Boob Tube Babble

It's been a while since I linked up with Neely for Boob Tube Babble. Today her post was on her love of Bad Boys of TV (check out her post here). I decided this week to devote my post to my favorite detectives, wanna be detectives and crime solvers (seeing that I'm obsessed infatuated passionate a fan of crime shows). 

1. Jessica Fletcher, Murder She Wrote: I'm thinking this started my whole mystery/crime show obsession. I used to watch this show with my folks. A retired teacher turned mystery writer turned crime solver. Anyone else ever wonder why no one accused her of all these murders? It seemed no matter where she went, whether staying at home or on vacation, people died. A little suspicious if you ask me. ;) Regardless, I love Angela Lansbury. I found this interview from a few years ago of her talking about her role as Jessica Fletcher. :)

2. Dr. Mark Sloan, Diagnosis Murder: This was another show I watched with my folks. Being a huge fan of Mary Poppins and reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show on Nick at Nite, I was excited to watch any show with Dick Van Dyke. Dr. Sloan was the head doctor at Community General Hospital, but in his spare time he helped his detective son Steve (played by real life son Barry Van Dyke), solve crimes. Fun fact: The character of Dr. Sloan was actually introduced on an episode of Jake and the Fat Man. Author's note: I don't watch Grey's Anatomy but while searching videos on YouTube it seems there is a character named Dr.  Mark Sloan on that show. Too funny.

3. Greg Sanders, CSI: He's a "lab rat" turned field agent but he's one of my favorites on CSI. He's so nerdy, but loveable! I found this clip from the episode where he got beat up trying to help save a man's life. It made me miss Grissom!!

4. Eric Delko, CSI: Miami: Let's just be honest here, Adam Rodriguez makes crime fighting look good ;) I like his character who tries to act all tough, but deep down he's just a sweet guy.

5. Detective Don Flack, CSI: NY: He works closely with the crime lab of New York. I think he sometimes brings some "comic relief" to a very tense show. Again, being honest, if I have to get arrested, I really hope the cop looks like Eddie Cahill (NOT that I'm planning on getting arrested or anything)! :)

6. Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS: He's the leader of the group who at times is tough and unemotional (I guess in his line of work you have to be), but deep down his team is his family. This is one of my favorite scenes!

7. Hetty Lange, NCIS: LA: She is the leader of the group, spending most of her time in the office while her team is out in the field. She's tough and keeps her team in line, but I think she is hilarious! She's great!

8. Shawn Spencer and Burton "Gus" Guster, Psych: I know, it's a comedy, but they are crime solvers too!! :) 

9. Patrick Jane, The Mentalist: I always felt like I was cheating on Shawn and Gus by watching this show, but I like it. Patrick Jane can drive his coworkers crazy, but in the end, he's usually right. 

10. Detective Seeley Booth, Bones: Granted, a month ago I had never seen this show but after a week of nothing but Netflix, I am now caught up on it. I really like his character. He's tough and his personality clashes with Dr. Brennan's, but they work well together. :) 

Photo Challenge Day 27: Lunch- I met some friends for lunch at Chick Fil-A today. Yummy!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I promise to recap The Oak Ridge Boys Concert on Monday!! :)

XOXO!!

It's OK Thursday!

It's OK...

...to count the nuggets in your Chick-Fil-A meal to make sure you weren't shorted one.

...to be happy when you realize you got two more nuggets than you paid for.

...to be 33 years old and going to see Breaking Dawn tomorrow night.

...to be singing this song at your desk:

...to have been shocked at the end of this week's episode of NCIS: Los Angeles

 ...to spend entirely too much time on Pinterest.

...to put up your Christmas decorations this weekend because you are out of town next weekend and won't have time after that.

...to REALLY want to attend George Strait's concert in Tulsa, OK on Feb. 16.

 ... to have drawn this during a department meeting:

...if you haven't entered Judy's soap giveaway! You have one more day! :)

What's OK with you today?? 

XOXO!

