The 6^th Season of Deadliest Catch premiered last night on the Discovery Channel. It was filled with conflict, disaster and change. Crewmates were switched for the good of each boat and two captains got into a verbal argument about trying to steal employees from another boat. A fishing boat was capsized but the crew was saved.

This seems appropriate because we all know that this season will be sad because Phil Harris will pass away. Of all the seasons that I’ve watched Deadliest Catch I think this season’s will be more dramatic and more reality base on what life is all about.

If you don’t watch the show, I urge you to watch the show every Tuesday night. You can DVR the series and watch anytime you want to. This should be the most dramatic season of all.

Until later,

Linda

Last night’s results show was sad. Aiden Turner was eliminated. I thought he did a good job, much better than Kate Gosselin, but I guess the fans disagreed with me.

I did like the dances from the young dancers. They did a great job and was fun to watch. I also liked the pictures of the professional dancers when they were young and up and coming dancers. They all looked cute. I never realized that they started dancing as young as 3 years old. Dancing is a commitment and one has to love dancing to be successful.

The previews of next week’s movie theme night were pretty lame and not very funny. It’s obvious that they don’t have any comedy writers on the show.

My question of the week is: who is voting to keep Kate safe? She may be having fun and enjoying herself but she doesn’t compare to the other dancers.

Until later,

Linda

A new application  for the Blackberry smart phones gives you a simple solution to texting while driving.  The Auto TextBak  gives you an easy way to set an away message that automatically replies to incoming text messages. It works just like the out-of-office email response.

What a great idea! Here is how it works. When someone tries to text you while you are driving, the Auto TextBak replies with a message you input. For example, you can say, “I’m driving right now will get back to you when I arrive at my destination.” Or “I’m taking a nap, call you when I wake up.” Or “Spending time with my kids” You get the idea. In this way, you won’t be answering your text messages on your Blackberry when you are driving or every minute of the day.

Not only can you customize your away message but also you can build an ignore list and also check who Auto TextBak has responded to. The application icon turns from white to green to indicate that it is turned on and active.

Here is the best part of this new app, the cost is only $2.99 for a one time download. Check it out and remember don’t text while driving.

Until later,

Linda

Last night’s Dancing with the Stars had the judges double scoring each star’s performance. One was for the technical aspect and the other for performance. The leader from last night was my guy, Evan Lysacek. He is such a great guy and I’m glad he is doing well. He seems to have a great personality and I know that Anna is very happy that she has a star that she can work with.

The lowest scorer was Kate Gosselin. No surprise. But at least last night she looked much better. By that I mean, she went a lot lighter on the makeup and she had a softer look to her. Her Tango wasn’t that great. The problem with Kate is that she has a lot of baggage she is carrying to this show. One minute she is crying like a baby and feeling so sorry for herself and then the next minute she says that she’s having a lot of fun and wants to stay. Wacko!!!

I’m getting concerned about several dancers. Even though the judges may have given them good scores but I think they are in jeopardy. Jake Pavelka danced a very nice Tango even though he slipped at the end. I really like Jake and want him to stay another week. Then there is Aiden Turner. His rhumba was good but the judges are not on his side. I think he can improve and should stay a little bit longer. I’m also concerned about Niecy Nash. Her dances have all been pretty dull; no excitement and no signs that she is improving. She seems to be a nice person but quite frankly, she is not dancing material.

How about Pamela Anderson. Boy did they cover her up! Her sexy rhumba was very well done. Len complained that she was too overdressed and Bruno said that this was her best dance. No real comment from Carrie Anne. But I did hear Pamela say that she is needing romance right now. Hmm, I guess Pamela doesn’t have a significant other in her life.

Chad Ochocinco’s rhumba was very sexy and he has improved a lot. Did you catch that huge diamond ring he gave to Cheryl for being such a good teacher? Heck I used to give candles to my teachers. I guess times have changed.

Nicole Scherzinger is doing well. Her rhumba looked good but the judges had mixed feelings about it. She was so strong at the beginning and seems to have peaked too soon. Hopefully, she will pick up her dances in the next few weeks.

Who will be going home?  Kate Gosselin got the lowest scores and I think it is time for her to go.

Until later,

Linda

The season finale of Undercover Boss was the best one so far. I thought it would be another weepy series but instead showed how the President, Chris McCann, truly was a professional and was interested in his people and the business. I’m a business person. The lessons learned from his undercover assignment showed why 1-800 Flowers is a blooming (pardon the pun) business.

