sherri's blog

Recently I decided to take a poll on who was the sexiest male character on tv. Before any of you out there start thinking or complaining that I must be crazy when you see who made the top of my list, let me just remind you I took the poll, ( naturally I only polled myself) and for the purpose of this post only my vote matters.

Now I sure there are hundreds or should I say hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions out there who are big fans of the show "Grey's Anatomy" and you probably guessed that I would chose either Dr."McDreamy (a.k.a Patrick Dempsey) or Dr.McSteamy (a.k.a Eric Dane) as the sexiest man on tv and you would be wrong. While both of these men are certainly handsome and sexy in their own right, they don't hold a candle to my favorite pick.

My pick for the sexiest male character on tv is none other (a little drum role here if you please) than the "uber" handsome Sawyer (a.k.a Josh Holloway) on ABC's Lost. When you look at Sawyer with his perpetual 5 o'clock shadow he just seems to exude a certain animal magnetisism. Who out there couldn't be charmed by those rugged good looks of his. Sawyer reminds me of one of those "bad boy's" that you're mother always warned you to stay away from. You know, the one who is always in trouble and who if you get involved with him will only end up breaking your heart. The type of guy who makes you just want to throw caution to the wind and live a little dangerously or just get crazy for once in your life. Sawyer is also the kind of guy who has a heart beneath that rough and tough exterior and would do anything to help a friend in need. While I could go on about the reasons I think Sawyer is the sexiest male character on tv, the few I have listed should suffice.

After all Dr. McDreamy & Dr. McSteamy are the type of guys you bring home to meet the parents. Sawyer on the other hand is the guy you want to keep all to yourself.

P.S. Remember I'm talking about characters on TV.

The latest Food Network challenge which aired last night and will be showing again during the week was a big hit with me. Imagine having to build a huge 3 foot or higher cake in a seven hour time frame. Mind boggling isn't it. Anyway for those of you who have'nt yet seen or know what the latest challenge is about, let me fill you in.

The theme for this latest challenge is Disney Pixar films. The films which the competitors, namely four of the top cake designers in the country, chose to interpert were Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc. and Toy Story.

The characters in the "Finding Nemo" cake were so spot on, especially Bruce the great white shark, that it came as no surprise when this cake was pronounced the winner of the gold medal. While Courtney Clark (cake designer) and her apprentice experienced some set backs at the onset of the competition they managed to pull everything together at the end. While the cake was fabulous in appearance I agreed with the judges critique that the cake could have stood to have more colorful coral and a better 360 degree view.

Monster's Inc, proved to be very problematic for cake designer Norm Davis ( who is alway one of my favorites in the challenges) and his assistant. Norm himself admitted that he perhaps bit off more than he could chew. The time and physical effort necessary to create "Sulley" (hand piping all that fur) left no room for error or problems of any sort. Sadly, a problem free competiotion was not in the cards for Norm. You could hear the collective gasps of the audience as this huge door, a critical piece of Norm's cake fell apart. The team knew at that moment, they were out of the running, but much to their credit they continued on so that they could at least place a cake on the table.

Orlando, while new to to being the lead designer in a food network challenge, proved that he was very much up to the task. He chose "A Bugs Life" for his cake and I must say he did a remarkable job with the creation of his characters. His artistry with the air brush, while nothing short of amazing is what gave realism and life to his characters. I hope that if asked, Orlando will keep on competing in the food network challenges.

Finally there's the "Toy Story" cake which was created by Jorge Amsler, who has competed in previous food network challenges. He always like to go huge with his creations and there are certainly times I'm sure when this works for him. That attitude however worked against him in this latest challenge. He spent so much time on creating a "mega huge" bed, that he left himself litle time to create what should have been the main focus of his piece, namely the characters. I was disappointed with his Woody and Buzz Lightyear as they were so amateurish, and definitely not what one would expect from a cake designer of caliber and talent. Jorge definitely needs to work on time management.

So if you're a Food Network Challenge junkie like me then be sure to catch this latest cake challenge.

I gotta hand it to the Foodnetwork they always manage to come up with some pretty catchy titles for their cooking shows. Case in point is the title of the latest addition to the Foodnetwork family, "Chic & Easy". A title like that causes me to envision recipes which are not only easy enough for a budding chef like myself to make, but ones that also have a subtle yet sophisticated taste and appearance.