Happy Friday!!

Since I mentioned yesterday about having season premieres marked down in my day planner (yes, I realize I'm pathetic), I thought for Boob Tube Babble today I would post my weekly line up of TV shows that I plan to watch this season. This is brought to you today by the letters D V and R and the number 4 (meaning I can record up to four things at once on my DVR). If it wasn't for a DVR, there is NO way I could watch all of these. There are some shows I get about a month behind on watching because I don't have time. I guess that's a good thing- it shows I have somewhat of a life. It also means that sometimes TV shows take a backseat to sports. And so far I don't plan on checking out any of the new shows. I have too many to keep up with right now. Anyways, I'm rambling. So, here is my lineup!! **All times are CST**

Sunday: 

Sunday football. Starts this Sunday at noon.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (for when I need a good cry). Season premiere Sept. 25 at 6pm on ABC.

 CSI: Miami (I read a spoiler regarding Delko and Caleigh for this season- I'm excited!) ;) Season premiere Sept. 25 at 9pm on CBS.

Monday:

It looks like Mondays this year will be my "catch up" day (unless the Monday Night Football game is one I care about). I don't have any shows on Monday nights this season! 

Tuesday:

NCIS. Season premiere Sept. 20 at 7pm on CBS.

NCIS: Los Angeles. Season premiere Sept. 20 at 8pm on CBS.

 

Wednesday

Criminal Minds (JJ is back this season!) Season premiere Sept. 21 at 8pm.

CSI has moved to WEDNESDAY! (Side note: Ted Danson is taking over for Laurence Fishburne, who has left the show). Season premiere Sept. 21 at 9pm on CBS.

Psych (so thankful I can record more than one show at once. Psych is on at the same time as CSI this year.) Season premiere Oct. 12 at 9pm on USA.

Thursday:

The Big Bang Theory (I can't wait to see what they do with this whole Raj/Penny situation from the finale last season!) :) Season premiere Sept. 22 at 7pm on CBS.

The Mentalist. Season premiere Sept. 22 at 9pm on CBS.

Friday:

CSI: NY. (I'm so glad this one is returning. I really like Gary Sinise!)

Saturday:

Another off day for me TV show wise. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I promise a full review of The Sunshine Boys with Dick Van Dyke and his brother Jerry sometime next week!!

Have a great weekend!

XOXO!

Brad Paisley Concert Recap and 30 DBC- Day 11

I know, it's been almost two weeks and I still haven't done my Brad Paisley concert recap. Never fear, your wait is over!!

On July 30 my friend Leaneth and I went to Frisco for the Brad Paisley concert at Pizza Hut Park. It was a toasty 103 when we got there a little before 5pm. We decided to eat across the street at a sandwich shop (it was cheaper than eating inside the park). When we finally got to our seats about 6ish, we were delighted to see we were on the shaded side of the stadium. 

A view of the stage behind us

Taking pictures at our nice, shady seats!

Did I mention it was a little on the warm side? I refused to pay $4 for water (which by the way, they poured from the bottle into a plastic cup, you couldn't even keep the bottle), so I stood in line at the concession stand (for, no joke- 30 minutes) to ask for a cup of ice. Author's note: I will vent another day how I feel that outdoor venues should either provide free water or let people bring in their own water when it's over 100 degrees. At first the lady was going to charge me $2 for the cup, but after seeing the look on my face (I guess she didn't want to risk seeing my wrath), she gave me a free cup of ice. And it was a 32 oz cup, so it was a pretty good size. It lasted me the rest of the concert.

A view from our seats.

It's going to sound awful, but I don't remember who the first act was (he performed while I was waiting in the line). Jerrod Niemann, I think. I was able to catch up with my friend Neely before Blake Shelton took the stage. 

Aren't we adorable? :)

I had seen Blake Shelton once before, but I have to say I think this performance was a lot better than the last one. He did a great job! He did joke about the heat (but honestly, he should know better. An outside concert in Texas in July- did he really think it would be cool?) So, I was going to list each song he sang, but I found a copy of it online, so I'll just post that instead (I'm too lazy to retype it!) :)

Set list courtesy of this website here.

