so you think you can dance results july 23

so you think you can dance results july 23



So You Think You Can Dance: Results Show Recap for July 23,2009.
It’s Thursday, which means Fox' So You Think You Can Dance - and tonight we say goodbye to two more dancers. Also, it’s the 100^th episode, which means much fun and frivolity will precede the farewell on tonight's So You Think You Can Dance!

We start with the group dance to “One” from The Chorus Line, a show that I heart beyond reason. They have white suits and dance with mirrors and even though it’s Tyce Diorio I really like it! Then it turns out NOT to be Tyce at all, but Mia Michaels. Interesting. Well, last night Tyce’s piece was very Mia-like, so maybe they’re exchanging tributes.

Cat promises an incredible evening and re-introduces us to the judges, sans Ellen Degeneres. Mia’s favorite thing about this show is the “little babies coming back home to the nest” and becoming Emmy-nominated choreographers and showing what they’ve learned. This show means the world to Mary, it’s been a lot of laughter and tears, and it has changed her life. She is very proud and grateful. Nigel says the best part is that television at its best can reach out and unite a country with a shared experience, and he thinks last night’s Tyce routine was one such moment. Olivia Newton-John, a breast cancer survivor, called Nigel and thought the routine said more than words could. He is extremely proud that the program can shed light on a difficult subject.

We get a reel of highlights from the past five seasons, and I’m amazed at all I remember and all I’ve forgotten. Blake, Travis, Sabra, Hok… faces I haven’t thought of in a while, and a few moments I remember all the time—including the Bench and the Hummingbird and the Flower, both of which we’ll see, live, tonight.

Cat reminds us what happened last night. You saw it. And if you didn’t you missed out.

RESULTS! Start with the girls. Melissa was awesome. Is she the first in danger? No. Nice recovery from last week, girlfriend. Kayla. Is she still alive? Possibly not, she’s in the bottom two. Wow. Janette or Jeanine? Janette has NEVER been in the bottom. Is she there tonight? Yep. Wow. Interesting…

And the first special treat of the night: back from Season 3 with the Hummingbird and the Flower by Wade Robson, it’s Hok and Jaimie!! Oddly, this wasn’t one of my favorites at the time, but over the course of 5 seasons it is definitely still memorable. Nice to see these two again. Watching it now I think I like it better than I did then…

The guys’ results. Ade. Mia thought his cha-cha was his worst of the season, did he make up for it with the magical Tyce routine? We’ll find out after we speak to Jason. One is safe and one is not. The dancer is danger is… Jason. Evan and Brandon. Neither has ever been in the bottom group. NO WAY. Brandon is in the bottom two. What sort of crazy fan base does Evan have? I mean, I love him, but I’m surprised that he is above these two. I kinda thought it was his time.

Oooh yay! THE BENCH. Travis and Heidi (from Season 2) are back, and I love this routine. Heidi is very blond. This was always a showcase for Travis, and I do wish there was more Heidi. I love that routine.

I think they should do this every week—bring back favorites from the past. It keeps the show moving, there’s no filler, it’s just good stuff and I’m loving it.

Kayla reprises her solo from last night. And again, I’m not blown away by it, but she’s undeniably good. Jason. There might be a touch more energy from him tonight. Janette’s up quickly, again with the Celine Dion. If she’s sent home I think she can blame Celine. Brandon. Sigh. He’s wearing a shirt this time. Subtract points for that. Best solo of the night, by far, in my opinion, even with a shirt on.

Now, a group routine from days past. The top 8 from Season 2 is joined onstage by Wade Robson. Ramalama, ladies and gentlemen. I would love to see this live. LOVE. If for no other reason than not to be bound to the choices of camera angles. The focus on Wade is certainly understandable, but I want to see Ivan and Allison and Donyelle and my other favorites! Also, these are choreographed for the audience, not the camera. Mostly. But this dance is just awesome. Certainly worth watching, check it out if you can.

Katie Holmes is here because she is involved in the Dizzy Feet Foundation, and is apparently good friends with Tyce. Huh. She’s doing an homage to Judy Garland. I knew she could sing (Joey Potter could sing, ya know, as well as her character on Eli Stone) but I didn’t know she could dance. Her hair is really shiny. I wonder what million dollar product she uses that makes her hair so shiny. It is not live onstage, which I thought it would be… silly me. It’s a production. I really wanted her to sing live. She’s lip syncing really well. And she’s not going to win any dance awards either. I shouldn’t be so mean, especially if her participation is helping what seems to be a really great cause. Theatre people, though, one of which she is supposed to be, don’t lip sync.

Nigel thanks Katie Holmes for working so hard and donating her fee to the foundation. Also, Judy Garland’s son Joey Luft is in the audience.

Kayla and Janette, one is going home. The girl leaving is… Janette. I’m surprised, and I think she has Tyce to blame for keeping Melissa. She went from never being in the bottom to going home, just like that. She has had an amazing season, held her own with Brandon, danced everything, and had the least training of all of them. Cat thinks it is the shock of the season. Nigel admits he really wanted her to win, and her ouster has ruined the 100^th celebration. Wow. She’s not going back to the bank after this.