The show, to me at least, seems to be a cross between 2 of the many shows I watch on foodnetwork, "Good Deals with Dave Lieberman" and "Semi-Homemade" with Sandra Lee. Host Mary Nolan while preparing scrupmtious food also stress the importance of eye-catching plating and a pleasing yet simple tablescape. Ms. Nolan also proves that you don't have to break the bank in order to cook and serve mouthwatering cuisine.

While Ms. Nolan is no Rachel Ray or Paula Deen she definitely has potential to become a foodnetwork star. My one critique is that Ms. Nolan loosen up a little and exude a little more self confidence so the show doesn't appear so scripted.

I could not believe my eyes when I read about the latest tactic Charter Communications is employing to raise much needed cash. According to a little blurb on Techno-News Blog, cable communications giant Charter will begin monitoring web sites visited by their internet subscribers. Charter will then sell this collection of data to a company called NebuAd, who will then show ads, that are related to a charter internet customers interests. Doesn't this remind you of "Big Brother" is watching from George Orwell's "1984".

Several weeks ago Charter was encouraging or rather suggesting to their customers that wouldn't it be a grand idea to spend their tax rebate checks by signing up for some new services. I can certainly think of much better ways to spend my money, (groceries, clothes,credit card bills) then to give it to a company who constanly ranks at the bottom, with regard to customer satisfaction.

I can't wait to see what new tactics Charter will come up with to raise cash. I personally have several, might I say clever ideas, which Charter could employ to raise more revenue without resorting to selling their customer's information. For the time being however, I think I'll keep my ideas to myself.

One of America's favorite southern belles, the lovely and gracious Paula Deen will be hosting a new cooking show on the foodnetwork. The show, Paula's Best Dishes, is set to air on June 8th at 1:30 p.m.

Paula will be inviting her family, friends, a multitude of home viewers and the best home cooks in the country to step into the kitchen with her. With this many cooks in the kitchen who knows what will happen. One thing you can bet your bottom dollar on, is that in addition to all the great tasting food and recipe secrets revealed, this show will bebrimming with laughter.

During the show Paula share some of her memories and traditions with one everyone. She will also, and this is the best part, at least for me, rescue viewer recipes. I mean there are times when it comes to cooking that I can use all the help I can get.

So if you're looking for something new in the kitchen, then be sure to watch Paula's Best Dishes on the foodnetwork.

Recently while watching a crime/mystery show on tv I realized that there was no audio or visual build-up. You know those things which precede a high impact moment and let the viewer know that something which couldn't be good is about to happen. Movies years ago always had a build-up to the more suspenseful parts of a movie, whether it was a close-up or music. Several movies which employed these tactics and quickly come to mind are Psycho and Jaws.

In the suspense/horror flick Psycho, starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, when the camera focused on the shower curtain, you just knew something bad was going to happen. What about all those times when the camera panned the window where you could see Norman Bate's wheelchair ridden mother, be it day or night. You definitely got the sense something wasn't right but couldn't quite place your finger on it.

How about in the movie Jaws, which starred 2 of my favorite actors: Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss. Remember how the music led up to the high points of the movie. How about when they were on the boat drinking and telling stories and you could see the subtle shift in Quinn's ( the skipper of the boat) eyes. Just that little nuance let you know all hell was going to break loose.

These little things, like a close up or a change in facial expression are what made these movies great. They invited the audience to draw their own conclusions about what might or might not happen. Movies nowadays are lacking this quality. Everything in today's movies are spelled out for the viewer. They leave little to the imagination. We are not being allowed the opportunity to think for ourselves or even be surprised at what happens at one of the high points in the movie.

I don't know if most people like this kind of "in your face" telling of a movie or whether they prefer as do I a movie which invites the viewer to listen to and observe all the nuances and draw their own conclusions about whats going to take place. It's also great to have the bejeekers scared out of you every once in a while when you're watching a movie and I think this can only be achieved with a suspenseful build up.

Newsflash.... Just released are the results from the American Consumer Satisfaction Index. The index is a compilation of results from a telephone survey of customers of several hundred companies in 46 industries. Two of those industries included in the survey, whose results just happened to catch my eye are the cable and satellite business.

