Midnight Madness - Steve Jobs Edition

Steve Jobs passed away this week, as he's been eulogized since then there is no doubt he has done so much to lead Apple through great advancements in technology and marketing. So I'll take up this tiny bit of cyberspace to give my respects to the man.

Love Me Do - Paul McCartney is married again?

Not much of a gift - Is it me or does the premise of A Gifted Man rub the wrong way? A surgeon is haunted by the ghost of his dead ex wife to run her inner city clinic. Sounds more like a breakdown than an uplifting show. Someone needs closure, seriously.

Love To Love You Baby - but Donna Summer is eligible for Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame? Why? Oh yeah, because the selection process for the Hall Of Fame sucks. I think we need to steer into the skid here and vote only for non rock artists, next year I think I'll campaign for Seals & Crofts to be entered. Is there a write in vote? Summer Breeze 2012 people!

Mr Burns lives! - and his name is Rupert Murdoch. At least that's who I'm blaming for putting the squeeze on The Simpsons talent forcing pay cuts to continue the show. I normally don't feel sorry for multi millionaires making less millions, but it's not like The Simpsons isn't a money maker just Fox wants more money for itself. At least that's what my uninformed half assed opinion is.

Manic Nirvana - Nirvana Nevermind's anniversary was celebrated all over the web and I didn't. I'll have to get around to some Nirvana in the near future to fix that. Once I get off my Foo Fighter's binge, a band I actually like more than Nirvana. I know, blasphemy right?

Great Scott - American Idol winner Scotty McCreery's debut is selling well. Could AI have it's first success story in ages? Will this be the ulitmate feather in the cap of the new judging panel? I'm asking a lot of questions today aren't I?

Are you ready for some hatred? - Seeing how the political atmosphere is with the President being compared to Hitler and the GOP feeding on their own over religion, I think this upcoming Presidential race will be the ugliest one in my lifetime. People are gonna hate hate hate.

TV Quick Hits - The new tv season is here and I'll give my snap review of what I've seen so far.

Wolverine anime - Is all kinds of awesome. Finally get to see Wolfie do some real damage to opponents and the storyline reminds me of that first Wolverine comic mini series. Real good stuff.

Iron Man anime - Shell head is pretty good, unlike Wolverine the storytelling is less focused.

2 Broke Girls - Kat Dennings is funny as hell.

Whitney - OK, the show stars Whitney Cummings but she plays straight man to her boyfriend character. Don't get that.

How I Met Your Mother - still love the show, blew me away with the appearance of Victoria. This season is hinting at some serious changes for the McClaren's bunch.

Community - is as off the wall as ever and love it. "You're acting like a spoiled kid and not in a hot way". Classic.

The Big Bang Theory - the characters are great but nothing truly memorable yet this season.

Family Guy - getting some edge back, though Peter telling Cleveland they were never friends was cold.

The Office - I like Andy, still miss Michael Scott. Even as they make Andy more Scott like with the tattoo thing.

And that's where we're at, Chuck hasn't appeared yet so waiting on the final season of that. The last episode with Morgan getting the intersect turned me off but I've been watching past seasons on DVD and getting psyched again.

Midnight Madness - New TV Season Edition

It's that special time of year when new tv series make their over publicized debuts and returning favorites make another run for ratings gold. Actors and actresses pushing their mugs onto the screen screaming "watch me!". Like how many times do I have to see Maria Bello's pretty face all bruised up as she rattles off tough cop nonsense? She's a good actress but this ad campaign doesn't ring true for me, seems forced. Her show could be great for all I know yet I don't have an interest in her program now.

Haven't posted in a little while so there's a bit of old news that doesn't really need addressing...but I'm goin' for it anyway!

Slippin The Secret Salahi - Wow, it's a real worlds collide moment when the guitar player of my favorite band gets involved in a real Real Housewives Of... moment by stealing a former RHWO D.C. cast member for himself. One of the crazy ones no less. On the upside, it's the most press Journey's gotten in a year or two. Downside? At best Schon comes off as an insensitive horndog. And then there were rumors Salahi was riding Steven Tyler's elevator too.

New Adventures In Hi Fi -is when R.E.M. should have stopped in my opinion, even though I enjoyed Accelerate and Collapse Into Now. I was offended that they kept going after Bill Berry split because they made a big deal beforehand about how if one of the four left the band would end and then it didn't. Not so offended I wouldn't listen to them, just thought R.E.M. was one of those "men of their word" kind of bands. Anyway, they've called it a day now. When they return hope Bill Berry is back. Didn't Berry go into farming or something?

X Factor - is booorrriiing

New Girl Now - watched the Zooey Deschanel tv show, she was as offbeat as ever too bad they made the supporting cast like male versions of her. Show has potential if it makes the guys more normal to make it less of a tightly focused personality fest (one guy is macho aggressive, another douchey and a third hyper sensitive). Oh wow, 2nd episode in and the aggro guy has been replaced with a more grounded character (was that Damon Wayans?). New Girl don't waste no time!

Rock Em Sock Em Robots - is what I think when I see commercials for Real Steel.
50/50 shot - my wife told me what she thinks this movie is about, still I gotta say this is the suckiest ad campaign for a film I've seen in awhile. All I get out of the tv adverts is a bunch of testimonials about how funny this film supposdedly is while all the scenes shown have a drab dour tone. The 3rd rock / Inception kid shaves his head and I don't get what's funny about that. Either this movie is so incredible that an advertisement can't convey what it's really about or it's about nothing of merit. A real 50/50.

Harvester Of Sorrow - the first sounds of the Metallica and Lou Reed team up have hit the net. And in honor of Spinal Tap all I can say is "Shit Sandwich".

Dreamin' - lovin the new Dream Theater video. truly awesome stuff.

Midnight Madness - Dokken Edition

I've spent the week trying to put together a review of the Dokken show I saw at the County Fair last Saturday. I wrote it out, posted it for a second, and then thought maybe I was being a little too harsh on Don Dokken so I took it down. Don Dokken's voice isn't quite what it used to be. The best I can say about the show is that I can check Dokken off the wish list of concerts I hadn't seen before. And my wife takes nice pictures, which I'm including in this post.

Heaven isn't too far away...- Sad to read Jani Lane was found dead at age 47. While I'm not a huge Warrant fan I liked their music generally. R.I.P. Jani Lane.

Footloose - is every movie I saw in the 80s going to be replaced with a new one? Since when did film memories become like Windows upgrades?

Destination Unknown? - It's a time for the most over advertised movie on tv this week, Final Destination 5. I've never watched any of these Final Destination movies, does anyone ever survive these movies? I take it that death is never represented other than maybe by Candyman, are these characters always killed by an unseen force? Guess I'm saying I don't understand the point of these movies.

A little bird told me - I am totally hooked on Angry Birds on my phone. Damn those pigs!

Some Kind Of Monster - lots of speculation going 'round that Metallica and Megadeth will form a new group together. You can't ever say never, yet I can't see this happening.

Weatherman says it's going to be hot tonight - Heather Locklear, yes Stacy Sheridan herself, is engaged to "All I Need" Jack Wagner. Locklear seems to be getting a lot of good press lately thanks to the engagement and the promising modeling career of her daughter. After a lot of news stories in recent years portrayed Locklear as falling apart at the seams, nice to see her rebound.

Did I Do That? - I am diggin' Jaleel White's appearance in the new Cee Lo Green video. Didn't realize how much I missed Urkel.

Midnight Madness - Comic Con Edition

It's On Like Comic Con - the latest nerd mecca is in full effect right now! Maybe someday I too will join the throng of sweaty geeks begging for an autograph from a supporting actor on a cancelled syndicated sci fi show. A man can dream, can't he?

