I’ve been watching the TV show “Heroes” since it aired in late September.  While the explanation of the show says it is a drama, action/adventure and science fiction series I quite frankly have found some of the episodes quite bizarre to say the least.

The Merriam Webster dictionary on-line defines a “hero’ as a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability.  The summary of the show says it is a saga about people all over the world discovering that they have superpowers and how they try to deal with this and how it affects their lives.

So let’s start with some of the characters.  First of all there is a 28 year old junkie who has the ability to paint images of the future.  Do you think maybe it’s the cocaine/heroine induced ability and not a true divine ability that makes him paint the future?  Which divine descendant did he come from – the god of “Coco?”

Then there is this chick that literally has a split personality.  She’s the 33 year old Las Vegas showgirl who looks into the mirror and sees herself twice.  The good twin and the evil twin appear right before your eyes.  The evil twin has super human powers that can literally lift a 250 pound man and beat him into a pulp.  Do you think her evil twin could use some anger management?  Also I know there is medication for a split personality disorder so why isn’t she on it?

The last episode told the story of the beat cop who can hear other people’s thoughts.  The episode showed that he is dyslexic so he has human frailties but his super powers allow him to read other peoples thoughts.  Sounds almost like a “mind-blending” episode of Star Trek to me!

Then there is the cheerleader.  Now she is sweet and pretty so I really don’t want to bash her too much, BUT on one of the previous episodes she was found dead.  The next scene shows her in an autopsy room with her chest cut open and she woke up!  HOW BIZARRE IS THAT!  She was able to put herself back together again and walk out of the autopsy room.  Yuck!  I hope I never have those types of powers.  That would really freak me out.

Finally, there is Hiro the 24 year old Japanese comic-book geek.  His powers make time stand still.  So I guess he makes time stand still and then runs around and rearranges stuff so bad things won’t happen to people.  Okay this one is too unbelievable.  Haven’t the writers watched all the sci-fi movies where if you bend time and change what happens it throws off the molecules of the world and changes future events that may cause more problems?  Geez, you would think they would know better.

Actually this show is pretty entertaining even though unbelievable at times.  Just as long as we understand these “heroes” are not from divine descent endowed with great strength or ability but just a writer’s imagination to entertain the viewer.  I’ll keep watching the show but they are not my “heroes” not like Super Man or Spider Man.  But that’s a different story.

Until later,

Linda

With only one week as the majority in Congress, the Democrats are now talking about a military draft.  Figures!  Democratic Representative Charles Rangel from New York said Sunday that he will introduce legislation to reinstate the military draft, asserting that current troop levels are insufficient to sustain possible challenges against Iran, North Korea and Iraq.

Mr. Rangel, your proposal is ridiculous.  I remember the draft back in the ‘60s and the protests and the draft dodging that went on.  Right now, we have the best trained, educated and committed military personnel in the world.  I remember Mr. Rangel’s statements a couple of years ago saying that there should be a draft.  I thought back then it was wrong and I still do. 

Rangel went on to say that “having a draft would not necessarily mean everyone called to duty would have to serve. Instead, “young people (would) commit themselves to a couple of years in service to this great republic, whether it’s our seaports, our airports, in schools, in hospitals,” with a promise of educational benefits at the end of service.”  While this sounds noble enough, who is going to pay for the additional personnel assigned to seaport, airports, schools, etc?

You and me – that’s who!

Once again the Democrats want big government programs that cost us the taxpayers’ money.  Don’t be fooled with the greater good idea they are trying to sell us.  It just won’t work.  Today’s military is very high tech and needs well educated personnel to serve.  Once again, the Democrats have failed to understand the military and how it works as well as who is volunteering for the military today.  The average age is 26 with at least two years of college and some with a college degree.  Not 18 year olds who don’t know what they want to do with their life.  But dedicated and proud citizens that bring to the military skills and education to make it a noble profession along with the ideology to preserve freedom and protect this great country.

Thank goodness for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.  He’s not buying any of this.  I urge everyone to let their Congressman and Senator know that we don’t want the draft to be brought back.  Keep the military a place for dedicated people to serve their country.  With the high tech weapons we have now I feel confident that we can handle any situation. 

Until later,
Linda

If you are looking for a delicious recipe for your Thanksgiving Turkey stuffing, then read on.  This recipe has been handed down to me from my mother’s mother and it is steeped in tradition as well as yumminess!

You will need two loaves of bread – one loaf should be white and the other light rye.  Depending on how much stuffing you want to make, cut in cube shapes half a loaf each, but if you cut up both full loaves, you will need a large bowl to put the cut up cube pieces of bread.  Have fun mixing the white and rye cubed pieces with your hand.

