SPOILER ALERT – The following contains a synopsis of the June 30th episode of the ABC show, The Mole.  Do not read if you don’t want to know what happened, including results of the elimination quiz!

I got some really interesting comments about mole-y behavior on last week’s post.  They were thought provoking and fun to read, so keep them coming!  As for this week, unfortunately my kids were going completely crazy during my viewing of the show, so I won’t be able to go into much detail since I missed a lot.

My husband thought Craig was acting very mole-y.  I somewhat agree, although I just don’t get the moleish vibe from him.  Could someone really be SO intolerant to cold weather just from living in California?  If so, that seems really unhealthy!  But anyway, back to the episode.  In my opinion, Kristen and Mark were the least suspectable contestants left, so I just knew one of them was going to be eliminated.  I think Paul seems like too much of a loose cannon to be the mole, but who knows, it could always be an act.  This week, I think my official guess will be Nicole.  It stinks because I think I’m really influenced by my husband’s equation using Nicole’s name – (N+I) (C+O) L E = M O L E
In past seasons, the show has been known to do things like this, and I just can’t get it out of my head.  Plus, last night I noticed a change in her personality where she seemed to act like an actual human being for the first time during the run of the show.  So that makes me think the extreme bitchiness was just a facade and as the show progresses, it’s starting to crack.  I mean, could anyone really be THAT much of a bitch?  During the first few weeks of the show, I thought that her extremely bitchy and arrogant personality excluded her from being the mole, but now I’m not so sure, and I don’t know if it’s just that equation getting to me or not.

So continue to comment and post your thoughts and feelings – I really enjoy reading all the theories and observations.  Here are the official guesses for this week:

Jamiah – Paul

Chris – Paul

Taylhis – Nicole

SPOILER ALERT!!! – The following is a summary of Monday, June 23rd’s episode of The Mole – it contains outcomes and spoilers.  Do not read any further if you don’t want to know about past Mole episodes.

6/23/08 – The focus tonight was on Clay and Victoria.  Since Victoria ended up getting eliminated, the episode’s emphasis on Clay put my mole-suspecting focus back on him.  That and his mole-y behavior.  Before the gold-brick-up-the-mountain challenge, Clay made sure to talk about how little money he wanted his team to earn.  He was so focused on getting up the mountain to win the exemption from the quiz that he specifically said that bringing bricks to earn money was not important.  That’s understandable, but then when they did get to the top of the mountain, and Clay already knew that his team had won the exemption, he was still making comments about how much money his team had won.  And his comments were about how the team won too much money for his liking.  Then, when it was discovered that the team had earned only one exemption and they had to decide which of the 3 got to use it, Clay both insisted to and bargained with his teammates in order to be able to use the exemption for himself.  That seems like something the mole would do in order to “prove” his or her “need” for the exemption – ie, throw others off his mole-y trail.

I hated how Nicole was Ahem-ing and blinking rapidly during the journal question activity at dinner, but then again, I hate many of the things she does.  I hadn’t really considered her for the mole until my husband brought up a very intriguing point – Take a look at Nicole’s name: NICOLE.  It’s very easy to change Nicole’s name to MOLE with a simple equation:  If you “add” the N to the I, it makes an M.  If you “add” the C to the O, it makes an O:  (N+I )(C+O) LE= MOLE
The show has been known for slipping in little clues like this in the past.  They will even highlight some of them in the finale once we find out who the mole is.  Now I am really starting to consider Nicole.  Her ultra-bitchy attitude could be a ploy for the cameras because she is the mole.  She was just the woman you love to hate, so as an audience member, you don’t want to think her awful personality if fake because you’re busy hating her.  But it’s just a thought for now; I will keep a close eye on her now, that’s for sure.  For tonight’s official guess, I’m going to have to go with Clay again.  Chris is still guessing Paul.  Though that Nicole hypothesis is a good one, I guess it wasn’t enough to convince him of Nicole’s role as the mole.  Until next week…

Watched this Mole episode a little late this week since the kids were rambunctious about settling down after an exciting week at Grandma’s – turns out I hadn’t missed much.  I really liked the Fruit of the Luge challenge where the players divide into teams of 2, and one person is blindfolded and driving the pair on a luge.  The other player is supposed to call out the types of fruits that are depicted on signs they pass on the luge course.  When they are at the end of the luge course, they are not to talk, and the blindfolded player takes off his or her blindfold and picks out the fruit in the order the other player had seen it.  Alas, a few teams ended up getting their points taken away since they broke a rule and chatted after finishing the course.  But it was an interesting challenge; an aspect of this show that I really enjoy.  Unlike the following challenge…  something about the contestants running around Chile in underwear trying to find clothes.  It was a stupid, pointless, sell-out challenge; something that once set this reality show apart from the others because they hadn’t yet stooped to this level – what a shame.

