A couple of months ago, my hard drive crashed. Fortunately, I’d backed up all of my documents and pictures to an offsite service (Amazon S3, if you’re wondering) but I didn’t back up my music. There was just way too much of it. So the end result is that I kept the important stuff, but lost a lot of music I probably didn’t listen to very much anyway.

I reloaded what music I had on a few MP3 CDs, and I still have some old backup DVDs full of stuff, but for the moment I’m trying out a couple of internet radio options.

We used to use the Napster service for our internet music needs. For $15 per month, you could download as many rights-restricted WMA files as you wanted, and play them on your computer as well as an MP3 player (such as my Creative Zen Micro). But I’d been using the MP3 player less and less, thanks to a new phone that plays MP3s very well. That, combined with the idea of saving almost $200 per year, led us to cancel the Napster full service and check out the free services.

Right now I’m trying out two services: Last.fm and Pandora. Both sites have free and pay services, but I’m only looking at the free services for now. So far, here are my thoughts:

Not too many ads; the slideshow of band images is a bit useless.

Last.fm allows you to build a station around a single artist. I started out with, surprise surprise, “Duran Duran radio”. The system feeds you very occasional songs from your chosen artist, as well as a multitude of songs from artists they judge to be similar. The player has a little heart icon you can click, which marks a song as “loved”. You’re also given a library in which to store music. The biggest issue I have is that every song the system feeds you is put into your library; even if it’s something that you’re not terribly into, but allow to play while you go make a snack.

You can only make playlists if you’re a paid subscriber, and those playlists need to have a minimum number of artists and/or albums and/or songs in them. But the alternate is to cull through your library, manually add only those artists/albums/songs you like, and have it play the “Your Library” station. You definitely need a large amount of music in your library, but you can pack it with only stuff you like, and get around the paid-playlist system. The only problem with playing your library is that since it’s only stuff you’ve chosen, you don’t get to discover any new music from similar artists.

Last but not least, Last.fm allows you to listen to some full tracks on demand, up to three times.

There's a lot of empty space off to the right. Weird layout.

Pandora works with the “music genome project”, where the system analyzes songs and gives you a much better selection of similar artists. For example, when it plays a Duran Duran song (I started with Duran Duran radio, natch) it tells me that Duran Duran has “synth rock arranging, a subtle use of vocal harmony, and major key tonality.” Just like Last.fm, you can’t make a playlist (even with a paid account, although you can get a stand-alone software player instead of having to use a browser if you pay), but you can give songs a thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating and add those songs to a bookmark list.

Sadly, these bookmarks don’t seem to do much for your listening experience; it appears that they’re just there so you can remember what songs you might want to buy. You can’t listen to any of them all the way through on demand — only a 30-second sample.

You can add variety to your station by adding in other artists and songs, so that Duran Duran radio can become Duran Duran/Jonathan Coulton/Poe/Alanis Morrisette radio. But the more variety you add, the more weird “related” stuff Pandora will throw at you. And they have some limits on their free service — you can only skip a certain number of tracks per hour, so if they throw you a bunch of crap early on, there’s no fast-forwarding for a while. They also cap your listening at 40 hours per month, which seems like both a lot of time and not enough.

Conclusion: out of these two services, Last.fm comes out a distinct winner. I can both listen to a band-related station that allows me to discover new music, and also to my personally-built library to listen to only the stuff I like. I just have to be vigilant about letting them add in other songs to my library as I’m discovering.

There are many other internet radio services to check out: AOL radio, Live365, ShoutCast, Jango, Slacker, and several others. I’ll continue to poke and prod at more options to see if any of them is perfect for me.

Last night: boys and girls together! Baz Luhrmann said “fabulous” a lot! The scores were really super duper close! Anyone could go home, but it’ll take 55 minutes of filler before we find out who that anyone is. It’s time for Dancing with the Stars!

Out of 14 celebrities, there were only 6 total scores. Two teams tied at 27, Donny, like the cheese, stood alone at 25, two teams tied at 18, and a huge wad of teams got 19, 20, or 21 points. And according to the DwtS post on Facebook, we may be in for a surprise elimination. I just hope that Mark and Kelly stay in it. Anyone else can get the boot.

After an epic recap, Baz gets the honor of naming the encore dance. It’s Mya & Dmitry doing their Jive. After they dance (and it seems like a really short dance) we get a recap of where everyone stands on the leaderboard. Man, there are a TON of teams with scores of 18 or 19. If both Kathy and Tom have good fanbases, one of those 19s is going home.

All of the teams line up on stage, and I finally notice Samantha’s outfit. She’s like a frightening, vacant-eyed dominatrix. Or a vacant-eyed glamorous vampire. First up, we’re going to send three couples to safety. Those couples are: Donny & Kym, Mya & Dmitry, and Aaron & Karina. What a shocker, the top three scoring couples. We see a fresh leaderboard, and all of the remaining teams have either 21, 20, 19 or 18 points from last night. If it’s going to be a surprising elimination, I’m going to say either Joanna or Chuck is toast.

