LorieByrd.com

Modern Idol

Tonight the idols are singing songs of the 21st century. 

Kellie Pickler sang Sara Evans' "Suds in the Bucket."  This is actually a song that me and my girls absolutely love and said we wished Kellie would sing back when we first heard her voice.  Her rendition was good, but not great.  I think the fact that the song had to be condensed to about a third of the original length was the biggest problem.  The best part of the song was left out. 

Prison Break and "24"

I have a Prison Break/24 thread open for comments at Polipundit tonight.

MMMMM... Meatloaf

I am cooking meatloaf tonight from a "meatloaf mix" that I bought at BJ's.  It looks just like regular ground beef, but it is actually a mixture of beef, pork and veal.  I will report back on whether or not it tastes better or worse than ground beef. 

For those who have not tried it, when I was on a diet and lost 30 pounds back before I got pregnant with my now nine year old, and then got fat again, I learned a great recipe trick for "diet" meatloaf.  I don't remember ever following the exact recipe, but what you do is substitute the meat you would normally use for meatloaf with the really low fat ground beef.  Then you add applesauce to the mix.  I think I used to just add one of those little one serviing apple sauce cups that you buy in packs of six.  Then I used fat free saltine crackers in place of bread crumbs.  The applesauce is not tasted at all in the meatloaf, but it replaces the fat that is missing in really lean beaf, so the meatloaf is not dry.  It was really good.  I didn't try it with the "meatloaf mix" tonight because it had plenty of fat, unfortunately.

Applesauce can also be used in various cake and bread recipes in place of oil for low fat versions.   

Bird Droppings Hit Orlando

How could Byrd Droppings fail to link to this bird droppings story from Orlando? Hat tip:  John Hawkins.

What A Fall

It is amazing how far Tom Cruise's public image has fallen over the past couple of years.  His name used to be synonymous with Hollywood leading man, American success story, etc.  Then came the split with Nicole Kidman, the Matt Lauer interview in which he attacked Brooke Shields for treating her post-partum depression with drugs, to top that the Katie Holmes/Oprah couch jumping incident.  Add this to the list.

Now They Want To Know What The Troops Think

Please read my column at Townhall.com today.  In it I discuss the sudden interest those on the Left and in the media have in finding out what the troops think about Iraq.

And Then There Were Ten

My girls are heartbroken.  Their favorite AI contestant, Kevin Covais (aka Chicken Little) was eliminated tonight.  He is pretty adorable and it is sad that what I considered his best performance was the one he went out on.  Or actually maybe that is a good thing.  Come to think of it, Melissa was eliminated the week she had what many called her best performance, too.  A trend?

My guess is that Bucky's number will be up soon.  Since Lisa Tucker has spent two weeks in the bottom three, her days may be numbered, as well, but my guess is Ace has a good chance of going before Lisa.  You never know.  Since people vote for who they want to stay, rather than go, it makes it trickier to guess sometimes -- especially as the field narrows and voters shift from those eliminated.  That is why the people watch.  You never know for sure what will happen.

Update:  Hmmm.  This post reminded me that the "Chicken Little" DVD went on sale yesterday.  I loved the movie and plan to purchase the DVD.  What a strange coincidence, considering Kevin Covais' nickname.  Or is it???

50's Night

I missed the first half of American Idol tonight.  I just got in and caught Paris Bennett's excellent performance of "Fever."  Chris Daughtry, my favorite, is up next singing Johnny Cash. What could be better than that?

Update:  Chris rocks.  Literally.  He did a brilliant interpretation of "I Walk the Line" but I still wish he would stop turning every song into a power rock song.  His voice is incredible and what he did to a Johnny Cash song that everyone knows was absolutely amazing.  He made you wonder what the next line would sound like, even though you knew the words, you just didn't know how it was going to sound.  Unique and brilliant.   I just hope he doesn't give every song that same sound.  His voice is so strong that I know he would sound great in different genres, as well.  What he said about the song tonight having special significance because of what it meant to him to be true to his wife totally won me over, too.  He deserves to win, but even if he doesn't, he is going to be a huge star and I am going to buy his first CD as soon as it is released.

The Carolina Mystery Beast

Check out this interesting story from National Geographic.

Support Kids' Day

A friend of mine is going to be standing in the cold rain tomorrow morning selling newspapers to raise money for Wake Med's pediatric emergency room and other children's health services.  She sent me this link for more information about this worthy cause.  If you live in the Raleigh area, or even if you don't, but would like to contribute, check out the site to find out how you can help.