SURROUND SOUND

Finally, a weekend with no events or I least that's what I think. At the very least we have nothing to do this Saturday so we may just chill and relax. Mi chica's new schedule includes Saturday so I will attempt to catch up in some of the house things that need to be done.

For starters my home theater had not been working properly for the past five years, I had let my young in-laws do all the connections and for one reason or another it never worked properly so yesterday as soon as I got home from work I pulled everything out, rearranged our living room and then I started putting one cable at at time on my stereo.

The end result considering I am using a system that is easily over ten years old was great. Now once again I can play my CDs on my DVD player and get rich clear sound out of the stereo speakers, before I just could not get the bass to come out. So I am pretty happy with the results. Some of you may remember a post I had on the local air show. The jets flew so low near my house that I thought my surround sound started working all of a sudden. Well now if I put "Top Guy" in the DVD player the sound of the jets is bound to sound as real as the was the sound the day of the air show.

The only downside is that my "surround" sound viewing time is limited, as our bed room rests right behind our living room TV, which means loud movies could greatly decrease my life expectancy. lol

Any way, I will try to tackle one project at a time from now on, hopefully mi chica will be happy.

B

BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT


Today Diego turns 5



Another year has passed us by
Another birthday my dear lad
I still remember yesterday
A little bundle of joy you were

Now look at you my little man
So cool and handsome and not that small
Still bringing joy each time you are here
And yet our little bundle of joy still

Have a very happy birthday Diego
Grandpa and grandma love you.

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Diego
Happy Birthday to you
And many more...

T

TIDBITS


For the first time I have no clue as to who is leaving tonight. Obviously who I think should be bottom three and who will actually be leaving are two different stories. Chikezie is still struggling to gain a fan base so I wouldn't be surprised if it is him leaving tonight. We'll see.

I called it, didn't I? Yeah, that's how I finished my last post. I just knew that Chekizie would be the one. I really liked him, see I grew up in an environment where soul music was all we used to listen to, from the dancing to the music soul was a big part of me growing up. Music from Peabo Bryson, Peaches and Herb, The Stylistics, and so many others that used to sing with lots of feeling and emotion, not to mention the biggest of them all Luther Vandross. Man those were the years of great music. Chekizie had that soul sound that I grew up with and that I always loved. Sad to see him go but I knew it would be him. Kristy Lee Cook survives yet another week based on one decent performance.


Ruben Studdard's "Celebrate Me Home"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A burglar broke into a house one night.

He shone his flashlight around, looking for valuables.

He picked up a CD player to place in his sack when a
strange, Disembodied voice echoed from the dark saying,

'Jesus is watching you'

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flash
light off, and froze.

When he heard nothing more after a bit he shook his head
and continued.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect
the wires, Clear as a bell he heard,

'Jesus is watching you'

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically,
Looking for the source of the voice.

Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam
came to rest on a parrot..

'Did you say that?' he hissed at the parrot.
'Yep' the parrot confessed then squawked, 'I'm just
trying to warn you that he's watching you'

The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are
you?'

'Moses' replied the bird.
'Moses?' the burglar laughed.. 'What kind of people would
Name a bird Moses?'

'The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus'

T

TOP TEN

Here we go again, tonight the idol hopefuls will be singing songs from the year they were born, after last week's surprise elimination I know that anything can happen. It will be interesting to hear what songs they choose as most of them are from the 80's. Once I thought Chikezie and Syesha would be eliminated based on the fact that they are not as popular as the rest but amazingly both of them came in with strong performances and now both of them are in the top 10.

So for tonight here are my pre-show predictions for my bottom three. Carly Smithson, Michael Johns, and Kristy Lee Cook. But as for who will leave the show is anybodies guess. I will probably be based on tonight's performance. So as usual on my idol posts I'll do it in parts. To quote "The Terminator" I'll say "Hasta la vista baby!" & "I'll be back!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I am back. What a roller coaster, not what I expected at all in terms of music, weird song choices. The judges did what they could to try and manipulate shifting the votes towards certain contestants but we know what we saw and heard and probably will vote accordingly.

