The Daily News Review

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Dating in the Dark Picture

Tonight, Dating in the Dark’ attempted to answer the age old question : what’s more important, looks or personality?

From the outset, I am quite grateful to not be staring at green night vision, where people have creepy glowing eyes. Instead, it just looks black and white, sort of reversed, as we meet our first 6 contestants. They all get to meet each other for a quick chat, before they each pick one person they want to meet with one on one. This portion of the show generates some of the best moments I have ever seen or heard on reality tv. Like when Leni points across the table in the dark room as asks “What’s your name?” Or, there was this exchange;

Leni: What do you do?
Stephen: I’m an SAT tutor.
Leni: OH! So you know about words!
Stephen:….I use them.

Afterwards, Christina moans about how without their vision they are forced to make judgements about each other based solely on what they are saying. OHMIGOD! That’s crazytalk! But things get crazier when they are all asked to swap shirts – so the other sex can see- and smell – their fashion sense. Or scents. Whichever. SInce we can see all these people, we can see how incredibly good looking Allister is, yet when it comes to the first round of dating choices, he’s left in the cold while both Christina and Melanie chose Stephen.

It seems that all the contestants also completed a personality profile (or logged on to e-harmony) and they have been given a compatibility match. Having nothing else to go off of, they all gravitate towards those generated matches. Well, Stephen obsesses about pheromones for a bit, but then he falls in line. So, we end up with Leni paired with Stephen, Christina paired with Seth and Melanie paired with Allister.

They go through some dates, but it is hard to tell how many or how long they last. I guess ABC found out that couples sitting in the dark talking is actually a little dull to watch. I am sort of intrigued by the fact that the dark room contains plants and paintings on the walls, however. With no distractions, Christina and Seth make out right away, while Leni makes Stephen wait and Allister tells Melanie about his difficult childhood. Melanie gives Allister a ring, that was part of a wedding ceremony of importance to her family – something Allister never had – and he seems genuinely touched.

Since no reality dating show is complete without a couple of attempts at crushing a person’s self-esteem, each individual is sat down with an artist and told to describe what they think their partner looks like. Leni thinks Stephen looks like Dolph Lundgren and Seth may or may not be a hobbit while Allister may or may not actually be a girl. Part two of the humiliation round takes each couple and puts them back in the dark room – lifting lights on one and then the other. This is so they each get a glimpse of the other, while not getting to see the reactions of the other. Then they each go back to gossip to the rest of their group.

Rounding out the humiliation trifecta, each person gets to chose whether they want to hang out with their match, or leave them far behind. Stephen agrees to meet with Leni, and is so confident he rearranges the plants on the porch so he can hide behind them and scare her. They let him sweat it out there long enough to realize she might not show and he will look like a giant tool hiding behind a potted palm for her – but show up she does. Melanie, on the other hand, does not show up for Seth. Adding insult to injury, the porch he is waiting for her own gives him a clear view of her skulking out of the house by herself. As he says “That’s messed up”.

While he waxes depressive about how much it sucks to have a good rapport with someone and then be judged based solely on appearance, we see Melanie sobbing about how she is not the type of person to judge someone based solely on their appearance. Except that she just did and she’s just as shallow as she always feared. Lastly, Melanie waits for Allister – and I start to wonder what criteria they used to determine who was going to wait for whom.  As Melanie worries that a guy as good looking as Allister won’t want anything to do with her, he declares that it is a “me, not you” thing, blaming  the failure of past relationships on his personality. All the same, he does show up and they leave together.

This show is rife with humor and humiliation, so I am conflicted about it. It is everything that is shallow and self centered and horrible about dating rolled into one show, such as Stephen calling “DIBS!” on Leni once the guys are alone or Christina declaring “I have no idea who I just kissed. I hope that when all is revealed I don’t have a guy that looks like Shrek!” And yet, there are hysterical moments such as Seth asking “Is it weird if I touch you? What is that? Oh, your shoulder…”   What did you think of it?

Source:  Zap2it

Jesse Holley 4th and Long

When Jesse Holley got the phone call from a friend in the athletic department at the University of North Carolina, he thought it was a joke.

The friend told him there was a reality show in the works in which the winner would get a spot on the Cowboys’ training camp roster. He suggested Holley try out.

Holley, who played four years at North Carolina before brief stints with the Cincinnati Bengals and British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League, was working for a security monitoring company and selling cellphones. At 25, he believed his football career was over.

“I didn’t give the show much thought at first,” Holley said in an interview. “But it was a chance and the more I thought about it…”

Smart move.

On Monday night, Holley, a wide receiver who was a member of the Tar Heels’ 2005 national championship basketball team, was anointed the winner of Michael Irvin’s 4th and Long on Spike TV. His prize is the 80th and final roster spot when the Cowboys report to training camp in San Antonio on July 28.

Holley is listed as 6-3, 215 pounds with 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash.

Irvin said that in addition to his physical abilities, Holley is one of the quickest learners he has seen.

“He’d pick up things immediately,” Irvin said. “If I am a coach and I see him implement something right away, I know I have a player.”

The 10-week show opened with 12 prospects culled from a nationwide search. That roster was whittled down to three for Monday’s taped final. After weeks of telling prospects “the Cowboys can’t use you,” Irvin faced Holley, wide receiver Andrew Hawkins and defensive back Ahmaad Smith at Cowboys Stadium and rendered his verdict.

“Jesse Holley, the Cowboys can use you,” declared Irvin, who made the final call under the watchful eyes of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones as well as Bill Bates and Joe Avezzano, who helped with the show.

Just before Irvin’s verdict, Jones told the three finalists, “If one of you is the ballplayer that Michael and Joe and Bill say, you’ve got a chance be here. Clear your Sunday afternoon calendar cause you are going to be spending it out here with a big star on your helmet.”

