Queen King

You've Got A Friend

Our six American Idol finalists faced song of Carole King this week. Here is how I saw it, on a scale of 1-10: James & Casey topped the group, each with a 9. Lauren scored an 8. Haley & Scotty trailed with a pair of 6s. Jacob bottoms out the group with a 5.

• James: Incredible acapella start. Nice to see soft side of hard rock turtle.
• Casey: Can't get much better. Full package. Good entertainer.
• Lauren: Really sold it. Felt like a concert. Still improving.
• Haley: Trainwreck of a performance. Bad choice. Done poorly. Nothing worked.
• Scotty: Picked a great song and ruined it. Almost terrible.
• Jacob: Shrill yelling sounds like crying, whining, complaining. Enough already.

Back To The Future

  American Idol goes to songs of the 21st Century. Seven contestants will soon be down to Six. Here is how Johnnny ranked them this week: #1 Casey Abrams: A+ In it to win it. So frickin good. Matches his best so far. #2 James Durbin: A- Awesome as usual. Not that crazy about it. Bit extreme. Futuristically cool. #3 Haley Reinhart: B+ My favorite of hers so far. Not too growley. Bit of the yodeler. Great choice for her. Nicely confident. #4 Scotty McCreery: B+ Nice medium upbeat performance. On pitch. Safe but boring. #5 Lauren Alaina: B+ Enough to stay in competition. Just OK. Needs to step it up. Enough make-up for a week. #6 Stefano Langone: C+ Tone of voice is shrill. Stopped singing half way thru. Trying to be too sexy man. #7 Jacob Lusk: C+ Don't pick songs that make you start crying. Tired of Mr. Overly Dramatic Scream Fest.

Rewriting History

A curved flat roof prevents water accumulation

Back when Christopher Columbus first discovered that someone else had already discovered America, all the "experts" thought that all buildings should be flat. But after each heavy rainfall, these flat roofs had chronic leakage (the earliest form of domesticated running water). Then, when the Wright Brothers took their maiden voyage, their maid discovered that all this unwanted roof rain retention might be solved by curving the roof to emulate the earth's horizon. Now, normal flat roof construction has added a curve (or "convexation") thus allowing all the rain run-off to come down in a controlled area and be routed directly into your garden or fish pond.

Depth of Feel

3-D 4-Shortened Depth of Field

Songs From The Movies

The countdown continues with songs from movies

American Idol marches on with Songs From The Movies night. There are so many tunes from which to choose. How could you ever pick just one?

My notes in groups from best to non-best:
Top
James: I'm not a heavy metal fan. T'was incredible. He's being true to himself.
Casey: Great jazz version of Nature Boy. Successfully takes chances. True artist.
Lauren: Best woman left in the competition (only one other). Great song for her.
Middle
Paul: Crowd pleasing singalonger. Unique but limited.
Bottom
Stefano: Not pleasing to my ears. Strained. Wouldn't want his CD even if it twas free.
Scotty: Opryland here we come. (He should have sung his first choice.)
Haley: Average performance. Bad choice of song. Nicely dressed.
Jacob: Overly dramatic. Self indulgent. Predictably lusky.
Going Home
Stefano or Haley!

Through The Looking Glass

Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction. --Alice In Wonderland

Rockin Roll Week

American Idols rockin the house

Tonight's American Idol show was Rock and Roll night. What a great theme for our nine singers to perform within. Everyone did well but someone will have to be eliminated. Sorry! I really enjoyed seeing Todd Rundgren (my favorite musician) get introduced from the audience, right after Pia had finished her yelling.

My performance notes in grouped order:

Top Group:
James Durbin sang Guitar Gently Weeps. Started a little boring but quickly got great. Very Adam Lambertish. Quite Durbinesque. Love that he takes chances.

Middle Group:
Haley actually did justice to Janis Joplin! Really liked it.
Jacob sang Man in the Mirror. This was the most that I have ever not disliked him.
Lauren did a nice job of Natural Woman, but bad hair and too mucho makeup.
Stefano: Surpri-sing-ly good sounding performance but could he ever open the eyes?
Casey sang Have U Ever Seen The Rain? Mist some due to a DVR pause mishap but saw the final recap. Why does he have to end every line with "eeee-ah" and look intensely evil for a second?