It's funny how things work. Kristy Lee Cook a clear underdog and favorite to be the next one to get the boot came back with a strong performance and I agree with Simon that she will go on to next week. I really liked it!

Brook White messed up the beginning of her performance. If the band would have been playing from the beginning she would not have been able to stop and start again. She is sort of a "sweetheart" and I think America likes her, but will she be forgiven for her mistake like David Archuleta was? Tough call. Talking about David Archuleta, he is heading towards the same fate that Melida Doolittle had. He is really good but if he doesn't show that he can sell millions of records he won't win.

It's obvious that the clear favorite so far is David Cook, if he keeps it up and doesn't mess up I think he is the strongest contestant to date based on his past performances to take the whole enchilada. I didn't hear the name of the song he was to sing and it took me a while to realize he was singing Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean".

Chikezie keeps being crushed by the judges and the sad part is that he is not that bad, there are many of us that actually think he is good, see I grew up listening to Soul Music and he is pretty smooth, I hope he advances too.

So, based on last nights performances I think Jason Castro was outsung by most and should be bottom three, Brook White's little bubble at the beginning of the song should send her to bottom three, and a toss up between Carly Smithson and Ramiele Malubay just based on popularity will be bottom three.

For the first time I have no clue as to who is leaving tonight. Obviously who I think should be bottom three and who will actually be leaving are two different stories. Chikezie is still struggling to gain a fan base so I wouldn't be surprised if it is him leaving tonight. We'll see.

E

EASTER SUNDAY


Easter Sunday was spent at home, "mi chica" cooked some "pozole" and everyone in the family came for this tasty treat. All my kids were here, including the ones that moved to Tucson (See previous post)and my sister in law, her husband and kids were here too. Last but not least, my daughter in law's parents came to spend the day with us too. It was a thrill to have all my grandkids here running around and making noise.


We went to the little community park where some 75 plastic eggs had been hidden in the bushes and in the grass and the playground. We got there and we turned the kids lose to go and hunt for the eggs.

I don't think there was any crying this year, for the most part the kids were happy to find some eggs not caring who had the most. The were just having too much fun running up and down looking for them. After we thought they had found all they eggs we had a small photo session and group pictures were taken.




As you can see, we were all having a great time.

As I have mentioned before, our family is so huge now that there is no way we can all get together at the same time. But sometimes we try. There is never a shortage of get-togethers. I believe next week a baby shower for my niece is the next event. That for sure will be another exciting story.



Being the kid at heart that I am, I decided to go down the slide. All I can tell you is that we are shortchanging our kids, I went down the slide about three times and came to the conclusion that from the time I started sliding to the time I reached the bottom, it must have taken a whopping 1/8 of a second. How can we call that exciting?

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S

STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE


Eloy, Arizona or in better terms,middle of nowhere.

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare

This is where the rubber meets the road
This is where the cream is gonna rise
This is what you really didn't know
This is where the truth don't lie

{Chorus}
You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

~Tracy Lawrence

I received a phone call at 1:00 p.m. Mi chica called me to let me know that my daughter, her husband and two kids got stranded on their way to Phoenix. They were on their way to spend Easter weekend with the rest of the family.

Well, remember what happened to us two weeks ago, yeap it happened to them too. They didn't quite get a flat tire but the top layer did come out. This is typical in Arizona specially during the summer and today believe it or not it felt as if summer is already here. I know, it's hard to believe for some of you back east as you are still battling rain and even snow, but here it was hot and to top it off I was waring black Levy's.



Two of the four stranded passengers.

