George Clooney the Sexiest Man Alive...

...says People magazine. I won't argue either.

I also think he's one of the smartest Hollywood people around. I heard him talk about years ago when his career was taking off he did enough. He did the Batman movies and The Perfect Storm so he could make enough money that he'd never have to do a project he didn't love. That takes cajones and smarts.

Killing Jack off Lost?

That's the rumor. And I'll tell you, if they do. I'm done. That's it.

My brother keeps telling me he things Sawyer is going to meet his maker really soon which upsets me too. But it wouldn't keep me from watching the show. But if you kill Locke, or Kate, or Jack, I'm gone.

Have Any of You Watched Bones?

I tend not to really fall for shows on Fox because they have the whole weird "we're gonna stop showing our new shows for the whole month of October and show you baseball instead" thing. But last year I did get interested in Bones, the procedural about a group of scientists who work with skeletal remains at the Smithsonian (oops, the Jeffersonian) in Washington, D.C. to help the F.B.I. with its cases.

But the show has gotten more and more intruiging lately, mostly due to the chemistry between Dr. Brennan (Bones) and Agent Booth--Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz sizzle on screen together. In last night's show Bones and a coworker had been buried alive (yes, I know, Kill Bill 2 and CSI both did it), and when Booth finally pulled Bones out of the dirt I cried! I was at the gym on the damn eliptical machine crying (almost sobbing even).

So check Bones out on Wednesday nights. It's quirky, funny, thrilling, and even heartwarming.

Emmitt Wins!

I'll admit I was surprised that Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke won Dancing with the Stars. I haven't been following the show religiously, but the few times I watched Mario Lopez shake his ass and throw those muscled arms into the air, I knew there was a God.

So, I can't (and won't) claim Mario was cheated--like when Kelly Monoco originally won over John O'Hurley. But I will say that I will miss seeing Mario jiggle, and stride, and thrust his way across the stage.

Missing Lost

Okay, I'll admit it: despite the ups and downs of this season's Lost, I'm going to really miss the show until it returns in early 2007. Just today I was like, "Oh, it's Wednesday. Lost is coming on." Then the realization that I have months to wait.

But on another note, at least I get some Cameron goodness on the season finale of Laguna Beach tonight. It promises to be an extra-special hour episode of inane and awkward conversations.

Tour de France Scandal

I don't know enough about the Tour de France and what happened with Floyd Landis' positive testing for drugs to make an argument for or against his win. But I do think it's a sad state of affairs. Landis continues to claim that there has been a mistake and he wasn't doping, and now it turns out that the French lab that conducted both tests made an error. Lab officials say the error has no bearing on Landis' positive test and that he's still guilty of doping. But it sounds awfully fishy to me.

3 lbs Not Worth its Weight

I watched the new show 3 lbs about brain surgeons last night. Yes, how very esoteric that 3 lbs is actually the weight of the brain and those smarty pants producers actually knew that! Ugh.

Well, the show isn't all that good, which is sad because Stanley Tucci is usually great and Indira Varma rocked it hard on HBO's Rome. And we can't forget the smoking hot Mark Feuerstein (see pic). But alas, the show was high on concept and low on character development and plot. Maybe it'll get better. I'll watch a few more eps to make up my mind (and to see Mark).

Christopher and Lorelai and Luke

I'm not one of those people who are sad that Christopher and Lorelai are together now on Gilmore Girls. A) Christopher is cuter. B) It's just a nice back story that after years apart, and a child, they are finally married.

But if you don't like Christopher, you might as well rejoice. I have more than a hunch that Lorelai will be with Luke before the end of the season, even though she eloped with Christopher. Did you see her face last night when she said how happy she was? Looks like they'll get a quickie divorce or an anullment. Seems a lot of people, including Ausiello at TV Guide agree.

Stand in Defiance of Tom Cruise

A tad bit dramatic maybe, but please please please all of you promise to do one thing for me this weekend. At any point on Saturday or Sunday, I urge you to stand on your sofa, jump up and down, and plead for the Scientology gods to let poor Katie Holmes be free of Tom Cruise.

Maybe if we do that, the Scientology aliens will release their spirits into the air and free Katie from her hypnotic stupor before her wedding to the nutty, queer, lost-his-mind Cruise.

The Ruins is a Creepy Book

I'm about halfway through The Ruins by Scott Smith and I'm really loving it. I can't argue that it's literary fiction in any way, but it is well written with rounded out characters and a great sense of forboding. The setting alone is sensational.

