Thursday, August 31, 2006

Ryan "The Dark Horse" Star rides off into the sunset. Adios, Muchacho!!

Happy days are here again! Captain Sourpuss, Ryan "The Dark Horse" Star, is gone. I can't actually believe that it has finally happened. After all the talk about how he has improved each week, a fact that I begrudgingly agree with, he gets the boot. I guess the fact that he sucks and that he was the only one of last night's bottom three to have ever been in the bottom three was his downfall. Bratch and I both yelled and cheered for joy as this moron got his eviction notice.

I must say that all the performances last night were just horrible. In fact, I believe that horrible performance by Dilana cost her this competition. That was so bad that I am not sure she can recover from it combined with her megalomaniacal outburst these last few weeks. I think she has moved down and the fact that she was in the bottom three after never having even sniffed the bottom, leads me to believe that she has alienated America.

The biggest surprise of the night was that Magni was clearly the leading vote getter last night. How did this happen? He has been in the bottom three for the last couple of weeks. I just assumed the voters didn't like his look or his accent. I would be happy to see him win this thing. Hell, now that Ryan is gone, I would be happy with anyone at this point, even crappy Storm or Udo(Lukas).

Speaking of Lukas, I thought he did an alright job last night with SuperNova. I couldn't understand a word he said, but when is that important at a live rock 'n' roll show. I even thought he sounded great when he actually sang. If he starts actually singing more and quits using his choked off style of singing, I think he will be alright. But whoever wins this thing, just like we will never see Ryan "on the charts" as he said we will, we won't be hearing about the winner of this contest in the next 5 years. But it does make great bad TV.

This week's sign that Tom Cruise is insane...

You know, when Tom Cruise was in the midst of creating his stark raving mad lunatic image, I still went and saw War of the Worlds and Mission Impossible III. I'll even say that I enjoyed them a little bit, however I don't think I can go see another one of his films.

I never thought that he would really say or do anything to sway me in the opposite direction of his work, but I refuse to give anymore of my money to someone so insane.

This week the Cruises unveiled a bronze sculpture of their child Suri's (which means "pick-pocket" in Japanese) first bowel movement.

Let me tell you how repulsed I was when I saw this thing. Yesterday I had to go cover an accident in which an 18-wheel tractor trailor slammed on its brakes and since it didn't have its trailor covered it dumped human sewage all over the road. About eight inches deep. So much that it took a backhoe and bobcat to scoop this stuff up.

Suri Cruise's bronze sh*t somehow seemed more disgusting than hundreds of pounds of sh*t to me. I guess its because that when young Suri was born Tom Cruise actually made a comment that he was going to eat the placenta. See I thought he was just kidding as in even he knew how crazy he was kind of acting and he was poking fun at himself.

However, when I see his child's first bowel movement forever immortalized as art... I really think he did eat the placenta and as far as I'm concerned that's cannibalism, brotha.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

The art of the foley artist...porn style.

Here is maybe the funniest or the weirdest thing you will ever see. It is a youtube video about a porn foley artist. A foley artist is the person who makes the sound effects for movies. You can guess what kind of movies a porn foley artist makes sound effects for. I will warn you, there is some language content, but not a huge amount. Otherwise it is something that I wish I had come up with. It is also very informative. If you want a tasty sandwich you use Hellman’s because it is a delicious mayonnaise, but for sound effects, you always use Miracle Whip. Click the link and enjoy!!!

Weekly Rockstar:SuperNova Analysis

We are coming down to the wire with RockStar:SuperNova and last night’s show was probably the best so far. Of course this is because we got rid of the dead weight. It’s time for my world famous RockStar:Analysis.

Udo(Lukas) was first and he was singing Lithium, good gravy, another Nirvana song. Here’s Udo in a nutshell, he has the look, he has the stage presence, but I don’t think I could take his voice for a whole album. I didn’t really like this arrangement of the song and I don’t even really like the original all that much. It was a pretty good performance, probably his best.

Magni is next singing a stupid Live song and I already hate his performance because of that. Magni has everything that Lukas has except Magni has a better voice. He did a good job, so well in fact, Dave channeled a Southern black woman while hooting and hollering. I think T-Lee hates Magni because he always picks at him for something little. One week he doesn’t want him to have a guitar, the next week he wants him to, one week he wants Magni in the crowd, the next week he doesn’t think he went far enough into the crowd. Make up your mind you psycho.

Now we have Captain Sourpuss singing Clocks. I have to admit that I almost enjoyed this performance. I am not sure what I hate more, him or the fact that he might just win this thing. I kept hoping he would fall off the piano, but he held on for the whole ride. Did you see the look Newsted gave the crowd when they booed him? He looked very upset.

