It's the end of the year as we know it...

All righty...Kind of a quickie post for tonight...Here is my obligatory "Best of 2001" list:

MUSIC
5. "Evan and Jaron" - Evan and Jaron
4. "The Invisible Band" - Travis
3. "Let Yourself Be Happy" - Linus of Hollywood
2. "Songs from the West Coast" - Elton John
1. "Rockin' the Subrubs" - Ben Folds

Biggest diasppointment - "Driving Rain" by Paul McCartney
Honorable mention - The Michael Jackson reissues...a reminder of how good he used to be
Best concert of the year - Ben Folds at the El Rey

TV
5. "Survivor: Australian Outback"
4. "Undeclared"
3. "Saturday Night Live"
2. "The Amazing Race"
1. "Scrubs"

Biggest disappointment - "Real World: New York"...blech...I hope Chicago is better
Honorable mention - "Press Your Luck" reruns..."Big bucks, no whammies"...'nuff said...

MOVIES
5. "The Royal Tenenbaums"
4. "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
3. "Rat Race"
2. "The Lord of the Rings"
1. "Moulin Rouge"

Biggest Disappointment - "Shrek" - ok, but not really as great as everybody made it out to be...

The last weekend of 2001

Nothing much to say about today...Went to the Grand Lux Cafe at the Beverly Center for the first time. Had brunch with David S., Adam, Joel, Ted, and Larry...Was quite nice...Had some Eggs Benedict. mmm...mmm.mmmm....

In the midst of this came the notion of possibly forgoing watching the "Survivor" finale on January 10th to watch a preview of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers: The Musical." I kid you not...There is going to be a production of it playing in L.A. Here is the website. Be afraid...be VERY afraid...

Pure imagination

God, I love "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." I can never get tired of that movie. This evening, a bunch of us went to go see it at The Alex Theater in Glendale. This is the second time I've seen the film on the big screen. The last time I saw it on the big screen was last year at a midnight showing of it at The Rialto in Pasadena. A bit of a different crowd at this one in Glendale. Whereas the midnight showing, I saw last year was more of the Gen-Xy, college, 20-something crowd, the one in Glendale had a few more families. However, the Glendale one did sport a guy in a homemade Willy Wonka suit giving out candy. Mmmmmm....free candy! There was also a brief Q & A presentation with the director of the movie who explained that Quaker Oats had funded the movie because they could tie it in with a new chocolate bar they were introducing at the time.

Some things that caught my eye with the umpteenth viewing of the movie....

That Everlasting Gobstopper machine is damn phallic...

That part where Wonka pets and plucks Mike T.V.'s hair would be damn creepy if they ever went forth with that Willy Wonka remake starring Michael Jackson that was rumored to be in the works a while back...

Damn, Charlie is a poor schlub...

It's NOT Rachamaninoff that's played on the musical lock!!! DAMMIT! I think it's actually Mozart, but it's NOT RACHMANINOFF!

Wouldn't it look painful to stick an Everlasting Gobstopper in your mouth?

And I just love the line Willy says about the Gobstopper..."You can suck it and suck it and suck it and it never gets smaller!"

I'm a dirty, dirty boy...

So much to say...

HEY EVERYBODY! Yes, yes, yes...I know I've been a bit lazy with weblog this week, but I've just been plain lazy all week. Where to begin...

Well, Christmas Eve, Ted cooked up a great dinner for a few of our friends. A nice little medley of chicken, mashed potatoes, lasagna. We also had a little pie, corn casserole, and peanut butter chocolate balls courtesy of our guests. In addition to dinner, we watched some holiday specials including the Pee-Wee Christmas, Fay's 12 Days of Christmas (featuring those freaky Wiemer-whatever-the-hell they are dogs), and the He-Man Christmas special. And we played a game of Outburst and Scattergories. Very, very low-key, but very, very fun.

The next day, Rob and Charles hosted a Christmas dinner which was awesome. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, glazed carrots, and snow peas...mmmmm In the midst of dinner, we all watched a marathon of "Trading Spaces" on The Learning Channel. This is the first time I'd ever seen the show. Apparently, two friends or neighbors arrange with the show to redecorate each other's rooms and must do so with the help of some experts over a 2-day period and $1,000 budget. Cute show and a really cute carpenter named Ty. While watching, Ted remarked that we should sign up for this with Ted redecorating my bedroom and me decorating his bedroom. Now, I trust Ted and all with my bedroom, but me and the interior decorating don't mix. I don't care how gay I am...it just won't happen!

