Final Thoughts for the Finale

1. It seems like Lindzi is trying to channel Ben with her grey, neutral outfit choices. Which we all know is to no avail. The Bachelor never picks the one we want him to pick.
   
2. I swear that is not Ben's mom. She was not a blonde on Ashley's season! One of the two is a hired actor, I am sure of it.
   
3. Ben's sister needs to watch all the innuendos that she keeps saying - talking about getting Lindzi to "open up" and "release the floodgates" - I'm not making this up - she really said those things!
   
4. The Matterhorn is really spectacular. I may have to put that on my "leap" list (and by "leap" list, I mean bucket list, because a leap list is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of and I'm convinced was something made up by Honda's marketing department, which also strategically got their Honda's placed on The Bachelor this season, which I'm sure led to a huge spike in sales).
   
5. Ben's sister, who I was hoping would be as awesome and rude (aka, honest) as Ashley's amazing sister was to JP, TOTALLY let me down with how easy she let Courtney off the hook. I mean, really? Not even one little hesitation or inkling that she may not be the most authentic person in the world?
   
6. *Yawn* *Fast Forward* Sorry - that was me fast-forwarding through Ben and Lindzi's date - I'm done listening to Lindzi talk about how she is opening up in this relationship. There's only so many times during a season that I can take that line.
   
7. *Yawwwwnnn* *Fast Forward* Sorry - that was me fast-forwarding through another helicopter ride and how it is symbolic of Ben and Courtney's relationship soaring to new heights - there are only so many times I can take that metaphor - and I am WAY past it this season - seriously, they used that metaphor and scenario SOOOOO MANNYYY TIMES. I'm through with rappelling, jumping out of helicopters, rope courses, and zip lines being used as metaphors for relationships.
   
8. Courtney definitely had the cooler balcony to have a balcony scene on.
   
9. OMG, ABC has incorporated Disney into the series by now having the Bachelorettes dressing as Disney princesses, complete with cloaks (and climbing into helicopters to make them hike in heels up the Swiss Alps)! This is my comparison for each:
   
   
   Poor Lindzi.
   
   
   
   And this would be my depiction of Courtney and Ben.
10. Oh my gosh - so shocking (not) - Ben chose Courtney! Didn't see that one coming!! (see Number 1)

It's been real all my rose-loving friends. Thank goodness this is now over so we can mentally prepare ourselves for Emily Maynard (aka Melanie Wilkes from Gone With the Wind) by watching "The Voice"!

PS - You need to check Jimmy Kimmel Live's spot with Chris Harrison from tonight - priceless!!

Two Thoughts for a Wednesday (Ok, maybe Three)

Sorry, if you're looking for deep, soul-illuminating thoughts, you're out of luck with me tonight.  Just a few quick thoughts and observations that I've had that I feel like putting out there for the world.

1 - Looking for something to watch on TV now that Lost and The Bachelorette are over?  Try the Bachelor Pad for a Elimindate meets Real World meets The Bachelor/ette.  Thank goodness it hasn't crossed the lines into "Flavor of Love" or "Rock of Love" territory yet (two scummy VH1 reality shows).  The operative word there is "Yet".  The redeeming element of the show is Our Host Chris Harrison.  Chris Harrison is just always awesome.  We're bffs in my head - we've had a long relationship - we even finish each other's sentences from time to time! Total Bff status.

Or check out any of the great, fun shows on USA - White Collar, Covert Affairs, Burn Notice (Michael Westin, I love you), Psych (one of the funniest shows on TV, seriously), and Royal Pains.  All have good storylines, fun characters, and are great clever shows.

2 - When I'm housesitting one of the things that I find myself doing is watching music videos on MTV's Comcast music video channel (MTV Hits).  Right now they are showing all the videos that have something to do with the VMAs - either as prior winners or are nominated in some category at this year's upcoming VMAs.  Watching them is like a recent history lesson.  Did you know that Aerosmith won the VMA Video of the Year in 1998?? I know. You feel old don't you?  Did you also know that Steven Tyler (rumored to be one of the new judges on American Idol) is quite the androgynous-looking fellow?  Did you know that Limp Bizkit won the VMA Video of the Year in 2000 AND 2001? I know. Can you believe that Limp Bizkit used to be considered worthy of getting a VMA? Let alone two of them?? No wonder Emimen had such a feud with Fred Durst.  After watching those videos I couldn't believe they actually were that popular!

