NOVEMBER 2009

11/24/09 - So You Think You Can Dance - Season 6 : Week 5 – This was a spectacular week for the show!  Susan and I were entertained by just about every dance this week - it certainly is making it difficult to pick who should leave the show.  If I could pick who I wanted I would quickly eliminate Nathan and Mollee.  They have their moments, but I sincerely feel they are immature in their quality of dance and also in their performance ability.  Unfortunately, they are popular and I don't believe they will be eliminated this week even though they are my bottom couple overall.   Thus, I suspect Karen & Victor and Noelle and Russell will end up in the bottom three.  From that pair I would hope Victor and Noelle are eliminated.  Since I have picked my least favorites I feel it is only fair to point out the couples I'm really rooting for this season (in the beginning I wasn't sure who I would end up liking).  Those couples include Ellenore & Ryan, Kathryn & Legacy, and Ashleigh & Jakob.  Of those I'm biggest fans of Ryan, Kathryn, Legacy, and Ashleigh (at this point I would call them the top four dancers); however, I also like Russell and Karen (but I don't think they have been growing as much as everyone else this season).

- Nathan

11/17/09 - So You Think You Can Dance - Season 6 : Week 4 – This was another interesting week for dance for Karen and Kevin (although I'm a bigger fan of Karen).  She has been a top performer on our scorecard until this week - now I'm almost certain she will be in the bottom three (and deserving of the bottom 3).  Everyone else was just fine this week and I thought Kathryn, Legacy, Ellenore, and Ryan were superb.  Mollee and Nathan were mediocre and I thought there was a lot of asynchronicity in their routine (which apparently the judges did not see - or maybe I was looking too hard since they are my least favorite couple).  I halfway expect to see Kevin eliminated this evening, and if she actually ends up in the bottom three, then also Noelle (because Foxtrot frequently ends up in the bottom three even if it is good).   Oh, I also want to mention I think I would have given Channing and Victor a full score if their music hadn't been so distracting!

- Nathan

11/14/09 - Landscape Update – Finally, it has been dry long enough for our landscapers to actually get some work done on the project.  All the grass has been removed around the fence border (which is where the plants and trees will be deposited) and the pond looks like it is close to being excavated.  When digging the pond the workers uncovered our sprinkler lines; however, our landscaper indicated that relocating them wouldn't be a problem.  It doesn't look like much but I've uploaded a few pictures of the progress.

- Nathan

11/10/09 - So You Think You Can Dance - Season 6 : Week 3 – I certainly felt this week contained much better performances than last week.  I enjoyed everyone's performances except for Ryan & Ellenore and Mollee & Nathan.  I was disturbed, but not surprised, to see Mollee and Nathan end up safe this week (they haven't been very strong outside of their genre; however, apparently they have a very devoted fan base).  I don't mind them sticking around for a bit longer as long as they don't cause any really superb dancers to exit the show (and this week it didn't happen - I was okay with Pauline and Peter departing - they were certainly good, but certainly not the best, in my opinion).  Despite the fact the judges didn't approve of Channing and Victor I really enjoyed their performance - I thought it was reminiscent of Jeanine & Jason's contemporary routine in Season 5 (the one with the heart necklace). 

- Nathan

11/03/09 - So You Think You Can Dance - Season 6 : Week 2 – For the first half of this week's episode Susan and I both kept wondering if there was more talent, but much less entertainment this season.  We were thoroughly underwhelmed by Bianca, Victor, Channing, and Phillip.  Finally, for the last 4 couples, we were rewarded!  We thought Karen, Kevin, Kathryn, Legacy, Ellenore, and Ryan were wonderful this week.  It also made two great weeks in a row for Kathryn and Legacy (perhaps our soon-to-be favorites?). 

Ultimately I would have picked Bianca and Phillip to go home and that is exactly what happened (which is sad because I liked Bianca originally - mainly because she never gave up).  Here are the details...

