The Voice Is No Threat To American Idol, X-Factor Debuts September 21

The Voice debuted last spring while American Idol was nearing the end of Season 10. It is safe to say that more people know that Scotty McCreery was voted the American Idol, than those that know that Javier Colon was the singer to win The Voice competition.

The Voice had the gimmick of the coaches hearing the voice of the singers, without seeing the singers.

It was an interesting concept that made the coaches evaluate the singers strictly by the sound of their voice.

Each coach chose four singers to be on their team, with Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton being the coaches.

There is no doubt that Javier Colon was the best singer of the group seen on the television show. He had previously had a recording contract and lost it, so he is having another chance to make it. The television exposure may be the difference this time that enables him to sell more albums.

Still he is not nearly as well-known as Scotty McCreery, who won Season 10 of American Idol.

This is just my opinion for what it is worth, but I thought the battle rounds became more of a shouting match, then a singing competition.

It was like both singers were trying to sing louder than the other singer.

A ballad singer singing an up tempo song, during a battle round is at a distinct disadvantage, since they are not used to singing songs that have to be sang loud to make a better impression on the viewers.

My personal favorite of the singers in the finals was Vicci Martinez, who had a band with her name, before she appeared on the show.

The Voice will return on February 5, 2012 after the Super Bowl ends. By then the X-Factor would have finished their first season and we will know how X-Factor fared in the ratings.

X-Factor has Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul as judges which should help in the ratings, with Nicole Scherzinger and L.A. Reid will also be judges. Steve Jones who lives in London will be the host of the show.

The winner of X-Factor will receive a $5 million recording contract which far surpasses the worth of recording contracts given by American Idol and The Voice.

The show will debut on September 21 and end on December 22 on the Fox network. It will air on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 PM ET.

Now that American Idol and The Voice have completed their seasons, this would be a good time to see which show viewers prefer in this poll.

 

Big Brother 13: Shelly’s Family Receives Death Threats

Some Big Brother 13 fans take the game more seriously than others. TMZ reports that Shelly Moore’s family has received death threats, since Shelly’s vote to evict Jeff Schroeder on last Thursday’s show, which resulted in Jeff leaving the Big Brother house.

Shelly’s daughter has even been threatened, which is carrying hatred, way too far.  Her boss has been called by these overzealous fans, requesting that Shelly be fired for voting against Jeff.

Big Brother 13 is not true reality and fans should realize this. Reality shows are being manipulated for the highest ratings. 

That is why house guests like Brendon Villegas are allowed back in the house this season and Rachel re-entered the house last season. Rachel coming back into the house last year was a ratings ploy, to get viewers to tune in to see the house guest’s reactions to seeing Rachel walk back in the door. 

Rachel has been one of the most hated house guests ever, by both the house guests and Big Brother fans. She is also is a very pathetic person, who takes the game way too personally. Her highs and lows during the game show she is not able to handle adversity well. When she wins HOH she is ecstatic, but when she is put on the block she has a pity party.

Last night’s show was another example of the Big Brother 13 producers manipulating the show. With Rachel gone, the ratings would have plummeted so they come up with a Pandora twist. The twist was if Porsche, the HOH accepted the $10,000 prize money, the house would receive a consequence.

Porsche may have won $5,000 with the other $5,000 going to Kalia, but may have knocked herself out of a chance to win $50,000 as the second place winner or $500,000 for the first place winner. 

Now she is a target after winning POV and HOH in succession then winning the $5,000. 

Back to Shelly….She has made deals with all the house guests and it finally backfired on her this last week, when Jordan and her got into a verbal confrontation.

However, that doesn’t excuse fans making death threats to her family. It only shows that some fans take this game more personally than they should. She will probably question if she should even went on the show, when she hears about the death threats.

Hopefully, the fans that made the death threats, will be apprehended and spend years not months in jail.

http://www.tmz.com/2011/08/28/big-brother-shelly-moore-death-threats-jeff-schroeder-daughter-phone-calls-kill-fbi-cbs/#.TlqSw1mk-D0

 

 

 

 

Big Brother 13: Kalia’s HOH Lasts Few Hours: New HOH Revealed in Spoilers Alert

SPOILER ALERT: THERE WERE THREE HOH’S ON BIG BROTHER IN A FEW HOURS TIME LAST NIGHT. KALIA ONLY GOT A BASKET OF FOOD IN THE STORAGE ROOM AND A LETTER FROM HOME, BEFORE A NEW HOH WAS CROWNED LAST NIGHT. JEFF, KALIA AND THE HOUSE GUEST MENTIONED FURTHER DOWN IN THIS ARTICLE ALL WERE HOH’S AT SOME POINT LAST NIGHT.

PLEASE DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHO WON HOH UNTIL THE SHOW IS SHOWN ON CBS ON SUNDAY NIGHT!!!

CBS should have done well in the ratings last night, with the double eviction, a fight between Jeff and Shelly, about 30 minutes before the live show.

Shelly, Danielle and Porsche had taken turns trying to convince Adam to flip the house and vote to keep Danielle. Adam refused to be swayed and voted to evict Danielle. Then Rachel appeared to be flipping according to some Big Brother websites, but she also voted to evict Danielle so she was evicted.

That was the last thing good that happened for Jeff, Jordan, Rachel and Adam. The live HOH came down to Jordan and Kalia and Kalia won a very brief reign as HOH lasting about two hours. She immediately nominated Jeff and Rachel for eviction. The vote was 2-2 so Kalia was forced to break the tie by sending Jeff home after Porsche won the Power of Veto and left the nominations the same.

Porsche Briggs won Power of Veto on live show and then won HOH after the show winning the snake ball game they had been practicing.

Shelly and Jordan were in a huge fight (photos shown below) that resulted in Jordan saying she gave her phone call home to Shelly and then Shelly had lied to her and was not really with Jeff and Jordan. Shelly has made so many deals with so many house guests, that you need a scorecard to keep up with all the deals and lies.

Later on in the evening,  they held the HOH. It was the snake ball game, in which Porsche had done well at while practicing.

