DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING! (Just thought I'd put that in there to go along with the much cheesy boxing theme from Tuesday night).

So we have a new Idol and his name is David.....DAVID COOK!

When the winner was announced there was screaming and jumping and running all around at my house done by yours truly! I was in total, blissful shock!

I've watched all the finales of American Idol except for season 1 and I've never seen an upset. After the judges practically handing the crown to Archuleta Tuesday night I was totally prepared for Cook to take second. It was so exciting and I'm so happy I'm still getting goose bumps right now just remembering that moment (plus I've seen it re-aired on FOX this morning about 20 times).

I truly think the right David won. Yes, Archuleta can sing like nobody's business but he doesn't hold a candle to Cooks versatility and marketability as an artist. Even so, I felt a little sorry for the kid because I really think he thought he had it in the bag.

Congrats to David Cook on being the new American Idol!

Now just a few words about the show last night:

I really enjoyed seeing the Top 12 back together and performing although Amanda Overmyer really seemed like she did not want to be there while David Hernandez milked it for everything he could. Being #11 and #12 they don't get to go on the tour so last night was the end of Idol for them.

I loved seeing all of the Idols in the audience, Blake and Bo (my two all-time favorite runner ups) were both in the audience!

Carrie's performance was great even though I had just seen it on the ACM awards Sunday night.

Jordin sang well but her dress was horrible.

Seal looked awesome and paired up well with Sayesha.

I was surprised to see Little David performing with One Republic. I figured his star pairing would be with Josh Groban or Barry Manilow or someone like that. It was a good performance.

I loved seeing Big David with ZZ Top. LOVED that funky chicken thing David did during the song!

Loved both of the Davids' Guitar Hero spots! (loved Big David's better though).

I'm glad they passed on those Idol awards for the horrible people this year. That one guy they did showcase it seemed like they were trying to turn him into the next William Hung! (although there will NEVER be another William Hung, I mean has there ever been a situation where someone could do an album called 'Hung for the Holidays'? I think not).

Bryan Adams with the guys and Donna Summer with the girls were both awesome!

George Michael looked like they dug him up out of the ground and stuck a pair of sunglasses on him. He sang well but I did not care for the song AT ALL! When a celebrity has gone so far off the left end that they start saying that God has turned his back on the world, I'm sorry I don't care to hear that kind of shat.

I guess that's about all. So another season of American Idol is over for us but a new kind of life has just begun for David Cook. Things for him are now going to get crazier than he ever imagined. Keep your eyes on the talk shows because he will be on every one of them over the next week or so.

I'll be keeping up with things on the internet and will be blogging as the tour starts and videos start popping up on You Tube. And of course I will be waiting impatiently for David's album to be released.

Again, Congrats to David Cook. You've been a joy to root for and vote for and I know we're going to hear great things from you!

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The government is contributing to my alcohol problem.

Here in australia we have a huge drinking culture. Everyone drinks. Matter of fact, I'm drinking now. And we are a nation of binge drinkers.

And apparently no one likes a drink more than teenage girls. Once you hit 13, its game on. They love all those premixed bottles of brilliant coloured grog that we now call alcopops. Do you know that the manufacturers of those bottles even made them smaller so they were a more comfortable fit for a girls hand. I wish they'd been around when I was 13. Would've saved me from the nasty rubbish I had to drink.

So the government decided something must be done,  so they have raised the tax on alcopops. They figure if they make them expensive enough, teenagers won't be able to afford them. And this is where my problem arises.

I'm normally a wine drinker. Or a vodka drinker. Hmm, vodka, lime and soda. However on Fridays I buy myself a 375ml bottle of premix smirnoff black. It's a treat. But when I went to buy it last week, due to the new tax, that one drink of premix was going to cost me $6. So I look around and see that for a couple of extra dollars I can buy a whole bottle of wine. So thats what I did. So instead of my one drink, I now have four. And thats just my treat.

So why isn't it just going to be the same for teenagers. They'll think, well hell, I can buy a cask of wine for not much more than one 375ml bottle of alcopop. Kids aren't stupid. They always find a way around things.

I-drink-to-make-other-peopl

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Which yet-to-be-released movie are you excited to see?

The new Indiana Jones flick. It had better not suck.

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What role did you play in your school play?

Even though I was active in my high school's drama club and competed in acting events at speech & debate tournaments, I appeared in only one high school theatrical production. It was a non-speaking tourist role at the beginning of Guys & Dolls. Exciting, huh?

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Pax tagged me. Here are the rules:

• Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
• At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment on their blog and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to come back and read your blog for the whole story.

So. I must now think of eight at least marginally interesting things to share about myself.

1. I met Pax, whom I love madly, online. This was in the old days, long before the Internet as we know it. We were members of a local electronic BBS called Th' Ogre. He had a C-64 with a 300-baud modem, and I was stylin' with a 20-pound laptop with a 20MB hard drive and a 2400-baud modem. If you have to ask what a baud rate is, you are too young to matter.

2. I attended two different high schools, and my school mascots were owls (Marshall, Missouri) and kewpies (Hickman High, Columbia, Missouri).

3. I like sweet wines. Bring on the Pink Catawba!!

4. I am a PT Cruiser fanatic. My Ténèbre is a 2005 in midnight blue, and after 46,000+ miles together, she's still a fun little car.

5. I was well into adulthood before I could eat tapioca pudding because when I was a child, my brother told me that the tapioca beads were weevil eggs. I believed him. I didn't even know what a weevil was, but it sure sounded bad.

6. I have visited the following foreign countries: Canada, France, England, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Mexico.

