Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
what were you doing one year ago today?
Lazy day 4 in Aruba. We woke up at 11 and went to the buffet. We finally made a profit on the well...expensive breakfast. We each had two glasses of OJ, an omelette, fruit, pastries, pancakes, oatmeal...etc. We had so much food that we went back upstairs, and napped and hung around the room for about 3 hours.
We decided it was time to go do stuff so we searched the internet and decided to check out a helicopter tour of Aruba. We went down to the concierge and had them call but the phone wasnt working...no matter we got the directions and set off. We also made a reservation at the Trattoria right next to the lighthouse. On the way to downtown we noticed Subway was closed, Quiznos was closed...not good signs. Oh yeah...Good Friday. Absolutely everything was closed even some of the downtown casinos, most restaurants, and the helicopter tour place...too bad. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.
We realized that on Good Friday, everything is closed but the Jewish stuff. So we looked at the map for the synagogue and realized it was about 30 seconds away from the helipad. We drove by it and it seemed closed too so we took a few pics and were about to leave when a very nice woman opened the door and invited us in. The synagogue was very beautiful though stifling inside. The decor was simple, but nicely appointed. There are about 35 Jewish families on the island, but the woman said whenever a cruise comes in the congregation swells a bit. They currently lack a rabbi, but are looking for one. If you know anyone who is willing to relocate to Aruba to lead a Jewish congregation, please let me know.
After walking around downtown and taking a few pictures of iguanas sunning themselves we returned to the hotel and had a eensie weensie lunch of just grouper fingers (delicious) with fries. I also had a piña colada which was yumster. We went back upstairs for a little while and watched TV and napped...again until dinner time.
Finding the restaurant was much easier this time and we had another fantastic meal. I had the baby octopus in tomato sauce, garlic and olive oil (decent...a bit too swimming in the tomato sauce) and then my absolutely alltime favorite Italian disk...Linguini alla Vongole (linguini with clam sauce) which was quite good. Sara had the eggplant parm appetizer (kinda strange for an antipasti) and then the lasagna. The complementary bruschetta appetizer was probably the highlight of the night. And also the Coke was much much bubblier than the previous night. That made me happy.
On the way back we stopped at Ben and Jerry's. I had caramel ice cream in a sugar cone and Sara had cherry garcia / choc fudge brownie in a sugar cone...pretty standard but also splendicious. Totally and udderly (get it?) full, we returned to the hotel.
We looked at our watches and it was casino time so we opened up our room safe, took out our $100 chip plus the $35 profit from the other night, went back downstairs, and sat at the roulette table. Gambling didnt go so well tonight, as 17 stubbornly will not hit for us...We lost the $135 and another $100 before calling it quits for the night. We met a few nice people from Long Island, Queens, and Boston.
Can't win em all, but to be honest, I feel like a winner. :) Tomorrow's our last full day so we're gonna try to make it a busy one.
We decided it was time to go do stuff so we searched the internet and decided to check out a helicopter tour of Aruba. We went down to the concierge and had them call but the phone wasnt working...no matter we got the directions and set off. We also made a reservation at the Trattoria right next to the lighthouse. On the way to downtown we noticed Subway was closed, Quiznos was closed...not good signs. Oh yeah...Good Friday. Absolutely everything was closed even some of the downtown casinos, most restaurants, and the helicopter tour place...too bad. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.
We realized that on Good Friday, everything is closed but the Jewish stuff. So we looked at the map for the synagogue and realized it was about 30 seconds away from the helipad. We drove by it and it seemed closed too so we took a few pics and were about to leave when a very nice woman opened the door and invited us in. The synagogue was very beautiful though stifling inside. The decor was simple, but nicely appointed. There are about 35 Jewish families on the island, but the woman said whenever a cruise comes in the congregation swells a bit. They currently lack a rabbi, but are looking for one. If you know anyone who is willing to relocate to Aruba to lead a Jewish congregation, please let me know.
After walking around downtown and taking a few pictures of iguanas sunning themselves we returned to the hotel and had a eensie weensie lunch of just grouper fingers (delicious) with fries. I also had a piña colada which was yumster. We went back upstairs for a little while and watched TV and napped...again until dinner time.