Mr Mike "Likes" This - saw The Social Network on DVD and it was pretty good, an interesting tale of modern greed and cutthroat ruthless business acumen implemented behind probably the biggest online meeting place ever. It's directed by David Fincher so of course everything looks dark and smudgy. Fincher does a good job of keeping the story moving while the actors are convincing throughout - Jesse Eisneberg does a good job of adding an intellectual coldness and social awkwardness to his usual jabber jaw persona. So it's a good flick with a fascinating message - that the people who invented the website that connects so many folks to others don't know how to get along themselves. And that the main archetect of Facebook decided he needed money more than friends. If it wasn't for the very last part at the end I'd rate this as a near classic, as it is The Social Network gets:


Yet More Drama - decided to give Yes' 1980 album Drama aka the first one without Jon Anderson a spin in my car this week. Have thoroughly enjoyed going back to songs like "Machine Messiah", "Does It Really Happen" and "Tempus Fugit".


Fire! Fire! Fire! - heard the news that Beavis and Butthead are making a comeback. Huh huh, cool.


Out Of Touch - why is it whenever I am in line at the grocery store I see that Teresa person from the New Jersey Real Housewives show on the cover of In Touch magazine? It feels like she's been on the cover for months, I don't read the mag but like to read the headlines of the gossip rags while waiting to have my Pepsi and chips scanned. Does she have some kind of exclusive contract to be on the cover forever? And I remember one of those headlines saying something about she can't stand all the exposure she gets. Yeah, right.

But I'm An American! - have had fun watching National Geographic's Locked Up Abroad series. Real life stories of westerners who have travelled to foreign lands usually to deal drugs and get arrested. The re-enactments are well produced and potently mixed with the real person's voice over. Most of the stories go - person goes to foreign country, sees opportunity to get rich (usually off drugs / alcohol), makes money / feels invincible dealing, gets arrested and finds out third world prisons / justice systems are no joke. The blind arrogance of these people who likely wouldn't dream of committing similar crimes in their own countries is palpable.


Back To Black - this weekend the sad, seemingly inevitable close to the Amy Winehouse saga came to be with her passing. Despite her numerous personal issues in life I did enjoy her Back To Black album a lot. Seems fitting to close out with this track from Winehouse's last disc.

Midnight Madness - Money In The Bank edition

Today's WWE Money In The Bank PPV is not going to be ordered by me (costs too much), although I'm pretty curious about what's going to happen. I watched this week's Raw and part of Smackdown tonight and saw some exciting stuff happen. Big Show vs Mark Henry is sporting some pretty big spots (smashed cages and tackles off the entrance stage), there are multiple ladder matches (as 'ol J.R. would say, look at the carnage!) and the CM Punk / John Cena feud is the most engaging one I've seen in the 21st Century (mainly due to Punk turning shoot (a parenthesis within a parenthesis, another level of the dream world (shoot is wrasslin lingo for going off script and speaking truthfully) here's the kick out of the second parenthesis) into a meta angle all to itself). It's a rare spike in WWE energy we're seeing here. Looks good.

Don't Talk To Strangers - Or police officers, Rick Springfield was recently charged with a DUI and not charged for allegedly threatening to kill the officer's family. It's hard to tell what's sadder, that the aging teen king is still (allegedly) wasted on drink or that a murderous threat from him is so feeble the police don't bother to do anything about it.

World Start Turning - For you Springfield fans, you may notice I used a RS song title here. Almost by accident I got into watching The Core, that disaster movie by numbers flick from 2003 starring The Next Karate Kid Hillary Swank. It was a surprisingly watchable Armageddon rip off. Being a Bay Area guy I did find the destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge segment a bit insensitive imitating the Loma Prieta earthquake. Between the San Francisco fictional disaster depicted in the movie and the film title, I found my mind wandering to Eric Clapton's "The Core" and "Mean Old Frisco". It's all Slowhand's fault. Damn you Clapton, you're supposed to change the world not end it!

J.Lo and Marc Anthony split up - I'm not a huge fan of either one nor dislike them either, have the impulse to write something sarcastic about this but I actually feel bad for them.

Harry Potter and the something something something dark side is in theaters - and since I've seen none of these movies, I'm glad the series is ending. No more billboards or tv commercials clogging up my eyesight. Since I haven't seen any of these flicks who knows, maybe I missed out on the story of a lifetime. But I doubt it.

How I Met Your Stoner - Kai Penn is lined up to be in the upcoming season of How I Met Your Mother. Will they go for the obvious "eating sandwiches" gag?

Owner Of A Lonely Heart part 20: This Time It's Personal - Yes has released a video for their new single "We Can Fly". Enjoyed the song, the vid clip had a vision that waaayyy exceeded it's budget. It was reminiscent of their famous "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" clip except with the look and feel of a made for Syfy movie like Megapython vs Gatoroid. Still this is better than no video.

Midnight Madness - Debt Ceiling Edition

Uh oh, looks like the sky is falling and we're all screwed. Guess I better throw in a new post!

I Must Be Dreaming - I saw Inception and I've gotta say it lived up to the hype. It was intense,confusing yet I couldn't stop watching it. Makes me wonder what writer / director Christopher Nolan is like, all his movies have to do with a search for identity while grappling with a skewed perception of reality. Bet he's great at parties,all brooding in a corner playing with memories that may or may not be his. I was expecting this sort of wanna be The Matrix and there were definite similarities, but Inception had enough of it's own identity (ha ha) to live the dream.

The Reflex - I liked Duran Duran's lead single "All You Need Is Now" it's just too bad I can't say the same for the whole disc. The sound is nicely polished and there are parts of bass lines and keyboards that call back classic Duran, just taken as a whole it's kinda eh.

Portions For Foxes - Years after they fell off the face of the earth Rilo Kiley has broken up.

Nobody Messes With Niko Belic - working on my Niko imitation after playing a bit of GTA 4. Which of course sounds like a bad imitation of Borat. "I steal car now, you like?"

Don't Look Down!- I've gone back to listening to my favorite Lindsey Buckingham album Out Of The Cradle and finds it's still plenty awesome.

Swan Dive - Seems like someone's working overtime to make sure we know there's a new movie called Friends With Benefits coming starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake. It wasn't that long ago we were inundated with commercials for a movie with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman in what sounds like the same plot - two friends try to have a sexual relationship without romantic feelings. It's like they're going to keep making the same movie with different people over and over until we give in and watch the damn thing. Which is an even bigger waste of time when you realize we can see Kunis and Kutcher get together for free five times a day in That 70s Show reruns.

Full Speed Ahead Captain - I lost interest in Thor after it came out (maybe because it doesn't look like the Thor I know, where were the red wrist sweat bands for example?) though Captain America looks promising.

By George, I think he's got it - this commercial for Bacardi throws me each time I see it 'cause it sounds like someone copied George Clooney's speech mannerisms. It's like one of those things I never thought of, Clooney has a specific style of speaking, until I heard it in this context. I am aware of his whole "I'm staring at you when I talk" thing that I find annoying, it's like "C'mon guy at least blink or something instead of delivering dialog as if you're in a staring contest with a dog". Not to say he isn't a good actor or anything (place Batman & Robin cheapshot here) I'm just amazed someone copied the way he talks.

Midnight Madness - Clarence Clemons Edition

Sad to read about Clarence Clemons having a stroke over the weekend. I certainly hope the best for his recovery. He always comes across as a pleasant guy and I think anyone who cares to know is already aware of his many musical contributions. Update: Clarence Clemons passed away today Saturday June 18. RIP Big Man. Thanks for the memories.