Porsche won the HOH for her second straight win, about two hours after winning the POV on the live show.

Jordan and Rachel came back in the house after the HOH, lamenting their lack of success, in the competitions lately.

The numbers are against them as Adam is now best of friends with Porsche, Shelly and Kalia. However, he is delusional if he thinks he will make the final three before any of them.

The only competition that Adam has  won was only because Jeff threw it to him in the corn hole game.

Danielle may be gone, but she couldn’t be any happier than she will be when informed of what went down after she was evicted.

She will be going to the sequester house where Brendon is waiting for the next house guest to arrive. He will be surprised to see Danielle but even more surprised to see Jeff later.

This food basket and a letter in the storage room is all that Kalia has to show for being the HOH last night after Jeff was evicted, then Porsche became the new HOH two hours later.

Jeff was this close to winning the POV last night, not noticing he had flipped yellow shoe into the next bin which would have prevented him from going home, which could have caused Rachel's eviction.

Jordan and Shelly in confrontation after the live show with Rachel trying to restrain Jordan.

Porsche is almost certainly going to nominate Jordan and Rachel for eviction, or she may nominate Rachel and Adam since he refused to keep Danielle. If Jordan and Rachel are on the block, the vote should be 3-0 for eviction of Rachel, since they have lost Adam to the newbies team. Adam didn’t waste any time going from the Jeff/Jordan and Rachel alliance, once he saw they are not a threat in the game, right now at least.

Big Brother fans tire of hearing how important it is,  for one house guest or another to win Power of Veto or HOH. Assuming it will be Rachel going home next week, she has no hope at all, unless she wins the POV, so it is VERY important for her to win.

If she does win Adam probably would be the replacement nominee chosen by Porsche since they have no plans of taking him to the final three.

The last thing the producers want is for Rachel to go home, since that should drain the house of any drama and ratings may plummet the rest of the season. That explains why she was brought back into the house last season. The producers and only the producers were behind that move.

That proves that reality television can be manipulated by the producers. They couldn’t wait to see the reaction of the house guests when Rachel returned to the house last season. The looks on their faces were priceless.

It looks like Jeff, Jordan, Rachel and Brendon will control the votes of the jury. It remains to be seen if they vote for best game play or make it personal and vote against whoever they dislike the most.

Popular Candy Bars

The Zero candy bar was first produced in 1920 and is still being made 91 years later. This may very well be the best candy bar ever made, with chocolate, caramel, peanuts and almond nougats on the inside and white fudge on the outside.

It was almost a daily ritual walking home from Pineville High to Burns Street to stop in the neighborhood grocery store where Lallah ended at Donahue Ferry. I remember an elderly lady ran the store. Can remember buying a Big Time candy bar every time.  I don’t even know why I liked them so much. They weren’t that much better than any other candy bar.

Coconut lovers loved the Almond Joy candy bar. It had a coconut center and two almonds in milk chocolate. It’s sister candy bar Mounds was similar to the Almond Joy, except without the almonds and encased in dark chocolate. I don’t know why anyone would want to ever eat a Mounds, after tasting the almonds in an Almond Joy bar.

The Baby Ruth candy bar was produced by the Curtiss Candy Company in 1921. Ironically, it was the year Babe Ruth hit 59 home runs. However, Babe Ruth had nothing to do with the naming of the Baby Ruth candy bar. It is said to be named after the daughter of President Grover Cleveland, Ruth Cleveland. 

Baby Ruth candy bars were made out of peanuts, caramel and nougats with a chocolate covering.  Curtiss Candy Company was sold to Nabisco in 1981, then sold to Nestle in 1991.

Curtiss Candy Company made their first Butterfinger Candy Bar in 1923, two years after the Baby Ruth candy bar was introduced. The candy bars have a taste similar to peanut butter and include crispy caramel in the center.

The Three Musketeers candy bar rolled off the assembly line in 1932 and was produced by M&M/Mars. The candy bars have a chocolate flavored nougat covered with milk chocolate.

I never ate chocolate cakes or most other products with chocolate, but always had a sweet tooth for chocolate candy bars. One of my favorites today are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and in addition, I have been known to eat a Snickers bar from time to time.

Changes in My Lifetime: Things That Are Out of Style Now

Drive-in Movie theatre located next to a railroad track.

My home state of Louisiana has no drive-in theatres, left in existence the last time I checked. I can remember when we had the Fox Drive-in , Joy Twin Drive-in, Showtown Drive-in and Kings Drive-in located in Alexandria and Kingsville.

There are probably some others that were thriving at one time in the Cenla area.

I will never forget the speakers by the side of the car that let us listen to what the actors were saying on the screen. I remember stories of kids hiding in the trunks of cars to avoid paying to see the movies. 

Five years ago we went to a drive-in theatre in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. We saw a cartoon that night, so wasn’t too memorable, except for turning back the clock that one night, going back in time, even though the new technology let us hear the movie over the radio, if turned to a certain frequency. 

Eight track players came and left before I ever owned one.

Think most of us owned a record player before we owned a television since it

was only form of home entertainment before the radio and television in most homes.

I can still remember my dad wearing hats like these in the 50′s and

it used to be common for men to wear hats like these to baseball games.

A typical soda fountain back in the day.

There was something special about a trip to a soda fountain. Whether you bought an ice cream cone, a banana split, a root beer float, a milk shake or a sundae, it just tasted better coming from a soda fountain. I still have not found a cherry coke with the taste of a soda fountain cherry Coke.

Who can ever forget those 15 cent hamburgers at McDonalds when you could get a combo for less than a dollar. Those days are gone forever, but the memories of those days lingers on about 50 years later.

The Paramount Theater in downtown Alexandria where I watched No Time For Sergeants three times in a row without having to pay for the second and third showings.

 I can still remember kids delivering newspapers on their bikes. I also remember them selling papers on the street corners downtown. The demise of the afternoon newspaper ended for the most part the delivery of newspapers by kids as the grown-ups began to deliver papers in their cars and trucks, very early in the morning. The Alexandria Town Talk carriers would start their deliveries about 1 AM in the morning, but the last papers might not be delivered to 6 or 7 in the morning.

