Just Bloggin' Around: My Latest Rants and Raves

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Hey, if Charlie Sheen can do it – I can too – the following entry to this blog is just me ranting and raving about anything I feel like I want to rant and rave about.  Unlike Charlie Sheen – this isn’t being written by someone who’s brain has been fried with enough cocaine to give every man, woman and child in America a good buzz and I don’t have hookers and porn stars at my beckon call (just a couple of dogs and they’re getting up there in age).

Local TV News

I don’t know how you feel – but don’t you think local TV stations in America have gone a little bit overboard with “team coverage”?  Whether it’s reporting on corruption in local government or severe weather – it seems like TV stations are blowing up a report that could fill maybe five minutes and stretching it out to eternity with special “team coverage”.  It seems like they get all of their reporters zeroed in on that one story that the pool of reporters is so stretched they have to have the blonde traffic reporter go out and cover “real news” which only leads to more embarrassment for the news organization.

And here’s another thing about television news that gets my goat – a newscast is a program that disseminates news it is not “a show”.  I have heard local news people and network people call their news cast “a show” and I could just scream.  If you want me to take your news cast and what you report seriously – then take your own newscast seriously by calling it a news program.  A newscast is a news cast and a show is what Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland did in the old movies to raise money for the war effort or what Ed Sullivan use to host every Sunday night on CBS.  Are you journalists or entertainers?  Journalists inform and entertainers entertain – choose sides and label what you are correctly, please.

Celebrity Apprentice

I know that “Celebrity Apprentice” is not the “must watch” reality TV show that it once was – but like a moth attracted to light – I’m attracted to “Celebrity Apprentice”.  The new season of “Celebrity Apprentice” starts tonight (March 6^th) and it’s a gonna be a doozy with such celebrities as Star Jones, David Cassidy, one of the housewives from the “Real Housewives of…” reality show on Bravo, LaToya Jackson (the only member of the Jackson family who doesn’t have any discernible talent), singer Dionne Warwicke (who is no longer making any money with the psychics, former baseball player Jose Conseco, rock singer Meatloaf and everyone’s favorite celebrity crazy – Garey Busey.     

Ah, Garey Busey – we couldn’t get enough of him on “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” – now we get to watch him get all fired up in the boardroom with “the Donald”.  Busey versus the Trumpster – this is gonna be better than Big Time Wrestling.  And, you know that if he last more than one or two episodes of the series – Busey is going to do or say something so outrageous that it will give America a chance to see what Charlie Sheen is going to look like if the drugs don’t kill him. 

Is the Big Gamble Paying Off – American Idol 2011

Is it just me or is this year’s “American Idol” on Fox better than you expected it to be?  Fox had a lot riding on this year’s Idol with some of the biggest changes ever on the show beginning with the arrival of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler as new judges.  I expected Jennifer Lopez a judge in the Paula Abdul mold who wouldn’t say anything bad about the performers on the show – but Steven Tyler seems to have taken the old Paula Abdul judging approach.  It’s also surprising to see Randy Jackson taking on the Simon Cowell role where everything that he says about the performers is guaranteed to elicit boos and catcalls from the audience members.  Let’s just hope that Randy doesn’t start wearing those tight fitting t-shirts that Cowell use to wear on Idol.  The one thing that Randy doesn’t have is the wit and talent to sling barbs and insults back at Ryan Seacrest like Simon could – but Ryan doesn’t have to fight with Cowell anymore to be the center of attention on the show.

Speaking of Cowell – there are rumors going around that former Idol judge Paula Abdul will be joining him on the panel of his new Fox talent show “The X-Factor” when it premieres later this year.  The “X-Factor” job could not have come at a better time for Abdul who’s dance show on CBS tanked in the ratings and will not be picked up for another season.

Burger King vs. McDonald’s

Anybody who knows me knows that food really isn’t food unless you can order it through a  drive-thru window and it’s handed to you in a bag by some pimply high school kid trying to make a few bucks for weed.  McDonald’s advertising lately has been centering on their McNuggets and their BBQ Chipotle Angus Burger and the advertising has enticed me more than a couple of times to drive through the golden arches and the results of those visits haven’t exactly thrilled me.

Anyone who has read my Facebook status lately knows that I wasn’t exactly thrilled with McDonald’s BBQ Chipotle Angus burger.  If my memory serves me correctly I said that this burger was basically a salt lick between a bun and the barbeque sauce left a bad taste in my mouth and the smell of the sauce on was enough to make one sick.  The ads were right about the sauce – McDonald’s slops a lot of the sauce on this burger (which caused some of it to drip on my shirt) but it’s not enough to save this burger.  If I maybe be blunt – the McDonald’s BBQ Chipotle Angus burger sucks and it’s sad that a cow had to be sacrificed to become my personal “Unhappy Meal”.

