I’m totally a TV junkie, and I just love this time of the year - the new television season is starting! There’s some great returning shows as well as some new ones that I’m really interested in checking out. Here’s my rundown of what’s going on in my television life.

New Shows

- Sunday Night Football : Sure, football on Sunday nights isn’t new, but I really hate the fact that Monday Night Football has moved to ESPN. People have to subscribe to cable to watch the Monday Night games. Sure, that’s fine if someone wants to watch the Sopranos, but everyone should be able to watch MNF! I’m happy that NBC created its own version.

- Heroes : A television show based on people with superpowers? You know I’m there! I only hope that people outside of the geek population watch this show so it has a chance of surviving.

- Six Degrees : I admit to being lured in by the commercials, and the pretty face of Jay Hernandez. Plus, I’m really curious to see how they use this “six degrees” thing.

- The Black Donnellys : I really enjoyed Paul Haggis’ Crash, I’d like to see what he can do on the small screen. That, and Walter’s been pimping it out.

Oldies but Goodies

- LOST : I still weep that they didn’t get an Emmy nomination. Anyway, I’m really interested to see where this show goes with the cool kids being kidnapped by “the others” and what other connections they are going to weave into the back stories of the survivors. More Hurley!

- Prison Break : Two words - Wentworth Miller.

- The Office : I missed the season finale, but I’ve heard about what happened. Can’t wait to see if something will come of it. I hope so! This is a great show, it reminds me of the good ol’ days at X-Systems.

- What About Brian : There were only several episodes last season, but it was enough to get me hooked on this cast. I see it as the thirtysomething of our generation.

- Gray’s Anatomy : I admit, I love this show. Dave hates the doctor cheesiness of it all, but I love it!

- House : What a way to end a season - House shot and asking for an operation that might heal his leg. Will it work? For how long? Will he be the same abrasive, rude, loveable House?

The Best Shows You’ve Just Missed (shows that just had their season finales last week)

- Kyle XY : Any of you remember the show “John Doe”? Same concept - guy wakes up in the middle of nowhere, not knowing who he is or how he got there, but shows amazing abilities. In Kyle’s case, he wakes up a blank slate. He has to learn how to interact with people and why he has no memories. He ends up being taken under the wing of his therapists family and learning how the human race things. For some reason, Alex Kryczek from the X-Files has been following him - does Alex know why Kyle has a super high IQ and no belly button? Great show, really addictive! I got teary during the season finale.

- Psych : An unemployed misfit with incredible deductive powers figures out a way to use his gift to his advantage - he pretends to be a psychic, and helps the local law enforcement solve crimes. The show is smart and funny, and the lead James Roday and sidekick Dule Hill make a great team and have perfect chemistry.

Tags: Reviews by Yano
6 Comments »

You all know I love Conan O’Brien…he had a hilarious intro to the Emmy’s that reminded me of the golden days of Billy Crystal hosting the Academy Awards…

For those of you that missed it, here it is!

Tags: Video Gaga by Yano
2 Comments »

Yes, I’m pretty paranoid and really care what other people think of me. However, I know (well, I think) I have a lot of qualities that may annoy other people, but I’m just not going to change them. Either that or its so much a part of my personality that I can’t. Here goes:

1) I’m always late. No matter how early I plan on getting somewhere, something happens to make me late. Especially now that I have Benihana. As soon as I’m ready to leave, he’ll poop or cry because he’s hungry. Bugger.

2) I never keep in touch. There are only about 2 or 3 people I call on a regular basis, “regular basis” meaning once every couple months. Everyone else I talk to when I see them or when something comes up where I need to call them or email them. I’m just the type of person who can pick up a friendship where it left off, so I don’t feel the need to maintain it.

3) I hate making decisions. Ask me where I want to go and eat? “I don’t really care, I’ll eat just about anything, you go ahead and pick a place.” The only time I’ll make a decision is if everyone else is being as wishy washy as me and I’m hungry so I’ll raise my hands in frustration and say, “Fine! Let’s have sushi!”

4) I’m horrible with directions. Never ask me for directions. I don’t care if I’ve gone that route 1000 times. I would get lost getting into my house from my garage. Ask Redpac…because of me, he can tell you all about the scary side of Long Beach because I sent him the wrong way.

5) I’m extremely “middle class” and anything pricey or trendy scares me. I have a hard time eating at expensive restaurants or shopping at high end department stores because I can’t stand to look at the price tags. My parents put 3 kids through Catholic school in the city so we didn’t have a lot of extra money lying around. Any extra money sure wasn’t going to a coach purse or a fancy dinner at the top of the John Hancock building. Throw me in an Old Navy and get me a couple sliders from White Castle and I’m happy. Of course, everything I just said doesn’t count when I step foot into a Best Buy.

