Raking in the D'oh!

Hello, everybody. The 18-year wait for a feature film version of a still-running television show was definitely worth it as "The Simpsons Movie" opened at #1 with an incredible $71.8 million haul. And the only catch? It was made with a $65 million budget!

Now I saw the film on Friday afternoon and let me say, it was a laugh riot from the beginning and Ralph Wiggum trying to sing along to the 20th Century Fox fanfare to the end credits with that pimple-faced teen "cleaning up" the theater. I won't give much away, but the sub-plot involves the Simpsons starting a new life in Alaska until they found out what would happen to Springfield next (the New Grand Canyon).

And speaking of Alaska...two former Fairbanksans who work as animators on the "Simpsons" series -- Charles Ragins and Eddie Rosas also had a hand at the movie as well. That could explain the nearly $72 million take. Not since the 1966 "Batman" (which came out after its first season and was also released by Fox) have we ever seen a movie based on a show still on the air after all these years make so much money in its first weekend.

While "The Simpsons Movie" had audiences flocking to the theaters in droves, Lindsay Lohan's "I Know Who Killed Me"? Well, it had NOBODY flocking to the theaters in droves. In her fifth straight flop (thanks to other than her DUI arrest), the film bombed in 9th place with $3.4 million. Forget Oscar; it's a Razzie that Lindsay and that film could be smelling next year! Perhaps a good name for this should be "I Know What Movie Will Be DVD- or Pay-Per-View-Bound in a Few Weeks."

No wonder why I replaced Lohan with Brittany Snow as far as Sexiest Woman of 2007 is concerned, and we're at Round 2 in which the top 20 votegetters from the field of 43 advance to Round 3. If you haven't cast your vote yet, then there's still all the time in the world to do so. We're going to be in the dog days of summer, and things won't really go into high gear until late October when the polling resumes with Round 3.

We've got three Jennifers (Aniston, Garner, Love Hewitt), two Jessicas (Alba and Biel), two Marias (Menounos and Sharapova), two "High School Musical" girls (Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens), two "Hairspray" co-stars (Snow and Amanda Bynes), two "Idols" (Katharine McPhee and Carrie Underwood), two Oscar winners (Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie), and 28 other ladies who all want a stab at taking on last year's winner Sarah Michelle Gellar in the final round for the Sexiest Woman of 2007 title.

So if you're a fan of any of the remaining gals, then it's never too early or too late to cast your vote for them and see if they'll earn enough to head to the third round. And like I've said time and time again...ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN!!!!! An underdog or two can come from behind and could pretty much pull off an upset, especially in the final round. It happened with Lauren Graham in 2005 when she won, and it may do so again.

And with that in mind...so long and stay strong.

Drew Carey, come on down!!!

Hello, everybody. When Bob Barker announced to the world last fall that he's calling it a career after 35 years of doing "The Price Is Right" (and 50 years in television), the cattle call for a successor would begin as to who would inherit the famous microphone. From Mario Lopez to "Entertainment Tonight's" Mark Steines to even Todd Newton, it was a tough decision to make. Even Rosie O'Donnell seemed interested, but thankfully she backed down.

Well, the search came to an end when Drew Carey on "Late Show with David Letterman" made it official on Monday: He's going to pick up where Barker left off! Yes, he may be hosting "The Power of 10", but now Carey's going to helm the granddaddy of game shows as well. And hopefully, there could be some changes around "Price Is Right" that could suit him, like bringing back foreign vehicles, Clock Game finally going digital, and maybe using the set, opening graphics, and jazzy theme music from the 1994 nighttime version with Doug Davidson (which was also used on "Bruce's (Forsyth) Price Is Right" in Britain).

But the big question now is this: Will he make it work?! "Price" has gained a following among college students since that Barker-Adam Sandler (whose "I Now Pronounce Chuck & Larry" is the #1 movie) fight scene in "Happy Gilmore", and many of them can relate to Carey; after all, he has come a long way from starting his career as a stand-up comedian in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, not to mention his own show and the U.S. version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway." And now, Drew Carey is about to make his mark by continuing the "Price is Right" legacy post-Bob Barker, and you can bet he's going to do quite swell. Just give him time to learn the ropes, and he'll be raring to go. Oh yeah...since Drew's way younger than Bob, you can say goodbye to Wilford Brimley and Scooter Store during the breaks, and hello to...well, it's a daytime show, so maybe more food ads.

By the way: Is it just me or has "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" seem to be heavy on the drug ads? Sure, they may be the #1 and #2 top-rated syndicated shows, but leave the advertising of them to the network newscasts!

How will Drew Carey really do when he says "COME ON DOWN!" for the first time? Come "The Price Is Right's" 36th season this fall, we'll find out for ourselves.

Now the last time I had a cholesterol count some years ago, it was 79. And 79 was an extremely good number. Last week after taking my first physical in years, I've found out that my current count is 93, i.e., very normal because the range is 50 to 200.

I guess less fatty foods as well as eating less portions at those "all-you-can-eat" buffets -- not to mention commuting to work on my bike as well as running the Midnight Sun Run last year -- have contributed a lot to my cholesterol being 93, even though it's been up from the 79. As you get older, your cholesterol gets higher, and very high cholesterol may lead to heart attacks. I do have other secrets of keeping me healthy, but I don't want to share them with you.

Like I said last blog, so long, stay strong...and REALLY stay fit!

Turning up the...coolness

Hello everybody as America gets its last slices of our birthday cake from last week...and trying to find the nicest shade possible while at it!

Before I begin...usually around the Fourth of July, I would do my annual "Fill In The Blank" quiz which has been a staple since 1995 (and 2000 online). Because I couldn't think up of any questions, I've decided to save FITB for the "Year In Review" in December. I apologize for the inconvience.

Now then...as we blew out the candles for the 231st time last Wednesday, the Western part of the country has had natural fireworks of their own. Temperatures have hovered between 100 and 110 degrees, and there's still no end in sight as the heatwave will now be heading East.

But over the weekend, millions have found the best way to stay cool by going to the movies. "Transformers" may have opened at the top with $67 million ($152 million if you count the preview screenings since Monday), but I decided to go see a far real film: "Sicko", the new documentary by Michael Moore.

Yes, the guy behind "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" is at it again; the target this time? The health care system in the United States and its corruption that led to many of us heading to Canada or even Europe for better services.

The film started with the story of a man who accidentally sawed the tops of his middle and ring fingers while working in his garage. With no insurance, the hospital gave him two options: Reattach his middle finger for $60,000, or the ring finger for a measly $12,000. He chose the ring finger, while the middle end is now at a landfill.

But let's flash forward to the differences between the American and Canadian health care systems. The waiting lines on some larger hospitals, particularly in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver may last for hours, while drugs are somewhat cheaper because of the Canadian Dollar.

And then there's Europe, mostly in Great Britain and France. Britain's universal health care system is the National Health Service, or NHS; while France has a 24-hour house-call service. That latter is kinda like a throwback to the old days when you're bed-ridden and had to call your doctor to come by your house.

The last scene takes us to Cuba, where a few 9/11 rescue workers got better treatment after our government denied to pay for their care. And best of all: IT WAS FREE!!! Yeah, take a 90-minute boat ride from Miami to Communist Cuba for free health care!

I can't imagine why Britain has a universal health care system like the NHS and the United States don't. Possibly because providers like Aetna, CIGNA, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield have all been in bed with the politicians for years, and that's making a lot of us sick.

What we need right now is a complete, head-to-toe overhaul of the U.S. health care system. That may mean some free services, especially for those in Rural Alaska communities where they can't have access to our hospitals in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Oh yeah, not to mention bi-annual physicals.

