Hockey Night

I let my boys stay up tonight for game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  As a family we cheer for Vancouver, but my oldest also loves Boston (who knew peer pressure would end up with such a hockey affiliation).  As the game was starting and I was listening to the Hockey Night in Canada opening I had such an overwhelming rush of sentimentality wash over me.  30 years ago that would have been my brother and I on the couch watching on our parents' old 12 channel TV.  HNIC was family time.

30 years later it does my heart some good to know we are all still watching.  The venues and styles have changed somewhat...my boys and I on the east coast watching the game streamed on my Mac, my parents on the west coast watching on CBC on their flatscreen and my brother in Taiwan watching on his specialty sports channel, it is still family time.  

My boys staying up for the game, my 6 year old conked out at about 9:20 and my 8 year old made it to just past Coaches Corner before we made him go to bed.

The Voice Is Winning

Again with the reality TV I know. *sigh*  I was watching the Season 4 Premiere of The Voice and I realized that I really love it.  More so than American Idol or any other music show.  I used to love AI, but it's been a while.  AI was fun back with the original 3 - Simon, Randy and Paula (yes, even crazy Paula).  But now...
And now, there's The Voice.  So much more appealing.  They know what they are doing on that show.  Very enigmatic famous musicians being kind (gasp!) to aspiring musicians.  And they make no secret of the fact that they are all about second chances, unlike some other shows out there.  Sure they find the cheesy sob stories (it is reality TV after all), but it's a little more of a feel good show and less of the cheese.
We're now into week 2 of the blind auditions and I'm still loving it.  I don't miss AI at all.  This is my 3rd season with The Voice (I missed out on Season 1).  And I have to admit that I'm enjoying this season more than previous ones.  A lot of that has to do with the addition of Shakira.  What a great choice to sit in on the Voice with Christina Augulera gone touring.  She is so kind and encouraging (and not catty to other females).  You still have the chemistry of Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, which let's face it is a gold mine for viewership.  And then they add Usher too.  Well done.  I do miss Cee-Lo as he is always intreguing to listen to and gets the quirky contestants.  But I really look forward to what this season has to offer.  
 

Reality TV and The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race has long been my favorite reality show out there.  I love it.  There have been along the way a few moments that just make me shake my head.  The kind where I want to shout out: "You are on the Amazing Race people! What were you thinking"
There are a few things that contestants going on the Amazing Race should do before getting to the race and it blows me away that they don't come prepared.
1.  Get in Shape people.  I know I prefer sitting and reading to working out.  But if I ever got that call letting me know I was going to be on the race, you know I would be on that treadmill so fast.  Speed is key and you can't go huffing and puffing up a staircase thinking you are going to win any leg, never mind the race itself.
2. Learn to drive stick.  I don't know how to drive a manual car.  I learned on a automatic and have driven automatic for 20 years.  But I also know that most countries in the world don't rely on automatics.  And cars on the race are usually, if not always stick shift.
3. Learn to swim.  I can't believe how many racers to not know how to swim, or, have a fear of water.  Yet, there is almost always a water challenge.  This I could do.  I am a pretty decent swimmer.
4. Face your fear of heights.  Every race has a height challenge of some sort.  They have parachuted and skydived and ziplined around the world.  I admit this would be my biggest challenge, but I would work at it before the race so it wasn't such a big challenge during.
5.  Mind your manners.  This one really, really bothers me.  There have been some very rude, disrespectful contestants on the race.  You are going around the world, be prepared for things to be different than home.