Tears Are Falling - in less critical bummer news, looks like Shannon Tweed and Gene Simmons are gonna break up on his reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Even though I thought a decent portion of the show seemed scripted in recent years, I thought they did a good job of appearing genuinely affectionate of each other. Guess not.

Yes They Can - as hypocritical as it is, I can't say I was terribly psyched when Yes replaced singer / lyricist Jon Anderson. Which is funny considering how many bands I still follow from the 80s that have changed singers more often than underwear. So I was only mildly interested in their upcoming CD Fly From Here until I saw Trevor Horn was producing. Making this a roundabout (wink, wink) way of following up 1980's Drama album. Damn you Yes, you got me psyched again!

How Super is Super 8? - the flick has good buzz and nice advertising which has me thinking it might be pretty good yet not wanting to run out and see it immediately. Or am I just resistant to the invocation that this might be classic Spielberg by proxy? 'Cause I find it hard to believe anything can be that good.

Stone Cold - it's sad and aggravating people were prepared to rob and kill singer Joss Stone. I assume she was targeted for being rich only, I don't remember anything controversial about her that would piss people off to the point they'd want her dead. That's some cold blooded stuff.

Attack Of The Reruns - in rerun season, relying on new eps of Tosh.0 and The Avengers for tv viewing survival.

It Was A Good Day - Between playing Grand Theft Auto IV and hearing Music Choice on occasion I've heard this Isley Brothers song a lot. "Footsteps In The Dark". It's really grown on me.

Midnight Madness - Randy Savage Edition

I didn't get into watching pro wrestling until about eleven years ago. Even as a non fan in the 80s and 90s, I knew who Macho Man Randy Savage was. He was the guy with the "Oooh Yeah" speech pattern who was with the beautiful Miss Elizabeth. The man who insisted I "Snap into a Slim Jim". As I started watching wrestling I went back and rented dvds of past Wrestlemanias I saw the greatness of the Ma-cho-Man Randy Savage. His death a week ago was a huge loss to anyone who enjoyed his performances or donned a pair of shades to say "Oooh Yeahhh Miss E-liz-a-beth!"

Ain't That Tough Enough? - Getting a kick out of the new version of WWE's Tough Enough hosted by Steve Austin. Out of every reality tv show I've ever seen, nobody does a better tribe has spoken contestant elimination than Stone Cold Steve Austin. Some one who convincingly talks trash at the contestant while he gives them the boot? That's tv gold.

Nashville Star - Is what American Idol morphed into in the final round leading up to Scotty McCreery's victory over Lauren Alaina. AI got off to a great start but as the tweens started up their voting blocs and the more interesting performers got winded the cleancut apple pie teenagers won out. Not to take anything away from McCreery's win, he was easily the most consistent singer on the show and I enjoyed his performances (particularly "Gone" and "Always On My Mind"). But after faithfully watching every ep this year I was indifferent to the finale. Except for hearing James Durbin wail with Judas Priest. That was cool!

The X Factor - I'm kinda psyched about X Men: First Class even if it looks like a cheap attempt to continue the series with less expensive actors.

Brand Tyler Kicks Into Gear - Steven Tyler released a so-so solo song which is still significant 'cause if he gets a big hit I think it's bye bye Aerosmith.

A Hickey From Kenickie Is Like A HallMark Card... - Jeff Conaway died which is sad for any fans who remember Grease or Taxi.

You're The Voice - I don't know why I can't get into The Voice, all the magazines are proclaiming it's better than American Idol. Something isn't grabbing me, I watched the debut and that's all I've bothered to see.

Top Jimmy - Jimmy Fallon is on a roll with his guest appearance on Celebrity Apprentice, appearing as a live action hero in the SNL short The Ambiguously Gay Duo and now performing his Neil Young imitation alongside David Crosby and Graham Nash.


Neil Young with Crosby and Nash: Party In The USA - Show Clips - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Midnight Madness - Tiger Woods Edition

I'm Tiger Woods!

Like usual, I'm way late on getting to a topic. While playing Wii golf I had an epiphany. Well, not really an epiphany but a thought sprang to mind - I know why Tiger Woods cheated with all those women. For the jokes! All the bad sex jokes that can be used with golf and Tiger metaphors surely needs an audience, as large an audience as possible. Who was Tiger Woods to deny all those people the pleasure(literally)? Jokes like -

• You need a Tiger in your tank?


• Watch me sink this birdie.


• I'm going to need a 9 iron for this.


• I've got my ball caught in the rough again...and I like it.


• Clean my balls please.


• It's all about hip rotation and arm extension.


• A Ho in one!


• That's a warm club holder.


• Do you prefer metal or Wood?


• I'm talkin double bogies!


• I tee'd off on the fairway.


• Should be a chip shot from here.


• Sand trap!


• Caught a Tiger by the tail. Or a Tiger caught some tail?


• I've got two under par going into the last hole.


• You're not out of the Woods yet. Or the Woods aren't out of you yet.


• Avoid the water hazards.


• I can give you a closer shave - courtesy of Gilette
• I've got the smoothest stroke on the circuit
• And I call this one "Jack Nicholas"
• Last but not least - FORE!

And now...on with the Madness!

Play Me Out Johnny - Being dead is quickly becoming less of an obstacle for successful artists as both Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash have new songs being released. Can't wait to see the CGI re-animation of their performance in a video. Ugh.
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Eminence Front - The Who looked sad and aged during their pyro heavy performance at the Super Bowl. I will give them this though, Roger Daltry sounded better than I've heard him in a while. Still, I winced when I heard how much gimmicky echo was put into the famous "YYEEAAHHHH!" during "Won't Get Fooled Again" to ensure he didn't blow it. Pete Townshend sounded out of breath on the mic and every windmill arm motion sent his gut flying toward the cheap seats. As a whole the performance lacked power, maybe the next episode of CSI would be about finding who killed The Who's mojo.

Got A Situation Here - Sad to admit it, I'm enjoying watching reruns of The Jersey Shore. I just find it to be a hilarious show.

Like A Swift Kick To The - I wasn't impressed with Taylor Swift's Grammy performance, then again I haven't been impressed with any of her live performances (jeez, do I like anything?). Yet it seems to me Swift has been taking a bashing after winning the Album Of The Year Grammy. It's like half the country has gone Kanye West on her. I actually feel sorry for the young multimillionaire.

Mini DVD Reviews:

• The Story Of Anvil - My wife bought the DVD for me as an early Valentine's Day gift. The documentary tells the sad tale of a band who apparently thought This Is Spinal Tap is a life guide, because their story mirrors that fictional group in a lot of ways. Except it's sadder because these are real people and not movie characters. It's actually an emotional experience watching this movie, seeing two guys sense of brotherhood as they cling to a dream of rock and roll stardom that's just out of reach. Ironically, the success of this film has brought them some of the recognition they craved but that's after the fact. The Story of Anvil is a good film with a lot of heart, worth seeing on its own merits.


• The Invention Of Lying - Ricky Gervais (The star of the original British version of The Office) envisions a world where people all over the world only know how to tell the brutal truth. They not only have no idea of what a lie is but not even a word for it. Gervais' character, a documentary film writer (because there's no such thing as a fiction writer) discovers lying and parlays the talent into achieving his dreams. Lying uses its cutesy premise to good effect, having characters bluntly and offhandly state their base thoughts creates some clever social commentary. Boldest of all, the movie suppositions that religion is based on lying without hitting you over the head with it. With that, it's easy to see why this wasn't a blockbuster film. It is a charming comedy nonetheless.