6) I tend to be pretty judgemental, and with good friends I can be pretty blunt. If I don’t like who you’re dating, I’ll tell you. If I think you’re screwing up your finances, I’ll tell you. I’ll be a little kinder when it comes to haircuts and such, but outside of that, I know I can get really preachy!

7) I have a horrible memory. I will meet you and forget your name in 5 minutes. I will forget your birthday, and you’ll get a text or belated post on my blog a couple days later. (Oh yeah, happy belated, Chariya, Rusty and SHANNON!)

I hate planning events. Birthday parties. Bon voyage parties. Weddings. Baptisms. I hate making sure that everything is taken care of and that everyone is having a good time. Sure, I love helping to plan an event, but I don’t like being in charge.

9) I’m a slob. Not a dirty nasty slob, but an unorganized slob. This isn’t a problem for most friends, but it is a problem for anyone who’s living with me. Currently that’s Dave, but Nikki, Emily, Jaygee and my sisters have all lived through it as well. I like to think of it as organized chaos - it’s messy, but I know where everything is. Sadly, I’m the only one who thinks that!

10) I don’t answer my phone, I don’t return phone calls, I don’t reply to emails. It’s come to the point where my family is actually surprised when I answer my phone. I usually leave my phone on vibrate because I don’t like it going off when I’m at work, but then I forget to turn it back on ringer. Then I won’t bother to check for voicemails, and when I do, I’ll listen to them and then forget to call back. Same thing with emails. My brain goes so fast that I’ll check my email, find one from a friend, read it, intend to write back later, close the email and never think about it again. Yeah, I suck!

So yeah, the people who love me do it in spite of these negative qualities I have. Believe me, I am constantly trying to get better at these things but this list of ten are the ones that are hardest for me to change!

Tags: Uncategorized by Yano
4 Comments »

I’ve been horrible with updating this blog about Benjamin’s development, which really has been amazing. It seems like he learns something new everyday, he’s just growing so fast! Here’s a couple of Ben’s new tricks:

- Tummy time is no longer a problem for him. When he was younger and we’d put him on his belly, he would grunt and complain, and sometimes just leave his face in the bed, making me scared he would suffocate and prompting me to end tummy time immediately. Now he’s able to hold his head up high, using his arms to lift up his torso. He enjoys lifting up his head and looking around, and when he spots one of us he lets out a big grin.

- He’s also trying to figure out how to crawl. When he’s on his tummy he’ll kick his legs out or lift his butt up in the air and try to scoot about. He hasn’t quite gone too far yet, but I’m sure he’ll figure it out soon. He’s pretty effective in scooting about when he’s on his back. He puts his heels on the ground and pushes off on them moving him up and on an angel depending on where he wants to go. He’s been doing that for a while now so I never leave him alone on the changing table!

- He rolled over several weeks ago. The story is that he rolled over when my F-I-L was watching him. When I got home Dave and his father were proclaiming, “Benjamin rolled over! Benjamin rolled over!” He rolled over without me? So I said, “Awesome. Let me see him do it!” So they got him on his back and we waited for him to roll over. Nothing. Two days later, we were playing on the bed and he rolled over. In my head, that was his first time, because if Mommy doesn’t see it, it doesn’t happen!

- Benjamin’s favorite toy is his hands. He’s amazed with them and he can’t keep them out of his mouth. He’s finally learned how to grab on to things and is actully making use of those things that hang from his playmat.

- He’s a drool machine! I think he’ll probably get teeth in the next month or so because he’s like a fountain of drool.

- Benjamin has learned how to grab his pacifier on his car seat. Actually, he’s learned how to grab onto the hippo pacifier holder and follow the string down to the pacifier. He hasn’t quite learned how to hold things yet so when he grabs his pacifier he sticks whatever part of it is closest into his mouth, then maneuvering it around with his hand and mouth until he gets to the nipple. He has a 40% success rate - the rest of the time he gets tired of chewing on the plastic part and flings it away.

- Just last week he figured out how to blow raspberries with his mouth (it’s like a constant spitting that sounds like Pffffft). He loves to do it, and it’s so adorable! I’ll see if I can get it on tape. He’s pretty shy when the video camera is in his face so I don’t know if I’ll get it.

- Ban has one trick he can do on command (yes, it’s like having a puppy, but better!). If in tap my hand against his mouth he’ll start making an “ahhhh!” sound, which makes an “Ahhwahhwahhhwahhhwahhhwahh” sound like little kids do when they’re playing cowboys and indians. It’s so adorable, and he really enjoys doing it! He likes it so much that when he’s crying I can usually stop him by doing our trick. However, he gets bored of it after a couple of minutes so it’s not effective in completely stopping the crying.

