Identity?

Yesterday I filmed an episode for a new NBC show called Identity. The premise is that a contestant is faced with 12 strangers on pedestals (kind of like the Deal or No Deal Set). It's a game based on first impressions, hosted by Penn Jilette (from Penn & Teller). The game unfolds as the contestant picks an identity (off a lighted board) - ranging anywhere from a profession to a shoe size - and tries to match it with one of the 12 strangers. The amount of money the contestant accumulates increases with each correctly identified stranger. If all 12 are matched up correctly, the player is rewarded with the top prize of $500,000. Without giving away the outcome of the game, the contestant was convinced that I was...an Army Ranger!!
If I look a little tired on the show, it's because we didn't finish filming until after 2:00 AM, then I had to get up early to make lunches & get the kids off to school (Have I told you before how glamorous my life is?).
The show airs the week of 12/18 from 8:00-9:00 PM.

Am I A Geek?

I'm sure you've all seen the lines of people waiting to pick up one of the latest cool game systems. I've seen stories on the news about shootings and people being robbed while they wait. I've also heard about people camping out for days in tents. It reminds me of when the Star Wars movies come out & you see all the people in costumes waiting for the very first screening. If you're like me, you probably wonder: Who ARE those people? Well, today I was one of the "line people". I got "insider info" about a shipment coming to my local Best Buy that would be released this morning. Did I camp out? Of course not, I'm not totally crazy! I thought the store opened at 8:00 (chalk it up to bad info, from a confused employee), so I got there at 7:45. There was already a line of about 100! I guess my "inside source" was a little loose lipped. The store was only supposed to get 12, but I decided to wait. Even if I couldn't get a system, I could still do some holiday shopping. An employee came out & made an announcement that there were 63 systems & they would be checking drivers licenses since they would only be selling one per household. Guess what, I was number 63! I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but number 64 (right behind me) was not too pleased.

Improving The Wheel?

A few years ago, Dean Kamen hyped an invention that he described as "being bigger than the Internet or the PC". It was nicknamed "Ginger" and it was supposed to change life as we knew it. Well, Segways were introduced to much fanfare and now they're EVERYWHERE!! Just kidding, I've seen them in a couple cities used by mailmen or police officers, but I don't know anyone who owns one. I took a spin on a Segway last week & it's really fun, but not really a practical mode of transportation (where would you put the groceries?).
I did come across another transportation advance that can only be described as genius. On Tenerife they have automatic sensors on the escalators. You approach the escalator and your foot triggers a sensor that automatically starts it. Then the escalator stops a minute after you get off. Works perfectly & probably saves a small fortune on electricity.

Celebrity Fit Club! I Coulda Been a Contender!

The new cast of Celebrity Fit Club was announced today and I'm going to share a little secret with my loyal blog readers. I was almost on it! No, I'm not overweight, so I wasn't going to be a contestant. I was being considered to replace the psychologist, Dr. Linda Papadopolous (who is pregnant in the UK and unable to travel). Since I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist, and I certainly didn't have time to get a Masters in Clinical Psychology in 4 weeks, I was going to be a life coach to "motivate & inspire by example" the contestants into losing weight. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. The network has hired Stacy Kaiser (a real clinical psychologist & licensed marriage & family therapist). I'm sure she'll be great, but when you're watching, you can pretend that she's me ;-)
Even without me, it should be a fun season with : Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady), Dustin Diamond (Screech), pop singer Tiffany, rappers Da Brat & Warren G, Ross The Intern (The Tonight Show), country artist Cledus T Judd, & American Idol contestant Kimberley Locke. Since I have no plans to gain forty pounds, Celebrity Fit Club is probably not in my future.

TVGASM!

Don't you love when blogs have video clips in them? So do I, but since I don't know how to do that you're going to have to visit my friends over at TVGasm ( http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/images/rocky111506.php) to see our interviews with Rocky & Alex from Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. For a little background, the kids on Laguna Beach aren't actors, they're high school students. So for our interview with Rocky we met her at the restaurant where she works. First she was our waitress, then we interviewed her. Talk about turning the tables on your subject! We filmed the interview the week before Halloween and the episode that had just aired was her big, ugly breakup with her boyfriend Alex. Much to our surprise, Alex came walking in to meet her. Since we're very mature "journalists", B-Side kicked me under the table. Well, they're a very sweet couple. Alex looks just like the actor James Franco & Rocky is incredibly beautiful in person. Not surprisingly they both have TV aspirations. Ahh, young love.