Midnight Madness - Little Rascals Edition

While listening to REO Speedwagon I was reminded of the He Man Woman Haters Club and the Little Rascals (thanks to the song "Tough Guys" from Hi Infidelity, also the first song I owned that had a swear word. The danger!). I grew up watching Little Rascals reruns which I don't see on tv anymore as I guess because its old as hell. Even though I was insultingly nicknamed "Alfalfa" in grade school because my hair was uncontrollable, he was my favorite character. I even imitated his "Oh my darling Clementine" song. In life, I guess Alfalfa had a reputation for not being the nicest person sorta like the Dustin Diamond of his day. But whatchagonnado? On with the madness!

Wind Of Change - long time German metalheads The Scorpions are calling it quits after a farewell album and tour. Gotta give it up to the Scorps, they were old even before hitting it big in the 80s. It's a well deserved retirement for Klaus Meine and gang. My favorite Scorpions memory? I had a friend in college who would replace the word "City" with "Titty" when singing "Big City Nights". Ah the memories...

Conan The Destroyer - So Conan O'Brien got booted off the Tonight Show to the tune of a $44 million severance package. The real prize in entertainment terms was with nothing to lose, Conan was sharper and funnier. That bit with Steve Carell and the exit interview was classic. Watching Conan thumb his nose at NBC was great fun.

Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere - The Who are prepping a greatest hits set for their Super Bowl performance. To make up some drama, will Daltry nail the screaming in "Won't Get Fooled Again"? Big game pressure on that one.

Helping Haiti - A telethon, Radiohead concert and a charity CD have been put together to help the extremely poor country with their recent disaster. Very sad to see the large scale tragedy in Haiti.

I Know What I Like - And it's not a Genesis reunion. Peter Gabriel nixed that despite their induction in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. With Phil Collins on the disabled list, Genesis may need to have their music performed by someone else come ceremony. Mike and the Mechanics?

Clap For The Wolfman - The overexposed movie commercial this week is The Wolfman. I can't bring myself to totally trash this since they got Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins slumming at the same time. Looks like Twilight is going to spark a reboot of all the classic monsters. However, I can rip on From Paris With Love for running a close second. First, stealing a James Bond title is not cool (I know Bond is From Russia With Love, but same diff). And while I sympathize with John Travolta's personal misfortune, didn't he already make this movie? Wasn't it called Swordfish? Oh well, up your nose with a rubber hose.

Last Off The Ponderosa - Pernell Roberts of Bonanza and Trapper John MD fame passed away from cancer. Roberts was the last of the Cartwright clan and beloved for his performance as brainy Adam. I knew him more from Trapper John M.D., a show I watched because I thought it was cool to live in a trailer just outside of your work and the blonde beauty with a boys name (Christopher Norris).

It Takes Diff'rent Strokes - Gary Coleman in trouble again.

Avatar! - Avatar, Avatar, Avatar, Avatar, Avatar. Avatar.

Extreme Measures - Whenever the advertisement for this movie comes on and Brendan Fraser asks if Harrison Ford can save his children, I shout "Of course he can! He's Harrison Fucking Ford!!".

Straight Up- A series of female guest judges have been brought in to fill the spot Paula Abdul had on the American Idol audition trail. Of them, the one I like the most so far is Katy Perry for her willingness to stick it to everyone, particularly fellow judge Kara Dioguardi. Their bickering was almost as entertaining as the bad singing. When Kara mocked Perry's hit by singing "I Kissed A Dolphin And I Liked It..." Perry's reaction was priceless.

Mini DVD Reviews:

• Man On Wire (2008) - Fascinating documentary of a French wire walker who with a team of people infiltrated the Twin Towers to wire walk between them in 1974. An interesting tale of obsession and innocence not just for the wire walker, but for recalling a time when the Twin Towers stood and building security didn't have to be invasive.


• Sunshine Cleaning (2009) - It's indie film paint by numbers with a story about a dysfunctional family which includes a downtroden lead, a burn out, a flim flam daddy and an eccentric precocious little kid. Despite these faults, the actors kick ass (Amy Adams and Emily Blunt are believeable in their characters and draw you into their pathos) and the modest production quality work in their favor. A cut above Lifetime movie of the week thanks to these traits.

I Have Dreams - Brandi Carlisle's single "Dreams" has been popping up in tv commercials and shopping intercoms lately and has become a flavor of the month for me. So here's Carlisle with "Dreams"!

Midnight Madness - Chuck Edition

Chuck has made his return to NBC with new episodes, three eps in two days, and brought the magic back. Go Chuck!

And Away We Go - art house director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition) is in talks to direct the next 007 outing. This sounds really promising, Road To Perdition had a great mix of interesting characters, dark drama and shoot out action. I hope he gets the job and sounds like a great pick.

American Oh No - More British news, Simon Cowell has made this upcoming season the last he will be on American Idol. Enjoy the scathing sarcasm directed towards young adults while it lasts folks. Who else has a knack for crushing young people's hopes as good as Cowell? My wife and I discussed it, our best bets are David Lee Roth or Howard Stern. I think Stern would be awesome, he'd bring a rude crassness that could up the ante from Cowell's harshness. Though Roth would definitely be flashy and fun.

What's The Key? - No one will mistake me for a hip hop kinda guy, but I do like the R&B ways of Alicia Keys. The first two singles from her recent album have come and gone with little notice, though her album is selling well. But why the lack of hit songs (not including her #1 hit team up with Jay Z)? Particularly since the recent "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" was good? At least she can always fall back on her booty call.

Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Green Day's stage adaptation of American Idiot is going to Broadway. If it becomes the new Mamma Mia, that will be scary. Grandfolks all over New York singing Green Day...or should it be Greed Day.

I'm Gonna Break My Rusty Cage And Run - Chris Cornell announced the long awaited reunion of grunge masters Soundgarden. Sludgy guitar riffs and soul shredding screaming will rule again!

Overexposed Movie Advertisement Of The Week - I think they'll finally stop now that the movie has opened, but I say enough of the adverts for Daybreakers. Vampires that rule the world and are running out of humans to suck on. A "where are they now" cast of Ethan Hawke and Sam Neill. Can you say overblown high concept hooey filmed through an annoying green tint? Can you say bad cash in on left over ideas from this Vampire thing that has been beaten to death? I predict the next Vampire movie will have something to do with space, it makes no sense, but I just think it will. And monkeys. Blood sucking space monkeys from outer space starring Mark Wahlberg. You heard it here first!

Nothin' Matters And What If It Did - No reason to type this other than I always wanted to lead off a post with this John Cougar album title.

What's a Nine? - Seriously, I haven't bothered to look this up but see this CD everywhere I go. What is it?

Big Poppa Pump - Psyche! Thought I was going to say something about Scott Steiner (and all the non wrestling fans say "Who's that?")? Mark McGwire finally finally finally admits to using steroids in his baseball career. In the early 90s when I worked in a theme park, McGwire once walked past me. The man's bicep was literally as big as my head. His admission explains a lot.

Mini DVD Reviews:

• Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - The Academy Award winning movie for Best Picture actually lived up to it's hype. The gimmick of revealing a character's life through flashbacks of a game show is ingenious. Director Danny Boyle gets the right balance of humanizing characters and telling a moving story of an earnest underdog. Good flick.


• The Hangover (2009) - I got this movie as a Christmas gift and had read a lot about how this was supposed to be funny. Good comedy is one of the toughest types of movies to make, surprisingly The Hangover actually is funny. Breakout comedy performances, mainly by Zach Galifianakis as the slightly off odd ball, power a strong ensemble of no name actors. Todd Phillips gives fine direction capturing the boys club atmosphere ably as he has in the past (Old School). Funny and well executed


• Race To Witch Mountain (2009) - The Rock says this: I want you to take that space ship, shine it up real nice, and shove it straight up your candy ass!!! A remake of a beloved 70's Disney favorite (well, beloved by me I worshiped Escape To Witch Mountain as a kid) is simplistic to a fault but I was real tired and wanted a no brainer movie to watch. This fit the bill nicely. It's disposable film making on a big budget (the special effects were decent).

