TAR8 update: it's down to the Final Three for the 2-hour finale next week!
currently in the running are (1) the Bransens, (2) the Linzes, and (3) the Weavers. grrrr for the last, although i guess they add up to the spice of the show. every TAR's got the baddies (like rob and amber of season 7.) i am sooo excited to see who'll get the million! go linz! go bransen! :) (although in the teaser, daddy wally was almost losing his steam finding the clue in the stadium... i just want them to get ahead of the witches..) Linz, please be first! well, if all else fails, phil still rocks my socks! *LOL* :)

on the other hand, i'm currently getting drawn to the waves of "Lost". i haven't seen most of the first few episodes, though i have been following it almost every week. it's sleekly addicting. i don't find the lead guy (dr. jack -- matthew fox) that handsome as mum would say (ha!), but then he's fairly good. my present favorite character is locke, for no absolute reason. (he's old & bald & a little crazy!) ... for those who aren't familiar "Lost" is a show co-created by J.J. Abrams (of "Alias", now the director of "Mission Impossible 3" with the wacky Tom Cruise *LoL*) about a plane flight to australia gone awry, crashing on a remote island and leaving the survivors as castaways. there's a mystery to the island, and there's always someone ending up dead (or so i think). summary: it's a matter of survival. ... i didn't know what the fuss was at first, but i'm slowly warming up to it.

i have been semi-watching "Rockstar: INXS" on local tv at rare occasions, and admittably it's an entertaining show. (i have been detached from "American Idol" for a very looong time, you know.) i just can't stay up late for this (11pm?), so i'm not familiar with the contestants. though i do know the winner was J.D. Fortune, and i've seen him a couple of times, i still don't think he's that good (but who am i to judge? i'm no rock chick) ... but there's no denying his stage presence & appeal to the girls. now he's singing the "it ain't pretty" song with INXS. nice tap-your-foot kind of tune. apart from the finalists, one of the reasons i watch the show is the House Band -- they're great! they really make the songs go alive. *wondering if i'd switch my music interests*

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btw, i just want to share my recent favorite musical experience. it happened last monday, when my friends and i were going to church. (ahem, i'm an angel! *cough*) we went inside and saw (and heard) the university orchestra playing christmas pieces in the front! there were violins, cellos, cymbals, the works! we sat & prayed, but in my mind i was distracted with the music -- it was beautiful... heavenly even! it was as if we were in a concerto! they played so wonderfully. turns out there was going to be a presentation the next day, and this was a rehearsal! i love it that we caught their practice... christmas carols done classically never sounded so good! :)

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