Speaking of which...the last time I got my physical years ago, my cholesterol count was 79. I wouldn't be surprised if it has doubled since then. And with everything out of the way, so long and stay strong...and healthy!

Hello, everybody. I'll get to the reunion in a bit, but first, the latest on the mysterious death of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and his family:

We have learned that it was the result of a double murder-suicide. TMZ.com and the Associated Press have reported that Benoit may have strangled his wife Nancy with an electrical cord on Saturday, suffocated his son Daniel with a bag in his bed the next day, and then hanging himself in the weight room of their home outside Atlanta. Also, steroids were believed to be found in the residence and whether or not it played a role in the deaths remains unknown.

Benoit's death has immediately brought back memories of Owen Hart, whose life was ended during a WWE pay-per-view in 1999, and Eddie Guerrero, whose end came in 2005 due to acute heart failure. Shortly after that, the WWE imposed a new drug policy after its first one in the early '90s was out the window after Vince McMahon stood trial for distributing steroids to his wrestlers. Despite Hulk Hogan testifying against his former boss, McMahon would be acquitted on all charges.

Now with Benoit joining Guerrero in wrestling heaven, it is another huge blow to the WWE hot off the heels of the discontinued storyline involving the "death" of Mr. McMahon (Vince's in-ring character) from a limousine explosion. They may have crossed the line countless times, but loyal wrestling fans like myself are quoting Owen Hart, "enough is enough, and it's time for a change!" No wonder why the only wrestling I watch regularly these days are "TNA Impact" and Lucha Libre; at least their storylines aren't too demeaning.

And now, on a much lighter note...

For the first time since we took the walk and threw our caps in the air on May 28, 1997, me and the rest of the West Valley High School Class of 1997 reunited together over the weekend for two days of reflection, reminiscing, and playing a little catch-up on ourselves.

It actually started late Friday night at the Red Fox bar just a few minutes from my house, where fellow alum Averi Beckner had a little pre-reunion party. The two of us talked about where we are now (Averi's husband Chris works for the FBI), and then I went into storytelling mode, talking about running my first Midnight Sun Run last year, my two weeks of R&R in the South, and then my double date with Britney Spears in 2000.

When the time reached close to 1:00 am, I had to call it a night, but not before we took a photo of me and Averi together. And make no mistake...she may look like a blonde Alyson Hannigan, but she still looks amazingly gorgeous in '07 than in '97!

On Saturday night, it was the big event at the Annex Art Gallery outside Fairbanks. I was expecting 100 or so to show up, but the turnout wasn't that bad; about 30 to 50 of us were there and I didn't keep count. Of course many like Victoria Cox (Giralt) had other commitments to fulfill somewhere in the world, and couldn't make the long flight up to Fairbanks to join us.

The first person to greet me just outside the building in was Chioke "Ben" Brent; he has returned to town after some college in a few places. When I came in after I got my name tag and updating my contact info, the scene there was pretty much low-key. Music from 1994-97 (the years when we were at West Valley) as well as a video of the 1997 graduation were played throughout as food, desserts, and drinks (booze and lemonade) were scattered all over the gallery. I even brought in my own yearbook with a few pictures of myself and a memento from the prom as well as a microfilm copy of the "News-Miner" coverage on our graduation for everybody to share.

There was even a small area devoted to Lyndsay Thomas, Matt Dullian, and Luke Sulkosky, who've all departed over the last ten years. Matt was the first to go after a car crash, followed by Lyndsay from another car accident, and then Luke's life was taken following a fatal accident on a construction site.

But even though the three have attended the reunion in spirit, the rest of us enjoyed the time of our lives. Some like myself and Jessica Helmers have remained in Fairbanks, while others like Jessica Lissow (formerly Mensik) now have sweet jobs somewhere in the country; Lissow works at the Queens Zoo in New York. And a few like Carl Tape and Tasha Fouts have attended college; Tape at a community college in Massachusetts and Fouts at the University of Illinois Chicago. And Tasha still looked hot in a short, low-cut gray dress that showed off her cleavage. I remember getting aroused at the sight of Tasha in short skirts and dresses that showed off her legs very nicely, and I couldn't wait till after school to...well, you know.

Anyway, as we were getting our last bits of food for the night, we gathered around like in the pre-YouTube days to watch a tape of one of our Airband competitions. I even cracked a joke about how it would look if it was shot in HDTV, but that technology was in its embryonic stages during our four years attending West Valley. Keely Buchanan -- who was our Senior class president and the HWIC (head woman in charge) behind the reunion weekend -- cringed when she saw herself in a cheerleader outfit emceeing the Airband. Maybe Hayden Panettiere's parents were taking notes.

Oh yeah...while all this was going on, the annual Midnight Sun Run took place back in town. West Valley scored a one-two punch in the race as 2005 graduate Tony Tomsich took the men's title at 32 minutes, 17 seconds while future Senior Crystal Pitney at 38:32 did a three-peat on the women's side. As for "that guy in those elaborate costumes", Sean Purucker? He and Hun Tak were the Atomic Arctic Cactuses this year.

Back to the scene at the Annex: As the night would down, me and the other alums who've stuck around gathered together for a group photo. It was truly memorable.

After a good night's sleep from all this, we now move to the next afternoon and the picnic at Pioneer Park where all the remaining food from the previous night were there. Again, the atmosphere was low-key (typical for a picnic), but a couple hula performances provided the entertainment for us.

During the weekend, a two-DVD set of the Airbands from '94-'97 as well as a CD of those years' top songs were sold for $5 each; sales would go to planning for the 20-year reunion set for 2017. I'm hoping we would hold it at the Riverboat Discovery this time...if it'll still be around in 2017!

The reunion was capped off with a few photo ops of me with Keely, Chioke, Carl, and others. I hope I'll be seeing all or some of them ten years from now.

But yeah, things have changed over that decade; I already told you about it on Thursday in my preview. Ten long years and some body changes later, the West Valley High School Class of 1997 were indeed reunited...and believe me folks, it felt so good!

By the way, I took so much photos from the weekend that a gallery of them is now up. There are some others I took that are too personal to show, if you know what I mean.

And so, with my complete wrap-up on everything that transpired over that incredible weekend...so long and stay strong!!

CHRIS BENOIT: 1967-2007

Hello, everybody. Tonight's blog was supposed to be all about the ten-year West Valley High School Class of 1997 reunion from over the weekend, but I'll have that for you tomorrow as there is very sad news from the professional wrestling world to report:

The family of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, which includes his wife Nancy and son Daniel, were all found dead in their Georgia home today. As of now, there are no information as to the cause of their deaths.

Benoit started his wrestling career in his native Canada in the mid-1980's before heading to New Japan Pro Wrestling at the end of the decade and winning his first championship there. A few years later, he joined World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and then WCW again where he was a member of the "Four Horsemen". During his time at WCW, he was World Heavyweight Champion, two times United States Champion, Tag Team Champion twice, and World Television Champion three times.

He would later head to the WW(E)F in 2000, and four years later at Wrestlemania XX, became the World Heavyweight Champion. Other belts he won there included the U.S. Championship (three times), Intercontinental Championship (four), and Tag Team Championships (four). Just recently, he was drafted from the "Smackdown" brand to ECW, and his last match was last week against Elijah Burke.

Benoit will be missed by those who've followed his career over the years, and his sudden passing came just almost two weeks after Sherri Martel's. But for the last few weeks, the WWE came under fire over their storyline involving the "death" of Vince McMahon's on-screen character. Now with the real-life deaths of Martel and now Chris Benoit, that angle has been discontinued.