Midnight Madness - Donny And Marie Christmas

I was talking to my wife and reminiscing about the old Christmas specials that used to be on tv as a kid and one title that stood out in my mind was Donnie and Marie. The toothy twosome were on tv all the time and I used to watch weekly to discover that she was a little bit country and he was a little bit rock and roll. I don't remember a thing about this Christmas special, but here's a tribute to all the old Christmas shows gone by into the forgotten heap of ancient memory. Sometimes I miss the safe patter, canned laughter and earnest cheesiness of the 70's.

Rollin With The Homies - Sad passing of young actress Brittany Murphy, who I knew mainly from her role as the outsider being made over in the teen movie Clueless and the voice of Luanne in King Of The Hill. I wasn't a huge fan or anything, just appreciated that she had talent and a likable presence.

Last Christmas - I thought the overplayed Christmas song this year was "Santa Baby" but in the past few days cover versions of the Wham! classic "Last Christmas" have overtaken it. In the last 48 hours I've heard four different versions of this song including one with a rap. A rap!

Desperate Times - Amy Winehouse has been arrested for assault. I swear every punch with her is just another career move at this point.

Tried To Send Me Back To Rehab - Steven Tyler boldly goes where he has gone before, rehab for his addiction to painkillers. Does this mean no more Brand Tyler?

Fantastic...Amazing...Unbelievable... - Tried to watch Snooze Along With Gordon Ramsey, the famously irritable chef's attempt to appear happy and friendly on tv. The only fun to be found was watching visibly nervous Ramsey fill in dead air with these random words in between the scripted segments. Agh, it's stuck in my head! Fantastic...Amazing...Unbelievable...

I'm (sob) Sensitive! - This won't win me any macho points, but I was a sucker for Tori Amos debut album Little Earthquakes. There's a great track by track dissection of the album by Tori Amos on Rolling Stone magazine's web site. If you like the disc it's a fine read. Now I'm going to curl up in a ball on the couch with some fancy tea and watch Oprah.

Tik Tok - This song by Ke$ha (yes, the dollar sign is in her name) is the #1 song in the land. I remember this was a free download on Itunes one week, the video was about being a drunk slut in front of your family or something. Not that I'm a prude, part of this track's appeal is probably the coarseness that puts me off it. Unbelievable...Fantastic...Amazing...

Super Friends - Def Leppard is developing a cartoon about themselves. No, that's not a joke they really are doing this.

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By The Way - Guitarist John Frusciante has left the Red Hot Chili Peppers again though this time not abruptly. Judging from how they fared without him the last time, I don't think RHCP will be able to maintain the quality of their music now. And with drummer Chad Smith having another successful band to jump to if he wants I wonder about the future of the group. Because even mediocre RHCP is better than none.

Merry Christmas - I don't know if I'll post tomorrow, so Merry Christmas to all!

And now, because you didn't ask for it, the rap version of "Last Christmas"!

Midnight Madness - Steven Seagal Edition

Lama on the loose: Steven Seagal takes to the streets for real in A&E's reality tv series Steven Seagal: :Lawman

Today's my birthday, I have successfully survived another year. It wasn't a great year in the sense that I've been laid off, but I am still alive eatin food and have a roof over my head so that's still going for me :). A lot of sad news out there in the entertainment world which inspired this post. On the upside, one of my action movie faves is attempting a comeback.

The Last In Line - Ronnie James Dio has been diagnosed with stomach cancer, certainly sad news. He's an iconic singer and as a fan I wish him well.

Standing On Higher Ground - While reading the blog Holland's Comet I found out that Alan Parsons Project singer Eric Woolfson passed away due to cancer. The Parsons Project was a favorite of mine in high school, particularly the Vulture Culture album. His vocals on the songs "Games People Play" and "Time" (not from Vulture Culture) were extraordinary.

The Samoan Bulldozer - Former WWE wrestler Umaga died of a heart attack at age 36. He was an effective heel who had a good gimmick, a big guy who could move quickly. No more Samoan Spike :(

Taken To The Wood(s) Shed - It was not a good week to have that last name, as both the golfer Tiger and the Rolling Stone Ronnie ran into high profile domestic issues. Maybe they should swap lives on a reality tv show just to make things that much more overblown.

Overexposed Movie Of The Week - Speaking of overblown, can we go five minutes without a tv advertisement for Armored? Like Grand Theft Auto: The Movie, it looks like Matt Dillon and some other dudes steal an armored car and then kill each other for possession of it. All I get out of the repetitive commercials is steal the car, some guy locks himself inside, Matt Dillon gets mad threatens dude's family and then someone is running away from the armored car threatening to run him over. I've been playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the past week and have found this scenario much more exciting on my outdated PS2 than watching these commercials. Someone please turn these losers in for stealing too much tv time.

And The Grammy Goes To... - The list of nominees this year don't interest me too much, just for fun I'll pick my favorite of their top selection list:

• Record Of The Year - I'd go with Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" not that I like the song, it's just the most memorable to me. P-P-P-Poker face.


• Album Of The Year - The only one on this list I have heard is Dave Matthews Band, I liked that album so I'll vote for that.


• Song Of The Year - I realize there are different criteria for this versus Record Of The Year but honestly I never saw the point between the two.


• Best New Artist - I don't know most of these names. The Ting Tings would be my choice. Now shut up and let me go.

The Awards show usually has a good song performance or two so there's that to look forward to, otherwise this year's model seems kinda dull.

Shields Up! - This week I got to go to a Star Trek exhibit and sit in the Captain's chair on a replica of the Enterprise bridge. Oh what a feeling!

Out For Justice - I watched the first two episodes of Steven Seagal: Lawman on A&E. Seagal doesn't do a whole lot of actual law enforcement compared to his fellow deputies and the phony editing to make it seem like he has a sixth sense to spot crime which is ludicrous. What's more, Seagal starts every sentence with "In my years of martial arts training, I..." to the point of annoyance. Yet like everything else Seagal touches, the hubris is backed up with mad aikido / gun fire skills (even if it is only displayed in training) and I've got to give it up to a guy that does this as a side job. His commitment to law enforcement is commendable and comes across as sincere. Though nothing can top the liquor store fight at the start of Hard To Kill. "C'muh cut mah hart oute! Come uh kut my 'eart out!!!" (The scene, one of my Seagal favorites, is below)

Midnight Madness - Glambert Edition

I haven't done one of these types of posts in a while, seems like there is a lot happening out there in entertainment that's sorta random so I need a touch, a touch of madness!

No Boundaries - Adam Lambert aka Glambert got lots of people upset with his American Music Award performance, vamping it up like Prince on an ecstasy fueled rave binge to the tune of his new song "For Your Entertainment". Lambert made out with guys, shoved another guy in his crotch face first (you know what that means) and dragged a girl on the floor like carry on luggage. Me, I just think its too bad that this was all that was memorable about the performance - his singing was off and the song just plain sucks. Lambert has a phenomenal voice, but with a clunker of a tune like "For Your Entertainment" the whole thing seemed like one of those "adults only" Vegas shows where the provcative parts are the whole point. Kid, if you're gonna pull a Prince you gotta have the funk to back that smack up.

It's The End Of The World As We Know It, And I Feel Fine - The film 2012 has made bank at the box office and has people believing its more a documentary than fiction. A week ago my water line broke, the guy sent out to fix it started talking to me about how the Mayan calendar says we're all gonna die at 2012, like this stuff is real! He was dead serious. Somehow I always knew John Cusack would be the harbringer of doom. Have you seen Serendipity?