But anyway, no one really stuck out at me as being that moley tonight.  Paul kinda was, but then when he got angry during dinner, it didn’t seem mole-like to be so upset.  But if he is the mole, maybe that was part of his game, who knows.  Clay always seems to be in the backround, and if it weren’t for last week’s episode where he had only about one line to say throughout the entire show, I would think it’s him.  But because of last week, I can’t picture them only showing the mole once during an episode.  The blonde neurologist is looking suspect also – her name escapes me at the moment.  I also think it could be Nichole, but the whole point of Nichole is that she thinks she is so great at so many things when she really isn’t so perfect because she’s too busy being full of herself…  I don’t see how she’d have time to be the mole when she’s so busy being so arrogant.  And I definitely don’t think the mole is Mark.  There are a few people that just don’t seem suspect to me, and Mark, Craig, the model and Bobby were 3 of those people.  The model and Bobby are both gone now (YAY!  I was getting so sick of Bobby’s antics; he was not very likable), so I guess I was right about those two.  So here is where I am so far:

POSSIBLE SUSPECTS:
Paul – My husband’s top pick since the beginning.  Tonight, he was standout mole-y to me, but he also doesn’t seem smart enough to pull off being the mole…  maybe just part of his act?
Alex –  He’s the guy who wins everything; every reality show has one.  Usually they do pretty well and become finalists if not win the entire competition.  I don’t think he’s the mole though, but he’s more of a suspect than not at this point.  It’s getting on my nerves that he can speak such fluent spanish.  I don’t think they should have picked only one contestant with this ability when filming the show and doing the challenges in a spanish-speaking country.
Clay – I wish he wasn’t so ignored last week, otherwise he would be my top guess again…  he’s just SO neutral seeming and in the backround.
Kristen – the bike thing from last week made her a suspect…  and she just acts generally mole-y; I can’t really pinpoint it.

NOT ON MY SUSPECT LIST (yet)
Nichole – see above – the part about the being to arrogant to be the mole.
Craig – seems too genuine?  I don’t know what it is, but if this guy is the mole, he’s good!
Victoria – Not only does she not seem very bright, but her infatuation with Bobby just doesn’t fit as mole behavior.  It wasn’t obvious enough to be present to throw others off, so I think it was genuine.  And besides the other clues she’s given, the fact that she would have a genuine crush on a fellow reality show contestant, especially someone like Bobby all point to the fact that she is too dim to pull off being the mole.
Mark – something last week had me convinced he is NOT the mole, forgot what it was, but it sticks with me enough to know that I still do not suspect this guy at all.  Just seems too real I guess.

I guess after re-reading my contestant breakdown, my official mole guess after seeing this week’s episode is Clay.

Chris’ guess is Paul.

Jamiahsh can post his guess in comments.

After getting to watch week #2 of the new Mole season UNINTERRUPTED by kids since they’re with Grandma this week (can’t put a price on that by the way, it’s funny how simple pleasures like watching a favorite tv show uninterrupted can feel really nice :)), I am going to change my mole guess from Clay to Kristen.  I don’t really have a good reason why; she was just acting kind of moley.  And her way of sabotaging the task could have been to get that chain to keep falling off the bike, cuz that was unfortunate.  Clay had like, one comment during the whole episode, and I just don’t think they would shove the mole into the backround like that.  And I have to add that I just knew this week was going to be the end of Liz somehow.  Chris thinks the mole is Paul, going with his first week’s guess.  I guess what I will do is give everybody a point for every week they guess the mole correctly at the end once we find out who it is.  Do you have a guess this week, Jamiahsh?  I got your comment on my other mole post, and I will repost it here:

After watching the first 2 episodes. It is definitely NOT BOBBY. Trying way too hard to draw attention to himself with his ‘overexertion. It could be Alex… unless he really did leave his journal behind by mistake.
 