Of course they called mi chica first, and I was the last to find out but as soon as I was told I hit the streets looking for a replacement tire and after gassing up the car got on the freeway and hit the road. When I finally got there almost an hour and a half later my daughter's best friend Jasmin was already there. I asked her what she was doing there and she said she was on the phone with Michelle when it happened and she asked her "Do you want me to go?" to which Michelle replied "No you don't have to, my daddy is coming" but she told herself, "Jasmin, she is pregnant, it's a desert, hit the road".

Jasmin got to them about 20 minutes before I got there. Anyway there was a tire shop about half a mile from where they were (this they didn't know until much later), I was like darn I could have saved an hour from looking for a tire in Phoenix. Anyway, the car and it's passengers made it to the tire shop and the tire was mounted and twenty minutes later we were on the road back to Phoenix.


Car after it was fixed.

About five miles from Queen Creek the traffic goes to a halt and it's bumper to bumper at five miles an hour for the next hour or so, the sun was hitting right on my leg and it was burning, turned out there was an accident involving five or six cars, people driving down I-10 are maniacs at the wheel so there are many accidents all the time. But eventually we passed the accident and we started going fast again.

I had a little passenger which I requested as once we get to Chandler we can use the carpool lane and being that it was going to be "rush hour" I needed a partner. For the first half an hour this little partner just would not keep quiet. He asked me if we were almost home but I told him that we were still a long way from home and suggested for him to take a nap. He politely declined and I said OK, a minute later I turned around to see him and he is totally asleep. So much for no thanks grandpa, I'll stay awake with you.





OK, this picture could be deceiving, because there was a lot of traffic and yet it doesn't look like it. Anyway, in front of me is Jasmin and Michelle, and if front of them Jr. and Alaina. See we all had a buddy, notice we are on the carpool lane.

We finally got to the house a around 5:00 p.m. and mi chica about five minutes later, we cleaned up a bit and got changed, Diego actually took a bath and then we went to the store to buy some cooked fish for dinner.

No matter what the situation, we always try to make it fun and this was no exception. Yes, I am the grandpa and daddy but Jasmin is a friend. And as the song says, "You find out who your friends are, someone will drop everything". Thank you Jasmin, we love you.



No, you are not seeing double and I guarantee you this picture has not been photo shopped, after freshening up, Diego and I dressed the same to go to the store.

A

AMANDA GOT THE BOOT.

As much as I like American Idol and enjoy watching it every week I have been saying for the past four years that the votes are rigged. I have been saying that Kristy Lee Cook needed to be eliminated but she would probably stick around to make top 10 and thus be a part of the tour. I was not wrong, in my little nucleus of AI watchers we all agreed that she was the one to be eliminated, but as if by magic or should I say vote rigging' she is still in the running. I always said that her pretty face will probably attract more males to the tour shows than Amanda could have, so after being bottom two for the second week in a row she miraculously is saved.

Carly being bottom three to me was not a surprise at all, she is a great singer but most people know she already had a big recording that flopped and are holding that against her, me I trip at the way she always looks so worried and acts like "Oh thank you, thank you for keeping me another week".

Amanda as bottom three was surprising but her being eliminated was something I was not expecting at all. She was not my favorite, not by a long shot but I thought she would at least make it to number 7.

Top 11

TOP 11

I was looking forward to American Idol until I heard they will be doing The Beatles again. I had enough Beatles last week. Why would they repeat when there are so many choices and genres out there waiting to be sung.

Depending on what Chekezie sings tonight, if he is able to repeat last week since it's The Beatles he will be safe one more week. So that leaves the following as the bottom three.

Ramiele Malubay - Sings really good and has great personality but is sliding a bit.
Cristy Lee Cook - Not the best singer but pretty enough to stay one more week and make top 10 and therefore tour all over the country.
Syesha Mercado - Pretty and talented but lacks the fan base the rest have.

I know a lot of people don't like Amanda Overmyer but she is the female rock element they need for the tour, judges won't say nothing bad about her just yet. She will go on.

