Hell's Kitchen and even more Gordo

The 2nd season of Hell's Kitchen wrapped up Monday night as Heather was chosen over Virginia for the top prize. Heather becomes executive chef in Las Vegas at a casino restaurant, and it seems after having watched every episode this season, the right person won.

Overall, this group of contestants seemed overwhelmed most of the time, and in some cases (sweaty Tom, pants-too-low K-Grease, hairnet-less Giacomo) seemed a lot closer to a health department citation than to becoming an executive chef at an actual restaurant.

My guess is the people at Fox weeded out the people who applied to be on the show that were top-notch chefs in favor of decent chefs that would provide enough drama to keep viewers coming back each week for more.

Let's face it, a show that features a bunch of highly skilled cooks that make good food, work well under pressure, and don't swear, sweat in the food, fart, make obscene gestures, and undercook chicken like this group, might not be that interesting. And the ratings for this season were up over last year by the way.

This show is a hoot. Lots of yelling, crying, insults, knives, fire, bleeped out words, cool theme song, a pompous Brit, it's all there. Sure Ramsay is obnoxious, but that's the point! This is not breaking news. Especially for the contestants. They know what they're getting into.

So thanks, Gordo. And even thanks to you sweaty Tom, slimy K-Grease, ex-con Garret, gassy Sara, buxom Virginia, and the too-often forgotten Larry. The guy that admitted his weakness for "the ladies" in episode 2, and then literally displayed that weakness after a night spent in the hottub with several of the ladies from the show.

His body coudn't handle it, along with the other shows pressures, and he ended up in the hospital with some kind of heart/stress issue, and was never heard from again. Larry joined Dewberry as one of my favorite Hells' Kitchen castoffs ever. Or as Megan calls him, Blueberry.

I already can't wait until season 3.

If you still want your Gordon Ramsay fix, and especially if you'd prefer to see a softer side of the master chef, then try "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" on BBC America. It airs Tuesday night's at 8pm.

I've only seen half of one episode, but I really liked what I saw. Ramsay goes around England visiting one restaurant per episode. He observes for awhile, then spends time trying to improve what they do -- the menu, presentation, service, prices, etc.

There's still a lot of the Ramsay attitude, but he's much more nurturing on this show, and for many viewers (Haensel), much more tolerable I'm sure. The good thing is, this show is just as entertaining as Hell's Kitchen. It plays out more as a documentary, then a reality game show. Check it out.

So Heather, congratulations. Larry, get well. Tom, wipe the sweat off your brow. Keith, pull up your pants, Sara, don't forget to take your Bean-o.

Gordon, see you when Hell's Kitchen opens up for season 3.

And Tuesday night, too.

Saturday in the park

To follow along with the lyric, it wasn't the 4th of July, but their were still some fireworks this past Saturday morning. Verbally at least. The fracas happened at a harmless Girl Scout jamboree, filled with learning, bonding, and serious overcharging.

My daughter, Megan, is a Brownie Girl Scout. Saturday, she participated in a jamboree with the other girls in her troop at a day-long festival in Bolingbrook.

Girl Scouts from around the area, at various levels, were to participate in various events -- "try-its" -- to further their progression in, um, Girl Scouting.

Am I using the right terminology? I'd sit here and say how bad I feel not knowing the proper phrasing for all things Girl Scouts, but considering I was one of the only dads in attendance at Saturday's jamboree, I don't feel so bad.

I was there because my wife stayed at home with our newborn, Sarah. Considering this event was to last from 8:00am until 5:30pm, and that Sarah is just three weeks old and needs to be fed and changed every other minute (or so it seems), it was pretty obvious that I'd be the one tagging along with Megan.

I've been to several troop functions, get along well with the other kids and moms, and was looking forward to this event as a chance to spend the day with Megan, watching her work her way through many new elements of, um, Girl Scouting.

