Confession

Yeah, I have a guilty little secret... I actually am getting a kick out of watching The Bachelor. I never watched it before but the previews for the season premiere caught my attention (for something I can't even remember now) and I have been hooked ever since. It's amazing what being a night owl will do for your mental capacity some times... although he is one of the cutest, sweetest, most normal men ever. But then you have to wonder ~ we make magic so how much of him is real?

Color Spash - David Bromstad

Okay, this man may be gay (not sure) but he is very hot and I have a slight crush on him. His eyes are beautiful, he dresses smart, his body is solid and he smiles like a child. Uh, how could you not want to just run up and squeeze him?

David came to fame from an HGTV show called HGTV DesignStar where he won and earned his own television show, Color Splash. He has a lot of interesting ideas, some are things you could use and others are way out there ~ makes you turn your head to the side like a puppy who heard the word "cookie".

One of the things that the Home and Garden Television website has is a Color Code! It describes your color personality. All you to do is mouse over your favorite color and it tells you all about your personality.

Mine is pink, right. So I moused over it and it says that "Pink is playful, innocent, flirty and fun. Romantics love pale pink hues while dynamic personalities go for shock value with hotter shades." I think that is a bit like me, what do you think? Either way, go here and try it.

Greg Page - The Yellow Wiggle - Retires

It is with a bit of sadness that I post about Greg. I know it is a children's show but I love sitting with Sami watching The Wiggles. They are funny and have no problems making fools out of themselves for the educational value of children. It is one of the few shows that is entertaining for both parents and children.

Below is the post from The Official Wiggles Website regarding Greg's decision to stop performing. Thank you for keeping us all in the loop with such detail as we can now properly wish Greg to get well. The website said that this posting is official as of November 30, 2006 - they are ahead of us in time so I guess you could say I am posting the future... and as The Wiggle's would say "Beauty Mate" ~

Greg Page Leaves The Wiggles

30 November, 2006

GREG PAGE LEAVES THE WIGGLES

[Greg's Video Message](tip: click on the video file, which will open in a new window, to commence download before reading the article due to video file size being 14MB)

Thursday November 30

The Wiggles have sadly announced today that Greg Page, also known as the Yellow Wiggle, is unable to continue performing with The Wiggles due to a chronic condition and has reached the decision to leave the group.

Greg has been suffering symptoms for many months, affecting his ability to perform. The condition is related to blood pressure and while in no way life threatening it affects his balance, breathing and coordination at unpredictable times and with varying severity. Greg has discovered he is genetically predisposed to this condition and that he now needs to focus on managing his health.

Greg is a founding member of The Wiggles and has devoted 15 years to the group. The whole band, crew, and all Wiggles staff, have expressed their sadness and their wishes for Greg to overcome his health problems.

The Wiggles this year have continued their worldwide success, just completing a tour of the US, and have announced Greg’s replacement with his understudy Sam Moran to ensure the continued future of one of Australia’s most successful entertainment troupes.

“This emotional decision was one which was very difficult, as I have dedicated almost half my life to the Wiggles, and with a question mark over my health, I feel that this is the right decision. I will miss The Wiggles and the other guys very much, as well as seeing all the children in the audiences that we perform in front of. I wish the guys continued success, and welcome Sam Moran with open arms to the Yellow Skivvy – I know he is a great performer, and is well equipped to be the Yellow Wiggle,” Greg said.

Sam has been performing with The Wiggles for the past nine years and as understudy has performed over 150 shows as the Yellow Wiggle. Educated at the Conservatorium of Music, Sam has been a Wiggly dancer, Wiggly band member and will be a wonderful addition to the group.

Murray Cook (Red Wiggle) said, “I know I speak for all The Wiggles and our staff in expressing our sadness at Greg’s leaving. The four of us started from humble beginnings 15 years ago and we’ve been through many adventures together. We will miss Greg as a superb singer, performer and songwriter but mostly we’ll miss him on the road as a friend and ally. We wish him well in dealing with his illness and in future.”

“We welcome Sam in his place in the Wiggles. We know first hand that he is an extremely talented performer and is already well-loved by our Wiggly audience”.