Our first filler performance is Joss Stone, who I used to think was a guy. Because the only other Joss I’d heard of was Joss Whedon. She’s barefoot. And her backup singers are shimmying like crazy. A pair of professional dancers come out and dance, but they have a couple of stumbles. I do like the idea of outsourcing the results-show performances to other pros, so the show’s stable of pros has an easier workload. I don’t care for this song so much, so I’m fast-forwarding through. The dance looks pretty cool at fast-forward.

The next segment is a package about the new DwtS training center. And I have to wonder why it took 9 seasons to come up with this brilliant idea. A converted warehouse-looking building with six dance studios inside, including one room that’s the same size and shape and setup as the actual performance stage. Now they can stop renting out rehearsal spaces around L.A., which must be quite an expensive endeavor. Plus, it’s nice that the stars can interact more with each other during the day. Just looking at these big rooms with their smooth hardwood floors makes me want to throw on my roller skates and buzz around. Scott wonders if they’ll rent this space out to So You Think You Can Dance, or if they’ve already gone in halfsies with Nigel Lythgoe on the place. That would be doubly brilliant.

Back to the results! We’re going to visit with the three couples who scored 21 points last night. Will they be safe, or will they see the red light? Mark & Lacey are safe. Natalie & Alec … are safe. Debi & Maks … … are still in jeopardy. But not necessarily in the bottom two? I don’t know what this means.

The Macy’s design-a-dance contest continues, and Duran Duran didn’t win. It’ll be a Paso Doble to “Eye of the Tiger”, and now we get to choose which of nine former celebrity competitors get to dance. Abc.com, blah blah blah.

Our next filler is Selena Gomez, and it sure sounds like she’s lip-synching. But I can’t be sure. I’m kind of ashamed to admit that I like this song better than the Joss Stone song. It has a real throwback 80s-pop sound. Regular pros Karina & Derek come out and dance, and it’s quite nice. Afterward, we head back where Samantha the glamour vampire interviews safe people, including Kym, the Xanadu pirate. HOT. Back onstage, the two couples who received 20 points last night. Joanna & Derek are safe, while Michael & Anna are also safe.

After a commercial break, we’ll check in with the four couples who ended last night at 19 points. Chuck & Anna are safe, so there goes my guesswork. Chuck’s friend Mickey Rourke applauds from the audience, where he wears a young hipster hat and looks like a burnt-out oldster. I’ve always found him to be vaguely slimy, and age hasn’t helped with that. Back to the couples: Melissa & Mark are safe. Kelly & Louis are safe! Louie & Chelsie are still in jeopardy. My favorites are both safe, so there’s no more stress tonight for me.

Time for another package, this one about how the professional dancers have to fix the celebrities’ bad habits. Models pose too much. Actors have trouble focusing (What? Huh? Missed that, have to rewind.) and listening. Athletes have problems associated with muscle memory from their various sports. Basically, they’re all pains in the butt who need to change everything they are and do.

The next musical segment is dancers and musicians from the USC marching band. They start outside the studio, then march their way through a hallway and onto the stage. The dancers range from hip-hop guys in matching gold velour track suits to tapper/stomper guys in varsity sweaters. Honestly, it’s all much more entertaining (with a Benny Hill flair) in the slowest fast-foward setting.

Back up is Joss Stone, singing the classic “Son of a Preacher Man”. More of our in-house pros dance, and … you guys, you should watch these things in fast-foward too. It makes things like the four-person Samba roll look way cooler. Afterward, there’s interviewing backstage. Blah blah blah. Back out to Tom, with the two couples who scored 18 points last night. Tom & Cheryl are safe, and Kathy & Tony are still in jeopardy.

Commercials (Christian Slater got another show that I won’t be watching) and we’re down to three couples in jeopardy. One of them is safe: it’s Louie & Chelsie. That leaves Debi & Maks and Kathy & Tony as the bottom two. My prediction last night was that Kathy would go home, but DwtS implied a surprise. Who will go home: the crazy bird or the block of wood? It’s the block of wood, and my prediction was right. Kathy & Tony are out. Debi looks really rattled; I have to wonder if she has much of a fanbase at all. The losers head center stage for a shuffling prom-like final dance, we thank guest judge Baz, and the band launches into “If I Could Turn Back Time”. Excellent.

Last week, we sent home some dead weight. This week, there’s still more dead weight to lose! It’s the guys against the girls for the first time, on Dancing with the Stars!

The stars make their entrances down the staircase, and it takes forever. There’s still so darned many of them. Trumpet Guy blows down the walls of Jericho as we pan over the celebs, and my goodness, some of the stars’ outfits are ghastly. More on this later.

We get a too-long filmography for tonight’s guest judge, Baz Luhrmann. In my opinion, Moulin Rouge is 45 minutes’ worth of movie crammed into two hours. Filler galore. We’ll see what kind of things he has to say. Now, on with the dancing!