 

It was really funny when he started singing "Play That Funky Music White Boy"

 

During "Ol' Red". I always think of my nephew's dog Copper when I hear this song!

When Brad Paisley finally took the stage he appeared center stage (no fancy intro, just all of a sudden the spotlight came on and he was there.) He sang a chorus of "Mud on the Tires" and then the lights went out again. All of a sudden he was a few sections over from me on the front row. I think the stage bit was some sort of fancy hologram special effects thing (he did something similar last year at his concert when it looked like Alison Krauss came on stage to sing "Whiskey Lullaby".) 

Doesn't it look like he's there?

This was my third Brad Paisley concert and I swear, I think they get better each year! One of my favorite parts was when Blake joined Brad on stage for a song. After the song Blake said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Brad Paisley." After that Brad said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Miranda Lambert!" (For those not familiar with country music, Blake's wife is country singer Miranda Lambert). I found Brad's set list online as well (I think I love THIS website now).

Set list courtesy of this website here.

The real Brad in the crowd during the first song!

Even if you don't like country music, I think Brad is one of the best guitar players out there!

Blake and Brad singing

During "Waiting on A Woman", they showed the music video on the big screen. The video stars Andy Griffith.

They also showed the video during "Old Alabama". I was kind of hoping that Alabama would make a special guest appearance and sing their part, but they didn't.

The finale!

It was a great concert, I can't wait for the next one!! :)

Now it's time for the 30 Day Blog Challenge update!

Day 11: Favorite TV shows

I've been over before how I have an unhealthy obsession with crime shows, so yes, most of these are crime related. :)

CSI

CSI: Miami

CSI: NY

NCIS

NCIS: Los Angeles

Criminal Minds

The Mentalist

Psych

The Big Bang Theory (Wahoo! A non-crime show! I **heart** Jim Parsons!)

Rizzoli and Isles (I just started watching this show a few weeks ago, I like it so far. It comes on TNT.)

So, yeah, I watch entirely too many shows. Thank goodness for a DVR, it's the only way I can watch this many.

I hope everyone has a great day! It's the 7th inning stretch of the work week, the weekend is almost here!!

XOXO!!

Thursday Thirteen- Confessions of Crime Show Addict

Last July I posted 13 of my favorite TV shows from my childhood (go here to view those). If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you might have noticed me mentioning my "unhealthy addiction to crime shows". It's true. I watch a lot. For my Thursday Thirteen I thought I would list 13 crime shows that I watch (or have watched in the past, some of these are not on the air anymore).

1. CSI: (Las Vegas). Out of the CSI trilogy, this one is my favorite!

I **heart** nerds. Greg is one of my favorites!

My favorite Nick scene (despite his short hair- which I don't like). George Eads is a Texas boy. I knew his mom when I was in college. More about that another day!

2. CSI: New York: This is probably a very close second to my favorite show. This show has a lot of great actors. Gary Sinise is one of my favorites!

Gary Sinise- I will forever call him Lt. Dan!

3. CSI: Miami: I'll be honest, Adam Rodriguez is the only thing keeping me interested in this show. There, I said it! So what if I'm shallow? ;)

Adam Rodriguez, AKA Eric Delko on CSI: Miami

4. Criminal Minds: I only starting watching this one about two years ago, but thanks to reruns on cable, I think I've caught up on most of them!

5. NCIS: I finally drank the NCIS Kool-Aid and started watching this show last year. I love Mark Harmon's character. He is great in this! And of course my tradition of liking the geeky/nerdy guy continues- absolutely love the McGee character! :)

Sweet geeky McGee.

6. NCIS: Los Angeles: I actually started watching NCIS: Los Angeles before I started watching NCIS. I love Chris O'Donnell!! :) He is really good in this!

