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 - 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

You Can't Handle R -Truth!

Yesterday wrestler R Truth turned heel (bad guy) and to prove his point (that he's now a bad guy) he smoked a cigarette over his defeated enemy. When I saw this, I thought it was the lamest heel turn I'd ever seen. I get that it's illegal to smoke a cigarette indoors and that it's not healthy and all that, I really do. But is that the mark of a true villian? Does anyone think another person is badass for smoking a cigarette past the 6th grade? What dasdardly deed will R Truth do next, pull those tags off pillows that say it's illegal to remove? Ring a strangers door bell and run away before the door is opened?? Crank call a random phone number and ask if their refrigerator is running??? Yes, watching a wrestler try to inflict damage on another grappler by subjecting him to second hand smoke from a single cigarette was stupidity on an epic level.

And then someone or some anti smoking group (was it The Truth?) bothered to complain about it pushing the event to TMZ worthy status. Whaddya know, the smoking gimmick worked (the...smoking...gun? Haw haw). Proving once again that Vince McMahon is a genius, spinning a wrestling show storyline into a mass media story.

Thank You Edge!

This week WWE Superstar Edge officially retired from wrestling due to his injuries sustained in the ring. For as long as I've followed wrestling, Edge has been a part of it. He has progressed in that time from a Tag Team Champion to a World Champion thanks to awesome mic skills, strong work ethic and all around in ring ability. Edge was versatile and pretty much great at everything he did in wrestling. The rare wrestler who could be equally convincing as the noble good guy or the scheming baddie (though most of his career tilted towards the latter) and be over with fans no matter what. I stopped watching wrestling regularly around the time his World Championship and Rated R Superstar gimmick took off. Still, when I did watch I knew Edge could be relied upon to bring a great show. Edge provided unforgettable WWE moments like the mid air spear during Tables Ladders and Chairs, the conchairtos and the stealing of Lita from Matt Hardy. So thank you Edge, thank you for the entertainment.

Catching Up With...

What do we do now Dr Zaius?

Some random things came up today so here I am to pontificate on them. I said pontificate, not...forget it. No Cleveland Steamer.

McDonald's Billboards Are Dumb As Hell - First I saw some McDonalds billboard that said something like "This cup of coffee is not Joe, he's Joseph" and then today I saw another one that said "These hotcakes are selling like" with a picture of a hotcake. It's like they hired a third grade class to run their freakin ad campaign. What's the next dumbass slogan going to be? "Childhood obesity live the fantasy?" "Are you stuffin' that egg mcmuffin?" "The French don't want you to have these fries, but we do?" Can I be an ad exec now? Am I hired?

Annoying Bullllllhorn - And the overexposed movie commercial of the week is: Inception. Some crap about Lou Diamond Phillips - no wait, it's Leo DiCaprio - living in dreams and stuff blowing up while upside down and who cares. Watch it's going to be the next Matrix and I'll end up eating my words. All I know is when this commercial hits the tv gets busy and a loud bullhorn blows. Blows like this movie.

A Swaggering Angle Lock - So I was watching Friday Night Smackdown for the first time in months. Jack Swagger is wrasslin Big Show and he's got Show on the ground. Next thing I know Swagger picks up Big Show's foot and applies the Angle Lock (a move where you grab the guy's foot, hold the ankle against your chest and twist the foot). Wow, they gave one of Kurt Angle's signature moves to the new guy. I'm sure Kurt Angle didn't invent the move or anything, he's just the guy I associate the move with the most. Consider me blown away.

Theresa Started It - As much as Danielle on the Real Housewives of New Jersey is a psycho, it was bankrupt diva Theresa that provoked an altercation on a recent episode. After months of no face to face contact between the two, Theresa confronts Danielle at a fashion show to say "hi". It was like when a guy throws some punches and as he gets pulled off the other dude he says "What? I just wanted to talk to him!" There's also a supposed sex tape out there of Danielle in all her plastic surgery altered self and all I can say to that thought is...ewwww No. Hell No! Gotta give props for these gutter trash, you gotta fight for those ratings points!

Not Very R.A.D. - Remember when Motley Crue's Vince Neil crashed a car and killed his friend resulting in a slew of hypocritical rock against drugs adverts? Well, Vince doesn't and so he was arrested for drunk driving again. Right after proclaiming his long term sobriety.

Electric Goof - 80s mall queens Tiffany and Debbie Gibson are gonna battle in a tv movie. Gibson will have to watch out for Tiffany's trademark Egyptian darting hand move best seen in the "I Saw Him Standing There" video. Look out Gibson, she'll take your eye out!

I'm Too Old For This Sh*t - Mad Mel Gibson makes a PR mess again this time throwing around racial insults. Hard to believe once he was so cool, now he's a prime douche.

That's all I got, until the next time.

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"

Wrestlemania 25

Today we did our annual duty to support the economy by ordering Wrestlemania on pay per view. The Super Bowl of wrestling, this year was stacked with guests and stunts and everything you've come to expect from the WWE. Match by Match, here's how it went down:

The Money in the Bank match was first. There's been a couple of these so we kinda knew what to expect - ladder match madness with big spots and big bumps. I saw they stacked the deck by bringing in the more acrobatic wrestlers Kofi Kingston, Shelton Benjamin and CM Punk in. Those three did not disappoint, particularly Shelton Benjamin who has taken the biggest stunts and spills of the past few Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania matches. Tonight he did a swanton bomb worthy dive off a tall ladder into a crowd of opponents. There were some knew wrinkles added, particularly the addition of big guys Kane and Mark Henry. I have never seen so much ladder throwing in one of these matches before. Finley dominated the middle section and even did an out of the ring dive himself. CM Punk came out on top to the disappointment of the crowd who seemed to want Christian to get it. This was one of the best lead off matches I've seen at a Wrestlemania, they all worked hard on this one.