Need Credits? - I'm digging the NBC show Community set in a community college somewhere. It's a funny show with clever writing and quirky characters. Good stuff!

Face Lift - The reoccuring rumors of a Faces reunion drags on with members of the group now suggesting they will reform without Rod Stewart. Seems Stewart won't commit to the union leaving the others restless and looking into possibilities with Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall. If Rod doesn't know them by now, he may never never know them.

Hello Cleveland! - The Boss recently experienced every major rock stars worst nightmare, he shouted out the wrong city name! During a concert he called out to his fans in Ohio although he was in Michigan.

Not Chucked - Tv advertisements for the new season of Chuck is finally starting, promising a January return to action. Just bring it!

The Big O - Oprah has announced an end to her long running daytime talk show, ending in about a year or so from now. No Oprah don't do it! I don't want to see the desperate attempts to capture your large existing audience with weak carbon copies of the original, daytime tv is crowded enough already. Meanwhile, Jenny Jones sits in a dark corner with her hands clasped together and hisses "So...it begins..." followed by maniacal laughter.

Suck On This! - I can't get into the current Vampire fad, with its recasting of the ancient movie monsters into teenagers with teen angst problems. At least that's what I've gotten from the advertisements and the rip off tv shows that's arisen it Twilight's wake. I haven't watched any of these shows due to their perceived lack of bite. Oh that's bad. Somebody put a stake in this thing.

Overexposed Movie Of The Week - Ninja Assassin, a CGI Fu movie starring popular Asian actor Rain (well, popular in Asian countries and with my aunt but I digress) apparently being born to be a ninja and whipping out chains with blades on the end or some kinda thing to kill ninjas. 'Cause if you're named Ninja Assassin you damn well better have some ninjas to kill. My impression is your usual kid learns something against his will becomes the best in the world at it yet broods over it because it never made him happy. The tortured killer schtick, "Wah I behead my enemies with almost no thought but I coulda been an accountant or something if I wasn't raised with these frickin' Ninja reflexes." So he maims and kills thousands of martial artists then acts all sad over it. Am I wrong? Maybe, I don't care because I'm not seeing it anyway. CGI induced martial arts is lame (not counting the first Matrix movie.) :p

Lady You Bring Me Up - Country group Lady Antebellum surprised me by dishing out a first class AOR duet called "Need You Now" for their upcoming album. There is still some twang in the voice and steel guitar so it can be labeled Country, though at it's sappy core it's not far off from the pop rock of Starship's "Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now". Lady Antebellum's new song is better than anything I heard off their debut, nice tune.

Midnight Madness - Record Store Day

This week is support your local record store week so today I will be doing my duty by going to the only store in town. While I don't purchase vinyl anymore and don't plan to today, Rasputin's is the local record store in my town (though I guess Best Buy counts too now that they've been pushing some vinyl for collectors). After starting to listen to a lot of music in my early teens, I have a lot of memories of going to record stores. I've been to Tower Records (now defunct) all over California and in Seattle, perusing through 45's of the Top 100 singles and latest releases of the day. The overpriced music chains Wherehouse, Musicland and Sam Goody, now all but extinct, also have a lot of hours of my time logged.

As much as I like digital music's convenience (I like it a lot), I also like the shopping and evaluating of the physical artifact. That's why one of my favorite things to do is to go to Rasputin's and shop through their $3.00 bin of used CDs. It's a thrill to sort through a pile of crap like Britney Spears or N'Sync Cds to find Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks or Steve Vai's Passion and Warfare hidden in the crowd. So support your local music store, because someday soon they will probably be gone.

Go Bunny! - My wife made her weight loss goal this week (as posted on her blog here). Great job Bunny! She is also doing really well on Wii Sports Tennis. Her score is now over 2000.

Close to the Edge - A Prog Rock fan's dream tour is coming up with Yes and Asia hitting the road together. It will be the original Asia lineup along with the Jon Anderson-less Yes. I should be more excited about this tour but having seen outstanding performances from both bands in the past coupled with my expectation that they couldn't top what I've already seen, I feel indifferent. That is, until the actual tour date in my area arrives at which time I'll regret not going but probably forget about it the next day.

American Idol Update - The judges finally exercised their "get out of jail free" card by sparing Matt Girard from elimination this week. My question is, why? Girard is likeable and has talent but I don't think he stands a chance of winning. They're going to feel real stupid if a front runner gets voted off next week. Performance wise for movie week Quintan Tarantino directed the singers and did a good job of it. Particularly with Anoop Desai, Tarantino gave direction to sound more like Bryan Adams on "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" which I thought was a huge mistake until I actually heard it sung. It was one of Desai's best performances. Underdog Kris Allen gave a committed, emotional performance of "Falling Slowly", my favorite performance of the night. The judges, or at least Simon, have their sights set on 'Lil Rounds after she gospelized "The Rose" and was accused of copying the original. I think it was a bad move to use the save this week because next week is Disco week. On that week anybody can burn baby burn their way out of the show.

Hogan Knows Best? - Hulk Hogan was recently quoted as saying he "understands O.J." after being asked about his ex-wife. Fortunately, I don't think Hogan would really do anything to his ex, it's just not a good thing to say though. But if Linda Hogan suffers an injury by a leg drop, we'll know who to point the finger at.

Live To Tell - Madonna was injured after falling from her horse when it was startled by photographers. I didn't know she rode horses, I thought horses...never mind.

The Spector of Guilt - Famous record producer Phil Spector was found guilty of murder after what seemed like a long trial. He can now add iron bars to his wall of sound.

Drunken Master - Jackie Chan offended a huge chunk of his own Country by saying that Chinese people "need to be controlled." If that were true, shouldn't China outsource it's government to another race of people then? Because the government there I assume is made up of Chinese people. Just doing the math here.

No Home On The Horizon - Malibu residents object to plans for a new home planned by U2's guitarist The Edge. The makers of MTV's Cribs begin crying in their sleep.

Passings - Bad week for superstars from the '70's. Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, a Detroit Tigers pitcher who had a big start to his career before it tailed off, passed away this week. Also one of the first porn stars, Marilyn Chambers, met an untimely end.

Rule Brittania - Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle pulled off two amazing feats: Delivering a tremendous performance of a Les Miserable song and making a magic moment in reality tv.

Not Obsessed - The latest movie to saturate the television is Obsessed, the Beyonce' hatin' on cheaters film coming up. It's commercial is on like every ten minutes. What troubles me is apparently all movies must be one word titles now. Like we don't have the attention span left for a two or more word title.

Speaking of hatin' on cheaters...-Mel Gibson is in for an expensive divorce from his wife of 28 years and is rumored to have been a little on the unfaithful side. You know that point where a celebrity has had so many public embarrassments where they stop being funny and are just sad. I'm sorry to say Mad Mel has hit that point. Still like most of his movies though.

The Best of What's Around - I don't know if it's still going, the Dave Matthews Band is giving away their first single from the new album as a free download on their website. "Funny The Way It Is" is a pretty good tune.

Passion and Warfare - Since buying it from the $3.00 bin, I've been playing Steve Vai's CD a lot because it's really really good. Great pick Bunny! So to wrap things up, here's a video for the best known song from the album, "For The Love Of God".

Steve Vai "For The Love Of God"

Midnight Madness - Easter Bunny Edition

Today is Easter, so Happy Easter everyone! While this day has religious meaning for many, for me it is the day of the Easter Bunny. As I like to call my wife Bunny, this is her day! Love you Bunny!!