Another item that has been advertised a lot on television lately has been the “Stuffed Steakhouse Burger” at Burger King – the burger that’s been stuffed with jalapeno peppers and chunks of cheddar cheese.  The way they described the burger and how it looked on TV and my love of BK’s A-1 Steakhouse burger was enough to get me to take a light fantastic trip to the BK drive-thru window – but it was a disappointing and wasted trip.  If you expect some heat from the jalapeno peppers in this burger you’re going to be let down.  You would expect a burger with all of those chunks of cheese to be cheesy – but you get more cheese taste in their dollar double cheeseburger. 

And let’s talk about chicken nuggets – is it me or has quality control at McDonald’s taken a dirt nap – because I can remember McNuggets tasting a whole lot better than the ones that I tasted recently.  At one time I could make a lunch of a twenty piece McNugget and a side of fries and leave Ronald’s place happy, but not anymore.  There seems to be more batter or something on the chicken nugget that doesn’t make them as tasty as they once were.  If I wanted the taste of batter – I would get to McDonalds in the morning and order a side or two of their pancakes – but I wanted some tasty McNuggets and I didn’t get them.

When it comes to chicken nuggets – Wendy’s spicy chicken nuggets (from their value menu) with ranch dipping sauce and a side of their new natural cut fries with sea salt can’t be beat.  If you haven’t been to Wendy’s lately – it’s worth the trip there just to grab an order of their fries – they are so tasty that you don’t want to drown them with any ketchup

Quick Takes

Frito-Lay is doing some promotion with their Ruffles brand of potato chips and asking people to vote for their favorite flavors online.  They currently have two new flavors on the shelves with one of them being “Molten Hot Wings” and I don’t care what other flavors they throw out there – these chips win hands down.  Ruffle Molten Hot Wing chips actually taste like hot wings and there’s a little bite (not a whole lot) to them too.  If you see a bag of these chips on your supermarket shelves – pick up a bag or two and if you’re interested more in this Ruffles flavor promotion go to www.facebook.com/ruffles.

If you’re looking for cheap buffalo hot wings (along with a delicious hot and sour soup) – take my suggestion and go to Empire Wok on M-21 Lapeer – it’s worth the trip.  Empire Wok is one of the most affordable Chinese buffets in Michigan and their food is delicious and you can’t beat the lunch or dinner prices.  A recent trip to Empire Wok for lunch ended up costing me a little more than sixteen bucks for two people and that’s with a tip included – which is pretty damn affordable.

Well…by looking at the length of today’s blog, I think it’s time for me to say goodbye or as my old friend Dave Barber would end his radio show – “It’s time for me to count my tips and say good-bye”.  So, until we meet again via the written word – keep the grin above your chin and good thoughts in your head.

It's Only TV:Dr Drew's Rehab Troubles, The Celebrity Apprentice That Won't Go Away and Sir Paul meets the President

It’s only TV and in this edition – Dr. Drew has some problems with Celebrity Rehab….Brett Michaels is named “Celebrity Apprentice” and now he won’t go away…Paul McCartney gets an award from the President and stirs up trouble in DC..and there’s a bunch of new cooking competition show.  There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s begin!

You got to be kidding me!

Have you noticed something missing from your reality programming line-up lately?   Its America’s favorite train wreck reality show – “Celebrity Rehab” and a new season of it should be on the air, but it isn’t…why?  Believe it or not -- it looks like Dr. Drew Pinsky is having a hard time finding celebrities to do the show.  The somewhat big celebrity names with drug or sex rehab problems – stars like Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen and Jesse James aren’t interested in detoxing in front of the cameras for the entire world to see and it’s hard to find even C- and D-grade list celebrities and porn stars that are willing or desperate enough to do a celebrity rehab.  Let’s hope the good doctor keeps on looking for some new celebrities to put through the rehab process, because we don’t need more retreads of celebrities from past seasons shows back for return visits – it’s gets a little tiring. 