Storm is next with Bring Me to Life and I wasn’t sure she could pull it off, and I was half right. I think she was flat for most of it, but like Newsted said, she brought the effort, if not a little Broadway. I love how Storm always wants us to know that every week she is singing the hardest song. I guess she thinks that gives her a built in excuse for why she doesn’t sound good. And why, oh, why would you invite someone you are competing against to sing with you and take a chance that person steals the spotlight from you. The cameras spent a bit of time on Toby and I noticed that I was watching him as much as Storm. She may be in big, big trouble this week.

Toby is back on his own singing Rebel Yell, Billy Idol’s second or third best song. I think he has gotten better and better each of these last few weeks and I hated him 3 or 4 weeks ago. I even think he sounded better with SuperNova than Dilana. Sorry Dilana. I love you. That was a great guitar solo. Perv Alert!! Toby & T-Lee I have a feeling if these two were on the road, you would literally have to lock up your wives and daughters.

Finally we have Dilana and she is singing Mother, Mother. I thought she threw off a Lenny Kravitz vibe, circa Are U Gonna Go My Way. I love the eye makeup, I love the headbanging, I loved it all. It was full of life, anger, and her screaming was great. She has the best voice, the most original. And she can kick, in fact, she almost kicked herself in the head. I would buy this version of the song. In case you can’t tell, I thought this was pretty good. She is a delight.

I have a feeling that all will be in the running for the bottom three tonight. We know that Storm, Ryan and Lukas are going to be in the running, and Bratch and I cheered when we saw Ryan and Lukas in the bottom three after the first 4 mintues of voting. I have a feeling that Magni and Storm will definitely be in the bottom three and it doesn’t matter who the other one is. I think even though Storm hasn’t been bottom three as many times as Magni, I believe that she will go home tonight. But I hope Ryan goes, Lordy mercy do I hope he goes home tonight. Then I might be able to enjoy this show more.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Piccu's Summertime Movietime Picks: Redux TCM Summer Under the Stars Edition Aug. 29-Sept. 2

Here a few classic movie picks to keep you busy this holiday weekend. This week rounds up TCM’s Summer Under the Stars and today’s star is the beautiful Ingrid Bergman. She is one of my favorite actresses and a few of her best are on today. Unfortunately one of them will be on too early to check out, but at 6:15 PM EST you can check out one of the greatest movies of all time, Casablanca. Casablanca stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick, the owner of a café in North Africa during World War II. Ingrid Bergman plays a lover from his past that draws him into the war. This movie is an essential for anyone who wants to try to appreciate classic movies.

On Wednesday, August 30, it is Sidney Poitier day and there are a couple of great movies you should check out. At 1 PM EST, The Defiant Ones will be shown and it stars Poitier and Tony Curtis as a couple of convicts who escape and are chained together. Neither one likes the other, but realize that they have to rely on each other to stay free. For all of you, like me, who love a good prison break movie, this may be the best. It is non stop action. At 10 PM EST we have In the Heat of the Night with Poitier as a black detective form Philadelphia who helps with a murder investigation in racist Mississippi. This is a great movie about society in the deep South during this time period and how people can overcome their prejudices.

On Thursday, August 31, we have Barbara Stanwyck day and perhaps the movie she is most known for is the great film noir classic, Double Indemnity. In this film, Stanwyck plays the ultimate femme fatale and seduces Fred MacMurray and gets him to help her murder her husband. This is a dark and twisty film and it has that great hard boiled dialogue that you expect in a great noir film. Such as, “They've committed a murder and it's not like taking a trolley ride together where they can get off at different stops. They're stuck with each other and they've got to ride all the way to the end of the line and it's a one-way trip and the last stop is the cemetery.” Writing like that is what makes a great movie a great movie.

On Friday, September 1, we begin a regular month on TCM, but they seem to be ready to roll out September with a bang by playing some great films. At 9:30 AM EST for all of you who like courtroom dramas we have 12 Angry Men. This movie stars Henry Fonda as man who is not quite convinced the defendant commited the crime of which he has been accused. Bratch and I watch this anytime we find it on TV. At 1:30 PM we have Sabrina starring Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, and Humphrey Bogart. I would say this is a chick flick except Bogart has never been in a chick flick. This is a great romantic movie the kinds of which just aren’t made anymore, see the remake and see for yourself.

On Saturday I must insist you check out To Kill a Mockingbird at 3:15 PM EST. Not only is it a great book, but it may be the first movie that does justice to the book. Gregory Peck plays Atticus Finch, a lawyer defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. Peck's character was voted the best hero in movie history according to the American Film Institute. If you do not watch this, you should have an eye gouged out. At 7 PM EST on Saturday, we have The Hustler starring Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson; a character he plays an older version of Fast Eddie in The Color of Money. Newman is a pool shark whose sole goal is to defeat pool hall legend Minnesota Fats, played by Jackie Gleason. George C. Scott is the scumbag manager/gambler that takes Eddie under his wing and ruins his life. This movie is very good, but a really dark movie, very violent. Newman never makes a bad movie and this is one of his very best.