The weather was spectacular, and we arrived a few minutes early as the girls were to check-in, and meet up with their troop. Opening ceremonies weren't until 9:00am, and the actual jamboree wasn't scheduled to start until 9:30am. So, after Megan and the rest of her troop checked in by 8:10, we found ourselves spending over an hour trying to keep a group of seven 6-year olds entertained, as I feverishly looked around for a coffee/donut vendor. No such luck.

After the opening ceremonies, which consisted of introductions of councilmen, trustees, and other city officials (hard to imagine a more snooze-inducing 10 minutes for a group of preteen girls), we made our way back to the "try-it" area for a day long jamboree. Or so I thought.

After the girls made their way to their appropriate station for the first set of activities, all of us moms in Megan's troop stood nearby to watch, and lend any needed assistance. Then things turned sour.

About 15 minutes into the day's first task, one of the Girl Scout leaders came around by us moms and told us that in order for us to stick around, we'd need to "register" like everyone else had done. Ok, we thought, no big deal right? Wrong. The "registration" would cost each of us $20. Yep, they wanted to charge each of us $20 just to stand off to the side and watch our kids learn.

Whoa, Nellie. What exactly are we paying $20 for, anyway? We had already paid a fee for our daughters to participate in the jamboree. This covered lunch, etc. But apparently, us parents had to pay an additional $20 just to be on the grounds with our kids.

Megan's troop leader started to voice her displeasure, and started asking the million dollar, or $20 dollar question I guess, "what exactly are we paying $20 for?" The Girl Scout leader had no specific answer. She went on some ramble about insurance, and covering themselves in case of blah blah blah.

Our response was, "okay, fine. Surely it doesn't cost $20 just for insurance, so tell us what the insurance costs, and we'll pay that." That was turned down.

After a few minutes of this taffy pull, I chimed in.

"So, basically, you're charging me $20 to stand off to the side and watch my daughter participate in this jamboree? What does the $20 go towards? We're not going to eat your lunch, or your dinner, we just want to watch our kids."

The lady in red, official NBJ red t-shirt that is, mentioned to me that they had set up many different adult activities that we could participate in if we wanted.

I said, "I don't want to participate in any of that. I'm here for my daughter, I took a day off of work to spend time with my daughter, watching her get better at, um, Girl Scouting, and you're fooling yourself to think that I'm going to pay you $20 for the right to stand behind my girl and cheer her on."

She came back with some typical "I'm just following Girl Scout guidelines..." mumbo-jumbo, and after three or four pleas, we gave up.

So, either we had to pay $20, or we had to stay in the parking lot. Sorry lady, I work in small market radio, I'm not forking over twenty of my hard-earned dollars for "registration", or to "make a profit" as I like to call it.

Look, if you need extra money to cover expenses, then just say so. Don't mask it as some official "registraion" baloney. Doesn't seem very, um Girl Scouting-like does it?

I spent an hour or so in the parking lot, rearranging the items in my trunk several times, then when Megan returned from a hike she was participating in, I told her I would be leaving for the rest of the day, and that I'd pick her up when she was done at 5:30pm. She was fine with that, confused at first, but she understood.

I went home, watched the White Sox win, did some yardwork, changed a few diapers, watched Sarah so my wife could get out of the house for an hour or two, and when the time came, we all went to pick up Megan.

Megan had a blast, which was the most imprtant thing, of course. And having been gone from the event for a few hours made Megan's, "Daddy!", followed by a sprint-into a bearhug-from 50-feet away a great moment for me. So, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I ended up not staying.

And, at least the whole $20 registration fiasco provided me with a blog topic.

I mean, really. $20, just to be able to sit under a nearby tree and watch my daughter get better at, um, Girl Scouting?

I don't even think that $20 would have earned me a box of Girl Scout cookies.

Hey Sox fans, enjoy the ride

First of all, I'm sure there are people out there that believe, along the same lines as noted Cub fan Kevin Schramm, that I am simply a member of the White Sox bandwagon, a card carrying member since the magical run of 2005.