Interesting comment.  We too, think that Bobby is drawing way too much attention to himself to be the mole.  He’s just coming across as a lazy jerk, and it’s not fun to watch.  I will go with Chris’ theory on him – he is trying to throw off other players by acting like the mole.  I see Alex as the guy who wins everyting – there’s always one of those on every reality show – and I don’t think he’s the mole.  I don’t know whether or not he left his journal laying around on purpose.  He could have done so or he could have left it accidently and just tried to cover it up with the explanation of trying to throw others off.  But anyway, another good episode, and here is where we stand on mole guesses:

Lisa – Clay, Kristen

Chris – Paul, Paul

Jamiahsh – Clay, ?

The Mole is the best reality show ever, I think.  And now it is back for another season, starting Monday, June 2.  It airs on ABC, and I highly recommend it.  A quick synopsis in case you missed my previous post about the Mole – 12 contestants complete various stunts and missions, although one of them is the mole.  The audience and other players don’t know who the mole is, and he or she tries to sabotage the missions while staying undercover.  Each week, the contestants take a quiz about the mole, and the person who guesses the most answers incorrectly must leave the game.  About the new season, I must say how much I don’t like the new host, but other than that, the show seems to be just as it was before – extremely entertaining, thought provoking, and FUN!

I think it’d be fun to keep a running tally of Mole guesses for viewers who read my blog.  So if you’re a Mole fan also, submit your guess to me each week and I wil post it.  So far after week one, my guess for the Mole would be Clay, and Chris is guessing Paul.

It’s fun to see if anyone can guess who the mole is from early on, so stay tuned to my blog throughout the summer for updates on the show, and if you decide to watch it, and I HIGHLY recommend that you do, join in the fun by posting me a comment with your thoughts on the episodes and guesses on who is…
THE MOLE!

When I was talking about the best reality show ever, The Mole, the other day, it made me think of my second favorite: American Inventor.  It was a show where people brought their inventions in front of a panel of judges, and the “good” ones advanced until a winner was chosen.  This show was fun to watch because some of the inventions were horrible ideas, and when the inventor pitched them, it was hilarious to see their inventions and the judges’ reactions to them.  It was also heartbreaking at times because there were people who put up everything they had to pursue the development of their invention – and some were so bad, they never had a chance.  Take Bulletball, for instance.  It was a game invented one night while the inventor and his wife sipped wine and batted a cat’s toy ball back and forth across a table.  So the inventor proceeded to invest everything he had, even living in his car, to develop the “high caliber” tabletop game of bulletball.  One of the judges asks, “So if you invested everything, what do you have?”  His reply?  “I have Bulletball.”  Oh my.  His segment on the show was very memorable (and sad – you had to feel sorry for someone who was so determned, yet his idea was SO bad, all 4 judges said no and broke his heart) that we were talking about it the other day and decided to look it up on youtube.  So, I will share his clip with you.  I admire his determination, but even I wouldn’t get Bulletball if I spotted it at the thrift store…  see below.

I wonder if American Inventor is going to return?  It was a good show, but the problem with it was that the inventions that end up winning aren’t realistic.  Both of the winning inventions were born out of tragedy, one was a special protective car seat thought up by a guy who lost his daughter in a car accident.  The other was a Christmas tree that extinguished itself if it caught on fire.  Both good ideas, but not really practical when you take cost and other factors into consideration.  But anyway, I’d like to see the show again, even if they keep choosing winners based on emotional reasons.