That’s all I got and probably more than you wanted. You don’t have to watch all of my picks, but you would do yourself a favor if you checked a couple out. The Fall TV season has already begun on FOX (by the way, check out Bones on FOX on Wednesday night at 8 PM EST) and will begin in the next few weeks on the rest of the networks, so you have a limited amount of time to watch and/or DVR some great classic movies. I believe you will realize what I have realized and that is Turner Classic Movies and a DVR can save you plenty of money that would have been spent renting DVDs.

Merlin and the Toast have been up to the devil's business.

In case some of you didn’t already know, Merlin and French Toast have had little Merlin Toast, Jr. His name is Holden Michael and he was 8 or 9 lbs. and 19 inches long I believe. I’m sure they already have him on a special diet and working out a couple times a day preparing for his first half-marathon.

Before you call us and tell us, “You gotta see the baby.” Bratch and I will be on our way to the SC in October for Scary Movie Marathon 2006 and not only will we see little Holdi, but we will introduce him to his first horror movie.

I think I can say from everyone here at IA, we wish Merlin, the Toast and little Merlin all the best.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Just when you think the JonBenet Ramsey case can't get crazier, charges against John Mark Karr dropped.

How can something that you had suspected from the start be shocking when it actually comes true. John Mark Karr is not going to be charged in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Apparently the DNA found on JonBenet’s clothes was not a match to Karr. I thought this was fishy from the word go. He claimed to have picked her up from school the day she was murdered, when anyone who has half a brain knows that 99.9% of the schools in this country are not in session the day after Christmas. His ex-wife claims he was with her during this time, and ex-wives do not usually seem the type to want to come forward and help their ex-husbands with alibis.

There now seem to be three questions on my mind after this travishamockery. The first one is can they not find one competent person to run the DA’s office in Boulder? Isn’t this the second DA to c*^@k up this investigation? Maybe they just have to take what they can get because no one wants to be associated with the Boulder authorities and this is the best they have to choose from. Did these people not think to check out who Karr was associated with during the time of the murder and question them about his whereabouts? Did they just not investigate anything? I think they were just so excited that they thought they had a break in the case that they forgot how to run an investigation. Now they look like bigger idiots than the first time they bungled this thing.

The second question is what is the deal with this weirdo Karr? Why do you confess to a murder that you have to know has no evidence linking you to it? He is obviously a deranged individual and should spend some time away from society, but it is hard for me to comprehend the need to integrate yourself into this circus. The good thing to come out of this is, if he is indeed a pedophile, if this keeps him away from children so he doesn’t actually commit a crime like this, then this may be worth it.

Now the last question is the million dollar question and one we have been asking for ten years, who killed JonBenet? I can’t imagine that we will ever know what happened, barring a death bed confession, and even then can we be sure it is the truth? I do not see the Boulder police coming up with anything because they do not exactly inspire confidence. I still can’t help but feel that someone in the family knows something. It may be wrong to think that, but what can I say, I love conspiracies. Perhaps this whole thing was a conspiracy. Maybe someone paid Karr or agreed to help him out in some way if he took the fall. I am not sure we will ever know the answers to any of our questions.

RockStar:SuperNova Pregame Warmups

I am bored today. Anyway, I have some pregame hype for tomorrow night’s RockStar:SuperNova (Man, am I going to miss this show when it’s gone). I have a website linked with this piece that claims to know the winner of the show already. I am guessing the site is a gossip site and they claim that unless something crazy happens, and they mentioned an arrest, then this will be the one picked for the gig. I do know that they tape the Tuesday show on Sunday and they tape the Wednesday show at about noon EST on Wednesday, but I do not know how this info could have been leaked. You would think that every reality show would have a confidentiality clause about things like this. Another thing…THE SHOW ISN’T OVER YET.

I can’t imagine living in the house and hearing this news. Why would you even want to continue if the winner has already been chosen? This person who has been “named” as the winner better hope that SuperNova, or the CBS producers or whoever picks the winner, doesn’t decide to pick someone else because this has been leaked out. That is if it is even true. If you want to see who is rumored to have already been chosen click the link.

I am worried about Dilana and her little episode last week. I just listened to The Rock N Roll Geek Show and he did the RockStar recap show with his 16 year old daughter and she plainly said that she USED to like Dilana, but after she saw the way she acted, she doesn’t anymore. I believe that is why unless there is some damage control this week, I think we will see Dilana in her first bottom three this week.

I have just watched the reality portion, which is better than the actual show by the way, on the RockStar website and Dilana pretty much freaked out at dinner after the Wednesday night show. She was crying and she got mad at a camera guy moving in on her and cussed and flipped him off. She then got up and slammed a big glass onto the ground and a piece bounced up and hit Magni in the head, cutting him open. Not cool Dilana. She better hope the do not mention any of this Tuesday, but it wouldn’t be good TV if they didn’t.

