Were you at the Olympics? Did you want to be?

Head to the Virtual Stadium and you might just be a part of the closing ceremony.

Hurry!

Play That Web Site

Just imagine that your favorite web site was a piece of music. What would it sound like?

Now you can find out.

Be sure to use this information only for good.

What I Learned from The Dog Whisperer: Maxwell, Brooklyn, and Tipper

Generally when I talk about “The Dog Whisperer,” I like to do a little summary of the episode, but I’m going to let the last be first, and give you:

Cesar Millan’s 6 Step Plan for Walking Your Dog

Take a deep breath.
Stay calm.
Set the pace.
Pick up speed.
Face your obstacles.
Get in the zone.

So if you always wanted to know that, there you are.

As for the rest of the episode, it could probably have been called: Dogs Get Excited, So You Shouldn’t.

The quick version goes like this:

We’ve got three dogs, and three different owners. The dogs are Maxwell, Brooklyn, and Tipper.

As usual, Cesar put them all through their paces, and as Cesar says at the head of each episode: “I train people.”

In this case, that’s really all he did. Faced with three dogs who get excited too easily, and sometimes get aggressive when they get excited, Cesar trained the owners to calm down. Which made the dogs calm down.

(Cesar even said as much in the episode. When one owner said she was learning to calm her dog, Cesar replied, “No, we learned how to calm YOU down.”)

Though the “Coming up next” always tries to make the episode look like it’s going to turn into a blood-fest, all in all this was a calm episode about calming people down.

The money quote though, came from the second family. When watching the show, she always said to herself: “It’s obvious. What are people thinking?” She then apologized to everyone who has ever been on the program.

I suspect just about everyone on the show feels the same way.

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!

This month’s contests are almost over – and there are four chances to win!

First, you can get an iPod nano:

Do you have a Web site, blog, online game, podcast, or app you’re aching to tell the world about? Is there a TV show or celebrity you think our readers should see? Let us know!

If we use your discovery in print, we’ll send you an iPod nano!

Just fill out the survey at the link below for a chance to share your very favorite site or show – and get a nano to boot:

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Second, you can win $250:

First, read the online version of delight! magazine. Then, click the link below to take a short survey. You could win a $250 gift card.

$250 Shopping Spree Gift Card

Filling out this short surveys not only gives you a chance to win, it gives us a chance to learn what kind of TV shows and Web sites you love – and helps us to plan future issues around reader favorites.

Finally, you can Watch and Win – and you have two chances to do so!

Watch a little TV and win a lot of cash with our Watch and Win contest. To enter: click here.

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Damages Season 3, Episode 5

As usual, a note or three.

I really wish that FX would start putting Damages back up on Hulu. Although FX runs the show a bunch of times each week, I can’t help but thinking that if people could catch up with this season, they might want to follow along.

Especially since there aren’t a whole lot of ties to previous seasons – or at least not ones you can’t work out pretty easily.

Does anyone else think that trying to guess who-dun-what is probably impossible with this show? By which I mean, if you start at the beginning of the season, first episode, and go, “I think this person did it?” there’s no way you know yet? Possibly because the bad guy has yet to be revealed?

This episode got me thinking, what with the fact that we’re still meeting new characters at this late hour.

As it is, I make in-episode guesses from time to time, and I’m wrong just about the same amount that I’m right. Which makes for good TV, in my estimation.

Episode 5

We’ve got a dream sequence beginning. Dead Uncle Pete wishes Patty a happy birthday, and shows her the gift she got. It’s a pony.

Ellen is also there, warning her that a pony is a big responsibility. She also says Patty can keep her, but Patty has to wash her feet first. Patty’s feet are covering in blood.

Patty wakes up. Credits!

And now we’re at Tobin’s graveside. The only people who are there are his wife, his two kids, and his lawyer.

Tobin’s daughter, Carol, gives a long speech about how Tobin wasn’t greedy or evil. His investors were, and they deserve to be underground, not him.

Ellen and Gates meet with Tom and Patty. They make plans to depose Danielle.

Joe and Winstone talk. Joe presents Tobin’s envelope to Winstone. It was to be given to Patty, and in it is a letter apologizing to Patty, and telling her where to find the hidden money. Tobin didn’t want to taint Joe.

Winstone reveals to Joe that Tobin told him he was going to kill himself.

The letter to Patty mentions a name: Stewart. Joe wants to meet him.

Ellen and Gates determine that they need to talk to Danielle before Patty and Tom do.

Patty and Tom determine they need to talk to Danielle before Gates and Ellen do.

Patty also wonders why Tom hasn’t hired a new associated to replace Ellen yet. He says he’s working on it. He can only think of one good candidate: Alex Benjamin.

Five Months Later: The detective and Patty talk about what happened to Tom.

Just Before That: We see Tom try to pull himself out of his apartment, only to be pulled back in.

Now! Tom brings in Alex for an interview. He gives her the same speech he gave Ellen, down to the word. He gets ready to set her up for an interview, and she says she’ll miss her own sister’s wedding for the interview.