While we were looking up American Inventor on youtube, we came across this wacky video from Japan.  They call these “inventions”, and they are contraptions that make a series – random objects falling, hitting other objects, etc. in order to cause the next reaction until there’s a whole chain of them.  Think of the game Mousetrap (found that one a few weeks ago, by the way, but it’s missing the big ball!) or dominoes without the dominoes.  Check it out below.  You’ll notice that after each series of reactions, there’s a cute little Japanese song that plays – it’s actually quite catchy.  There are a bunch of these on the video, it’s over 9 minutes long in case you’re wondering while you watch if it’ll ever end.  I wonder if these “inventions” are shorts that aired on Japanese tv, maybe before or after some weekly show or something?  Who knows, but it’s fun to see the different things they came up with:

My favorite shows are on tv Thursday nights, and last week’s episodes of both shows were really good.  The Lost episode and the Office were up to par for sure, if not even a little better than usual.  And some great news we got while watching ABC – it seems we won’t be entirely without tv this summer since they’re bringing back our favorite reality show, the best one ever in my opinion, The Mole!  This show revolves around 12 contestants who perform various tasks.  In past seasons the tasks have involved navigating around strange countries and scavenger hunt-type things.  The contestants work together to try to add money to the “pot”; except for the twist: one of the players is a saboteur, the Mole, who tries to work against the other players, trying NOT to get money added to the pot.  Obviously the Mole cannot be obvious about his or her identity because if he or she is the last one left, then the Mole wins the game.  Each week, the contestants take a quiz about the Mole, and the person with the fewest correct answers gets eliminated.  There has been 4 seasons of the Mole, the first 2 being hosted by Anderson Cooper, the CNN anchor, and the next 2 being celebrity editions hosted by Ahmad Rashad.  The show has not aired since 2004, and I have missed it!  It is very entertaining, and I am VERY excited it’s coming back to tv, especially since I will be going into Lost and especially Office withdrawl this summer!

Especially compounding the tv withdrawl this summer is that the episodes of my favorite shows were extra good last Thursday!  Lost actually answered more questions than it asked, they actually continuted some of the hanging plot lines instead of giving us new ones to ponder, and no new characters were introduced!  Part 2 of the season finale airs in 2 weeks, and last night’s episode really whet my appetite for this season’s cliffhanger!

The Office was back to being utterly hilarious this week.  The plot line with Toby’s replacement being under the impression that Kevin is “special” was my favorite.  I was also glad to see the return of Jan, though part of me was disappointed to discover it wasn’t Michael’s baby (according to Jan anyway – maybe a twist to look for next season?).  Michael’s new “love” for Holly was sweet and intense, but he actually might not be too far off this time – she seems like she might be a good match for him.  I loved the part where he breaks into a Yoda impression after she says yoga, she just stares at him like he’s bizarre, but then she breaks into a Yoda impression of her own.  This might be a match made in heaven!  But then again, Michael had to be an idiot and gloss over Holly’s invitation to get dessert…  typical Michael Scott behavior!  I can’t believe we’re back to waiting months for the show to come back on again!  At least The Mole will keep me busy with tv – I highly recommend it!

Awards time was upon us again last night!  Overall, I had a good time during the Academy of Country Music Awards, not as much fun as actually being there like I was in 2000, but a good time!  There were some disappointments for me though, as you will read in my play-by-play of the awards below:

Carrie Underwood opened the show – I like Carrie Underwood; even though she’s a country crossover, I think she has an amazing voice.  By the way, very early in her season of American Idol – when I still watched it – I predicted that she would win and also that she would be a very good country singer.  Just had to get that in there to boost myself after I did so horribly at predicting this year’s ACM awards.  But her new song isn’t country enough for me, and it made it seem like she is trying to cross back over into pop or rock.  Was not a big fan of her performance.
Next Reba McEntire made a funny joke in a beautiful blue dress with a classy fit.  The joke was about 1986, and she said, “Back then, Roger Clemens wasn’t even interested in country music!”  The audience oohed and ahhed, I guess it was kinda controversial, but I liked it.  The joke was in reference to the affair that took place years ago and just now came to light between a married and much older Roger Clemens and a teenage up and coming country star named Mindy McCready, who unfortunately is better known these days for controversy than for country music.  Reba’s jokes were actually pretty funny tonight, I liked the Kenny Chesney song reference: “she thinks my fracture is sexy” and also when Reba was talking about the correlation between #1 hits and birthdays, she said, “I have 33”.  Her delivery made that joke pretty funny, and I do like her as a host.

Next up was a live performance from Toby off-Keyth.  To his credit, many of the performers seemed off pitch tonight, could there have been some issue with the sound system?  That aside, his new song is simply awful.  Quite possibly the worst country song ever.  The lyrics are terrible, and hearing it off-key was even worse.