Kid Rock then played a concert which was just modestly entertaining since I'm not a big fan. Then the Divas Battle Royal kicked in. It should have been exciting but the way it was covered it really was just a cluster of moving hair and bodies. Hardly any fanfare was given to Divas past that returned including Sunny, Tori and one of my faves Molly Holly. Santino Marella won in dressed in drag as Santina Marella. Should have been great but it really was just space filler in the end.

I think Chris Jericho versus the Legends of Wrestling was next. Jimmy Superfly Snuka, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ricky Steamboat faced off against Y2J. Piper and Snuka did OK considering their age and Piper's prior health issues. Steamboat was a revelation, showing he still could crank out a good match well into his 50's. He even performed a diving cross body from the top rope that cleared half the ring! Ric Flair was on hand ringside to get into it a bit with Y2J too, but the Walls of Jericho proved too much for the old timers. Then Jericho called out actor Mickey Rourke and got a left hook from the actor for his trouble.

The all talent no speaky Hardy Boyz took their sibling rivalry extreme rules match seriously despite the labored storyline. You killed my dog, Matt! They had some decent spots, especially the part where Jeff Hardy dives through two stacked tables with Matt in the middle. Ultimately it fell short of the hype in comparison to the Money in the Bank match. Oh yeah, Matt won.

After that some comedy was needed so JBL faced off against Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title. Mysterio came out in Joker garb and fired up the crowd. He then defeated blowhard JBL in 21 seconds upsetting the millionaire so much he quit.

And with that out of the way came the match of the night. Wrestling is said to be morality plays of good versus evil and with two babyface wrestlers against each other that angle was worked mercilessly. Shawn Michaels versus the Undertaker, two veterans who have given some of the best matches in WWE history. Michael's aim was to break Undertaker's undefeated streak. He failed to beat the streak. Yet what they accomplished was amazing. A long, dramatic match of two future legends. Each got in their signature moves multiple times and their see saw battle drove the crowd into a frenzy. A model of pacing and working the audience, it really doesn't get much better than this match.

Speaking of legends, the Hall of Fame class of 2009 rolled out next led by The Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin drove an ATV down to the ring for an old fashioned beer bash just like old times. Oh Hell Yeah!

What could follow these huge events? The weakest of the matches on the card, Edge versus Big Show versus John Cena for the WWE Heavyweight Championship. To be honest, I didn't watch all of this and decided to eat a little dinner instead. What I did catch was OK but nothing show stopping. Cena won the belt again.

Last was the big storyline, Randy Orton versus Triple HHH for the WWE I forget it's exact title but equal to Heavyweight Championship belt. The two took a deliberate, slow pace to build the drama and ensure the audience felt every blow and reversal of momentum. It was pretty good and the pace helped distinguish it from other matches. Trips got his revenge in the end, retaining the belt.

Wrestlemania was pretty good this year, on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd say it was a 7.5. The Taker versus HBK is going to go down as a classic I'm sure. And while no Stunners were handed out, it was great to see Stone Cold again. The Money in the Bank match was the other highlight.

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

Grappling With Life

Ooooh yeah Brother! The Wrestler jumps into the squared circle of reality.

Last Sunday we went to see The Wrestler, the movie about a washed up pro wrestler named Randy the Ram. The movie has had a strong buzz due to the comeback of Mickey what-happened-to-your-face Rourke. Directed with almost documentary style realism by Darron Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), The Wrestler literally follows The Ram as he plays the low level indie circuit of ball rooms and school gyms for measly pay days in between gym runs, steroid shots and his part time job at a supermarket. In the 80's, The Ram headlined major matches in big Arenas. Now he gets by just barely, living in squalor while trying to hold on to his remaining shreds of former glory.

Of course the question on every one's mind is Mickey Rourke: is he really good this time? Well the answer is yes, Rourke delivers the goods. He gives Randy The Ram a lived in feel of a guy who's been to the top and felt every kick on the way back down. His Wrestler lives for the business, for the smattering of remaining fans and brotherhood of wrestlers who still respect him. The Ram has a quiet pride when he's in his element and a sense of stifled desperation when he's out of it. Early in the film Randy gets bad news from the doctor - he can't wrestle anymore. Rourke captures the feel perfectly of The Ram's awkward attempts to adjust to a normal life with a regular job, making amends with his estranged daughter and trying to capture the attention of his favorite stripper.

Marisa Tomei also makes a comeback as the stripper Cassidy. Her character parallels The Ram, a little too old for headline status of her profession. But where The Ram holds on desperately, Cassidy shrewdly looks for opportunities to get out to a different life. She has a good connection with Randy and seeing them together will make you listen to Ratt in a whole different way. Finally Tomei delivers a performance that will quiet all the naysayers who said her Best Actress Oscar was undeserved.

Aronofsky's direction is real fly-on-the-wall stuff, the camera follows The Ram to the point that you see Rourke from behind almost as much as his front. When Rourke walks somewhere, the camera trails shortly framing the back of his shoulders and head just like you see on reality television. All the while he places the characters in a gritty, overcast and cold setting to enhance the mood.

Being a wrestling fan it was hard not to be happy with the fun of watching staged fighting and all the blood and pain that goes with it. Even in the ring the camera sits up close, giving new appreciation for the bumps and body slams these guys take on a weekly basis. The wrestling characters were well constructed, Rourke does some decent moves and is given a fantastically over the top finishing move with the top rope dive called a Ram Jam. His chief opponent, The Ayatollah, is clearly based on the famous Iron Sheik right down to the Camel Clutch.

It all adds up to a strong movie, The Wrestler puts you in a choke hold and doesn't let go. It's the life of a pro wrestler just as you imagined it, the film is very reminiscent of the documentary Beyond the Mat (1999) in its approach and themes. The main character is a composite of grapplers past and present, sort of like if Shawn Michaels lived Jake The Snake's life in a watered down way. How many more cliche's can I squeeze in? The Wrestler is a good flick, and that's the bottom line 'cause Mr Mike said so!