Bottom Group:
Paul McDonald had a farm: E-i, E-i, No! Johnny Cash would have gone thumbs down, but Rod Stewart probably loved it.
Scotty (beam me down) needs to learn how to hold the microphone normally. His Elvis didn't move the Pelvis.
Pia picked a nothing song that I didn't care for and she didn't do anything great with it.

Going Home: Paul. (Really going out on a limb!)

Sun Shade

Photon Mitigation Device

Here is another addition to my blog's Art Gallery. We're calling this Sun Shade. Any sunlight that makes it into the room, is painted a nice shade of peach. The scientific name for a window shade such as this is a photon mitigation device (PMD), but most folks still just call them curtains. As with any blog picture, you can click on the picture to see it a bit bigger. Happy Saturday!

Eleven 2 Nine

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

American Idol performance show on March 30 featured songs by Elton Johnny. Singing an Elton John song is a difficult task because he sings them so wonderfully. How do you think everyone did? Here are my notes in order of performance:

1: Scotty with guitar, Country Comfort, my favorite song by him so far. (B-)
2: Naima goes reggae, loved it, made it her own. (A-)
3: Paul tries Rocket Man, OK, but actually not OK. (C)
4: Pia sings yet another ballad, every week seems the same, getting old. (B+)
5: Stefano sings an excellent karaoke version of Tiny Dancer. Not great. (B)
6: Lauren attempted Candle in the Wind, nothing special, didn't do it for me. (B)
7: James leads an OK singalong version of Saturday, not my fav of his. (A-)
8: Thia sang Daniel, just barely OK, nuthin spec, average karaoke, pitchy. (C+)
9: Casey, Your Song, really nice, loved it, nice new look too. (A)
10: Jacob sang Sorry and that's what it was, way too overly dramatic, lusky. (D)
11: Haley with Benny and the Jets, started loungy, weak imitation, jets crashed. (C-)

Bottom Group Wish List: Thia, Haley, Jacob. Sorry!

Eleven 2 Ten

Ryan John Seacrest: The Next Johnny Carson

Ryan Seacrest will once again play host to American Idol. As a child, young Ryan would always have a little microphone and "do shows" at his home. On his next show, we will go from 11 to 10 finalists. The Top 10 finalists get to go on tour this summer. Who do you think will be eliminated this week? Going out on a limb, I predict Haley Reinhart will not make the Top Ten. Sorry!

A one-of-kind Ryan Seacrest tapestry

Moon Units

Do moon people irrigate their crops?

This is another addition to my blog's Art Gallery (which combines nicely into: Art Bloggery). This picture, called Moon Units, shows the surface of the moon during an eclipse. If you look closely, you can almost make out what look like fields of crops being grown by moon people. The question NASA scientists are pondering: Do these moonfolk use irrigation techniques to water their crops? Seeing is believing.

Top Twelve

Randy Jackson in his previous life

We are down to our Top Twelve on Season 10 of American Idol. Who do you think will be sent home this week? At this point, which contestants do you think will end up in Final Three? The Top 12 will be singing songs from the year they were born. (Currently the average age is: 21.)
Click on the "Top Twelve" title (above) to log your predictions and comments about this week's action.

Americ Anidol

There's always room for JLo

It's time 4 the Top Thirteen remaining American Idol contestants 2 once again sing to stay in it. We're now down 2: Ashthon, Casey, Haley, Jacob, James, Karen, Lauren, Naima, Paul, Pia, Scott, Stefano and Thia.

Getting Organized

It must be that time of year (and our lives) to go through everything in preparation for a garage sale to be held sometime in May. No nook or cranny is immune to a review of questions such as: Do we want it? Do we need it? Do we use it? Does it fit? Instead of thinking of it as getting rid of things, we are viewing this project as freeing up space, in our home, in our minds, and in our lives. Having a garage sale on the horizon really works well for wanting to continue the purging process. As a reward for going through another pile of stuff, I get to do an occasional blog post.

Another Season

Point Man: Steven Tyler

The American Idol end-game begins again in this first week of March. Twelve guys perform on Tuesday and twelve girls reciprocate on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, we will most likely go from 24 down to the Top 20. Kit and I already have some favorites, and some nicknames, but will leave that for the comment section below. Please feel free to let your initial thoughts be known on this year's competition and judging.