(Can I just say, I really miss moments like this, which require knowledge of all that came before to really get them? I love that kind of stuff, and I wish this season had more of it.)

Patty attempts to see Danielle, and Gates drops by to let Patty know that Gates and his people now have sole access.

Gates and Ellen meet with Danielle. They give her 48 hours to help them. If she does, they’ll give her immunity.

Joe meets with his mom and sister. He tells them dad killed himself. He shows them the potion Tobin did it with.

Joe tells Carol that they have to stop blaming other people: Tobin did this to himself.

Winstone meets with a lady of the evening. He tells her that his “father” died.

Ellen goes to work. Someone is waiting for her in the conference room. It’s Josh! The reporter! He’s working at a paper in New York.

He wants to know about the Tobin case. Also, he wants an anonymous source at the DA’s office.

Tobin’s family goes through Tobin’s apartment. Patty is selling it so the money can go to the people who got ripped off, so the family gets one last quick look to see if there’s anything that belongs to them. Anything worth more than twenty bucks goes to auction.

Winstone gets a phone call. Carol says she can’t handle it and leaves.

Tobin’s wife wants the pictures. And also something else, but they’re told they’ll have to bid on it for the auction.

The Future: Tom, who is limping, walks to a pay phone and makes a call. He tells someone he loves them. There’s blood on his shirt.

Now: Tom and Patty talk about Tobin’s will. An earlier draft had a blind trust set up. They decide to call Tobin’s wife.

One of Stewart’s associates meets with Joe and Winstone. Apparently, they can’t get the money. It has something to do with Danielle. Until Danielle is dealt with, there’s no money.

Joe says he’ll take care of Danielle.

Patty meets with Alex. She says she’ll check Alex’s references and get back to her.

Joe meets with Danielle. Gates subpoenaed her. Joe hands her a statement – he says they just have to stick to the same story. He also says that now that his dad is dead, he can take away everything Danielle has.

Alex meets with Ellen. It was Patty’s suggestion. Alex loves Ellen’s bag that she got from Patty.

Ellen tells Alex that once Alex signs on with Patty, Patty will own her.

Patty and Tobin’s wife meet in the cemetery. Patty got her the objects she wanted. She tells Patty that Tobin killed himself, and that she’s worried about Carol. Patty says she wants the truth about Danielle and Thanksgiving.

Story time: Tobin needs his heart pills, and calls Danielle. And more: Danielle brings the pills, and… It turns out Danielle and Tobin had a child.

It seems Tobin tried to get Danielle out of the country, because he knew that Danielle would tear his family apart.

Later, Ellen and Josh are in bed. At her place. Josh asks why she got out from under Patty.

Ellen decides to do some baking.

Danielle gets a call from Patty. Patty tells Danielle not to give a fake story to the DA’s office. Patty just wants Danielle to plead the fifth, and Patty will take care of Danielle and her daughter.

And so, Danielle refuses to say anything. She does indeed take the fifth.

Patty get a package. Birthday cupcakes from Ellen.

Carol goes to see Danielle. She wants to know what things were like for Danielle and Joe. And Danielle and her dad. Carol wants to know if Tobin took care of Danielle.

She goes with, “It’s complicated.” Then she asks Carol to leave.

Five Months Later: Tom is wrapped in a blanket and thrown in a Dumpster.

Now: Patty asks Tom to go see Danielle, make sure she’s still on board.

Tobin’s wife goes to see Danielle’s daughter.

Tom goes to see Danielle. Danielle is dead.

Carol throws something into the river. Probably the potion she killed Danielle with.

Patty, up late at night, eats one of Ellen’s cupcakes. No, wait. Dream again.

So, You Finished Your Comedy Screenplay

But you have no connections, don’t know anyone who knows anyone, and aren’t sure how to find an agent?

Never fear: Lionsgate is looking for a comedy.

Hurry up – they’re only accepting pitches through March 8th…

Cold Case: Metamorphosis

Because people are busy, and I know that we live in a DVR culture, I try to keep these write-ups somewhat spoiler-free, so I won’t tell you just who was in cahoots with whom. But even if you figure out this week’s villain, I have my doubts that you’ll figure out the why, until you get to the big reveal.

I will say this: If you’ve ever seen the movie “Clue” on video, there’s a good chance you remember the “ultimate” ending – the one where we learn that someone is undercover.

That person, when asked who’s responsible for all the murders, declares, “They all did it!”

And we’ve got a case like that here, too.

This is not to say that everyone in this episode is on the take, but after the shrunken mystery of last week, it was nice to get a few more suspects thrown into the mix, just because it keeps things a little more interesting.

There was another nice touch this week that I also enjoyed – the person who brought in the case, a self-professed psychic, had a nice moment where she reassured Scotty that his mom was going to be okay… and that he might not be.

There were, of course, your usual twists and turns besides that, and as I was watching I couldn’t help but think of the recent New York Times bestseller, “Water for Elephants.” If you enjoyed this peek under the big top at all, I highly recommend the book – from which they probably pulled the circus term: First of May.

(The First of May is when most circuses start their season – hence, “Novice Performer.”)

