Top Gear

When it comes to cars, I am by no means a gearhead.  I don’t understand people who spend their evenings at car shows, wandering from car to car looking at engines and fenders and the like.  Boooooooring 

That being said, I enjoy watching Top Gear.  I don’t watch it regularly, but when I do, it has never failed to make me laugh.  And of course I’m talking about the original BBC version, not the crappy US remake.  I tried watching the new version on the History Channel and it was pretty awful.  The cast just doesn’t have the charisma of the BBC guys…  they weren’t very entertaining to me.

It amazes me sometimes (most of the time?) how remakes can totally ruin something really good.

I would love the chance to have a go around their track and see where I would rate on their board.  I have a bit of a lead foot and I’d like to think that I would end up at least somewhere in the middle of their ranking board.  I guess we’ll never know, tho’  

This is the first part of one of my favorite episodes.  If you get the chance to watch the whole thing – do it… the last part is soooo funny    

Unfortunately, the only place I can find the whole episode is on iTunes… but it’s totally worth the 99¢ – just search for Top Gear US Road Trip.

Molt

Well, The Ladies are definitely molting - there are feathers everywhere!  Watching The Ladies walk around is almost like a cartoon – they literally leave a trail of feathers in their wake.  The brown chickens look pretty much the same except for white patches here and there.  Nugget looks like she lost a few pounds of feathers...  I tried taking pictures, but none came out any good 

Along with the molting, egg production has dropped way down.  Instead of getting four to five eggs a day, I’ve been getting one or two – and one of the two has been crushed most of the time.  I think that either someone needs to lose some weight or they need to be a bit more careful when maneuvering around in the nesting box.  I’m going to add another F5 bar and add some more padding in there…  hopefully that will help 

 

On a side note…  when I watch TV, I like to leave the closed caption on.  It helps me catch a lot of stuff I’m sure I didn’t hear right.  It is also pretty entertaining on it’s own.  When watching this week’s episode of Chuck, there was a scene where the good guys were taking down the bad guys and one of the bad guys was having his neck broken by a good guy (that sounds a lot more violent than it was ) – the caption at that moment read “sudden squishy crack'”.

Hmmm….  I guess that fits.

I suppose when you really think about it, it could be kind of hard to describe sounds of what’s going on to people who can’t hear    

Science Fiction?

When I think of science fiction, I think of outer space, aliens, monsters, horror movies, evil scientists, the paranormal – that kind of stuff.  I love science fiction 

We have a SyFy channel that one would assume is dedicated to just that – science fiction shows.

What does wrestling have to do with science fiction?  I know it’s fiction, but it’s not science fiction.  It’s like the way BBC America has been featuring Star Trek: The Next Generation… that show isn’t British at all.   Who decides this stuff?

Anyway, I don’t think that SyFy should carry wrestling 

…And while we are on the topic of TV, I have another favorite commercial to add to my list…

TV

Whenever I’m in the house, no matter what I’m doing, I like to have the TV on.  Some people like the radio on for background noise, I like the TV.  The show that I had on last night was Thintervention with Jackie Warner. 

I’m not overweight and I don’t have the discipline or ambition to work out.  I don’t even really like Jackie.  Especially after the one scene where she is all sniffly and is proclaiming how invested she is on everyone losing weight… come on - big, strong Jackie does not pull of crocodile tears very well     What keeps me interested is Joe and Bryan – they are hysterically funny!

“Good morning Frau Warner.”

“I hope this isn’t a park with a snack stand because we’re going to have a hard time keeping Nikki, Stacy and Shay on task.”

“Inner warrior?  Really?  I’ve named my Ethel.”

“The rain started coming down.  It’s hard for fat people to run in the rain."”

It seems like every time they open their mouths, something funny comes out 

I think the group as a whole is a hot mess and they will never lose the weight they want – if they do, they’ll never keep it off.  That being said, I’ll still probably put the show on for it’s comedic value 

 

I also started watching The Event…   I’m not totally sure yet, but I think I’m going to like it.  It’s got aliens and government conspiracies and Jason Ritter – what’s not to like?