Then they each had a photoshoot and most of them did well, except for Captain Sourpuss. The photographer asked Ryan to smile because he had enough of his p***ed off look, he wanted his happy, sexy look. Ryan said, “I don’t think I have that look.” Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You suck, Ryan.

This week the “rockers” will be singing songs picked by the fans. That sounded like a good idea to me at first, but then I saw that all the songs the fans got to choose from were songs that have already been performed. So now I have to listen to another Nirvana song…AGAIN and another Live song…AGAIN. Tuesday sounds like it will be a show you can skip, but Wednesday, we are going to start losing singers who could actually win. It took us about 7 or 8 weeks, but RockStar should be getting interesting.

The dumbest question that ever received a yes answer is...Can I shoot you in the back with this potato gun?

Click the link for a video on break.com that involves pain and hilarity. Apparently some idiots got together and thought it would be fun to shoot one of them with a potato gun. The idiot who gets it in the back appears on screen wearing some sort of goofy mask and he hams it up for the camera. Little does he know that despite the padding he appears to be wearing, he will be on the ground in obvious pain spinning in a circle like Curly Howard and gasping for air. How I love idiots and seeing them get hurt.

Tower Records file for bankruptcy...again.

Tower Records is filing for bankruptcy, for the second time in the last two years. The Yahoo article tries to place most of the blame for the decline in the music retail industry on digital music downloads; while others are not giving digital downloads that much credit. I think the biggest problem is the price of cds, mixed with a lack of really great artists.

I have been to Tower Records one time in my life, basically because there isn’t one within 1000 miles of me, I noticed that most of the cd prices were $14 to $15 per cd. I won’t spend that much money on a cd. When you can buy a complete album on iTunes for $9.99, I can see many buying there rather than a record store. But prices, not iTunes, are the downfall of the music business. When a cd only cost about a dollar to produce, you should be able to sell it to me for less than $15.

Wal-Mart is certainly not helping record stores, because they are willing to take a loss on their cds because when they get you through their doors, they will trick you into buying something else. I do most of my cd shopping on Amazon because it is very convenient and you can find some good used cds che-ee-eap. I also love Target and Best Buy, but even they sometimes have too high cd prices.

Bratch loves the download. He loves being able to download and listen to it within minutes. That is cool, but I have always been the kind who wants the cd case. I want the cd booklet. I want to smell the paper and read the lyrics. I guess I am just old fashioned. Of course, if I just want a single or two, I will definitely download, but an album has to be physical and cheap.

I also believe that a lack of great artists is a big reason for the downfall of the music retail industry. There aren’t that many artists out there who I run right out and pick up. I now bide my time and wait to find a cheap used cd. I used to rush out on Tuesdays and buy cds, but there hasn’t been a cd worth the rush in a few years, it seems.

The retail business doesn’t want to hear this, but the only way to get people to buy cds is to lower your prices. You may have to work out some sort of deal with the artists to avoid losing money, but low prices equal high sales. They could at least start out by pricing every cd at $9.99 or less to keep up with iTunes. As for sales of singles, let iTunes have that part of the business, unless you can keep cd singles at the $.99 range and perhaps include a couple of bonus songs. I’m sure that it not as easy as it seems, but you would think someone would at least try it before there are no more record stores.

Invincible takes an original idea and rides it to box office gold.

I just checked the box office numbers and it seems that Marky-Mark’s movie Invincible is the box office champ this week with a modest $17 million take. I remember telling Bratch the other day, that a good idea for a movie would be a sports movie, perhaps a football movie. The movie should have some sort of underdog scenario, like a hardnosed guy trying to make the team and persevering, or a team of misfits that are horrible as a team, but they come together when it counts and win the championship. It would also help, and make compelling movie watching, if there were a few players who hated each other for a stupid reason and then in the end, one helps the other out and they become friends.

It also helps if there is a certain team that is just a bunch of dirty creeps who like to cheat and like to do despicable things to win. This will set things up for a great ending, speaking of which, one thing you definitely need is a feel good ending. People do not want to see a downbeat ending to a sports movie, this is America, dammit. The hero should make the team and help the team win at a most opportune time, or the underdog team should win the championship. I want to be uplifted when I watch a sports movie.

I just realized when I saw the trailer for Invincible, that we have never seen an uplifting sports movie before, at least not about football. In fact, I must not be the only one to think that because we have another football movie called the Gridiron Gang, starring the Rock, that will be coming out soon. It is about kids who are in juvenile detention and the Rock teaches them to play football. It also appears that kids from rival neighborhoods hate each other at first, but learn to love each other as they overcome an insurmountable obstacle. It is just what I have been looking for, you know, something original.