What else was good? Well, the surprisingly quick wrap-up to the Moe storyline caught me by surprise, but I felt it was logical and fair. Since no one on Lilly’s team was going to be doing the investigating, it’s doubtful that the show could have pulled too much drama out of the murder without either making Lilly into a character you probably didn’t like, grounding her character totally, or putting to little mention of the ongoing investigation into every episode that you’d half-forget about it.

I think that if “Cold Case” got another season, they could do something really interesting with it, but with a limited number of episodes to wrap things up, there just isn’t time.

And finally, I don’t think I can bring my thoughts to a close without mentioning the fact that they used a whole bunch of music by The Doors in this particular ‘sode. I thought it accomplished three things very nicely. 1) It put you right into the 70s, and held you there, hard, during the circus scenes. More than anything else, it gave you an era. 2) The show’s use of “People are Strange” was nothing short of eerie. I’m sure that was the point. And 3) It kept the show away from circus music which, by definition, doesn’t really make you think murder.

All in all, a solid week. What say you?

Well Done, Daddy

If you watch “The Dog Whisperer” at all, chances are good that you already know who Daddy is.

If not, the short version is: Daddy is Cesar Millan’s right-hand dog.

And what a dog he was.

I say was because Daddy recently passed away at sixteen years of age – an impressive number for a pit bull.

delight! related the story of Daddy in our online extension this month. If you want to know a little more about him, I highly suggest checking his story out here.

Cesar memorializes his good friend and partner here.

And you can find Daddy’s Facebook fan page here.

Because You Want to Know (Curling Edition)

USA tells you just what’s up with those Curler’s pants:

Talk of Vancouver: Crazy curling pants of Norway draw notice

And hey! The games are half-over. What have you been enjoying so far?

How to Be Lucky

In general, I prefer to link to things that are more fun than thoughtful.

But this is both. It’s an article that tells you, in three simple steps, how to be more lucky:

Be Lucky: It’s an Easy Skill to Learn

Interestingly, the idea reminded me quite a bit of the book (and movie) “Yes Man.”

What do you think? And for that matter, did you ever try something like this? Because I’m thinking I just might…

The Very Best of the Winter Olympics

Well, okay, that title isn’t 100% accurate. But if you find yourself too busy, I don’t know, working at work to see everything you want to see, you can find a lot of it on NBCOlympics.com.

Including this list of their most popular videos. If you’re looking for something because you heard it was awesome, chances are good you’ll find it there.

T-Shirt War

Watch this video before it becomes the next big thing. Then you can say that you saw it first:

What I Learned From: The Dog Whisperer: Kobe, Banjo, and Kisses

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been checking out Cesar Millan as he tackled some larger issues. Raising dogs from puppies. Dealing with dogs that were, in his estimation, on the verge of killing other dogs.

This week gave us something a little different – a grab bag of doggie problems that weren’t really related. To wit:

Banjo: A former animal vaccine tester, Banjo was afraid of humans and refused to go near anyone. Even his owners.

Kobe: Was blinded in one eye due to a terrible accident with another dog. Hated other dogs ever since, and then got dangerous around people.

Kisses: A teeny little dog that liked to be in control. Also, she liked to tinkle on the floor when a certain friend came by.

Since all of these issues don’t center around a recognizable theme, the lessons to take away from the episode are a little more wide-ranging than usual.

Except, of course, for the always familiar: Calm. Assertive.

But there were a couple of interesting lessons along the way:

Kobe: Kobe’s main issue was acting out against other dogs, which spread to people. To fix this, Cesar had the family practice how to introduce people and other dogs into Kobe’s territory.

This all happened very, very quickly. And the issue seemed to stem much more from the people being cowed by Kobe, than by any real problems with Kobe’s aggression.

Banjo: Due to the fact that Banjo was afraid of humans, Cesar worked on building up Banjo’s confidence. His breed makes him want to hunt for raccoons, so they got some urine and had Banjo look for it. And rather than patting Banjo on the head, he encouraged the owners to touch the underside of his head, lifting the dog’s head up.

Kisses: Kisses was aggressive and easily excited into piddling on the floor. So Kisses’s master had to learn how to discipline the dog, instead of punishing the dog.

Watching “The Dog Whisperer,” I have to admit the thing that I find the most interesting about the show is just how well EVERY dog reacts to Cesar. Though I haven’t seen every episode, without fail the dog who attacks other dogs, or acts aggressive against humans, invariably takes to Cesar like a duck to water.

Whether Cesar really knows what he’s doing, or whether Cesar is just like those moms who can put ANY baby to sleep, no matter how cranky, it’s amazing to watch.

I’d say the big lesson of the show was, as always, Calm/Assertive. Show the dog you’re the leader, and they will follow.

Win a Free nano!

Do you have a Web site, blog, online game, podcast, or app you’re aching to tell the world about? Is there a TV show or celebrity you think our readers should see? Let us know!

If we use your discovery in print, we’ll send you an iPod nano!

Just fill out the survey at the link below for a chance to share your very favorite site or show – and get a nano to boot:

delight! Survey