I love a show with a voice over. A witty tongue in cheek voiceover. You know kind of like the voice of the dead housewife on Desperate Housewives. Mary Alice was only on the show for 1 episode, but she lives on season after season. She’s the voice of reason. She tells it like it is. She watches over the cul-de-sac’s happenings. She knows a thing or two about the inhabitants of Wisteria Lane.

Or do you remember Claire Danes’ voice over on My So-Called Life? Danes and My So-Called Life tackled numerous hot button teen issues — teen homosexuality, premarital sex, drugs — that were barely mentioned in the 90s when the show had its brief run. Come to think of it other shows about kids have used the voiceover technique. Remember The Wonder Years? Didn’t Malcolm in the Middle use one, too?

The teen who is not in control of his life narrates his view of the world for anyone to listen to. Tessa was recently uprooted from the familiarity of her NYC apartment to the SUBURBS! Can you imagine how it would feel to live in the plastic world of Tessa’s new suburban neighborhood…Suburgatory? Tessa shares her first impressions in this new series on ABC premiering tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST. Click below for a sneak peek.

Want to see more of Suburgatory? Visit http://abc.go.com/watch/gate/suburgatory to watch the full first episode. Enter code:  EYQdcfiUg

So do you live in Suburgatory? If you can answer “Yes” to any of these questions, you just might…

• Your dog’s haircut is more expensive than yours.
• The drinking fountains offer sparkling or still.
• The school cafeteria serves tuna tartar.
• The majority of medical procedures are elective.
• “Brunette” is a dirty word.
• The top three industries in your community are tanning, spandex and peroxide.

Suburgatory just might be my favorite show…it is a comedy without a laugh track. Are you like me? Do you loathe a laugh track? I don’t care that a show was filmed before a life studio audience….just stop with the canned laughter.

Get the scoop on Suburgatory…

• Official website http://abc.go.com/shows/suburgatory
• Like Suburgatory on Facebook
• Follow @SuburgatoryABC on Twitter #Suburgatory
• The cast: Tessa Altman is played by Jane Levy, Jeremy Sisto plays Tessa’s dad, George Altman, Cheryl Hines is Dallas Royce, the pushy, plastic-y neighbor. I don’t know what Sisto has starred in recently, but as a teen he was in Grand Canyon with Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, Mary McDonnell, and Alfre Woodward.

Links to DVDs from shows mentioned in this post:

• Desperate Housewives — Season 7
• My So-Called Life — Complete Series

I was not compensated to write this post. The links in this post are to my amazon affiliate account. The views expressed in the post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

I posted about the new Duran Duran tour and album a few days ago. It got me reminiscing about the 80s.

I had a Duran Duran t-shirt at one time. My last DD t-shirt was purchased in the 80s and sadly even if it fit it would be faded and worn out. It might be stashed in my keepsake box. I keep a Rubbermaid tub of tees for that day when I (a) learn to use a sewing machine and (b) have time to make a quilt of my tees from the 80s, vacations, concerts, and even a couple from the 70s. Until then I have a tub of tees collecting dust!

I bought the tee at my first large arena concert. I saw Duran Duran at the Philadelphia Spectrum with my friend, jeff, a fellow English New Waver. I remember how in awe I was of the stage show and pyrotechnics. The stage show would be tame by today’s standards, but in the 80s it was high tech.

Duran Duran was my second concert, but first concert at a large arena. Even though I was born and raised in England (Manchester to be precise) I had not attended a concert until I saw the B-52s on my college campus. I remember thinking that the B-52s was a loud concert until I saw Duran Duran. Duran Duran is back with a new album — All You Need Is Now — and an upcoming concert tour.

Back when DD was hot, I was a sophomore at small liberal arts college in PA. As you can imagine, English New Wave music wasn’t exactly streaming out of the speakers in college dorm rooms. Heavy metal and Grateful Dead were more the music of choice back in 83-87! I had a radio show on the college radio station where I ONLY played English music…my listenership was small, but devoted .