Post-Christmas day, I had lunch with my friend Dave Hammett. We went over to the brand new Wendy's for the first time. Now, for those of you outside of L.A., this IS a big deal. There are hardly ANY Wendy's around the valley let alone L.A. This along with the new Krispy Kreme at the same new shopping center in Burbank is quite a one-two punch. Not only that, but there's a Target and a Best Buy there and an Outback Steakhouse! BEST SHOPPING CENTER EVER...I also got a haircut at Shorty's, my new favorite barber shop. It's located on Fairfax near the intersection of Willoughby near West Hollywood. And cheap too...$14 for a cut! It's good to finally have a place I really want to go to on a regular basis for a haircut after living out here for two-and-a-half years.

That evening, Ted, Adam, Joel, and I checked out "The Royal Tenenbaums." I highly recommend it. Great performances all-around and better developed characters than "Rushmore." Oh, that evening saw our first glimpse at Adam and Joel's new hairdos. Joel's had some subtle blue streaks in it, but Adam's had quite the change. He's bleach-blonde...even his eyebrows. It prompted a reaction from me that Ted dubbed the gayest thing he'd ever seen me do in public. According to Ted, I screamed, "Oh my god! Oh my god!" so loud that people around started staring at me. I beg to differ... :-)

Thursday, I picked up our friend Tony from the Burbank airport. It was my first visit to an airport since the Sept. 11th attacks. I knew that security was tight, but it was still jarring to have my car inspected in front of the parking garage entrance while an armed military guard stood nearby.

That brings us to today...Things are getting back to normal. Larry's back in town from Sacramento. Rob came over to watch last night's Survivor with us. My bet on who to win is Ethan. I can't believe though that January 10th is already the finale. And I'm back to poking around Planetout and gay.com hoping to find...well, who knows what...

Merry Christmas!

Crickets chirping...

Geez, this weekend has been lazy...well, I've done stuff, but still, it's been awfully lazy...

Friday night, I went to see "Lord of the Rings" with Rob, Mikey, Ted, and Larry. Like "Harry Potter," I didn't read the books, but still, I loved the movie. Beautifully shot, and epic in so many ways. There's a really great sense of being immersed in the world of Middle Earth. The ending was a bit jarring, but not wholly unexpected given that this is the first of a trilogy of movies. And the movie's brought about two candidates for "Hump Island 2002." Orlando Bloom who played the long blond-locked elf Legolus...though I like to call him Legoland. And Dominck Monaghan as Merry, one of Frodo's hobbit friends.

Saturday, I checked out "Mim," a musical version of the story of Joseph and Mary at The Alex in Glendale. A friend of mine had a part in the play. It was pretty good. The music kind of reminded me of the "modern traditional" Broadway style that's been adopted by the Disney musicals. All in all, it was a good show and an interesting spin on the Joseph and Mary story, I didn't quite pay attention to so well in Sunday school.

Aside from that, it's just been a VERY lazy week. Today, I slept in until 2-ish. Had some dinner at the Hometown Buffet in Burbank at the new shopping center where the new Krispy Kreme and Wendy's are open. WOO-HOO!!!!!! Rob, David S., James, Ted, and I attempted to catch a showing of "The Royal Tennenbaums" at the Sunset 5 after dinner, but it was sold out. SOLD OUT! On a Sunday night at 9:40 on the weekend before CHRISTMAS!! We were shocked and ended up just milling about the Virgin Megastore. I ended up spending too mujch on some music DVDs including the Wingspan documentary, the Billy Joel video collection, and Elton John's 2000 concert at Madison Square Garden.

Started to make the calls this weekend wishing my friends and family a Happy Christmas. The family seems to be all right in Florida. I dared my sister to show my mom this webpage and tempted with a little extra Christmas gift if she did...I wonder if she'll bite. >:-)

Aside from that, I'm just wondering how else I'm going to fill this week. I think I'm going to attempt to finally launch the "Music" section of my website. Chances are, I probably won't get it done 'til next month, but we'll see...

Islands in the stream

So I was chatting with my friend Matt online and he directed me to this website from Star 98.7 FM about this discussion Ryan and Lisa had about "Hump Island." I think the title explains it all...all right, maybe not...Basically, it's the "if you were stranded on a desert island" question relating to whom would you want to have with you to do a little shacking up...This led to an IM discussion about whom each of us would want to have on our respective "Hump Islands." Coincidentally, I was in the midst of compiling my "Santa's Wish List" of cute guys so I figure that I should merge the two together and just put out my "Wish List to Santa for People to Bring With me to Hump Island!" [cue fanfare]

Ladies and gentlemen...here is the "Gawd, could you be any more gay?" Top Ten list of 2001...drum roll please...