7. Psych: Okay, I know this more of a comedy, but it's still involves crime! :) Shawn and Gus are two of my favorite characters ever!

8. The Mentalist: I felt guilty when I first started watching this show because I felt like I was cheating on Psych (the producers of Psych feel The Mentalist is a rip-off of their show). There are similarities, but they aren't exactly the same. Simon Baker is great in this show!

9. Cold Case: I wish this show hadn't just ended last season, it didn't really have a series finale. It was a good show!

10. Monk: I absolutely adore Tony Shalhoub. Sleuth TV has started airing reruns of Monk, so I try and watch them whenever I can! And yes, it was also a comedy, but it had crime! :)



11. Without A Trace: Ah, another show that I miss. Or maybe I just miss seeing Eric Close on a weekly basis. (I think my friend Penelope would agree with me!) :)



12. Diagnosis Murder: Yes, the only reason I started watching this was because Dick Van Dyke was in it. I may or may not have the first three seasons on DVD! :)



13. Murder She Wrote: This actually might have been the show that started the whole crime show obsession. My folks and I used to watch this on Sunday nights after church when I was growing up. How can you not like Angela Lansbury?

Head over to For the Love of Blogs and see what other drinks are being served up for Thirsty Thursday! A co-worker and I have decided to have a weekly Dr Pepper break (just to get caught up on life- he moved to the other side of the building, I don't see him as much as I used to). Yes, Dr Pepper is a common drink for my Thirsty Thursday, I can't help it! :)

XOXO!

Thursday 13- Random Style

I'll be honest, I couldn't come up with a theme for my Thursday 13, so I decided to take the easy way out and list 13 random thoughts going through my mind.

1. I wonder what life will be like if there is an NFL Lockout next season? I have three brothers. Sundays at my house were church, then football. Now, I don't love football as much as I love baseball. It's not even close. But it's weird to think about no professional football being played next season. Even though I would miss football (a little), I would love to see Jerry Jones fume over it (I know, I'm mean, but that man is evil! He deserves it.) :)

2. Will gas prices ever go back down? The gas station by my house was $3.20 a gallon last time I looked. I know it's only going up. I will have to say that I'm thankful I'm carpooling to work again. And we might have found one other person to join our carpool, meaning I would only have to drive every 2 weeks to work (it's about a 30 mile commute).

3. Is Charlie Sheen really that crazy, or is this some weird publicity stunt? The man got over a million followers on Twitter in less than 24 hours. I guess everyone loves watching a "train wreck". The ones I really feel bad for in this whole deal are his kids. Poor things.

4. I'm very excited that Chick Fil-A is giving away free fries tomorrow. I just heard this on the news. Between 2pm-4pm tomorrow you can get free waffle fries if you mention you are wanting to try the new Heinz Dip and Squeeze ketchup. Yum! Go here for a location near you!

5. If I was given free tickets, I would totally go see New Kids on the Block and The Backstreet Boys in concert when they are here in June. I can't say I would PAY to go though (does that make sense?) I was a huge NKOTB fan back in the day (circa 1989-1991). I never got to see them in concert though. Somewhere the 12 year old still hiding inside of me would get a kick out of going. I was never a Backstreet Boys fan (I didn't dislike them, but I get some of their songs confused with the other boy bands that were out around that time. I was in college when they were popular).

6. Not only am I going to Rangers Opening Day on April 1, but I'm also going to Opening Night on April 2. My baseball heart is happy. Oh so happy. I know you can't see me, but I'm smiling right now. :) And dancing. Okay, I'm not really dancing.

7. I wonder what the acting qualifications are for playing a dead body on a crime show? I've said it before, but I would totally play a dead body on CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds or The Mentalist (yes, I have an unhealthy crime show addiction- moving on).

8. Is there really such a thing as a McLobster at McDonald's, or is this a hoax? And if it's real-ew. I'm not a fan of seafood to begin with, but that just sounds really nasty. For some reason McLobster is trending on Twitter, so I'm just wondering.