After the verdict, Jones took Holley on a tour of the Cowboys’ new locker room, mentioning that he was the first Cowboys player to see it. But the odds appear long that he will survive training camp.

Holley will be the 11th wide receiver in camp. The Cowboys likely will keep five. Veterans Roy Williams, Miles Austin, Sam Hurd and Patrick Crayton appear to be safe bets to make the team. He will have to prove himself an invaluable special teams player.

“Outside of Roy Williams, I’m not looking at a guy that is head and shoulders above Jesse,” Irvin said.

The holdover receivers might take exception to Avezzano, the former Cowboys special teams coach, who during the finale said, “Holley is a flat-out solid receiver and can be better than some of the backups the Cowboys have right now.”

Since the final taping in mid-April, Holley has worked out in North Carolina and Dallas. He has not worked out with the Cowboys.

“This is truly, truly a blessing,” Holley said. “I have been given a wonderful opportunity to resurrect part of my life I thought was over. I am really going to take advantage of it.”

Source: Dallas News

Jenna Bush Wedding

The New York Post has received a preview of a soon-to-be released book by author Ronald Kessler, in which he claims that the Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara, were a “nightmare.” Titled  In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect, Kessler says that the Bush twins would constantly give the agents a run for their money with their antics.

Among some of his allegations, Kessler states that “Jenna would purposely try to lose her protection by going through red lights or by jumping in her car without telling agents where she was going. As a result, in a total waste of manpower, the Secret Service kept her car under surveillance so agents could follow her.” He also recalls a time when Jenna and her boyfriend-turned-husband, Henry Hager, were at a bar and Hager became so inebriated that he attempted to start a brawl with another patron. Secret Service agents had to step in so that violence was avoided.

Source New York Post

Kessler doesn’t limit his tell-all to the Bush years. He also dishes on Vice President Spiro Agnew, whom he claims had affairs while espousing family values to the nation. Kessler also lets it slip that President Obama still smokes frequently even though he says has cut back significantly. Hmmm. Anyone think that Kessler will ever be allowed near the White House again? 

None of Kessler’s stories are that surprising. Given that Jenna and Barbara grew up in the White House, it’s to be expected that they would act out a bit. What teen wants a chaperone around 24/7? In the end, the two girls have turned into lovely women so their former transgressions in the White House can be forgiven.

A stage being built in France for a concert by pop star Madonna has collapsed, killing one worker and injuring six, emergency services say.

Technicians had been setting up the stage at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille when the partially-built roof fell in, bringing down a crane.

A French worker, 53, was killed and two of those hurt, a Briton and a US citizen, were seriously injured.

Madonna said she was “devastated” by news of the accident.

The concert, planned for Sunday, was cancelled.

The 60,000-seater Velodrome is France’s second-biggest sports arena and home to the Olympique de Marseille football club.

Fire-fighters said the accident occurred when the roof of the stage became unbalanced as it was being lifted by four cranes, toppling one of the cranes which crashed on to the structure below.

Madonna Stage Collapse Photos

Usmagazine.com has exclusive, never-before-seen footage of Michael Jackson‘s Pepsi commercial accident, filmed in L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 27, 1984.  The clip (watch below) shows one take where the pyrotechnics exploded as planned — after Jackson descended the stairs and began performing with his brothers. On the sixth take, though, things went horribly wrong:   The fireworks erupted too early, igniting Jackson’s head in flames. Jackson is at first unaware he’s on fire, and continues dancing.  He was never the same after the accident, reports the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands today. The accident is being called “How Michael Jackson’s Pill Addiction Began.”

To relieve the second and third-degree burns on his scalp and body (and later to help him tolerate multiple surgeries on the scorched spot on his head), Jackson was prescribed several medications — which kicked off his addiction to painkillers and obsession with plastic surgery, multiple sources tell Us.

Known as the Sears Tower since it opened in 1973, the tallest building in the United States is set to change its name to Willis Tower.

The London-based insurance brokerage Willis Group Holdings will make the name change official Thursday with a ceremony at the downtown Chicago skyscraper. Willis is leasing 140,000 square feet and moving 500 employees to the building.

The new name isn’t the only recent change at the tower.

Last month, owners announced a $350 million greening effort, along with plans for a 50-story luxury hotel. For tourists, glass-bottomed enclosed balconies on the 103rd floor were opened earlier this month.

Sears Roebuck and Co. was the original tenant before leaving in 1992. A real estate investment group now owns the 1,450-foot, 110-story skyscraper.

President Obama was asked to throw out the first pitch at the 2009 All-Star Game.  It will be Barack Obama’s first opening pitch as President.

Asked about the pitch, Obama made it clear he’s been thinking about it. “Well, I think it’s fair to say that I wanted to loosen up my arm a little bit,”  Spokesman Tommy Vietor said the president plans to warm up before the pitch with St. Louis Cardinal slugger Albert Pujols.

Below is a Video of President Obama’s First Pitch

Pictures of President Obama’s First Pitch are below.

Obama-First-Pitch-2009-All-Star-Game

Obama-First-Pitch-2009-All-Star-Game

“I’m a great baseball fan. I didn’t play org baseball when I was a kid, so I think some of these natural moves aren’t so natural to me,” he said.

The president deferred from picking a 2009 World Series winner but said there is a lot of parity in the sport, which he considered a good thing.

“Everybody around the country has a little bit of hope for their team. … Maybe the exception would be the Nationals who are still young and just had a new ballpark,” Obama said, referring to his new hometown team in Washington. Before the game, Obama visited both the American and National league clubhouses.