Joanna & Derek: Tonight they’ll be dancing the Jive. Remember, she was the top-scoring woman last week. Right now, she’s wearing eight pounds of fake hair and a string mop for a skirt. As for the dancing, their Jive doesn’t seem particularly jivey. Not a lot of the synchronized flick kicks I know and love. Carrie Ann likes their energy, but thinks Joanna’s feet weren’t that great. Bruno wants much cleaner flicks and kicks. Baz finds them tremendous and exciting, but wants more of a relationship. I miss Len and his technical analysis already. Backstage, there’s some Samantha-grade babbling, then the judging. They get 6-7-7 for a score of 20.

Natalie & Alec: Natalie loved it when Bruno called her a “million dollar mermaid”. Funny, she doesn’t strike me as very Annette Kellerman. Or even Esther Williams. Oh yes, friends — I’ve seen the movie Million Dollar Mermaid … several times. Shut up. Tonight they’re dancing the Quick Step, and Natalie is learning to breathe. They dance fairly well, and Natalie seems to be having more fun; at least she’s smiling more. Her footwork is decent, but could be better. Bruno wants her to relax even more, so she stops going “funny” in her shoulders. Baz liked the second half, once she got more into the dance. Carrie Ann loves Natalie, but wants her to think about Alec as an extension of herself. Kinky. Backstage and beyond the babble, the scores arrive: 7-7-7 for a 21 (winner winner, chicken dinner).

Chuck & Anna: They’re doing the Tango, so Chuck doesn’t need to work on his feminine side just yet. Anna suggests adding some of Chuck’s fighting moves, which … sounds like what Lacey had Mark do last week with the Kung Fu. And that worked so well. We’ll see. For the dance, Chuck has a tattoo that looks like it was drawn on the side of his head in Sharpie. He’s also shirtless (but wearing suspenders). Part of the choreography at the beginning is Anna helping him put his jacket on, which is nothing but weird. During the actual dancing, Anna is great. Chuck, unsurprisingly, is still blocky and wooden and stiff. It’s a Tango Trainwreck. Baz thinks Uncle Len would rip them to pieces, but applauds Chuck’s ability to face fear. Carrie Ann was a little frightened, and loves the “impact” of the piece. Bruno encourages us to vote for Chuck, calling him “savage and primeval.” The scores are 6-7-6, totalling 19 for the night.

Melissa & Mark: Her shoulders were all wadded up last week; let’s hope she relaxes more during the Jive this week. Mark demonstrates the Jive like a spasmoid, then proceeds to get smacked and whacked as they practice tricks. They’re wearing polka-dotted outfits that make me think of the big candy room in the 70s Willy Wonka movie. During the dance she’s doing the steps, but when you compare them to the overly-large steps Mark is doing, her footwork all seems tiny and minimalist. Which is the opposite of what the Jive should be. On the plus side, she looks like she’s having a lot more fun than last week. Carrie Ann loves the energy. Bruno says she’s “like flittering ladybirds.” WTF, Bruno? Baz thinks it’s a big improvment since last week, but says the steps defeated her a bit. The numbers are: 7-6-6, for 19. Dudes, she was MUCH better than Chuck.

In the Macy’s design-a-dance contest, America has already chosen a Paso Doble. Now we get a chance to pick the music, on the ABC Web site. Even though I don’t know how good the song will be for the Paso, I’m voting for Duran Duran’s “Notorious” for the sole reason that it’s Duran Duran.

Michael & Anna: Last week the Cha-Cha-Cha wasn’t so hot, and Anna’s choreography was partly to blame. This week they’re doing the Quick Step, so it’ll be nice to see what steps she throws in. The singer who’s performing “Too Darn Hot” needs to enunciate a little bit; it’s “I’d like to sup with my baby tonight”, but it sounds like he’s singing “suck with my baby” instead. Ew. The dance is all right, but it’s still kind of boring. Think about other Quick Steps we’ve seen in the past (Helio & Julianne, anyone?) and this one pales in comparison. He does all right, though, and will probably get scores similar to everyone else tonight. Bruno applauds the improvement in both skill and content. Baz loves how Michael confronts the challenge. Carrie Ann does an awkward little touchdown dance. The judges throw him 7-7-6, matching Joanna & Derek’s 20.

Debi & Maks: She got upset when Maks constantly corrected her in rehearsal. But she thinks the I-love-you-I-hate-you relationship will work great for the Tango. She has an awesome spit curl on her face for the dance. Then things get awful, when the band strikes up the version of “Roxanne” they did in Moulin Rouge. There’s some strutting and mugging, then very little actual Tango (with some stumbles and weird footwork) and a big acty drama ending. Content, content. Baz loves the song (yeah, yeah) and calls the dance fantastic, just like he’s done with every other dance tonight. Carrie Ann gives Debbie props for drama, and gives kudos for the posture and hold. Bruno loves when she’s channeling the “feisty ball breaker.” Did the censor not understand Bruno’s words, or is that OK to say on TV? Either way, it’s a win. After a chuckle or two backstage, the judges give them 7-7-7, for a first-place-so-far tie of 21 (WWCD).

