American Idol 1st Elimination

One of the advantages of having the flu and having sat at home for three days is that I've caught up on a lot of TV. And one of Wilbert's and my ADDICTIONS has started again: American Idol, broadcast every Friday on the U.K.'s ITV2. It made me think I might start adding my own personal commentary to the millions of other people who write about it every week online. I won't be as fanatical (or timely) about it as others, but it'll be my $.02 worth.

I really only have two things to say about the first live show:

1. Black girls threw down! Go, sisters! Damn! Blew the white girls out of the frickin' water (though Gina wasn't too bad)! Especially LaKisha at the end was da bomb! Girl, took some damn nerve to sing Jennifer Hudson's song the week of the Oscars, but you worked it out, dawg! These gals are definitely among my favorites to win. Stephanie, Melissa, Jordin and Sabrina were hot too. Nicole, girl, what was you thinking? Go back to being a white girl, it suits you better.

2. HOT IDOL BOYS ALERT!: Blake (love me some blond idol boy!) and Chris Richardson are HOT and sing pretty well too. Big Chris scored some points with the "Il Divo and Teletubbies" comment, referencing some of Simon's past successes, but not my type. And Phil worked it out on stage with his performance too, but I prefer guys with hair. :-)

BTW, Paul Kim wasn't that bad, and I don't think he deserved to go. I think that America has never really seen an Asian singer before, and it doesn't fit into the stereotypes they have of what a performer/entertainer should "look like". Just a theory.

Homophobia & the NBA

From CNN: "The NBA has banished Tim Hardaway from All-Star weekend because of his anti-gay remarks made after another former player came out. "I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I'm homophobic," he said during a radio interview. After the comments caused outrage, NBA commissioner David Stern on Thursday pulled the retired player from a series of All-Star public appearances."

Good to see the sports world dealing with its own homophobia as being unacceptable. Maybe there is hope for the human race after all.

I just hope there's no NBA PR guy who is telling Hardaway in the background, "Listen, this isn't a big deal... just wait for it to blow over and you'll be back again. We hate fags too." And the story is nowhere to be found on NBA.com.

Another Gratuitous Proud Uncle Photo

My niece is the blonde with the monkey in front. :-) Apparently at birthday parties in her area you have to take practically the whole class (girls only, of course!) out for some special activity. Monkey, Bear and Bunny Making 101 seemed to be the activity of choice here.

Happy (belated) Birthday, Mer, and have lots of fun at Disney World! Love, Uncle 'Ris & Uncle Wilbert

My sweetie is 40; our nieces turn 6!

Wilbert turned 40 today, so I made him breakfast in bed before getting about my work for the day. Then after work we went out for Japanese and had a nice quiet evening in Amsterdam. Happy birthday, sweetie! Today he's off to England for a quick business trip and some sightseeing, so I get to play bachelor for two days. That doesn't happen often; usually it's the other way around!

This past weekend, we had a lovely 6th birthday party for his niece, Isabel. A lovely family occasion. Here is the birthday girl with one of her gifts, sporting some couture provided by her uncles. :-) It's great being able to share Wilbert's family when mine is so far away.


Funny enough, my niece Merrick also had her birthday this week; they're only a week apart! Photos from her celebration below with her Auntie Lorie and Mom (my sister):

Home Sweet Home Part 59

Seems like I'm always coming home from somewhere, but it's always just as sweet! :-)

Had a great time in the U.S. (wonderful to see Mom & Dad - always have a great time when it's just the three of us - great to see Stacey and Jordan, hit some major clearance sales and did some potentially very good business), but I was chomping at the bit after a week to be back home with Wilbert and the kitty krew!

Above is a picture of the annual company party, which had a Arabian Nights theme this year, which we loosely followed. Others were far more fanatical in their approach, as is to be expected. :-)

Plan is to stay home until China next month. How else are we going to get this wedding planned!?!

Dad is too cool!

I'm in Des Moines visiting my folks on my way to a business meeting in Denver. In this picture, my dad is sporting his new coat, a present from my mom for his upcoming birthday. It is a Ralph Lauren parka with a coyote-fur hood. Pretty fancy. They bought it off of E-Bay. Goes to prove you can find anything there. Yesterday I found some great deals at Dillard's in Jordan Creek Town Center, West Des Moines' newest mall. Marked down 50%, and then another 40% discount on top of that. So I picked up a new $300 winter coat for about $90. Which is about 78 euros for a brand new brown leather coat. Love that. Today not feeling so hot, skipping the Super Bowl party to get some rest. Signed up for Vonage and got a Des Moines telephone number I can use in The Netherlands. How cool is that? So all you Yanks who haven't been calling me because you think it's too expensive... I am calling your bluff! :-)