Clearly, this Mr. Blind is not on the case of "Arrested Development," which seems to be on the chopping block for lack of ratings. Hopefully this won't go the way of "My So-Called Life" and "Freaks and Geeks."

Sheesh people. It says something when the People's Choice Awards awarded the best movie award to "Fast and Furious" a few years ago. I yelled at the TV, "You PEOPLE are idiots!" (I yell at my TV often.)

I am no longer on speaking terms with my TV, except during Cubs games. We make up during Cubs games.

Steve

I used to be a social worker, but I just couldn't decide how to spend that $19,000 a year. Oh, well. At least I'll be paying off the student loan for the rest of my life...

Alltogethernow: "Waaaaaaaah!"

Whoops - was a victim of premature posting there... Finishing a thought: We have in fact met. It was wholly unremarkable at the time however. We were both at the lunch with Ann Adams (Motorola), one of last year's keynote speakers at the CCC.

As noted, looking to build a case to attend again this year (note to others - it is a lot easier to get approval to attend if your VP is speaking...)

SN

"Hello, Rebecca" [clap clap clap clap clap]----there, you have officially been welcomed to AI 12-step =) I am reality-show-free, except for AI......I even left my best friends at a bar last night (toss me right out of the drinkers' club for THAT one) to rush home & see if my sweet baby made it in or not.

I got there in time to see, horror of horrors, that Constantine is STILL in, despite the fact that he's a barely above-par bar singer who rips off Jim Morrison and Michael Hutchence every time he swaggers. But the universe is not completely off kilter, since Travis and his "I couldn't stay on key if you held a 9mm to my head" Bobby Brown imitation sank him, as should have been the case. I honestly didn't think that Nikko was so bad but woohoo! my "serial killer as idol" boy Scott made it in under the wire. He does have a great voice, but honestly it hasn't come out since we saw him in Hollywood the first time.

I don't have much invested in the girls this time, but I think Nadia will do better than any of them. Don't know how long Mikayla will last with that abyssmal performance last week, but if she can find a song in which she can stay on pitch, she might be OK. All the other ones....too many blondes, too many boobs to differentiate for me. Carrie will probably go far, but I kind of like Jessica (the other blonde, a bit more Rubenesque than most) better; she's a little more un-Barbie, which I prefer.

THAT being said, I can quit any time I want to, I just don't want to.

And while I stay away from Survivor like the plague (my husband won't miss it---ewwww), I did watch all the season in which Jenna won---my cousin Heidi (skinny skinny girl with amazingly um healthy breasts even though the rest of her body was starving) made it to #4. Guess it's OK that she lost her teaching job due to "budget cuts"---my uncle said she got 6 figures for the Playboy shoot, so it all evens out in the end, I guess.

OK, back to our high-brow writing jobs, huh?

I have a funny American Idol story to tell. I have never watched it, because it is stupid. But my ex-wife gets together with all her friends and their kids, and they have an Idol party almost every night it's on.

So my five year old son, Zach, was telling me about this, and I broke one of the parenting cardinal rules, and said, "Yeah, that show is stupid, son."

And he said, "You're not supposed to say things are stupid to me, dad. I'm still learning how to act." (I'm not making this up; my son is a card).

So I said, "Well, you're right. But sometimes I can't help it. That show is stupid."

So the next night, in front of about 30 people and kids, Zach announces to the entire party that "MY dad says this show is real stupid."

Of course, that did not go over very well . . . and as my penance, I am now sort of watching the show. Just so that when Zach wants to talk about it, I can. But I am also trying to show him what OTHER things you can do in life in the THREE HOURS A WEEK IT TAKES TO WATCH THAT STUPID SHOW!!!!!

You can always excercise your right to use that 'off' button!

steve C.-----uh-oh, looks like you are at war with the v-mafia again? As much as I love the show, I support Dad's right to call a TV show stupid if he feels like it.