Midnight Madness - The Rain

We've had a drought the past few months which has been a bummer (although it's made driving this time of year easier). This weekend the rain finally came, much needed rain, to California. It's supposed to rain into next week, hopefully it will help us get back on track. Our state is already out of money, it would be nice if we didn't have to sit through water rationing too (which some parts of the state already started on). We have some minor leaks on the back porch which sucks, but other than that we need water. So let it rain!

Disturbia - The more info that comes out about the Rihanna and Chris Brown episode, the worse it gets. I would say Brown is done professionally in the court of public opinion if it wasn't for posts I've seen on the net blaming Rihanna for pissing him off. Huh? Really?

You've got to have Faith, Faith, Faith - Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood have announced a US tour. May I suggest the Can't Find My Way Home tour as their tour name?

Sand Castles - Following their Grammy victory, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have announced plans for a second CD. Grammy hogs!

When Love Comes to Town - U2 will be kicking off the release of their new album No Line on the Horizon by appearing throughout the week of March 2nd on The Late Show with David Letterman.

What's My Age Again? - Blink 182 are getting back together. I'm now so old that bands who peaked in the late 90's are breaking up and then reforming. Oh Elizabeth, I'm coming to see you Elizabeth, this is the big one!

Human Rights Now! - Peter Gabriel has refused to play at the Academy Awards because he does not want to play his song "Down to Earth" as part of a medley. He would only get about a minute, it's understandable why Gabriel would not want to waste his time playing 60 seconds it just seems funny compared to the stuff he usually protests.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation merge - great, now we'll probably incur a service fee for their service fees.

Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore engage - it really pays to be a sad guy Alt rocker these days when it comes to marrying actresses.

Watch Me Shine - This season's American Idol contestant Joanna Pacitti kept crying every chance she got to the point she was like "The Crying Girl" part 2. Now she really has a reason to cry as she was DQ'd from the show due to having personal and professional links with the show's execs. I'd defend her but I didn't think her performances were particuarly strong anyway, particularly with the amount of professional experience she's had.

TV Roundup - catching up with the TV Shows I've been following:

• Flight of the Conchords - The second season so far has continued with their silly antics, they still amuse but are not as sharp as the first season. There's been more focus on the supporting characters which is nice, the songs are pretty good just not up to the level of last year.


• Chuck - My favorite show right now returned with an OK episode in 3D. The end of the episode where Chuck gets over the mid season break cliff hanger in less than 30 seconds of seeing his beloved agent Sarah kill an unarmed man was jarring and unconvincing.


• American Idol - The giant shows signs of life as their old school approach begins to pay dividends. Their focus on the contestants personalities and building characters is working and they seemed to look for actual talent this year (which I'll credit to new judge Kara whose presence helps wake the others up). When you start to cringe every time that insanely self centered giggly girl shows up you know something is clicking.


• Terminator - Coming off the first half of a sluggish season 2, the Terminator gang kicks it into high gear for the second half with a strong episode. Can they keep it up?

Perfect - A recent comment from lostinube caused me to look up some old wrestling and I stumbled across this match between the late grapplers Kerry Von Erich and Curt Hennig for the Intercontinental Belt in 1990. The timing in this match is dead on, when modern wrestlers

went back to this mat based style a few years ago it shows how sloppy they were in comparison.

The Texas Tornado vs Mr Perfect

Midnight Madness - Super Bowl Edition

"The Catch" part 2: The Steeler's make a touchdown pass reminscent of the 49ers famous snag.

We Will We Will Rock You! Just warming up for the...oh, that was last week? Yeah it was, the first Super Bowl I've watched in about 20 years or so went pretty well. I don't really follow sports or watch it on tv much, I enjoyed playing the games more than observing them (a victim of my short attention span, I love highlight reels because you see the exciting parts without all the strategy and what not) and can't recall watching a Bowl game since that one with Da Bears. You know the one, the one where Jim McMahon tried to show off early on with a bootleg and got turned inside out on the tackle. Anywho, this Super Bowl was an exciting game where the Arizona Cardinals (still St Louis to me) was narrowly beaten by the...jeez, I can't remember who won. The Pittsburgh Steelers, that's who. Glad to see the Terrible Towels are still around. I forgot his name already, but I can't recall seeing a quarterback as big as a lineman before (the Steelers guy) who was mobile as hell. My wife and I had a friendly wager that resulted in me winning a "pamper day" (not the diaper) and yesterday we had a nice day of pizza and DVD watching :) Thank you Bunny! Now, on to the Madness!

Cranked Up? - The famed Super Bowl commercials didn't really impress me much this year, what stuck the most is the one with Jason Stratham going Grand Theft Auto through a series of decades. That wasn't bad, the "I'm Good" beer commercial I can see catching on too. My favorite was the hip hop astronauts getting their moon buggy's tires stripped while they were collecting moon rocks.

Save Jack - Which reminds me, the current series of ads that started at the Super Bowl of Jack from Jack in the Box being in a major accident is a major bummer. He's my favorite fast food pitchman, it's like they're blowing up the clown all over again.

It's Boss Time! - Bruce Springsteen pulled out the stops for his half time show, scampering around, sliding into cameras and slinging his guitar around with a big grin on his face. And the way Ticketmaster is selling his tour tickets, the Super Bowl coverage is probably the best seats anyone will score for seeing him live this year.

Devils & Dust- The Boss' business blues continued with regretting his Wal - Mart deal following a backlash from fans. At least his new CD Working On A Dream went to #1 on the charts.

Going Bat Sh*t - First, Batman gets no respect from the Oscars with hardly any major noms. Then a tape recording of Christian Bale going all Hollywood tantrum on a lighting guy from the set of Terminator: Salvation hits the media. The fit Bale threw was so extreme the actor could barely defend his own "I'm in character" excuse. Any other working person would be fired for the behavior Bale displayed. Ah the perks of being a movie star.

