Reality Escapism...................

I have a confession to make. You ready?
I'm a reality show junkie.
There.......I feel better. It's out in the open.
Ah! The cleansing of a good confession.

Now, I do have some standards. I refuse to watch anyone lie down in a tub of live slimy worms. And as much as it may be voyeuristically interesting to watch a bachelor feel up a bunch of hot single chicks (not), I avoid the rose ceremonies. I won't watch the wife swappin' shows and that British Nanny? She's just plain irritating. Mary Poppins will always be my standard for a British nanny. But, there are a bunch that I tune in to see, and look forward to wastin' away an hour or so to take in some mindless entertainment.

My all time fav is The Amazing Race. I've been a fan since day one..................apart from the canned conflictual couples and the obvious choice of different types of twosomes to spice it up, I love the idea of criss crossing the globe like a massive scavenger hunt....reading maps, figuring out travel plans, testing stamina and chutzpah along the way. And if it wasn't for the fact that the Amazing Race people only take American applicants and no Canadians, I would be hounding the show to let me take part. I don't know what my one-liner moniker under my name would state....I guess it would depend on who my partner was.

Bloggette Momma? Counsellor Stylist? Crazy Canuck Counselling Blogette Hot Momma? That's it!

Yeah........... So, I watch the Amazing Race and think..............gee I could do that! I'm great with directions. I can schmooze with lots of different people and if I had to, I could beg for money to continue in the race.........uhhuh, that's me. I can swim a bit, and hike a bit and I think I would be fine bungie jumping. I even have the perfect buddy to do it with, if we didn't kill one another by fighting for the leader role! We'd probably have to flip a coin to see who would have to scarf down a large bowl of caviar in St. Petersburg though or choke down the live squid in Thailand. That would be disgusting. But, if I had to balance a shot of schnapps on the end of a sword while drinking it, or find my way through a maze of caves on a Greek Isle, or dance with a dirndl on.........hey I'm there! Wash an elephant? Walk a camel? Why not?

Survivor............yeah, I'm still a tuner-inner. In fact, we still have a Survivor pool at work. There's enough of us hangers on to continue with enthusiasm. The Pool helps too, and since I hang a poster highlighting the contestants on the bulletin board outside of my office, many a day finishes with a group congregating to talk Survivor shop...........sharing opinions and copping bets on the side. What I've found interesting with this office activity is that many men have signed up for the pool. Given that I work predominantly with women in the frontline..............to garner a gaggle of men is a feat. But, there they are...........all in there like a dirty shirt. Mind you, I can't imagine that they would sign up for a "Bachelor" pool. But, Survivor? Yes, they're watchers.

Reality shows.........................just schlockie soap opera stuff for prime time? Why not? Sometimes, one can drown in the sea of negative news...........one needs a light bit of entertainment, don't you think? It balances out the oh so smart blonde commentatrix (thank you to Mark Steyn for the wonderful new word BTW) talking head found on Fox TV. Is that reality? Nah........that's just rude irritation.

Last night, was da boys on Canadian Idol. 11 of dem bye, from small towns across this vast country. For an hour and a half, my daughter and I (plus a couple of million others) tuned in to catch these fresh faced fellers belt out their song of choice, hoping to garner enough votes to move on. I had low expectations............ last year's batch were pathetic, I thought. As far as I was concerned, there wasn't a shining star in the bunch. Kind of like this year's American Idol after the voting public knocked off the best singers early in the competition. But, last night, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of cutey patootey talent! They can sing too. Oooo weee. Bring it on!

Though Canadian Idol is based on the same recipe as American Idol, which was based on the British version..................and all have Mr. SmirkingCowell's signature on them (how much is he worth now?) and an schmoozy MC there is an oh so slight difference, which I think is reflective of the oh so slight difference between the countries. There's something flavourfully Canadian about the show. Sometimes it's reflective in the song choice, though there seems to be no getting away from Lionel, Barry and Whitney unfortunately. Sometimes it's just reflective in the contestants' demeanour.....they seem to be a little less polished and a wee bit more tentative about being on a large stage in a large city away from home. Then again, it could just be the plaid shirts and ballcaps, the typical uniform of a hoser. There's always a couple of beer drinking, hockey fan hosers thrown into the mix. What's common? The metrosexual host M.C. though I have to admit I'm partial to Ben Mulroney, cause I was always a fan of his Dad, the notoriously despised ex-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Yes, I think I'm the last Canuck holdout in that department.

Usually there's a diamond in the rough.........one shining star in the whole group of wannabes. I always figured it had something to do with the shallow depth of the talent pool, given that the population of this country is minute compared to our buddies south, and in the UK. But, this year, it's a sparklin'. And, we havent even seen the ladies yet.

Summer is not the time to be reading the Iliad in my books. Summer is not the time to be following a documentary series highlighting the machinational planning behind the Boer War on the History channel. Political commentary? Seems stale at this time of year. No............summer is a time to clear the head, read lighter fare, and every now and then catch some mindless reality escapism in between catching a few ballgames. Canadian Idol looks like it's gonna fit the bill.

PS. OK........OK here's confession #2. I have watched my share of the rose ceremonies, but only in the darkness of my livingroom, with the remote in my hand to switch it to the Discovery Channel asap. That doesn't make me too one-dimensionally shallow, does it?