So far I've only missed a couple. Asiah being eliminated was the biggest surprise I got so far. I'll be back tomorrow, same post to finish it out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, I am back, the show went on and as I predicted unless you are a die hard Beatles fan even Simon agreed with me that they shouldn't have done a second Beatles night. They made such a fuzz about the music of The Beatles, music that by the way the contestants were probably not too familiar with and then almost at the end of the show after Chekezie's performance Simon made a comment on how most of the contestants chose "mediocre" music. So, I wish Simon makes up his mind, is The Beatles music great or is it mediocre? Ummmmmmm!

My friend Mushy already left a comment stating that he only felt there were three good performances last night or at least three that made an impression. I agree for I only liked three performances too.


Syesha Mercado was my favorite performer of the nigh, she picked the best song too.


I had predicted Syesha Mercado to be a bottom three based on her popularity and yet she delivered the song I liked the best last night. I truly hope she makes top 10 and therefore goes on tour. I had also predicted that Ramiele Malubay had been sliding and may even be bottom three but she is consistently good and still my favorite female so she too deserves to keep going. That, once again leaves Kristy Lee Cook as the one candidate that needs to go.

Michael Johns and Jason Castro are the other two I really didn't like last night based on their performance. David Archuleta totally redeemed himself and once again is at the top of my list and top contender David Cook pretty strong again.

So tonight we shold say good bye to Cristy Lee Cook, she was outsung by all the other contestants and it should be the end of the road for her.

A Baby Shower

You would have thought that Saturday's party was enough but no, not in our case. On Sunday my mom decided to throw a baby shower for my brother's wife. This will be their second and should be here in less than a month. My daughter and niece are also expecting and they are all due very soon.

As it is there are already quite a few kids running around and here come three more. I remember once upon a time when our family consisted of dad, mom, and four sisters. My younger brother came years later. Now, we are all married with kids, and most of our kids are married with kids. The family grew and it doesn't seem to stop. For me once my daughter gives birth again it will be grand kid number seven. Wow!

Life is good.

Diego's Fith Birhtday Party

Diego turns five years old.
Celebrations, parties, and just plain old get togethers are what we do, sort of a way of life, something to pass time and see each other. I hear the complaints because we have so many of them, and people get burned out from attending them, but how do you explain that to the one being celebrated specially when he or she is just a kid looking forward to breaking the record in getting presents and having fun. To kids and also to many adults having a birthday party is a huge thing.

I for one enjoy attending them, except there are days like today where the party is being held at my daughter's house backyard, the wind is blowing, and the dust and pollen count is high and my nose is taking a beating from me having allergies. Now I have to take refuge inside the house therefore looking like an antisocial. But I am not, I promise.

So, with the window open, the radio playing Mexican music very loud, the guests making noise while having fun, and the kids jumping on the trampoline and the "Cars" jumpy rented for the occasion, I seat here and blog about what I am seeing and listening. The bottom line is that I will have fun one way or another, and by blogging about it I bring you all into my party as well.

So what are we celebrating today, well it's Diego's birthday party, his birthday won't be until the 27th but Jr and Michelle planned it for this weekend for two reasons, in a couple more weeks it won't be wise for Michelle to travel as her due date to have the new baby is very close. This way if they came it would be easier for all of us to attend.

He had a great party and had a lot of fun and that's all that matters. It's so hard to believe but Diego will be five years old. Wasn't it just yesterday when I was holding this little bundle of joy in my arms. Now he is a big bundle of joy as he is growing way too fast. There was a double bonus in the form of him staying at home with us and him spending the whole weekend with his grandparents.

I don't know why but it seems that many of our parties fall on fight nights. To end the party we all watched the Marquez vs. Pacquiao fight. It was a great and exciting fight but unfortunately our Marquez lost. Oh well, both fighters were excellent and this was one of those fights where you say, "may the best fighter win".

Last Friday I picked up the kids from my daughter's place, they were to spend the afternoon with us. This is what happens when the grandma comes home from work and they are already here.



