I think I may wet my pants

figuratively, not literally.

So, there are a couple of must-view-every-morning-websites that I obviously check every morning, hence the wording of "must-view-every-morning-websites."

There's Perez for the celeb gossip and there are a number that I frequent in order to stay in the "know" on all good television. Of course, the latter is subjective, but I think that I and my fave bloggers have impecable taste. ;)

Anywho, I was perusing Ducky Does TV this morning & it brought me the most wonderous news via E!... so good that I think it may have made my week and it's only Monday. Weeeeee!!!!!

E! is reporting that Jason Bateman has confirmed that story.

Jason Bateman has just confirmed to me that the creative minds behind Arrested Development (Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard) have put the wheels in motion toward a major motion picture of the Fox TV comedy so many of us adore. I’m told by insiders that Jason and other Bluth family members have received calls from producers (Hurwitz and Howard) asking if they would be willing to shoot a movie.

“I can confirm that a round of sniffing has started,” Bateman says. “Any talk is targeting a poststrike situation, of course. I think, as always, that it’s a question of whether the people with the money are willing to give our leader, Mitch Hurwitz, what he deserves for his participation. And I can speak for the cast when I say our fingers are crossed.”

Jeffrey Tambor also revealed on XM Radio’s the Ron and Fez Show that he has been approached by Ron Howard to see if he’s willing to do an Arrested film. (You can hear that interview below.)

For the record, both Jason and Jeffrey’s answers were: Hells yeah. And I hear from other sources that other castmembers were called and that everyone seems to be very much on board and excited by the prospect.

Insiders also tell me that while creator Mitch Hurwitz does not yet have a script, he has a good, solid understanding of what he’d like to do for the movie, and Universal is very much interested.

And so it seems that a few good—wait, no, outrageously amazing—things just might come out of this unfortunate writers’ strike, as the creative minds in this town have had time to pause, regroup and think about their dream projects.

Mesa wants

Oh good gawd... I just quoted Jar Jar Binks. Whatcha gonna do about it?

Girl, whatcha gonna do? You know you done me wrong, I'm still in love with you.

I digress. Ever since H&M joined the Vancouver market in Coquitlam, Old Navy has been suffering immeasurably. The amount of stock that goes to that store has diminished significantly and the stuff they do have... not so hot. In my mind, the two retailers cater to two very different markets.

However, the Globe & Mail's Style Counsel highlighted ON's giraffe print clutch. Sure, it doesn't good on "paper," but boy oh boy, is it ever purty. & as the headline says, I WANT! But... not at $22.50. Not if it's from ON. ;)

With the lack of sales happening at ON these days, there's no doubt that that clutch will be on sale for 50 per cent of within a month or two & then that lil baby will be all mine.

Never short of surprises

I still wonder why I'm willing to devote three hours of my life every couple of months to watch award shows. They're usually long and somewhat boring, but still I tune in religiously. Maybe it's the glitz and glamour... or that I just don't want to miss out on talking about the high- and low-lights at the watercooler w/ the gals @ work. Either way, it's three-plus hours that I'll never get back.

The Emmys, as usual, gives out the "top" award for TV shows and its actors in various categories. & of course, 85 per cent of the time, I dont' agree w/ all the nominees. You know that the Emmys voters have excellent taste in television when the talent of Charlie Sheen and Two and a Half Men are up for Best Actor in a Comedy and Comedy Series year-in-and-year-out and smart show, such as Arrested Development and Veronica Mars are either cancelled or ignored altogether.

However, there were some surprises stemming from last night's Emmys... Ryan Seacrest wasn't as horrid as I thought he would be. Some of the jokes were a bit distasteful -- the writer should be fired -- but overall, he probably didn't do so bad considering that he really was more of an emcee than a host.

Other than winning Best Drama Series, The Sopranos were virtually shut out.

The least likely winner in the Best Supporting Actress in a Drama category, Katherine Hiegl, actually won. Really? Cute acceptance speech though. & she looked gorgeous.

James Spader... again?