Every Rose Has Its Thorn…So Does Being A TV Celebrity

Brett Michaels has got to be kissing Donald Trump’s ass big time while thanking God for sparing him after his recent medical problems – because his career has never been hotter than what it is today.  Let’s be honest about Brett Michaels – the bulk of his career recently hasn’t been as some chart burning rock star who filled the arenas and who’s songs were in heavy rotation on the radio.  The only time you hear his music today are classic rock radio stations playing his hit from the 90s (“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”) when he fronted the band Poison.  The bulk of Michael’s career lately has been on a VH-1 reality show “Rock of Love” – where he has babes vying for his attention ala ABC’s “The Bachelor” (only a bit more rock star sleazy) – this is not the show that careers are built on.  But, someone was watching over his lame ass – and that someone was none other than Donald Trump...

When Donald Trump and his producers were casting last season’s “Celebrity Apprentice”, they needed some sort of crazed misfit celebrity to fill the ranks of contestants vying for “Celebrity Apprentice” gold.  In past seasons, they have cast country music stars as would-be apprentices, now was the time to give a bone to rock and roll community – for the ladies team they brought in Cyndi Lauper and for the men’s team….Brett Michaels. 

If you watched this season’s Celebrity Apprentice – you were probably surprised that Brett Michaels went as far as he did in the competition.  Let’s be honest – Michaels can be somewhat of a buffoon and more of a rock n’ roll character than a true rock n’ roll star.  If all be said and told – if Michaels had not had the serious medical problems that he had (which took place after everything but the season finale of Apprentice had been taped), Holly Robinson Peete would have mopped the floor with him with a take-no-prisoner approach and won Celebrity Apprentice.  But, riding a wave of sympathy for his health problems – there was no way that Trump could not crown him as this year’s Celebrity Apprentice winner during the live season finale.  Hell, for Michaels to even make it to the season finale – which is something that his doctors told him that he shouldn’t attend….pretty much cemented the odds that he would be given him the title, right.

So, Michaels is crowned Celebrity Apprentice and you would naturally think that with all of his medical problems that he would take a breather – enjoy the family, etc.  Fat chance.  From the Apprentice finale – he went and did “Regis and Kelly”, there was a “Tonight Show” appearance and he popped up and performed with the idols on the season finale of “American Idol”…is there no stopping him?  Now, there’s talk that he’s in consideration to fill Simon Cowell’s spot at the judging table on “American Idol”.  If there is a God that watches over television – please don’t make Brett Michaels an “American Idol” judge!  I don’t care if he served as a judge for a season on the country music talent show “Nashville Star” – no more Brett Michaels.  There are enough signature cliché judging comments on the show now (“a little pitchy, dawg), we don’t need a bunch of worn out rock n’ roll clichés to add to them.  Plus, there has got to be someone of more stature to fill Simon’s place than Brett Michaels…if not…pack the show up now and forget about it.

With  A Little Help From His Friends

Leave it to a Beatle to stir things up and piss a few people off.  On June 2^nd, President Obama presented Sir Paul McCartney with the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.  The ceremony, which took place in the East room at the White House, featured a who’s who of music from Herbie Hancock to Elvis Costello, Emmy Lou Harris to Faith Hill, Stevie Wonder to the Jonas Brothers and comedy from Jerry Seinfeld.  The concert, which featured all of the musical acts performing either McCartney songs from the Beatles to his songs from his solo career, was recorded and will be aired on PBS on July 28^th.  (I’ll bet you that it airs during one of their beg-a-thon weeks, too, which is something like every other week, isn’t it?). 

Highlights of the night included Sir Paul performing the classic Beatle song “Michelle” for the first lady and the finale of the evening with everyone in attendance joining in and singing the chorus of “Hey Jude.” 

When presented with the award from President Obama, McCartney said, “Getting this prize would be good enough, but getting it from this president…” and he smiled. 

McCartney stressed that we are going through some difficult times and added that there are “billions of us who are rooting for you.”

But it was the comment McCartney made when receiving the award that is pissing a few people off and most of those are in the Republican Party with no sense of humor.  In receiving the award, McCartney thanked the Library of Congress and said, “After the last eight years, it’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.” 

Speaking of Jerry Seinfeld

If you’re like me – scratching your head trying to figure why in the hell Jerry Seinfeld was part of the Paul McCartney awards show and presentation at the White House – maybe he was bored and was looking for something to do.  If the truth be told – Jerry Seinfeld probably doesn’t have to work another day in his life (which might explain why he’s lowered his comedy standards to be one of the producers of “The Wedding Ref”).   It has been reported that Jerry’s TV show “Seinfeld” continues to rake in the cash twelve years since the last original episode aired on NBC.  How much?  Believe it or not, The TV show “Seinfeld”  has raked in some 2.7 billion – with a “b” – dollars in syndication and stations are still paying big bucks to get the rights to air the show with no end in sight – which I’m pretty sure Jerry is getting a nice little cut. 

