Hollywoodland

Well, it was a great Olympics, in my opinion! (But the Bird’s Nest is still the ugliest stadium I’ve ever laid eyes on!) But I can’t believe the last event they showed in prime time was the men’s volleyball game from yesterday! The outcome wasn’t exactly a surprise. I finally broke down and watched another recorded show instead.

According to the news, however, this Olympics (the whole shebang not just the volleyball) was the most watched event in U.S. TV history!

I’ve got a lot to say today, so hold on to your hats!

Was it just me or did the beginning of the closing ceremonies not seem to be quite as crisp and pulled together as the opening ceremonies? Of course, the athletes coming in all together was more fun. But, hey, they weren’t a total loss, Jackie Chan was there! I love Jackie Chan!!! Then they had more boring stuff and I would have rather seen the athletes having fun than the entertainment.

One thing that kind of pissed me off, though, was the way the NBC announcers acted like everything in China is just dandy now that they’ve hosted the Olympics. Granted, I can see why they wouldn’t want to report on shenanigans the Chinese government’s been pulling (like sending two 80 year old women to a hard labor camp because they complained about having their home taken away to build the Olympic buildiings!) but to blatantly pretend like that stuff isn’t happening? And to tell us how great ALL the Chinese people are doing and life is grand and wonderful? Hello? We’re not stupid. I found that thoroughly offensive. Then again, they may not be aware of all the crappy things that are going on. But it seems to me if they don’t know, they should just keep their mouths shut and not go spreading the Chinese government party line.

Ahem. Anyhoo…. Don’t get me wrong, by and large, in general, I think people get along just fine. It’s the governments that screw things up.

So, yesterday afternoon, I watched some of the shows I had recorded. One of which was the first episode of BBC America’s Primeval. Even if the whole premise wasn’t entertaining, I’d watch just for the hot British guys. I’m a sucker for a British accent (English, Scottish, I don’t care, I love ‘em both).

This morning the announcement was made of the next round of contestants for Dancing With the Stars. We’ll have:

Susan Lucci (star of All My Children)

Toni Braxton (singer/songwriter/actress)

Lance Bass (singer/actor/producer/former member of ‘N Sync)

Cloris Leachman (actress/comedienne)

Kim Kardashian (I didn’t know who she was but according to Wikipedia she’s basically a celebutante )

Ted McGinley (actor best known for his roles on Happy Days, Married With Children and Hope and Faith)

Brooke Burke (another one I’ve never heard of but she’s supposedly a “television personality” and model)

Warren Sapp (retired NFL football star)

Misty May-Treanor (fresh from her Olympic gold medal winning performance in beach volleyball)

Maurice Greene (former Olympic gold medalist in the 100m sprint)

Rocco DiSpirito (celebrity chef)

Cody Linley (actor on Disney’s Hannah Montana)

Jeffrey Ross (yet somebody else I’ve never heard of but he’s apparently a stand-up insult comic—my least favorite kind )

Tonight on TV, we have the season premiere of Deal Or No Deal (according to the ads they WILL be having a million dollar winner this season), Into the Unknown With Josh Bernstein (we’ll be in search of Noah’s Ark), and a new episode of The Middleman. There’s also lots of programming about the Democtatic Convention. Ugh. I have zero interest—no, not even zero, I have negative interest in politics. I am sick to death of both parties.

Reading: Finished up Calamity Jayne and have moved on to Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday. I just love her Maddie Springer series!!!

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