10. Zach Braff - Just plain adorable in "Scrubs," a show you should all be watching!

9. Eddie Cahill - Probably best known for being Rachel's assistant on "Friends"...That nice little combination of brooding, dark hair, and blue eyes...(yep, I'm sucker for blue eyes)

8. Joey McIntyre - Whowouldathunk the little one from NKOTB would grow up so nicely?

7. Enrique Iglesias - Ricky who? Muy sabroso...

6. Ian Somerhalder - He was reason enough to justify the airing of the short-lived WB series "Young Americans"

5. Chris Hardwick - I think the sense of humor is where he really scores. Plus, I've had a crush on him since he was trading barbs with Jenny on "Singled Out"

4. Damon Albarn (Lead singer of Blur and part of the group Gorillaz) - Check out the "Blur: The Best of" DVD and you'll see what I mean

3. Jude Law - No explanation really needed here...And yet again, the British thing...

2. Brandon Quinton from "Survivor: Africa" - Yes...a tad queeny, but gorgeous blue eyes and a southern belle-like charm make up for it

1. Danny Roberts from "Real World: New Orleans" - My ideal guy...smart, witty, good-looking...and oh yes...gay... :-)

Finito!

I did it! I finished my Christmas shopping for the year. Woo-hoo! Yay! Huzzah! Now, I have to drop off my family's gifts in the mail tomorrow morning. They probably won't get there in time, but at least it will be close.

Cool moment of the day...I got to call Savage Steve Holland for some business-related things. Who is Savage Steve Holland? Well, he directed some 80s movies including "One Crazy Summer" and "Better off Dead," but more importantly (to game show fanatics like me), he was the guy who designed the Whammy for "Press Your Luck." I also got a chance to talk to Bill Kopp, another Whammy animator from "Press Your Luck's" all-too-brief three-year run. From the little time that I spoke with them, I got the impression that they were really fun, nice guys.

Since we are less than a week away from Christmas, I think it's time for me to give my list of my top ten favorite Christmas songs:

1. "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" - John and Yoko Ono
2. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" - Band Aid
3. "Step into Christmas" - Elton John
4. "Wonderful Christmastime" - Paul McCartney and Wings
5. "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" - David Bowie and Bing Crosby
6. "Ho! Ho! Ho! (Who'd Be a Turkey for Christmas?)" - Elton John
7. "Christmas Vacation" - From the "Chistmas Vacation" soundtrack
8. "Feliz Navidad" - .Jose Feliciano
9. "Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas"
10. "Remember (Christmas)" - Harry Nilsson

Malled and beaten

Kicked off the morning at work by watching a little "Live with Regis and Kelly" to catch my "Survivor" favorite, Brandon Quinton, talk about his experiences on the big safari. He really cleaned up well...Such nice pretty blue eyes...He gave a very good interview. He was very funny, but acted like such the southern belle. :-) I've asked Santa to get me Brandon for Christmas. But unfortunately, I have no chimney, so I have no clue how he's going to get me the present. Waaaaaahhhhhh....

Took a little longer lunch break than usual today to finish up some Christmas shopping. I am officially finished up with shopping for the family. I also picked out a gift for my boss...a nice little thank you gift for giving this runty little doofus a shot at making his dream come true...doing it our way...give us any chance we'll take it...give us any rule we'll break it...Whoops! Sorry...had a little Laverne and Shirley moment there...

This evening, we had a visit from an old Internet friend of mine, Matt. Matt was somebody I met through gay.com a while. And when I say, "a while back," I'm talking the tall, dark gray apartment in NoHo days. We've always bounced IMs back and forth and the last time I actually saw him in person was over the summer. He lives not too far from me and he often visits close friends of his across the street, so we figured this visit was LONG overdue! It was a fun night involving pizza, the new Moulin Rouge DVD, and UNO! Attack, one of the gifts I got Larry. It's basically UNO!, but with this evil machine that spits cards at you. Actually, it was quite a lot of fun, and in true Mandel style, I was sooooo close to winning but yet so far. I also realized that I suck at shuffling cards...you'd think I would have learned something from all my work with "Card Sharks!"