Yeap, they will atack you and show you some love before they drive you crazy.

Speed Racer - Meteoro

This is just a tease, write up to follow maybe later tonight but in the meantime check this out. This was my favorite cartoon when I was a little kid of six or seven years old. I am now 48 and they are coming out with a movie. As Mr Manuel says, good or bad I am going to go see this as soon as it comes out. How about a date mi chica, are you game?

CLICK HERE for a different trailer.

OK, I am happy, for once I saw a winning game as the Phoenix Suns spanked the Golden State Warriors in a loud and exciting game last night. So now back to my post.

I remember being a young kid in Mexico and as any kid I used to love cartoons. Back then the "Looney Toones" were it but there were two huge cartoon shows (we called them cartoons not anime). One was Kimba el leoncito blanco (Kimba the white lion) and the second was Meteoro (Speed Racer). It was the second one that was a favorite of mine. What kid wouldn't fall in love with a car that did all those thing that the Mack 5 did. This car was a visualization of the future, it was total make believe and that's what made the show so fascinating. See back in those days we didn't know anything about K.I.T.T. or The General Lee. The Mack 5 was a car totally ahead of it's time. If you think about it Night Rider borrowed the idea of having a smart car from the Mach 5.

And so, Speed Racer, Trixie, Racer "X", Mom and Pops Racer, Sparky, and Chim Chim make their way to the big screen in a mixture of live action and digital animation. I really want to see this movie if at all for the sake of reminiscing and going back to my childhood.

Did anyone out there grew up watching this show and dreaming of owning a car like the Mack 5?

Tidbits

~~~~~~~~~~ TIDBITS ~~~~~~~~~~

Have you ever wonder what a real cave man looks like?

~~~~~~~~~~

So it had to happen, my hometown boy didn't even make the tour. That kindda sucks because he really wasn't the worse one. But be as it may he is out. So sorry bud!



~~~~~~~~~~

We'll be seating close to the court but should Shaquille decide to dive into the seating area again we won't be that close. lol Yes, mi chica and I will be going to tomorrow's basketball game. The Suns will battle the Golden State Warriors. Now the perks of being a manager is that you get invited out a lot, my trucking company reps take care of me. The seats are really great but the best part even more than watching the game is that these are Lexus Club Tickets and at $110.00 each they come with a great dinner at the Lexus club. We usually watch the first half of the game from the restaurant and the second from our seats. What can I say, I am spoiled.