You know what I also wish? That we could fast forward Justin Bieber 7 years, to when he is 20 years old and has gone through his hook-up with a former Disney channel starlet, and decides to collaborate with The Neptunes to put out his first CD as a solo artist, and then a few years later decides to work with Timbaland and puts out another really awesome album....OH, WHOOPS.  I just realized I was talking about Justin "JT" Timberlake.  Where are you Justin "JT"?? Can you please put out another album and quick so that I don't have to be assaulted by the crap that Justin Bieber is putting out there?  There are only so many "Baby, Oh Baby"s I can take.

Although, as an avid ABDC (as in America's Best Dance Crew) fan, I couldn't help but notice that my girls Beat Freaks and the Season 5 champs Poreotix are in the music video "Somebody to Love"! Go gals and guys - live the dream (even if it means dancing in a Justin Bieber video, ugh - at least Usher is also in it).

I'm looking forward to the VMAs this year - one can only hope that another Kayne-Taylor moment will occur! (You know that's what the execs at MTV are hoping for.)

3 - While this has been a great year in many, many ways, it also has been hard.  My best friend said the other day that 2010 will go down as the year of hard - not bad, just hard.  And I completely agree.  Which is why I'm looking forward to getting away for a week in a little bit.  It'll be a good time to rest, recuperate, read, think, pray, and write.

Annnd with 2 minutes to go, I'm done! Happy Thursday (only 2 more business days then it's the weekend!)!

Yeah, It's Pretty Intense Stuff...

The Bachelor/ette series have provided me with a host of favorite reality TV moments. From Ryan bequeathing a stuffed dolphin to Trista, to Jason Mesnick almost throwing himself off a balcony, to the guy ripping his shirt off and howling at the moon because he was (and always would be) a "lone wolf", and many "Most Dramatic Rose Ceremony Ever"s, I have enjoyed quite a lot of laughter from this beloved franchise.  But last night's moment topped them all.  Hands down the funniest, most awkward thing I have ever watched.  THIS is the stuff that reality TV is made of.  Enjoy, and you're welcome for the next 5 minutes of laughter you will have.

On a Lighter Note...

For those of you who read this blog and don't want to read some thoughts on TV shows - please skip this post.

For all the others, keep reading :).

The Bachelorette - Hallelujah and Amen. The Bachelorette is back on!! I enjoy these installments of the The Bachelor franchise so much more than the actual "The Bachelor" series because watching a bunch of guys compete over a girl, who they probably wouldn't even care about if they weren't all thrown together in this scenario, is absolutely hilarious. Though there were no gems like last year's "Lone Wolf", there was just the same amount of hilarity to be had by all. My favorite part of the night had to be watching one of the bachelors try to teach Jillian, the latest Bachelorette, how to break-dance (which, again for regular readers, know that breakers are near and dear to my heart). THEN, as if that wasn't enough, another one of the bachelors had to go and challenge the guy to a DANCE-OFF!! Yes my friends, there was a BREAK-DANCING DANCE-OFF on The Bachelorette. It was the perfect convergence of two loves of my life. Mr. Break-dance master is clearly my favorite and here's hoping that he stinks around for a while. AND if the montage is any indication, there is lots of drama to look forward too! Yay!!

Lost - Are there really words to describe how empty my life now feels with the end of season 5? Probably. But I can't think of them right now. Suffice to say, I wish they made a special hibernation chamber or a deep-9 months effective sleeping pill so that I could just let life fast-forward and pass me by until January 2010 when season 6 debuts and I can find out why in the world they blanked the screen to white! *sigh* At least soul-crushing winter will be alleviated by its return :).

The Hills - I'm ashamed to even write those words here on this blog, but alas, I do tune in to this show - though lately I've been questioning my sanity for doing so. It all has to do with LC - she's the only reason I tune in - the show is going to stink when she is gone. But the only reason I mention it is because LC's last two episodes EVER are upcoming. What will I do when I can't watch the unrealistic, scripted lives of C-list MTV-made celebrities?

America's Best Dance Crew - I probably plug this show every time that I get a chance, but the season 1 re-runs were on this weekend and my DVR recorded it again and I got to bask in the awesome-ness of Jabbawockeez, Kaba Modern, and BreakSk8 again and marvel at how Status Quo got to the finals. Seriously, the "Thriller" episode is probably one of the best episodes of all three seasons. Watching Kaba Modern re-interpret the "Thriller" video is a must-see. I just love this show.

There are others that maybe I should mention, but those are the only ones that captured my attention thus far this week. Oh Bachelorette - thank you. Thank you for such a night of awesome hilarity.

The Most Dramatic Rose Finale, EVER!

Sorry to the hordes of readers out there who are dying for my thoughts on the stimulus package, events in Pakistan, the Israeli-Palestinian elections, A-Rod's (or should I say, A-Roid's) juicing confession, and the Oscars. Last night, with the promise of the most dramatic After the Final Rose, the little show that is a staple of reality TV, The Bachelor, launched itself into realms of controversy unforeseen, that it has now topped the previous most dramatic moment of the show's history, Brad Womack's dumping (or duping) of his final two girls in the finale.

Now, to be completely honest, I have mostly followed this season through Entertainment Weekly's awesome recaps, written by Kristen Baldwin. The girl summarizes everything for me, with my exact thoughts in her commentary, only written in a much more hilarious way, that I didn't even need to watch the show. I also was following Chris Harrison's blog, who in and of himself is a pop culture phenom (I wish I had a job in which I clink wine glasses and say, "Ladies, Bachelor, The Final Rose..."). Futhermore, the said Bachelor, Jason Mesnick, was not a fav of mine during his stint on the season of The Bachelorette with DeAnna Pappas, so I wasn't that excited to watch him this season and didn't want to commit myself (Now, if it had been Graham, I might have tried to sign up for the show). However, I did know that DeAnna was to make an appearance on this season of The Bachelor, and as the recaps and weeks progressed, it became apparent that that moment would not happen until the finale, so I had to tune in for the last show (actually, DVR it - there's only so much filler one can take!!).

BUT, the thing that really got my interest was Chris Harrison promising in his blog a couple of weeks beforehand that something extreme would happen in the After The Final Rose, that was SO shocking and SO dramatic; that nothing of the sort had happened in Bachelor history before; that it shocked HIM. NOW that teaser was enough to start getting the comment boards popping over at EW.com! My fav theory was that one of the girls was preggers (kudos to T for coming up with that one) and it would serve all those "fantasy suite" dates right (real life=real consequences, ABC - let's try to come up with this twist next season!).

Well, the moment arrived last night. I watched, along with everyone else, the (actual) sweet proposal of Jason to Melissa, how happy they were, how happy she was, the ridiculous engagement ring, the jumping into the pool with really expensive clothes on, dragging little Ty into the pool with them. I saw DeAnna try to crawl back into Jason's arms and him have none of it (kudos to the producers for the first camera shot being her face seen through a security camera - that was hilarious!!). I watched with everyone else Molly warn Jason that he was making a mistake - a big mistake, and him almost throw himself over the balcony once he rejected her and put her in the limo. And then, after the final rose was accepted, the screen went right into the After The Final Rose - and the craziness started!

Jason totally did a 180 on Melissa, dumped her on national TV, and we watched the poor girl go through the shock of what he did to her, helplessly on the sidelines. Kudos to Mel for saying "Bastard" on television, and then proceeding to tell him to not call, text, email, or in any way shape or form, try to contact her again. Poor thing left thinking there was something wrong with her, when in reality, Jason just changed his mind, or rather, couldn't let the thought of the other girl (Molly) go. THEN Molly came out, proceeded to say how she wish Jason would call her or text her or something to let her know why she was K.O. in the finale and how she wish she could hear him say that he had made a mistake. Well girl, you must have a genie in your pocket (or Christina Aguilera playing Genie in a Bottle), because you got your wish!! Jason totally went from breaking the heart of one girl to re-choosing the girl he originally dumped. Say WHAT?? Oh it was so awesome, it was a work of Bachelor beauty. Kudos Chris Harrison - you were right - this was something that we have never actually seen on an episode of The Bachelor.

What has been fascinating though is how this turn of events has exploded across the internet and lit up the message boards everywhere!! This show is in its what, tenth, twelfth, thirteenth season? And it just became a pop culture phenom with last night's turn of events - who knew!? It really has shocked me, more than the turn of the events last night (which were just predictable, except with maybe that in six weeks Jason fell out of love with Melissa - ie, six weeks in the real world and they were toast).