& can I just say how over-hyped Ugly Betty is? Don't get me wrong, this is one of my "must watch" shows. I enjoy it, but I just don't get all the love for it. Did America *really* deserve the award? The voters obviously thought so.

& how AWESOME was it that Ricky Gervais won for Extras!? & how great was the fact that Steve Carell ran up there to reunite w/ Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart?


Outstanding Drama Series: The Sopranos

Outstanding Comedy Series: 30 Rock <~~ Could this be the same fate as Arrested Development -- win the Emmy and the cancelled the following year.
Outstanding Lead Actor in A Drama Series: James Spader, Boston Legal

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: America Ferrera, Ugly Betty

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Ricky Gervais, Extras

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Jeremy Piven, Entourage <~~~ Hug it out, bitch!

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama: Terry O’Quinn, Lost

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Jaime Pressly, My Name is Earl

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series or a Movie: Thomas Haden Church, Broken Trail

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Katherine Heigl, Grey’s Anatomy

Outstanding Reality Competition Series: The Amazing Race <~~ What's the point of any of the other nominees? They've won every year since this category was introduced.

Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program: Late Night with Conan O’Brien <~~ =)

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Musical Comedy Series: Rob Marshall, Tony Bennett, an American Classic

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-Series or Movie: Robert Duvall, Broken Trail

Outstanding Mini-Series: BrokenTrails

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series: Alan Taylor, The Sopranos

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: David Chase, The Sopranos

Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special: Tony Bennett, an American Classic

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Mini-Series or Movie: Judy Davis, The Starter Wife

Outstanding Made for Television Movie: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini-Series or Movie: Helen Mirren, Prime Suspect: The Final Act

Outstanding Directing in a Mini-Series or Movie: Phillip Martin, Prime Suspect: The Final Act

Outstanding Writing in a Mini-Series or Movie: Frank Deasy, Prime Suspect: The Final Act

Interactive Television Programming Award Current TV, Al Gore and Joel Hyatt <~~ Were there even any other nominees?

Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety, Music or Comedy Series: Tony Bennett

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series: Richard Shepard, Ugly Betty

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series: Greg Daniels, The Office

An oligopoly coming to a telecomms market near you

If you're Cdn and you haven't figured out what hte top news/business story of the day is yet... you must be living under a rock or in a cave or something. I couldn't believe all the e-mails I received via various news sources regarding the talks that are happening b/n Telus and BCE and the potential merger.

I'm sort of on the fence on how I feel about this. As one would argue, this makes the mktplace smaller and the less competitors there are, the worse it is.

However, the recent mergers or acquisitions of a Cdn company by an Amercian one has also bothered me. We're seeing more of a proliferation of this and it saddens me to see Cdn grown co's move south.

Another thing to consider is - doesn't it make sense for acompany w/ vast experience in the telecomms industry to acquire BCE rather than a pension board/grp?

& despite the number of Telus naysayers, I've gotta say that every experience I've had w/ Telus has left me WAY more satisfied than Bell. It took me three... count them, THREE weeks to get my phone connected when I was in Ontario. PLUS, Bell charged me for two weeks of DSL when I didn't even have a phone line and overcharged me on my long distance plan. *sigh* I may have had to wait more than an hour for the Telus dude to hook up my phone, but he came up to my unit and answered all my questions and I was given two months free of DSL when I should've only received one.

It was nice knowing ya

In the classic battle of Sony's Betamax vs. JVC VHS, the victor was JVC. Of course, in the end run, Sony has most likely been a more successful organization in terms of product development and profits.

Reminiscent of this battle is the new Sony Blu-Ray vs. Toshiba HD DVD. I was on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, mostly because it was hte format that the PS3 -- for obvious reasons -- would be supporting. While the PS3 may have been ridiculously expensive, it's still cheaper than purchasing a standalone HD DVD player. Well... in the "format war" it looks like HD DVD is on the losing end as Blockbuster just announced that they are increasing hte # of Blu-Ray titles from 250 to more than 1,000.