At Last - Etta James goes off on both Beyonce and President Obama following the Bootylicious One's performance of "At Last" during the Presidential Inauguration. She went as far as to say Beyonce was going to get her ass beat, which would be a threat if it wasn't for her age. Ah the perks of being unable to carry out threats.

Passings - Both keyboardist Billy Powell (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and drummer Dewey Martin (Buffalo Springfield) passed away over the last two weeks :(

Year of the Dragon - is the name of my favorite Mickey Rourke movie, a brutal cop film in which he plays a detective that's racist against Asians while working a case in Chinatown. It's one of those movies that's so awesomely bad it's good. Speaking of Rourke, he dropped out of Wrestlemania as quickly as he announced his participation in it. Someone must have tipped him off that Best Actor nominees don't win if their next career move is actual wrestling.

A plot to take over the world? - Pearl Jam, Van Halen and Spinal Tap - yes, THE Spinal Tap, are either working on or planning to work on new music. It could be the perfect storm of hard rock thunder.

Bikini Wax - The most notable contestant so far in this year's American Idol, Bikini Girl, ran her 10 seconds of fame right down to it's annoying end this week. Too soon to tell if anyone truly talented is in this year though there are flashes of promise.

Bridgestone Tires Ad

Get Ready To Rumble

Last Night we watched the WWE Royal Rumble and of all the Rumble's I've watched, this one was the best. After the past few years of decent yet uninspired programming with occasional flashes of brilliance, the WWE finally put on a memorable show. The storylines were kicking at full steam, betrayal, aggression and glory were on display last night.

The big story was the next phase in The Age of Orton. Randy Orton has been referenced as the future of wrestling more than once, last night was the beginning of making that future the present. Orton has been set up with a huge heel push, taking out Vince McMahon while he was in babyface mode, forming his own faction and winning the Rumble. The past few years has seasoned the grappler as he has gotten the smug ruthless bad guy act down. He has all of the tools to make it to the top and dominate the business.

And in a real shocker, Matt Hardy took a huge heel turn by betraying his brother Jeff Hardy-screwing brother Jeff out of the World Championship. In normal daredevil Hardy form, Jeff battled longtime nemesis Edge in a match that naturally worked in tables, ladders and chairs.

Meanwhile the slow brewing Shawn Michaels / John Cena / JBL combo started to pay off with a well paced match. The women's match between Melina and Beth Phoenix was surprisingly entertaining and fun. The sight of Phoenix taking Melina's foot and twist it backwards to kick Melina in the back of her own head was incredible. Great stuff.

Best of all, the Rumble itself was nonstop entertainment. Even though the outcome was a foregone conclusion (no way that Orton was going to get the push he was getting and not win) the match itself had wall to wall action. The ring was crowded with superstars as eliminations came slowly. Headliners like Triple HHH, Undertaker, Big Show, Kane, Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho spent considerable time in the ring and got their signature moves in. All the things you watch the Rumble for, surprise returns (RVD!), cross brand fighting (Taker and Kane together again!) and a conclusion that sets up Wrestlemania.

It wasn't just the best Rumble, it was the best Wrestling program I've seen in about five years. Could this mean 2009 is the big comeback of wrestling? I doubt it will financially, but creatively there are definite signs of life. Even the audiences seem to be waking up a little bit, more signs and louder chants are popping up both during the PPV and on Raw. Tonight on Raw it appears actor Mickey Rourke may have a feud with Chris Jericho leading up to Wrestlemania. Things are looking up!

Midnight Madness - "Sully" Sullenberger Edition

Hero of the Day - Chesley Sullenberger III

It's been in the news a while now, still I thought it would be good to give a shout out to real life hero "Sully" Sullenberger for safely landing a jet in the water following engine failure. He saved a lot of lives that day by doing exactly what he was supposed to do and responding to a grave emergency with skill and dedication. It's been a long time since we've had a national hero, nice to see one with old school values that includes modesty. The rest of the crew and rescue teams also responded well to the disaster. I'll wrap up by saying thank you, Mr. Sullenberger, for a job well done.

Now, on to the Midnight Madness:

A Dark Night - For Batman fans hoping to get a little respect from the Academy. The Oscar noms limited their love for The Dark Knight to the late Heath Ledger (in the major categories at least). You would think Batman was some type of outlaw, running from the police after seeing how the Academy treats him. Bats is in good company though, Bruce Springsteen was also snubbed despite his excellent song for The Wrestler.

Hit The Lights - Meanwhile Metallica fans have reason to bang their head, the Metal band is going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jeff Beck and Run D.M.C. are being inducted as well (Little Anthony & the Imperials and Bobby Womack round out the induction honorees this year). I know it won't happen, but if the ending jam session with these guys includes Run D.M.C.'s It's Tricky that would make my day. Let's see James Hetfield cold bust some rhymes with some Jeff Beck soloing on top. Too cool.

Hell Yeah! - The awards season is in full swing, the first inductee to the WWE Hall of Fame is none other than the Rattlesnake! Stone Cold! Stone Cold! What? Stone Cold Steve Austin!

No Rod the Mod - Rod Stewart has put the kibosh on rumors of a Faces reunion. I guess we'll get stuck with whatever other ancient genre he decides to tackle next instead. I can see it now: Rod Stewart sings 19th Century sea shanties now on sale for $10.99. Hear Rod's new single "Blow the Man Down" available exclusively at Wal Mart. It comes with the bonus track "Row Row Your Boat".

Lemon? - The new U2 single Get On Your Boots is out and I have to admit to being a little disappointed. With Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite back in the producer's chair I was expecting something a little more classic leaning like their last album. Instead it seem's they're reviving some of that electronica Pop sound from the '90's. I'm still looking forward to the new disc and maybe this song will grow on me. Based on the few times I've heard it the song does get better on each listen. It wouldn't be the first time U2 put out music I was resistant to at first and dug later on. I did notice one of the other song titles on the new album is "Fez - Being Born". Did they write a song about that kid on That 70's Show?

Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? - Boy George has been sentenced to 15 months in jail for imprisoning and beating a male escort. Church of the Poisoned Mind indeed.

She's a little bit Charm School, He's a little bit Rock & Roll - The Osbournes are coming back to TV in a variety show planned for Fox. Sorry Ozzy, now that you're no longer a drug addled burn out you're just not as funny anymore. We all know you've cleaned up and are just fakin' it now.

Hey You Guys! - The Electric Company is returing to television. Can they get Morgan Freeman back?

Yippie Ki Yay! - While watching music videos I came across this parody of the Die Hard movies. It's pretty funny, what makes the clip really worthwhile is the amazing Bruce Willis imitation this guy does.

Die Hard Parody - I Love My Wife

Top Five Favorite TV Shows and Movies

The end of 2008 creeps even closer, time to close the year out. Here's my five favorite TV shows and Movies of the past twelve months.

TV Shows

5. The Big Bang Theory

In it's second season, I found the Geekamania even more appealing as more focus fell upon supernerd Sheldon. Sheldon's anal retentive ways, cold logic and lack of understanding about human beings is like Mr. Spock in Star Trek IV minus the innocence. While Big Bang Theory won't be confused with great television, it's a fun time passer.

4. WWE Raw

How could I not pick the grappler's premier program? Wrestling still lacks the excitement of the 90's Attitude era though it has levelled off into a consistent spree of choke holds and jumps. And it's interesting to see people who were mid carders when I started to follow wrestling now get the Top Belts (the high flying mic fearing Hardy Boyz are both Champions now). Best of all, Chris Jericho dominated with his egotistical gimmick and rightfully was named Superstar of the Year.

3. The Clone Wars

The idea of a CGI cartoon Star Wars didn't appeal to me initially and poor reviews of the movie didn't help. But I gave the Cartoon Network series a chance and was rewarded with something better than 90% of the junk in those prequel movies. Better acting and tighter stories makes The Clone Wars light years ahead of any Phantom Menace. It's not amazing or at the level of the Original Trilogy, but at least you can watch The Clone Wars without shaking your head at how much what you're seeing sucks.

2. Family Guy

Lots of Animation Domination here, The Griffin clan is still my favorite comedy on TV. However, for the second straight season new episodes were hard to come by after the first four episodes. And with all those spin offs it seems like the jokes are getting spread thin. I really can't stand that I can see two new episodes of American Dad for every one Family Guy. The proposed Cleveland spin off means even fewer jokes to go around, I'm still a fan but a little disappointed. Disappointed didn't mean I stopped loving the crude and insane antics of Peter Griffin and gang, so they'll still rate high with me.

1. Chuck

The human dork computer rolled into the second season and caught fire. This year saw deeper characterizations while maintaining its tone of lovable farce. While too many episodes took place at the main set (the Best Buy knockoff Buy More), Chuck's canny use of spy head game madness, sexual tension (between Chuck and protector spy Sarah) and all out doofiness (an entire episode revolved around a secret code if you defeated Missile Command) made for a weekly hour of entertainment fun.

Movies

5. There Will Be Blood

"I...drink...your...milkshake!" With that phrase, Daniel Day Lewis put the crown jewel on yet another dazzling performance. This time as a paranoid oil Barron, Lewis amazes in this epic meditation on greed and corruption. The story of a thoroughly unlikeable but completely relatable person writ large, There Will Be Blood is a textbook on how to make a good movie.

4. Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig's second outing as 007 had good and bad points, action excitement and more insight on the soul of James Bond versus well intentioned yet overly stylized direction. Sort of reminiscent of Licence To Kill and The Man With The Golden Gun in tone, Craig expanded on his gritty Bond. I'm sure once it's on DVD I'll watch it 50 more times and get even more out of it. For now, Quantum of Solace is an interesting, deeper yet intermittently exciting addition to the 007 canon.

3. Iron Man

Shellhead locked and loaded with a stand out popcorn flick. Robert Downey Jr brought in an offhand sense of humor while maintaining enough gravitas to sell the drama. Backed by a cast of Academy Award winners and nominees, director Jon Favreau delivers the goods. Like Iron Man himself, the film is part man part machine and designed for maximum impact. Though it didn't answer the one question I've had about Iron Man through the years: how smart is it to place weaponry built into your palm? You go to scratch your head and boom! No more head.

2. Wall - E

Pixar continues to create groundbreaking CGI, though this time out it was less about the actual graphics than the content. The first half hour was almost silent which is asking a lot of a kids audience. But it worked, it worked because Wall-E is well made by creating lovable characters that appealed to both children and adults. Sly social commentary about pollution and sloth also gets worked in nicely. A kids movie that has an artistic edge is tough to pull off. Wall-E makes it work.

1. The Dark Knight

The greatest Superhero movie ever made, The Dark Knight hits all its marks. Adrenalin pumping action, characters that stand out yet are true to the comic roots, brilliant direction and art direction, first class acting performances...the list goes on and on. While there certainly will be a Batman 3, The Dark Knight is so good it's actually worth stopping the series now. You just can't beat perfection. Plus, we all get to do that low gravelly "Batman" voice for fun. Talk like you're taking a big dump that's stuck and say "I'm Batman". Guaranteed hours of entertainment! Okay, maybe I need to find higher forms of entertainment.

And that wraps up the high points of 2008 for me. All right 2009, bring it on!

Midnight Madness - Abbott and Costello Edition

Land of Confusion - Abbott and Costello work out the starting lineup in a comedy of errors.

I've been away for a little bit enjoying my Birthday! It's been a great couple of days, hopefully things will continue to go on a positive roll. One of the gifts I got was a Nintendo Wii, so now I'll have even more stuff to blog about. And now, time to go crazy.

Thank You! - Thank you to everyone for the Birthday wishes! You helped make this a great Birthday. And thank you to the Bunny!

