Before I head into discussions of soy sauce, vending machines, Buddhas, and all things Japanese, I must first mention last night’s premier of “The Bachelor.”  For a hot second, I thought about not watching this season, but let’s be honest, that was never a viable option.  I love this show and I can’t get enough of the caddy women, ridiculous commentary, Chris Harrison’s forward questions, and the cheesy fashion show.  Why so many sequins last night?

What do we have to look forward to this season?  So much, my friends, so much.

Bachelor Brad, Take Two

Our bachelor is Brad Womack.  Does that name sound familiar?  Well, it should.  Brad’s been “The Bachelor” before, in fact three years ago.  Southern, chiseled Brad is the only bachelor who has returned for a second go around as the show’s star.  On his first season, Brad left both finalists, Deanna and Ginny, high and dry at the final rose ceremony.  Audiences did not respond well to his decision, but isn’t the dual rejection better than the way most seasons end: Bachelor(ette) picks someone, only for the couple to have a nasty, tabloid-documented, break up weeks later.  If I were a contestant, I’d rather get turned down at the end of the show AND have my competition dumped too.

Brad Womack: Heartbreaker

This season’s premier had the usual shower shots of Brad, montages of him working out (shirtless, of course), and a lot of soul searching commentary.  Apparently Brad has been in counseling for the past three years to deal with his “lady issues.”  ABC even interviewed Brad’s therapist on the show to tell us about how Brad is healing.  (I’m sure Brad’s shrink will launch a reality TV show on E later this year.)  Brad repeatedly tells Chris and us that he’s a changed man and he’s ready to commit.  And what could be a better way to finally resolve your commitment issues than by breaking the hearts of 24 other women on national television before proposing to the final one?

While Brad’s story is interesting and semi-believable, once the ladies arrive, the fun really begins.  Side note: Did anyone else notice that this season SBC isn’t showing the women’s ages on screen?  Fortunately, David found their ages (and number of tattoos) on ABC’s website so he filled us in on the women’s stats as we watched.  Any guesses on how old Brad is?  38.  Oldest bachelorette on this season? 32.  Interesting…

The Ladies

Some early notes on the women…

My initial favorite was Jill, 28, a former college volleyball player.  Normal, good conversationalist, attractive.  And, did I mention she was normal?  Brad didn’t have the sense to pick Jill, but instead he did give a rose to Madison, 25, who has two fangs and a totally bizarre obsession with vampires.  Good choice, Brad.

Emily, a 24-year old widow from Charlotte, seems to be one of Brad’s early favorites.  He told her over and over again how beautiful she looked.  I also have my money on Michelle, from Salt Lake City.  She’s pretty hot.  Ashley H., 26-year old dentist is going to be really annoying and competitive, but that’s what makes the show so good, right?

Other odd professions include ‘manscaper,’ mortician and an overly zealous Rockette.  So good.

Any other initial thoughts on the season?  Observations?  Early picks?

PS: Why did Seal sell his soul and perform ‘Kiss from a Rose’ on The Bachelor?  I thought his career was more successful than that.  I mean he is married to Heidi Klum.

Yesterday, Oprah hosted her last ever ‘Favorite Things’ episode.  (I’m wiping a tear from my eye as I write.)  It was such a monumental occasion: Gayle was in the audience and Steadman even watched from the control room.  (Only the third taping Oprah’s man has ever attended.)

Oprah's Final Favorite Things

I know that everyone has their own opinions of Oprah, but I love her.  I always have, always will.  I don’t care how wealthy she gets or how much of the media she controls.  She’s awesome.  I’m amazed at how much she’s overcome, her success, and the ‘O’ empire that she created.  She’s confident, powerful, opinionated and professional.  I’ve watched Oprah for years and I will miss those wonderful afternoons where I happen to be at the gym when Oprah’s on the air.  (Who am I kidding?  Now that I have DVR, I record it everyday.)

This 25^th and final season has been particularly great.  Some highlights include: the entire cast of The Sound of Music (including Julie Andrews), Gayle and Oprah camping in Yosemite, Jon Stewart, and of course, her two episodes ‘favorite things.’

Oprah & The Sound of Music Cast: Two of my Favorite Things

Yosemite or Bust

Sadly, I wasn’t the beneficiary of any of Oprah’s gifts, but I did fall for the marketing genius that is Oprah’s favorite things.  I now desperately want an iPad, a Le Creuset cookware set (well, I’ve always wanted that, now I just want “Oprah’s Set”), and a Volkswagon.  Oh, and throw in some Garrett popcorn (yes, it’s gluten-free) and a Black Eyed Peas CD too.

All good things must come to an end, I guess.

What’s weirder than a freaky anime super hero?  One whose head is made out of bread.  Yes, that’s right, a bread headed superhero.  My sister-in-law, Alden, has introduced me to Anpanman, the superhero whose head is literally, a bun.  His cranium is composed of bread (bread in Japanese is “pan”), filled with bean jam.  Nothing says ‘sexy superhero’ like a hot pocket head.