I was a devoted fan back then. I went all out to get my music on the airwaves. I was in the know about music and pop culture in the same way that I am in the know about blogging and brand promotion. Back then, my mother would buy 7″ singles (records) of the groups I loved and send the singles packed between steel baking trays to me at college.

I can only imagine how out-of-place my very English mother must have looked browsing the racks at HMV or Virgin Records for the latest singles. I would “premiere” these new singles from groups like Duran Duran, The Thompson Twins, The Cure, The Smiths, and many other groups on my radio show.

My radio show was titled “Technical Difficulties” for a reason…I once locked myself out of the studio. The record played on and on and on until security arrived with the master key. Remember it was the days of records so skips and scrapes were an integral part of my show. Oh and I once put a PSA in the 8-track-like PSA player only to have the machine eat the PSA. The PSA as played to my listeners sounded like the adults on the Peanuts…Waaa, Waaah, Waaaahhh!

The links in this post are to my amazon affiliate account. To join PopSalad…it’s in beta…click here.

Are you like me? Do you remember everything about your child’s first movie experience? Did you fret over whether your child was ready for a movie in a theater? I’ll bet you waited until your child would sit still for a movie at home. My daughter loved watching videos.

Some of the Golden Books videos were her favorites. But most of these were 30 minutes, 40 tops. My husband and I knew that most full-length movies were close to an hour. Our daughter at 3 had not asked to see a movie in the theater, much less requested to see Tarzan. But, we wanted to take her to the movies. Tarzan was the most recent release back in ’99. So, we took her to see it.

It was…not a good idea at all. We didn’t read any movie reviews. Now I would head to Commonsense Media to read up on what the movie was about and what age of child should see the movie. Back then we entered the movie theater blindly and were blindsided when Tarzan’s mother and father were killed — off screen but dead nonetheless — by a tiger. Our daughter did not register what had happened — a true blessing. We all got through the movie…just barely.

For our younger children, we waited until both were 4 years old for the first movie experience. Our younger daughter saw Lilo & Stitch. She loved it. Not scary. Good music. A successful experience for all of us. With our son, we weren’t on a timetable of any sort for his first theater movie experience. He was 4, but with sisters who were almost 5 and 7 years older than him he had watched many full-length movies at home.

One weekend while his sisters were at their grandparents we decided to treat him to a movie. He was starting to notice that his sisters got to do things that he didn’t get to do as he was not old enough…like stay overnight with the grandparents. We made a big deal out of the fact that we were taking him to a movie. We knew he would absolutely love Cars. What we didn’t know was how much we would love Cars. In fact, he talked about Cars so much that his grandparents took his sisters the next month. His grandparents wanted to see it as well!

My son is now 8. He’s talked about Cars 2 since I brought back some Cars Online stuff from Disney Online’s booth at Toy Fair ’10. In fact at this year’s Toy Fair, I saw a huge Lightning McQueen made out of thousands of Lego pieces.

Until Cars 2 releases, June 24, here’s a few things to keep you busy…

• Lightning Puzzle Book itunes app
• Enter to win in the State Farm Agents on a Mission Sweepstakes
• and finally here’s a Car 2 trailer

You know where we will be on June 24!

By now you know that I like macabre, off-the-wall humor. Monty Python — check. The Office — check. My latest find is Childrens Hospital. Basically Childrens Hospital is my type of show…it is “based on the Webby Award–winning digital series and quickly became a Web hit with its twisted take on network medical dramas,” per the WB.

This show is no Grey’s Anatomy. No heroic life-saving events. No life and death struggles. No doctors charged with patient care who take the Hippocratic oath to heart. Nope, not on Childrens Hospital. On this show the docs are far too concerned with their social lives to worry about sick children. As I said it’s The Office meets The Meaning of Life where nothing is above reproach.

I’ll give you an example of the craziness of the show’s scripts. On one episode…Dr. Owen Maestro’s ex- girlfriend/co-worker lied by telling him she had a tumor just to break up with him. Whaaaattt? I’ve heard of trying to weasel out of something, but this takes the cake, right?

I’m no stranger to excuses. I try to avoid making them, but sometimes…well you just have no choice. Let’s see what was a doozy of an excuse I used?? Well, I could write about this one, but may be not. How about this one? Hmmm, perhaps the person will read this blogpost and go….”Whaaaattt!” I’ll stick with this old chestnut.

As a newish college graduate, I worked first at a directory publisher in DC, then moved to a trade association at a nearby office. July 4th was a Wednesday. I’ll let that sink in a bit. July 4th was a workday and I was 23. I was not a heavy drinker, but had been invited to a friend’s condo across from DC in northern Virginia. The friend was hosting a rooftop party as her condo building had a great view of the fireworks held on The Mall. I resigned myself that I would go, drink responsibly, and show up to work on Thursday ready to work.

Fuzzy Navels. Sigh. Fuzzy Navels were my downfall. The best laid plans to drink responsibly and stay sober? Gone as I downed shot glass after shot glass of those oh-so-sweet and yummy shots. I didn’t even take a break long enough to stop drinking and watch the fireworks as the fireworks were obscured by fog. So, all of us drank and drank merrily and happily unaware of the fireworks. The party ended.

I stumbled homeward with my boyfriend-now-husband in tow. We sobered up on the Metro ride home. He had guzzled fewer drinks than I had. He drove me home. I have no recollection of any part of the journey home except for talking loudly on the Metro. My 40-something mom-ish self is horrified that we traveled under these conditions, but I was a 23-year-old with no responsibilities and clearly no sense back then.

The next morning. Yikes. The next morning was rough. I could barely lift my head off the pillow, let alone shower, get dressed, and take the Metro to work. All sounds were painful to me that morning…the clanging of the elevator doors, leaves rustling, the beep of the coffee maker. By 9:30 a.m. I was stuck in the bathroom doubled over the toilet. As I heaved, my coworkers asked how I was. Through it all I steadfastly stuck to my story that it was food poisoning. I must have eaten something the night before. Surely, I was suffering from the results of a bad burger or something, right? I never acknowledged that the previous day was July 4th…that I had attended a party…that I overindulged on many oh-so-yummy Fuzzy Navels. Nope, food poisoning was my excuse.

Looking back at my age and the circumstances of July 4th falling on a Wednesday and I don’t believe ANYONE believed ny excuse. To their credit, none of them said  anything to me. Thank goodness. But, back to Childrens Hospital.

Do you watch reality shows set in a hospital? You know the ones about the soon-to-be new parents? Or the kid on the eve of surgery? These shows portray hospital staff and patients in the best possible light. I suppose the hospital wouldn’t want to be sued, right? But, what about a show that throws caution and legal ethics to the wind. A show about a hospital so irreverent in tone and so outrageous that you can’t help but laugh?? Childrens Hospital is one such show.

Don’t forget to tune in to “Childrens Hospital” on the Cartoon Network. You won’t regret it!

Season 1 & 2 is out on DVD…buy on amazon.

I have been hired by Warner Bros WBWord division to raise awareness for Childrens Hospital. The views expressed in this post are my own.

“This is not the way other people ride rides at amusement parks!” I said this as we were ushered on to the Simpson’s Ride at Universal Studios. I felt compelled to explain to my son that our VIP access was very unusual and special. He shrugged. At 7 he did not “get” how extraordinary VIP access really is. His mom did!

My family was able to experience a VIP Tour at Universal Studios and the Islands of Adventure this past January. The VIP Tour was more of an whole day experience. Calling it a “tour” doesn’t do it justice. We had an incredible experience from the moment we met Branden, our VIP Tour Guide. Within minutes he was able to assess what made our group tick. VIP Tour Guides go out of their way to make sure that your group has the best day possible.

Branden asked each of the kids and my husband and I what we wanted to do. No easy feat…we’re a bunch with varied tastes that’s for sure. Let’s break it down:

• The husband DOES not do roller coasters…no free fall or going upside down either.
• The Teen will do roller coasters sometimes, but more often will ride something else.
• The Tween will not do roller coasters ever. Period.
• The Kid might do a roller coaster if the rest of our family wasn’t so wishy washy about them.
• I’ll do roller coasters, but feel guilty about making my family wait for me.

So, what did we decide to do on our VIP Tour. Well, roller coasters were out by consensus. No Incredible Hulk Coaster or Dragon Challenge for us. We unanimously voted out all shows at both parks. We had two more days, so we knew we would catch the two shows we wanted to see — Eight Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show and the Terminator 2: 3D — before our trip was over.

On tap for our VIP Tour was our first stop at the Islands of Adventure… Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, The Amazing Adventures of Spider Man, Storm Force Accelatron, High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train ride, and Cat in the Hat ride. After recharging our batteries with a quick lunch at the International Food & Film Festival, it was on to adjacent park, Universal Studios. I was super excited that the VIP Tour continued after lunch. We loved ALL of the rides: Jaws, Men in Black, Shred 4D,  the Simpson’s Ride, and ET. So many fun rides. Great day for all five of us.

The details on the VIP Tour include:

• Complimentary valet parking
• Complimentary refreshments (coffee, bottled water) upon check-in
• VIP Tour credential and lanyard
• Opportunity for private character meet and greets
• Exclusive information and select backstage access (when available)
• Select discounts on Food and Merchandise
• Universal Express access to attractions at conclusion of tour

So, enough about writing about the VIP Tour, let me show you some pics.

Lately whenever I turn the TV on…and I seem to watc h a ton of TV lately…The Office is on. Now the funny thing is that I wasn’t a big office fan of either the original British version or the one with Steve Carrell. I watched a handful of episodes. But, now that the show is ready to go off the air or maybe it is already done, I am watching ALL THE TIME.

I guess I’m like that with shows. I rarely commit to a network TV show until it is about to go off the air. I’m not a jumping on the bandwagon type. I never watched LOST, for instnace.

A few weeks ago I heard about Childrens Hospital. I watch a ton o’ reality TV…too many shows to list. I’m not embarrassed at all. Love my reality TV! Well, what I thought was a reality show about a children’s hospital turns out to be a comedy about a troupe of clowns who brighten up kid’s who are staying in the hospital. Interesting…is what I thought when I heard about the show.

The cast is good. Remember Will & Grace? Grace’s wacky friend Karen…the drunk as I recall…is in in the show. Ever seen Hot Tub Time Machine or Unaccompanied Minors? Rob Cordrry is in the show as well. These two are funny, aren’t they? Jon Hamm is in the season finale. He’s the debonair guy from Mad Men. As well as a person from Glee. My Tween would know who it is. So the cast is a good one with regular cast and guest stars.

Here’s a synopsis of the show…to whet your whistle…I know after reading this you’ll be like me and want to grab the show on DVD. Childrens Hospital is a show on Comedy Central that revolves around the lives of the medical staff at Childrens Hospital. Starring an ensemble cast: Rob Corddry, Lake Bell, Megan Mullaly, and Harry Winkler, the Childrens Hospital medical staff aim to heal their patients through irreverant humor and unconventional methods.

The show is really quite hilarious. I caught it online. Irreverent humor. Kind of reminds me of The Office and Absolutely Fabulous. You know the type of show where the actors will say ANYTHING…and what they say is hilarious. I love the type of humor…kind of silly…a tad ridiculous…a smidge eye-opening. Full of awkward social situations. Not that I have had any. No, not me. Asking someone who is not pregnant if they are pregnant…oops. Having a hard time making eye contact with a medical professional who so obviously has a hard time making eye contact. My dentist used to do magic tricks. Nothing says…dentistry…like magic tricks…right???

I haven’t tried to find the show on TV. You know how it is. You search and search and give up. I’m tired of searching on my DVR for shows that should be On-Demand but aren’t. Lately, I have been buying DVDs. You know when I watch DVDs? I watch movies while working. I have a rotation of about 9 DVDs…I think a Childrens Hospital DVD would fit in to my rotation, don’t you? I need something funny. Check. Good cast. Check.

You can purchase the Childrens Hospital Season 1 & 2 on DVD on amazon. Oh, and the show returns for a third season!

I have been hired by Warner Bros. WBWord division to promote Childrens Hospital Season 1&2 on DVD. You can purchase a copy here. Catch it on the Cartoon Network. Don’t forget to buy Childrens Hospital Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD.

What is the Jensen Project? I’m not sure. I know it has something to do with Family Movie Night. I can totally stand behind any force to get families together…eating dinner together, family game night, etc. The writeup sounds as though it is right up my alley.

Here’s what I know…

The Jensen Project is on July 16 at 8/7c. To follow the conversation plus follow tweets about the show use hashtag #jensenproject.

About the Film
The world is hanging by a string. Can this family pull it together?

After a 16-year absence, Claire and Matt Thompson are reintroduced to The Jensen Project — a secret community of geniuses conducting advanced underground research to solve the world’s most difficult problems. The former scientists, accompanied by their tech-minded teenage son Brody, are thrust into a frantic pursuit to keep a potentially dangerous technology from falling into the wrong hands. As the family races against the clock to stop the group’s rogue faction, they discover an important truth. In this high-pressure, high-tech world, sometimes the smartest thing we can do is lean on each other.

A week or two ago I attended a brand/blogger event sponsored Silicon Valley Moms Blog and numerous brands. It was truly a day of pampering, information, and community. The best kind of day, really!

I had the unbelievable good fortune to win a laptop computer. I was thrilled not only to win, but to try out a new type of computer.

The litl is a computer that is simple to use. Now, how often do you see the word “simple” and “computer” in the same sentence? Never, right?

Once I arrived home from the brand/blogger gathering I unpacked the computer. I was surprised at how light (weighs about 3.5 ibs) and thin the litl is. I pressed the button on the side to turn the computer on. The first screen asked me to select a wireless network. No modem or wires or cables needed — only wireless.

The second screen showed a series of boxes. Some are preset — weather, clock, and media. I got to work adding my own boxes to the litl. First up e-mail. I typed my e-mail host in to the search box at the top, hit Enter, and my e-mail popped up. I saved the box so that I can check my e-mail each time. I played around with starting and deleting and rearranging the boxes on the screen. Next up I added boxes for the kids…PBSKids, Webkinz, and Yoursphere. Facebook for Coach Dad and me.

No more Windows with folders and subdirectories on top of other folders and yet more directories jamming the screen. Can you say clutter? My laptop AND desktop computer screens (and hard drives for that matter) are a cluttered jumbled mess. And just try getting rid of a Windows folder or a program…another mess!

The litl does not have a harddrive. Everything you need is stored on the internet. There is no CD or DVD drive only a USB port, a place to plug in an HDMI cable, and a power button. No software to install, either.

—

From the litl website, here’s a description of the litl:

We love the web. It’s full of useful stuff, and it’s a great way to connect with friends and family. But we hate computers. At least the mainstream ones that we’ve been using. They’re unnecessarily complex for everyday tasks like browsing and checking email. So we hit the reset button by designing a first-of-its-kind computer that lets you enjoy the web without worrying about anything else.

With the webbook, you can do everything you can normally do with a web browser, and you can use the litl’s apps for a new way to experience the Internet. Carry the webbook around the house to

• Watch your favorite TV shows and movies
• Listen to music, talk radio, and podcasts
• Check email, news, and weather
• View and share photos
• Look up and use new recipes

We also flipped traditional hardware design on its head to make it easier to use. You can bend the webbook over into an easel for a more TV-like viewing experience. When you’re not actively using it, set the webbook on your desk, or counter to stream news headlines and photos. You can even connect it to a big-screen TV.

Best of all, we built the webbook as a computer without all the computery stuff – it just works. We packed the webbook with intuitive software that takes care of all maintenance, automatically and free of charge.

How does it work?

Using wifi, the webbook accesses all your content over the Internet — that means that you store your documents, music, emails, and photos, online where you can access them from the webbook or any other computer. No more worrying about hard drive crashes and data recovery — let your web services handle that for you.

You’ll also never see a pop-up about your virus protection being out of date, or a missing security patch required. The webbook automatically takes care of system updates, patches, and virus protection and even sends you new features and upgrades. Just leave your webbook plugged in overnight, and we do the rest.