I don't support the ingestion of cooked carrots or the watching of most reality TV and yet still consider myself a good parent. Keep up the struggle, brother!

=)

And so the truth comes out... of the closet. Everybody's got a guilty pleasure. Although, some of you still have to stop drinking the hate-er-ade. How can you "sing" the praises of, say, American Idol, and in the same breath give the granddaddy of them all (Survivor) a resounding raspberry? Are they not cut from largely the same cloth? Where is the love?

Perhaps another fun contest might be "Guess Steve C's Guilty Pleasure". We know about his predilection for booze, the Cubs, and falling out of airplanes (and I thought *I* was an open book). What else could there possibly be?

Ill go first.

Steve C's Guilty pleasure: Professional Wrestling... If you smell what the Rock is cookin.

SN

Um, I didn't think there were many Steve C guilty pleasures left? I've only been to two conferences, and he about spills them all in his opening remarks....and what ones he misses, he covers in the downtime when his laptop is acting up. =)

Good God, Steve N. You almost hit it. Speaking of professional wrestling, that is ANOTHER parenting challenge right now, because two of my son's friends, who are slightly older, are BIG into wrestling and have action figures and all that. Well, Zach can't watch wrestling in the house, but he gets a big dose of it whenever he's with those kids . . . . and then I have to hear about The Undertaker and Triple H and all that.

Finally, I broke down and told that wrestling, too, was stupid. And that it was all fake. But he didn't believe me, so I told him that I once beat up The Undertaker in an airport.

Now, it's all over the neighborhood that Zach's dad----who could be mistaken for a wrester, mind you, albeit a shorter, fatter one that most-----beat up The Undertaker at the airport.

I didn't even mean to say it . . . now I have to repeat it to other kids. I feel terrible about the entire situation. But I didn't want my son to glorify those phony jerks, so I said it . . . and now every parent in the neighborhood probably thinks I'm a jerk.

And Dan . . .you're right. You can use the "off' switch . . . . which I DO, but every time I try to get out, my kid keeps dragging me BACK IN.

Steve C.

Steve

Hey Rebecca, I just saw on here that you know John P from Survivor. Thats awesome. he's my cousin. One I haven't had a chance to meet though. I live on the other side of the country. Thats weird though to read on some random website about a friend of his.

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DATE: 03/08/2005 11:63:3P AM
Remember when we thought shows like Manimal, Automan and Alf were bad? Compared to the current crop of shows oozing on the small screen, those old shows were like Shakespeare.

DATE: 03/08/2005 29:45:9P PM
Manimal...that's good stuff people. And Alf? Who doesn't love them some muppet action every now and again.

Meredith...I was on my way to becoming a high school math teacher when I realized there was no way I was going to be able to support my two kids on $21K per year. So I switched gears and became a computer geek instead. I don't get my summers off, but the money is better. May the Lord take mercy on me for selling my soul to Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds.

I'll cry for you and your student loans, if you'll cry for me and mine.

My television and I have a love/hate relationship...I love it for IFC, Bravo, A&E, discovery and hate the fact that there's rarely a night without reality tv. And we all know how REAL it is, don't we, don't we?! If it's not real it's been "stripped from the headlines"!

We're being made over physically, our homes are being renovated by our neighbors, our wives and our bosses are being swapped, we're getting dates, we're fooling our families...we're having interventions and funerals and weddings and how'd they do that?!?! I love CMT for showing Dukes of Hazzard re-runs. It's the only thing that brings sanity to my over-reality-stimulated world. Bring back the Fonz and the Carringtons and Dave and Maddie.

*sigh* I hate you television!!!

No really, I love you, call me.

DATE: 03/08/2005 38:40:1P PM
Fox? Fox?

The show ain't gonna have any lasting power. I don't care what the programming guy says. If it doesn't make money (and come on, we can watch PBS to catch all the excitement and entertainment this show promises), it can't make it. Please. Scientists, social workers, WRITERS??? and cancer researchers? I know how exciting the kids get at career day when I talk about what I do for a living.