Time for the first award!  SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR – I guessed Don’t Blink by Kenney Chesney, and hubby guessed Stay by Sugarland.  Other nominees were Miranda Lambert, Big and Rich, and Gary Allan -Slow start – hubby is one up on me already since the winner is Stay.  Gotta give him some credit, it’s a nice song.

Next is a live performance from Brad Paisley – his new song is ok, I like it, but he seems off key too.  Hubby says, Brad Paisley?  He’s always off key on the live shows.  I don’t remember this being the case, Is he?

Next, Taylor Swift wins TOP NEW FEMALE VOCALIST – no surprise there – hubby is 2 for 2, and I am on the board with 1.

Miranda Lambert’s live performance – alright.

Now the award for NEW DUO/VOCAL GROUP – Never even heard of any of the nominees since I listen to Kidsongs in the car now; I no longer get to listen to country radio, so all the new stuff on the awards show tonight was truly news to me.  Quiz me on Kidsongs episodes though, and I’d win every time!

Rodney Atkins gives an off key live performance.  Not that this song about kids swearing sounds that great on the radio either.  It’s an ok song, but he has a crackly country voice, and live singing just makes it worse.

TOP NEW MALE VOCALIST – Hubby guesses Luke Bryan I guess Jake Owen, and the nominee not chosen by either of us wins – Jack Ingram.

Live performance from Kenny Chesney – I’m never a huge fan of Chesney, but he wasn’t off-key, so I won’t complain.

Live performance by Geroge Strait  – I was not crazy about his new song but at least he wasn’t off key either. Live performance duet – Kenny Chesney and George Strait – Chesney went a little off key, but I don’t like this song Shiftwork anyway.

Next was a world premiere of Sugarlands new single, which I really liked!  The woo-oohs were a little corny, but the song reminds me of 80’s country and it was a very catchy tune.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR was won by Miranda Lambert – and nobody in our household guesses this category correctly.

Live performance by Brooks and Dunn – not off key

SONG OF THE YEAR – I guessed Kenny Chesney, hoping he would win this instead of Entertainer of the Year, but I was disappointed because Hubby guessed Sugarland’s Stay would get this award.

Taylor Swift gave a live performance – a little off key until it started raining on her on stage.  That was pretty cool, but did they turn off her mic and let her lip sync?  Would the mic even work in the rain?  She got pretty wet and was suddenly on key, so I wonder…

TOP VOCAL DUO – Brooks and Dunn – We both guessed this one correctly – EVERYONE WINS!

Trace Atkins live performance – pitch problems

I have to comment on the baby puking commercial that aired here.  I believe it originally aired during the Superbowl.  But it shows a baby talked into a webcam, and all of a sudden, he spits up.  I just love the irony of the baby talking like a normal adult, then all of a sudden spitting up like a baby.  You have to see it and probably have kids to appreciate it.

Now finally, after stringing us along all night, it was time for the Garth Brooks tribute.  Garth used to be my favorite country singer, way back when, until he sold out, retired a few times, became Chris Gaines, etc etc.  But he still has some great music in his library, some of which he treated us to tonight in a live performance.  Reminded me of the 3 times I got to see him in concert.  He was a GREAT performer, and even though he has aged a little, he can still give a good concert.  I loved how when he went off key, he covered by pretending he was just having fun with the song and meant to have pitch problems – yeah right!  And he did mess up the words in The Thunder Rolls – he came in too early.  But a good concert by him overall, even if he was a bit rusty.  He also included the following songs in his montage: Callin Baton Rouge, Friends in Low Places, We Shall Be Free, The Dance, Just Ledoux, In Another’s Eyes (special guest duet with wife Tricia Yearwood.  Not to be rude, but I was POSITIVE Garth was going to be announcing some baby news – Tricia looked extra puffy.  He didn’t say anything though, so I guess I’m just a jerk for noticing and saying so.  Being in the public eye must suck!), More Than a Memory, Rodeo, and the finale Ain’t Goin Down Til the Sun Comes Up.  Then, Garth was given the Crystal Milestone Award of which he is deserving, despite all the selling out he’s done.  And when he called Reba Ms. Yearwood, it was hilarious, but since it was followed by “I love her”, I can see why he mixed up the names to say that about his wife – aw!