Truth be known, I've been following the White Sox since the late 80's. Just because I don't wear the clothes, go to a lot of games, or randomly run onto the field and attack an opposing team's base coach doesn't mean I'm not a fan.

I'm a quiet fan. Actually, I'm more of a Phillies fan than a Sox fan. Considering the lack of success with that team over the years, I'm pretty quiet about that, too.

So as we head towards another possible playoff appearance by the 'good guys', the length of fingernails for Sox fans all across the country are shrinking by the minute. I say, good. This is what it's all about, a pennant race -- ok, a wildcard race, but that doesn't have the same charm to it -- and this race looks like it's going right down to the wire.

A two-month long pennant race! Sit back, relax, and strap it down.

Last year's Sox season was so smooth fans didn't have to panic for one instant, until we got to September. As the Sox huge lead began to evaporate, there was no "pennant fever" that set in for fans, but rather a "Holy-s***-they-might-blow-this-thing migraine/coronary." Not fun.

What we have this year is fun. The Sox are locked in a tight 3-team race for the wildcard. Forget the division title. If they should catch Detroit, great. Really though, it doesn't matter. Just get into the postseason, any way, any how.

Every game feels like a playoff game.

Every night, you check the out of town scores to see what the Twins, Red Sox, Tigers, and Yankees are doing.

There's nothing like a pennant race in baseball. The daily ups and downs of following a team in the playoff hunt is one of the benefits of being a sports fan. Heartbreak, jubilation, sweaty palms, frustration, feeling like a kid on Christmas morning after your team hits a walk-off home run for a big win -- it's all there.

So enjoy it. These are good times Sox fans! Sure, their starting pitching looks worn out, the bullpen not quite as good as last year, the offense is relying a little too much on the home run, and the possibility that they won't make the playoffs is VERY real.

But, they are the defending world champs. They have one of the best records in baseball. And, the White Sox seem primed for success for the next several years as well.

In other words, don't dwell on any negatives from this season. Grinder rule number 3,856: Enjoy the ride, embrace the drama of the playoff chase. Hey Sox fans, this team won it all last year, and are pushing hard to do it again this year. Savor every moment.

It sure beats the alternative, being a Phillies fan.

Or worse, a Cubs fan.

The Iceman Cometh

My number one goal in life is to help people. Well, it's a tossup between helping people, and becoming a millionaire and quitting radio. Be that as it may, I do like to help people. After the post about MTV's 25th anniversary I thought I'd provide the link to one of the moments I selected, Vanilla Ice's meltdown.

The quality of the video is poor, but there are only two clips that I could find of this wonderfully bizarre event, and each is equally blurry.

I like how "Ice" sits with the comedians during the "retiring" of his video, laughing at some of the one-liners, going along with the gimmick, and seeming to have a good sense of humor about the whole thing.

It's hard to tell if "Ice" is genuinely upset at the jokes coming at his expense, and then unleashes his rage by destroying the set -- or if his meltdown is his attempt at outrageous and shocking humor. Well, the comedians didn't find it that funny, and the folks at MTV didn't either.

If that was "Ice"'s attempt at humor, then he shouldn't quit his day job.

By the way, what exactly is his day job these days?

MTV's birthday -- oh, for the old days

I read today that MTV would not even be mentioning on-air the fact that this was it's 25th birthday. Apparently they are a network that "looks forward, not back" to paraphrase the audio clip in a newscast this morning from a network executive.

Why wouldn't the network want to mention the anniversary, play a few clips, interview some musicians about the impact music videos have had on their careers, etc.?

Maybe MTV didn't want to spotlight the past, to bring up old memories of a time when they, oh I don't know, actually PLAYED VIDEOS.