As much as I think I will love this brand new genre I will call inspirational sports movies, I hope Hollywood doesn’t start to exploit this formula and put out two or three inspirational sports movies a year. That would be sad and would kill any goodwill I had toward these types of movies. Hopefully, we won’t have to worry about an over saturation of inspirational sports movies with the exact same storyline and the same stereotypical characters. Ahh, what am I talking about; I am sure Hollywood is full of smart writers who have plenty of original ideas.

The Ricky Gervais Show returns and it is brilliant.

The Ricky Gervais Show Series 3 is now available on iTunes and I highly recommend this for your listening pleasure. I have been a fan of Ricky Gervais since I started watching the British version of The Office a few years ago. He started his podcast late last year and it became the most downloaded podcast in history. He is now back for a third round of shows and if the first one is any indication, these next six shows will be as good as the first sets.

Ricky is joined by his writing partner Steven Merchant, who plays his agent in the HBO series Extras, and they are joined by their former radio producer Karl Pilkington. As Ricky has said many times before, Karl Pilkington is an f’ing madman. I have listened to every Gervais podcast so far and I still can’t figure out if this guy is for real or just a great stone faced comedian. The first series was free, but you have to pay for the rest. You can buy all the series and download a series of video podcasts for free.

If you like the British version of The Office or the HBO show Extras, and you fancy British humor, then you should check this podcast out. It debuts a new episode every Tuesday and is the only podcast that I can’t wait to download and listen too. It is so good that I have listened to series one and two about 15 times each. That is sad and shows you how much free time I have on my hands, but it is worth every wasted hour.

Friday, August 25, 2006

In Southeast Asia They Call This Bad Karma

Apparently in Louisville a man was shot. Upon driving himself to the hospital, he ran out of gas and died. If there was ever such a thing as bad luck, this guy's got it.
I've got nothing left to add.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Paying Little Leaguers?

Why is it that everyone always thinks that because they are watching a fun sports contest that they feel like the athletes should be paid? Back in the good old days players played because they loved the games. Pro ball players in most every sport took jobs in the off season. Now they are millionaires.

In an article by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports, he offers up the idea that Little League baseball players that are shown on ESPN should be paid. I guess it would be alright, but I think that it would ultimately change the game. The reason that Little League baseball is so appealing is because its players are there for the pure love of the game.

Every year someone brings up paying college athletes as if a free education that costs most all other students $30,000 or more isn't enough.

Just because a kid is fairly decent at a sport doesn't mean they should be paid for it.
How about we let amatuer sports be amatuer sports, let college athletes get free educations, college players get free educations and 13 year-olds play baseball because it's friggin' fun.

Random thoughts...

I'm basically killing time before lunch, but there are a few things on my mind.

–Everyone needs to check out the Christian Science Monitor and the series of stories about journalist Jill Carroll and her kidnapping in Iraq. Carroll herself wrote about her ordeal in Iraq and one of her colleagues wrote about what the Monitor and everyone else was doing to help bring her home. It is an 11 part series and I read the first eight last night. The 10th installment is upcoming with the epilogue coming soon as well. Riveting stuff.

–Apparently, Pluto is no longer a planet. I'm not real sure what has changed since the 1930's when Pluto was deemed a planet, but it looks as though it has been living a lie all these years. Or scientists have been stringing it along until we had no more use for it. It's so damn cold!

–So it looks like I've just about gotten all of the equipment I need for a podcast. I purchased a couple of mics late last week and I've got what I think is a pretty cool USB mixer on the way. I have no idea what the difference is between a good mixer or a bad mixer, but this one seems pretty solid on paper. All we have to do now is figure out what to call it, what to talk about and how much effort we are going to put into it.

–Have you heard about the newest restaurant in India? It goes by the name of Hitler's Cross. The ingenius part of the restaurant's sign is having a swastika fill in the spot where the "o" is in the word cross.

Yikes.

Piccu's Summertime Movietime Picks: Redux TCM Summer Under the Stars Edition Aug. 26-28

I have already given you some movies to check out this week on Turner Classic Movies and this weekend may prove to be even better. TCM is in the midst of its annual Summer Under the Stars, in which they pick a star to showcase for 24 hours. I am going to focus on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and what a great couple of days they are.

On Saturday, August 26, we have Cary Grant day. For my money, Cary Grant is the epitome of star and I recommend you check out all his films because he is so good in every thing he does. At 6 AM EST Monkey Business will be shown on TCM. I haven’t seen this, but will DVR it. Besides Cary Grant, you also get Ginger Rogers and Marilyn Monroe, something for everybody in this flick.

As I said, you should watch as much as you can, but starting at 8 PM EST, the fun really begins. At 8, we have Gunga Din, a movie about three British soldiers treasure hunting in the midst of an uprising. This is a great action movie with nice elements of comedy. At 10 PM EST we have Arsenic and Old Lace, a movie about two old women who have been killing lonely men. They are found out by their nephew, Cary Grant and hilarity ensues. This is a movie that is both a macabre film and a screwball comedy at the same time. One of Grant’s best.