- Nathan

10/31/09 - Halloween 2009 – Halloween is probably one of my favorite holidays - with Christmas being my favorite.  I believe it must have something to do with decorating and everyone being in "spirit".   This was our first Halloween at the new house and we weren't sure what kind of attendance to expect at our door.  There were quite a few good costumes this year, and fortunately, not a lot of teenagers without costumes holding out a pillow case (that simply seems rude to me).  We only had a handful of pieces left over (and truth be told - I was holding back a few just for me and Susan) and the night went splendidly.  I even received several compliments on our decorations - as such, I'm uploading a few pictures for the diary.  I'm also hoping to hit a few stores today and see if I can buy any clearance items for next year ;).

For the first time in two years our company reinstituted the costume competition.  I really couldn't come up with anything clever this year so I simply went for flashy, colorful, and trickery (juggling for the judges is kind of a "cheat", but performances have always done well in the past - even if it is simply acting in character).  I took 2nd place this year - woohoo!  It is always lots of fun, and placing is always nice - it makes dressing up just that much more rewarding. 

Susan and I attended a party at Larry and Kam's house on the Friday before Halloween (we didn't get a lot of invites this year - either the parties were decreased or I offended everyone with my costume last year).  It was nice to hang in the old neighborhood and our hosts had tons of good food and snacks - thanks for the invite!

- Nathan

10/28/09 - Dance...Dance...Dance... – Nina drove down to Texas for our annual So You Think You Can Dance event at Nokia Theatre!  The show was simply awesome this year (it always is when you have 10+ super dancers performing the best routines from the prior season).   I barely managed to get tickets this year (they sell out of the "good" seats within minutes), but I was very happy with the seats we managed to claim (they were about 25 rows back from the stage). 

Note - I give credit for these pictures to someone else who attended the event (and subsequently posted their pictures on Flickr).

- Nathan

10/27/09 - So You Think You Can Dance - Season 6 : Week 1 – The first round of Season 6 is over and I cannot really say I have a group of favorites at this time.  I like Russell's personality and I also like the fact we have a Krumper trying to do ballroom - it will be fascinating to see how he does outside of his style.  I was sad to see Billy go before he even had the chance to perform and I find it odd to see so many "injuries" already when SYTYCD has such a long history of very little injuries during the top 20 (I believe only twice in the prior 5 seasons). 

The only routine I was thoroughly impressed with was the Legacy and Kathryn hip-hop.  Other than their 3-star performances, I gave out a lot of 2-stars and only a few 1-stars.  I guess I really thought everything was just fine and I wasn't really dazzled (which I hope that changes moving forward).  I elected for Channing and Brandon to get the can this week (Susan picked Channing and Phillip); however, it was Brandon and Ariana (who I felt performed adequately) who got the ax. 

The following is a summary of our weekly ratings (Noelle has an X because she did not perform due to injury)...

- Nathan

10/23/09 - Susan, Nina, and Nathan ONE; Garage and Attic ZERO – Susan had an extra Friday off this month so we headed up to Lawton to visit Nina for a long weekend (I also took Friday off).  The original intention was to hold a garage sale and assist with a little decluttering; however, it ended up becoming a Freecycle free-for-all event. 

Imagine a 2-car garage filled with so much stuff that there are only small, narrow, walkways through various areas of the garage.  Nina couldn't park a bicycle in her garage - let alone her vehicle.  The attic was pretty much the same - before we started I could enter the attic and turn around to exit - there certainly wasn't any room to maneuver.  Our goal, before the end of the day, was to get Nina's car in the garage - a task in which we succeeded.

It was an amazing effort by everyone involved.  We completely emptied her attic and garage of about 10 old tires, 9 lamp shades, 8 bags of clothes, 7 heavy chunks of scrap metal, 6 boxes spare tools and parts, 5 items of furniture, 4 cabinets and shelves, 3 beds, 2 filing cabinets, and a heaping pile of miscellaneous junk.  There were several people who made more than one trip - it was like Christmas in October!  When all was said and done we had one car in the garage, a workstation for Nina, an organized attic with only memories and Christmas decorations, and lots of extra space.  It was a very rewarding task and I actually had fun cleaning =D.

- Nathan