Louie & Chelsie: Now that I look at him some more, he has more of an Oompa Loompa look to him than a hobbit. Something in the face. I’m going to keep calling him Snidget, though. They’re doing the Jive, and in rehearsal it looks like Chelsie’s trying to break the poor kid’s groin with the splits. He starts the dance with an admittedly cool flip over her head, and then they launch into some pretty darn good kicking. He’s really getting his knees up high. The rest of the Jive is decent, although there’s some filler in there. He also gets off the beat a couple of times. Carrie Ann loves Snidget’s level of joy, but chastises him for getting ahead of the music. Bruno digs into him, because some of the sections were really good — the rest was “mucking about.” Baz repeats the others’ comments, then throws out a “tremendous” as with every other dance. As they head backstage, it’s band intro time. Jewelry Head is wearing a fluorescent green dress, and waves like crazy at us. I think she’s nuts. They’re given 6-7-6, tying the bottom teams with 19.

Aaron & Karina: I’ve been holding off on mentioning the green tuxedo. Mainly because I want to keep Aaron away from me Lucky Charms. HIDEOUS. They’re doing the Quick Step this week, and Karina’s pushing him hard, and they have some good fight footage. Just as the band is about to play, there’s a commotion in the house! Animal the Muppet is up playing drums in the balcony! Did I miss some new Muppet/ABC crossover? Oh, NO, they’re doing the Quick Step to the theme from The Muppet Show. Malfoy in a leprechaun suit with the Muppet theme? Suddenly I feel like I’m in the sky with diamonds. But I have to give the kid credit: it’s the best dance of the night so far. Good choreography, lots of actual quick steps, and he shows some personality. At the judging table, Gonzo hits on Bruno, or maybe it’s the other way around. Bruno stands up and declares it doubly spectacular, then calls Aaron a mini Fred Astaire. Baz babbles worse than Samantha, but praises the dance. Carrie Ann jokes that they’re both wearing the same kelly green, but misses a chance to make a green-screen joke. But it takes going backstage to Samantha for them to clue me in that he’s supposed to be Kermit in his green suit. And Karina is Miss Piggy. I think this whole dance was a little too high-concept for me. They take top scores for the night with 9-9-9, for a total of 27.

Kelly & Louis: For their intro goof, Kelly puts lip gloss on Louis. Sorry, Kelly — nothing could make him less like leather and beef jerky. They’re doing the Tango this week, and Kelly’s full of fretting because they had four weeks to rehearse last week, and only four days this time. Their dance is pretty good: a lot of good stepping and twirling. Kelly can’t hold the stern Tangoface and breaks into a grin halfway through. Then it looks like they mess up on the very very end.
Baz acknowledges the mistakes that were made, but thinks her story and strength are fantastic. Carrie Ann likes what she’s seeing, and wants Kelly to relax. Bruno thinks she could be amazing, if she can just stop with the mistakes. The judges have to go with the dance and the mistakes, but they still give a generous 6-7-6 for a score of 19. I hope the home viewers keep her in it; she’s got real potential, and seems like a good kid.

Kathy & Tony: Their outfits this week don’t match, and they don’t “go”. Ugh. They’re dancing the Quick Step, and Kathy thinks there’s nowhere to go but up. They’re dancing to “Shall We Dance”, although the first few notes sound like “Be our Guest”. There’s a bit too much “acting” and non-dancing going on, and the pace is really slow for a Quick Step. Her movement is better and less stiff than last week, but it isn’t a great performance overall. And the back of Tony’s coat looks like the flag of Albania, which makes no sense because he’s “Made in Kosovo”. Carrie Ann saw improvment in presentation, but had a number of criticisms. Bruno agrees, then calls her elegant but not engaging. Baz wanted more excitement and attack. The judges give her 6-6-6 for an 18, the lowest score so far. But Tom DeLay hasn’t danced yet.

GOOD LORD, THERE ARE STILL SO MANY DANCES LEFT. Dear DwtS: you’re killing me, Homes.

Mark & Lacey: Go, Sensei Ping! It’s Quick Step time again, and I hope he can be really, really quick. They start their dance out in the audience, do a little showy whatnot, then dig in. He stumbles near the top of the actual dancing, but recovers himself well. Then they get into the skipping and kicking, and it gets great! Watching his face, this guy would make an excellent young George Takei. Bruno likes it, wants more improvement, and seems pleased. Baz admires the recovery from the first trip, and thinks he has great potential. Carrie Ann repeats much of what’s already been said, and wants him to relax and breathe some more. The judges toss him 7-7-7 (WWCD) and he’s up near the top of the pack with 21. The Clan of the Pointed Stick would be proud. (If you haven’t watched The Middleman yet, rent it. Now.)

Mya & Dmitry: It’s Jive time, and they’re both nervous and wanting to do a technically perfect routine. For the dance, Mya is wearing a doofy wig, and Dmitry has highwater pants and taped glasses. The song choice is weird, but the dance is great. A lot of good moves, some difficult looking stuff, and nice speed. Baz gives heaps of praise. Carrie Ann says that Len would hate the beginning, but she herself likes it very much. Bruno calls them Josephine Baker and Clark Kent. Will they top Aaron’s scores? First Samantha has to natter at them and ask the inane questions. After twelve hours of talk, the judges’ scores: 9-9-9, for a 27 that ties Aaron’s score.