Yeah, for about a decade or so, MTV was a pretty cool network. Then they got a little too full of themselves, and it all went downhill. Oh sure, after the downfall started, I still watched a few seasons of The Real World, the first season and a half of The Osbournes, a Road Rules now and then. But that was a while ago, and now I barely ever put MTV on.

So since the network isn't going to look back, I thought I'd offer up a few memories of mine, and feel free to share some of yours by adding a comment at the end of this post.

There have certainly been some memorable events on MTV -- including, in no particular order...

Live-Aid: 17-hour event to raise money for Africa in a fight against hunger. U2 became global stars that day. Phil Collins played in London, hopped a Concorde and played a set in Philly, drumming for Led Zeppelin that day. Mick and Tina closed the show, and Queen stole the show. A truly great event that spawned many similar fundraising efforts over the years.

Live-8: The event itself was spectacular. MTV's coverage was spectacularly awful. Constant commercial breaks during performances, and the unforgettable cutting away from once-in-a-lifetime performances -- a Pink Floyd reunion WITH Roger Waters -- to show vapid veejays in the crowd talking to drunks in the crowd.

That may have been the last day I watched MTV.

Martha Quinn: The stoners loved Nina Blackwood. Martha was my gal.


Any David Lee Roth video: Diamond Dave, thanks for the laughs!

TRL: Hundreds of screaming teens, and oodles of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera videos. The show that also gave us the classic Mariah Carey meltdown.

The Real World: Before this series became a caricature of itself, it was actually a decent show.

Vanilla Ice flips out: MTV was "celebrating" the 25 lamest videos with comedians Jon Stewart, Denis Leary, Janeane Garofalo and Chris Kattan making sarcastic remarks as each video was shown. They get to "Ice, Ice, Baby", and none other than Ice himself (or Rob Van Winkle as he wanted to be called) came onto the set with a baseball bat to ceremoniously shatter the tape of his video, thus "destroying" it so MTV could never play it again. Ice didn't stop at just bashing the video. He went on to destroy the set as well. At first glance it looked like a setup -- until you saw the terror in Kattan's eyes.

Madonna's "Borderline" video: I was 13, and I was in love.

Ahhh, I could go on and on. The VMA's, Bill Clinton's appearances that helped him win in '92, The Osbournes, Thriller, The "paint the mutha piiiiink' Mellencamp promotion, The "Money For Nothing", and "Sledgehammer" videos, Remote Control, The Grind...

Thanks for 25 years MTV. At least 10-15 of those years have been pretty good. Now play a video once in awhile, ok?

"Borderline" would be a good start.

Dunk this!

As I mentioned on Friday's show, there is a commercial airing right now that makes me cringe each time I see it. Maybe I'm getting too old. It's one of those commercials you either love, or hate.

Check it out for yourself.

Feel free to leave a comment.

Big sis is doing great

Our first daughter, Megan, had been asking and hoping for a brother or sister for quite awhile. My wife and I learned we were expecting last fall, and we told Megan about it Christmas Eve. Naturally, Megan was excited, and eagerly anticipated Sarah's arrival.

So far, Megan has been handling the adjustment extremely well. She understands Sarah's needs, and the time my wife and I have to give to Sarah. Fortunately, Megan has embraced the challenges rather than avoiding the situation. Megan has been more than willing to lend a hand.

That's one advantage of having two children with a six year age difference, the older child -- assuming they're willing -- can be a great help with the newborn.

Watching Megan interact with Sarah has been one of the treats of this whole experience.

And yes, she's been a great help.

Megan has a Barney guitar that plays music whenever you place your hand thru the circle in the base of the guitar.

One day while we were changing Sarah, she was crying, and the pacifier wasn't calming her down. Megan grabbed her guitar, starting playing some music, and Sarah stopped crying.

Just last night, same thing. Sarah was crying during a changing and Megan instantly went for the guitar and soon Sarah was quiet as can be soaking in the sounds of "B-I-N-G-O".

One of the little joys of parenthood.

And certainly music to mom and dad's ears as well.