The Wiggles will continue to tour the world, record and film new DVDs with Sam Moran as the new Yellow Wiggle.

For further information, please contact:

Dianna O’Neill Publicity

Phone 02 9337 2288

Mobile 0418 468 148

Email dioneill@ozemail.com.au

MEDICAL CONDITION BACKGROUND

Greg Page is afflicted with a condition known as orthostatic intolerance. Put simply, it means that when Greg stands up, his heart does not compensate for the change in posture by pumping more blood around his body for it to function properly. A similar problem occurs when there is a change in the environment such as a warm room or hot weather.

This condition is causing problems with his walking, balance, speech and coordination. It relates to the proper functioning of the autonomic nervous system, which is the way the human body regulates things we don’t consciously have to think about such as heart beat and temperature regulation.

As many as 30,000 people in Australia suffer orthostatic intolerance at varying levels of severity. The condition is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Greg is currently suffering a severe and chronic case but episodes, specialists now believe, date back some 12 years. At that time, testing was inconclusive, because the symptoms were mild to moderate, sporadic, and could have been attributed to a number of causes. All major organs in his body were functioning properly, so there was no further testing done. It is possible that his most recent bouts of illness with two hernias (prior to Oct 05) brought on the orthostatic intolerance with increased severity.

There is no diagnosis of the cause for this condition in Greg’s case yet. It is clear, from extensive testing, that his heart is perfect and functioning normally, however his brain is not communicating properly with his heart and, from time to time, in unpredictable circumstances, results in the onset of symptoms.

Greg is still seeking further prognosis and advice on how to manage his condition from specialists. Although it is not life threatening, it is also not likely to be cured so will require careful management to keep it under control. Stepping back from the very strenuous live performance demands of being part of the Wiggles is now his only option.

“Although orthostatic intolerance is not uncommon in the world population, its symptoms can be mild enough to remain undetected or extremely difficult to diagnose, or it can be dormant for a long time and brought on spontaneously by a trigger, sometimes something seemingly trivial, as it seems likely could be in Greg’s case, or it could be the two hernias that he had last year.”

“Then the symptoms can become chronic and incapacitate normally healthy active people to an enormous, and highly unpredictable, degree. Greg is fortunate he is not at the fully disabled extreme of the condition, but he is currently suffering a level of the condition that requires considerable further assessment and development of a plan to manage the condition, as it is not likely to be cured, but we expect we can minimise the impact on his life in the future,” said Associate Professor John Watson, Neurologist.

Orthostatic intolerance

The symptoms for this condition may include the following:

• Excessive Fatigue

• Exercise Intolerance

• Nausea

• Tachycardia

• Palpitations

• Tremulousness

• Weakness - most noticeable in the legs

• Chest Discomfort

• Shortness of Breath

• Migraines and Other Headaches

• Gastrointestinal Problems

BENJI KNOWS HE CAN DANCE!!

My favorite dancer won "So You Think You Can Dance"!! All those hours of sitting around dialing the phone have finally paid off and Benji was just announced the winner. He was so happy he cried. Mom and I were so happy we were bouncing up and down clapping in the living room.

Benji is a sweet, funny and talented young man who will do well in the entertainment industry. I "borrowed" this from his bio on Fox's website -


Benji Schwimmer
Age: 22 Hometown: Redlands, CA Occupation: West Coast Swing Specialist

He started a charitable non-profit organization, Dancers Everywhere Making a Needed Difference, for orphans in southern Mexico. He hopes to pursue a professional dance career.

What is your full name? Benjiman Schwimmer

Do you have a nickname? Benji, Geege, 6-6 pants

Where do you currently live? Redlands, CA

Where were you born? Newport Beach, CA

What is your hometown? Moreno Valley CA/ Oaxaca Mexico

How old are you? 22

What is your birth date? 1-18-84

Are you in school? No, I quit for the Show.

How old were you when you started to dance? I've always danced…in swing.

Do you have any formal dance training? 19 years swing, 3 years latin, 2 months lyrical/Jazz.

If you had to categorize your dance style, what would it be (hip hop, ballet, tap etc…)? West Coast Swing

What other talents/hobbies do you have? I speak fluent Spanish

Who is your favorite professional dancer? My parents, Donnie Burs and Geynor Fairweather, Fred Astaire, Nick Lazz, and Gene Kelly.