This ‘n That Tuesday

• I’m not digging the new Doctor so far. And they changed the opening music – I like the original better. I know it’s only been the first episode, but I really don’t think that Matt Smith fits the part. The story was good, but I want David Tennant back. Wah!

• I think I may have beaten the starlings this year… so far so good. So far no starlings in my hallway. So far no starlings in my dryer vent. So far no starlings in my shed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

• Why do guys all think that anything having to do with farts is funny?

• The garbage man isn’t going to like me tomorrow. I’ve been busy cleaning up my yard this week. Anyone who knows my property, knows that the previous owners left a lot to clean up. I do know that they did clean up a lot, so things could be a lot worse, but there is still a lot left… This year I’m going to make an extra effort to get more cleaned up than I normally do. With the nice weather, I’ve made a lot of headway – yay me!

• I’ve been hitting a lot of good numbers on my odometer lately. Today I passed 151515

• After a lot of experimenting, Downy really is the best fabric softener – it gets everything way softer than any other fabric softener on the grocery store shelf. It is more expensive, but in this case you get what you pay for. The only thing with Downy tho’ – don’t pour it directly on your clothes because it will stain them…

• My seedlings are doing good so far. The only things that haven’t come up yet are my pumpkins, watermelon and peppers. If they don’t start coming up this week, I’m going to put in some new seeds…

TVDuck

Did you ever have a TV show that you thought was really great, but only lasted a season – maybe two if you’re lucky – and then it just disappeared?  You can’t find it on DVD or Netflix… you might find an episode or two on YouTube, but that’s it?

Most of the shows I like never last very long and there are a few that I was never able to find again.  (Story of my life!)

Until today.

Today I learned about TVDuck.com

From the website:

Watch TV shows online quick and easy with TVDuck.com. Watch free streaming television online including full length tv episodes. The free full tv episodes are available to watch for free and are not hosted on our servers but linked to the best video sources on the internet. We are the source for free TV links and full movie downloads. Full Episodes of TV Shows from the early years to recent are listed, you can rate episodes (links), add favourite shows, and watch tv shows & movies free!  We are a free community run site, like wikipedia for tv shows & movies, users suggest links to add or remove.

While not guaranteed to have what you’re looking for, chances are really good it’s there.  Browsing through the episode lists brought back a lot of memories of a lot of shows I had totally forgotten about.

It took me a little bit to figure out the free viewers, but I found a couple of shows from the 90’s that were long lost to me and was able to re-watch some episodes.  It was nice to see that they were just as good as I had remembered 

This ‘n That Thursday

• The Ladies’ pen makeover was a definite success – the rain we had this week was a perfect test.   I couldn’t be happier with the results 

 

• During the course of the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen quite a few dead things on the side of the road:  a couple of cats, deer, possum, skunk… but the oddest thing was a huge fish.  Don’t ask – I have no idea 

 

• Ridge Road Express school bus drivers are the best in the world.  I am so happy that they are my area, and if I had kids, I would not have any qualms about them riding the bus (unlike some other school buses – which make me fear for my life….).  Ridge Road Express drivers are not only very safe drivers, but they are very courteous to other people on the road.  I wish all school bus drivers were trained like Ridge Road Express Drivers.

 

• I refuse to turn my furnace back on 

 

• It looks like my Bird Wars this year may have ended before they have begun…  There is evidence of the starlings’ advanced troops scouting out my hallway already, but so far they haven’t been able to penetrate the defenses I put into place last year.  Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned…

 

• I lost my favorite players on Survivor and The Amazing Race…  I really hated to see Boston Rob go , along with Jeff and Jordan – even tho’ I don’t think that Jordan was really into the race anymore.  I was happy to see the Cowboys make a comeback.