Shotgun Blues - Axl Rose continues to follow The Tubes old "Completion Backwards Principle" by doing very little press for the release of Chinese Democracy but instead take the time to lash out at Dr Pepper for a botched promotional tie in. We missed you Axl! You remain the rocker whose next hit is usually a literal punch at someone.

Viva La Vida Redux - Coldplay's smash hit continues to be a magnet for plagiarism claims, this time by established guitar god Joe Satriani. Who knew Coldplay's most original sounding song could seem so derivative? What I heard did have some similarities, but I can't help but wonder if the timing of the lawsuit is because of the Grammy noms.

The Day Finally Came - Metallica is free of their record label and is considering the internet for future direct distribution of their music.

Darling Britney - Shades of the movement that started the PMRC, parents are getting upset about Britney Spear's song "If You Seek Amy" which is pronounced "If - U - See - Kay - Me". Where's Tipper Gore when you need her? The song is normal pop junk, but I have a soft spot for mildly offensive entertainment. Besides, April Wine beat Spears to this gimmick over 25 years ago.

It's Stevie Nicks, B*tch - Just seemed natural to follow a Britney Spears comment with this phrase. Fleetwood Mac is planning some touring in 2009.

Cable TV Roundup - What's new on Cable Networks? Let's take a look :

• Hulk Hogan Celebrity Championship Wrestling - backed by real wrestling folk (Eric Bishoff, Jimmy Hart) this show comes with a bit of pedigree to its D level celebrity reality tv. The program is actually more fun that it has a right to be, watching the likes of Dennis Rodman, Todd Bridges, Danny Bonaduce and Dustin Diamond chop and DDT each other is pretty cool. It's on CMT.


• That Metal Show - Wayne's World was not meant to be taken seriously...or was it? Eddie Trunk and crew gab over what's truly important, such as if Led Zep or Black Sabbath had a greater influence on Hard Rock. A rock geek's paradise on VH1 Classic.


• Chase - The game show that's meant to be like a video game, it's very reminiscent of the old Schwartzenegger flick The Running Man. Contestants are given a backpack and a maze like environment to run through timed missions while evading Matrix looking people. A big game of Tag with special rules, I actually found this program to be fairly entertaining. It's on Sci Fi Channel (Thank you to Some Kinda Wonderful and her son for the correction, I had listed G4 which became Spike a long time ago and was the wrong channel anyway).

Grammy Awards - The latest Grammy Awards are out and so I thought I would take a look at the Song of the Year nominees:

• American Boy by Estelle featuring Kanye West - I haven't heard this song until today, it's surprisingly breezy and slightly jazzy (the presence of Kanye West part had me expecting something harsher). A pleasant song that will undoubtedly get co-opted into a clothing commercial some day.


• Chasing Pavements by Adele - An inventive video does a nice job of enhancing the song. The latest British girl to ride the old school Soul wave, this song does have a nice sweeping hook and strong plaintive vocal.


• I'm Yours by Jason Mraz - Three songs into these nominated tunes and I think I'm finding a pattern. The Grammy's are all about relaxation this year. This song is Ok, maybe a grower, makes me want to take a tropical vacation. Or eat chicken wings at a sports bar. One of those two things.


• Love Song by Sara Bareilles - A good piano based jam that got massively overplayed, still like the clever writing angle. And as this has been commercialized already, I think of that computer printer ad everytime I hear this. Still, a good song.


• Viva La Vida by Coldplay - Or Lawsuit and All Of His Friends, this is my favorite of the songs nominated here. I wish they had expanded on the Apple video instead of this album cover come to life thing they did here. Oh well. One of my favorite songs of this past year.

And one for the road, I just felt like posting this classic Abbott and Costello clip. A & C movies were favorites of mine on weekend tv growing up, here's my favorite comedy bit of theirs, Who's on First. I once tried to memorize it, got nowhere close.

Abbott and Costello "Who's On First?"

Midnight Madness - Saint Sammy Edition

Jimmy Buffett's biggest threat - The Cabo Wabo lovin' Red Rocker Sammy Hagar.

While I can't say I agree with everything Sammy Hagar does or believes in as a person, I am convinced that his music has important life lessons that can lead to a happy life. I covered many of them on a previous post and with a new album on the horizon Sam has yet more wisdom to impart on us. "Cosmic Universal Fashion" from the album of the same name is a sequel to the classic Van Halen video Right Now in which Hagar comments on the state of the world today. Teach us, oh great one!

The Beatles are bigger than Sammy Hagar - Two items have popped up about the Fab Four, the first being Paul McCartney talking about releasing a 14 minute lost Beatles song. The song called "Carnival of Light" sounds like it will be one of those Brian Wilson sort of sound collages. It will be interesting if it sees the light of day. In other Beatles news, the Vatican has forgiven John Lennon for his famous remark of being more popular than Jesus. The comment is now taken as a "boast".

Free Axl! - Guns N Roses' Chinese Democracy is released today. After a decade plus of recording the world will finally hear these songs. I haven't heard it yet, but I still say its an album better heard about than actually heard. No way it can live up to the weight of expectations and hype. Because to do that, it would have to be the greatest album made by anyone anytime ever.

Hella Good - No Doubt is regrouping for recording and touring, good news for fun loving ska music lovers everywhere.

It Doesn't Suck? - Twilight is the #1 movie out right now in terms of ticket sales. I still can't stand the commercial.

Pieces of Me - In other star struck irrelevant celebrity news that I read as often as possible, Ashlee Simpson and Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz has had a baby named Bronx Mowgli. I could be wrong, isn't Mowgli the name of those creatures that turn into Gremlins?

So Predictable it's Uncanny - The X-Men franchise is going for the younger actors approach (read - cheaper) that was pointed to with the last X Men movie. They've brought in the guy who made Gossip Girl and one of my favorite shows, Chuck, to put it together. I love watching Chuck yet smell a Batman and Robin coming on here.

