Mishmash Musings

I’m sure most of you have already seen photos of Jake Gyllenhaal’s beefed up body in his new film Prince of Persia, but I wanted to post one here anyway. I think his transformation was incredible! He has always appeared very skinny and lanky to me, so getting ready for his role as Dastan involved more than adding ephedra diet pills to his daily regimen. I mean, this wasn’t just about losing weight, it was about bulking up.

As good as Jake looks in this movie, I have no desire to see it. Really? Another movie based on a video game? As though Hitman and Max Payne weren’t warning enough about how wrong that concept can go? Ugh!

I don’t watch the NBC show The Biggest Loser, but they always broadcast the winners of these types of reality shows on sites like Yahoo, so it’s practically impossible to avoid the results. This year, some guy named Michael Ventrella won the weight loss competition by going from 526 pounds to a much leaner 262 pounds. In other words, he lost 50.19 percent of his body weight.

What??? Is that even fair? It seems to me that the heavier you are, the easier it is to win. Imagine what a 200-pound person would have to go through to lose 50 percent of his body weight. I doubt that even the best fat burner would help achieve those kind of losses — and really, that wouldn’t even be healthy.

At any rate, congrats to Michael on winning. Now I hope he truly changes his lifestyle and keeps the weight off for a long, long time!

Some websites are reporting rumors that Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle might have the opportunity for a guest starring role in an upcoming episode of Glee. Apparently, the creators of Glee would love to have SuBo on the show — as a lunch lady! And they want to have resident fashion maestro Kurt give her a makeover.

I’ve watched maybe 10 episodes of Glee, and plan to catch up with the rest over the summer. The show seems kind of uneven to me, with some great storylines overshadowed by utterly ridiculous ones. And sometimes the subpar acting really gets to me. But Jane Lynch is amazing on the show, which is reason enough to keep watching.

Oh, and if Susan Boyle does make a guest appearance, I would definitely tune into that as well!

Modern Family has quickly become my favorite show on television, so I’m excited about the new episode that will air tonight. According to the synopsis, Fred Willard will reprise his role as Phil Dunphy’s dad, and will be visiting the Dunphy clan in his motorhome. Who knows what kind of shenanigans that will lead to! Maybe the thing will break down and he’ll have to stay with Phil, Claire, and the kids until they can get the rv repair guy to come out and fix it. Nah, the storyline probably won’t even focus on the rv at all. More likely, it’ll have something to do with tension within the family itself, as usual. Can’t wait for a bunch of new Phil Dunphy quotes to share with my friends after this one airs!

Whenever I’m wondering what other people are searching for on the Internet, I just check out Google Trends, which lists the top searches for the past few hours. Today’s top search is for Jesse James mistress photos, showing that America is completely fascinated by what happens in the lives of celebrities.

Though I admit to sometimes being guilty of this sort of thing myself, I usually spend my time more productively. My recent search history indicates that I’ve looked for a free life insurance quote, IRS tax forms, and TurboTax 2010. Yes, I’m trying to get my financial house in order as I’ll be leaving my job at the end of this month — but that ‘s a story for another post!

It seems that everywhere I “go” on the net, I see the name Justin Bieber. He’s ALWAYS a trending topic on Twitter, and is usually listed as one of Yahoo’s top searches or a top Google Trend. The thing is, I had no idea who this person was — until curiosity finally got the better of me today and I looked him up.

THIS is what everyone’s going crazy about???? Are you kidding me???? There must be a LOT of preteen girls with absolutely nothing better to do in their lives than net-stalk this 16-year-old boy. OMG, I cannot believe that there’s this much fuss about him. It must be the floppy emo hair.

So the big story in celeb gossip circles this week is the marriage trouble that’s brewing between Oscar winner Sandra Bullock and husband Jesse James. There have been rumors of infidelity on Jesse’s part, which was sort of confirmed when he issued a vague apology to Sandy and the kids via People magazine.

Does this mean Sandra Bullock and Jesse James are headed for a divorce? Nothing definite has been printed yet, so the only two who know for sure are Jesse and Sandra themselves. To be honest, I’ve always thought they were an odd match as a couple, and am surprised that they made it this long. A split wouldn’t at this point wouldn’t exactly be a shock.

Remember that Rolling Stone cover that featured Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) in bed together? That came out right around the time I first started watching The X-Files, and really put me on course to be a shipper. Back then, I didn’t watch television shows primarily for the hookup potential of the leads, but it was impossible to resist the chemistry that these two characters had.

Anyway, I bring this up now because I’m planning on having an X-Files marathon this weekend. I have the complete series DVD box set, but haven’t watched too many eps out of it yet. A few days ago, however, I started in on Season 3 (one of the strongest) since the Olympics is ruining the regular TV schedule. I’m already sucked right back into their world!

One of the best things about The X-Files is how an episode could feature something seemingly mundane or completely outrageous and be totally compelling either way. For instance, one week Mulder and Scully would be tracking down a financier working some magic to embezzle funds from every health savings account he manages, and another week they’ll be tracking a tapeworm monster through the sewers of New Jersey. Just an incredible amount of diversity in the storylines!

I’m on my way out the door to get some Diet Coke, popcorn, and frozen pizza for this Friday evening with my favorite TV duo of all-time!