Closure

Thus begins the final week of 2001 at the FremantleMedia workplace. Come Friday, the office will be shutting down for the rest of 2001. It's been a whirlwind of a year with "Card Sharks" premiering and getting cancelled, but it's been quite a ride. Hopefully, 2002 brings even more prospects. And with the final week, comes the proverbial "crunch" time as everybody tries to get everything that needs to be done before Friday rolls around. So far, it looks like it's not going to be too bad...but ya never know...

And surreal work moment of the day...My 10 AM tradition at work has been to flip on the TV in my office to watch "The Price is Right." Well, I did just that today. Shortly after the show finished, my boss stops by and says to me, "Wanna see something cool? Take a peek through the conference room window. Sure enough, there was Bob Barker meeting with one of our executives! I said, "I just finished watching him on television!" Gotta love this job...

Today, I left work early this afternoon to attend Randy's memorial service. It has been a while since I've been to a memorial service and this one was a bit informal and probably the way Randy would have wanted it to be. It was yet another reminder of how special he was to some people and it was interesting to see how he had such a significant impact not only the game show bunch but on people in other parts of his life. There were quite a number of the game show bunch in attendance, a few whom I had not seen in a while or met for the first time. After the memorial service, we all went back to David Hammett's, watched some GSN and broke open a box of Krispy Kreme's in honor of Randy. It was nice to get together as a group especially since there's been some distance between different parts of the game show bunch. It's just unfortunate that this was the result of such tragic circumstances. It brought to closure an eye-opening week, one that has made me step back and take a look a things just a bit more differently...

Got to believe we are magic

Ahh, quite a busy weekend. Saturday night, Ted threw a Hogwarts Holiday get-together. He never ceases to amaze me with his creativity. It was a Harry Potter-themed Christmas party complete with chocolate frogs (which he made out of Tootsie Rolls), acid pops, other magical treats, and a sorting hat which Ted made in a matter of hours. I'll have the pics up eventually...(Note that I didn't mention a date...Every time I do so, I end up not meeting the deadline...) 'Twas a nice little gathering...The highlight was probably getting my Christmas gifts from Ted and Larry. Geez...how to describe them...Well, let's just say I won't be showing these to the family any time soon. :-) Also, it's going to be fun keep track of the days next year. Hee-hee...

And wonder of wonders, as of tonight, I'm pretty much finished with all of my Christmas shopping. There's just one thing that I need to get my sister and there are a couple of other things which I'll probably pick up for other people, but aside from that, it's all done! Huzzah!

I must say that this weekend, I've realized that there one thing I suck at even more than driving...It's gift wrapping. For one thing, I can't cut straight (insert joke here). And I have a knack for ripping off the tape from the dispenser in such a way that it always sticks to itself thereby causing me to rip off more tape but to lesser avail causing a downard spiral of tape-wasting and thumbs being wrapped up in cellophane bandages that just keep growing and growing and growing and AHHHHHHH!

When it rains, it pours

Ahhh...'twas a nice end to an odd week as my company had its official Christmas luncheon at Shutters in Santa Monica. It was a bit more filled than the office shindig earlier in the week. The rain put a damper on things, but things certainly brightened as the occasion went along. In addition to some great food, much of which I'd never order at a restaurant, there was a "Let's Make a Deal"-like gift exchange which involved a party tradition which I did not know of until this year. The gift exchange-but-you-can-steal-from-others-thing-a-ma-doo. The first one I'd taken part of was at Erin's party where I got screwed out of a really cool chocolate fondue set. At this particular one, I made out quite well, winning a special cash bonus hidden in the gift I stole from somebody. Woo-hoo!

Speaking of gifts, I've got about 80% of my Christmas shopping done Friday night. I got all my friends' gifts including Tedward and Larry's. I just need to finish getting stuff for my family. This will be the first time I'll be spending the holidays away from Florida. The main reason being my nagging fear of flying, which wasn't allayed by the September 11th attacks and that other crash in over New York several weeks ago. Fortunately, a few of my friends will be in town including Ted, Adam, and probably Rob. So at the very least, it won't be a lonely Christmas.

Quick reality re-cap. Rob and Brennan, the two hot, young lawyers (who've even got an official website won "The Amazing Race." I've gotta say that this show been great, one that deserved more attention than it got. I was really happy that Frank and Margerita started their way towards a reconciliation as a result of the race. Just a really great, feel-good reality show that I hope gets a bigger audience the next go around. And man..."Survivor"...poor Brandon. :-( As most of you probably can guess, I wasn't too pleased with how the vote turned out this week. However, it was really his own doing. He pissed too many people off by jumping sides when he really didn't need to. * sigh * At least Ethan is still in the mix and he looks primed to be in the final four. I also have a feeling old Kim will be there along with him. Nevertheless, it's just not going to be the same with precious little Brandon. Long live the African queen...