Once again...because of this, I'll have everything that transpired at my class reunion tomorrow. So long and stray strong.

High School Reunion: The final countdown!

Hello, everybody. There have been some great events happening in June so far as summer is officially underway: Paris Hilton back in jail...the disappointing "Sopranos" finale...the San Antonio Spurs winning their fourth NBA title by sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers...

But we're now less than 48 hours away from the month's biggest event (well, to me), and that is the West Valley High School class of 1997 reunion on Saturday and Sunday! Many alums like myself who still reside in Alaska, as well as others from many parts of the country and the world have descended here to Fairbanks to take part in this.

Now it may be a two-day event with a get-together at The Annex on Saturday night followed by a picnic and BBQ at Pioneer Park on Sunday, but thanks to an e-mail invite I got from Averi Beckner (she was Averi Benson when we graduated), things will really get underway tomorrow night (Friday) with a pre-reunion party she's throwing at the Red Fox bar just a few blocks from my house.

For the last year now, fellow graduate Keely Buchanan has been busy as a bee planning every detail of the reunion as well as getting in touch with almost every one of us possible about this big weekend coming up. Unfortunately, only three people won't ever make it to this reunion or the 20-year one planned for 2017; Lyndsay Thomas, Matt Dullian, and Luke Sulkosky have all left us over the course of those ten years. But they will be there in spirit, and never be forgotten.

When we took the walk on May 28, 1997, things were completely different. "ER" was the #1 television show; high-speed Internet was expensive; DVDs were about to hit the market; iPod, TiVo, or YouTube weren't even in our vocabulary; and Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton were all just innocent kids. And now this weekend, me and the rest of the class of '97 will be reliving and reminiscing about the good times we spent together at West Valley from when we came as freshmen in 1993 to when we got our diplomas.

Last year, it was me finally running the Midnight Sun Run; the summer before that, two weeks of beating the heat in the South; and in 2000, round two with Britney Spears in Los Angeles. This weekend, on June 23-24, 2007, another chapter will be written into the book of memorable summer events in my life with the class reunion that is a decade in the making.

Will some of the grads who never got the news about the reunion be coming in even at the last minute to join us? And most of all...what do we look like now? For the next 72 hours starting with the pre-party tomorrow, these questions and many more will be answered.

And of course, I'll have a complete recap of everything on Monday, as well as photos from that historic weekend. Till then, so long and stay strong!

Bada...Bing?!?!?!

Hello, everybody. Over the decades, very popular and long-running TV shows have found some great ways to go out in style. "Cheers" had Sam Malone closing up shop for the final time with "Sorry, we're closed" as the final line; "Seinfeld" ended with the cast all behind bars (just like Paris Hilton is...again), "M*A*S*H's" finale was the most-watched program of all-time; "The Fugitive" ended with the One-Armed Man gunned down to death with Dr. Richard Kimble being cleared of any wrongdoing; "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" capped off with Sunnyvale being swallowed whole underground; "Everybody Loves Raymond", the family sitting down for a meal; and "Friends" with the cast evicting themselves from the apartment.

But one finale that will not join the ranks of the other shows after last night was "The Sopranos." Okay, I've never liked the show, but I had to watch just to see how it all wound down. And boy, were we gypped!

The final scene had Tony, Carmela, and A.J. munching on onion rings, while outside the diner, Meadow's been struggling to parallel park her car. Back inside, three suspicious people were scoping the scene, and in the last few seconds with Meadow entering the diner....cut to black. Viewers all over were thinking to themselves, "What? Is my cable or satellite cut off? Did HBO go off the air?!"

After over ten seconds, the end credits popped up, leaving us to draw our own conclusions as to what transpired last. It didn't take long for loyal and irate viewers to flood HBO's "Sopranos" boards to explain their disgust, while some of them thought show creator David Chase did the right thing to end it like this.

But here's how I think it ended, and many of you might agree with me on this one:

Tony finished his last meal. Perhaps either the batter on the onion rings were laced with poison just to kill him instantly, or as the moment Meadow walked in, he got the ultimate whack as one of the guys shot him in the head as the rest of the family witnessed it.

However, there were reports that three alternate endings were done to keep things under wraps. Whether or not they'll be on DVD with the rest of the final season, we don't know. What we do know is when talks of a reunion movie are in the first stages, we'll get to find out how it really ended.

With "The Sopranos" now over once and for all after eight years, new lives for the cast have begun. James Gandolfini and Robert Iler will probably be typecast for some time, but for years Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow Soprano herself) has been living a life in between seasons. She has done very sexy shoots for men's magazines like "Maxim", and earlier this year paparazzi has snapped her showing off more of her body in a bikini while frolicking in Miami Beach. Pretty whackable, but in a different kind of way if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I think Jamie-Lynn will either return to Broadway where she got her start, or get her own show on probably The CW or better yet, troubled fourth-place NBC. Yeah, like if they needed anybody but Meadow Soprano to save their network from extinction! No wonder why ratings for the Stanley Cup Finals (and congrats to the Anaheim Ducks, by the way) were down the toilet!

So in the end, "The Sopranos" closed off with not a Bada-Bing, but a Bada-Whimper.

Now that it's all out of the way....we're less than 14 days now from the big West Valley Class of '97 reunion weekend, in which the second day will be a barbecue at Pioneer Park. And speaking of which...last week, it played host to the annual Governor's picnic, which usually happens in mid-July. But it looked like Sarah Palin was in a showdown with Mother Nature and, in her first picnic as Governor, scheduled it a bit early this year. With my trusty digital camera, I was hoping to take a much more proper photo of me and Palin second time around after that horrible last time at the inauguration. And moments before the weather got real serious and started raining hard, I did just that. Boy, even in those big sunglasses and apron, the governor does look great!

Despite the heavy downpour and lack on condiments, I hope things will be a million times better when I return to Pioneer Park for the reunion barbecue in a couple of weeks. And with that said...so long and stay strong!

The countdown to the reunion begins now!!

Hello, everybody. Except for Lindsay Lohan arrested for DUI and in rehab, Rosie O'Donnell exiting "The View" prematurely, Dario Franchitti (Mr. Ashley Judd) winning the Indianapolis 500 last weekend, and the Anaheim Ducks halfway to the Stanley Cup 2-0 over the Ottawa Senators, there's nothing else for me to bitch about from this slow news week.

But we are in the month of June, and for me and 249 other members of a very elite group, we are inching closer to the biggest event ten years in the making.

Over ten years ago in May 1997, I was among the 250 students who graduated in West Valley High School's class of '97. It was very historic for two reasons, 1) It was the 20th anniversary of the school, and 2) The last graduation commencement to be held at the gym before we followed Lathrop and North Pole's lead by moving them to the Carlson Center.

For me, it was one of the most memorable events in my life, and since then I've been waiting for any word about a reunion coming up. Well, for almost the past year one of my fellow graduates, Keely Buchanan (who now works for Time Warner Cable in Colorado as a manager) has been gathering every contact from us possible and telling them all that she's planning a 10-year reunion this summer.

That's right; the West Valley High School Class of 1997 10-year reunion is on the weekend of June 23-24, and you can damn well bet I'm all pumped for it! A reunion bash with appetizers and desserts is planned for the 23rd at The Annex on Ester (a few miles outside Fairbanks) across the Parks Highway from the Blue Loon. That's followed the next day by a big reunion barbecue at Pioneer Park, where family members (except younger brother Lawrence; he's in Las Vegas and going to be a dad soon and won't fly up here) are also invited.

