It is on Pennsylvania Avenue, right next to the White House, so parking is a pain. Oh yeah and it is open seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (and yes, I looked the hours up, I didn't know that off the top of my head)

American Idol: Down to 12

Like last week, we get "treated" to a former American Idol contestant but this time it's Bo Bice. His perfomance was good but his singing was below his norm. He still sounded much better than this season's batch of "rockers" (Chris and Bucky) though.

Time for the eliminations: They decide to go back to the week 1 format where they knock off the people with the lowest number of votes first. But this time Ryan doesn't tell the everyone else that they are "safe." Instead he simply says "You do not have the lowest number of votes." But Kinnik and Will have the lowest number of votes and end up in the "You had a bad day" montage.

I expected Kinnik to be leaving but I thought Will would be helped by his youth and because he didn't suck as much as Kevin. (Although I had him in my bottom 2.) Unfortunately for Will, he couldn't garner the following Kevin has.

In another surprise, Ayla ends up leaving and has the toughest time singing her song. Ayla was definitely better than Melissa, so now I'm wish I could put some money on Melissa being the first person to leave next week.

Finally, Gedeon along with his weird smile and painting are gone. I guess America would rather see Chicken Little do his creepy Chuck E. Cheese anamatronic performance for at least another week.

So I went 2-2, on a bad read (Kevin surviving instead of Will) and a surprise (Melissa beating out Ayla)... oh well you can't win them all (And yes I know that's the title of Chapter 1 in that great book called "Things Losers Say.")

Project Runway redux

So obviously I have much more to say about the farce that was the Project Runway finale. The AP interviewed Chloe and apparently she's got a few things to say. As Jules from Pulp Fiction would say, "Well, allow me to retort!"

The article quotes her responding to Santino's comment of her being a "brilliant pattern-maker" but an average designer:

"I can only say that I guess you're wrong!" Dao, 34, shot back in the recent interview. "I can't help it if I had skills, honey."

Um, no... he's exactly right. You "wowed" the judges with eveningwear. But every dress was monochrome, "monofabric" and a rehash of a traditional design. The only innovative thing about them were the patterns (cut-outs, seams, etc.)

You certainly have skills, but that doesn't mean you aren't an average designer. If America had voted last night you would have lost (to Daniel AND Santino). In fact, you probably wouldn't have made it to the final 3 if the voting was open to the public.

"I'm still shocked that I was chosen,"

Yeah, sweetheart, so are we.

"I think my collection was the most cohesive, and I think I did step out of my own boundary,"

Well good thing cohesion was, apparently, the deciding factor. Call me crazy, but I thought creativity, innovation and beauty were more important. And if your "boundary" is defined by what you designed earlier in the season... um no, you didn't "step out."

"People are going to hate me (for saying this), but I'm really happy with my life and I'm really happy I'm the winner and I'm really going to try to make something out of it, but am I going to be the next Vera Wang or Ralph Lauren? I don't know."

No one should hate you for being happy with your life and for being happy about being the "winner." (But make no mistake about it, it was GIVEN to you even though Daniel EARNED it.) You should be happy, but I think I can safely say you aren't going to be the next Vera Wang or Ralph Lauren.

Finally, I should note that Cindy had a great point last night. Right before Chloe was picked, she guessed that Chloe would win saying that they wouldn't give the top prize in each of the first 2 seasons to men. (BTW, Cindy agrees that Daniel should have won, but thats not saying much because so do most people.) I thought that was rediculous, thinking that the best designer should win regardless of gender. Well, I guess I was wrong and Daniel lost out because of it. No worries though because I think Daniel and Santino should do better in the long run.

Project Runway Season 2 Winner: Chloe

All I can say is this: Chloe winning season 2 of Project Runway was a JOKE! I agree that Santino's "safe" final collection doomed him. I also think that Daniel didn't explain the theme of his collection well (Military and Asian? The "Patch"? what?) but Chloe's collection wasn't any better. At best, it was a tie and everyone knows that in that case you go to a tiebreaker... like previous performance. And Daniel easily beats Chloe in that!

I think two things helped sway their decision. First, they obviously forgot that, throughout the season, Chloe's stuff was fairly pedestrian. Second, Debra Messing was in love with Chloe's stuff. Well, Jay won last season so Chloe winning shouldn't be a surprise. Oh well, I still think she sucks (and so did the people who voted last of the three finalists at BravoTV.com) and that's all that matters.

American Idol: 8 Guys left

Let's just get to the reviews:

Gedeon - Below average. I'm sure I've spelled his name wrong a few times. anyways... the painting thing he made was creepy... like his smile. The only good thing about his performance was the end. He better hope two guys "bake the dog" tonight.

Chris - Slightly above average. I imagine that when Scott Stapp told his bandmates that he was leaving Creed they cried. Their meal ticket was gone. Well, I'm sure Chris could revive the band. His voice is perfect, but I think it's annoying. The judges seemed to have soured, somewhat, on him this week... shouldn't matter though.