That all being said, I totally cannot wait for tonight's edition of the After After The Final Rose - Jason gots some 'xplain to do!!

Oh this show. From Aaron to Trista to Firestone to Byron to Bob all the way to DeAnna - oh VH1, please bring the re-runs back! :) And Graham, wherever you are, you are still way hot.

A Sad Realization...

Sometimes I have the unfortunate realization at just how sad my life is at times. Most of the time I just live in blissful ignorance, ignoring the facts that I know about myself. And one of those facts is that I do like watching dating reality shows.

This hit me like a mac truck though last night when I ended up watching the re-run of Trista and Ryan's Wedding, the first Bachelorette to grace our television sets. The thing is, I watched this seminal television event the first time 5 years ago with a bunch of friends at college. I can clearly remember us all gathering together in our little living room on the worst couches in the world watching the blessed event with snacks and snide commentary. It was hilarious then and it was just as hilarious last night (if not more so) to watch it again last night.

But for some reason, in the midst of my laughter, I had the realization of just how many reality dating shows I have partaken in - The Bachelor (many seasons), The Bachelorette, Joe Millionaire, Average Joe. And I do have to admit that from time to time I will also willingly subject myself to an episode of the complete trash realm of reality dating shows - Elimidate, Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, MTV's Next. Then there are the random ones that I sometimes catch an episode or two of - Farmer Wants a Wife, Outback Jack.

It was then that I realized that I have spent more time WATCHING people on dating shows than actually GOING on dates. Is that sad? It seems like that should be a sad fact. And it could be that I should be more depressed about that than I am, but with so much else on my plate at this time, I don't think I have the capacity to be depressed about it right now.

So for now, I'm just going to laugh at my memories and good times of Trista and Ryan, Joe Millionaire (who could forget the closed caption incident??), Andrew Firestone, Bachelor Bobert (ick), Adam from Average Joe, and my new fav, DeAnna and her posse of men chasing after her (and ps, cannot believe that she intentionally staged falling off the bucking cow to see who would come help her first, AND that she eliminated my science nerd teacher, AND that mullet karate kid is still around, AND that she bought a star for the single dad's kid - so ridiculous, but oh so awesome!!).

"DeAnna, Gentlemen...the Final Rose"

For those who know me, they know that I have a love for "reality" television, with some of my all-time favorites being The Amazing Race, Project Runway, ANTM marathons, and The Hills. But occasionally, I dabble in and out of Survivor and The Bachelor/Bachelorette series, as they can be so-so from season to season. In fact, I can't really call myself a diehard Bachelor fan like some of my friends, as I pop in and out of dedicating myself to watching a season, depending on the quality of the editing and lascivious of the "contestants" (Bachelor Bob anyone? ew).

But Holy Cow.

The new season premiere of latest Bachelorette caught me completely off guard and has happily sucked me into a brand-new season of awesome Rose ceremonies and Fantasy Dates. It has been a while since I have seen such a cast of awesome reality TV characters. The Bachelorette girl, DeAnna, is a hoot - apparently she's a Greek American with a Southern accent, who's really into her family, and wears dresses that need to be altered in order to hang correctly.

The guys are where it's at though - from the science nerd guy who got a "First Impression" Rose (which actually was something new to me, which shows how un-dedicated I can be to this show), to the sweet oyster farmer who gave her a single pearl necklace, to the guy who jumped in the pool and then stripped his wet clothes off to reveal a speedo with DeAnna's name on his butt, to Sean "Rex Kwan Do" who roundhouse-kicked a lemon off of the snowboarder guy's head, to the guy who got rejected and then promptly ripped his shirt off of himself and started howling at the moon! I am not making this up!! I have never seen such a cast of characters. And from the season-clip show promo at the end, the editors at the Bachelorette headquarters have successfully captured a viewer for the entire season. It looks amazingly awesome.

And so, I encourage all those out there who have not partaken yet in this wonder, to tune in on Monday nights to see this awesomeness. I'm hoping against hope that the wonders of the season premiere continue into the rest of the season!!

*Sadly the video that I posted has seemed to stop working - sorry to those that didn't get to see the brilliance of it - but stay tuned to the Bachelorette - each week is filled with amazing clips!*