Tom & Cheryl: It would appear that Cheryl is playing the part of Kermit the Frog in this dance. Another kelly green outfit. They’re doing the Tango, and Tom has problems during rehearsal with snapping his head. He went to the doctor with hurty toes, and he has a pre-stress fracture. Which sounds like he’s on the cusp of breaking something, but it hasn’t quite broken yet. Fun. For the dance, he’s all ramrod straight and stiff, which I guess kind of works for the Tango. His kicks are gawky, any move out of hold is incredibly unsexy, and at the very end he almost drops Cheryl on the ground. Carrie Ann finds them to be an oddly well-matched couple, and liked it until the end. Bruno commends the distinguished and determined approach, although it wasn’t that great all told. Baz liked the holds and thought it had grace. Samantha asks how the foot is, and Tom says, “We’re going to dance until it breaks.” That’s a great way to do things. The judges give him 6-6-6, so he’s tied for last place with 18.

Donny & Kym: He knows he has to work his butt off in the Jive. Turns out he’s the second oldest in the competition, since Tom DeLay is older than dirt. For the dance itself, he’s wearing a shiny silver velour suit. Kym, on the other hand, has the footwear of a Halloween “Sexy Pirate” and the top of a Xanadu skating muse. It’s ghastly and awesome all at the same time. They’re dancing to “Secret Agent Man”, and it’s shockingly fun. He has a great amount of pep and vigor for being 51. His steps are sharp, the kicks are high, and he does a very good job overall. Bruno tells Secret Agent Osmond: “Mission accomplished.” Baz likes the dance, and is delighted that “dance knows no age.” Carrie Ann says that this is why the name Osmond carries so much weight in the entertainment business. Then she gives sexxy props to Kym’s outfit. Samantha yammers, then the judges give them 8-9-8, for a total of 25, giving Donny 3rd place for the night.

So who’s going home? Kathy Ireland and Tom DeLay are tied at the bottom of the leaderboard, and in the battle between Kmart shoppers and Republicans, I think Tom has the bigger fanbase. I’m going on record that Kathy will be headed home.

I see decals of “the shocker” all the time on cars. This is my first time spotting this hand signal. Does anyone know what this is? I’ve tried making this sign, and it cramps my fingers. What the?

I can’t believe we’re into the 15th season of The Amazing Race. Hopefully it continues to be the best reality show on television. The show launched last night with a two-hour premiere, and right out of the gate there were some changes. One team was eliminated at the first challenge, before ever leaving the first city. The first pit stop was a non-elimination leg.

The teams first went to Japan, where they particpated in the probably-fake Japanse game show “Sushi Roulette”. In our house, we always discuss who would take what challenge. Scott is the go-to guy for eating anything, so he would have taken on the “wasabi bomb” (and he probably would have wolfed that sucker). The teams then had to lead groups of tourists to a park, where they stopped for the non-elimination pit stop. Then it was on to Vietnam for the second leg, where teams had to pack nutrient-rich mud onto tree roots, then move on to a Road Block that involved herding ducks. This would have totally been my challenge. The teams made their way to a riverboat in a marketplace to end the leg.

There are, as always, a bunch of mediocrity and jerkfaces, and very few cool contestants. Let’s check them out!

Meghan & Cheyne: She’s a cutesy blonde. His hair is slathered with gel to within an inch of its life. They don’t seem too offensive so far, but they’re not terribly interesting either. Hopefully they show some more personality as the race goes on. Oh, and his name is pronounced like “Shane”. When I see it in print, my brain pronounces it like “Cheney”.

Maria & Tiffany: They’re professional poker players, although they tried to tell everyone that they’re social workers for some generic non-profit (a lie which was exposed in their first foreign airport). I’ve seen Tiffany play — she made the top 20 in the 2008 World Series of Poker main event. That’s where I learned to loathe her. And it looks like her personality in this race isn’t too different from her personality at the poker table. They were the last team to arrive in the very first leg, and lucked out into a non-eliminiation stop. They recovered well, but I won’t be rooting for them.

Marcy & Ron: The dating oldsters, a staple of the race. Although I never would have guessed that they’re both 60; they look much more like 50 to me. Good for them. So far, they’re not standing out; middle of the pack in the race as well as in entertainment value.

Lance & Keri: He’s a laywer, and she has the thickest Boston accent I’ve ever heard. They’re engaged. So far he’s a big lunky meathead (it’s very hard to believe that he’s actually a lawyer) and she’s nondescript. He seems to have the potential to be a big, loud bully. It’ll be interesting to see if he starts dominating and pushing his teammate.

Herb & Nate: They’re two Harlem Globetrotters, and they’re not shy about letting everyone know. I’m going in not liking them, since my inside source tells me that when the Globetrotters came to WDW as VIP guests, they were rude jerks. Imagine mocking the other guests to their faces because they were given VIP treatment. Ugh. They’re going by their Globetrotter names on the show, but Phil called them by their real names, and so shall I.