I know next to nothing about cigars, but am almost certain that there are no five cent cigars being sold in 2011.

The five cent cigars in the photo were apparently being sold during the 1968 presidential campaign by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey.

That campaign was 43 years ago, but it still may have been near the end of a time when cigars were being sold for five cents.

When was the last time you told a gas station attendant to “filler up”? There may be some full service gas stations still around, but they are getting harder to find all the time. The full service gasoline stations would fill your tank, wipe your windshield, check your tires and give or sell you a map, so you would know how to get to your destination. You used to get glasses or some other item when you bought gas. All you get now is high prices for gas we used to pay about 50 cents for.

I can remember selling books of 20 five cent stamps  for a dollar in the Army post office in Hawaii and Vietnam. The five cent price went into effect in January of 1963 and didn’t increase to six cents until 1968. So the five cent price stayed the same during my entire time working in the Army post office.

The penny postcard had risen to four cents by 1963. 

Today the five cent stamp of 1963 has risen to 44 cents and the $1 book of stamps is now $8.80. The penny postcard has risen to 29 cents. 

Big Brother 13: Adam Being Begged to Flip House

Danielle of  Big Brother 13 knows her fate is in the hands of Adam. Her alliance which includes Porsche and Shelly, has launched a three prong attack on Adam to persuade him to flip the house and allow Danielle to stay in the house.

Shelly has talked to Adam many times, begging him to keep Danielle in the house. Porsche has promised to have Janelle a former Big Brother house guest, call Adam if he flips his vote. Danielle has mentioned to Adam that he may possibly be able to work with her dad, on Evil Dick’s website if he votes to keep Danielle.

Adam has continued to refuse to vote for Danielle to stay. It may be best that he hang around Jeff and Jordan more, till the live show tomorrow night. He has to be tired of being badgered for his vote. 

When Danielle questioned Adam, about why he doesn’t want Danielle to stay, he says he knows she is a better competitor than him. 

Danielle made a huge mistake, by deserting the veteran’s alliance, to form an alliance with Dominic. She had plans of backdooring Jeff, but they backfired when she was found out and Dominic was sent packing.

With the live show only about 36 hours away, time is running out for Danielle. She made a big move to separate herself from the veterans, but now she may be making a bigger move, by going to the sequester house and see her friend Brendon, whom she nominated for eviction last week. 

After the eviction tomorrow night, there will be a live HOH and Power of Veto and another eviction. Then there will probably be another HOH on Saturday, if the show does like they have in recent years.

Big Brother 13 : Double Live Eviction on Thursday’s Show, Spoilers

Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd pictured holding their checks after Jordan won Big Brother 11. They hope to be holding more checks at the Big Brother 13 finale on September 14 if they are still in the game, but with eight players still in the game and a double eviction on Thursday, anything can happen.

 

 

 

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT READ IF YOU PLAN ON WATCHING THE SHOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WINNER OF POWER OF VETO REVEALED IN THIS ARTICLE!!!

 

 

Jeff has won HOH and nominated Kalia and Porsche for eviction on Friday night. He apparently didn’t want to give Danielle a chance to win the  Power of Veto, so avoided nominating her.

There are eight players remaining in the game now with Jordan, Jeff, Rachel, Shelly and Adam in one alliance and only Danielle, Porsche and Kalia in the other alliance. 

Danielle’s alliance only has one voter, while the stronger alliance has four that will be eligible to vote.  It is almost a foregone conclusion, that the vote on Thursday night will evict Porsche or Kalia. 

However, Jeff added the Power of Veto to his HOH power last Saturday, so he is truly in command of the game. He is considering the option of backdooring of Danielle. If he takes any other option, he could be making a huge mistake, since Kalia and Porsche are not really threats to his game at this point.

Danielle is sensing that she is going to be backdoored, since Jeff has been non-committal about his plans. I look for him to remove Porsche from the block and then substitute Danielle in her place. Now that Danielle knows she may be going on the block, she will badger Jeff, until the last minute to make a deal that will keep her safe.

If he doesn’t put her on the block, he may regret it and it may cost him $500,000. Danielle is one of the best competitors in Big Brother history, so there is no reason to keep her in the game.

With the double eviction being live on Thursday’s show, it is imperative to get Danielle out now, or she may win HOH on Thursday night and put up Jeff and Jordan or Jeff and Rachel. That would leave only three voters for the Jeff, Jordan, Adam, Shelly and Rachel alliance. 

The double eviction will leave little time for politicking and deal making before the second eviction.  Julie Chen will have her hands full on Thursday night, trying to work in an eviction, an HOH, a POV, a power of veto ceremony and another eviction in about 46 minutes of actual viewing time. 

As far as I know, the house guests have no idea, there will be a double eviction this week. One house guest thought it would be the next week.

Those fans who are watching the live feeds, should see plenty of drama today, if Jeff does backdoor Danielle. It might get ugly before this day is over, especially if Rachel becomes involved by gloating over Danielle’s demise if she is put back on the block.

Rachel has had a quiet week so far, but who knows she could be gone on Thursday night, after the second eviction.

 

http://www.onlinebigbrother.com/2011/08/big-brother-spoilers-dani-says-that-jeff-better-not-put-me-up-it-will-be-hell-for-everyone-tomorrow-if-he-does/

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Donnellan of Big Brother 6 Now Worth $10 Million

Michael Donnellan: Big Brother 6 appeared in last episode of Millionaire Matchmaker.

Most Big Brother contestants seem to disappear after the show ends except Michael Donnellan, who was not successful on the show is doing very well financially now.

This paragraph from the Big Brother 6 page at Wikipedia shows that Michael didn’t last long during the 2005 season.

 

Michael Donnellan (born November 5, 1976, in Paris, France) is an artist based in Orange County, California. Michael and Kaysar were secret partners, being neighbors and friends. He had a brief love affair with Janelle on the show causing her to break up with her boyfriend back home on national television. He was evicted in week two by a vote of 9-1.