Then at 12:15 AM EST we have the Alfred Hitchcock classic, North by Northwest. I do not have to say more, the plot is good, Cary Grant and his co-star Eva Marie Saint are good and the movie is a classic. Finally at 2:45 AM EST we have another Hitchcock classic starring Cary Grant, Suspicion. Grant is a playboy who marries a wealthy woman who begins to suspect that maybe Grant is trying to kill her. This is a great thriller that keeps you guessing the whole way through.

Now we move on to Sunday, August 27, which is John Wayne day. John Wayne is the master of the Western genre. He is everything your elders have told you he was. He was not the best actor, but he held your attention whenever he was on the screen. As with Cary Grant, I recommend you watch as many John Wayne movies as you can because he will make you a fan of Westerns and war movies.

Speaking of Westerns, the movie that broke Wayne big is director John Ford’s Stagecoach. It is being shown at 6 AM EST on the 27th and has John Wayne and a group of stagecoach passengers traveling through the territory battling Indians and “personal demons.” You have a romance, Indian battles, and a showdown involving John Wayne, what more could you want. Next I want to move on to 3:15 PM EST and The Longest Day. This is a movie about the D-Day invasion of Germany by the Allies. This movie is chock full of stars, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger and Robert Wagner. It is 3 hrs long, but it is a great movie to introduce yourself to “war” movies.

At 10:15 PM EST we have Hatari! In this film, John Wayne is a big game hunter and besides the fact that this is a fun movie, the actors did all the capturing of the big game. I still haven’t figured out if the rhino actually wiggled free or if they were supposed to let him free. It is crazy stuff. Then at 2:45 AM EST we have Rio Grande and John Wayne is the head of a cavalry unit that has to squash Indian uprisings. This movie also stars Maureen O’Hara, a great actress that appeared in many films with Wayne. Those two have great chemistry and make every movie they appeared in a pleasure to watch, plus there is some good Injun killing in this movie.

Monday’s star is Hedy Lamar, who I do not know one thing about, and looking at the list, I have not seen one of her movies. I hope to watch at least one, but I have no picks for you, so watch Prison Break. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on TCM, you will see movies from three of the greatest actors ever. Watch as many as you can, or at least make an effort. I promise you, you will not regret it. It’s even better than RockStar:SuperNova.

Patrice is gone, now we have a competition on RockStar:SuperNova.

Patrice is gone and good riddance. She wasn’t really that bad, there were worse singers in the competition, but she just wasn’t memorable. She had a bad case of the ehhhhs. You just didn’t care about her and with her being in the bottom three, four or five times, we could all see that she just couldn't cut it. She should be glad she made it this long because I definitely would have kept Zayra over her.

With Patrice out of the way, the next couple of weeks should be very interesting. I think that all of the rockers that remain have a shot to win this thing. With six left, I still believe that there will be at least a double cut next week to pare things down to a final four, but I am not sure how the finale will work. I think that the “rockers” will each play a song with SuperNova and then the band will decide who will be the lead singer. It is all happening so fast, before you know it, there won’t be a RockStar:SuperNova show to watch. I think I am going to cry.

I am not sure what the voting public is thinking by putting Magni and Toby in the bottom three. I know someone has to be there, but I thought Toby has had a great couple of weeks and should be thought of as a top 4 finisher. Magni, as I have said before, is just plain solid and his version of Fire last night was really good. As I told Bratch, I think America is trying to vote off the “rockers” that talk funny. They got Zayra off, now they are targeting Toby and Magni. If my theory is correct, then next week we will see Toby, Magni, and Dilana in the bottom three.

Speaking of Dilana, she is either very, very stupid or very, very arrogant because the way she was portrayed in the “reality” segments of last night’s shows, she seems like a pain in the a** to live with. I understand that she knows she is the favorite, but to say some of the things she said, she also appears to be a megalomaniac. She should have known better than to rat out her comrades, maybe South Africans have no problem with something like that. I still think she is the best they have to choose from and I think she can lead this band. I just hope her mouth hasn’t written checks her sexy a** can’t cash.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Weekly Rockstar:SuperNova Analysis

Here is the weekly RockStar:SuperNova update because I got up at 7 instead of 12 PM today.

The show kicks off with Brooke and the boys talking about us getting our chance to get tickets to the “massive” world tour of Supernova. I wonder how massive this will be. If it is an arena tour, I can’t see this being very successful. Maybe if they went the club route and smaller venues they could have a nice tour. We will have to wait and see. One other thing before I get into the performances, does Dave Navarro ever button his shirt?

Leading off the show we have Patrice singing an original song of hers. She has a cool guitar, I dig that. That giant tat on her arm is really annoying me, but her song is not bad. This is probably her best performance, but not very memorable. She needs to go, like 4 weeks ago. She should be grateful she has made it this far. If she doesn’t go this week, I am calling shenanigans.