Once mixed, put it aside and start cooking the turkey giblets.  Most people don’t care for the giblets but they really taste good when it is boiled.  Trust me!  Place the thawed giblets in a big pot of water and a couple of Bay Leaves and start boiling.  This should take about 1 ½ to 2 hours until all the giblets are tender.  You can include the turkey neck but you really don’t get much meat off the bone and it takes longer to boil.

While the giblets are boiling, cut up a stalk of celery in small pieces.  If you like onions, dice up some onions as well.  In a large skillet place about a half of stick of butter – yes butter, why worry about calories and cholesterol, it’s Thanksgiving for heaven’s sakes! 

Melt the butter in the pan and dump in the diced celery and onions and sauté on low heat.  You don’t want to burn the celery or onion.  Just make them soft so they aren’t crunchy.

When the giblets are cooked cut them up in small pieces and put them in the bread bowl.  Don’t throw out the water that is left in the giblet pot because you can use it for the stuffing.  But do dump the bay leaves – don’t put them in the stuffing mix!

Here is where the real fun begins.  Take the sautéed celery and onion and mix it in the bread stuffing bowl.  Open 2 cans of Chicken with Rice Soup and dump it into the bread bowl and mix, also melt at least ½ lb or 1 lb of butter (1 lb if you cut up the full two loaves) and mix it into the stuffing bowl.  If the stuffing still looks dry, then slowly pour the giblet juice into the bread mix until the mix is moist.

That’s it!  Done!  

You can stuff the turkey with this bread stuffing, but now they are not recommending this.  I suggest that you put the bread stuffing in a heat proof bowl and about an hour and a half before your turkey is ready, place it in the oven.  Don’t forget to put at least a couple of pats of butter at the top to let it soak into the bread stuffing.  This will give the stuffing a nice crisp top.

I recommend that you make the stuffing recipe the night before and put it into the refrigerator until you are ready to heat it up in the oven the next day.  Your bread stuffing will be the hit of the meal.

Enjoy!

Linda

Last night Dancing with the Stars crowned a new dancing star – Emmitt Smith! 

Congratulations Emmitt

Once again I called it.  He had grace, style, complimented his dance partner and played to the audience as a true professional can do.  Congratulations to Cheryl for winning again this year.  She is truly an awesome teacher and a fantastic dancer. 

What can I say about Mario?  He was good, no doubt about it, but not as a ballroom dancer.  Yes, he could be a dancer on Broadway, but not a ballroom dancer.  He’s young, he’ll get over it.

As the final show of this season ended it was nice that they had all the former dancers back on the show, which they usually do.  Tucker Carlson still can’t dance, Jerry Springer still is a clown on stage, but I thought Willa looked really good with her short dance.  Joey Lawrence was cute and this time HE WAS SMILING while he was dancing.  Some people just take longer to learn I guess.

I really enjoyed this season’s Dancing with the Stars and look forward to next season’s show with new star’s.  So for now, I will have to fill the void for Tuesday night – maybe watch NCIS – mmmm, Mark Harmon! 

Check back I’m sure I will be musing about other shows on T.V.

Until later,

Linda

Last night’s Dancing with the Stars final show was awesome.  Both Mario and Emmitt left everything on the dance floor.  How can anyone decide who is the best dancer?  Cheryl and Karina did a great job of making up the routines that showed off the best of each of the stars’ abilities and talents.

Mario’s Samba was right on beat.  His Pasa Doble showed how flexible, powerful and passionate he is.  Mario’s free style dance showed a lot of energy, enthusiasm and athleticism.  Total score for all three dances was 89 out of 90.

Emmitt’s Samba was awesome!  I wanted to get up and shake with him.  For a big man he has some remarkable moves.  His Mambo charmed everyone in the house and showed he was a true professional in anything he tries to do.  Emmitt’s free style dance was truly “can’t touch this” event.  He was great and the dance was truly entertaining. Total score for all three dances was 89 out of 90.

So who is going to win?  I found it interesting that they showed a clip from a conversation with Emmitt’s daughter saying that she thought he had more fans and that he was going to win.  How cute!  I personally think he should.

Why?

Emmitt has shown that he is a professional who has learned the technical aspects of dancing and entertains at all times.  Dancing is fun!  He has a great smile, compliments his partner, Cheryl, and looks like he is having a wonderful time.  He has smiled his way into first place for me.

Mario on the other hand seems to be the type of dancer who does not compliment his partner, Karina, but takes center stage.  What I know about ballroom dancing is that the man should compliment the woman while dancing but together they look great as a pair.  I don’t think Mario has accomplished that.

In either case, we will know tonight on the Results show.  Good luck to both stars!

Until later,

Linda

Game on! 

Tonight Dancing with Stars is the final showdown between Mario and Emmitt.  Just as I predicted!  Mario has talent, looks and is young.  Emmitt has flair, grace and is “older.”  Who will the judges give perfect scores to?  Who will the viewers cast all their votes for? 