1-800 Flowers has been doing business since 1997. It offers both floral arrangement and gift/chocolate boxes. The two brothers Chris and Jim founded the company and understood the meaning of excellent customer service while providing excellent products. When Chris went undercover, he wanted to see how he could improve the day to day operations.

He went to several floral shops to see why some of the floral shops were doing better then others. What he found was that the managers of the stores are the most important asset to the company. Their excellent customer service was helping to grow the floral business as well as franchises.

He also found out that he could never be a production worker. He was very bad as a production worker at their chocolate factory. This reminded me of the old “I Love Lucy” series when she was working in a chocolate production line. Just like Lucy, he couldn’t keep up with the conveyor belt to fill the boxes. He learned that there was a minimum production that needed to be done each day at the factory. However, when the employees exceed the goal there was no incentive for overachievement. Chris McCann turned that around by offering incentives for exceeded the goal. Now that’s real management!

What really irritated me was when his big brother Jim, who is the CEO of the company,  tried to blow his undercover. Jim thought it was funny, I didn’t and neither did Chris. He was there to do a job. I think Jim thought this was a lark and wasn’t important. However, at the end Chris made many good management decisions that would help grow their company as well as their franchises.

By the way, I think Chris looked very attractive with his facial hair; he should keep that look.

Good ending to a rather boring and dull series. Now if the producers find more of this type of story, I’ll be happy to watch it again next season.

Until later,

Linda

Last night Buzz Aldrin was eliminated from Dancing with the Stars. What a class act he is. He saluted the judges and all the competitors saluted him back. He said that he danced this season to help all of us remember our military, the space project and to encourage that we continue to explore space in the future. At least now, the judges don’t have Buzz to kick around anymore. Hope they go after Kate Gosselin.

Who in the heck is voting for Kate? She can’t dance at all. At least she is getting a better attitude but please, don’t keep her around for another week.

Next week’s competition will involve a double score from the judges. One score will be for technical presentation and another for performance. We’ll see how that works out for everybody.

My favorite star, Evan Lysacek, is still on top of the leader board and I hope he stays there. The game is on!

Until later,

Linda

Last night’s story telling dances on Dancing with the Stars didn’t quite hit the mark for me on many of the dances. First of all, Len Goodwin tells the stars to perform dances that tell stories. Then he criticizes many of the stars that there was too much story telling and not enough dancing. Gosh, Len were you off your meds last night? He was cranky and wasn’t giving very good scores.

You know, I’m tired of the judges patronizing Buzz Aldrin. They compliment him, but give him low scores and then hint that he shouldn’t be on the show. This is getting very boring and for Buzz’s sake I hope he leaves tonight. He doesn’t need this kind of backhanded compliments from the judges. Besides, do you think he can do two dances in one show in the coming weeks?

Once again, there were weepers and criers – Kate Gosselin who has no talent whatsoever was crying as well as Niecy Nash. Niecy’s story-telling dance showed the emotion of a mixed racial couple in the ‘50’s who could not be together. She said if she couldn’t be with her boyfriend who she loved she would be devastated. Her partner, Louis, said that he feels her pain and that everyone who wants to get married should get married. Is Louis gay? Hmm?

It seems that Chad Ochocinco has found his grove. His Paso Dobla was pretty good. Erin Andrews Waltz was sensational, I liked her dance the best last night. Jake Pavelka’s Quick Step was fun as well as Aiden Turner’s Quick Step. Len didn’t like it, but like I said I think Len wasn’t on his meds last night.

Evan Lysacek left with the highest score of 26. He brought a lot of energy and fun to his Quick Step. I bet his partner Anna is happy to have such a talent to work with after all of these years with not very good partners. Nicole Scherzinger’s Quick Step was once again too vaudevillian. I’ve seen this dance from her partner Derek too many times and it’s getting old. Finally, I agreed with Len, he gave them a six. Bruno gave them a nine and they ended up with a 23.

There is a big brouhaha between Pamela Anderson and Kate Gosselin. Pamela doesn’t like Kate and both of them danced the Paso Dobla. Quite frankly, neither one’s story-telling dance was good. Pamela forgot some steps and looked like she was stumbling around the dance floor. Kate looked mean but stiff. She reminded me of a Zombie moving around the dance floor.