He may not have won the prize money that season, but said on the Millionaire Matchmaker show that he is worth $10 million today.

http://www.bravotv.com/the-millionaire-matchmaker/season-5/videos/casting-michael-d

Michael’s date is taken aback a little, when he tells her she is going to do a photo shoot.

http://www.bravotv.com/the-millionaire-matchmaker/season-5/videos/a-client-shoots-his-date

 

Reports say that Michael and Tami both enjoyed the date, despite the awkward photo shoot and may be seeing each other again.

Lizard Lick Towing Returns Monday, August 22 at 9:30 PM

Bobby Brantley, Amy Shirley and Ron Shirley return for another season starting August 22, 2011 at 9:30 PM on TruTV.

 

The gang from Lizard Lick Towing will start their second season next Monday at 9:30 PM on TruTV. We can expect more of the drama we saw last season, when Ron and Bobby pulled into yards to repossess vehicles, boats or whatever they were trying to repossess at the time.

There are a lot of repossession shows on television today, but to me the best is still Lizard Lick Towing, We have been seeing Ron and Bobby in action on All Worked Up, since Lizard Lick Towing completed their last season.

Now they return with their own 30 minute show. We can expect to see Big Juicy in the office to protect Bobby when he is outnumbered or even if he isn’t outnumbered. I thought she was actually part of the staff, but she isn’t shown as a member of the staff at the Lizard Lick Towing website. However, the website does show there are a lot more members of the staff than are shown on television.

http://lizardlicktowing.com/

 

Ron seems to find the humor in any situation. He will even throw out some of his humorous sayings in the middle of a fight. One thing about Ron and Bobby, they almost always get their vehicle or whatever they are picking up and if they don’t it is because they are dodging bullets and even the best repo men are no match for bullets headed in their direction.

Even former basketball player Charles Barkley is a fan of Lizard Lick Towing, since he has mentioned the show before.

Welcome back Ron, Bobby and Amy for another exciting season !!!

 

Matt McDonald of Big Brother 9 Writes From Prison: July 27 and August 10 Blogs

Matthew McDonald of Big Brother 9 has posted two more blogs, with both of them focusing on his addictions. The first one was published July 27,2011 and he describes in detail how a drug addict thinks. Maybe some reader contemplating using drugs, will change their mind after reading his account of what it is like to depend on drugs.

The language is vulgar, but that can be expected from someone in prison. The blog is aptly named How Addiction Took Over My Life. 

The first blog is so long that he added a Part Two on August 10, 2011. Since he was selling oxycodone pills, he had plenty around the house and made it easy to get high on them.

49,170 visits have been made to his blog, since it started in May of this year. The two posts in this article are the 10th and 11th posts by Matthew.

If you want to go back to May and read his first blog to these two blogs, just go to the May archives.

These links will take you to the last two posts made by McDonald:

HOW ADDICTION TOOK OVER MY LIFE PART ONE AND PART TWO:

http://mattymcdonald.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/how-addiction-took-over-my-life/  http://mattymcdonald.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/how-addiction-took-over-my-life-part-2/

 

 

Funny Trucks

This Seattle tow truck company spells tow in a different way.

 

Guess this will work as long as one truck doesn't drive 20 MPH faster than the other.

 

"We are not taking any more passengers"

This truck never has to back up but unloading it could be a problem.

With gas the price it is these days, it may have been better to wait till five more bottles rolled off the assembly line for a full load.

 

A truck for those that can't afford four tires.

 

Spoiler Alert: Big Brother 13 House in Chaos After Surprise Nominations August 12

Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!! 

DO NOT READ THIS ARTICLE UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW EARLY WHO WAS NOMINATED YESTERDAY AND ABOUT THE RESULTING CHAOS AFTER THE NOMINATIONS.

 

 

Danielle made two surprise nominations last night throwing the Big Brother 13 house into chaos.

Nobody saw this coming and Danielle has completely changed her gameplay. It was almost a foregone conclusion as to she would nominate for eviction, but now she has thrown the Big Brother 13 house into complete chaos with her surprising nomination selections.

Danielle nominated Shelly and Adam for eviction. Shelly who was playing both sides in the house is the house guest targeted to go home. Only a Veto competition win will save her now.

Apparently Danielle has been offered a Final 3 deal with Rachel and Brendon according to online reports. With those three in an alliance they could run the table the rest of the season in competitions. With Kalia and Porsche also ready to vote the way Danielle and Brenchel want them to, they can count on four votes on eviction night, since Danielle is ineligible to vote. However, there is nothing that indicates that Danielle accepted a deal till the end. She had to make some kind of deal though, for Rachel and/or Brendon to not be on the block this week.

Shelly lost it after the nomination ceremony and was in confrontations with the members of Danielle’s alliance. This article includes a house meeting called by Jordan:

http://www.onlinebigbrother.com/2011/08/big-brother-13-spoilers-nominations-ceremony-over-shelly-and-adam-up/

Shelly is talking of quitting and says she applied for Big Brother only as a joke:

http://www.onlinebigbrother.com/2011/08/big-brother-13-shelly-wants-to-quit-and-jordan-is-miserable-im-so-ready-for-this-season-to-be-over/

Big Brother 13: HOH Results and Aftermath Spoilers: August 11

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOH RESULTS FROM AUGUST 11 REVEALED!!!

 

If you want to wait till Sunday’s show on CBS to find out who won HOH and the aftermath after the competition, don’t read this article since it reveals the winner of the HOH competition.

 

 

Last night’s Big Brother 13 show ended with Brendon Villegas returning to the Big Brother house after defeating Lavon Exum in a special challenge, which reunited Brendon with his girlfriend Rachel Reilly. This week has showed how fast this game can change. 

This time last week Brendon had been sent home and it appeared that Rachel would go home this week ending the season for the couple. However, a funny thing happened after the nominations as Kalia was convinced by the other alliance to not push for the house guests to vote Rachel out because of the twist this week.  Now instead of Brendon and Rachel being out of the game, they are both back in it.