Gary & Matt: One of the other teams dubbed them “Pinky and the Brain” because of Matt’s pink hair. They’re the classic father-and-son team who are so very different, and hope the race will bring them together. Gary has been very supportive of his son so far, and I think they’re going to do well. They’re also very likeable. I hope for a better team nickname.

Garrett & Jessica: Their relationship is that they’re “dating on and off”. Which means that they’ve broken up many, many times. Oh, that’ll make for good racing. They’re one of the many unlikeable, boring hetero couples the race always seems to get. At least we don’t have to worry about being bored by them; they were eliminated at the end of leg 2.

Brian & Ericka: A married interracial couple! She’s a former Miss America! And they both have dreams of being singers? Weird. So far, they’re like a thousand other hetero married/dating couples; calling each other “babe”, bickering and infighting, and getting red-faced and frustrated with each other. They may make for some good drama.

Eric & Lisa: Married yoga teachers. With tattoos. Riding a Harley together. He has hair long enough to put into a ponytail, which automatically places him in the “douche” column until proven otherwise. Sadly, he doesn’t have the chance to prove it otherwise — they were the team eliminated in the start city at the very first challenge. Toodles, guys!

Sam & Dan: Gay christian brothers. Now that sounds like a formula for good TV. They seem like OK guys, but they could easily turn douchey with the wrong moves. For now, they’re going to pretend to be straight in order to get in Maria & Tiffany’s good graces. I’m all for those two broads being duped, so go for it, boys.

Zev & Justin: Zev has Asperger’s Syndrome, and is a classic poster child for the social awkwardness. But he’s also very funny, and makes all sorts of great observations. Justin, according to his bio, is a VP for National Lampoon. Funny that his partner is the really funny one. They’re doing great so far, and right now they’re my team to root for.

Mika & Canaan: She’s a singer. He’s a songwriter. They’re both southern. According to his bio, Canaan’s favorite things to do with Mika are “writing songs and making out.” Stay classy, Canaan! I can’t remember which of the hetero-with-blonde teams, these two or Meghan & Cheyne, are the die-hard christians who don’t stop talking about their faith. All I know is that my fingers want to call these two “Mike & Cannan”.

Next week: things happen! People fight! Travel occurs! And I’ll be watching it all.

We had family visiting on Wednesday and Thursday. It was a lot of fun, but also tough as far as TV viewing goes. Those are prime viewing nights! So on Friday we caught up on a lot of shows, and today I tackled some stuff that’s just mine.

Warehouse 13: This was the season finale; the show was a short-run summer series. It improved throughout the season, and I’d say they’re finally figuring out what the show should be. It’s already renewed for another season, and I’ll continue to watch.

The Biggest Loser: Kudos to the contestants for beating the week 2 curse. But no kudos to Bob and Jillian for their nutrition advice. I’ve done more nutritional research than some doctors, and there were a couple of horrifying moments in this show. First off, Jillian told contestants that “calories in, calories out” is a universal truth. Which is wrong. Then Bob let fly the fact that the female contestants eat only 1200 calories per day. I can’t wait to see what other dangerously unhealthy things are done this season.

So You Think You Can Dance: The auditions continue. Not much to say; looks like this season is going to have some excellent talent.

Top Chef: Las Vegas: We’re still betting on a top three of “The Laser” (Jen), “Beardo” (Kevin), and one of the brothers. There seem to be a lot of really talented chefs this season … and a couple that don’t seem terribly great. Why is Robin still there?

Glee: I know a lot of people really like this show. I’m not particularly one of them. I find it to be a bunch of unlikeable people (some of them more so than others) involved in uninteresting or unrealistic situations. I’m giving it one more episode, to try and pull me in. If next week doesn’t rock my world, it’s off the TiVo.

Survivor: Samoa: Poor purple team! They’re getting so little screen time. The yellow team and that grotesque Russell are just such good TV. I have to give the guy props for finding the hidden immunity idol without a single clue, but other than that he’s a horrible little troll. Of course, that’s exactly what the producers want me to think.

Grey’s Anatomy: Two hours of season premiere was a bit much. And it was, overall, a very depressing two hours. Although the surprise ending may bring in some fresh characters and interesting situations.

Project Runway: This season is good, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t have a favorite, and there’s nobody to hate. There are a few designers who are doing well, and could possibly win, but nobody’s designs are setting my world on fire. And there’s no Wendy Pepper or Santino Rice, no loathsome douche who I can love to hate. And that’s half the fun of the show.

Fringe: If you’re not watching Fringe, you should. Supernatural sci-fi mystery stuff, done exceptionally well.

America’s Next Top Model: The shorties are making up for their height with drama. Bickering, infighting, bitchiness, cattiness … it’s all there. Good stuff.

Tonight we’ll tackle the Dollhouse season premiere. I have high hopes, since the show improved through the first season. And of course I watched Dancing with the Stars this week (Go, Sensei Ping!) and recapped the episodes separately. Oh, and tomorrow: The Amazing Race begins! I better pace myself, so the TiVo doesn’t catch fire.

The first night of dancing is recapped over at The Disney Blog.
The second night of dancing is also recapped over at The Disney Blog.