Anpanman & some friends. Our hero is the one on the left.

According to Wikipedia, Anpanman is the most popular fictional character in Japan for children, ages 0-12.  Anpanman’s weakness is water (think Wicked Witch of the West) and anything that makes his head dirty.  He regains strength when his Uncle Jam bakes him a new head.  Obviously.  When Anpanman comes across anyone who’s hungry, he simply let’s them take a bite out of his head.  I sure hope there aren’t many starving celiacs in Japan.

Uncle Jam couldn’t keep making all of those heads by himself so he has an assistant named Butter Girl.  Anpanman is in love with Melonpanna (Her head’s made from melon bread, whatever that is.)  Melon is “soft hearted, affectionate, and sometimes clever,” according to Wikipedia.  Really, sometimes clever?

The Anpanman Museum

Other characters in this bread obsessed show are Breadheadman, CurryBreadman, and Cheese.  Cheese is a dog that Anpanman met when Cheese was starving, and our superhero saved Cheese by giving the canine a hunk of his head for nourishment.  It all makes so much sense.  And, you guessed it, Meanyman is our villain, who comes from Germ World and is the leader of The Viruses.

My nephew, Chip, getting acquainted with Anpanman.

I’m a little weary of any superhero that uses bread to save the world, but I’ve got to admit, I’m a little fascinated by Anpanman, evidence of which is shown by the fact that I read the entire Wikipedia page about him, and I’ve constantly asked Alden about him since I read her blog post about my nephew’s visit to the Anpanman Museum and Playground on her blog, Wattsabi.  I guess the Japanese might find our crime-fighting turtles, named after famous Renaissance artists, who live in the sewer, a little odd too.

Sometimes I don’t talk about food and gluten on this blog.  Today is going to be one of those days.

Earlier this spring, my friend, Jen, encouraged (ok, forced) David and me to watch ‘The Wire.’ A year or two earlier we attempted tackling this show via our Netflix queue and I couldn’t get through the first two episodes.  I wrote ‘The Wire’ off as too violent, too many F-bombs and too confusing.  Jen doesn’t like a quitter so she made us give it another try.

Five months later, we’ve watched all five seasons of this HBO drama based on the city of Baltimore, where David and I lived during our first two years of marriage.  (The suburb of Lutherville that we called home was drastically different than the corners where the show takes place.)

I have to admit, during the first few episodes, I had no idea what was going on and I hated it.  I hated the show; I hated its violence; I detested the cursing; I couldn’t figure out who the characters were and what was happening with the story line.  It made me feel stupid and wimpy.

That being said, on Sunday night David and I stayed up until midnight (that’s about two hours later than I normally go to bed), watching the final episode.  I’m relieved it’s over so I can move on with my life.

There’s no way that I can adequately describe ‘The Wire’ in a post and do it justice.  I very much have a love/hate relationship with this show and the characters that consumed my waking and sleeping for the last five months.  Gritty and brutal,‘The Wire’ traces the intertwined lives of fictional Baltimore city cops, drug dealers, addicts, politicians and even children.

Each season has a different theme: drugs, the docks, politics, journalism.  Of course my favorite theme was education, during the fourth season.  The brokenness of the public school systems as well as the inability for children to break out of the world they’re born into was absolutely heartbreaking.  I felt utterly hopeless as I watched.  I think this season particularly affected me because I taught in Baltimore, but in a very different setting.  I worked in a private school for affluent families and students who had infinitely more opportunities than Randy, Dukie, Namon and Michael on ‘The Wire,’ despite living only 15 minutes apart.

I neglected to mention when I wrote about our anniversary, that just before dinner, we watched the final two episodes of the fourth season and I hysterically cried only thirty minutes before our fancy evening out.  Yes, I know these people aren’t real, but it’s all too real nonetheless.  The Towers and the corners are such a foreign, yet close, world, and the people and children unwillingly affected by it are hauntingly real.  For the bulk of our ‘Wire viewing,’ Jen has been in Europe, living the life of an ex-pat, reading, journaling and sight seeing.  Meanwhile, I’m in Atlanta, Georgia, literally weeping while watching this show.  Thanks, Jen.

I’m not quite sure who I would recommend ‘The Wire’ to.  In the last five months, I’ve always been excited to find someone else that watched the show.  (Before we got hooked, people who watched ‘The Wire’ annoyed me.)  The other night, we discovered that our friend, Amy Julia and her husband watched ‘The Wire,’ and I felt an immediate bond because we’d shared five seasons of murder, drugs, fraud, hope and hopelessness through the lives of Daniels, Omar, Bubbles, McNulty, and Presbo.  I feel smart and accomplished for making it through the series (Is that bad?) and I don’t regret watching it.  I will never watch the show again, however, and I even vowed on four different occasions while watching the show that I would never watch another episode.