End game

This is a bit late obviously, but yesterday was well...I'll just explain...

Actually a little background is needed to fully understand the nature of this particular entry into the weblog. When I first started out my mad journey on the Internet, I used to be a part of this newsgroup called alt.tv.game-shows. Basically, this is an online forum for fans of game shows to discuss game shows of the past and present. One of the L.A. game show bretheren who posted frequently on the group, Randy Amasia, passed away yesterday after a bout with cancer...

Now, I can't say I was really close to Randy at the time of his passing. In fact, one could say we had a bit of a falling out. My best memory of him was when I first visited L.A. as part of my internship during the summer of '98. Randy was one of the first people to welcome me to L.A. Being thousands of miles away from home in a town with no relatives or friends nearby, it was cool to have somebody to visit and especially cool to meet one of the alt.tv.game-shows regulars after having posted on it for years. Unfortunately, after I moved out here permanently a year later, there was a bit of a distancing between us. This was partly due to my working on shows which he had some choice words for in his posts to the newsgroup. I was brought into the mix of one particular long thread of posts about the new version of "Card Sharks." Now, I would be lying if I said his comments didn't piss me off a bit. It even ticked off my friends more than it did me!

While he may have been a pain in the butt some times, it was jarring to hear how he had fallen ill and even more of a jolt when I heard he passed away yesterday. I must admit that I've never really dealt with death well. There's always been this air of uncertainty. What do I do? What do I say? In the past, people whom I've known personally who have died were relatives, all of which had had long battles with illness and where the death wasn't unexpected. However, I have never been in a situation like this where somebody who I was at one time in close contact but had grown distant due to a little bad blood passed away. I must admit, I honestly did NOT know how to react when hearing the news.

I eventually did a little reflecting (self-reflecting and othewise) in light of the news. While I was upset about all the criticism on the newsgroup, ya know what? It's just minor bullshit...words...that's all...somebody's opinion...no harm...no foul...Stuff like that shouldn't matter. We had our differences, but he was still one of the hard-core game show fans, and his death is big loss to the game show family (dysfunctional as it can be sometimes). I hate to turn into a "let this be a lesson to all" speech, but something like this was another reminder that getting angry and holding grudges is just wasted energy. It's just not worth the effort to get upset at others over little things. As hard as it can be, if you find yourself wanting to scream or chew someone out about something, step back for a second and think about what you're getting upset over. Is it worth it? Is it worth raising your blood pressure and stressing out over it? 99.9% of the time...probably not...

In any case, I raise my mouse to you, Randy. Here's hoping you're in a better place kicking butt in the Aftergame of Life...

Can't think of anything really witty for this line...

Things are slowing down at the office especially with the "Card Sharks" staff moving out. That's not to say that there's not work to be done, but it's mellowed out considerably. Now, it's just a means of waiting. We have three new projects at the forefront, all of which are still moving along. There's one particular project I really hope comes to full fruitition. We haven't put out any official word about it, but it's one that I've been pushing along and talking myself blue about since I started work in the development department here...

Tonight, I met up with the first time with a guy a met online named David (yes...I met another guy online...and yes...it's yet another person I know named David!). We went to dinner at the Elephant Bar in Burbank. Gotta love that cajun fried shrimp platter...We had a great time. He's a sweet guy who's also very intellectual. However, he's intellectual with a good sense of pop culture, quite a nice combination. Not sure what he's exactly looking for, but still, I've got a feeling that we'll be seeing each other again. I've learned that you can't jump too early to conclusions with these sort of things and that playing it by ear tends to lead to less let-downs especially given my track record...

Vegemighty-fine

This afternoon, we had an Australian-themed office party. It was my first exposure to vegemite and Brandy Alexander. The vegemite wasn't as bad as I thought. It kinda tasted like spreadable soy sauce. But, I don't think I'd ever try it again. However, mmmmm Brandy Alexander. Tasty stuff. I'm not really a drinker...In fact, I HATE the taste of alcohol. That's probably why I liked the Brandy Alexander. The party was a bit small and intimate and surreal. Here we were having this Australian-themed holiday party while we had Frank Sinatra playing in the background. And it wasn't even Frank Sinatra singing Christmas songs. It was Frank Sinatra singing his greatest hits. This coupled by the fact that I was wearing a plastic mustache I got my "noise popper" (think a mini-Christmas-themed pinata) made for an uh...interesting get-together.