So yeah, I think that’s where we’re at right now. It is just amazing to watch him take in the world and learn all these new things!

Tags: Ben by Yano
3 Comments »

My eyes were starting to scream after looking at my last layout for so long, so I needed a quick change. Here’s my summer layout from last year, nice, breezy and it makes me want a pina colada. Enjoy!

Tags: Page Update by Yano
2 Comments »

7pm - Conan does a LOST spoof! I love it! I freakin’ love it! Too bad LOST was shut out of the Emmy Awards. Oh! I love it when Hurley says, “We weren’t exactly invited.” I’m actually typing this as the intro goes on, so you’re getting my reactions. Conan has just fallen through the Office ceiling. Oh how I love Conan. Now he’s on 24. Now he’s on House. Great show…Hugh Laurie just said that Conan looks like an Albino. Ha! Conan on South Park! Oh yeah, I saw that Tom Cruise spoof coming a mile away, but it was pretty funny. Now conebone69 is an internet predator on Dateline. Whoo! I think this is one of the best Emmy openings ever. Very clever!

7:10 - Conan’s opening monologue started out slow, but ended on a high note. His rules of acceptance speeches were pretty good “Don’t say that the statue is heavy when you get it, of course it’s heavy, it contains the shattered dreams of four other people.” He’s got a lot of balls talking about how badly NBC is doing!

7:17 - Yay, Megan Mullally won! Nice heartfelt speech.

7:27 - Wow…Blythe Danner wins! If you see the movie 1776, which Blythe was in when she was a young lady, you’ll see that she looks exactly like her daughter Gwyneth Paltrow. So if Gwyn takes care of herself, she’ll be as beautiful and radiant as her mother. Is it just me, or do the winners have almost no time to make their speeches?

7:30 - Poor Jason Lee, no nomination. What a great sport to show up and present. And WOW! Jeremy Piven wins!!! Let’s all hug it out, BITCHES! Aww..Jeremy almost cried. *sniff* I don’t care if people say he’s a jerk, be brought his mommy to the awards!

7:50 - My Name Is Earl just won two awards, and both had awesome speeches, especially the writer, who didn’t thank God because he took his hair away, and “that’s just not cool, man.”

8:00 - Aww, the tribute to Dick Clark just touched my heart. Man, I remember watching American Bandstand when I was a kid. And I’m such a sucker for standing ovations, now I’m all teary eyed. He is such an amazing man…he has changed so much in years since his stroke. The man who never aged came in front of the nation as an old man. It was touching to see all the eyes in the audience watching Dick with their eyes shining in adoration and respect. It was obvious that most of the people in the audience have the same fond memories of Dick Clark that I do. How I love that man! Then they kill the moment and bring out Barry Manilow. I love Barry and all, but it just felt weird. But that’s OK, Dick enjoyed it!

8:14 - Conan puts an awesome spin to announcing the accounting team by doing it NBA style, with flashing lights and the loud booming voice. Kareem Abdul Jabar looked gigantic next to the accountants!

8:15 - Ohh, Wentworth Miller. So yummy! A little shiney, but still tasty.

8:27 - The Deal or No Deal spoof was pretty lame. Why is his show so popular? He’s annoying!

8:45 - Tony Shaloub wins best actor in a comedy. Although I love Monk, I really think that Steve Carell should have won.
9:15 - (after a break to feed Ben) The tribute to Aaron Spelling was touching. It’s incredible how many shows he’s created, what a fantastic imagination! It was nice to see the Charlie’s Angels back together again. I was praying that Farrah Fawcett wouldn’t have a drug induced meltdown like she usually does on live TV. Jaclyn Smith has aged gracefully. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart had an awesome dialog before presenting the Best Reality Show. “Bow down to your golden god!”

9:21 - James Gandolfini presented the award for best miniseries like he was being forced to do it. It made me laugh when he quickly said, “Elizabeth the first” so quickly, it seemed like he wanted to get out of there fast!

9:25 - In Memoriam - I forgot thatDon Adams of “Get Smart” fame passed away. That was one of my favorite shows as a kid. They’re doing a movie based on the show, staring Steve Carell…I know he’ll do a great job. I’ll also miss Pat Morita, Richard Pryor, Grandpa Munster, John Spencer, Don Knots and many of the others that were honored.

9:35 - Yay! Mariska Hargitay won. I love her…and I loved her speech.