Don't Mess With The Lohan - A rough week for Lindsey Lohan, Stevie Nicks publicly denounced Lohan's repeated attempts to get the rights to Nicks' life story. Presumably to portray the famed singer on film. Because if it's one thing Nicks can't relate to, it's a young person indulging in sex and drugs to the point of self destruction.

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Worst. Movie Title. Ever. - There's a movie being heavily advertised right now called Fighting. Wow, how many months did they agonize over that movie title? One thing if for sure, you can't say the advertising is misleading for this film.

We Pay - It had to happen sooner or later, ITunes went to a tiered pricing system with some songs now costing $1.29 per track. Will ITunes jump the shark boosting prices in the middle of a recession?

American Idol update - Adam Lambert kicked out the jams again with a stunning rendition of Tears For Fears "Mad World" while my fave Alison Iraheta gave a strong version of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me". While Scott MacIntyre may have had the burning heart, his sloppy take on Survivor's "The Search Is Over" left him down for the count.

Zombies! - Actor Woody Harrelson's recent attack on a member of the paprazzi he explained was due to his mistaking the photographer for a zombie after recently wrapping a film where he fought the undead. I'll have to remember that excuse if I ever attack someone. "I'm sorry officer, I hit that man because I thought the dead had come back to life and wanted to eat my brains. It won't happen again."

The Big Muddy? - Bruce Springsteen is accused of cheating again, this time by an ex-husband in a divorce case. Both Springsteen and the ex-wife deny the accusation.

Real, Real, Real - Of the multitude of Real Housewives of... Tv series it looks like New York is the one that is catching on the most. We've watched the show and enjoy the fun of seeing rich people whose egos are bigger than their substantial bank accounts. And now with a Countess losing her Count and rumors of A Rod dating a cast member there could be even more drama coming up.

Terminated? - The Sarah Connor Chronicles saw its rating dwindle this season and had to switch from Monday to Friday nights, partially because of a boring second season. Then, in the final two episodes they upped their game by killing off people and finally, finally bringing in some excitement. But is it too little too late? With a cliffhanger season ender, if the show gets cancelled we'll never know what happens...other than what comes up in Terminator: Salvation of course.

Wanted Dead or Alive - The band Bon Jovi is suing an all girl tribute band for naming themselves Blonde Jovi over the name. Really? Good thing I didn't title this blog "Blog Jovi".

Double Trouble - The Arc Angels have returned, Charlie Sexton, Doyle Bramhall II and Chris Layton have come back. Cool! To wrap things up, here's some Arc Angels for ya.

Arc Angels

Midnight Madness - Alison Iraheta Edition

Rock rock til you drop: 16 year old Alison Iraheta has shown potential on American Idol but will probably get kicked off the show soon.

It's been a few weeks since I've felt like a Midnight Madness, tonight I think I have enough to post about. This week's post goes to Alison Iraheta, American Idol is continuing it's tradition of raspy voiced rocker girls who have no shot of winning but are fun to watch. She's sort of like a coherent version of Amanda Overmeyer from last year. Iraheta's been in the bottom three twice already, so enjoy watching her while it lasts. On with the Madness!

American Idol Update - Country and Motown weeks went over well, the singers picked up their game and delivered solid to outstanding performances. Then this week the whole group suddenly sucked big time when they got the chance to select whatever song they wanted. Really not sure what happened, but here's what we've got so far: Adam Lambert is schooling the other contestants, particularly with his soft take on "Tracks Of My Tears". Meanwhile, my favorite Alison Iraheta has been underperforming except for a strong rendition of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". Pixie soul belter Alexis Grace was surprisingly booted a few weeks back followed by roughneck Michael Sarver and bird cawing Megan Joy. Can the singer's rebound this week?

This Is Not A Test - A few weeks ago former WWE wrestler Test died. Pretty shocking because he was a young guy. Test was a featured player and occasionally got big pushes, having on screen relationships with the McMahons as well as the tag team T&A. Sad to see another grappler go.

...And Justice For All - Metallica officially was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cool! Run D.M.C. was inducted too. Why? For one half of a rock song?

Gone Gone Gone - Bad Company is reuniting for a few shows on the Eastern side of the U.S. so they can keep their band name. C'mon, no love for the West Coast? What's up with that?

You Are Gold - Spandau Ballet is reuniting for a tour. Their four remaining American fans get excited, busting out the hair gel and trenchcoats for all to see. You know this much is true.

Pumpkin Patch - Drummer Jimmy Chamberlain has quit the Smashing Pumpkins leaving Billy Corgan the sole Pumpkin left in the group. Now we'll have to see if Corgan's antics causes enough pressure to make himself quit. Then he'll probably bad mouth himself in the press and file lawsuits against himself too.

It's not Cameltoe, it's...- Chickenfoot, the supergroup featuring Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith are getting a lot of attention for their upcoming CD. Can it live up to the hype? Sounds promising so far.

Rorschach Test - Jackie Earle Haley will star as Freddy Kruger in a Nightmare On Elm Street reboot. You know, they really should try to get enough money together for a Johnny Depp cameo if they're gonna do this thing right. Or put him up against Jodie Foster for a Bad News Bears On Elm Street combo reboot.

Chicago's Last Hope - The long running TV series ER wrapped things up this week, I've recorded the finale so I'll get to see all those old faces return. For many years a quality program worth watching in reruns (that's how I saw the show anyway), we can finally declare ER the winner of the hospital show wars once and for all (when ER debuted it was up against Chicago Hope, another hospital show drama set in Chicago. Many wondered who would win out of two similar programs. That's how old this show is, I have to explain my bad jokes with trivia).

The Fast and the Superfluous - Does anyone care about the latest reunion movie sequel in the Fast & the Furious franchise? It's the #1 movie this weekend, so I guess the answer is yes. He's the beast from the east he's the best from the west he's the Vin man. Bonus points if anyone can name the 80's movie that's from.

Web Slinging Insanity - When reading a recent issue of Rolling Stone, I read that Bono and Edge of U2 have written music for a stage musical about Spider Man. Now I've read online that they're starting to have casting calls for this thing so I guess it's not a joke. I shouldn't judge it without hearing anything first, but it's so hard when you read about something this bad.

Natasha Richardson - I realize it happened a few weeks ago, still it was sad to see talented actress Natasha Richarson pass away. I remembered her best from the film The Handmaid's Tale way back when.

Mini Movie Reviews:

• The Visitor - A slow moving film about a closed off College prof who encounters and befriends illegal immigrants living in his New York Apartment. Well acted and relatively realistic. It tries to show the human side of the immigration experience post 9/11 but is only modestly affecting to me. It's not bad but skippable.


• Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Decent comedy about a TV music writer who gets dumped by his TV star girlfriend and ends up in Hawaii at the same time as her. Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) wrote and stars as the dorky guy crushed by the rejection and is ably assisted by Mila Kunis (That 70's Show) and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) as the women in his life. It's not non stop fun but it does create likeable characters and has a good sense of humor. I guess this is the film that made British comedian Russell Brand a name here, he's amusing but overrated in my opinion.


• Kung Fu Panda - Jack Black's animated animal martial arts comedy is zippy fun from start to finish. Panda pulls every cliched martial arts movie storytelling device in the book which should make it dull. Instead the Panda team use hyperkinetic direction, celebrity voices and Jack Black's ritalin resistant jokes to keep things moving. A great ride for all ages.

I couldn't embed the video so I got an audio version of the song that my wife and I have been stuck on since seeing it on VH1's One Hit Wonders of the 80's. Oran Juice Jones. The Rain!

Oran "Juice" Jones - The Rain

Midnight Madness - Tatiana Del Toro Edition

She likes herself, she really really likes herself: Tatiana Del Toro in full drama action.