My friend Nathan dropped by last night to pick up something from my place. Now, I'd just like to clear something up. I've said some things about Nathan that have made him kinda look like the bad guy or at least the grumble-bum in our happy little group of friends. Far from it. In fact, Nathan is probably one of the best friends I've got. Ted, Larry, and he are probably the three guys who keep me to the ground the most and slap some sense into me every now and then (especially Nathan). In any case, I probably don't show my appreciation for that kind of love that much...especially on this dumb little dog and pony show I've got on the 'net. But I do appreciate it. If I didn't have friends like that, I'd just a total anti-social, self-loathing, yet egomanical oxymoron who sat alone at home watching game shows and swigging Dr. Pepper. So, Nathan, if you're reading this (and I know you do because you're one of the few people who actually read this site), thanks. :-)

Well, the official word is that the new "Card Sharks" will be on the air until mid-January albeit in reruns. Just some more thoughts...I was asked what I'll miss most about the show. And if I had to pick one thing, it's the people. After the show got off and running, I wasn't as close to the show as I was during the pilot and pre-production stages, but even still, every time I visited I felt like I was part of the family. Everybody from the P.As up to the producers and Tami and Pat...It would have been easy for them to view me as the snot-nosed kid from the "company," but that wasn't the case. This especially was true with Tami and Pat. I remember one time I was driving down Sepluveda stuck in traffic in the morning and I notice out of the corner of my eye this guy waving at me from the car on my right. It was Pat! So I rolled down the window and we chatted for a little before the light changed. It was little things like that that went a long way to show what a personable guy he was not caught up in the pretentiousness of being a celebrity. Tami is a sweetheart and surprised me along with a lot of people. My only knowledge of her before she started on "Card Sharks" was what I saw of her on the "Real World." For those of you who remember, she wasn't shown in the most favorable light on that show. I'm not sure whether it was just editing or how young she was at the time, but when I met her when she started on "Sharks," she was just the sweetest. Not only that, but I'd say that she's probably one of the sharpest hostesses I've seen on a game show in a while. The first taping we did, she ad-libbed a bit with some prize copy that she read and she really made it her own. She nailed it. It was really a defining moment which showed that she was NOT just a pretty face. Because of the nature of the game and editing, there's probably a lot that you didn't see that reflected this, but there was chemistry there between Pat and Tami that I really hadn't seen since the Chris and Jenny years of "Singled Out." And much like Pat, Tami was great off-camera. There was the time I brought my mom and sister to a taping and she was really kind to them. So yeah...Card Sharks was a big fish that I was proud to boast about and it was a fun ride while it lasted.

But as I've quickly learned, you can't get too attached to a show. Every show must come to an end. You just gotta have fun while it lasts and hope that there are others having fun with you. And ya know, that's a philosophy I've had about life in general. Just have fun with it and hope that you're not pissing too many people off! And you could even say that life is like one big TV show. You have your supporting cast with your guest stars, some eventually turning out to be long-term Heather Locklear-like special guest stars and others being one-timers after you realize they just don't mesh well. And each birthday is a renewal from the network execs upstairs. And you could say...aw hell, I've been absorbed by work too much! Boy, do I need this holiday! :-P

Marvel at people's hands up felt orafices!

So busy weekend this weekend. Saturday I went to MuppetFest at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. It was a BLAST. The best part was the Muppet Q&A where the audience got to ask questions of the Muppets. A great moment was when somebody asked Floyd (from the Electric Mayhem) is he was still tight with Janice. Floyd responded by saying, "Well, Janice isn't as tight as she used to be!" Hilarious stuff. There was also a retrospective of the Creature Shop's work as well as a look at a neat avant-garde film by Jim Henson called "Time Piece." The most surreal part of the day was when I was walking down the aisle trying to find a seat. Upon turning around I see this giant green thing in front of me saying "hi ho!" in Kermit's voice. It was a man in a Kermit suit. Wait...I should rephrase that...it was a FAN in a giant Kermit suit. Not one of the people working for the event, a fan. I think to sum it up best...this was probably the gay equivalent of a Trekkie convention.

By the way, my roomie Ted will be writing up his take on Sunday's events of MuppetFest in our brand new "Guest Blog of the Week" section. Look for that some time tomorrow.

Went to Erin's holiday party in the evening. 'Twas a lot of fun. Ted and I got to meet her really cool sister Leslie. And the best part...they both live just walking distance from us! There was a very twisted gift exchange at the party which netted us some candles and a set of Knott's Berry Farm jellies. Mmmm...peach jelly.