Brendon, Rachel, Jeff, Jordan and Shelly appear to be with one alliance, which leaves only Danielle, Porsche and Kalia in the other alliance with Adam a wild card. Danielle’s alliance needs Adam to give them more votes since Danielle can’t vote as HOH. The other alliance will lose two voters, who will be put up on the block. It will take three votes next week for a team to control the votes. 

Danielle Donato of Big Brother 13 has won HOH for the second time in three weeks.

Last night after the show ended, Danielle won the HOH competition, giving her second HOH in three weeks. It was the third consecutive HOH won by the Danielle alliance. She knew her back was against the wall with Brendon and Rachel back in the game, however Danielle seems to win when she needs the HOH the worst.

Assuming Brendon and Rachel will be nominated for eviction that leaves Jeff, Jordan and Shelly voting to keep Rachel or Brendon next week, depending on who Danielle is targeting. Either alliance would be smart to offer a deal to Adam to guarantee him safety next week in return for his vote. Adam is in the power position this week, plus Danielle is desperate to get him to vote her way. 

If Danille can persuade Adam to vote her way, the vote would be 3-3 tie with Danielle casting the tie breaking vote. Adam is in a position to bargain for the best deal, because he is the swing vote. If he joins Jeff, Jordan and Shelly in voting together to vote against the targeted house guest to leave, the veterans plus Shelly and Adam would win 4-2, robbing Danielle of a chance to cast a tie-breaking joke. Adam can figure on being hounded all week for his vote.

However, all bets are off if Brendon or Rachel win the Veto competition, but we still don’t know for sure who will be nominated. If that happens, I would expect to see Shelly nominated for the first time this season. Unless Adam adamantly refuses to vote with Danille’s alliance, he should be safe this week and probably next week too if the newbies-Danielle alliance wins HOH again next week.

These are the HOH winners so far: 

1ST WEEK: RACHEL

2ND WEEK: JORDAN

3RD WEEK: RACHEL

4TH WEEK: DANIELLE

5TH WEEK: KALIA

6TH WEEK: DANIELLE

Rachel and Danielle have combined to win four of the six HOH competitions.

Brendon has either won or shared a win with Rachel three times in the Veto competition. Dominic and Jeff have won one Veto each this season. 

Rachel has won HOH twice, shared a Veto win with Brendon, while Danielle has two HOH wins. She needs to win the veto to make sure her nominations stay the same, to prevent the drama of last week from happening again. If not for Jeff winning the veto, Rachel probably would have been  voted out of the house. That would have set up a challenge between Rachel and Brendon, which would probably result in Brendon throwing it to Rachel.

The two keys this week are who wins the veto and how Adam will vote. Adam will have to grab his life vest this week, because his days of floating are over, with his vote being crucial to who advances in the game.

This year has seen some of the worst play in Big Brother history. Two players on the block Keith and Dominic, have thrown veto competitions which could have taken them off the block with a win. The last HOH, Kalia put one of her own alliance, Lawon who volunteered to be evicted, up for eviction, resulting in him going home.

Kalia more or less, wasted her week as HOH. She was so determined to show she was making the decisions and not Danielle, that she went against Danielle’s wishes to try to help Rachel get the votes she needed to stay. Not since Howie Gordon nominated two of his own alliance  in Big Brother 6 for eviction, has an HOH made a worst move than Kalia did this week, effectively flipping the house and preventing the opposing alliance from losing anyone this week and in fact added another in Brendon due to the twist. 

 

 

American Idol: Scotty, Lauren Alaina and Pia Shown In Debut Videos

Scotty McCreery singing I Love You This Big in his first video that was recently released.

Scotty has been keeping a hectic schedule this summer on the American Idol tour, but found time to release his first video. The tour is a real moneymaker for the American Idol franchise, but it prevents the American Idol winners, from devoting more time to their career.

Lauren Alaina has released her first video Like My Mother Does.

Lauren Alaina may have been second in the American Idol voting, but I can see her becoming a top recording artist in country music. There is no doubt that she was born to sing country music.

She may not sell as many albums as Scotty when releases her debut album later this year, but she will hold her own and should be one of the top country music stars for years to come.

Pia Toscano singing on her debut This Time video.

There is no doubt that Pia Toscano was the best singer on American Idol. She may not have been the most popular though, having been sent home during the fourth week.

For some reason, voters just didn’t connect with Pia and went for the younger Scotty and Lauren Alaina. While the other American Idol singers were still in the competition, Pia was making moves to jump-start her career. She used the time between leaving the show and embarking on the summer tour wisely by singing on television shows, keeping her name out there, even though she had been eliminated from American Idol.

As time goes by we will be able to tell which one of the three singers featured in this article will be the most successful, but for right now I think that Scotty, Lauren Alaina and Pia will all have long careers.

Big Brother Veto Ceremony Spoilers Aug.8: Will Be Shown on Wednesday’s Show

Do not read unless you want to know before the

 Wednesday night show who won the Veto and the results

of the veto ceremony:

Jeff won the veto ceremony last Saturday and removed himself at the veto ceremony. Lawon was placed on the block in his place. The house guests thought he had volunteered to go on the block.

The most shocking development of all is that Rachel now has the votes to stay and should be safe. So if Brendon were to be brough back by Big Brother 13 fans, we would have both Rachel and Brendon in the house again.

Whoever is brought back will have to battle Lawon to regain entry to the house. So instead of a power player being evicted on Thursday it should be Lawon who is evicted. Kalia will be questioned as to why she would put up one of her own alliance and protect Rachel from the other alliance.

Dogdave.com calls Kalia’s move stunningly stupid. They have several links to more information on today’s events on the left of the page at the many Big Brother sites.

http://dogdave.com/bb.html

This site tells about some of the reactions of the house guests after Lawon was placed on the block:

http://www.onlinebigbrother.com/

 

 

 

 

 

ABC News Refutes Report That Jackie Kennedy Thought LBJ Was Behind Assassination

The online edition of the Daily Mail reports that Jackie Kennedy Onassis thought that President Lyndon B. Johnson was involved in the assassination of her husband, the late President John F. Kennedy.