I'll tell you much more on all this as we seep closer to that historic weekend, but the countdown has already begun. Stay strong and so long!

I failed trying out for "Jeopardy!", baby!

Hello, everybody. As always, lots to get to, so let's not waste any time.

First up...everyone wants to be on television, whether it's on the news or a game/reality show. And speaking of the latter, many Alaskans in the last few days have tried out for a chance to be on "Jeopardy!", as auditions were held in Anchorage on Saturday and here in Fairbanks on Tuesday.

I was at the Fairbanks auditions where the line was slowly but surely starting to form up to a mile. The first 1,000 of us get to take a ten-question written pre-test. I did, and one question cost me a shot at the ultimate quiz show. It was something on Poetry, and the answer was "This place in Ireland has lines that rhyme with A-A-B-B-A." My mind was blank on that one, so I gave up and turned the test in. I didn't pass, but one of them who did told me it was "Limerick." I stomped my foot in disbelief, but what the hey? At least I made my attempt to showcase my knowledge.

Anyway, pass or fail the test, you do get to play a for-fun version of "Jeopardy!" for neat stuff. I did for a Jeopardy! T-shirt and water bottle. And as added bonuses, I took a picture with "Clue Crew" members Sarah Whitcomb and Kelly Miyrahara; they even signed my card!! Now those two may have logged in countless frequent flyer miles globetrotting for clues, but in person...they look pretty hot, especially Sarah; she's quite a looker. Sarah and Kelly are two of the five "Clue Crew" members from the show that made the long journey on the "Brain Bus" up to Alaska.

Well...even though my chance to make my way to "Jeopardy!" went bust, at least I had a great time with the experience. Now if sister show "Wheel of Fortune" can wheel their way to Alaska next for auditions; I'm sure I'll kick ass there than "Jeopardy!"

Last week, "People" magazine unveiled their 18th annual roster of the "100 Most Beautiful People", headlined by Drew Barrymore. Of course none of the "Clue Crew" made the list, but several others like Oscar winners Helen Mirren and Reese Witherspoon, "American Idol's" Katharine McPhee and Carrie Underwood, "Heroes'" hot cheerleader Hayden Panettiere, Jessicas Alba, Biel, and Simpson, usual favorites Halle Berry and Julia Roberts, and Amanda Bynes have all did.

And then there are those who weren't beautiful enough, like Kristen Bell, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kylie Minogue, and Mischa Barton. Maybe the editors were on drugs or something.

And last but not least...a little something about the "Sexiest Woman of 2007" polling:

As you're aware, we opened the polls with Part 1 of Round 1 featuring the "New Crop". It started out very smoothly in the first couple of days, until somebody pushed very, VERY hard for Hayden Panettiere (Group A), RGX body spray spokeshottie Rachel Specter (Group B), and "Ugly Betty's" America Ferrera (Group C). Even resetting all the votes back to zero didn't do the trick.

Therefore, I have closed the polls for the time being until things get sorted out. We do not want a repeat of 2005 (when there were excessive voting for winner Lauren Graham (whose "Gilmore Girls" will be calling it a series after this season) and runner-up Jennifer Garner) being played out very early. The polls will re-open sometime soon, but for now, they're closed.

And with those things out of the way...so long!

MASSACRE AT VIRGINIA TECH

Good evening. I'm sure as you've watched and heard by now that Virginia Tech was the site of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history today, as a gunman opened fire claiming 33 lives and injuring 17 others before pulling the trigger on himself. Not since Dawson College in Montreal, Canada last fall have we ever seen a college tragedy transpire in North America.

Now we're learning that the gunman behind all this was in the States since last summer on a student visa from China. But to everybody at Virginia Tech who were traumatized by what transpired, that didn't mean anything as the aftereffects of today will be felt for the rest of their lives. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those involved in the tragedy.

Even though this is irrevelant, I think the Virginia Tech massacre may also serve as a wake-up call to the millions of "American Idol" viewers who've been kissing Sanjaya Malakar's ass for so long; and after watching the coverage they've decided they've finally had enough and are going for someone more worthy of advancing. We'll see what happens tomorrow night; good night.

Imus off the air, but Sanjaya still on!

Hello, everybody. As you well know, Don Imus took the Sleazy Route...which cost him his job.

Last week, the radio host made a very derogatory remark about the Rutgers women's basketball team after their NCAA Women's Final Four loss to Tennessee (Florida repeated their victory on the men's side over Ohio State) which immediately set off fireworks. As a result, groups as well as civil rights advocates including Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton called for Imus to hang up him microphone. This week, they got their wish.

First, Imus would be suspended for two weeks without pay. But that alone wasn't enough. Then, MSNBC dropped the simulcast of Imus' show. And finally, just today, came the ultimate punishment: CBS Radio fired Imus, putting him out of a job...for now.

Now that he's off the terrestrial radio airwaves, he may be joining longtime rival Howard Stern in the wonderful world of satellite radio, where he can continue to spout off anything he wants but without the FCC getting in his way this time. It happened with Stern, it happened with Opie and Anthony, and it could happen to Don Imus.

What do I make of all of this? Well, Imus got burned for taking the Sleazy Route by saying something racist, and he got his just desserts by being given the pink slip. But don't worry...it's not the end of him, and when he comes to satellite radio, he will prove a point that he can't be pushed.

With Don Imus (temporarily) off the air, Sanjaya Malakar is, yes, unfortunately still on. Last time I finally had something to say about this as well as listing the top five other ways we can help get him off "American Idol", but nobody cared about the latter (though making an effigy of him is still a great idea). Now as he's among the top seven, we're still hoping and praying that Sanjaya will finally be out of our sight once and for all. One lady's hunger strike didn't work, as she was under doctor's orders to end it.

But Wednesday nights at the Pump House here in Fairbanks (which is a few minutes from my house), everybody's been doing their part in the anti-Sanjaya movement with karaoke. I went there last night to check things out, and then decided to myself, "Oh hell, let me take a stab at this and show Sanjaya who's boss!" So I did by singing "Turn Your Love Around" by George Benson...not before I had to get something off my chest about Sanjaya, saying that he's the growing cancer that needs to be removed off our TVs as soon as possible. The song ended prematurely as the disc started to skip near the end; but after I finished, I told the audience "Hey Sanjaya, let's see if you can top that!" followed by cheers and laughter from them.

I have done video karaoke before (at the all-night party following my high school graduation in 1997; the ten-year reunion is coming up in June), but the second time around was much better. And next time, it could get even better as I hopefully do Lionel Richie. I still want to prove a point that the real American Idols are not on TV, but in our own backyard with karaoke. And the best thing about it: No Simon, no Randy, no Paula, no Ryan Seacrest, and best of all...NO SANJAYA MALAKAR!!!!!! And with that, have a good night.

The Sexiest 30 (or 60) Seconds on Television!

Hello everybody as we head into the weekend! Now as promised yesterday, I have put together a list that is so hot it has made television sets melt every time it hits the air during the breaks! If you're getting tired of excessive ads that feature talking mucus or improving your sex life, this is the one for you. Here now, is my countdown of the...