Having been a Satellite TV customer for many years I was not surprised to see that Satellite TV had the highest score for customer satisfaction for the eighth staight year. Satellite TV has alway understood the importance of good customer relations and quality programming and is continuously striving to enhance the tv viewing pleasure of their customers. Satellite TV offers, in addition to more than 95 national HD channels, innovative and original programming on the 101 channel, which is exclusive to Satellite TV.

With regard to other companies in the tv & satellite industry, Charter Communication has once again ranked the lowest in customer satisfaction for the seventh staright year. When I was a Charter subscriber I didn't think much of their programming or customer service. Seems thing haven't changed much in all these years. I take that back they actually have had some changes. Every year they change their rates, by increasing the price. If they haven't been able to figure out that their customer needs should be a priority by now, who's to say that they ever will.

Seems Comcast hasn't faired much better, as they too are at the bottom of the heap with regard to their customers satisfaction. They scored a measley 54 points which is 2 points lower then last year. Perhaps those MBA's who are responsible for the operations of this cable giant haven't quite grasped the fact that in order to increase customer satisfaction, you first must listen to the customer.

Dish Network also managed to drop in the rankings. They managed to drop 2 points which gave them an index rating this year of 65. Evidently they believe their own Madison Avenue hype about how wonderful they are. Pity they forgot that it's the satisfaction of real customers that can make or break them in the ratings game.

So after reading my post I have to ask you, "Why would you choose anyone but Satellite TV" for your tv programming. They obviously are doing something right since they've continuously ranked highest in cutomer satisfaction these many years. If you don't already subscribe to Satellite TV, its time you did.

Last Monday night was the premier of American Gladiator, a show which sort of grew on me last season. I was determined to watch the opening night no matter what. However things don't always go as planned. Luckily however the 2 hour season premier aired again on Friday, May 16th and I was wise enough to set my DVR to capture the moments.

While all the competitors did an excellent job, there was one who clearly had something special.  One who stood head and shoulders above the rest. That competitor was 37 year old John Sciliano, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Those of you who watched the show know that Mr. Sciliano, a paralympic competitor lost his leg in a car accident some 15 years ago. While the loss of his leg might have hindered his ability to match the agility of some of the other competitors, John still came out full throttle on every event.  At the Eliminator he could have just called it quits after his struggles with climbing up the cargo net, but he persevered and continued on to the very end. His entire attitude, demeanor and determination during the competition are the stuff that  makes him a true hero and role model at least in my eyes.

Bravo channel, enough already with the constant airing of repeats of my favborite show Top Chef. I mean how many times do you need to re-air the tailgating party, block party and numerous other episodes that have already appeared on tv at least 3 times already. I think that airing an episode at most twice after it'spremier is more than adequate.

In case you haven't heard people do have this new gizmo, let's call it a recording device for the sake of simplicity, that enables them to record the newest epidsode of Top Chef or any other show aired on Bravo. Fan's of the Bravo channel don't need to be constantly be bombarded with repeats throughout the day.

Perhaps it would benefit the network to shop around and pick up some creative new reality shows to add to their existing line-up. Let's face it the more shows you air the more likely you are to increase your viewing audience. Increased viewership translates into more advertising dollars and I assume, more profit for the Bravo channel. Seems like a win win situation to me. So why not give it a whirl.

All those weeks of sweat, tears and pushing one's body to extreme physical endurance in a short period of time paid of big time for Kristi Yamaguchi, Jason Taylor and Cristian de la Fuente, as they will proceed to the finale. Each competitor has proved time and again, as they continuously pushed themselves to new heights with their routines that each is worthy to claim the coveted disco ball trophy.

Even though the finale is at hand and they can surely see the finish line at the end of their long arduous journey they have to remember that the fans can be very fickle when it comes to casting their votes. While they might enjoy yourr routine one week they might absolutely abhor it the next. So it's definitely no time for them to sit back and rest on their laurels so to speak. The final 3 need to ramp up their routines and push themselve farther than ever before, with the hopes of their performance securing a perfect score from the judges and a massive amount of votes from the home viewer.

While I have enjoyed the numerous performances by Kristi, Jason and Cristian, I will continue to cast my vote for Kristi as she has continuously brought class and elegance to each and every on of her performances.