Jason or Brandon. The guy leaving is… Jason. He’s not visibly surprised, if only because Brandon going would have been a shock.

And then my DVR decided I’d seen enough of tonight's So You Think You Can Dance. Well. It’s getting harder every week, and I’m actually, honestly, pathetically sad to think the season is almost over. See you next week!

cash for clunkers stimulus

cash for clunkers stimulus

The old blue Ford in Lawrence Anthony's driveway is bound for destruction.

The federal government's “cash for clunkers” program officially rolls out today, and Anthony, 41, plans to roll the gas-guzzler down the road to Performance Toyota in LaVista in exchange for a new Tacoma pickup — Saturday morning, if all goes as planned.

“That's too bad it's going to be crushed,” he said, a little wistfully, recalling that the 1991 Ford F150 was the first new vehicle he bought. “But she was starting to rot out.”

New-car dealers in the Omaha-Council Bluffs and Lincoln areas expect to be busy as the government unveils final details today, or some of them anyway, of the new-car stimulus program. Many have been lining up deals for weeks but remained uncertain Thursday about when they would be able to finalize sales and release new vehicles to buyers.

Dealers expect consumers to quickly devour the $1 billion that Congress committed to the program last month.

“What we've heard from the manufacturers is a two- to three-week window before the money is gone,” said Kevin Brennan, new-vehicle director at Edwards Subaru Hyundai Inc. in Council Bluffs. “There's a finite amount of money out there, and I don't want people to miss out on it.”

The program, officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, is to last until the $1 billion is gone or Nov. 1, whichever comes first, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The program offers consumers a $3,500 or $4,500 credit toward a new vehicle if they turn in a qualifying low-gas-mileage vehicle. The program is intended to spur recession-battered sales of new cars — and at the same time replace some older cars and trucks with newer, greener models.

“It would shock me if the money lasts a month,” said Mike Miller, a salesman at Performance Toyota who said cash-for-clunker interest was “off the chart.”

Such urgent talk is not just a sales tactic, said Brennan.

“Honestly, I think it's going to go shockingly fast. I think it's going to be gone before you know it,” he said. “If I thought the money was going to stick around a while, I wouldn't be taking deposits.”

Nick Hunke, general manager at Sid Dillon Lincoln, said the dealership was bringing in extra part time employees to help process cash-for-clunker sales and handle new shoppers.

“We're going to have a full staff,” Hunke said, adding that no one is allowed to take off today or Saturday. “We're willing to put in the extra work to help them out and help us out in return.”

Rob Rodriguez, sales manager at Honda Cars of Bellevue, said his dealership already had lined up rebates totaling nearly $100,000. In four or five cases, Rodriguez said, his company made sales even after people discovered that their old vehicles wouldn't qualify as clunkers under the government program.

A Web site, www.cars.gov, has provided official but general guidelines about the program. Final rules — expected today, according to the site — will launch the program into gear.

The responsibility falls on the dealer to verify that a car qualifies and for what amount, dealers said.

“The people have to get a letter and have a number for their car they are trading in,” Rodriguez said. “Until we get that number and they are authorized, it would be crazy for a dealer to deliver a car without knowing what the rebate money really is.

“There are manufacturers already doing that, but they are taking a lot of chances,” he said.

New incentives pegged to the cash-for-clunkers program are emerging, too.

Chrysler Group LLC announced Wednesday that is offering new-car buyers as much as $4,500 in cash, potentially doubling a consumer's savings.

erin andrews peephole tape video

erin andrews peephole tape video



Erin Andrews Peephole Video Tape Story Puts ESPN In Spotlight.

The biggest criticism of ESPN, the self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports,” has been that it engages in shameless self-promotion that often makes it seem as if the network is bigger than the stories it covers. But in a strange twist, two stories have developed in recent days that have thrust ESPN into the national spotlight and made the network the story. Here’s a look at those two stories one that made the network the focus through no fault of ESPN’s and one that did through ESPN’s doing and how they have been viewed.

The Erin Andrews videotape

What happened

A videotape surfaced on the Internet of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, who was filmed naked through a peephole in a hotel room. Andrews’ representatives and ESPN acknowledged the grainy video was of Andrews and that they would seek civil and criminal action against those behind the video if they are caught.

Exploiting the story

While all agree that Andrews was the victim of an abhorrent act, that didn’t stop several media outlets, including Fox News and CBS, from airing either photos from the video or the video (with parts of Andrews’ body blurred). The New York Post also ran several still photos, and ESPN has responded by banning Post reporters from appearing on its shows.

In an e-mail to the St. Petersburg Times, ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer said, “Erin was grievously wronged here, and while we understand the Post’s decision to cover this as a news story, their running photos obtained in such a fashion went well beyond the boundaries of common decency in the interest of sensationalism. This is not a decision we undertook lightly, but we feel it is an appropriate one.”