The final episode was bittersweet but it was time.  Time to say goodbye to the Corners, to the Greek, to the completely flawed police officers I’d come to know for the previous 57 episodes.  It would have been nice, however, to have a little more closure in the final episode.  Of course I was still left with many questions.  Why did we barely see Presbo in the last season?  What happened to Randy?  Does Kema spend more time with her son?  Does McNulty get clean?  What happens to Cutty?

Do you watch ‘The Wire?’ Favorite characters?  Is it hopeful or hopeless?  Do you get annoyed with people who are obsessed with talking about ‘The Wire?’ Thoughts?

David and I love watching sports.  All kinds of sports.  A good weekend involves some type of athletic competition and at least one “S.I.N.” (a “sports induced nap”).  I prefer college basketball; David would probably say his favorite is college football.  We have an ongoing debate in our family as to what the greatest month of sports is.  You know, the best combination of athletic events found in a one month period.  David’s favorite month of sports is April because you have the NCAA Final Four Tournament, the Masters, NBA playoffs, and the start of baseball.  I tend to go with January because you gt the tail end of the college bowl games, NFL playoffs, and you can find college basketball on your TV almost every night.  (And really, I just want lots of college basketball…March is a close 2^nd for me.)

The summer months tend to be a bit of a drag for me in the wide world of sports.  I really could care less about the NHL and baseball is such a long season.  Fortunately, Strasburg is now pitching for the Nationals and the World Cup will make this summer much more exciting.  In fact last Sunday I felt like it was football season again as I watched Germany handed it to Australia on my friend Chris’s flat screen, while David took a “S.I.N.” on the couch.  (Remember, we don’t have a TV this year so we mooch off of our friends.)  Weekends revolving around sports are the best.

Since Wilbon and Tony don’t have a ton to talk about on “PTI” in June, besides the ever-changing Big 10, my media focus moves to the reality TV genre.  I’ve decided that while January is the best sports month, June wins the award for the best month of reality TV in 2010.  Why?  Good question.

“The Bachelorette” is in full swing and Ali is finally down to just 10 men so I can actually tell the difference between each of them.  There’s not a whole lot of diversity in the group on first glance so you have to get to know them.  I now have my favorites and my least favorites.  I’ve chosen my predictions for Final 3: Chris L., Roberto and Frank.  You clearly know at this point who is crazy (can we say Kasey with a “K”?) but it’s not too far into the season that Ali has finally convinced the producers to get rid of the whackos.  (Well, the weatherman did leave this week.  It was time.)

I Heart Roberto.

“The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat II” aired its final episodes this month.  For those of you that didn’t watch (and I’m sure that includes most of you), the exiles were insane and the final challenge involved climbing a mountain with ice picks.  Lots of whining and F-bombs were also present in the final episode.  Not as much drama as usual though.

The final reason why June marks the greatest month for reality TV this year is the premier of “Top Chef: DC.”  Premiering tonight, I’m eager to see where they filmed, what they’re doing, and who are the next big stars in the culinary world.

What are your thoughts on the reality TV world?  Is it a dying genre or do people like me keep it in business?  Am I the only one still watching?

After watching ‘Lost’s’ 4.5 hours of footage last night, I feel a little empty inside, and a bit of lingering ‘Lost’ hangover.  This ‘Lost’ marathon was worth watching but I can’t say that it solved all of the puzzles for me.  (Shocker!)  I don’t envy the task the producers and writers faced in wrapping up the show.

While I really enjoyed the two hour recap of the past six seasons, I’m very disappointed that there was no mention of Mr. Eko whatsoever.  I know that things did not end well with the actor and the rest of the cast/production, but you can’t ignore that he was a huge part of the island for the second season.  Eko epitomized the whole idea of redemption, a theme throughout the show’s six seasons.  Pretending like he never existed seems to contradict the show’s entire premise.

Some highlights for me included, the resolution of Jack’s relationship with his father and when Jack tells the “MIB” that he’s not Locke and what a ‘man of faith’ Locke was.  The moments when each character ‘remembered’ the island were beautiful scenes, especially between Jin and Sun.  Oh, and Vincent lying next to Jack as the plane flew over was just amazing.  (It actually made me want to get a dog.)

So a couple of questions that I would love for you to answer…

Was the sideways universe purgatory?  If so, is Ben still in purgatory since he didn’t go inside the church?  How long did Hurley and Ben stay on the island?  Why was Desmond ‘the one’ in charge of facilitating the characters memory of the island?  Was he the keeper of purgatory?

What are your thoughts on the finale?  What questions went left unanswered?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.  I will choose one person who comments at random and send you a gluten-free treat in the mail!

Ok, I’ve written way too much about television shows recently, and am even reconsidering the name of my blog.  Perhaps “Cooking, Reading & Reality TV?”  I promise there will be more food this week.  I promise.