Look what’s cooking?

Attention foodies!  We’re being spoiled when it comes to reality TV cooking competition shows.  Chef Ramsey is back with another season of “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox and its fun just to watch him get pissed off and throw plates of food all about – plus, you have got to admit – his show can get some pretty bizarre contestants. 

Food Network is looking for the next Rachel Ray and Guy Fieti on a new season “The Next Food Network Star”.  I recorded the show, but have yet to watch it, so I can’t comment on how the people competing – although I do I have to say that I haven’t agreed with the final choices that they have made the last couple of seasons.

But the show of all competition cooking shows – the show with a little class “Top Chef” will be returning to the Bravo cable network on June 16^th.  Sharpen your knifes -- this season of Top Chef will be taking place in DC, as in the District of Columbia and you will probably see a politician or two somewhere along the line – but can you find anyone who’s bipartisan in Washington even when it comes to food?  We will find out.

That’s going to do it for now – so – pick up the remote and do a little channel surfing…until we meet again….remember, it’s only TV.

Let's Talk TV: American Idol, Celebrity Apprentice and Larry King???

It’s been awhile since I have written anything – so, I thought that I might as well get off my fat ass and talk about one of my favorite subjects – TV!

American Idol

I was really looking forward to this season of “American Idol” for two reasons: 1) Ellen DeGeneres and 2) Paula Abdul was no longer was going to be on the show. I really thought that Ellen would boost the entertainment factor of the program with some of her comments – but she’s as bad as Paula when it comes to not wanting to hurt the performer’s feelings. When Paula Abdul was on the show, we could at least tune in to see if she was going to say anything coherent or if she was going to fall asleep on Simon’s shoulder from some prescription med bender the night before. Now, we have Ellen – America’s favorite Gay next door in the Idol judging seat and I feel like calling Dick Cheney to see if he’d send someone to water board me just so that I can stay awake though the whole show.

C’mon Ellen, do us all a favor and admit to everyone in the free world and those who might just give a damn that this year’s batch of Idols suck. I really can’t see very many of this year’s batch of Idols really ever having a career in music – with the exception of Bowersox with her Melissa Etheridge voice and Big Mike – the rest of the Idol tryouts might want to check out a career as a bun warmer at the Pinks hot dog stand in Los Angeles – because I really don’t see too many of them recording music that might actually made it on the radio. I mean, I have seen folk singers excite a crowd more than the American Idol 12 have so far this season and when that happens you know that things aren’t good in the world of Idol.

Celebrity Apprentice

Another season of “Celebrity Apprentice”, or as I like to look at it as, “The Return of the Comb Over Boardroom”, begins tonight (March 14, 9pm, NBC). If the promos are any indication of what this season of Apprentice is going to look like – then NBC has a winner on their hands.

You can’t lose when you have people like Sharon Osborne and Cyndi “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” Lauper trying to win money for their favorite charities while vying for the title of “Celebrity Apprentice”. Both Osborne and Lauper can be pretty intense when they set their minds to it and the rest of the cast of this year’s CA aren’t anything to sneeze at either. Talk on the blogs are saying that comedian Sinbad is going to surprise everyone on how tough he can be when it comes to trying to win the approval of The Donald. Keep a close eye on comedian Carol Leifer, too. Leifer, who was one of the writers on Seinfeld and is supposedly the person that character of Ellen was based on, is playing Celebrity Apprentice to win it!

Join Me In My Campaign To Find A Nice (Rest) Home for Larry King

What is it going to take for CNN to finally wise up and let Larry King stay home and collect his social security checks? CNN’s ratings have been taking a deeper and deeper toilet swirl and they aren’t going to improve as long as they keep King on the air. When Fox News has Sean Sanity ranting about Obama Care and what he perceives as Obama’s socialist agenda and MSNBC has Rachel Maddow putting her progressive spin on the news and making some sense of all of the madness in Washington, what is King doing on CNN? He’s holding a panel discussion on the overdose death of Corey Haim (a child actor who wasn’t relevant before he died and is even less relevant as he joins Michael Jackson in taking the perpetual dirt nap). Larry King was once a force to be reckon with on radio and television – but those days are long over – and the only thing holds him and his pants up are his suspenders.

That’s about it for now – and I hope that you didn’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour on Sunday night – you don’t want to miss anything that might be good on TV.