Drunk, pregnant or really touched?

While I make Perez Hilton a daily read, I can't necessarily say that I'm a huge fan of his. He may be on top of all the celebrity gossip that I'm after and able to post it in short write-ups, but as a personality, Perez is seriously overrated. I don't understand why he gets invited to parties and awards shows, such as the MMVA. I guess it's free publicity for them, given that Perez will certainly report on anything & everything, particulary if he was there, regardless of how insipid it is. Hell - I'm giving him "free" publicity now - why am I even wasting my energy? ;)

I'll be the first to admit that I used to find Avril Lavigne's music catchy. I'll even admit that I own her first album. Who didn't love Sk8r boi? I know that you did even if you're in denial. W/ this said, I HATE Girlfriend. What a horrendous song & when did she get back-up dancers?

I caught a bit of the MMVAs last night & saw that she won a viewers choice categories. Clearly Cdns' taste in music is a lot worse off than I originally thought. However, my first thoughts when I saw Avril accept the award was, "Is she drunk, pregnant or genuinely touched?" I'd like to go w/ the latter as it would show taht she does have a softer side and has potentially matured. Avril really seemed to be touched that she won it as she had started crying. & even if she was drunk, I don't necessarily think that it was "hilarious" that she was crying as Perez has claimed.

What do you think?

Uh oh...

I'm in trouble if ISPs start charging users for the "exact amount and kinds of content they use on the Internet."

I rarely use the Internet to "surf." Sure, I use it to read my favourite celebrity gossip blogs , stalk quasi-celebrities/B-listers/reality stars via their MySpaces and creep on Facebook on the weekends, but during the weekday evenings, all I do is "seek" out television shows that I need to catch up on or aren't available on Cdn networks.

I currently give $40 a month to my ISP and if they change up the system, I'm gonna be screwed.

Unfortunately, I don't have a TV :(

Well, that's not the complete truth. I do have a TV, but it's still sitting in my parent's living room. I just don't see hte pnt in moving it to my condo if a) my place is a ginormous mess & b) I still need to get a TV bench, etc. W/ that said, I'm still incredibly behind in my television watching thanks to my two week trip out east... in April. Hell, I *JUST* watched the season series finale of Veronica Mars last night & man was it ever written w/ an open ending. Damn you CW for not renewing it... DAMN YOU! They just don't know what's good television when it hits them squarely on the forehead. *sigh*

The only positive thing about not having a TV is that there isn't much in terms of summer television other than my fave, So You Think You Can Dance and my guilty pleasure, Kyle XY, leaving me w/ the opp to catch up on movies that I've been wanting to see.

While it has been years since I've watched American or Cdn Idol, I am tempted to watch CI this year for one reason & one reason only... Dave Kerr. I've had a lil crush on him since he first appeared on Much's Video on Trial. I just want to squeeze him & take him home w/ me. ;)

Ginormous

is what I would call her head. Am I the only one who thinks that Amy Winehouse's head is too big for her body? Well... at least in the latest cover of Spin.



& while I'm @ it... can I just say how pissed off I am that she'll be making an appearance @ VFest in TO? I had a great time -- relatively, considering the downpour on the Sunday -- @ VFest Vancouver, but the line-up for TO is to die for. :(

Death falls upon a institute in the Cdn music industry

OK... so I don't blog for months on end & this is the topic I decide to go w/ on my triumphant return!?

It always smarts a bit when I hear about a Cdn company being bought out by a U.S. company or investment firm. It's even sadder when a Cdn institution such as Sam the Record Man is forced to close its doors forever -- particularly since it has been a family owned business for more than 70 years.

I know that we all saw this coming years ago when smaller shops were shutting down all over the country. But the one mainstay was the flagship store in downtown Toronto. Who has seen the glowing records on the storefront via the TV? Because I'm such a nerd, that was actually one of the landmarks that I *needed* to see the first time I travelled to TO four years ago.

Thanks for the years in which you provided me a Cdn venue where I could purchase CDs, Sam.