TOP TEN SEXIEST TV COMMERCIALS OF ALL-TIME

10. Paris Hilton for Carl's Jr., 2005 (maybe this is why they opened up the Carl's Jr. restaurant here in Fairbanks a while back! By the way...for a regional chain, I say they're better than Burger King)

9. Diet Coke Break, 1993 (this ad features office workers watching a shirtless Lucky Vanous swigging a Diet Coke. No wonder why his first name is "Lucky"

8. Maidenform bras, 1956 (these were the first ever lingerie commercials, and even for 1956, they were pretty much erotic)

7. Jessica Simpson for Pizza Hut's Cheesy Bites Pizza, 2006 (Miss Piggy did her own version of the same ad, but I'd rather have Simpson pop those bites into my mouth than Piggy)

6. Doritos 3D, 1998 (premiering during the Super Bowl, it may have had future "Will & Grace" star Sean Hayes, but the real star was Ali Landry, who went from a ho-hum former Miss USA into an instant star overnight)

5. Cindy Crawford for Pepsi, 1992 (I bet the two boys still have the hard-on they got from Cindy while filming this. A remake was done a decade or so later, this time with a still-stunning Cindy and her two kids.)

4. RGX Bodyspray, 2007 (these are brand new, and are already catching on quickly. But it's not as hot as...)

3. Old Spice High Endurance, 2006 (This is the one with Taylor Cole dancing up a sweat. Boy, that made us sweat just watching her hawk deodorant!)

2. Victoria's Secret, 2001?-present (Just watching beautiful women sell and model lingerie at the same time for 30 seconds always give us nasty thoughts)

And the #1 sexiest television commercial of all-time is so hot, it has been shown only in overseas theaters. And with 360 million views, it has become the fourth most popular viral video ever. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

1. Kylie Minogue for Agent Provocateur (2002)
(And five years later, even after battling breast cancer, we still couldn't stand up after watching her!)

So there you have it: Ten reasons why sex has really sold for over 50 years, and for good reason. But I don't think anyone will ever top the Agent Provocateur ad...maybe Carmen Electra in a home-grown version.

With that said...have a great weekend!

There she goes...back off the air, again!

Hello, everybody. I've got lots of territory to cover as always, so on with the show!

First up...after only two years, CMT announced today they have dropped the Miss America Pageant, leaving the Super Bowl of beauty pageants without a television home -- again!

The cable outlet, which picked up the pageant where ABC left off, had those rights through 2011. But in a statement, they said they won't exercise its option in 2008 or beyond. A CMT executive said it wasn't ratings behind the decision, but its focus on original programming.

With Miss America off the air once again, the search for a new TV home is immediately underway. One group that seems to be highly interested are the Turner networks, as TBS or TNT may pick it up.

Why them? It's real simple: TBS used to have the Golden Globe Awards for years before NBC carried them in 1996 and made them the huge event we know of today. TNT's highest-rated event every year since 2003 is the NBA All-Star Game. Also, both simulcast the Screen Actors Guild Awards after its first two shows were broadcast on NBC. And TNT also serves as home to the annual "Christmas In Washington" specials after spending several years at NBC.

The only thing I watched regularly on TNT until WWE bought them in 2001 was "WCW Monday Nitro"; nowadays, we can relive it all thanks to YouTube.

Now, back to Miss America: TNT/TBS may not be the only ones on the prowl, but FX as well. Whether or not the main Fox network will be involved too, we don't know. USA and Bravo will say no, as mother network NBC already has the Miss Universe family of pageants...which used to belong to CBS for over three decades, and they'll turn down Miss America as well.

In the end, I'd like to see TNT pick up the pageant next because they want to maintain its tradition. Heck, they broke a part of it when it was moved from its longtime home in Atlantic City to Las Vegas, and that's okay. I don't want Miss America go to waste without a television home in its over 80 years. But that's not the only thing everybody's talking about now.

In 1973, White House counsel John Dean told Richard Nixon that "there was a cancer growing on the presidency" in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Well, flash forward 34 years later to 2007, and right now there is a different kind of cancer growing on us that has yet to be removed...and that cancer is Sanjaya Malakar!!!

That's right! If you've been watching (or ignoring) "American Idol" these last few weeks, we are in the middle of a mystery that even the late Robert Stack couldn't solve: Why is this no-talent hack still in?

To refresh your memory, Sanjaya is this 17-year old half-Indian, half-Italian hailing from Seattle whose awful singing combined with boyish looks is keeping him in the competition. Not even a mohawk he sported while missing a few words on Tuesday couldn't stop him.

So, who have we pointed our fingers to? One key factor is Howard Stern, who has launched a campaign for his Sirius satellite radio listeners to vote for him. Another is Votefortheworst.com, which has had some successes in the last couple of years (Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, and Jennifer Hudson among them).

But I know millions of us are already sick and tired of "American Idol" becoming "The Sanjaya Show", and have done something about it. Few have went even as far as to going on hunger strikes until Sanjaya gets the boot. However, I do have some alternatives, and I'm going to share them with you as I list my....

TOP FIVE OTHER WAYS WE CAN DO TO HELP VOTE SANJAYA MALAKAR OFF "AMERICAN IDOL"

5.Hang an effigy of him in your frontyard

4. Dub Apu's (of "The Simpsons") voice and edit it into footage of Sanjaya singing and put the video on YouTube

3. Make him a last-minute replacement for Vince McMahon's wrestler in the Hair vs. Hair match between him and Donald Trump at this weekend's Wrestlemania 23

2. Have somebody as Sanjaya pull a Britney with paparazzi snapping him exiting his car naked from the waist down

And the #1 other way we can do to help vote Sanjaya Malakar off of "American Idol"...

1. For God's sake, just don't watch the goddamn show!!!!!!!

Like I said, Sanjaya Malakar is the cancer right now, and he should be removed as soon as possible. But if he goes all the way and wins "American Idol"...then it'll be one of the saddest days in television history. Can you imagine the crowd at the Kodak Theatre throwing eggs and garbage at the stage immediately after Ryan Seacrest names him the winner? I know I would.

Tomorrow, I have another list; the "Top Ten Sexiest TV Commercials of All-Time". Who has made our sets hot and heavy every time it airs during the breaks? Find out as I count them down from #10 to #1! See you then, and good night.

IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY!

Good evening. In 1978, it was his father Dick who beat Rick Swenson by a lead dog's muzzle. Five years later, it was his son Rick who came from behind to reach Front Street. And now tonight, after spending 9 days, 9 hours, 8 minutes, and 41 seconds on the trail, Fairbanks' own Lance Mackey wearing bib number 13 wins the 2007 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on -- ironically enough -- March 13!

Mackey crossed under the Burled Arch in Nome at 8:08 pm, and his rewards for reaching first include $69,000 and a new Dodge Truck. But even though he's officially off the trail doesn't mean the race is over. Paul Gebhardt will be making his way to Nome; he left Safety at 7:11 pm. Martin Buser, Zack Steer, and Jeff King will later follow him as the three have left White Mountain.

From one generation to another and now another...Lance Mackey, just weeks after winning the Yukon Quest, has made dog mushing history tonight by claiming victory in both that race and the Iditarod in the same year. No other musher has scored that feat until now, and Lance did it. With that said...good night.

Hello, everybody. One year ago today on March 12, 2006, was the day that Fairbanks met Hollywood. Because on that day, actor John Leguizamo paid a little visit to the Golden Heart City as he promoted "Ice Age: The Meltdown" by opening a specially themed kids' ice park named after the movie with then-governor Frank Murkowski joining alongside him. I covered it all in this very blog.

It was quite a major event by having a well-talented and internationally known actor like Leguizamo set foot in this town, and it paid off in the end as "The Meltdown" would open at #1 at the end of the month; that's the good news. The really good news? It buried the much-hyped and anticipated "Basic Instinct 2", which earned $3.2 million and became the ultimate motion picture laughingstock of 2006. At the annual Razzie awards that took place on Oscar Weekend, the film picked up three awards for Worst Screenplay, Actress (Sharon Stone), and Picture.