~~~~~~~~~~

Today was such a nice day that even a trip to the dentist with the top down felt like a leisure cruise. From my work to the dentist's office is about 32 miles so I made the trip the adventure since the destination sucked.



~~~~~~~~~~

So, have you ever seen a real cave man? Well effective today you have. lol

Top 12

Rosy O'Donnel basically tells Danny Noriega I feel sorry for your butt. Come on a cruise and I'll pay for it and you can even sing with Cindy Lauper. I like you. Well so did many people including my niece and my daughter but honestly he was no match for the other contestants. I'm sorry but he needed to be out for this contest to be serious. The big surprise which I totally was not expecting was for Asiah to be eliminated, it just didn't make sense to me. I like the top twelve all of them but there is one there that I feel doesn't belong. If I am correct she will be the first or second to be eliminated.

OK, I'll be back tonight with my thoughts on the top twelve, and I'll give you my predictions as to who will be leaving tomorrow. I'll tell you right now, it's going to be a popularity contest for most of them to advance. David Archuleta and Ramiele would have to really mess up for them to slide out of their top rankings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So it was a two hour show, one by one all twelve contestants gave their best renditions of The Beatles music and me not being a Beatles fan didn't care for the music, but I did care to see how each one did. I had predicted earlier that based on popularity Chikezie would be the first to go but then he comes second and has one of the best performances of the night. I had predicted that someone that should not have been top 12 would be first or second to be eliminated, yes I am talking about Kristy Lee Cook, well after yesterday's performance I think there is a really good chance that may happen.

I also said that David Archuleta and Ramiele would have to mess up real bad to slide off their good standings. Well, just to show you that anything can happen, remember Branden Rogers last year, he forgot the lyrics on his very first performance and thus was the first to leave. I really don't think that will happen to David Archuleta but this I know, from now on he will have to have nothing but flawless performances in order for him to win back his top contender status. As for Ramiele, I think she did great but she did play it too safe therefore not impressing the judges. That's OK she still impressed me and I think she is still top notch.

I am still rooting for David Hernandez and Brooke White as both of them are from my home town. I don't think they have a chance to go all the way but I hope they go further into the competition. I think Brooke will go further than David though.

So here it is my favorite performance of the whole night considering I am not a Beatles fan.



And my pick to leave the show tonight is, Kristy Lee Cook... but she may just beat David Hernandez. So we'll just have to wait and see.

Jr's Birthday Weekend

Birthday boy on top of the world.

Friday night around 8:00 p.m. we waited for my sister in law and her three kids, once she got here and we had a quick stop to gas up the van we headed towards Phoenix to pick up my grandson "Ducky". We finally got in the freeway at around 8:30 p.m. and headed towards Tucson. We decided to go later because that way we wouldn't catch all the bumper to bumper Friday afternoon traffic. It was a smart move because in fact traffic had already died down. It should only takes us two hours to get to Tucson.

The kids were watching a movie in the back of the van, so they didn't even bug also no stops were made on the way over which for us is not normal as we always stop anywhere and everywhere. We got to Marana and all of a sudden traffic comes to a halt, there was an accident about a mile ahead and this being a two lane highway had to be closed while they cleaned it up. So our projected two hour trip all of a sudden turned into a three hour trip since we were stuck for almost an hour.

We finally got there at around 11:00 p.m. Immediately the kids got busy playing and making all kinds of noise, me I just got hungry so I asked Jr. to go with me to find some tacos. We had to go a few miles from his house and finally found a taco truck, we ordered tacos for everyone but when we got back to their house and opened them up we found out they ripped us off. The tacos were pretty tasty but made of only one small tortilla and you can barely see the meat, they were basically a bite and a half size tacos. Needless to say we all complained.

Jr. had called "mi chica" and asked for us to go visit them because it was his birthday, he asked if she would make "pozole" form him which my daughter loves to eat, so Saturday morning we all had a great tasting bowl of "pozole".

I had told them that the next time we visit I wanted to go see the San Xavier Mission, everyone thought that would be nice so after we ate we loaded the cars and off we went. One of my daughter's best friends, her husband, and two kids also wanted to go visit the mission so they asked her if she would mind if they joined us, of course she said no and so they too got there on Friday night, luckily they were ahead of us for about half an hour, enough for them not to get caught in the accident.