It makes sense to me that President Johnson could have been involved, since he had the most to gain from his untimely death.

Most of the other conspiracy theories are centered around revenge, like organized crime, Castro and the CIA. However LBJ ascended to the presidency, as a result of the assassination. It was known that LBJ was not happy being a second banana to the Kennedys and their braintrust.

Warren Report: Oswald Acted Alone

It also might explain why the Warren Commission rushed to judgement pointing to Lee Harvey Oswald, as having acted alone.

The last thing LBJ would want included in the Warren Report is a rundown on all the conspiracy theories, because his name would be one of the names mentioned as a possible conspirator.

LBJ didn’t get where he was in his political life to be a figurehead vice president presiding over Senate sessions and casting tie-breaking votes. He had to resent the Kennedy brain trust, who probably thought LBJ was not at their intellectual level.

The following paragraph from Evelyn Lincoln’s book Kennedy and Johnson reveals that President Kennedy was thinking of dumping LBJ and choosing another vice presidential running mate in 1964. If LBJ knew about his nefarious plans to remove him from the 1964 presidential ticket, it may have set in motion the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

“As Mr. Kennedy sat in the rocker in my office, his head resting on its back he placed his left leg across his right knee. He rocked slightly as he talked. In a slow pensive voice he said to me, ‘You know if I am re-elected in sixty-four, I am going to spend more and more time toward making government service an honorable career. I would like to tailor the executive and legislative branches of government so that they can keep up with the tremendous strides and progress being made in other fields.’ ‘I am going to advocate changing some of the outmoded rules and regulations in the Congress, such as the seniority rule. To do this I will need as a running mate in sixty-four a man who believes as I do.’ Mrs. Lincoln went on to write “I was fascinated by this conversation and wrote it down verbatim in my diary. Now I asked, ‘Who is your choice as a running-mate?’ He looked straight ahead, and without hesitating he replied, ‘at this time I am thinking about Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina. But it will not be Lyndon.’“

Another paragraph from the Kennedy and Johnson book tells of LBJ seemingly telling the president what to do, which had to infuriate JFK:

Lincoln goes on to describe the relationship JFK had with LBJ. Lincoln recalls the first important meeting the two men had after the decision had been made. It took place in JFK’s home. She saw the meeting through the glass. She also had reason to enter the room several times. She was shocked by what went on. Lincoln claims that LBJ did almost all of the talking. He constantly wagged his finger at JFK as if he was telling him what to do. Lincoln reports that JFK was distressed after his meeting. In fact, LBJ nearly always had this impact on JFK. Especially in the early days of the presidency when LBJ played an active role in decision making.

Audiotape Showed No Acrimony Between LBJ-Jackie Kennedy

If there was any acrimony between President Johnson and the Jackie Kennedy, the widowed wife of former president John F. Kennedy it isn’t evident in this audiotape. The tape was recorded on December 2, 1963, ten days after the assassination. They not only got along well in the conversation, but LBJ even went so far as to ask Jackie to go for a walk with him.

 

 

Listening to these tapes which LBJ recorded  will leave most listeners, thinking that Jackie was very impressed,with the president taking time to read a letter she had sent to him. Jackie even mentions that she will be known, as the woman who ran around with two presidents. This audiotape is not one of the audiotapes to be released by ABC next month, but was part of President Johnson’s recordings made, while he was in office.

http://whitehousetapes.net/clips/lbj_jackie_kennedy.swf

Caroline Kennedy Strikes Deal With ABC

Jackie Kennedy Onassis did not want the audiotapes released till 50 years after her death in 1994. However, her daughter Caroline Kennedy, in return for ABC abandoning a project on the Kennedy family, released the audiotapes to ABC after only 17 years. If Jackie’s wishes had been followed, the audiotapes would not have been released till 2044.

 

 

Disclosure of Affair Between Jackie and William Holden

The audiotapes also mention an affair between Jackie and actor William Holden, which reportedly took place while President Kennedy was in office. ABC has not denied the truthfulness of  this affair, to my knowledge but we won’t really know till the audiotapes are released next month.

 

 

This article mentions the contents of the audiotapes:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023418/Jackie-O-tapes-reveal-JFKs-affairs-believed-death.html

Jessie Godderz of Big Brother 10, 11, No Longer Mr. Nice Guy

Jessie Godderz of Big Brother fame is now an Impact wrestler.

It seems like forever since Jessie Godderz of Big Brother 10 and 11 was being the arrogant and cocky house guest that almost nobody liked.

Jessie Godderz as he appeared on Big Brother when he was very shy about showing off his muscles on a nationally televised program.

Now that he is a professional wrestler, Godderz is still the same cocky, arrogant person he was on Big Brother, magnified about 20 times since he is now known as Mr. Pectacular as he calls himself now.

Godderz is perfect for portraying the part of the bad guy as an Impact wrestling villain. The 25-year-old wrestler is training with Bully Ray as he gets ready for his career with Impact. The contract is only through the end of this year, so he will have this one shot to make it. Ratings for the wrestling show should increase when he actually steps into the ring for the first time.

 

 

Predictions Made in 1950

 

The February 1950 edition of Popular Mechanics featured predictions of what products we would be using in the future.

 

Popular Mechanics magazine looked into the future and made some predictions on what life would be like in the year 2000. The writer of the article was Waldemar Kaempffert, science editor of the New York Times.

 

He predicts that the highways would be double-decked with the top deck for fast non-stop traffic, while the lower deck would be for shops alongside the highway.

 

One prediction that never materialized was the rockets that were to have flown from New York to San Francisco in two hours. A eight room house would only cost $5,000. We all know that never materialized either. Houses would not be built with wood, brick or stone in 2000, since the cost would be prohibitive, but instead built with metals and plastic.

 

Razors will be a thing of the past according to the writer, since a chemical solution will remove beards. Gillette, Schick and other razor companies are glad that prediction never came to fruition.