7. As long as spiders exist, I cannot believe in a benevolent God. Malevolent, perhaps.

8. "Eight, eight, I forget what eight was for!"

I am probably tagging people who have already been tagged, but what the hell: Patricia Volonakis Davis, Megan, Majicke, Manon-It-All, snoringKatZ, Emjay, Flamingo Dancer, and andria.   

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It all started with the yoghurt.

I don't eat yoghurt - don't like dairy much at all. But I felt myself slouching, and I could feel that dowagers hump growing between my shoulder blades and the osteoporosis eating away my bones. Must eat calcium I thought. And even though I knew it would make the wierd throat thing worse, at that moment my fear of brittle bones was greater than my fear of phlegm.

So because I can't face a glass of milk, I thought -  yoghurt. And I was right, it was awful. It leaves a taste in your throat like you've just had a vomit. But they say you need three serves a day so I added cheese to the daily diet. And how else to have cheese but on a toasted sandwich. Even though I know bread makes me feel like an unsettled doughball. And before you know it you're washing it all down with an extra cup of coffee and then surely a couple of glasses of wine while you cook dinner can't do any harm, and surely you don't need to exercise every day. And before you know it you've got a family block of chocolate hidden in the vegetable crisper.

Then one night I was home alone, with no car and I had to pick up Lizzie from work. So I jogged. I could have walked, but I was watching CSI and I didn't want to miss too much. And it was while I was jogging, in the howling winds and light rain  that I felt, not fat, but sluggish. Heavy.  I didn't feel that my blood was zipping around my body. It felt more like a sludge trying to make it's way through my hardening arteries.

Ok then, I did feel a little bit fat. But that was only because I'd seen Madonnas new film clip. And even though they may have used soft filters on her, there is no denying her overall fitness and flexibility. This does not look like a woman who groans when she stands up after squatting on the floor for a while.

And my throat feels awful. Constantly throat clearing. So the yoghurt and cheese are gone. I'll just have to buy calcium tablets.

And don't forget to keep those shoulders back ladies - SQUEEZE them. Several times a day.

SQUEEZE.

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Hey Ya Cover

A version of the song that actually suits the lyrics....

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I'm looking forward to getting their new album soon...

Augustana "Sweet and Low"

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Well, first of all I'm not overwhelmed by tonights performances by either contestant. Second of all, I'm somewhat deflated and saddened by Cook's lack of charisma tonight. I'm not bashing him by any means. The guy has got a major distraction in his life with his Brother being deathly ill and I actually feared that he might quit the show if his Brother took a turn for the worse. The fact that he remained on the show and was able to perform is commendable in itself. His distraction has been obvious to me the last few weeks and was really obvious after he returned from his homecoming trip. To compound all of this, funds were raised to bring his Brother back to L.A. for the finale tonight but, sadly, he was too ill to make the trip. I cannot even imagine how tortured this young man must be and I fully commend him for sticking it out and I also totally understand that his heart wasn't fully in it tonight.

All this being said I think David Cook took his unofficial concession tonight and I hope he sleeps very well (he will need it because win or lose, both the finalists will be BOMBARDED with media following the results show tomorrow night).

On the other side of the coin toss, Archie was definitely 'in it to win it' tonight. I think booting his Dad from backstage has actually allowed David A to be himself and show some personality in his song choices and his performances. He did better tonight that I think he has any other night. Without that oppression from his Father he really seemed to shine. The judges all seemed to favor Archie. Simon called it a "knockout".

I voted 440 times for David Cook tonight and stopped (there's still a while so I'll probably vote a bit more) but I don't think it matters at this point. Either way, they are both winners and will do very well.

We will see how it all comes down tomorrow night.

I loved seeing my man Ruben on the show tonight. He was here just a week ago filming a documentary with his childhood voice coach for his upcoming role in a Broadway musical. While he was here he also visited some local elementary schools and actually singing with them! Ruben is an awesome guy!

Good luck to both David's tomorrow night!

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First and foremost, it's sad to know that the last Kennedy brother now has a brain tumor.

With that out of the way, back to Malaysian politics.

Should Pak Lah step down now that Mahathir, the grumpy old man who has been extremely critical of his governing, quit UMNO?

Of course not. Quoting Tun Musa, Mahathir was a thorn in UMNO's side. He basically got rid of everyone he didn't like or had dissenting opinions and literally worked to Sinatra's "My Way" for 22 years.

Now suddenly when all his misdeeds are dug up after being compost for 22 years, he's gone all sentimental and states that nobody cares about him and quits UMNO?

This is exactly why Pak Lah should stay, because it just goes to answer the question. Are people loyal to the stances and agendas of the United Malay National Organization, or simply being cronies to Mahathir?

156 cronies from Kedah answered that question rather well.

Mahathirs' own son, bless his soul, saw through his father's BS and made the right choice.

While Sharir Samad states the gloomy predicament of preparing for another general election, I honestly think otherwise. Abdullah Badawi still has the mandate to rule, regardless of dissenting voices within his own party.

If they want him gone so badly, they need to step up to the plate and answer this question for me.

Who's going to replace Pak Lah?

If you tell me Najib, I'd rather vote Anwar Ibrahim as next PM.

Same goes for Khairy, Hishamuddin, or even Tengku Razaleigh and Syed Hamid Albar.

Muhyiddin Yassin shows promise.

If you say Sharir Samad, I may vote UMNO after all....depending on who you put up in Shah Alam, of course. Not going to vote for no 70-year-old 4 term MP who doesn't do much.

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