Next we have Magni and his giant ears. They are so huge and bulbous that he looks like he is wearing a Russian cosmonaut helmet. He sings Smells like Teen Spirit, Bratch’s favorite song ever, and does fine. He is just solid, unfortunately I do not think the voting audience cares too much for him. I thought the house band sucked on this song, first one this year. T-Lee has been harping on people playing the guitar and not being able to be free and move around and now he wants Magni to play the guitar. Make up your mind, idiot! For future reference, Dave and T-Lee want someone to throw their guitar or just destroy something before the season is over.

Now we have Ryan doing an original tune. Only this jackass could write a rock song about sex and make it angry, whiny and angst ridden. What a tool. I hate him. Sample lyric, “It is the perfect time of night/ To be losing your clothes now.” He is a regular Bob Dylan. I just hate his whiny voice. Dave and T-Lee wanted some destruction, so right on cue Storm…I mean Ryan throws his guitar. I expected this move from Storm not Ryan. Magni looks crushed and annoyed all at the same time. Ryan sucks and I hope he leaves tonight. But first I want to know what is up with that stupid armband he always wears.

Now we have Storm Large singing Cryin, not one of my favorites, but she does a great job, well, except for the high notes at the end. We get a rock squat from her and an original stage move, Storm doesn’t have many of those. Storm breaks out the crazy eyed Frankenstein walk. I can’t believe anyone else does that, so she must have come up with that herself. She may get an add into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Lead Singer’s Handbook that she has been stealing from this entire season. I think she is a lock for top 3 or 4. I am actually growing to like her.

Bully for Storm as she calls Dave on his stupid "honeys" and "sweeties." How does he get though life calling every women that. In this neck of the woods he would get the taste slapped out of his mouth, honey.

Next we have my girl, Dilana singing Every Breath You Take. Once again she does great, but was she trying to harness her chi in the beginning with the breathing exercises? Those eye lashes were scary, but her eyes were hypnotizing me. I think she actually started to chant her own name in the middle of it, but that’s ok because she is the hands down leader and will win this thing.

Now on to Toby singing Layla. I think this was his best performance. I loved the arrangement and he sang well and put on a great show. This may save him for the next couple of weeks. He is rising.

Udo(Lukas) is up next and is singing a Killers song, a Killers song I love, but not when Lukas sings it. I am starting to get really annoyed with his voice after I thought it was a cool sound in the beginning of the season. It is starting to grate on me. He is out of breath by the end and it was a putrid display, except for the fact that Dave and SuperNova loved it. What? What the hell does, “Two words, check please” mean, T-Lee? Did you like it or hate it? Udo is an also ran to me now.

The bottom three this week, let me see, Patrice, no doubt will be there, I am praying Ryan will be because he sucks, and I think Lukas deserves to be. I also believe Storm will be in the running and so will Toby according to preliminary results before the show ended. With only seven remaining, I would not be surprised to see a double cut tonight, but I think Patrice definitely will go. I just hope Storm doesn’t have a heart attack when someone is announced in the bottom three. And by the by, did we really need to se T-Lee tongue kissing Gilby’s pooch at the end of the show? I guess that dude WILL hump anything.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Illinois governor loves him some bio-fuel...

I'm sure the governor of Illinois is going to take some flak for this, in fact he already has, but today Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich unveiled a huge energy plan for his state.

In his plan he would like to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the constructing of bio-fuel producing factories of which 20 would produce ethanol and five would produce biodiesel. It also turns out that Illinois has several bio-fuel factories running as we speak. And by the year 2017 he would like to have every gas station in the state to offer E85 ethanol fuel.

This is a huge deal. With gas being $3 a gallon, we all have pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that the federal government is funded too well by Big Oil and that they aren't going to do anything about this. But few have looked to their own state government for action.

Illinois apparently has a governor that wants to do something about it.

The United States produces roughly 46 percent of the world's corn crop. Ethanol is made out of corn and E85 ethanol is 85 percent corn squeezin's and 15 percent gasoline. I would say that ethanol is the part of moonshine that will kill you if you drink it, but here in the Midwest, we all have corn crops and here in Kentucky we make a lot of alcohol out of corn. In fact, Mother Nature has literally beat a significant portion of my 25 acres of corn into the ground.

Illinois produces a lot more corn than Kentucky does so this is a great idea for his state. In Kentucky we use corn to hide marijuana patches so we don't produce as much, but a lot is around.

I'm a big fan of biodiesel, but it has a "gelling" problem and requires heaters and things to allow it to flow freely. But by design diesel engine produce tons more power and are much more economic to run these days. And besides the desiel engine wasn't specifically designed to run petroleum based diesel fuel. It was designed to run on crap like coal oil and junky stuff like that. In fact, biodiesel is much better for the engine than regular diesel. Something like 66 percent better lubrication.