My fellow recapper is doing The Disney Blog entry for the results show, so my own long-winded thoughts are here:

We’re eliminating one man and one woman tonight, and we have an hour to do it. That’s plenty of time to have a lot of pointless filler.

First off, the encore dance. The judges opt for Kelly & Louis to do their Viennese Waltz again, and it’s just as charming. She gets more adorable every time I see her.

Following the encore is a recap of the ladies’ dancing from Tuesday night. It goes on much longer than it should; we see chunks of dance, judge comments, and remarks from the contestants in the backstage confessional. And after spending a couple of minutes reviewing only the women’s performances … we’re going to start with the men’s elimination. What? In what universe does this make sense?

The first eight couples are out on the stage, and we’re going to send the first two to safety. We start with Louie & Chelsie, and then send Aaron & Karina to safety. No surprises yet; I figured they were both safe.

We come back from commercials, and it’s time for a guest performance. I looked away and didn’t pay attention when they said who this guy is. It’s a kind of hip-hop rap pop song, auto-tuned to within an inch of its life; it’s the kind of thing I hear at the roller rink when I go for my weekly open skate, and while it plays is the perfect time to catch up on other things.

Next up, a visit to the new “comedy” segment, the Losers Club. Kenny Mayne, Penn Jillette, and Jeffrey Ross all talk about how terrible they were on the show, and how they’re waiting with open arms for the first man and woman eliminated. Meh, it’s not terrible, but it’s not funny. Filler.

The next safe couple is Mark & Lacey, hooray! Sensei Ping lives to dance another day. Joining them are Chuck & Anna. Also safe are Donny & Kym. Five men are safe! Three remain! Terrible Tom, Awful Ashley, and Mediocre Michael. Who will get the boot first? Let’s hurry up and wait to see.

First let’s show the stars of the new ABC comedies, sitting in the front row. Hey, everyone — I think ABC wants you to watch those shows. God knows I’m not going to, so I guess you’ll have to. We hop backstage where Samantha interviews Chuck, Louie, and Chelsie while Anna stands there and looks gorgeous. We certainly don’t want the foreigner to speak.

Three men left. It’s safety for Tom & Cheryl! A tense moment, then we find out that Ashley & Edyta are going away, which means that Michael & Anna are safe. Ashley has nice things to say, as does Edyta. But thanks to the double elimination, we don’t have to sit through their last dance.

Next up is the premiere of a Miley Cyrus music video, so I fast-forward through the entire segment. Easy.

Time for the women, after we acknowledge Courtney Cox of Cougar Town in the audience. Now that that’s done, we can find out that Natalie & Alec are safe, as are Mya & Dmitry. Two are safe! Six remain! But before we can get to that, it’s time for another “comedy” segment! In this one, Adam Carolla gives a pep talk to the men, since women have won the last three seasons. He rides in on his unicycle, and proceeds to be much funnier than all three of the Losers club members combined. A Bruno-in-the-closet joke. To Donny: “You’re 51. When do we get to start calling you ‘Don’?” Tasting Mark’s face to see if he’s used his spray tan. We leave the segment to find Adam harshly comforting Ashley backstage, and then Bergeron plugs Adam’s Web site. Niiiiice.

We go straight from there to a performance from the cast of The Lion King. It’s everything you think it would be.

Time for three more couples to be safe. Melissa & Mark, Joanna & Derek, and Debi & Maks all get to breathe easier. Three more couples remain: two terrible ones, and poor little Kelly who did a great job. Backstage, Samantha interviews Natalie and Mya, and the’re both nervous but ready to dance next week, blah blah. Sam lets us know that Baz Luhrmann is going to be a guest judge next week, then we move on to a tribute to Patrick Swayze. Some pros dance to “She’s Like the Wind,” then Tony and Cheryl lead an abridged version of the “Time of My Life” dance from Dirty Dancing, including Baby’s big lift.

More commercials (I’m still not going to watch comedy Wednesday; that’s my roller skating night!) and more results. But first, let’s find out how Len feels the first week has gone. He blathers about how celebrities are like flowers. Come on, get to the important stuff! We get tiny recaps of Krappy Kathy, Manly Macy, and Kick-ass Kelly. First to safety are Kelly & Louis. Huzzah! The long pause, then we find out that Macy & Jonathan are done. Bergeron wanted to see what she’d say next week, but I bet the staff is glad they don’t have to hover over the bleep button now. Nice things are said, and now both couples have to do the uncomfortable, junior prom-like “final dance.” The band gives us a soft version of Supertramp’s “Goodbye Stranger,” and we close the show for this first too-damn-long week.

The new season of Dancing with the Stars premiered last night. Two hours of the men dancing, to be followed tonight by two more hours of the women dancing. It’s a LOT of bad dancing so far.

I’ll be co-recapping the show over at The Disney Blog; I’m starting out this week (you can read the first night recap already) with the Monday and Tuesday episodes. Alternating weekly with me will be the lovely The Disney Chick, and I think we’ll get along just fine. Her snark levels appear to be nice and high.