Finding the restaurant was much easier this time and we had another fantastic meal. I had the baby octopus in tomato sauce, garlic and olive oil (decent...a bit too swimming in the tomato sauce) and then my absolutely alltime favorite Italian disk...Linguini alla Vongole (linguini with clam sauce) which was quite good. Sara had the eggplant parm appetizer (kinda strange for an antipasti) and then the lasagna. The complementary bruschetta appetizer was probably the highlight of the night. And also the Coke was much much bubblier than the previous night. That made me happy.
On the way back we stopped at Ben and Jerry's. I had caramel ice cream in a sugar cone and Sara had cherry garcia / choc fudge brownie in a sugar cone...pretty standard but also splendicious. Totally and udderly (get it?) full, we returned to the hotel.
We looked at our watches and it was casino time so we opened up our room safe, took out our $100 chip plus the $35 profit from the other night, went back downstairs, and sat at the roulette table. Gambling didnt go so well tonight, as 17 stubbornly will not hit for us...We lost the $135 and another $100 before calling it quits for the night. We met a few nice people from Long Island, Queens, and Boston.
Can't win em all, but to be honest, I feel like a winner. :) Tomorrow's our last full day so we're gonna try to make it a busy one.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
American Idol 2009 Top 13
I can barely keep in my excitement for another season of American Idol. We got through the auditions and the drawn out Hollywood Week, and finally we're down to business. It's down to 13, and for the next three months or so, one person will lose every week Survivor style.
The finalists are:
Adam Lambert - 26 year old LA gothesque dramarocker with astounding range and tone
Alexis Grace - 21 year old soulful bluesy from Memphis who "dirtied" her look to the delight of the judges. Simon said she reminds him of a new Kelly Clarkson
Allison Iraheta - 16 year old dyed flame red head from LA. Great stage presence for being so young. "Blew it out da box" with her last performance of "Alone."
Anoop Desai - 21 year old from Chapel Hill. Judges expanded top 12 to top 13 to let him it. Judges keep chirping about "noop-dawg's" likability factor. Decent voice, not the best.
Danny Gokey - 28 year old from Milwaukee church music director with a powerful voice that brings forth a shiver from time to time. Positive influence for many with his message. His wife died during surgery just seven months ago.
Jasmine Murray - 16 years old from rural Mississippi. Highly commercial, marketable, recognizable face, voice, message. Blew the judges away with her pipes last performance.
Jorge Nunez - 20 years old from Puerto Rico. Excellent, emotional singer who sings directly from the heart. Has difficulty thinking in English when he's excited. Great personality.
Kris Allen - 23 years old from Arkansas. Kind of standard clean cut guy with, in my opinion, an average, fairly forgettable voice. Popular with the ladies, but may have trouble distinguishing himself and standing out.
Lil Rounds - 23 year old mother of three from Memphis. A powerhouse singer who knows exactly the artist that she is and doesn't waver from her personality. Was criticized (sort of) for sounding too much like the original in her last performance.
Matt Giraud - 23 from Michigan. The most bluesy guy in the competition. Won over the Hollywood Week crowd and the judges when he sung and played "Georgia" on piano. Talented in "riffing" the vocals. As long as he sticks to blues and avoids pop he gets good comments from the judges.
Megan Joy - 22 from Utah. Repeatedly called "relevant" and "current" by Simon, the heavily tattooed artist has a pleasant tone and very commercial face. She is probably the most original artist in the top 13.
Michael Sarver - 27 year old oil rigger from Texas. I guess he's the "big guy with the big heart." Don't remember too much about his voice or stage presence, but I could name a few others that I would have cast in his place.
Scott MacIntyre - 23 year old from Arizona. Scott is almost completely blind, and feels much more comfortable playing piano and singing versus just singing, but amazes the judges and seemingly America again and again with his amazing story of perseverance.
Time for my predictions. I'm going to split the 13 into a top and bottom 4 and a middle 5 so I have a slightly better chance at being right. I'll also guess the winner of the whole competition and next week's loser.
Top 4:
Lil Rounds
Megan Joy
Adam Lambert
Alexis Grace
Middle 5:
Scott McIntyre
Matt Giraud
Allison Iraheta
Danny Gokey
Jasmine Murray
Bottom 4:
Anoop Desai
Michael Sarver
Jorge Nunez
Kris Allen
Winner of American Idol: Alexis Grace
13th Place: Michael Sarver
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