Fantasy Reality Challenge!

I'm winning at Fantasy Reality Challenge! http://www.foxreality.com I'm competing against my fellow panelists on Reality Remix with the winner getting a generous donation for charity. It's sort of like Fantasy Football, only with contestants on reality shows. You pick six contestants from a variety of reality shows & you get points each week they stay in. We picked our contestants at the start of the season, so we only had limited info. I'm the only player left with all of my contestants. Unfortunately, I'm going to lose my first player tomorrow night, since we're down to the final 2 (& I picked them!) on Dancing With The Stars.
Here are my contestants & the reason that I picked them. I know my TV!
Dancing With The Stars:
Mario Lopez: Naturally good dancer & America loves dimples (although I consider Ali Landry a friend, so I only put him on my list for the points).
Emmitt Smith: Jerry Rice came in 2nd when he was on the show & Emmitt Smith is a better dancer & he was a Dallas Cowboy.
America's Next Top Model:
Caridee: beautiful blonde girl with an outrageous personality (although a beautiful blonde has never won ANTM)
Melrose: I picked her the week after she was in the bottom 2, because I saw her potential. She'd won the runway challenge & she was accused of being lazy on the shoot (when really she wasn't). Plus I like that she changed her name from Melissa Rose to Melrose since she didn't think she needed the "issa".
The Amazing Race:
Tyler & James: I picked them only because they're athletic, attractive guys (not such a bad reason!) & athletic, attractive guys always seem to do well on Amazing Race.
Survivor:
Yul: He won the immunity idol, which means he'll be on for a while. It's impossible to pick winners on Survivor, because if you look at the past winners, the only consistent is that they're the one you wouldn't pick to win: Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson, Amber (of Rob &), etc.

Root for my contestants to win, since I'm pretty sure I'm the only panelist on Reality Remix who actually has a charity picked out ;-).

We've Got a Winner!

I'm home: healthy, happy and just a little bit jet lagged. We've got a winner to the first ever "Where in The World is Erin" Challenge! I was visiting the Canary Islands, so the winner (for posting first) is Arfies. I did visit Lanzarote, as some of the later posters guessed, but we also went to La Gomera (which was very unspoiled and beautiful), Las Palmas & Tenerife (which had more night life, restaurants, and all of the luxuries of home.) . Arfies, please e-mail me your mailing address & I'll send your autographed photo (& let me know how you want it personalize: Arfies?). Vacation was fabulous & totally relaxing, but...

There's NO Place Like Home!!

World Wide Web?

Remember I mentioned about my internet service on my trip being inconsistent? Well, that turned out to be an understatement! I'm finally back online, so we can continue the "Where in the World is Erin" challenge, since we still don't have a winner. I'll give extra credit to those who guessed that I was in Morocco, since I did stop in Morocco, before I started the challenge. For anyone who has seen the movie Casablanca, I found it interesting that the movie was really filmed in Florida & that in the real Casablanca they can't have bars so they have a Rick's Cafe (see photo). I also learned that The Clash song "Rock the Kasbah" was about the real earthquake in Agadir, Morocco in 1960 that almost totally destroyed the old city & resulted in the loss of 15,000 lives.
OK, back to where I am:
I'll give you a bunch of clues, since I've been neglecting you.
There are volcanoes where I am & they use the heat from the volcanoes to cook.
A semi-precious stone called Olivina is popular to make jewelry.
Fishing is a major source of income & the beaches are beautiful.

I Went For a Ride!

I've gotten several e-mails asking about the animals in the land I'm visiting. There are no kangaroos or koalas, but we did ride a camel! For anyone interested, a camel isn't a very smooth ride (quite a bit like a seesaw actually). Instead of saying giddup, the camel driver says something like "zhiggy zhiggy". Then the camel stands up and starts walking. Really an amazing, cool thing to try if you ever happen to be in camel country. Any new guesses where I am?

Where in the World is Erin?

In case you're wondering where I am, I'm on vacation! I was planning to post regularly, but internet & phone service has been rather unpredictable. To keep my loyal blog readers entertained (and assure you that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth) we're going to play a little game called "Where in the World is Erin?". First clue: It took 18 hours to arrive at the first leg of our adventure.