my new favorite reality show that ive been addicted to the past couple weeks is top chef on bravo. i accidentally stumbled across it when i was home sick from work one day and was channel surfing and now ive watched every episode that ive missed, more than once some of them, ive read all the bios of all the contestants as well as the judges and even read the weekly judge's blog. yes the show really is that good...there's still a couple episodes left this season so i suggest everyone to jump on the bandwagon now.

a couple reasons why this show is so great. one is that it's based in san francisco so it's kind of cool to see spots that you go to on tv while you're trying to figure out which grocery store they're shopping at or what neighborhood they're driving in...stupid stuff like that. i know for a fact that the house they stayed in was somewhere in my neighborhood but i still haven't been able to figure out where it is just yet. why i care i don't even know since obviously they're not there anymore but i just want to see it. but the main reason why i like this show so much is because every episode, a guest judge participates and it's always a chef at one of the sf restaurants and ever since ive moved up here, one of my things is trying out new restaurants and reading online reviews so it's neat to see which restaurants are featured. so far, they've had chefs from le colonial, aqua, citizen cake and fleur de lys. i get this little sense of excitement anytime they mention a restaurant ive heard of or eaten at...for example, this past week's episode, their cooking challenge took place at frisson and it was one of the places ive eaten at and i got so excited i had to call up some people. stupid i know but i can't help it.

secondly this is a show about cooking with no added gimmicks or crap mixed into it. what matters here is the food. ive seen a couple episodes of the reality network star show on food network and on that show, it's not so much about the cooking but rather about how you perform in front of the camera. and the fact that america gets to decide on the winner is stupid too. for all we know their food could taste like crap. and ive seen the previews for cooking with celebrities or whatever it's called and that's bull too. basically it's just going to be the chefs doing all of the cooking while the celebrity cuts up an onion or something. but none of this ho hum stuff on top chef. here it's all about the cooking and having watched it, it's given me that much more respect for chefs. and the judges are all from the culinary world and widely respected and decorated or so i read anyways and take cooking very seriously so you know the judging is valid and honest.

third, the cast is awesome. every single one of them have strong personalities but it's not over sensationlized like a real world or big brother. they're all here for one reason and one reason only. and that is to be the top chef. duh right? i mean obviously since that's the title of the show but none of them seem to be there to get their 15 minutes of fame or do outrageous little stunts or say stupid things to get more air time and if they are, well they certainly have got me fooled. ive grown to have tremendous respect for them and my favorites are le anne, harold and tiffani. i can't decide between the three of them who i want to win and it troubles me. usually i have one person im rooting for through and through but now since i like all three of them so much, im bound to be upset even if one of them ends up winning. and while i hope beyond hope that stephen doesn't win it since ive never seen anyone more hung up on himself than he is, his comments have been pretty entertaining thus far so i hope he sticks around for a couple more episodes.

honestly after watching this show it makes wish i had a better palette and was involved in the food industry somehow (and no not as a waitress for you smart asses out there) but for now i guess ill just have to be content to visiting the restaurants and wasting my money that way but now ill enjoy the experience that much more.

if you find yourself bored on a wednesday night at 10pm...turn to bravo and get hooked like me...then we can have intelligent conversations about why dave is such an emotional basketcase and cries at every episode but you still end up loving him.

i never thought id live to see this day but queen is making a comeback ladies and gentlemen. that's right you heard me correctly, queen...of songs like under pressure, we will rock you and we are the champions. whether you like them or not, you have to admit they've got some pretty awesome songs. and of course my all time favorite song ever...bohemian rhaspody. my signature song during karaoke sessions until i was forced to retire it last year so consider yourself lucky if you ever got to hear my rendition because it's never to be sung again.

but tonight was queen night on american idol and while none of the contestants sounded that great, the fact that they would even feature queen was enough in itself. and to top this all off, mr marshman and i just went to the queen concert last week which lived up to all of my expectations and beyond. it was as if the producers just knew that ive been listening to queen nonstop on my ipod since and decided to reward me with tonight's show.

im not even really quite sure when or how i came to love queen so much but they've been one of my favorites for the past couple of years now. it all started with bohemian rhapsody and belting it out alone in my car but then one day, someone showed up with a magic mic and all was lost from that point on. anytime we went karaoking i had to sing it, anytime we had a house gathering i would hope someone would bring the magic mic but then over time, it became too much pressure (under pressure...get it? no? ok never mind then). one reason being because i know i sound pretty horrible but didn't really care too much as it was all in good fun but then when people started requesting it and actually expecting me to be good and put on a show, well it crumbled from that point on so i had to retire it. so now it's back to singing along in the car by myself. that is until i buy myself the magic mic one of these days to sing along to at home. honestly put a magic mic in front of me and i can just sing along for a good two hours by myself.

but if anyone saw the show, dumb kelly pickler sang bohemian rhapsody tonight and was not too bad actually except she looked horrible. did you see those bags under her eyes? what terrible lighting. the only one i thought that was semi decent was katharine mcphee so this only goes to show you just how hard queen songs are to duplicate.

my top five queen songs (i can only speak from their greatest hits album I as that's the only one i have on my itunes right now) but in no particular order:

1) bohemian rhapsody
2) another one bites the dust
3) save me
4) fat bottomed girls
5) killer queen

and of course we are the champions, under pressure and we will rock you but those are no brainers. god how i love queen...