They are dancing three dances for this final, Ballroom, Latin and Free Style.  This should be a must watch show.  Will Mario breeze through all dance routines as he has done in the past?  Will Emmitt choke and not do well?  I don’t think so.  He’s a professional athlete and knows how to compete.

The results will be announced on Wednesday night and all I can say is good luck to both Mario and Emmitt.  This season’s show has provided a lot of entertainment. 

Who do you think will win? Let me know and we’ll see on Wednesday.

Until later,

Linda

Last night Dancing with the Stars show said goodbye to Joey Lawrence.  I hated to see him go because he was wonderful the last two weeks.  This was the toughest vote yet this season.  Of course he took it gracefully and he said that he will be on the Dancing with the Stars the Tour Show.  That alone must be quite an honor.

It was good seeing some of the former stars dancing the Jive last night.  It appears that some of them were really practicing hard and looked really good.  The Tour Show starts on December 19^th in San Diego, moves to Fresno on December 20^th, then onto Seattle on the 22^nd, Portland on the 23^rd, then back down to San Jose on the 27^th and Los Angeles on the 28^th, Glendale on the 29^th, then onto fabulous Las Vegas on the 30^th, Omaha on the 2^nd of January and ends up in St. Paul, Minnesota on the 3^rd of January.  This tour seems to be very aggressive but it looks like it will be a lot of fun.

Mario and Emmitt are the last two standing now.  If you remember, I called them as the finalist a couple of weeks ago; gosh I just love it when I’m right.  Each of these stars has their own unique style of dancing.  Mario is the true professional, perfecting each move, getting into the character of the dance, and displaying great showmanship.

As a former football player, Emmitt shows tenacity and a high work ethic to perform each week.  He has grace and flair and throws in a lot of fun and excitement.  “Twinkle – toes” was the perfect name to give him but he has developed his dancing techniques into true professionalism. 

Next Tuesday’s show Mario and Emmitt will be dancing three dances – ballroom, Latin and a “free-style.”  Learning three dances in a week is certainly a challenge but I know both of them can do it.  The final should be fun and exciting to watch.  See you there!

Until later,

Linda

Thanks to all of you who voted yesterday, your voices were heard loud and clear.  The Democrats have regained control of the House and in a few days the results of the Senate should be known.

What does this mean to the American people? 

How I see it, we just got tired of all the bickering and finger pointing between the Democrats and Republicans.  Nothing was accomplished in the last two years.  Every important issue was stalled out.  This Congress was the “do nothing” Congress and now we are telling them to “do something!”  Stop your arguing and bickering, get down to work and give us some direction on important issues. 

Issues such as Immigration, Iraq, minimum wage and even social security are all important to us. 

Now I’m saying that the Democrats in two years will resolve all of these issues.  There may be more arguing and bickering going on but I am saying give the Democrats a chance to prove themselves that they can resolve these issues.  They didn’t seem to be able to the last two years but then they said it’s because they weren’t the majority.  So now you are the majority so do something. 

If they don’t then I urge the public to once again make their voices clear and vote them out in 2008!

Until later,

Linda

Last night’s Dancing with the Stars semi-final round was too hot to handle.  All the remaining stars brought their “A” game to the stage and turned out a fun and exciting night of dancing.

Mario’s Tango was judged as perfect for a score of 30.  This was the first perfect score given thus far this season.  His Cha Cha Cha seemed a little weak to me but he scored a 29.

Joey’s Quick Step was a true Hollywood Golden Age tribute.  He was decked out in a Hollywood style sailor outfit and his performance reminded me of those “old movies” I used to watch when I was a kid.  What a great dance routine!  He looked as though he was having fun and yes, he was smiling, finally!  The judges gave him a 29.  When Joey came back to do the Rhumba the judge’s loved it and gave him a 30.  Way to go Joey!

Emmitt was brilliant with the Waltz.  He glided through the dance routine and reminded me of a “Gentleman’s Gentleman.”  What a great performance.  I thought the judge’s score of 29 was not very good.  I would have given him a 30.  Then the gloves came off with the Cha Cha Cha and Emmitt was having a lot of fun dancing, shaking and smiling throughout the dance.  The judges’ loved it and gave him a 30.

So as it stands all three of the stars have a total of 59 points – a three-way tie for first place!  Now it’s up to the viewers to decide who should go to the final next week.  I really did enjoy last night’s dances and look forward to a rousing finale next week.  Good luck to all the stars.  You performed at your “A” level this week and now it’s just a matter of numbers as to who stays and who goes.

Until later,

Linda

Stop whatever you are doing on Tuesday, November 7th and go vote!  I’m not asking you, but telling you that you must vote.  Vote either for Republican or Democrat candidate, vote for or against your state’s ballot issue – but just vote!

Young, old and in between let your voice be heard today!  Good luck to all the candidates but there can be only one winner and I hope it is the best candidate for the job. 

 Happy Election Day to all!

Until later,

Linda