Anyway, the next day I was on media watch to see if anybody other than the News-Miner covered Leguizamo. I was disappointed, as all the local newscasts had soundbites while on the entertainment shows side, "Entertainment Tonight" had five seconds of footage. A local video production company, Moving Images, used Anchorage station KTUU's satellite truck parked outside the warm-up center to feed their video of the visit to the world...if anybody cared about it.

But yes, it all transpired exactly one year ago tonight, and now we move forward to today and the latest on the Iditarod.

Lance Mackey over the weekend has taken the lead from Jeff King as he entered Elim at 5:55pm and out six minutes later. He's followed by Paul Gebhardt, who exited Elim at 8:30; Martin Buser, King, and Zack Steer round out the top five.

Mackey won his third straight Yukon Quest weeks ago, and he could be well on his way to pulling double duty as far as the Iditarod is concerned. And if my estimations are correct, if things hold up for him, we may be seeing him approach Nome sometime around Wednesday afternoon or evening. But don't count out Gebhardt; he's hot on Mackey's trail and depending on the conditions, we could be seeing 1978 all over again (when Rick Swenson and Dick Mackey were paw-to-paw with Swenson having the advantage; but in the end, it was Mackey by a hair). We'll find out as the 35th Iditarod reaches the homstretch, and so long!

Hello, everybody. Lots of stuff to bring up, so let's not waste any time.

First up, the 35th running of the Iditarod, and the forecast may call for a neck-and-neck finish next week. Defending champion Jeff King has taken the lead from Martin Buser, leaving Eagle Island at 12:55pm Saturday with Buser far behind five minutes later. Paul Gephardt, Lance Mackey, and Zack Steer round out the top five so far.

Now during the past week, Buser ruled the trail, including reaching the Yukon River first on Friday with $3,500 (in $1 bills) and a seven-course meal as his reward. The meal started with a king crab apple tower with horseradish cream, then smoked corn bisque and goat cheese dumpling. For the main course, it was a seafood course of prawns and scallops with pancetta and pomegranante mustard and a meat course of seared ostrich medallions. Jicama salad followed by bittersweet chocolate crepes and a cheese plate with pear poached in port finished off the meal.

Of course, the big story in the first few miles were that injuries suffered by Doug Swingley and Dee Dee Jonrowe forced them of the race prematurely.

As things stand out right now, Buser wants to join Rick Swenson (27th place) in the "Five-Timers Club" while King's on the hunt for a back-to-back entrance to the Burled Arch and his fourth overall. We'll find out when the two are about to make their way to the coast.

And now, something I've brought up in the newsgroups earlier this week concerning a television institution in trouble:

For the last few months now, "Soul Train" has been airing classic episodes from the '70s and '80s in lieu of the new episodes they've been taping for this season. Why, you ask?

Here's why: in recent years, ratings for the show has dropped hard to below 1.0 as stations who used to show Soul Train on Saturday afternoons have buried it to middle-of-the-night time slots. Tribune Entertainment -- Soul Train's syndicator since 1985 -- was very unhappy at these bits of news, and plans were made to derail the Train (i.e., canceling the show) after 35 years as television's longest- running, first-run syndicated program. When Don Cornelius heard about this, the only way he's been doing to save his franchise -- which includes the annual Soul Train Music Awards, in which this year's is coming up -- is to crack open the vaults and air the old episodes as "The Best of Soul Train."

The new episodes for the 36th season have been taped since December and were supposed to air starting in February, but the response (and the ratings) for the classic shows have been tremendous and those new shows will still have to wait a while.

What does the future hold for Soul Train? Well, Tribune has been in financial peril lately, and a change in syndicators may be the best way to keep the Train chugging for a bit longer. King World might be interested, as the shows they've distributed (Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Oprah Winfrey) have been atop the syndication ratings for over 20 years. Another is NBC Universal, because they'll be without a first-run weekly (George Michael Sports Machine) after this month. If the current run of Family Feud can switch from one distributor to
another (Tribune to Debmar-Mercury), so should Soul Train! Of course, that could mean stations running the show once again in the Saturday afternoon slots where they belong(ed).

I wouldn't be surprised if we'll be hearing "The SOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUULLLLLLL TRAIN!!!!!!!" come their 37th season...that is, if the show will be in HD.

Yes, "Soul Train" is on the bubble, and with BET as well as the explosion of YouTube and iTunes on the Internet the show may be given its last rites even if classic episodes from 20 to 30 years ago have been running. Look at "American Bandstand"; it was the only place to be to get your music fix on television until MTV spelled the beginning of the end. I have watched Soul Train on and off for as long as I can remember, and even though they've changed looks over the last three decades to keep up with the times the format has remained the same.

The annual Soul Train Music Awards (part of the show's franchise) will be held this weekend and will start airing next weekend; but with the way things are going, could it be their last? The future of one on television's longest-running shows 35 years running rests in the hands of Don Cornelius.

And with that...we wish you love, peace, and SOOOOOOOOO long!

MOB RULES AT THE OSCARS!

Hello, everybody. At 3 hours, 47 minutes, the 79th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday were, to quote Jerry Garcia, "A long, strange trip it has been." But despite the length, it was worth it thanks to host Ellen DeGeneres and voiceover legend Don LaFontaine as one of the announcers.

For the night's big winners, the trip to Oscar gold was also a memorable one as Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren were honored Best Actor and Actress for their "royal" roles as King and Queen respectively, while Alan Arkin beat Eddie Murphy for Supporting Actor (thanks, "Norbit"!) with Jennifer Hudson easily claiming Supporting Actress.

Meanwhile, Al Gore finally won something as "An Inconvient Truth" picked up Documentary Feature and Best Song for Melissa Etheridge; the latter a first for a documentary. "Happy Feet" clogged the "Cars" for Animated Feature; "The Lives Of Others" trumped the heavily favored "Pan's Labyrinth" for Foreign Language Film (at least "Labyrinth" did pick up three Oscars); and in his 19th stab at that gold, Kevin O'Connell who helped with the sound for "Apocalypto"....lost again, this time to "Dreamgirls."

After everything was said and done, "The Departed" took the most bounty with five awards including Adapted Screenplay, Best Picture of 2006, and after five attempts, Martin Scorsese as Best Director; I'll get to him in a bit.

Now while the temperatures here in Fairbanks have been in the below zeros for at least a week, it was the red carpet that generated tons of heat. Mirren looked like a queen herself in her Christian Lacroix, while Jessica Biel looked more like hot in Oscar de la Renta pink than pretty. Other standouts included those from Jodie Foster (Vera Wang), Beyonce Knowles (Armani), last year's Best Actress and the still single Reese Witherspoon (Nina Ricci), and Jennifer Lopez (Marchesa).

So whose stood out the most? It has to be Penelope Cruz and Cate Blanchett. If this was a report card, I would've graded them both A's. But I'm going to have to give Anne Hathaway, Cameron Diaz, and Jennifer Hudson all F's, as they flunked in what they had on..

And now, to the stories behind the wins: Dame Helen Mirren came a long way from the "Prime Suspect" series while Forest Whitaker's road to gold started with "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (alongside future Oscar winner Nicolas Cage, whose "Ghost Rider" is still tops at the box office) and went all the way to...the recent revival of "The Twilight Zone"? Next up for him will be "The Air I Breathe" with three-time Sexiest Woman winner Sarah Michelle Gellar, who hit the Oscar party circuit on Sunday and still looks fabulous as she's hitting 30 this spring.

But in the end, it was all about the man behind "The Departed." After five losses in over two decades to Robert Redford, Barry Levinson, Kevin Costner, Roman Polanski, and Clint Eastwood while working alongside Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Paul Newman, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, and Daniel Day-Lewis in his films, Martin Luciano Scorsese is finally sitting on top of the cinematic globe. A well-deserved victory for a well-honored director.