Whooeee.

DATE: 03/08/2005 42:00:4P PM
Ummm - pretty sure Steve was pulling your leg there, Kevin.

As for me, I have pretty low expectations of the telly. I don't ask it to provide thought provoking material. I don't watch often, but when I do, it is exclusively for mindless entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm rarely disappointed, because all I expect from it is a respite from all the other stresses in my life. And on that front it delivers magnificently.

So yeah, I *love* "Survivor", and "24", and (new absolute favorite) "The Ultimate Fighter". Fun stuff...

SN

DATE: 03/08/2005 52:31:4P PM
Survivor? Steve Neruda? The man who until today was fast becoming my own American idol? I'm devastated. I've broken up relationships over that show. Oh . . . oh . . . would that I never posted this item . . . oh . . . . oh

DATE: 03/08/2005 61:03:7P PM
Ah, the honeymoon is over...But don't worry, I'm still the funny, carefree soul that you....well...never met.

(Actually, we have have met. But that's a

In my defense, communications rule #1 was in effect: "Communicate honestly. Not everyone will appreciate your candor, but they'll never forgive you for anything less."

Now, that said, come now, are you *really* surprised? What, with my avowed appreciation for 80s hair bands and disaffection for pretentious pap from the likes of U2 (and let's not get into THAT again...)?

I believe the problem is with the expectation set by the term "reality". Just look at it as "People who will do most anything to get on TV" TV and it goes down a lot easier....

DATE: 03/09/2005 31:61:5P PM
Steve C...come on over here, sugar and have another martini. I am not a Survivor fan, I only watched last season because I had a friend on the show. Once he was voted off, I basically lost my interest. I just can't do it. I can't do Survivor, the Apprentice, Extreme Makeover, the OC, One Tree Hill or anything on the WB for that matter. Well, except for maybe Steve Harvey's Big Time. The kids love that show.

Now 24, that show has had me sucked in since hour 1, day 1. Love me some Keifer and his velvety voice, yes I do.

My guilty pleasure is American Idol. There, I've outed myself, too, Meredith. Who knew that Steve's board would become a confessional? The kids and I religiously watch Idol, and yes we even vote for our favorites. Because much like politics, if you don't vote, you can't complain about the outcome.

Other than Idol, I'm reality show free. Except I did catch the Contender after 24 the other night, and I have to say, I might get sucked into that. I like boxing, what can I say??

DATE: 03/09/2005 69:82:4A PM
Steve N...hang in there, brotha. I'm a Survivor fan, too. There! I've outed myself. Can I use the fact that I have money on it as a defense?

Rebecca...you were wise to go the IT route. Wish I'd done the same. Let's cross our fingers for a Powerball payoff for those student loans.

DATE: 03/10/2005 03:74:6P PM
Now that is funny. And speaking of hate-er-ade - "phony jerks" is a bit judgemental, no? (although I will agree you probably don't want your son glorifying them...)

I am well past the prime marketing audience for that particular corner of the entertainment industry, but because it is not a legitimate competition (as far as I know, they stopped that pretense some time ago) does not make it any more or any less fake or phony than "24" or "Day of our Lives" or "CSI" - actors, playing roles, for entertainment purposes.

I did see the Undertaker in OHare once, in line at McDonalds. I did not beat him up however.

SN

DATE: 03/10/2005 69:53:5A PM
Rebecca...which one was your friend?!? I know a guy who's friends with Brook (the one who got kicked off in Episode One).

And (downcast eyes)...go Nadia Turner!

DATE: 03/10/2005 81:40:2A PM
JP - John Palyok. I've known him for years. He's the one that was originally from Hobart, IN, but currently lives in LA (with his girlfriend Tammy, with whom I used to work, and that's how I know him) He was eliminated 3rd. I felt bad for him...I really thought he had a shot at going further than that.

Go Nadia is right! I love her...and Bo...and Anwar. Seriously, there should be a 12-step program for me.