Kevin - Below average. He has a "deer in the headlights" look while he sings and he does a thing with his hand that is very"boy band-ish." He just looks weird when he does it though. He did better tonight than he has the past 3 weeks but that's not saying much.

Bucky - Above average. Bucky has a twin named Rocky... please tell me they're making this stuff up! I wish I could say it was good, but he picked an easy song to sing. He sung it well, but the "level of difficulty" was low.

Will - Below average. Oscillates from being okay to being really flat. I wonder if the judges saying he was bad will help him get more votes from his fanbase.

Taylor - Good. Remember what I said 2 weeks ago about Taylor sounding like Michael McDonald? Well, this week he wholeheartedly embraces blue eyed jazz and even adds his spastic Joe Cocker moves. I still love his voice though.

Elliott - Above average. Picked one of my all-time favorite cheesy songs. Strangely, I didn't like it. It was better than most of the other guys but it just didn't flow for me. Not his best, but he should nonetheless fly into the next few rounds.

Ace - Below average. Michael Jackson? Unlike Randy and Paula, I didn't like the falsetto. But it was bad, so his looks should save him.

Best to Worst: Taylor, Elliot, Bucky, Chris, Ace, Gedeon, Will, Kevin.

Kevin definitely deserves to be in the bottom 3 again. He did nothing tonight get himself safe. (Also, considering last weeks bottom 3 finish, he shouldn't do much better this week.) Will should be gone but he didn't sound as bad as Kevin. Plus, I think his youth/cuteness will help him. Of all the guys, Gedeon was the only one who NEEDED to do well this week. Everyone else has done pretty well the past few weeks OR has a young or cute following (Will, Kevin and to some extent Ace). But he didn't come through... So my guesses are Gedeon and Kevin. (But I'm hoping it's Will and Kevin.)

American Idol: 8 Ladies left

So, I'm well aware that I go through phases when it comes to this journal. During football season, it is decidely NFL and Redskins oriented. And now most posts are about American Idol...

First thing, Ryan looks like he raided The Hives' closet for his outfit... anyways I missed Paris, so I obviously can't comment on her. So on to:

Lisa - Very good. Almost great... the problem is that she sets a high bar for herself. Randi and Simon are right: the songs she is picking are "old."

Melissa - Below average. Almost not good. She was off tune for most of the song and was very breathy. I, like Simon, totally disagree with Paula...

Kinnik - Not good. It wasn't terrible... just not up to the rest of the girls. Simon put it right saying that Melissa and Kinnik have sung their way onto an airplane (or as I like to put it: sung their way into a "You had a Bad Day" montage)

Katharine - Very Good. Didn't try to sound like Aretha. Is a little too uptight... relaxed at the end. Certainly pulled the song off, but she NEEDS to relax.

Ayla - Average. In the beginning she reminded me of Melissa's performance but not as breathy. Sounded better later, but didn't pull it off. Did that squatting thing a bunch of the contestants seem to be doing.

Mandisa - Great. As I keep pointing out, this girl is amazing. Don't forget to call 1-866-IDOLS-07.

Kellie - Slightly above average. This girl cannot be for real with the "calamari", "Comet the dog", and "country girl" thing. Picked a bad song to sing because her voice is like a softer version of Melissa Etheridge. But her cuteness should keep her safe. "I'm a Mink!"

I won't rank Paris because I didn't see her entire performance, but from the snippet they showed at the end she sounded safe.

My ranking (best to worst): Mandisa, Katharine, Lisa, Kellie, Ayla, Melissa, Kinnik. Which kicks off Melissa and Kinnik. Ayla should be safe because of her past performances and Kellie should be safe because of her cuteness. Sounds pretty simple... so maybe there will be surprise among the ladies on Thursday.

Anyways tomorrow will be a stay at home night because of the Idol guys at 8 on FOX. And then the season finale of Project Runway Season 2 at 10 on Bravo. And in case you're wondering... yes, I'm crazy.

American Idol: 20 down to 18

My boss has WMZQ (the biggest local country station) playing softly at work and since I'm right there I hear it all day. I had never, until I started working there, heard a country song on a country radio station from start to end.

But I picked up on something pretty quick. Not surprisingly, it is very much like a pop station, in that they pick about 4 or 5 songs which apparently needs to be played at least once an hour. And if I hadn't heard Carrie Underwood's "Jesus take the wheel" all day, I might have enjoyed her performance... Don't get me wrong, she was (as she was last year) awesome. An excellent performance, but I hear it all day. (BTW the other songs WMZQ loves to play: Leann Rimes' "Probably Wouldn't be this Way"

Well, on to the eliminations. The girls are first again and this time they don't rediculously tell all the girls, but one, they were safe, and then a few minutes later tell one of the "safe" girls that she was gone. I really liked that Ryan Seacrest called the judges out for being so flippant in their comments when the Heather and Kinnik were about to be told which one of them was leaving.