Next award – VOCAL GROUP – Rascal Flatts

Keith Urban live performance – liked the song, but what’s with the do doo’s?  This is the second do doo’s song tonight!

David Spade’s long joke was funny, but I have yet to understand his presence at country music awards?

Rascal Flatts live performance was off key.

Eddy Arnold tribute – Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley sang one of Eddy’s songs as a duet, and it sounded magnificent.  Awesome tribute.

Kellie Pickler live performance – off pitch, like so many others before her.

Trisha Yearwood comes out to present MALE VOCALIST – kudos on the costume change, shouldn’t be any baby rumors due to this dress.  I have Kenny Chesney, Hubby has George Strait.  Paisley wins.

Lee Ann Rimes – live performance – not off key, but the band is way loud.

Carrie Underwood wins FEMALE VOCALIST and puts me within one point of tying up the contest between my husband and me!

Montgomery Gentry – live performance off key – sounds horrible

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR – Wait, my ballot sheet says we still have Video of the year and Vocal Event of the Year, what happened?  Some research on the internet shows I lost both those categories, ugh.  I guessed Brad Paisley and Hubby has Keith Urban – Chesney wins AGAIN!!!  I should have seen it coming, I was just hoping that with the new voting system this year – they let the fans vote for Entertainer of the Year – I thought the fans would take away Chesney’s monopoly on this category.  His joke about thanking his parents for doing what they did so many years ago that led to his creation was kinda funny, if a bit unexpected.

So, you can see where my disappointments lie – mainly with the entertainer of the year award, losing to my husband, and not liking many of the new songs that were performed.  But like I said, I had fun watching, and now I know I will have to do more research before the next country awards in the fall so I can get more correct guesses.  I’ll have to find a way to take back control over the car radio for starters!

I have a love/hate relationship with electronic technology.  I love and appreciate the advances that have been made in the world, and I use lots of technologically savvy stuff every day.  But I hate learning the new stuff, and if I procrastinate, it seems that when I finally break down and learn it, something new immediately comes along to replace what I have just learned.  And I am married to a technology addict.  I know it’s a common thing for men to be into electronics and the latest gadgets and all of that, but I think our house is exceptionally up-to-date on the electronic gadgetry, especially when it comes to computers.  My problem with it lies where the technology becomes more of an inconvenience than it is a convenience.  I have a few examples I will share:

1.  Hi-Def Tv – My husband will sit and flip channels in the middle of a show just to try to find the hi-def version of the show.  Of course he doesn’t choose to do this during a Chicago Bears game or something he is inclined to watch.  For those shows, he will actually think about it ahead of the show’s start time.  He’ll sit and flip looking for high-def while I’m watching something, during shows like Dr. Phil or pointless reality shows.  I know, these are dumb shows, so I shouldn’t care about missing them.  But if I’m going to sit and watch something, then I want to watch it, I don’t want to miss any of it, otherwise I’m wasting my time.  So, if I’m watching Dr. Phil, and hubby comes over and tries to find Dr. Phil in hi-def, I might just miss the backround of a guest’s story and not know what is going on for the rest of the show.  Like I said, it’s not like we’re talking about high quality tv here, but who needs Dr. Phil in hi-def anyway?!?

2.  GPS –  I cannot tell you how many times our GPS guy has gotten us lost.  Yes, we have a GPS system in our car with a male voice – he was on sale.  I’ve always thought I was pretty good at navigating; pretty good at being a human compass and learning the layouts of strange cities and towns pretty quickly.  In the years before we had GPS (and kids!) we used to travel by car A LOT, and I was always our navigator.  I’d like to think I got us out of more than a few scrapes with just my sense of direction and an atlas…  But my past experience gets me no where compared to the GPS guy.  He has taken over.  My husband will insist that we follow Mr. GPS’ directions, even while I’m saying they don’t make sense.  For one thing, he’s led us into a lake before, literally.  Well, luckily common sense did prevail there at the last minute…  my husband stopped the car before he drove into the lake, but he was tempted to trust Mr. GPS, and drive into the lake, I know it.  Maybe it sounds like I’m jealous of Mr. GPS, but I’m not, really I’m not.  I just suspect that he might have it out for us, or that he is a practical jokester who gleefully directs us into predictaments just to see how we get out of them…  Kinda sounds like a dumb sitcom – tune in each week to see how we maneuver our way out of whatever mess Mr. GPS has finagled us into this time…