Does anyone in your family dance professionally? My whole family dances!

Have you performed in musical theater or in public functions as a dancer? Not recently

What would you like to see happen to you as a result of the show? To come out of the experience a better person, raise more awareness for my charity, D.E.M.A.N.D., and work like crazy!

What has been your most memorable dance experience? Making the show!


Congratulations Benji! You did a fabulous job and I am so happy that you won. Now I have to look into going to Vegas to see Celine Dion's show so I can watch you dance some more.

Waiting for Gibbs

I did not like the way they left me at the end of the season - yes, I know that is why they are called cliff hangers but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I have patiently waited all summer for a new season to start so I can make sure that my beloved Gibbs is still there. Season One was bad enough when at the last second (literally) Ari killed Kate but how you can you do this to me two seasons in a row... Gibbs walking down a beach in Mexico to be with his old CO... not only NO but HELL NO!!

Now, we all love DiNozzo and his moments but seriously - he can't lead the team. Not in a million years do I want to hear McGee refer to him as "Boss". Who is going to "Gibbs" the crew and if you don't know what "Gibbs"ing the crew means then I suggest you find out quick. The chemistry that he has with entire team from Duckie to Shepard to Ziva - HE is the fine thread that holds the wonderful tapestry together and without him the entire show will unravel.

How can they do this to me? I check the site on a regular basis (Pauley has a fabulous blog) and yet there is no mention of when the new season starts! Although Pauley did say that she and the gang went back to work on July 8th so I bet that the new season will begin in the next week or two - right? Right? RIGHT?!?!

So You Think You Can Dance

I have to admit that I am addicted to this show now. I was just enjoying it before but Benji and Heidi are too phenomenal not to vote for every week! I kid you not, I just got done voting for Benji and I started counting my votes - I was over 100 before Mom told me just hand over the phone, he will be fine.

How do we know he will be fine? I have problems believing that when I don't have a problem getting in. The phone lines are never busy!! It makes me think that I am the only person in America voting for him... how can that be??

This is the sweetest man you will ever see on television. His cousin, the afore mentioned Heidi, is equally as sweet. And man can they DANCE! I really want both of them to win the competition but there can only be one so obviously I am going to vote for Benji every week.

Do you know that it is so bad I have my mom call my cell phone and leave me a message as to who gets voted off on Thursdays! I work from 1:45pm until 10:15pm - being a queue cleaner means I stay until the very last guest is taken care of and completely satisfied. This means I don't get to see the final outcome of my efforts. I tried to run into the break room to see the results but I am always on the phone. One week I was lucky enough to have a guest on the phone who was watching the results show and he told me who got voted off!

I know, I know - it isn't on my company's station but what can I say... we don't have it so I have to go to the market that does. It isn't being disloyal - that would be going to the other people down I-4 when I have a day off. This is called showing Disney what they are missing out on. Between "Dancing with the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance", I am a happy camper in the reality show world - add "Survivor" and things are just perfect.

Now that I think about it, I don't watch a lot of the things on ABC. Most of my shows are on Fox or CBS. Fox has my dance shows and CBS has "NCIS", my other reality show, "Two and a Half Men"... most of the things I would watch if I didn't work nights. Okay, so I admit that I don't have TIVO but I do have a VCR (you remember, the thing where you put the really large cassette tape into the machine and push record and then couldn't watch anything else until it was over) and I tape the shows I miss. I used to record "Gilmore Girls" but lost interest right after Rorey stole the yacht. Plus, I love Lorilei and Luke but they need to get things together and stop teasing me. One saving grace is that "7th Heaven" is coming back!! The final episode drew so much attetion they decided that they had to bring it back. Makes me wonder if it was all a ruse to get the ratings up.

All in all I must say that working nights is not the best thing in the world for me, or my television addiction. I can't wait until January and the next shift bid comes up because I will be putting in for anything and everything that has me home by 8pm... don't care what my days off are as long as I can get home to watch my shows.

I need to go and put in a few more votes for Benji before they close the lines - only have two hours, you know...