 

• People shouldn’t be allowed to drive with their pet in their lap.  Oh wait – they aren’t… 

 

• Finally - Today my daffodils and tulips started opening up! 

    

• Unfortunately, so did my dandelions 

Peeved

I like to watch Bravo TV, but I’d like to know what’s up with the foreign hosts they’ve been using for the shows lately?

When Project Runway was on Bravo, they had Heidi Klum (she still hosts the show on Lifetime).  I like her as a host – she has a heavy German accent, but she is still perfectly understandable… and she’s pretty.

Then they have Tabatha’s Salon Takeover hosted by – well, Tabatha.  From Australia, she too has a big accent but is still very intelligible.

But then they bring along Chef Academy with Jean Christophe Novelli, who had a thick French accent… while I liked the show, I had a hard time understanding anything the guy was saying – thank goodness for the subtitles.  And the people on Shear Genius – I have no idea where they are from, but they speak English like they have marbles in their mouths.  They couldn’t find someone that speaks clear English for the host?  Fortunately none of these, except maybe Project Runway, is “must see TV” for me, but I sure hope this won’t be a continuing trend.

 

And while I’m complaining about TV – I hate Verizon’s ‘Big Red’ commercial…

 

It illustrates perfectly why I hate texting.  Everyone I know who texts, does exactly what you see in the commercial – ignoring the real people around them while they are busy tapping away at their phones texting to lord-only-knows-who.  Texting is one rudeness I have no tolerance for.  While I may not say anything directly to the person who’s texting while they should be paying attention to something/someone else, they drop way down on my Respect List.  My blood pressure goes up every time I see this commercial.

This ‘n That Thursday

• Tonight was the second episode of the new season of Survivor – the 20th (hard to believe, isn’t it?)  .  I think that Heroes vs. Villains is going to be the best season yet.  I’ve loved Boston Rob in every season he has played in and I’m rooting for him again.  If I have to pick a runner-up to Rob, it will be Russell.  We’re not seeing a whole lot from him yet…  but I think there are going to be a lot of surprises to come.  What does it mean when I’m rooting for the Villains? 

• Not having a snowblower anymore this year, I want one of these!
  
  

  
  Who can resist a robot snowplow that eats snow and poops out snow blocks? 
  
  As a side note, I was talking with one of my neighbors who is going to set me up with a snow blade for my tractor.  Next winter should hopefully be a lot easier when it comes to snow removal over here – I’ve been doing quite a bit of shoveling… 

 

• If you and/or your family made less than $49,000 last year, you can get your taxes done for free at the University of Buffalo by IRS-certified accounting students from the School of Management.  I think I might take advantage of this.  I usually do my own taxes, so it would be interesting to see if there are any tax credits I’ve been missing out on.  Dates and details are here.

• Please Rob Me – I’m not sure if this is such a smart web site to have.  In theory it’s a good idea to raise awareness of the information that people put “out there”, but what’s going to happen when someone really does get robbed?  If it’s found that the burglars found information on the internet that helped them rob a house, regardless of whether or not it was from this site, they are still going to get blamed.  It will be interesting to see what the legal implications will be.  And they will happen.

• How cool is this?
  
   
  
  … However, this guy has waaaaaaay too much time on his hands!

 

Must Be Good

As I was flipping through the channels, I came across this:

How funny is that?  Nothing like telling it like it is 

The Doctor

I watched Doctor Who a little bit when I was kid.  It was OK.  When I thought of The Doctor, Tom Baker was the image that popped in my head.  Him and that big scarf he always wore…  I watched it a bit, but wasn’t a die-hard fan.

In 2005, the SciFi channel (now SyFy) brought the series to their lineup.  Christopher Eccelston played The Doctor and I absolutely fell in the love with the series.  I thought he was the best Doctor ever.  I couldn’t believe it when he only stayed in the role for a year. 

“There’s no way anyone will be able to be even half as good in the part.”, I thought.