Real? Photoshopped? Has anyone seen one in person?

9. I wonder if Whataburger will ever serve taquitos all day? Right now they are only available 11pm-11am. But sometimes I'll want a taquito for lunch or dinner. For those not familiar with Whataburger, a taquito is an awesome breakfast burrito (the egg, bacon and cheese one is my personal favorite!) If you are local, email/write/call Whataburger. DEMAND they serve taquitos all day long. If not for you, for me. Together my friends, we can make this happen! 

10. I don't understand how my co-workers can email me (when they have to type in my name to get my email address) and they STILL misspell my first name when they are addressing me in the body portion. It's very simple folks. R-A-C-H-E-L. Not Rachael. Not Racheal. Maybe I'm just being over-sensitive about it today.

11. I wonder if there is really a Loch Ness Monster? When I was little, I really wanted the Loch Ness Monster to be real. I don't know why. I plan to go there one day, maybe I'll find out!

12. Why is a raven like a writing desk? If you have never seen Alice in Wonderland, then you won't get this. And I'm talking about the original cartoon, I didn't see the Johnny Depp one. The previews looked creepy.



13. I wonder if people really read my whole post, or if they just skim it? Um....

 

For more Thursday 13 entries, go here!

Hop on over to For the Love of Blogs and participate in the Thirsty Thursday blog hop!! I think my drink of choice will be Ginger Ale today!

Have a lovely day friends! XOXO!!

Wednesday Ramblings

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I enjoyed spending time with my family. I will eventually put up more pictures, I just haven't had time to upload them from my camera yet. Here are a few that I took with my iPhone to hold you over until then!

"E" wearing Aunt Rachel's hat (my friend Monica knitted me the hat for Christmas!)

 

"C" showing Aunt Rachel some animal from the manger toy set.

 

My nephew "D" getting a drink of water after church.

I still can't believe that it's almost 2011. Seriously, I don't like that time seems to be speeding up! It just seems like yesterday it was 2000 and I was graduating college. I had all these crazy dreams of being a writer. And I looked so young. **sigh** Where does the time go? 

 

May 2000. Yes I had very blonde hair back then. Moving on...

 

Speaking of the New Year, I'll probably post a few New Year's Resolutions in the next few days. As well my "Year in Review: 2010". I just work half a day tomorrow and I'm off work on Friday, so maybe I'll finally find time to devote to my blog. Or honestly, I might watch the NCIS marathon on USA (you know my weakness for crime shows- and my nerd/geek crush on Sean Murray-AKA Special Agent Tim McGee). ;)

 

The geeky, yet adorable, Sean Murray

 

Part of me knows I should spend either Thursday or Friday taking down my Christmas decorations, but it's so depressing for me to do that. But at the same time, I know if I don't do it now, I won't have time later. I just need to get it over with. January is a pretty busy month for me, I don't have many free weekends. I have a luncheon with some former college roommates, a baby shower for my BFF in Austin, and the Rangers Fanfest (it's a two day event this year!) Oh yes my friends, 94 days and counting until Opening Day. And 48 days until Spring Training! Wahoo! 

So, speaking of baseball, and in honor of C.J. Wilson's intro song making it to the final four of the "Ben and Skin's Year End Audio Recap"*, I leave you today with a soundbite of it. It's a catchy tune, they play it whenever C.J. is on the air (or on days when he pitches in the post season). Laugh at me if you must, but it can make me smile even when I'm having a bad day. :)

  The CJ Wilson Intro by Ben.Rogers 

*Ben and Skin is a sports talk show that airs on 103.3FM ESPN in Dallas weekdays 9-noon (CST). I love these guys. Even if you don't live in Dallas, you can listen to them online. Go here. They make me laugh!! :)

Encouragement for 2011

God is for you.
God loves you.
God will guide you.
God will not fail you.
God will be with you.
God will provide for you.
God will bless you.
God will give you rest.
God will strengthen you.
God will answer you.
God will uphold you.
God will keep you.