Working for the Boss - Bruce Springsteen announced a track listing for his upcoming January CD and his new song "Working On A Dream" is hitting radio. As is his talent, Springsteen manages to capture a moment in song. To hear it, click here.

Extreme Hoax - Tonight's WWE Survivor Series includes a story line that wrestler Jeff Hardy was found unconscious at the bottom of a stairwell in his hotel this morning. I don't know how the story was presented on WWE.Com where the story originated, but it seemed to catch on with the rest of the media as factual. While wrestling continuously blurs the line between fantasy and reality, I hope this trend doesn't continue or it might cause a "cry wolf" effect when real events happen.

WWE Survivor Series - Not just a title this year, the long running PPV has the traditional team vs team format back. Tonight's PPV was a solid effort for me, here's what I recall-

• Team HBK (Shawn Michaels, The Great Khali, Rey Mysterio, Cryme Time) vs Team JBL (JBL, Miz and Morrison, Kane and MVP)- An effective match and decent opener to the PPV with a lot of running and jumping courtesy of Mysterio. Team HBK gets the win.
• Smackdown Divas vs Raw Divas- I missed some of this match, it looked like fairly typical Divas stuff. The only parts that stood out to me were the pop Mickie James got on her entrance and the fun of watching Natalya apply the Sharpshooter on Candice Michelle. The Beth Phoenix team won, I don't know what team that is.
• Undertaker vs Big Show in a Casket Match - Heavily hyped and slowly paced, this match mainly consisted of lumbering moves that seemed to take forever. A normal thing for a "Big Guy" match to go slow but this one just seemed leaden. Even the part where Taker leg drops Show through a table didn't quite have the impact it should have. What's the new catch phrase out there? Meh.
• Team Orton (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, William Regal, Mark Henry and Shelton Benjamin) vs Team Batista (Batista, Matt Hardy, Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, R-Truth). The pace picks up again with another solid Survivor Series classic style match. Didn't see all of this one and didn't notice any real highlights, but nothing bad either.
• Triple HHH vs Vladmir Koslov for the WWE Championship - A pretty good match up, the two power houses actually focused on a mat wrestling style for most of it. This seemed to draw some "boring" chants but I liked it. Edge came back and was brought out at the end courtesy of Vicki Guerrero to be the third member of the Triple Threat match. Jeff Hardy's run in inadvertently helps Edge score the championship. To my surprise, Edge looked a little pudgy. I guess whatever Hell the Undertaker banished Edge to had a McDonalds. The extra weight didn't stop Edge from laying a killer spear on The Game.
• John Cena vs Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship - Cena's return to wrestling following major neck surgery. Like a lot of superstars returning from this type of injury, the match was the story of the neck. Jericho focused his attack on the neck, Cena sold the neck and babied it throughout the match as commentators hyped it to the point I was convinced a neck breaker might cause Cena's head to snap off the rest of his body. Cena did look rusty out there and a touch lost but one of his strengths is his ability to show emotion to the crowd. Bonus points to Jericho for sounding really concerned after kicking Cena in the head. He audibly yelled "Check him!" to the ref as Cena was left lying on the ground. It was predictable, but Cena got the win for the championship. He went into the audience to hug his family, but he looked dazed and I think he might have left a little boy hanging for a high five right in front of him. It was messy, but otherwise Cena is back on the Chaingang.
  

Cosmic Universal Fashion - The new vid is below. More greatness from the man Howard Stern proclaims "has the best teeth in Rock".

Sammy Hagar - Cosmic Universal Fashion

Midnight Madness - The Karate Kid Edition

After this movie, all anyone would talk about was how this move wouldn't work in real life. I guess they thought all the other stuff in the movie was incredibly realistic.

One of the great films of the '80's, The Karate Kid (1984), has been a long time favorite flick of mine. Directed by John G Alvidsen, the movie took Rocky and put it in the teen years. When I saw this movie in the theater, the audience erupted as Ralph Macchio crane kicked William Zabka for the championship. Now a new generation is being exposed to the greatness of this classic motivational movie.

Ooh La La - Rumors are going around the media that The Faces are considering a reunion. Hopefully it will happen, my wife is a big fan.

What will happen to Bubbles? - Michael Jackson sold off his theme park home, the Neverland Ranch.

Watcher of the Skies - Genesis is still kicking around the idea of a Peter Gabriel / Steve Hackett version reunion. As impressive as it would be to have this version roll out, I wonder how big an audience is out there waiting for it to happen. There are definitely fans out there but while the Gabriel era gets more respect it was the Phil Collins era that sold records.

Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen will debut part of his new song "Working on a Dream" during a Sunday Night Football game tonight. The Boss is on a roll!

In Spite Of His Rage He Is Still Just A Rat In A Cage - the new Smashing Pumpkins tour is said to be dissolving into trash talk between Billy Corgan and the audience. Corgan is always an innovator, searching for new ways to self destruct.

Perfect Crime - The dude who illegally distributed the new Guns N Roses songs pleaded guilty in court. Another guy in court pleading no contest is ex-drummer Steven Adler for possession of heroin. The drug addled Adler hopes to reunite with Guns N Roses in the future. This poor guy gets sadder and sadder by the second.

Joey, Have You Ever Been To A Turkish Prison? - The city of Batman, Turkey is suing the makers of The Dark Knight for usage of the name Batman. Batman's Mayor charges that his city's high crime and suicide rate is caused by, well, Batman. Sooo...apparently Turkey must have just found out about Batman after what 70 years? Decades of comic books, a TV series and six movies just got by them. And they must not have seen or read Batman because otherwise they would know he does the opposite, he fights crime. If this stupid lawsuit works, I'm going to sue that Mikey kid from the Life cereal commercials. Do you know how many times I had to hear "He like's it, hey Mikey!" or "Give it to Mikey, Mikey will eat anything" growing up? Cereal eatin' jerk.

The Stroke - (s), The Strokes are planning to get back together next year. Can they get back that early magic of shambolic indie rock?