 

There will be no dishwashers in 2000, because dishes will be thrown away after being used. Two dozen plastic plates will cost a dollar, which isn’t too far off from the prices of 2011.

 

Soup and milk will be sold as bricks, but that never happened. Fast cooking electronic stoves will thaw a frozen steak in eight seconds and will be ready to eat in two more minutes.

 

Turning sawdust and wood pulp into foods is another prediction that went wrong. One prediction that did come true is that shopping by television, which is evident by the many products for sale on QVC and the Home Shopping Network.

 

The writer goes on to say that the housewife of 2000, will wash anything in the house with a water hose since the houses and everything inside will be waterproof. A calculator-weather forecaster machine will predict the weather.

 

Hurricanes will be stopped by igniting the water with oil. Wish it was that easy to stop a hurricane. Supersonic airplanes will travel 1,000 miles an hour. I can personally attest that this never happened since it took about two hours to fly from Houston, Texas to Knoxville, Tennessee which is about 200 miles less than 1,000 miles.

 

One prediction that has come true is the prediction that flying will be very expensive because of the high cost of fuel. The writer says a trip from Chicago to Paris would cost $5,000.

 

Families in 2000 will use helicopters, parked on their rooftop to get around fast, while the family car would be used for shorter trips of less than 20 miles.

 

Tuberculosis will have been cured by 2000. As far as I know there is no cure for tuberculosis 60 years after this article was written. Cancer will not have been cured by 2000, which is sadly the case today.

 

The prices shown in the magazine are as interesting as the predictions. The magazine shows a table saw for $15.95. Doubt if you could find one today for anywhere close to that price. Another item for sale in the magazine include a 65 pound boat for $35.

 

To read the complete article:

 

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/10/05/miracles-youll-see-in-the-next-fifty-years/?Qwd=./PopularMechanics/2-1950/next_fifty_years&Qif=next_fifty_years_00.jpg&Qiv=thumbs&Qis=XL#qdig

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Brother Twist Could Pit Brendon Against Rachel

Brendon Villegas shown with his fiancée Rachel Reilly has a chance of re-entering the Big Brother house next Thursday night after America votes for who they want to re-enter the game.

 

Brendon Villegas was evicted from the Big Brother house by a 5-2 vote last night. However, with the latest twist revealed by host Julie Chen, he may be back in the house as soon as next Thursday.

 

The new twist allows Big Brother viewers to vote on whether to bring back house guests who have been evicted. Among those possibly returning to the house are Keith Henderson 32, of Bollingbrook, Illinois, Cassi Colvin 26, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee, Dominic Briones, 25 of San Mateo, California. Brendan the latest evictee is 31 and from Riverside, California.

 

I look for Dominic to be the top vote getter, but it would be interesting if Brendon were to lead in votes, thereby forcing a situation, where he would face Rachel (likely evictee next week) in a battle to see who re-enters the house. It probably won’t happen, but it would be fun to see who won.

 

The return of Dominic would make Danielle feel better, about her horrendous mistake, of trying to backdoor Jeff. Even her dad Evil Dick said on the show last night, that he thought Danielle had acted too soon to make a power move.

 

With Kalia as HOH, Danielle should be safe for this week. Porsche made a bad mistake of voting for Brendon to stay, which may backfire on her if her vote becomes known. After the vote Porsche sensed that Rachel was acting like she was mad at Porsche. Maybe this will lead Porsche to team up more closely to Jeff and Jordan, since Rachel is probably headed home next week.

 

Shelley is hard to figure, since she is on friendly terms with the newbies and the veterans. I have a feeling the whole house is ready to send Rachel packing. Rachel is probably the most dramatic player ever in Big Brother history. She will always be remembered for crying in the bushes, after losing a Power of Veto competition. Rachel could have some serious mental problems, since she is not thinking logically in her gameplay. She has made the game personal and players that play that way usually don’t win the $500,000.

 

Lawon probably has the least game of any house guest this season. He is just there floating around with his life vest. However, if he were to win HOH next week, that would take him two weeks deeper into the game.

 

Kalia may put Jordan up as a pawn, for the second week in a row. It is a no-brainer that the house guests would vote out Rachel before Jordan.

 

Jeff and Jordan need to start doing some politicking, since Rachel’s departure would leave them as only two veterans in their alliance, unless Danielle makes a move to keep them safe for another week or two. They definitely need to talk to Porsche, Adam and  Shelley to see if they are still on their side. I look for Rachel to be evicted by a 5-0 vote, if she doesn’t win the Power of Veto competition.

 

It will be interesting to see how Dominic plays the game if he is the returning houseguest. Will he rejoin Danielle again in her alliance or will he join Jeff, Jordan, Shelley and Porsche to give them control of the house. It would be the best move for him rather than

 

That scenario would only leave Danielle, Kalia and Lawon (no telling who he will side with) on the other side. For all of this to happen, Jeff and Jordan will have to cement their relationships, with Shelley and Porsche. If veterans win HOH next Thursday, they would put two up from the other alliance, which would mean Danielle and Kalia would probably be nominated for eviction.

 

It looks like Shelley may be switching from side to side, depending on which alliance has the power for that week. So all of this is conjecture, but it is interesting to see what actually happens, between now and next Thursday and what happens after the next HOH is crowned.

 

 

 

Casey Anthony Sighted Shopping in Old Navy Store in Ohio w/photos

The following article includes a link to an article that shows Casey Anthony shopping at an Old Navy store in Ohio and includes three photos.

 The New York Post published an article today that shows Casey Anthony shopping in Ohio. A Florida judge today ruled that Anthony will not have to return to Florida today as part of a probation requirement for check fraud. She had written $644.25 of bad checks after stealing a checkbook from a friend.

Anthony was spotted shopping at an Old Navy store in Ohio and didn’t seem to be too happy to see a photographer snapping her photo. It is assumed that the photographer followed her home, so her cover may be blown. Now that the paparazzi knows where to find her, they should descend on the Ohio town in droves.

