Dancing with the Stars

I admit that I'm not a Dancing with the Stars regular but I acknowledge that this show brings excitement to the rather humdrum TV season. There is just nothing on TV nowadays except for the ball games. The playoffs for the baseball is coming and the NFL is on it's third week. So is the college football. There are no grand slam tennis or American Idol until January so for me, the television is not really that exciting.

The star of Dancing with the Stars is Kim Kardashi. If I have to watch it, then it is she who I will be watching. Don't you agree? She is such an interesting person.

Lifetime HD

I was glad to see that there is already a Lifetime channel on High Definition. Since purchasing a new TV set earlier this year, I have not watched my favorite channels which have no HD counterpart. I used to watch Project Runway on Bravo, Dr. 90210 on Channel E, and yes, movies on Lifetime. But the screen was blurry and unappealing so I end up watching TNT, TLC, A&E, HGTV, and the Food Network instead -- just because they are on HD.

Recently, there was a mail from the cable company saying there will be 100 channels of HD in 2009 and they are proud to say that they are all free (at no additional cost). Duh. Isn't that an obligatory part on them since television is all getting digital anyway?

The Lifetime channel on HD is a good thing. I guess more tv, more blog.

Olympics 2008 Memories

I was watching this show on ABC Family called Samurai Girl where the leading character is of Oriental descent. Seeing her last name on the credits confirmed that she is Chinese.

Now, my memories went back to Beijing again. I'm talking of the Olympics. Truly, the Chinese people have a rich heritage and interesting culture. The performance they had during the opening ceremony spoke of a country that has magnificent people, sublime tradition, and awesome history. I remember myself feeling sorry for the Chinese people who were not born in China and was raised somewhere else. Truly, China has a cultural legacy that one should be proud of.

I grew up in a community where there were lots of Chinese. My mother said they came as merchants and started out small but steadily built up their businesses to the point that they were considered rich and influential. Where I came from, Chinese have good lives albeit being foreigners or aliens as some people will call it.

One thing that struck me about Chinese people are that they are good in business. I have not known any Chinese who were poor. They really know how to make money, how to live, and how to get along. They made friends and they were accepted, even if they speak Chinese at home, even if they have different last names. They were like us.

But I felt bad or sad for them when I saw that China is such an awe-inspiring country and I know it has so much more than what was seen through the Olympics. I just can imagine the feeling of not fully embracing one's own heritage because one was not born in it.

Tatum

Tatum O'Neal told Oprah she was never not famous -- or words to that effect. Oprah, in her show, asked Tatum if it was more difficult to her being a drug addict being famous rathen than when she was not famous. Tatum told her she would never know because she has always been famous.

As a child star, Tatum got lost in the frenzy of Hollywood. She gained fame at such a tender age when she had never yet lived enough of an ordinary life. She had an unhappy childhood. Growing up, many aspiring actors her age were just trying to climb up the Hollywood ladder and she was already on her way down -- she had seen it, done it, and won it even.

Child stars have their stories to tell, like Drew Barrymore who also got lost in her teens. But the thing is, coping, learning, surviving, and standing tall from what mess show business brought on them, all comes to what they are as a person and not the fame.

Jessica Simpson Going Country

I heard from a primetime entertainment news that Jessica Simpson is going country. Well, that's not surprising. The money is in country music.

Country singers like Carrie Underwood have smashing success because their fans buy their CDs in stores. Pop song enthusiasts download music from the internet, mostly for free.

Another singer, Jewell, has changed her genre to country music. I think like Jessica, she made a good career choice. Both of them already have a strong fan base from pop music and whatever following they will have in country music will just add up to their overall number of fans.

Sprout

We recently found the Sprout Channel and we have tuned in every day since. My daughter is getting tired of Noggin and the shows are getting old. It's good to meet new characters like Calliou(her new favorite aside from Elmo)and the Berenstain Bears. We also have tuned in to PBS, there are two channels on kid's shows, and aside from Sesame Street we have also watched Super Why and Curious George.

I knew Sprout Channel exists somewhere because I saw it on Preschool-On-Demand. But I'm positive our cable provider, which is Bright House, just included it recently. I reviewed the channel summary given by the cable company and channel 121 (where Sprout is)was not even there.

We have been watching Nicklodeon and Disney since my daughter's birth early last year so these new programs are a breath of fresh air.

Sarah Palin

I did not see her Sarah Palin's acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination so I watched it on MSN. It was the buzz in the news on that day, saying a star is born in her. So I was intrigued by what she said in her speech. I only knew that she is the governor of Alaska and her 17-year old daughter is pregnant.

Moments later, I was in tears. I related to her in so many ways. A public offical and family woman in Alaska who was virtually unknown and there she was addressing an elite crowd of Republican movers and shakers. Then she introduced her family. One thing struck me so well: she said that our joys sometimes come with challenges. Then she said if she got voted, family of special needs will have an advocate and friend in Washington.

This weekend, when we went to pick up our groceries, I also picked an issue of People magazine. There she was in the cover. I read the article about her and only then that I learned her baby infant, who slept through her speech, has a Down syndrome. It says on the article that she had a amniocentecis and knew, but she still went thorugh the pregnancy. Even if she had the choice to opt out, she did not, clinging to her belief and principle. I know that there are many pro-life activists around but to have something like this happen to you is altogether a different story. Can we, in all honesty, say that we are ready to bear a special-need baby and take care of her for all our life? Sarah Palin stood up and stood firm. That alone is worthy of admiration and respect.

Palin is like most of us -- a mom with a family that is as normal as it gets. She may not have graduated from a top-rated university, did not have an outstanding scholastic record, or have exemplary political background, but she is comes with a true heart, no pretense, and no excuse. Sarah Palin is not part of the Washington elite but she is the real deal.