Who will be leaving tonite? For my sanity sake I hope it’s Buzz Aldrin. He doesn’t need the comments he is receiving from the judges. But if I had by druthers, it would be Kate Gosselin.

Until later,

Linda

Last night’s Undercover Boss involved Rick Arquilla, the President and COO of Roto Rooter. Roto Rooter is a large company that has been in business for 75 years and services about 90% of the population throughout the world.

This episode was rather unique in that Mr. Arquilla’s father used to work in a manufacturing plant and because of his dislike of what he was doing became an alcoholic that affected Mr. Arquilla deeply. How do I know this? Because this episode not only featured all the wet, disgusting stuff that his technicians do, it also featured Mr. Arquilla weeping and crying throughout the episode. Gosh I didn’t realize that he was a sensitive guy.

I understand his grief about his alcoholic father and his effect on him, but his employees also have their drama in their life. Most of the undercover work was located in and around New Orleans, LA. Did the producers pick this area because of the devastation that took place from Hurricane Katrina? Did the producers want to find some very devastating drama in the town that would make the viewers weep and cry just like Mr. Arquilla? It seems that people there are going on with their lives just fine.

What I found interesting is that the technicians are paid on commission. So the pricing for their services are not set in stone, just whatever they can get from the customer. That is why Henry in New Orleans dropped his price from $1,200 to $500 to work for a poor older woman’s drain problem. Next time you have a problem, negotiate the price to fix it.

Mr. Arquilla found his sole mate who was a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. More weeping and crying and bonding with this guy.

The funniest job Mr. Arquilla did was in the call center/dispatch. He designed the color-coded system used in the call center. But Mr. Arquilla is color blind! Glad he is in the front office and not in the call center.

Finally, he did try a job in the manufacturing plant and found out that people there were afraid that the company would outsource their jobs. He assured them that he would keep manufacturing in Des Moines, Iowa and not outsource the plant. Once again, we had a weepy moment from Mr. Arquilla with this one.

The season finale is next week with 1-800 Flowers. Now that would make me weep, cry and sneeze!

Until later,

Linda

Like I said, this is a tough season to predict who would be eliminated. I predicted either Kate Gosselin or Chad Ochocinco. But I was wrong, Shannon Doherty was eliminated. This was good news and bad news.

Bad news is that Chad and Kate are staying but good news because Shannon’s professional dance partner, Mark, jacked up his knee. He pulled his knee muscle and would be out for at least six weeks. So if Shannon stayed she would have to have another professional dance partner.

Shannon said that she was an actor and only danced for her Dad to see her dance. She did dance two dance routines and made her Dad proud.

The best part of tonight’s show was the Beach Boys. They are still rockin’ great. They sounded just like they did nearly forty years ago. I really enjoyed their songs.

Next week the stars need to do their dance routine by telling a “story.” Len doesn’t want to see any gimmicks just tell a story.

It should be fun to watch.

Until later,

Linda

Last night’s Dancing with the Stars showcased the Jive and Fox Trot. You can tell that all the stars are really working hard to dance their best. I agree this season is going to be a tough one to call.

I really enjoyed watching Buzz Aldrin’s Fox Trot to “Fly me to the moon”. How appropriate. I think the fans will keep him for a couple of weeks.

Once again, Kate Gosselin added drama to the show. I never did watch her reality show, but when I saw her tiff with Tony, I could tell that she is a person who is all about “me.” Tony walked out on her but came back as a true professional. I think he may not need to be worried about next week, because Kate’s performance was really poor. The judges gave her a 15 but I think she had a poorer performance compared to Buzz.

A rivalry is happening between Nicole Scherzinger and Evan Lysacek. Both are extremely good dancers and performers. We’ll see how long Nicole can outlast Evan.

At least Shannon Doherty didn’t cry last night. Her performance of the Jive was good. What can I say about Pamela Anderson? Her Fox Trot took me back to Marilyn Monroe’s “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” movie. I’m not quite sure what to make of Pamela. She did have missteps but stayed in character. She’s not really a high performing dancer.

Aiden Turner’s Fox Trot was a solid dance as well as Jake Pavelka’s Jive. Chad Ochocinco was once again too stiff. He bends his knees too much and his posture was poor. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was eliminated tonite.

So here are my predictions – it’s a toss up between Kate Gosselin and Chad Ochocinco.

 Until later,

Linda