Dancing with the Stars and Other Odds and Ends

I was a little disappointed in my post on the gun control issue yesterday. Because my whole daily routine had been thrown off by the misfiring alarm clock (which has since been terminated with prejudice), I had to write it yesterday evening in the middle of doing a lot of other things, and despite my extensive prep notes, I don't think it measured up to my usual standards. I'm usually pretty good at multi-tasking - in this case, fixing dinner, setting up to record Dancing with the Stars, walking the dog, cleaning the kitchen, and calling The World's Best Daughter-In-Law to wish her a happy birthday - but somehow it just didn't all come together as I'd have wanted. Oh, well...

But speaking of Dancing with the Stars...

Yesterday was the second show of the sixth season. There are 12 "stars" dancing this time: the six men danced on Monday, and the six ladies danced last night. Here are my first comments...

* Jason Taylor and Kristi Yamaguchi are the standouts at the start of the season. Taylor showed great footwork and had a marvelous dance frame, while Kristi just seemed to float across the floor, doing a fantastic job on her Fox Trot. At this (admittedly early) point, these two seem to be the ones to beat. In any case, since I'm in love from afar with Edyta Sliwinska, I have a vested interest in Jason Taylor holding out as long as possible...

* I've had a crush on Monica Seles for a long time, and was glad to see her on the show. She appeared a bit stiff and nervous (understandably), but I hope the fans pull her through so she'll continue on for a while. I don't think she'll make the finals, but once she finds her groove, I think she'll do pretty well.

* Priscilla Presley looks good for her age, but I thought she looked a bit wooden and got overly generous scores from the judges. I don't think she'll last.

* Penn Gillette should stick with magic. He dances like I do in my average practice session.

* Marlee Matlin was amazing - not the best or most polished dancer, but considering she's deaf as a post, she did an incredible job of maintaining the rhythm, even when dancing apart from her partner. I don't think she'll go all the way, but I give her a lot of credit for going this far out of her comfort zone.

So those are my comments at the beginning of the season. We'll revisit the competition from time to time in this space.

In the meantime, here's an appropriate cartoon:

Gives new meaning to the term "ballroom," eh?

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo