Sienna Buff - 6 Months Out

People seemed quite enamoured by the oh-so-pleasing physique (and colouring) of Sienna Buff in my recent Colors of the Rainbow entry, so I thought I'd post some more pictures of this 22-year old rising bodybuilding sensation from the Welsh city of Swansea.

Fan-favourite James "Flex" Lewis, this week began his quest to become the 2006 British Bodybuilding Champion (earning his pro card in the process I believe). Mentored by the legendary monster Milos Sarcev, the 5'5" former Junior Mr. Wales, Junior Mr. Britain and Junior Mr. Universe currently weighs in at an almighty 210lbs. If I remember reading correctly he intends to compete in the high 190s... The "kid" already looks pretty damn shredded, so with six months still to tweak his physique, Flex is surely going to be one mother to compete against!!!

If only we all looked like this a 22!

More pictures can be seen at Milos' forum Enter the Mind.

The Magic of Television!!!

Or not, as the case may be!

This whole game show thing ended up being a bit of a bust! Which isn't to say it wasn't intersesting or that I wouldn't go through it again, I only wish I had really understood what I was getting myself into to begin with.

The concept of the show, Infinity is thus: There are 2 teams of 2 unrelated contestants. Team One answers 5 questions, of which they must get 3 correct. After hearing the questions and Team One's answers, Team Two must predict if the first team has "passed" or "failed" in this task; if they predict right they carry on and it's there turn to answer questions, if not they are immediately eliminated. Hence a team who answers and predicts correctly can go on ad infinitum.

I got picked as a "contestant" for the pilot of the British version of the game, hosted by Jerry Springer. Now, being quite naieve in the workings of the business I thought this would still be a real game show (though I did know the "prizes" were limited). The first indication that something was arwy was when I pulled in to the parking lot: the guard asked if I was the talent. Hmmm? When I met the other contestants, the majority were struggling actors. Double Hmmm? They corralled and shuffled us from makeup to costuming (both shirts I took morayed on camera and then I had to have the collar top-stuck on the shirt I borrowed), and then there was a lot of sitting around and waiting. A lot.

We were finally allowed into the studio, and the audience, already a very rum bunch, was heckling the cute, but lame, warm-up guy. The first teams stood at their podiums, in either loop of the infinity symbol, which served double duty as the brightly lit count-down clock for the game.

The morning taping of the American pilot (with Mark Walberg) had run over by several hours, which wasn't surprising with the number of "holds" the AD was now calling. Jerry would ask the questions, teams would give their answers, there'd be a "hold" and the teams would be told to change their answers. It was all fixed. They wanted to massage the "story," show how a team could keep on winning and play for infinity. On the flip side it showed just how quickly other teams could be kicked off.

Originally conceived as a hour-long, mid-way through taping the producers decided to cut it down by half (really what game show in England is an hour anyway). Meaning that my part on the show would be cut. Yes, no screen time whatsoever. So there it was, I still got my consolation cash, but didn't get a chance to play - though it really wouldn't have been playing would it.

So there you have it, an experience, a story, a blog entry (or two). I did get to meet Yvette, the snotty showgirl from last summer's I Want To Be a Hilton, another of casting agent Randy's shows (great casting, poor execution), which I suppose counts as a CelebFlash. I got a few tips on how to get on other shows, and I think the casting guy liked me, so there's maybe hope there for a future show that needs a short, stocky, gay, British muscle guy.

Colors of the Rainbow...

Well, variations of human skin tone anyway.

I've been doing some painting of late, and this, along with the fact that I've had no reason whatsoever to post any of my "big boyz" pix, got me thinking about future color choices:

I actually decided to use "Warm Earth" in our dining room under the chair rail (it really made the room pop); I'm intending on using "Coral Snow" somewhare as well, I just haven't quite decided where!!!

* All colors are actual selections from the Behr color palatte and are available at your local Home Depot.

Bravo Reality!

They may have over saturated the market a year or so back with the Fab Five, but Bravo has hit more than one ball out of the park with it's recent batch of reality programming. While last month we said "Auf Weidersen" to Heidi Klum and the instant classic that was Project Runway 2 (though yes, I agree, Chloe's win was a bust, but let's not forget that leather corset-vest thingy Daniel made for her, one of the worst outfits of the season), we recently welcomed back new daddy Jonathan Antin in his third season of Blowout. Not a lot of tears so far, instead there's been intense close-ups of therapist, Doric; heavy, but hysterical, renditions of Hickory Dickory Dock and "Insey Winsey Spider"; and the "Sugar Daddy" Pussycat Dolls auditions. I hope copious amounts of tears will soon flow!

Top Chef started slowly but has gathered momentum week by week. Bravo apparently insisted there be one openly gay chef in the mix. Casting director Randy and Spago manager Mike both assured me that Stephen is simply an arrogant asshole and not a big 'mo, (though I'm not so sure, he's still young, give him time); Tiffani apparently sleeps with men (shocking I know, could there be a bigger dyke), as does Dave (which is no surprise to anyone), but no gay man I know would admit to eating Dave's lasagna, at least not in the weeks leading up to the White Party.

And then there's The Real Housewives of Orange County, which I have to admit to have not watched yet (though I do have it Tivoed - which yes, is back up and running, the question is for how long?). Here in SoCal everyone's watching and talking about it, though anyone from the OC is disgusted with the show and argue their lives are nothing like those portrayed; Jamie on Star 98.7 hates housewife Jo with a passion; and who doesn't want to have a go at foul-mouthed baseball-playing hottie Shane? Let's all get Botox and shop!

Not withstanding the homoeroticism between Eric and Jeremy, the Race has stumbled badly of late, while that Exile Island idol has been hampering the Survivors (and is fighter pilot Terry just another fireman Tom?), and really isn't it just more of the same on American Idol (but I do love Chris). As such, this batch of Bravo reality programming is looking fresher, feistier and funnier than ever.

Cattle Call?

Remember my Game Show Junkie post from the other week? Well, I got a call back!!!

Yes, casting director Randy must have liked my “half super geek/half muscle boy" self description and the “Brokeback Puppy” pic that I included in lieu of a headshot (I may live in LA, but I don’t have any... yet!).

After an impromtu fashion show at work to decide which shirt would best reflect my personality (by a vote of 4 to 3 the cute little red Salvage shirt won out), off I went in search of "fabulous cash and prizes."

First I had to fill out this long 2-page questionnaire with questions such as: What would your friends describe as your best and worst attributes? Are you a rish taker? Would you consider yourself competitive? And then I was ushered into this room ("No, on your other left") with a couple of seats and one of those little camera things. After a bit in came Randy, who loaded his "Brit" tape in the camera and off we chatted! And that's all it was, a 5 to 10 minute filmed chat.

Being an inquisitive sort, after the preliminary "Who are you" questions, I inquired why they only wanted British people. As I suspected, Infinity, the game show I was trying out for, would be a pilot for Channel 4, a British TV network. After talking about Spago, Randy mentioned he cast Top Chef, which turned into a discussion of my views about gay reality stars, my lesbian exs, and so forth and so on. The piece de resistance of the whole thing was when Randy asked if I'd blogged about all this (he'd been googling to see if anyone was talking about the show), obviously I had, and I actually blushed (it is of course very cool that my little blog is out there for the world to read).

So who knows if I'll get another call back. Maybe I look crappy on film (though I was having a particulary good skin day). Maybe I'm just not English enough. On the other hand maybe this will be my first step to lots of "fabulous cash and prizes," or maybe Randy will consider me ripe for reality show stardom (yes, I know, I'd be fantastic on the next Big Brother)!

“And coming up in the next half hour…”

That was Matt’s immediate response this morning after Katie Couric officially and finally announced that she would be leaving NBC’s The Today Show after 15 years as co-host as she would be moving on to the CBS Evening News, as the first solo woman anchor, and 60 Minutes. The crew burst into laughter, as they do after so many of Matt’s jokes. I myself also chuckled, all the while fighting back the tears of this sad news (OK not really, I’m exaggerating a tad).

Katie’s “passing” is however the end of an era. Like many others, I have not known an America without Katie, and though of late her cutesy perkiness has dwindled, replaced by some strange staunch conservatism, ultimately I will miss that twinkle in her eyes every morning (yes, my attempts to switch channels in the morning, as I said I would, have not exactly been successful.).

But now comes the most interesting part of Katie's decision however. Who will NBC get as her replacement? Will CNN's Soledad O'Brien, one-time host of Weekend Today, be lured back by the Peacock? Will Ann finally get a permanent seat next to Matt? Will the wonderfully appealing, classy, sexy and funny Campbell Brown be rightfuly given the top spot (yes, she's my choice)? Just one thing NBC, don’t let the rumors be true, please don't choose The View's Meredith Vieira!!!

Who has a Hot Pharmacist?

How many people can say they have a hot pharmacist? I mean you really don't expect the person who hands over your adderall, paxil or in my case, Tetracycline, to be a "Super Hottie". With his jet-black Tin Tin-esq hair, handsome features and fabulous forearms. Yum! And did I fail to mention his voice? Oh, the voice... One of those very manly, almost raspy, All-American "What's up dude?" voices that is just so, so sexy!

Dr. Carragher, the (also hot) doctor who diagnosed me with low testosterone some time back, first recommended West Knoll Pharmacy to me, since they were cheaper and much more customer oriented than the big chain stores. Not having a picked a pharmacy (being new to town), I was like "What the heck" and try it out I did. The doctor of course failed to mention I'd be helped out by a "Super Hottie" with a great attitude, and super friendly demeanor!

I'd seriously urge everyone out to give up your CVS' or Sav-ons and seek out your local pharmacist, maybe you too with find a "Super Hottie," or at the least a friendly-faced, customer-oriented store where they remember your name the next time you go in!

On a quick side note, our trivia tournament ended tonight. It's been a long hard slog these past few weeks. Some weeks we've done OK, others we've been struck down by the "Double-Or-Nothing" curse. Tonight we embraced it! What the hell, it's the last week, what do we have to lose? But with thanks to K-9 (over Friday) and Lynn Redgrave (over Kim Novak) we scored a big fat ZERO in the first TWO rounds. If Hard Dickens Cider is gonna lose, we're gonna lose big!

And one final bit of news, my weight has finally jumped to 191.2 lbs (Yeah!), very close to my 192.4 max of last November. That illusive goal of 200 lbs may soon be a reality after all!!!