I also want to point out that Brenna is AMAZINGLY annoying. She's in it for the money, and lets it show, but won't admit it. Everytime I see her pose I want to punch her.... ugh.

Anyways, I get be smug and point out that I correctly picked the 4 contestants who would leave and be featured in the "You had a bad day" montage. So here are my quick thoughts on them: Good riddance, Brenna. Heather, wow, you finally sung pretty well when you weren't nervous about the competition. David, you've got a fine voice but the crooning thing won't fly. And Sway, you shouldn't have been the one leaving tonight... but it doesn't matter much because you would have probably been gone next week.

George Bush was "fully prepared" for Katrina

You've probably heard the story already: George Bush went on TV days after the Katrina disaster and said "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." And now there is video proof that the president was informed that the levees could breach and that he considered the government "fully prepared."

So my question to you: How far does this man have to go until something is done? How many straight-faced lies must he be exposed on?

The problem is that this country doesn't seem to care for long enough. Soon after Katrina, Bush's ratings plummeted. His administration had been exposed as incapable and it looked like people noticed. But time went by and nothing came of it. His ratings rised and Katrina was forgotten.

The thing is, I'm losing faith in this country. There was a time, before I was born, that when a president lied, he would be investigated and forced out if needed. He was accountable. But Bush is not, and this country has let him get away with it, because of 9/11. (Is there any question as to why he always brings it up?)

Even the majority of his party in Congress thinks he went to far in selling the Port administration to the Dubai firms. But will the country care. Is there a breaking point?

American Idol: 10 Gentlemen left

The women, as a whole, did better than they did last week so, conversely, I hope the gentlemen don't suffer a lapse (since they were better than). Once again, this is a running commentary... I'm writing as they sing and while the judges comment.

"Ghastly, horrible, nightmare" that is how Ryan described Simon's comments. That was funny, especially coming from a guy who finally stopped saying "Seacrest Out!" this season. (Notice the ladies didn't forget to say that last night?)

Taylor - Average. Did a weird squat thing (like Kellie), and had some creepy moments. One of my favorites disappointed me... Strangely I totally agree with every judge, including Paula who "said not my favorite song choice, but you are one of my favorites."

Elliot - Great. Another one of my favorites. But he decides to break my first rule of American Idol, "Never, under any circumstances, do a Stevie Wonder song." But he totally nailed it. So now the rule is "Never, under any circumstances, do a Stevie Wonder song, unless you're name is Elliot." Once again: "Wow."

Ace - Slightly below average. Picked a rather boring song and he still creeps me out with the googly eyes when he sings. But when he's not singing he has a great personality and attitude.

Gideon - Very good. I'll be honest he surprised me. I was biased against him because he kinda creeps me out with that smile, so that's probably why I was surprised.

Kevin- Bad. He was flat for most of the song, never moved the spot he stood on and spent the entire time doing that strange shimmy. Too bad he's sticking around because he's "cute" and all those 12 year old girls who email him probably spend the entire night speed dialing his phone number. Oh and Randy and Paula are officially insane.

Sway - Below average. Dressed much better than last week, but broke rule #1. Tried too much to sound like Stevie and actually sounded like him once or twice. But at least he definitely got it right when he said "Maybe it was the wrong song choice for me." I get the feeling he might be a victim to the "popularity factor." (Being kicked off, while a less talented singer, like Kevin, stays because that singer has a "cute" or "sexy" following.)

Will - Average. Looks like an "Adam" to me (But, I don't know why that's important). He definitely hit that first "Laaaady" but he's missing something. Again, I agree with Paula: Bland. But as I pointed out yesterday, this early in the - .

Bucky - Above average. What's with the weird squating? He's got a decent voice but there is something I don't like about him. Maybe it's that he sounded (and moved around) like Scott Stapp. Sad really...

David - Bad. Creepy smile like Gideon. The trembling voice thing is annoying. Plus crooning can definitely get you kicked off the show, since not too many people who get around to voting actually enjoy crooners. Just not a good performance which is sad because it sounds like he has a good voice.

Chris - Average. Picked a song, I abashedly admit, I like: Fuel's "Hemmorage". But he did the trembling voice thing, and sounded worse than the original (which, as everyone points out, is a bad thing). And now after hearing the judges, I think they are all insane. Simon chided some guys for sounding like karaoke, and Chris definitely sounded like karaoke... He's crazy.

And now here are my rankings from best to worst: Elliot, Gideon, Bucky,Taylor, Chris, Will, Ace, Sway, David, Kevin.

Once again, though, I'm not picking my bottom two to be the two to leave. I'm guessing Sway and David will be gone, because Kevin has a following... crap, even most of the judges love him. Ace and Will are probably in some danger, but they both should have a strong voting block for being "cute" and young, respectively.