It may have long and dragged out as usual (in Alaska, the show aired on a (usual) delay till 11:20 pm), but for the night's big winners including Scorsese as the biggest of them all, the 79th Annual Academy Awards was a one-night only affair. And with my usual take on entertainment's biggest night...good night!

(Oh, by the way...as for my picks, it was back to the old standard (after last year's clean sweep) as I got four out of six.)

Oscar Preview Week: Best Picture and My Predictions

Here we go as Oscar Preview Week concludes with the five films up for Best Picture of 2006 and my picks. In Best Picture, you've got a Golden Globe winner for Foreign Language film going up against a Golden Globe winner for Motion Picture-Drama. Though one of them is favored to win, don't rule out the other three nominees. And they are...

BEST PICTURE (producers' names are in parentheses):
"Babel" (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Jon Kilik, and Steve Golin): Several interwoven storylines unfold across four countries as difficulties in communication and understanding complicate life in the shrinking global village. A Moroccan shepherd, a pair of American tourists, a deaf Japanese teenager, and a Mexican nanny and her two young American charges are among the characters whose lives connect in unexpected ways.
"The Departed" (Graham King): Unbeknownst to the Massachusetts state police department, crime boss Frank Costello has placed a mole in its ranks: cadet Colin Sullivan. The police succeed in infiltrating Costello's organization as well, however, providing a credible criminal background for undercover cadet Billy Costigan, who manages to gain Costello's trust.

"Letters From Iwo Jima" (Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Lorenz): The battle of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Second World War, is examined from the point of view of the Japanese soldiers defending the island. A cache of letters found years later provides the perspectives of several soldiers as they prepare for the coming American attack, longing for home and knowing they face almost certain death. Eastwood's last Best Picture win was for "Million Dollar Baby" two years ago; Spielberg's was for "Schindler's List" in 1994.
"Little Miss Sunshine" (David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, and Marc Turtletaub): Seven-year-old Olive dreams of winning a children's beauty pageant and convinces her family to drive her from their home in New Mexico to California for the Little Miss Sunshine competition. Along for the ride are Olive's father, a failed motivational speaker, her heroin-addicted grandfather, silent brother, suicidal uncle, and her increasingly frustrated mother.
"The Queen" (Andy Harries, Christine Langan, and Tracey Seaward): In the days immediately following the death of Princess Diana in 1997, public grief turns to outrage at the perceived lack of response to the tragedy on the part of Britain's royal family. As the recently elected Prime Minister Tony Blair urges her to be more responsive to the mood of the nation, Queen Elizabeth confronts the changes that modern life has forced on the centuries-old monarchy.

And that's the field, now comes to the all-important question: Who will take it all on Sunday night? Last year, thanks to a last-minute pick for "Crash" over "Brokeback Mountain", I finally got all six right for the first time. But will I make it two years in a row? Here's who I think will walk out of the Kodak Theatre after Sunday with the hardware:

Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker
Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Director: Martin Scorsese (will he finally win this time?)
Best Picture: Last year, "Brokeback Mountain" may have received the Golden Globe but in the end -- thanks to a Screen Actors Guild win -- lost to "Crash". This year, "Babel" picked up the Globe though it was "Little Miss Sunshine" taking the SAG for Best Motion Picture Ensemble. But I'm not going to repeat myself this time and will say that when the smoke clears, everyone will be babbling about "Babel."

So there you go. We'll see how I fare on Sunday when the 79th Annual Academy Awards air on ABC. Now it may be live at 5:00 pm on the West Coast, but not to Alaska and Hawaii; the show will air much later in the evening at 7:00 and 6:00 in their respective states. Can you imagine us being home by 4:00 pm here in Alaska or 3:00 pm in Hawaii to catch the Oscars live? Nah!!

Anyway, as always I'll have my complete thoughts on the big show on Monday; see you then!

Oscar Preview Week: Director, Foreign Language Film, and Animated Feature Film

It's a triple threat as we continue Oscar Preview Week with the Directing, Foreign Language Film, and Animated Feature Film field. For one of the director nominees, could this year finally be it after six tries?

DIRECTING (directors' names are in parentheses):
"Babel" (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
"The Departed" (Martin Scorsese): His eighth Director nomination, and there is buzz that he may finally win on Sunday.
"Letters From Iwo Jima (Clint Eastwood): Last time around, he beat Scorsese to the Oscar stage for "Million Dollar Baby". Clint also scored a one-two punch in 1992 for "Unforgiven."
"The Queen" (Stephen Frears): Previous nomination was for "The Grifters."
"United 93" (Paul Greengrass): As the events of September 11, 2001 unfold with a documentary-like realism, the chaos and confusion surrounding the terrorist attacks are felt throughout air traffic control headquarters and the military branches responding to the attacks. On United Airlines Flight 93, terrorists seize control of the plane as the terrified passengers piece together a plan to overcome them.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
"After The Wedding" (Denmark): When Jacob, the head of an Indian orphanage, returns to Copenhagen at the request of a potential benefactor, he is persuaded by the man to attend his daughter's wedding. There, he meets the donor's wife, Helene; an encounter that reawakens difficult memories from Jacob's past. Denmark won back-to-back honors in that category in 1987 and 1988.
"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" (Algeria): For the North African troops fighting for France during the Second World War, their experience in uniform becomes a painful lesson in just how little regard their colonial rulers have for their humanity. As one company of soldiers pushes north through Europe, its members continue to find themselves denied the basic rights taken for granted by their French counterparts. Algeria's fourth nomination; its last win was in 1969 for "Z."
"The Lives Of Others" (Germany): In East Berlin in 1984, the secret police organization, Stasi, conducts extensive surveillance operations against any East German citizen suspected of opposing the Communist regime. When Captain Gerd Weisler begins monitoring the daily life of the playwright Georg Dreyman, he finds himself increasingly unwilling to betray his subject's private moments to his superiors. Germany's seventh nomination, but prior to reunification it received nine other nods; the overall total now is 15.
"Pan's Labyrinth" (Mexico): In the violent period following the Spanish Civil War, a young girl captivated by a fairy tale comes to believe she is the lost princess of the story. In the wake of her mother's remarriage to a cruel fascist officer, young Ofelia explores a vast stone labyrinth, where she encounters the faun Pan and is given a series of three tasks to perform. Mexico's seventh Foreign Language nod, and thanks to several wins from BAFTA and U.S. critics' awards (it lost the Golden Globe to "Letters From Iwo Jima"), it is a heavily favored to claim the prize.
"Water" (Canada): In India in 1938, eight-year-old Chuyia--a child bride--learns she is now a widow. Taken from her parents, Chuyia is sent to live for the remainder of her life in a widow's ashram run by the greedy, tyrannical Madhumati. There, she is befriended by the beautiful Kalyani, a young widow who is shunned by the other women and forced by Madhumati to work as a prostitute. Canada's fourth nomination with its previous win being for 2003's "The Barbarian Invasions."

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
"Cars": Cocky racecar Lightning McQueen is heading across the country to face his rivals in the California Piston Cup racewhen he is forced to stop in the small town of Radiator Springs. Sentenced by the town judge to repair its mainroad, loner Lightning learns a lesson in friendship from the easygoing locals. "Cars'" other nomination is for Best Song (Randy Newman). If he wins, he'll make us all forget about Three Six Mafia from last year.
"Happy Feet": Mumble is a young Emperor penguin who, unlike the rest of his colony, can't sing a note but is a dazzling dancer. Banished for this perceived flaw by the colony's rigid elders, Mumble begins an odyssey that leads him to a band of friendly Mexican penguins...and his first encounters with the two-legged creatures whose presence threatens the animals' Antarctic home.
"Monster House": When twelve-year-old DJ confronts Nebbercracker, the owner of the menacing house across the street, the sinister old man is taken away after a seemingly fatal seizure. Along with his friends, Chowder and Jenny, DJ decides to explore the house...only to discover that it has its own fatal way of dealing with invaders.