Today, I went to the Museum of TV and Radio with my friend Brad. We took a lot at some really cool game show nuggets, most notably two great Chuck Woolery episodes of "Wheel of Fortune." I'll say it again...Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford were classic "Wheel of Fortune." We also watched "Celebrity Sweepstakes," "Jackpot," "Say When," "The Cross-Wits," and one of the worst game shows of all time, "The Magnificent Marble Machine." Oh...you've never heard of it? This obscure game revolved aroudn the gimmick of having contestants and their celebrity partners play a giant life-size pinball machine. Sounds fun on paper but is hilariously bad when seen in it's noisy, gaudy glory.

So....here's the write-up I had been promising on the bad news of Friday...

"Card Sharks" got the axe. The ratings hadn't been all that hot and the market's just not great for new syndicated shows, let alone new syndicated game shows at the moment. The show had been the subject of some harsh criticism from the game show die-hards on the newsgroup. Now, I'll admit the show was not perfect...in retrospect, there were some minor rules changes I would have suggested, but overall the reaction I got from the general public was positive. People liked the pacing of the show, they loved the set, they loved Pat and Tami, and they especially loved the video clips. I think what hurt the show was the timing of its premiere and its bad time slots in general. Lots of people didn't even know the show was on! I mean, who in the hell is going to find a show that's on at 4:30 in the morning in some cities!

I think in another time and better support and publicity, we could have gotten better numbers and survived this really tough fall season. In any case, say what you will about whether you liked the show or not...there was still a group of hard-working people who worked many long hours to put together those shows. It saddens me that they won't get to finish out the rest of the season as we had planned, but knowing how this business works, they'll be back on their feet with some other shows. And knowing how the game show world goes, I'm sure Card Sharks in some form or another somewhere down the line...

Grumble, grumble

BIG news at work today...but I'd rather not say anything beyond that until a press release is made. I will say that I'll have quite a bit to say about the news when it is made public and official. So that's all about that for now...

Ted sent out a big E-mail to everybody with his latest diatribe of the week...Why he hates the Dell guy...You know, the "cool dude" in the Dell TV ads. He kinda looks like Will Friedle and says, "Dude you gotta get a Dell." Well, lemme just say that as annoying as Dell dude can be sometimes, I still think he's cute. Sure, he looks bad in that elf costume in the recent Christmas Dell ads, but ANYBODY looks bad in an elf costume! Am I alone in this? Have things gotten so bad for me that I'm THAT desperate? AAARRRGHH!

Lemme say one more time that Linus of Hollywood's "Let Yourself Be Happy" is one of the best albums this year. Go pick up a copy from this link.

Feelin' all right

So most of the gang was back together for "Survivor" tonight. Nathan, Rob, Tony, Mike, and my new friend Chad came over. Ted didn't get home until after "Survivor" since he had a special animation conference/meeting that he was attending this evening. And actually, this was the first time that I (or any of us in the house for that matter) had met Chad. I must that I've been having great luck with meeting new people who are just decent, down-to-earth guys with no issues. Chad's a really cool guy and he's yet another person whom I hope will remain a good friend as we get to know each other more. :-) Speaking of which, I also got a chance to chat online with Will, the boyfriend of Colin, the new friend I met last night. Like Colin, he seems like another good guy. Ted brought up a good point tonight that he and I have built up a really great "second family" of friends out here in L.A. It's quite a nice feeling to have especially for us East Coasters who are thousands of miles away from where we grew up.

Some quick "Survivor" comments before I wrap up...What an awesome closer...This season has been a bit on the blah side with the exception of Brandon, who exudes more personality that the other contestants combined. But my, the shift in alliances has proven to be quite interesting. The original Boran-Samburu makeup of the Moto Magi is now four-four, but will Brandon's move backfire for him. Methinks Brandon is safe for a while since he is FAR from a threat. My bets on who will be voted out next are on Frank or Lex with me slightly leaning towards Frank.

Toys abound

Last night, two more time-killers were added to the Gamecube collection: Super Smash Bros. Melee and Pikmin. Smash Bros. is a hoot and should be a lot of fun at parties. Basically, you can play as different Nintendo characters and beat the crap out of each other. Quite a lot of fun. Pikmin is...uh...original and quirky. It's actually a lot of fun, but half the time, I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on!