Smith wrote A Simple Plan years ago. I never read it, and the movie wasn't my cup of tea. But The Ruins is great for anyone who likes thrillers. And as mentioned...it's CREEPY! It's alos a page-turner: I read more than 100 pages in one sitting last night.

It came out earlier this year and won't be in paperback until next spring, but if you can check it out at the library or borrow a friend's copy, you should think about it.

Monday Night TV Catch Up

Prison Break isn't a bad show. It's got hotties galore, good plots, fast pacing--but I'm not sure how high the stakes really are in the plots and that's a problem. Sure, they kill people off left and right on Prison Break. But the only characters any of us really care about are Scofield and Sarah, and we know that they won't be killed. So I watch the show every week, but I don't find it as satisfying as I did the first season.

Heroes was great again last night. Tiny little clues scattered everywhere. We meet this great new character--a waitress who can suddenly remember everything she reads or hears--and then she gets killed. Only, Hiro went back in time and there was a sense that he was able to save her. And right now it's looking like the only baddie on the show is Sylar, since HRG (horn rimmed glasses) gets more understood each episode. Of course next week is when "save the cheerleader, save the world" comes to a head! I can't wait.

Oh, and Studio 60. My dear Studio 60. It's a good show--no denying that. High quality, good acting, and the like. But again, there is some kind of spark missing. With Sorkin's The West Wing there was inherent gravitas because the weekly battles and decisions were political and we were made to see how each tiny decision can (or might not) affect America. But with Studio 60, I feel like we're just watching people who are really talented and like their jobs do their jobs. There isn't a larger resonance for me. Maybe if they dug deeper with the characters I would care more. But at least we get to see--NBC ordered a full season despite the show's pathetic ratings. So if you used to watch The West Wing, then you should probably tune in to Studio 60.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

I can't believe I forgot to mention how great it was to see Dixie Carter back on tv. She was great last night on Desperate Housewives as Bree's new mother-in-law. She looked fantastic and was as firecracker hot as always.

Oh...and let's just remember how fierce Carter can be. Turn your volume up a bit for this clip.

Personal Life

Most everybody that reads this stuff knows me pretty well. It's not like I have legions of fans who have never met me--though I wish I did. :)

But I want to say the past three or four months have sort of flown by. I started dating someone this summer. Then my stepfater Tom was sick and then died in Savannah. My job took me to three different conferences in a row across the United States, 1, 2, 3. I closed on a new condo and moved in and bought furniture. It just seems like it has been nonstop.

But everything has worked out really well and I'm trying to remember to stop and enjoy life a tad bit more, as cliche as it sounds. Randall and I went to the Shenandoah mountains Sunday a week ago. Though we had missed the peak of the leaves changing, we still saw some great colors and it was cool and beautiful outside. It really made me think about how lucky I am to live where I do. And my mom was here this weekend really helping me fine tune my new studio. We bickered and got testy, but it was fun.

So despite the real dramas and the hard times and the craziness, be thankful about all the good things that add up in your life. For me it's a lot: a great new book I've just started, a visit (and subsequent shopping trips) with my mother, a trip to the mountains with a fantastic boyfriend, two cutie kitties that are fun to come home to every day, upcoming visits by two friends and a stepmother, tons of great friends, and a soon-to-be-arriving niece this March. Life isn't all that bad when you think about it.

Oh...and um, forgot all about the election! :)

Battlestar and Brothers and Sisters Catch Up

Battlestar Galactic rocked it again this weekend. If you had told me a few years ago that a new Battelstar would be one of my favorite shows on tv, and not in a cheesy indulgent way, I'd have thought you were nuts. But the show continues to be political and relevant--especially when our own country is at war.

And as much as I was afraid Brothers and Sisters was going to turn into a schmaltzy, teary, hug-fest, it hasn't. You really have to hand it to Greg Berlanti (of Everwood fame). He has takent a show which had all the earmarks for sacchrine melodrama and has helped it become probably my favorite show to watch right now. Not best, mind you, but favorite.

There are so many reasons to like Brothers and Sisters. A) It has a gay character who actually has a love life. And his being gay isn't his only defining character trait. B) It has the best cast on tv right now--bar none. Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths, Ron Rifkin, Treat Williams, Patricia Wetting, and Sally Field (who hardly ever cries anymore on the show, unlike every appearance she's ever made on ER). C) It's well written, suprising, and heartfelt. This last episode is the first drama on tv which I've seen that used September 11th in an integral way to the show. It wasn't forced or contrived, though certainly emblematic. This show deserves heaps of praise and I can only see it getting better.