The ultimate drama queen, Tatiana Del Toro, lost for a second time on American Idol and ended her run on her knees crying in front of the judges. While she's annoying as all get out, I've gotta say her self absorbed dramatics have provided many of the entertaining moments from this season so far. In her brief episode this week, Tatiana defended her tired old song choice (Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love For You") and tried to ride the good will fellow contestant Jorge generated by invoking a Latin accent. It was so blatant that Paula Abdul called her on it. So goodbye Tatiana Del Toro, the show is technically better without you but will be a little duller too.

American Idol update - The show is going for a Top 13 this year to give a little room for the Anoop Dogg. Of the people to not make it, the only one I really wanted to see more of was Jesse Lerseth who turned out a pretty decent version of Chaka Khan's "Tell Me Something Good."

Everybody Wants Some!! - There may be a Guitar Hero: Van Halen in the works on top of the existing GH: Metallica and the forthcoming GH: Beatles. With all these boutique Guitar Hero games, will we eventually get down to a Guitar Hero: White Lion game?

Target Team Members Gett Off - Prince has signed a deal with the chain store to sell his upcoming 3 CD set. It will include two new Prince albums plus a third disc by someone who I assume is a protege' of his. Maybe Target will create a Prince section like Wal Mart did for AC/DC? You can pick up his CD, get some diamonds and pearls plus purple glitter coat in one spot!

Bonorific - U2 has a street named after them in New York now called U2 Way. With their return to the limelight, all of the good U2 puns are taken. So all I got is Bonorific. They've also announced they'll release a second album this year called Songs of Ascent and that it will feature a song called "Every Breaking Wave".

Mis Fortune - INXS says they didn't release singer JD Fortune and the supposed firing at the airport never happened. Sometimes you kick, sometimes you get kicked.

Crue it - Motley Crue will be hitting the road again soon and may even play the Dr. Feelgood album in its entirety to celebrate its 20th anniversary. If you're a fan that's been waiting to hear "Slice of your Pie" live, this is your year.

Teen group failure, now in 3D! - The media is widely reporting that the new Jonas Brothers movie has stiffed at the box office. I'm not a fan of these kids music, yet it seems to me the media is having too much fun reporting on this. Though on the up side, at least film will be one part of electronic media that I won't have to see endlessly advertised for them in the future.

Stay With Me - The Faces reunion rumors just won't die, it's pretty much been said it's all up to Rod Stewart to make it happen.

Let's Tap into America - The Spinal Tap tour is going unplugged meaning we'll be hearing acoustic versions of classics like "Hell Hole" and "Big Bottom". I'm sure it will be funny, just as a concept it doesn't cut it for me.

Get Your Groove On Grunge God - Chris Cornell has a new track produced by Timbaland called Scream. Interesting. Very interesting.

Cherry Bomb - Looks like the Runaways movie is picking up steam, former child star Dakota Fanning has been cast in the film.

Meeting People is Easy - It seems both Myley Cyrus and Kanye West received the cold shoulder from Radiohead. Guess all those songs about alienation aren't fake.

Robin Williams will be undergoing heart surgery - The comic actor has given several memorable performances and great moments during his long career, so I won't poke fun at him at all. I'll just say I wish him well.

We All Watch the Watchmen - The delayed comic book adaptation finally hit the big screen and raked in the big bucks over the weekend. Yes!

Reality TV Douchebags - Two guys have caused a stir with their recent reality TV appearances. The Bachelor dude apparently picked a winner to marry and then turned around and dumped her for a runner up contestant. He'd be the most hated man in reality TV if it wasn't for the guy from last month's episode of Wife Swap. This guy takes stuck up to a new level and I'm sad to say is from the Bay Area, if you want some proof just check out what's below.

Wife Swap dude

Midnight Madness - Brett Butler Edition

See the picture above? When I bought tickets to see Brett Butler's show last night, I thought I was going to see the person pictured. Instead I saw a dishelved hot mess.

Tonight we went to see actress / comedianne Brett Butler at a local comedy club, hoping to have a nice night of laughs. Butler had a troubled past leading to the end of her popular sitcom Grace Under Fire, still we thought it would be a good show. We were wrong. Rreeaaallly wrong.

Brett Butler appeared on stage and proceeded to give one of the worst comic performances I've seen anywhere. She seemed to be either drunk, high or both. Her entire set was a random, non sensical stream of consciousness that rambled in between awkward pauses. Butler would stop often to search for words or try to remember what she had just said. There was no sense of timing or even attempts to tell jokes, just a jumble of comments and stories about dead dogs, crazy Moms and Southern ways. Half of the audience left ten minutes into the act, causing Butler to become temporarily saddened. My wife and I stayed because we felt sorry for Butler all the way to the painful end.

Now home, we both have headaches from having sat through a Brett Butler show. I can't say I'm upset or anything along those lines, just sad. Sad because there were flashes of intelligence in that blind maze of insanity. What's worse, after adding up the night's expenses we spent about $100.00 just to make a coke head feel better about herself. It almost feels redundant to say on to the Madness!

I Wanna Go Back - Eddie Money is putting the finishing touches on a musical about his life. Sooo I'm guessing the play is about a guy who has a few hit songs peppered over a decade with a lot of binge drinking and O.D.'ing on the way? My nominee for the lead role? Gary Busey!

The Mega Powers Unite! - REO Speedwagon and Styx have teamed up to record a new single together, "Can't Stop Rockin". Then they will tour with 38 Special. This may be the most powerful tag team since Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Ooooh Yeah Brother!

The Mega Powers Unite pt. 2! - Def Leppard, Cheap Trick and Poison will hit the road together as well. They will all ride on a tour bus together and talk trash about each other while partying hard to try to win the affection of Bret Michaels. Oh wait, I got that confused with Rock of Love. We'll never hear the words "Bun E Carlos, will you stay here and continue to rock my world." The tour is for real though.

Speaking of Buns... - Bun E Carlos is part of a new supergroup that includes that kid from Hanson, James Iha formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins and a guy from Fountains of Wayne. They seem to be going into a power pop vein, could be promising.

American Idol Update - The showstoppa Nick Norman whatever his face is fell short in making the final 12 though he provided the most memorable moment so far this season with his cabaret style performance of that Jennifer Hudson's Dreamgirls song. Who did make it? A screaming Alison Iraheta who blasted through Heart's "Alone", one of the few performances to stand out last week. Kris Allen, who surprised with a decent version of the Gloved One's "Man in the Mirror". And Adam Lambert, whose manic take on the Stone's "Satisfaction" keeps having his performances described as Broadway but for me he's really Hair Metal. And I mean that in a good way. This guy is almost as good as the dude from Steelheart.

Oh Brother - All week these hyper dramatic ads for a Tv Movie to the show Brothers and Sisters have come on and annoyed the hell out of me. It looks like Ally McBeal is trying to get her surrogate mother to give birth and Rob Lowe is supposed to be there but gets shot leading to Sally Field to run to the hospital to say she's family and its all like a bunch of junk. I'll be so happy when this thing finally airs and doesn't have to be advertised anymore.

Run It - After weeks of intensive media coverage, singers Rihanna and Chris Brown have reportedly reconciled.

Sing A Song - Earth Wind and Fire, Chicago and noted liberal Sheryl Crow all performed for a bank that took federal support money. Our tax dollars at work.

Slumdog Millionaire - was the leading film in major Oscar wins including Best Picture. Kate Winslet finally won best actress (I haven't seen the movie she's in right now, but she is a really good actress in general) and Sean Penn won best actor. Hey Bud, let's party!

Wii anything - A featured vid on You Tube, this was mildly amusing but definitely easy to relate to for anyone who has seen a Wii in action.

Wii Breakfast