Backlash

In the story’s wake has come backlash against ESPN and Andrews. The Post’s Page Six gossip page ran at item Thursday that blamed ESPN. The Post wrote, “No one would have known that a sick voyeur had secretly videotaped ESPN reporter Erin Andrews nude in her hotel room if the Mickey Mouse sports network hadn’t sent a letter to an obscure Web site demanding that it take down its link to a fuzzy video of an unidentified blonde.”

Meantime, USA Today columnist Christine Brennan seemed to criticize Andrews in a Twitter post, writing, “Women sports journalists need to be smart and not play to the frat house. There are tons of nuts out there. Erin Andrews incident is bad, but to add perspective: there are 100s of women sports journalists who have never had this happen to them.”

Brennan clarified her comments Thursday, saying her “frat house” comment, “was not meant to be pointed specifically at Erin, and I’m sorry if it was taken that way.” She added, “What happened to her is terrible, and she will always have my full support.”

Interestingly, “Erin Andrews peephole tape” was the top Google search Tuesday and Wednesday this week and No. 3 on Thursday. As AOL Fanhouse’s David Whitley wrote, “The fact is only one person committed the crime, but almost all of us have contributed to this revealing peep at our culture. That includes ESPN.”

Bottom line

Andrews was the victim of a pervert who crossed all lines of decency. To somehow question her style as a reporter or ESPN’s role in creating a media sensation such as Andrews in the context of this scandal is not only unfair, it’s indecent. Certainly there is never an inappropriate time to have intelligent conversations about networks’ hiring practices, the networks’ role in developing popular personalities and why certain personalities become popular. But it is apples and oranges. In this case, the blame starts and stops with those responsible for drilling a hole in a wall, taping an unsuspecting naked woman and posting that video on the Internet.

The Ben Roethlisberger case

What happened

This week a woman in Nevada filed a civil lawsuit accusing Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her last summer. The story appeared in newspapers throughout the country (including this one), on other media outlets and on major sports Web sites with one notable exception: ESPN. The network did not report it on any of its broadcast outlets or its Web site. It said that it has a policy of not running stories based on civil suits without a criminal investigation or without conducting its own reporting.

vibram fivefingers

vibram fivefingers



Now Walk barefoot with Vibram FiveFingers Shoes,

Recently I came across a shoe, even though I have to yet try it but the technology and the reasons seems to be compelling enough to give this shoe a try.

The typical human foot is really a miracle of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.

Many experts believe the shoes we wear not only cast the foot in a protective form, but also weaken our foot and leg muscles, leaving them underdeveloped and more prone to injury. And while there are many occasions where traditional footwear is essential for protection, safety, and security, it is equally important to stimulate and exercise the foot in a more natural state on a regular basis.

That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, for play, and for fun. Stimulating muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.

6 Reasons to Wear Vibram FiveFingers:

1. Strengthens Muscles in the Feet and Lower Legs - wearing FiveFingers will stimulate and strengthen muscles in the feet and lower legs, improving general foot health and reducing the risk of injury.

2. Improves Range of Motion in Ankles, Feet and Toes – no longer ‘cast’ in a shoe, the foot and toes move more naturally.

3. Stimulates Neural Function Important to Balance and Agility - when wearing Vibram FiveFingers, thousands of neurological receptors in the feet send valuable information to the brain, improving balance and agility.

4. Improves Proprioception and Body Awareness – those same neurological receptors heighten body awareness, sending messages about body mechanics, form, and movement.

5. Eliminates Heel Lift to Align the Spine and Improve Posture – By lowering the heel, our bodyweight becomes evenly distributed across the footbed, promoting proper posture and spine alignment.

6. Allows the Foot and Body to Move Naturally, Which Just FEELS GOOD.

new york post

new york post








ESPN banned staffers from the New York Post from appearing on any of its programming on Wednesday after the newspaper published photos this week taken from a video showing sideline reporter Erin Andrews nude in a hotel room.

The Post published three images from the blurry video Tuesday.

"While we understand the Post's decision to cover this as a news story, their running photos obtained in such a fashion went well beyond the boundaries of common decency in the interest of sensationalism," ESPN senior vice president of communications Chris LaPlaca said in a statement Wednesday night.

Newspaper reporters are regular guests on ESPN shows.

Post spokesman Howard Rubenstein did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

The Post was one of several TV networks and newspapers that aired or published images from the video, which Andrews' attorney says was shot without her knowledge. Andrews plans to seek criminal charges and file civil lawsuits against the person who shot the video and anyone who publishes the material, attorney Marshall Grossman said.

Kelly McBride, a journalism ethics expert with the Florida-based Poynter Institute, said it was unethical for news organizations to show images from the Andrews video.

"There is some illegally obtained material, leaked documents or video of a CIA person torturing a soldier, or stuff taken out of Gitmo, that I think has great public importance," McBride said. "But this doesn't do that at all.