Don’t get me wrong – I do appreciate all the technology most of the time, in a way.  If my husband weren’t so into all these things, I wouldn’t have all the cool gadgets that I have, and I would not know how to use anything, including my computer probably!  But how ironic is it that this post has been sitting in my drafts for weeks now, not getting finished, just because other things kept coming up that I wanted to write about, so I wasn’t getting a chance to finish it.  But how ironic, that today when I went to tangents.org, I got the following message about learning new technology?!?  If you don’t hear from me for awhile, I’m just procrastinating learning the new “back end” of tangents!

Well my friendly bloggers…  I have some great news that is going to make you all very mad!  Yes, you read that right.  Tangents will be updated with the latest versions of the blog software by next Friday and as soon as today (whenever it is released).  Why will this make you mad?  Because the backend you have worked to learn is going to look significantly different.  But don’t worry!  You have the basics down.  Once you take a few minutes to get used to the new layout you will be comfortable again and blogging on Tangents.Org will be better than ever!

In case you’ve missed my previous posts about animals and Jack Hanna, let me explain that Jack Hanna is my favorite celebrity and how much I really enjoy following his adventures through zoo life.  In case you don’t know who Jack is, he is the man who gave Columbus, Ohio a zoo.  They did have one before, even though many residents weren’t even aware of it, but with Jack’s brilliance in zoo management and marketing, the Columbus Zoo has become one of the most reknowned zoos in the world today.  These days, Jack spends his time filming tv shows of his own, and also bringing animals around the country for appearances in theaters and on other tv shows, such as David Letterman, Maury Povich, and Good Morning America in order to educate people about respecting animals.  Whenever animals are involved, situations can easily become unpredictable.  Throw Jack into the mix, and these situations now become hilariously entertaining and unpredictable. Things seem to happen to Jack, and if you’d like an example of what I mean, check out the following article detailing an animal mishap Jack encountered at the airport last September:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Animal expert Jack Hanna and an 11-month-old flamingo became trapped while trying to squeeze through an airport security turnstile. It took firefighters to finally get the flamingo out.  Animal expert Jack Hanna had a close encounter with a flamingo Sunday.  Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and a frequent guest on nationally televised talk shows, was returning from a zoo fundraiser with a mongoose, a small leopard and the flamingo. Three other people were with them.  The entourage arrived at the Ohio State University Airport just after midnight Sunday to find the terminal closed. The only way to leave the tarmac was through a 10-foot-tall metal turnstile with several horizontal bars — not the easiest exit to squeeze through when you’re traveling with boxed-up animals, Hanna said.  “I never thought about the crate being square and the turnstile being round,” he said.  Hanna, 60, pushed the flamingo’s 2-foot-by-3-foot compartment into the turnstile, then continued pushing while straddling the crate.  “I was stuck like a worm. My eyes were as big as grapefruits,” he said. “I can’t describe the feeling in my stomach. I can’t move up or down. The bars are on your face.”  Hanna said he eventually squirmed free, leaving the flamingo still wedged inside and everyone else trapped on the tarmac. He then walked to a nearby fire station for help. It took three firefighters to hoist the flamingo’s crate up and out of the turnstile, he said.  Columbus fire department logs show the firefighters arrived at the airport at 12:30 a.m. for a “flamingo rescue,” spokeswoman Kelly McGuire said.  Hanna joked that the next time he flies through the airport, the biggest animal he’ll bring is a gerbil.

If you were entertained by the preceding article, I highly recommend Jack’s book Monkeys on the Interstate which details his life before and during his days at the Columbus Zoo – it’s a VERY entertaining and funny read, especially for animal lovers and zoo enthusiasts.  I really hope I can schedule some time to catch Jack at one of his appearances soon, but until then, I will keep checking for him on Letterman and will probably check out the book for a fourth time!