For quite some while now, I’ve been using LiveJournal as my RSS reader. Then, suddenly, their feeds stopped updating, and there was a huge hole in my morning reading routine. So I decided to try out Google Reader for all of my feed-read needs. So far, it’s nice. I do wish I could customize the color scheme the way I can with Gmail, but it’s not an option (yet).

You may wonder, do I really read that many blogs? Can’t I just go to the blogs themselves, instead of consolidating them into one feed? I didn’t think it was that may, until I started plugging them in. Turns out, I follow 27 RSS feeds so far. What kind of stuff do I follow? Well, here are some highlights:

Basic Instructions: Scott’s Web comic. I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you.
Cake Wrecks: a local (to me) blogger who posts pictures of terrible, horrible, professionally-made cakes. A great photoblog.
Cute Overload: adorable animals doing adorable things. Mew!
Dr. Michael Eades: one of the authors of “Protein Power” posts a ton of great stuff about medical studies, low-carb diets, and other meaty issues.
I Can Has Cheezburger: my favorite LOLcat site. Ride over there on your invisible bike.
Not Martha: a Seattle crafty blogger. Married to a creative guy named Scott. Bizarro me.
Passive-Aggressive Notes: a photoblog of some, well, passive-aggressive notes people leave for each other. Delicious.
People of Walmart: the newest photoblog on my list, it’s covert pictures taken of weird-looking people in Wal-Mart stores.
Photoshop Disasters: poorly done Photoshopping (Why does that model have three hands?) compiled for your amusement.
The Comics Curmudgeon: snarky commentary on the daily newspaper comics.

I also read the blogs of several celebrities and pseudo-celebrities: Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Coulton, Scott Adams, and Ken Jennings, to name a few. Plus a few Web comics: wondermark, xkcd, Penny Arcade, Cyanide & Happiness.

It was a huge couple of days for new TV. I could barely watch it all.

The Biggest Loser brought in the heaviest crew so far. We only started watching this show last year, so I only have one season’s experience to draw on. There were a lot of heartwarming stories, and horrifying stories, and tear-jerking stories. My favorite to win right now is Rebecca of the pink team. Don’t know why she stood out to me, but she did. Although the premiere episode pissed me off in the end, because the wrong person went home. I hate that the person who wants it more is conversely the one who “can do it on their own”.

America’s Next Top Model is cooking right along with the shorties. Although they’re hitting some high notes pretty early this season. Makeovers in the first episode? Nudity in the second? Not to mention a surprise elimination early in the second episode as well. I hope they keep upping the stakes, or else they may fizzle fast. As a side note, I’m fascinated at how they have these short girls all wear flats to the judging room. Is this to remind us all that they’re short? Of course, the short-haired spunky girl is already out, so my favorites right now are country girl Laura and quiet, shy redhead Nicole.

Glee is on the verge of losing me. I don’t have any glee club memories of my own, since my school didn’t have a glee club (that I knew of). And there aren’t any characters that I really like in the show. But there are quite a few I don’t like. It’s hard to watch a root-for-the-underdog show when there are no underdogs I want to root for.

Top Chef: Las Vegas is nearing the mid-point, and our early favorites are still in it. Those favorites are “Beardo” (Kevin, the kid with the huge ginger beard) and “The Laser” (Jennifer, the super-intense blonde). I think the top 3 will also include one of the brothers — I’ll go with Bryan, since he’s the elder (and seems to have won more challenges). Go Beardo, go!

Survivor: Samoa looks delicious. 20 contestants this time around, including this dumbass named Rusell who’s lying from the get-go with sob stories about living in New Orleans when Katrina came calling, as well as being a firefighter. He’s actually billed as an “oil company owner”. He immediately thinks he’s manipulating everyone and controlling the game, but if he’s going to succeed, he really needs to stop with the evil smirking grin every time he lies. Like that’s not obvious or anything. I have no favorite yet — heck, I don’t know half of the castaways’ names yet.

The Office opened their season pretty well. Sadly, starting next week we’ll have to watch this show via Hulu — once Grey’s Anatomy starts back up, two higher-ranked (in our house) will be recording in the 9pm hour. Curse the networks for forcing us to choose!

Fringe is the other 9pm show, and it came back with a bang and a wallop. I had two surprise-twist guesses during the season premiere. One (this Olivia isn’t our Olivia) wasn’t right, but the other (Charlie got three-pronged) was. And how can you go wrong with not one, but two X-Files references in an episode? By the end of last season, the show was really finding itself, and this season looks to be some very good, freaky, fringetacular stuff.

Project Runway is moving right along. The challenge made me laugh, since they had to make outfits out of newspapers. Ironic that between when the episode was filmed a year ago and when it aired, newspapers took a HUGE nose-dive toward extinction. They were already headed that way, but the economy sure helped give them a nudge. Overall it’s a decent season of Runway, but nobody’s wowing me yet. On the flip side, nobody’s filling me with rage yet; they’re getting rid of the crapburgers fast this time around.

Next week, the stars dance! Grey learns more anatomy! And The Amazing Race has a team of Harlem Globetrotters — my source tells me that they were the rudest VIP guests they’d ever seen at WDW. Even ruder than Chris Rock. So there’s someone to root against already.