Today, my boss and I went to the DVExpo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was VERY cool. Lots of neat DV editing software and equipment. It's amazing what one can do with a DV camera and a desktop computer nowadays. We might be getting a system for the office. It'll be great to get the editing mojo going again. The last time I did real editing work was back in college for HRTV. Plus, it looks like the software is becoming more and more user-friendly. This version of Adobe Premiere that I saw has quite a number of effects and also has Avid-like features.

Tonight, I met up with Colin, a new friend I made through Planetout, for some coffee. I have to say that he's one of the most interesting guys I've met in a long while on Planetout. He's done quite a lot for a guy his age. Here's the website for his production company and you'll see what I mean. From what he's told me, he also has a cool boyfriend whom I'll probably be meeting some time soon. In any case, it's a rarity to find such motivated, mature people around my age who are still a lot of fun. It's always nice when things turn out that way...when you get that "they're good people" vibe. Hopefully, this leads to a couple of long friendships.

Technical difficulties

Well, I'm the victim of the @Home shutdown. I had no cable modem access last night. Hopefully, the Powerlink migration will be all through by tonight. In any case, that explains the absence of a Blog update last night...So...here's the delayed update that was supposed to be up yesterday...

Yesterday, was a nice change of pace in the office. We have a few more bodies now that the staff from "Card Sharks" has moved in. It's also cool to finally have a few more people around my age milling about. Work keeps chugging along though it really would be nice to hear something a bit more definite in terms of the new projects we've got down the line...

Watched a bit of the "Elton John: Live by Request" on A&E last night. I have yet to watch the last hour, but there was no mention of the "it's my last album" speech he gave last week at a concert. Methinks the comment was made in the midst of one of Elton's tantrums. There were some posts on the Elton John newsgroup from people who were at that concert where he made the quote. They were saying that he seemed a bit "off" that night and some even said he was a bit "pissy." It wouldn't surprise me. He's been making "it's my last concert" statements since 1976!

I've already got a show to look forward to for January. It's the "Real World: Chicago." Click here and you'll see why. To put it simply...it's a buffer version of Danny, at least looks wise. And he's gay too! God bless MTV....

All things must pass...

Ack...been feeling mucho groggy this weekend. I hope I don't have the bug that's going around the office at the moment. There seems to be a bit of the flu traveling around work. It's lent to the quietness recently.

I also was feeling a bit bummed out by George Harrison's recent passing. While I can't say he was a part of my life as much as people who actually grew up when The Beatles first hit it big, The Beatles were still an influence on me musically. They were the first pop group I really got into and the first group whose songs I learned how to play on the piano. "Here Comes the Sun" especially holds memories because the high school I went to had it as the unofficial theme song for the school mascot: The Sun. And while I had owned "All Things Must Pass" and his second solo greatest hits CD for a while, it was only recently that I started getting into George's solo stuff. Friday, I popped in his "Dark Horse" greatest hits collection for the drive to work. Just great music all around. And from the retrospectives and interviews I've been seeing over the weekend, it seemed like he was a genuinely sweet and kind guy. He will definitely be missed and hopefully some of today's pop acts would take a cue from him and learn what it really means to be a talented pop star.

Gosh...so much else to catch the journal up on..."Survivor" turned out to be a clips episode. So my predictions carry over to next week. Saturday, Ted and I helped out Nathan with his storyboard project. We had to basically illustrate the different panels of a storyboard he was putting together for a TV script. His friend Michael was also onhand to help out. Fun stuff, but it reminded me how much I HATE acting in a role. I just can't do it. And I do love performing (just ask my beleaguered friends how I bellyache about wanting to perform again), I only like performing if it's music or a stand-up/hosting thing. I'm just awful at taking on a "role."

After the shoot, we went to Chili's, which I actually squealed at delight over because I had not eaten at a Chili's in L.A. before. Yes, that's how sad things have gotten...I actually got excited about eating at a restaurant. But mmm.mmm.mmm....gotta love those Chicken Crip\sers! Saturday was capped off by going to Aaron's holiday party. Got to catch up with Murad (my former roommate) and the game show bunch including David, Tony, Brad, Chris, Jade, and Steve.

Sunday, I got to talk a while with Chad, another guy I met online. He really seems like a great guy from the talks we've had. And if all goes according to plan, I should be seeing him in person when he drops by to join the gang for "Survivor."

Today, I also did a bit of holiday shopping. Mostly got stuff for the family today. Went to Best Buy, Virgin Megastore, and Costco. All of which weren't super crowded. The goal is to finish up everything by this week...* fingers crossed *