When we got to the mission the Indians were charging for parking, I thought that was weird but soon learned that they were having a pow wow. I have heard that the Indian's pow wows are really a sight to see but at $8:00 a person we decided to pass it up. We parked the cars and headed for the mission.














You don't have to be a Catholic to visit or and appreciate the beauty of this old church. Just knowing some of it's history and knowing it is so old give it a certain charm. My camera captured 171 images through the whole weekend but I think it's safe to say that over a hundred were taken at the mission.



















Right next to the mission there is a small hill, to get to the top you have to climb it's rocky wall, the kids even the little ones had a ball going up, they didn't think it was dangerous or hard they just climbed and got to the top before I could say "wait for me".

























The view from the top was breath taking and the photo ops were, endless. From little caves to rocky tops we had the kids posing all over for pictures, but as always all this exercise and excitement got us hungry so we went down and headed for the food stands. The ever popular Indian bread was what we ordered. I had to have the one with honey and cinnamon, but they also order the one with beans and cheese.





We spent a good three hours at the mission, but it was time to head back to the house, part of Jr's birthday celebration was for my sister in law to make "enchiladas" for us. I have to tell you, my sister in laws enchiladas are the best. I was so tired from our outing that I joined the kids in taking a nap. The girls took this opportunity to go out and hit the stores for some shopping.

The plan was to come back to Phoenix Saturday night but "mi chica" whom is the designated driver was too tired and so the decision was for us to spend the night there and we would leave Sunday morning. So everyone except "mi chica" and I decided to play some board games, all I could hear was the screaming as they were having fun.


Thanks to Jr and Michelle for having us, we had a great weekend.

Sunday morning after a nice hot shower I loaded the van we put the kids in, we said goodbye to Jr, Michelle, Diego, and Allayna and we headed back for Phoenix. I had told "mi chica" on Friday night that her van was vibrating sign of a tire getting bad. So before we left I kindda looked a them and saw nothing bad that was visible. We got on the freeway and I advised her not to drive too fast. She didn't really heard me so we pushed on. Half ways to Phoenix we stopped at a McDonalds to have breakfast.

Back on the freeway again, she was barely starting to gain speed when noise comes
from the rear left side of the van, she made it to the shoulder and my sister in law gets off and tells us, yeap we have a flat. Well, not really a flat she said but definitely not good. We were exactly 1/4 of a mile from a truck stop so I told "mi chica" to stay on the shoulder and drive to the truck stop, she said it was a lot
safer to work there than on the shoulder where 18 wheelers going 75 miles per hour.

As we parked at the truck stop I said, you know what, God works in mysterious ways. If we would have left last night this would have happened anyway and it would have been so much inconvenient not to mention dangerous. There was a reason why when we decided to stay the night no one fought it.

We called our daughter to let her know we were on the way and she said her and her husband were going to the mall in Tempe. So we told her we would wait for them at the 40th street and Broadway exit. They got there about five minutes after we did. So they took "Ducky" changed his clothes in the van, transferred the baby car seat and took him with them. We continued our trip to the house. Nothing compares the feeling to coming to your own house, no matter how much fun the outing was. A few minutes later my sister in law and kids were picked up and we just relaxed for the rest of our Sunday.

Karaoke Friday

ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH? The Fatal Dog will decide that! I've been called the Simon Cowell of Bix. Thank you, I think? I'm not going to tell you that you're good unless you are really OUTSTANDING or really have potential. If I tell everyone they are wonderful, then if I tell you the same thing, it means nothing. I'm looking for truly outstanding talent! I realize this is a place to have fun; a place to grow and practice, but there are some people who, in my opinion, have already arrived at greatness, or they are right on its doorstep. Those are the people Fatal Dog is looking for. SO - if I am cruising around BIX, I may comment your entry in a contest or on your Bix page, so look carefully.

~ Fatal Dog

Well thank you Doc a.k.a. Fatal Dog for the distinction and the induction into the Dog Pound. Understanding that this is all in good fun, it is also an ego boost to hear that someone out there appreciates our singing and goes as far as to recognize it with the pins and bones. This is way cool.

My sister and niece came to visit last Monday and we took the opportunity to re-book our flight for our trip to Mexico in May. (Remember the one that got spoiled last year?) Anyway I won't get into details right now, that will be for a different post but since they were there I took the opportunity to record some songs with them. Here's one my sister and I did on one take just for fun, we totally improvised the duet as we were singing.