Goin' Rogue in Widescreen - What's the deal with these movie commercials being shown in letterbox with the title on the top? Commercials for a lot of movies are doing this now, it's really annoying. The latest in this trend is the commercial for the upcoming Vampire flick Twilight. With the letterboxing going on it draws extra attention to the title and date but makes me less involved with what they're showing. The movie being advertised loses credibility to me because they don't have enough faith that people will watch the commerical to the end to find out what movie it is. Because of this, everytime Twilight's ad comes on and the girl says "I know what you are" and he says "Say it" I say "Someone who needs acting lessons because this scene seems really cheesy." I saw a full screen commercial on You Tube and didn't have that reaction. Bring back the old full screen commercials!

Passings - Author Michael Crichton passed away at the age of 66 after an esteemed career writing books like The Andromeda Strain and Jurrasic Park. The last of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, drummer Mitch Mitchell, passed on as well at age 61.

Wax On, Wax Off - 80's movie classic The Karate Kid is picking up visibility again. First, WWE Wrestler Funaki has repackaged his gimmick to be Kung Fu Naki. Funaki now wears a white gi and headband reminiscent of Ralph Macchio's get up while using the famous Crane Kick for a finishing move. Then Will Smith's son Jaden is said to be lined up for a remake of the film. A missed opportunity here, I think Karate Kid 4 should have Macchio and William Zabka start fighting again as adults. Wait, that sorta happened. See the video below.

No More Kings "Sweep The Leg"

Top 10 Favorite Horror Related Videos

Hmm...doesn't look so scary with just Milla Jovovovich (is that how it's spelled? That's probably wrong) standing there.

It's Halloween which means its time for trick or treat. I'm not big on horror. Never been my thing. Today is Halloween though, so it seems fitting to have a salute to horror! I'll start by talking about the scariest movie I ever saw - Resident Evil. The weird thing is, watching it wasn't that scary. There was action and gore and monsters and such but what was scary was after the movie was over. I pondered death and mortality for a while after seeing that movie, you would think seeing The Seventh Seal would do this, but it was Resident Evil. Go figure. Anyway, here's my Top 10 favorite horror music videos:

10. Michael Sembello - Maniac (1983)

Flashdance! Be afraid. Be very afraid. Just joking, I don't mind Flashdance. This song by Michael Sembello was originally written with slasher film lyrics that were changed for the Jennifer Beals classic. I'd love to hear those original lyrics. Unrelated to this subject, in high school I wore a grey long sleeve shirt to a pickup game of football in the park. A tackler grabbed the collar of my shirt and ripped the shirt down to the arm leaving it my bare shoulder hanging open. On the walk home, I had to hear people say "Hey Flashdance!" The horror...the horror.

9. Talking Heads -Psycho Killer (1977)

Going to get a little brainy and throw out some Talking Heads and not the Reanimator type either. Everything sounds better to a Talking Heads beat, even as David Byrne quavers out "Psycho Killer / Ba Ba BA Ba Ba BA Ba BA Ba" to a steady but relentless thumping beat.

8. Dokken - Dream Warriors (1987)

The Freddy Krueger series was starting to get a little toothless by the time Dokken recorded "Dream Warriors" for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3. The first movie I considered to be one of the best fright flicks of the decade. By the third go around, the sleep killer needed a little boost and Dokken was there to rock out in the church set where the finale takes place. One, two Dokken's after you. Three, four better shut the door. Guitarist George Lynch gets like the best entrance in the video. Cool Skull and Bones guitar too.

7. Nine Inch Nails - Closer (1994)

Disturbing, grainy, scratchy - and then there's the video. The clip opens with a heart strapped to a chair pulsing out steam and then proceeds to throw mechanized pig heads, Saw like torture chambers and hints at S&M. There's an edited for TV version linked here because I thought that would be enough for this post. Bugs, raw meat and reptiles - oh my!

6. Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon (1983)

Ozzy played up the more cartoonish aspects of his "occult" image after leaving Black Sabbath. In '83 he went whole hog by turning into a sort of werewolf for the album cover and video of Bark at the Moon. There's a little Jeckyl and Hyde thrown in too. Backed by new guitarist Jake E Lee, Ozzy alternates between his most cleancut look and the hairy monster. But the thing I really take away from this video - Extreme Closeup! BwaHaHa!!
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5. Rihanna - Disturbia (2008)

The Pop sensation went spooky with her recent smash hit, the director utilizing all of those modern horror effects of insect like body movements and a parade of freaks surrounding her. She even does those pupil-less contact lenses to give her eyes a blank white look. Like when Captain Kirk had to face off against Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell who had achieved God like powers in Star Trek. The rest has elements of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and that movie Jacob's Ladder where peoples heads would move in a big blur.

4. Metallica - One (1988)

The Metal warriors had cred galore when they issued this all time classic video taking scenes from the film Johnny Got His Gun and whittling it down to a few minutes that may make it more powerful than the whole film. The thought of being entirely cut off from contact or communications with others but still conscious and alive - that's scary.

3. Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People (1996)

Flagrantly shoving the grotesque in people's faces is what Marilyn Manson specialized in. This song I associate more with Wrestling than horror (it was the theme song to WWE's Smackdown for a while). The video has troubling wraith like visuals delivered in an almost dreamlike trance. It would probably be scarier but I'm watching Smackdown at the same time so it's making me think of the Undertaker's Casket Match more than anything else.

2. Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982)

How could this not make the list? It just seems wrong not to name it, a milestone in Pop culture. Though I think recent history has shown the Gloved One is scarier in real life than on film.

1. Level 42 - "Something About You" (1986)

Is there anything more frightening than an ugly clown that suddenly confronts you to mess with your life? If you're me, then the answer is No and so the video for this mid-80's mellow classic is the most haunting thing I've seen in music. The image of the lead singer in stark white visual effect laughing in the hallway as the camera runs away is burned in my brain. Yeah dude, there's something about you that scares the hell out of me.

Level 42 "Something About You"