—

Oooo, I almost forgot! I have a deal for you to use to get your own litl computer! Go to litl.com/momdeal by July 1, 2010, to get $100 off a litl webbook! Oh and did I mention that the litl deal includes FREE shipping and a FREE remote!

I was invited to attend the Silicon Valley Moms Blog Brand/Blogger Symposium. I won a litl as part of a drawing. The views expressed in this article are my own.

Time waster? Who me? Would I search about on the internet to solve a question that has bothered me for weeks? You know troll about twitter…check out wikipedia…search on imdb. Why? To find the identity of an obscure reality TV actor from an equally obscure reality TV show, that’s why!

Well, yes I did. My burning question? Who is Chef Jesse? Jesse who? I know! I saw Chef Jesse on Private Chefs of Beverly Hills. I watch way toooo much reality TV. I DVR. I watch. I channel surf. It is my release after writing posts, etc. I CANNOT watch TV and write at the same time. Multitasking is not my strong suit.

As I watched the episode where Jesse and his co-chef cook a three-course meal for dogs and their owners, I was consumed with the thought that I had seen Jesse before. Yes…the chefs cooked gourmet hamburgers for a group of over privileged dogs. But where had I see Jesse before?

I was stumped. I ran through the list of suspects. Was he on the Kardashians…that show with Flavor Flav…American Idol?? Grabbing at straws here, people.

IMDB to the rescue. Jesse was on Workout. Do you remember Workout? The exercise fitness show with Jackie Warner…she was the very scary, blonde-haired boss who called clients to see why there weren’t at the club exercising. Remind me not to join her club!

Jesse was one of the trainers on the show. So how do you make the switch from trainer to chef. Is it a reality show thing where actors audition for reality shows…any kind of reality sh0w? Are the actors hired for the show based on their acting rather than skills? A kind of jack-of-all-reality show actor? Sounds like it to me.

Oh and for even more trivia…Chef Brian on the Private Chefs of Beverly Hills? He was on Top Chef in 2006 for one episode. Now, that makes more sense to me to move from Top Chef to a cooking show, but to move from a fitness show to a cooking show sounds like a stretch to me. Oh and I found out that Chef Brian owns Comfort Truck – a mobile catering business in LA. Comfort Truck is on twitter, too.

I have a history of not jumping on the bandwagon or catching a show a season or two in. Lost. 24. American Idol. And now Glee.

I saw the tweets. I love the blonde-haired cheerleader coach from all the Christopher Guest movies. I don’t watch network TV live. I occasionally watch if I DVR it, but often the shows I DVR are more likely to be found on the Discovery Channel or Bravo or A&E. I’m an Intervention and Hoarders and Hoarders: Buried Alive devotee.

After watching part of one episode of Glee I am hooked. So are my girls. I discovered both are watching Glee on Hulu.com. How funny is that? I — the socially media, internet connected mom that I am — thought that hulu was a paid service. The tween and teen schooled me!

Here’s a clip from Glee:

Speaking of Glee… 5 Minutes for Mom and Dove are hosting a twitter party for Glee and the new Dove line of hair care products. The Dove Twitter party for Glee will be Wednesday, May 5th from 7:00-8:30 PM EST. The party will be a chance to celebrate why beautiful hair makes Dove and Glee fans want to sing! The launch of new, reinvented Dove Hair Care with a chance to win sold out Glee Tour tickets, have questions answered by cast member Lea Michele, and other great Dove Hair and Glee prizes.

The part will be on Twitter, using the #dovegleeforall hashtag. Follow @5MinutesforMom, @Dove,  and @Rocket_XL.

RSVP at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Glee Tour Dates

Phoenix
May 15th — 7:30pm
May 16th — 11:30am

Los Angeles
May 20th — 8:00pm
May 21st — 8:00pm
May 22nd — 2:00pm
May 22nd — 8:00pm

Chicago
May 25th — 7:30pm
May 26th — 7:30pm

New York City
May 28th — 8:00pm
May 29th — 3:00pm
May 29th — 8:00pm
May 30th — 3:00pm
May 30th — 8:00pm

I was not compensated for this post. I am promoting the site as a 5MinutesforMom reader and new Glee watcher!