9:40 - Has anyone seen Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ new show? Is it good? I’m just curious. I really wish that Jane Kaczmarek won, but I thought that Julia’s speech was adorable when she had stood there trying to remember a name to thank saying, “This is going to haunt me later”, and later someone yelling from the crowd to thank her husband.

9:55 - Yay, The Office won! Great speech…I love the show because it totally feels like what it was like to work for X-Systems way beck when. Nice to see 24 win, too.

All in all, an OK show. Conan did a great job hosting, and the it moved quickly and didn’t feel like it was dragging at all. Probably because no one wanted Bob Newhart to die. As Redpac said, he’s a national treasure!

Tags: Reviews by Yano
2 Comments »

The Emmy’s are taking place in a couple minutes and I wanted to put in my predictions before it starts. Here goes:

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
Who Will Win: Steve Carell - The Office
Who I Want to Win: Steve Carell - The Office : He is pure comedy gold!
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Jason Lee - My Name is Earl : He’s awesome in the show, he was cheated out of a nomination

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
Who Will Win: Martin Sheen - The West Wing : They always give awards to people who’s shows are cancelled
Who I Want to Win: Denis Leary - Rescue Me : Hard to believe he has such dramatic range
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Hugh Laurie - House : How could this guy not have gotten nominated. Has anyone at the academy SEEN this show?

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
Who Will Win: Debra Messing - Will & Grace : She actually had a big part this last season
Who I Want to Win: Jane Kaczmarek - Malcolm in the Middle : It’s her seventh nomination with no win

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
Who Will Win: Allison Janney - The West Wing
Who I Want to Win: Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit : One of my favorite shows

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Who Will Win: Sean Hayes - Will & Grace : One last time for Sean
Who I Want to Win: Jeremy Piven - Entourage : “Hug it out, Bitch!” is one of my favorite lines
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Kevin Dillon - Entourage : He has one of the funniest characters on television

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Who Will Win: William Shatner - Boston Legal
Who I Want to Win: I really don’t know enough about the people in this group…can’t choose.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Who Will Win: Megan Mullally - Will & Grace
Who I Want to Win: Jaime Pressly - My Name Is Earl : I’d love for her to win because she starred in “Poison Ivy III”

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Who Will Win: Sandra Oh - Grey’s Anatomy : She wins EVERYTHING
Who I Want to Win: Sandra Oh - Grey’s Anatomy : Because she really deserves to win everything

Outstanding Comedy Series
Who Will Win: The Office
Who I Want to Win: Arrested Development - It would be a nice goodbye
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Will and Grace - What, everyone in the cast was nominated, but not the show?

Outstanding Drama Series
Who Will Win: 24
Who I Want to Win: House
Who Should Have Been Nominated: LOST LOST LOST LOST. Why wasn’t last year’s winner nominated?!?! I weep for the television academy!

Tags: Reviews by Yano
2 Comments »

Walter, my other “internet addiction” pimp (the main one being Mike), got me hooked on Yelp, an online review site. Yelp is a community that started out in San Francisco that reviews local businesses - restaurants, stores, nightlife, pretty much anything around the area. It currently has about 20 cities in its listing (mostly around California), and they are always adding more.

I love reading reviews. When I was buying stuff for Benjamin I spent hour poring over reviews on the Babies R Us site, trying to see what experiences people have had with whatever bathtub, crib or toy I was planning to buy. I always told myself that I would do reviews on things, too, since I rely so heavily on others. So that’s what I’m doing with Yelp…However, I’m having a hard time reviewing because I really haven’t encountered too many places that I’m disappointed in, so pretty much everything gets a high score from me.

So today my review for Cafe Iberico was chosen as the review of the day, so I thought I’d give them some linky lovin’ back. You can see all my reviews here. So go ahead and check it out! Feel free to add me as a friend!

Tags: Cool Link by Yano
1 Comment »

This would be a member of my “Late Night Vids” category if VH1 actually showed this as one of the 5 videos they play late at night. Anyway, this is Chicago band OK Go, which got a surge in popularity after this video came out. I can watch it over and over again and makes me almost want to try it out on a treadmill. Almost. So enjoy the amazing treadmill choreography of OK Go singing “Here It Goes Again”.

Tags: Video Gaga by Yano
8 Comments »

Today’s my three year wedding anniversary with my partner in crime, the father of my son, Dave. This is actually the first time I’ve been home on our anniversary, having to travel for work on this day for the last two years.

So we’re heading out to dinner at a swanky restaurant and Ben’s with his grandparents. I don’t have much time to write, but I just wanted to thank Dave for three wonderful years. The first year was rough, but we’ve settled nicely into married life, and now, life as parents.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Tags: Daily by Yano
15 Comments »