Tomorrow, the conclusion of Oscar Preview Week with Best Picture and my picks. See you then, and good night.

Oscar Preview Week: Best Actor/Actress

Hello, everybody. I'll get to the (very) latest on Britney Spears' antics in a bit, but we continue our Oscar Preview Week with a look at the Lead Acting nominees. Best Actor has two black nominees; one of them was up before for "Ali" while another is fresh off his Golden Globe win. We also have another ex-Mouseketeer, an Honorary Oscar winner, and a double nominee in the mix.

BEST ACTOR:
Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond": Leonardo DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a South African smuggler who forms a partnership with a man who has found a valuable diamond. Film synopsis: Amid the chaos of Sierra Leone's civil war, fisherman Solomon Vandy is parted from his family and forced to work in mining camps. When he escapes after finding a valuable pink diamond, he enters into an uneasy alliance with a South African smuggler who advises him to sell the stone in order to save his family. "Blood Diamond's" other nominations include Film Editing, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing.
Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson": Ryan Gosling portrays Dan Dunne, a teacher and basketball coach struggling with a drug problem as he attempts to mentor a talented young girl. Film synopsis: High school history teacher Dan Dunne leads a troubled personal life that is mired in a downward spiral of drugs and drinking. A committed teacher and girl's basketball coach despite his problems, he becomes a mentor to 13-year-old Drey, a studious girl whose own difficult family life has left her in desperate need of a father figure. Other than the third incarnation of the "Mickey Mouse Club" (along with Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and of course, the very troubled Britney), Gosling is also best known from "The Notebook" with girlfriend and fellow Canadian Rachel McAdams.
Peter O'Toole, "Venus": Peter O'Toole plays Maurice, an aging actor who begins an unlikely friendship--and tentative courtship--with his best friend's great-niece. Film synopsis: Maurice is an aging, albeit still working, actor whose main source of social interaction is his friendship with fellow thespian Ian. When Ian's great-niece, the working-class Jessie, moves in with him, Maurice finds himself smitten with the girl, and the two begin an unlikely friendship that Maurice hopes will lead to something more. He may have received an Honorary Oscar in 2002, but this is his eighth straight Best Actor nomination and at 74, he may be the second oldest winner behind Peter Fonda. Besides "Venus", O'Toole was also in "One Night With The King" last year.
Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness": Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a loving father who struggles to care for his young son while trying to regain his financial footing after becoming homeless. Film synopsis: When Chris Gardner loses both his money and his wife through a disastrous investment, he struggles to care for his young son while attempting to get back on his feet. Without a home or income, Chris must find a way to last through his six-month internship at a brokerage firm without losing custody of five-year-old Christopher. Like I mentioned, Smith's last nomination was for "Ali"; he lost to Denzel Washington.
Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland": Forest Whitaker plays Idi Amin, the notorious Ugandan dictator whose charismatic personality cannot mask the savage brutality of his actions. Film synopsis: An idealistic Scottish doctor working in Uganda unexpectedly finds himself selected by the nation's dictator, Idi Amin, to serve as his personal physician. As young Nicholas Garrigan succumbs to the seductive extravagances of palace life, he also becomes an eyewitness to the horrors and brutality of Amin's regime. Whitaker along the way received Golden Globe and BAFTA honors for that role, and there's a good chance he may score the trifecta on Sunday night.

On the Best Actress side, two nominees took the Oscar stage before, while two of them after a few nominations has yet to. Add in a spicy Spaniard and this is one hot battle.
BEST ACTRESS:
Penelope Cruz, "Volver": As Raimunda, Penélope Cruz portrays a Spanish woman dealing with a series of surprising events that threaten to throw her life into chaos. Film synopsis: The women in a Spanish family support one another through a series of dramatic changes in their lives. When young Paula kills her abusive father, her mother, Raimunda, hides his body in the freezer of a neighbor's vacant restaurant and then decides to run the business herself, while her sister Sole is stunned by the reappearance of their mother, who perished in a fire years ago.
Judi Dench, "Notes On A Scandal": Judi Dench plays Barbara Covett, a lonely teacher who develops a crush on a new colleague and uses herknowledge of the woman's affair with a student to manipulate her. Synopsis: Barbara Covett is a lonely teacher who develops an unrequited infatuation with her school's newest staff member, the beautiful Sheba Hart. When Barbara catches Sheba in an affair with a student, she uses her knowledge to place Sheba in her debt...a situation she hopes will give her the upper hand in their relationship. With nomination #6 now, Dench's only win was in 1998 for "Shakespeare in Love" (Supporting Actress).
Helen Mirren, "The Queen": As Queen Elizabeth, Helen Mirren portrays the British monarch facing changes in her traditional role during thedifficult period following the 1997 death of Princess Diana. With BAFTA and Golden Globe prizes for "The Queen" (to go along with the Emmy and Golden Globe she already got for "Elizabeth I"), she is the odds-on favorite to take it all the third time around.
Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada": Meryl Streep plays Miranda Priestly, the icily difficult fashion editor whose outrageous demands make the lives of her two assistants a nerve-wracking challenge. Synopsis: When idealistic journalism major Andy Sachs lands a job as an assistant to fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, she is soon struggling to cope with both the high-pressure demands of the critical Priestly and her colleagues' open disdain for her own lack of style and fashion sense. In her 14th nomination with two wins in 1979 ("Kramer vs. Kramer") and 1982 ("Sophie's Choice"), Streep is the most nominated actress in Academy Awards history. Also, she is the only lone American up for this year's Actress prize.
Kate Winslet, "Little Children": Kate Winslet plays discontented wife and mother Sarah Pierce, whose affair with a neighbor may destroy both their marriages. Synopsis: When Sarah and Brad, two young parents dissatisfied with the boredom of their suburban lives, meet through their children at the park, they begin an affair that may destroy both their marriages. Interwoven with their story is the troubled life of sex offender Ronald McGorvey, who becomes an object of suspicion and rage following his return to the neighborhood. This is Winslet's third Best Actress nomination to go along with her two previous Supporting Actress nods, making it five overall.

Tomorrow, we continue Oscar Preview Week with Director, Foreign Language Film, and Animated Feature Film; then on Friday, Best Picture and my predictions.

Now...Oops, she's out of rehab again! Just a little after 24 hours, Britney Spears checked out of Promises Treatment Center in Malibu on Wednesday just a few days after going bald, donning a wig, and adding another tattoo.

I said last night that the self-destruction for Britney has already begun, and it wouldn't be long until she explodes. And while Aguilera has added two more Grammys this year while Ryan Gosling is hoping to upset Forest Whitaker on Sunday, Britney meanwhile continues to fall off the deep end. And if she is reading this blog, I have a very urgent and open message to her: GROW UP BEFORE YOU SCREW UP!!!!!

But the one story we serious news junkies care about is that British troops are scheduled to be pulled out of Iraq by this summer. As for the casulaties, only 130 of those were killed since 2003 while the U.S. continues to lead the tally with over 3,000 of our troops. The news on the withdrawal may be a wake-up call to President Bush to do the same here.

Well, with all that said...have a good night.