The second song is my niece Marya. She is singing "There You'll Be" by Faith Hill. But the real start today will be my following video. This is my grandson Diego. Check him out and let me know. To me he is already my real life American Idol.

Our Future

Do you remember when a gas station used to sell gas and service only, then all of a sudden mini markets took over our gas stations? No? Well I do. Now you can go to a gas station and pump some gas and at the same time pick up some milk, donuts, any sort of drinks including beer cigarettes, coffee, and the list goes on and on. However you can't get your tires patched, or your oil levels checked, or your car tuned up. Yes gas stations took on a completely new personality from what they were originally intended.

I got to think of this because as I was driving a heard a commercial of a car dealership here in town where the kids have an arcade, the women can get a manicure and pedicure, the men can get a hair cut. All this while in the process of buying a car.

I bought my Mustang back in 1999 at Sanderson Ford in Glendale. Sanderson Ford just opened a brand new 50's style restaurant inside his dealership. Chester's Harley Davidson in Mesa is going to build, rider's edge training center, a built in stage and concert area, a customer lounge, a pre-owned pavilion, and a restaurant. Boy that is quite a change from a place where you could just go and buy a bike. Now it's going to be a destination.

I say things are changing, the days of mom and pop successfully owned businesses are over and now it's all about who's got the funds to be bigger and do more. Take WalMart they are going to have doctor's offices inside their stores. Wow, where does it end. I guess Buggs Bunny always knew in the end only one company will be the one that sells everything. Remember ACME?

Top 16

Here is Katharine McPhee and Elliot Yamin's duet "Real Love" that is on "Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1,". CD will be released March 11, 2008.



This post to be continued tomorrow with my thoughts on American Idol the guys sing the 80's. Feel free to comment on the song and come back tomorrow to comment on the show.

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I'm back, it was certainly a good show, I don't think I'll remember any of the performances as being great. I mentioned before how much I hate to hear anything Whitney Houston or Celine Dion so what is Chikezie thinking, he has a beautiful voice and I actually think he can sing but don't they tell them over and over that if they are eliminated it will be because of their song choice. I don't know why he would pick a gender bender when last week Alexandrea was criticized and eliminated for that one reason. I really think he should be safe and be part of the top 12.

Do you want me to talk Danny Noriega? I thought you would. Did I mentioned before he annoys me to no end? I know I did. His performance last night gave me the creeps, for a moment there they way he was dancing I thought he was going to strip and I kept looking for a pole. lol Oh, wait wrong guy, the one all over the news about dancing and stripping in a gay disco is David Hernandez. I however really like the way he sings, plus he is our home town guy, I just hope he doesn't sing no more Celine. I hope he is another top 12 member.

So, Danny definitely one of my bottom two, the other unfortunately is... huh, wait he sang, he sang, yeah he sang a song from the 80s but was is his name, oh yeah Luke, Luke Menard that's who. Yeah, his performance was nothing special at all. Consider him my second bottom two.

The real question is, we all know Danny will continue to survive, so will Chikezie be sacrificed tomorrow night? We'll just have to wait and see.

So I know you are dying to hear who my top two choices were for the guys competition last night, well then wait no more my top pick was definitely Jason Castro, his rendition of that Shrek song was really good. He, he, he, I called it that Shrek song because it reminded me of the movie but "Hallelujah" is a beautiful song. I think he messed it up at the end but still to me it was the best song of the night.





And my second pick for the night is David Cook. I am not a fan but I think his was the only unique performance last night. He really made that Lionel Ritchie song his own.

I'll be back tonight with my take on the girls. Stay tuned.

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So, the girls did their thing and for the most part were all good. Asiah, one of my favorites had to sing a Whitney Houston song, you all know by now how I feel about
Whitney and Celine so she deserved the review she got. I always have Kady as my bottom two and actually thought she should have been gone last week and then she sings a good song and showcases good vocals, I really liked her this week. Christy Lee Cook did an OK job but like Luke Menard she is definitely in danger of leaving us tomorrow. I didn't like Brooke White's "unplugged" version of a Pat Benatar classic but Simon did and that just may take her to top 12 status. I think they were all good and to me none of them really shined. But if I had to pick my favorite it would be Syesha Mercado, I really think she has a thin fan base though. It will be a couple of surprises tomorrow when they send them home.

So, I'll say based on popularity Kady and Christy will be the ones leaving tomorrow. What do you think? Speak now of forever hold your peace.