David Tennant became the Tenth Doctor.  That last episode of the 2005/Christopher Eccelston season, I was heartbroken.  But I decided to keep watching the series anyway.  Hey – you never know…

Well, I have to say that David Tennant is far and beyond the best Doctor that ever could be.  And now he is gone, too.

I am highly doubtful that I will like the new Doctor, but I’ll still give him a chance.  Hey – you never know…

Repeats

Why is it when a big movie comes on TV, it shows up on ten different channels and that’s all we see for weeks and weeks?

One station shows National Treasure – then for the next four or five weeks, a bunch of other stations show it too.

One station shows The Mummy – then it seems like whenever you change the channel, there it is!

One station shows The Devil Wears Prada – then it shows up on other stations for weeks to come.

Maybe a station rents a movie and and passes it around to all the other stations it owns until the movie has to go back?  I don’t know…

I don’t mind if it’s a really good movie, but sometimes it just total overkill.

 

And… drum roll here…  it’s out!  It’s Uncle Jay’s Singing Year in Review! 

Ladybugs!

Has anyone else been finding a bazillion of these guys around???

I know that they don’t hurt anything except all the aphids they eat during the summertime and they are just looking for a place to hole up for the winter, but man!  They are just all over the place 

The more I use Windows Live Writer, the more I like it – I thought I had it all figured out the first time I used it (it’s that easy!) but I keep finding new things every time I use it… Yay!

 

 

I was never a big fan of the Highlander movies, but Highlander: The Series was one of my favorite TV shows (note to self – must make a list of my favorite all-time TV shows)… it was a sad day for me when the series ended.  Much to my delight, the Syfy Channel has been showing the reruns during the overnight hours.  I’ve been taping them and just started re-watching some of the episodes.  I love this show – thank you Syfy!

Good Things

To steal a line from Craig from BUFFALOg… Pigs are flying and dogs and cats are getting along – I almost fell over when I saw this news story.  I have mixed feelings of disbelief, shock and extreme happiness in the fact that Governor Patterson is actually not forcing us to get new license plates next year.  Maybe it’s sinking in that we don’t need/can’t afford more fees and taxes.  Hopefully the trend will continue 

And then I saw this story which made me just as happy if not happier – we won’t have to worry about She-Never-Did-Anything-For-Us Hillary Clinton coming back to New York (hopefully).

I should have bought a lottery ticket today 

As a side note, I couldn’t stand Russell on Survivor, but after this past week, I have a love-hate view of him.  I hate the way he talks about people, but I love the way he’s playing the game.  I can’t wait to see how much longer he can hang in there…

Harvard

So homemade Harvard beets are absolutely-fantastically-wonderful!  They are just as good, if not better than the stuff from the jar.   And I discovered that they are even better warm.  I’ve always had them cold before, but because I couldn’t wait for mine to cool down, I ate some right away.  Mmmm-Mmmm Good!  For sure I am going to I plant a lot of beets in the garden next year… I’ll have to figure out if there is a way to can or preserve them if I make a lot next fall 

 

 

And I need to update my commercial list – I was remiss in omitting a series of commercials I love:  The Free Credit Report.com commercials.  I liked the first ones better, but I still can’t help but sing along with any of them when they come on    I think that there are supposed to pirate hats in all the commercials…Kind of like a Where’s Waldo.  I’ve found them in four – possibly five - of the commercials.

Commercials

This weekend we had a conversation/debate on the best TV commercials showing now. There are a lot of really dumb ones out there, but there are a few that are classics in my book. The funny thing about the commercials we were bringing up was the fact that we could describe the commercials, but a lot of the time we had no idea what they were advertising. I’m thinking that kind of defeats the whole purpose of the commercial

My top commercial picks are:

My sister wanted to have a ‘Steve’ on her front lawn for Halloween

I think this commercial is just brilliantly executed

This commercial is good in an annoying kind of way…