Olympic USA Team on Oprah

I'm not a regular Oprah viewer but from time to time, I check what topic she's discussing or who her guests are. Yesterday, I was surprised that she had invited all the Olympic medalists to her program. It was good seeing all these young men and women who represented the country to Beijing. Suddenly, the Olympic spirit in me was alive again.

Having all those guests are just a big project for Oprah. She thanked the sponsors all throughout the show. Yes, having everyone come over needs a big budget and she had a bank, an airline, and a hotel backing it up. They were all in Chicago for an hour proram of Oprah but I'm sure Oprah also planned some trips and recreation for them in the city.

It was a good show and I enjoyed it. It's just sad I didn't catch the two-thirds of it.

Federer's Fifth

As I expected, Roger Federer won the 2008 US Open, his fifth, earning him a total of 13 grand slam titles. At least, the year did not end without him winning a major. I believe there is still more left in Federer. He can still win more grand slam in the coming year.

But the thing is, it's not Rafael Nadal who he beat to win the US Open trophy. It is Andy Murray, a first time grand slam finalist who beat Nadal in the semi-finals. Twice this year, Federer and Nadal met in two finals, French Open and Wimbledon, and in both times, Federer lost. Now, I think he must thank Murray for breaking the curse. Maybe if it was Nadal he played with, just maybe, he would lost again.

There was a rain delay for the US Open on Saturday so the men's finals was moved to Monday. I forgot it would be aired at 5 pm on NBC. I waited and waited thinking it was at 8 pm. When I tuned in at 7:45, NBC was showing a replay of the Serena-Jankovic match and I could only wonder why. Then after the match, the announcer was thanking everyone for patronage of the 15-day coverage of the US Open. It showed clips of Federer holding the trophy. And then it occured to me that the men's finals went very quick that's why they had the women's finals replayed just to fill up the remaining time. I felt bad I forgot that the airing of the men's finals was at 5 pm. My loss.

Serena's Back

So there is no first grand slam win nor No. 1 spot for Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, or Dinara Safina. The title was won by the veteran Serena Williamn: her third US Open championship, 9th grand slam record, and World No. 1 ranking. All these are familiar territories to her.

Tonight is the rain-delayed and postponed Men's Tennis Finals between Roger Federer and Andy Murray from Great Britain. The two players are just extreme. Federer is looking at his 13th grand slam title while Murray for his first. I really think it's going to be Federer for the fifth time since Rafael Nadal, World No. 1 is out.

First Grand Slam and the No. 1 Spot

There are three women in WTA who have the chance to win her first grand slam plus the coveted title of World No. 1. They are Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, and Dinara Safina.

Jelena Jankovic She was ranked No. 1 for a week this summer. She is one of the most hardworking player in WTA tour, playing up to 15 tournaments before US Open. This earned her a lot of points so even if she has to win her first grand slam yet, she had been in the No. 1 position. She is playing for semifinals match with Elena Dementieva on Friday, September 5th.

Elena Dementieva She won this year's Olympics. Winning that gold medal has given her so much self-confidence and she is playing rock solid, not yet dropping a set. I first saw Dementieva in a match between Maria Sharapova. It was a mismatch. The commentators commented on the lack of power on her serve. She lost that day to Sharapova. She has tremendously improved since that day and now, she is looking at that first grad slam and No. 1 title.

Dinara Safina I first saw her in this year's French Open during the fourth round match with Sharapova (Sharapova again- I think if it's Sharapova, I'm watching the match). The commentators were saying that two years back it was Safina who beat Sharapova in the earlier rounds of French Open. The camera showed Safina and behin her was Sharapova, both of them waiting to be called to enter the court.I saw Safina and I notice that she is special. There was just a decisiveness in her. In the match that was about to happen, she was the underdog and definitely not the media nor the crowd's favorite. And as history would have it, Safina won the match. A stunning comeback after a match point in the second set, 5-2. Then she did it again with Dementieva in the quarterfinals-- a match point in the second set, 5-2.

Now here are the three of them, all vying for the No. 1 spot and the first grand slam trophy.

Seven Houses

In the campaign of the Barack Obama, it cites that John McCain has seven houses. And I say, so what? The man, any man can have as many houses as he likes. He can have one, seven, or ten houses and it's okay. This is America. People can buy houses for their own purposes -- mostly investment. And I don't see anything bad about it at all.

Thinking further, here's what came up in my simple mind as an spectator to this presidential campaign funfare:

I would think that there is an implication of embezzlement of public funds when a government official (electoral onr not)who has served the country all his life can afford seven houses. It's only possible if that official has a business co-existing with his public occupation. Then this gets shady because having a private business while in the government service could mean a conflict of interest. And a man who has such a successful business in order to afford seven houses could not be doing his public function that well. It takes a Spiderman or a Dark Knight to do that. well, I use those two because they are the recent superheroes of our time.

I don't want to sound political here. I'm just making a rather objective view of the Barack-John campaign scenario.

Elmo Mania

I don't know what is all about Elmo that my 19-month old daughter is so crazy about. First, we don't really watch Sesame Street. Not until she asked about Elmo, who is the character printed on one of her blouses, a gift from her godmother. I was not a Sesame Street kid so I have really nothing to say about Elmo. We tuned in to PBS stations to catch Sesame Street and when it was not on, we turned to the Sprout on Demand. Trouble is, there is no Elmo show just by itself that my rather impatient daughter has to cry "Elmo, Elmo" through the show until it shows Elmo.

I found out from researching on the internet that Elmo is the puppet for toddlers on Sesame Street and they have the last part of the program just for Elmo. So what I do everytime my daughter asks for Elmo is just to turn the channel to Sprout on Demand and fast forward it until we get to the segment. So, there's no waiting and no crying. That works.