It is a mystery who is bankrolling her finances, since she has not as of yet signed any deals to tell her story. The Hustler magazine offer for her to pose nude for $500,000 apparently is still on the table. That is one way she could make money, since some interview deals, include a contingency that she be required to take a lie detector test. There is no way, she would accept a deal like that and the public outcry against any entity paying her for an interview may prevent her from telling her story for money.

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the jury returning the not guilty verdict on murder charges, but guilty charges for lying to police.

This link takes readers to the article, with photos of Casey Anthony:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/lock_up_the_kids_ohio_it_casey_zGBhWUuyWvGSEHkx2DHW3J

Marla Cooper: Key To Latest Lead on D.B. Cooper Hijacking

Marla Cooper whose uncle L.D. Cooper,may turn out to be the D.B. Cooper who hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight has given investigators a guitar strap and photos of her uncle. If L.D. Cooper’s fingerprints and/or DNA match those the FBI has in materials that are in FBI possession. 

Ms. Cooper recalls her uncle and another uncle planning something mysterious. The hijacking took place the day before Thanksgiving on November 24,1971. She said her uncles had left to hunt turkeys a day before the hijacking. They returned a few days later with L.D. Cooper having claimed he had been in a car accident, because he bloody and bruised.

This paragraph from the Wikipedia article on D.B. Cooper, ends with a line about someone remembering an odd uncle and that apparently is exactly what has happened.

While FBI investigators have insisted from the beginning that Cooper probably did not survive his risky jump,^[6] the agency maintains an active case file—which has grown to more than 60 volumes^[7]—and continues to solicit creative ideas and new leads from the public. “Maybe a hydrologist can use the latest technology to trace the $5,800 in ransom money found in 1980 to where Cooper landed upstream,” suggested Special Agent Larry Carr, leader of the investigation team since 2006. “Or maybe someone just remembers that odd uncle.”^[6]

 Another interesting fact about the hijacking is that the Northwest Orient flight departed from Portland, Oregon for Seattle, Washington and that Marla Cooper had suspicions that her uncles were plotting something at her grandmother’s house in Oregon. So it is plausible that her uncle could have been the D.B. Cooper that hijacked the flight.

That would also explain why no body was ever found near the money that was found. If her uncle was the one that hijacked the plane, he may have left some money at the scene, that was later found, to make it appear that he had not survived the landing.

L.D. Cooper reportedly has been dead for ten years, but if the other uncle is alive, the FBI will surely question him as to what he knows.

It is surprising that Marla Cooper has chosen to tell her story to the news media, so close to the 40th anniversary of the hijacking. It seems like the family has been protecting the uncle. This case still isn’t solved, even with the latest revelations, but if the FBI can prove L.D. Cooper and D.B. Cooper are the same person, it will be another case of the FBI getting their man, even if he died ten years ago.

There are questions surrounding the latest lead from Marla Cooper. Why did she wait so many years to go public with this information? What happened to the rest of the money that wasn’t discovered? If L.D. Cooper did have the money, how did he keep from spending the money too fast to avoid suspicion?

Had Marla or any other family members been questioned by police or FBI previously? Did they answer questions truthfully, if questioned by police or FBI?

This will be an interesting story to follow in the coming days and weeks, to see if 1971 hijacking is solved once and for all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/us/04cooper.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

American Idol: Jennifer Lopez Close to Signing For Season 11

Jennifer Lopez will return as a judge for American Idol.

 Jennifer Lopez is close to signing a deal, that would reportedly raise her salary as a judge on American Idol to $20 million. She earned $12 million in her first year in Season 10. It is probably safe to say that she will earn more than either Randy Jackson or Steven Tyler, who are both set to return for Season 11. She should even pass Ryan Seacrest in salary this season, since Seacrest is being paid $15 million a season.

She has two upcoming movies that might affect the filming of auditions later this year. Lopez in my opinion, did an excellent job as a judge last season. It is not surprising she was asked back for the new season, that starts in January.

There will now be three strictly singing competitions, with the debut of X-Factor this fall, then American Idol premieres in January and The Voice will premiere on February 5, 2012 after the Super Bowl.

Unlike American Idol’s winner Scotty McCreery, who was featured in the media often after winning the title of the American Idol, Dia Frampton has barely been mentioned after winning the inaugural season of The Voice.

Jerry Lewis Calls American Idol Contestants “McDonald’s Wipeouts”

Jerry Lewis has lambasted American Idol contestants according to a New Orleans Times-Picayune article.

 Jerry Lewis is currently promoting an Encore documentary on his life and while promoting the upcoming special, he has expressed his concern for the state of television today.

American Idol contestants got the worst of the criticism when he made this statement:

“It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And kids, they get on ‘American Idol.’ They’re all McDonald’s wipe-outs. They’ve all been dumped. They’ve worked there and now they’re doing that. And of course they all play a guitar, which takes the place of music. – Jerry Lewis

I don’t think his vitriolic statement was necessary, since the American Idol contestants work as hard, if not harder than any television star, back when Lewis was in television.

As for the guitar taking the place of music, that statement makes no sense, guitar music can be some of the best music heard today.

He has his right to his opinion, but has no right to belittle the American Idol contestants, who keep a grueling schedule during weeks of rehearsals, filming commercials and choosing the right song. Only two or three from any given year, reach the top of the music business.

One thing I agree with him is his objection to movies being seen on telephones. He mentions Lawrence of Arabia as a movie not meant to be shown on a phone with the following statement.

 “The motion picture industry now is no longer, as far as I’m concerned. And we can fix it. But it’s no longer, because they put all of their product on the phone. You’re going to put ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ on that stupid (device)? That gets me crazy, pal. That gets me crazy.” – Jerry Lewis

Having never owned a smart phone, I can only imagine, what watching a movie on a phone would be like. However, it seems like a movie like Star Wars would not even be close to what it would be, if seen on a wide-screen in a theater with the huge speakers.

The 85-year-0ld Lewis seems to have lost touch with the times. I don’t know how he could expect things to be the same, as they were when he was a television and movie star, in the 50′s and 60′s.