The only chink in the armor of this plan is that it is an election year for Illinois and Rod Blagojevich is catching some flak from his opponent saying that he should have thought about this four years ago before his term was up.

My argument against that is that we all know the politics game. If it weren't for election years we'd all be drinking well water and driving on gravel roads. Heck, they re-paved Main Street here in town for no reason this year. But we all know the real reason was because it is an election year.

And besides, four years ago gas was $1.50 and we were all living the good life.

Either way, I'll tell you what I would like to see. If the federal government is going to insist on dragging its feet about figuring our a way to lessen our dependence on oil, let the states do it. However, it's sad that the states have to basically circumvent the federal government for action on this situation. Really sad.

If anything this should be a wake up call. I actually wish I could vote for this dude.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Two heads are better than one, well, in some cases.

I saw this on Yahoo and a number of things came to mind. It seems that a man in New Delhi has two functioning penises, peni, penes. Not sure on the plural, but Yahoo used penes.

It is a rare medical condition called penile duplication or diphallus or as some would call it, the best medical condition in the world. He wants one of his peni, do not pardon the pun, whacked off so he can get married and have a normal sexual life.

If I were this guy, I would never leave the house, that was my first thought. My second thought was up to this point has he been leading an abnormal sexual life? Has he been using this condition to his advantage with multiple partners? Why isn’t he in the porn business? I can imagine some producers willing to pay big bucks to get him in a video or two.

A doctor said that someone with this condition having both peni function was unheard of, and this guy wants to cut one of the twins off. Shame on you, Mr. Multiple Penis.

Piccu's Quote of the Day: Rockstar:SuperNova Edition

“Oh, my God. F*#k that! I’m done with that one.” Michael Butler of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Geek Show as he hears Patrice’s performance last week of Hole’s Celebrity Skin. Butler has a podcast called the Rock ‘n’ Roll Geek Show and each week he dissects and rags on IA’s favorite show RockStar:SuperNova. He has audio recordings of the whole show and plays it and gives his thoughts on the show as it plays. This quote of the week was his response to hearing Patrice sing the first line, “Oh make me over!”

Piccu's Summertime Movietime Picks: Redux TCM Summer Under the Stars Edition Aug. 21-25

I don’t know if any of you took my suggestions and checked out some of the movies I recommended, but I am going to give you some more this week and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) continues its Summer Under the Stars. I do hope you had a chance to check out Charade, my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie.

Today, Monday the 21st is David Niven day, he is a pretty good character actor, but I have no recommendations for today other than to check out MNF on ESPN or season premieres on FOX with Prison Break and the new show Vanished.

On Tuesday, the star of the day is the beautiful and sexy as hell Rita Hayworth. I just recently watched a couple of Hayworth movies and now I realize why Jack White is obsessed with her. She just oozes sexuality; she is the definition of a bombshell. I fancy Grace Kelly, but when I saw Hayworth in Gilda, I have to reposition my position. At 6:00 AM EST on Tuesday the 22nd, TCM is airing a doc on the life of Rita Hayworth, I haven’t seen it but it will be DVRed. I am also DVRing Pal Joey costarring Frank Sinatra at 12:30 PM EST and Only Angels Have Wings costarring Cary Grant at 4:30 PM EST. I haven’t seen those yet and look forward to them.

Speaking of Gilda, you have to DVR Gilda at 10:00 PM EST. Gilda is a hard boiled film noir also starring Glen Ford. Hayworth plays Gilda, a good bad girl and she does the sexiest strip tease in movie history and only removes one glove. Men have to see this, women can just hate her. After that, check out another film noir classic at 12:00 AM EST at Hayworth stars in Orson Welles’ Lady from Shanghai. This movie gets so twisted and convoluted in the last 30 minutes, you are not sure who has double crossed who. Hayworth has her hair chopped off and died blonde for this role, but she still smolders on screen and has every man wanting her.

Wednesday is Van Johnson day and I have only seen a few of his films, and none have impressed me much. I will be DVRing The Purple Rose of Cairo at 12:15 AM EST because DISH tells me it is a 4 star movie and I try to watch as many of those as I can.

Thursday’s star is Ann Southern and I have never heard of her, so I do not know much about her movies. I will recommend Brother Orchid which is showing Thursday the 24th at 9:30 PM EST. It stars Ms. Southern and two of my all-time faves, Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart. Brother Orchid is about a gangster, Robinson, who is the victim of a botched mob hit who then goes to a monastery to recuperate and plot his revenge. It’s a great movie with great stars.

On Friday the 25th we have James Stewart day and there may be no better day this month. I love James Stewart and I have seen a ton of his best performances. I can recommend all the moves this day, but I will tell you the ones I am DVRing and the ones I highly recommend to you. I am DVRing The Shop Around the Corner at 11:15 AM EST. I have never seen this and it is highly rated by critics and is the movie You’ve Got Mail was based on, It stars Stewart in the Tom Hanks role. I must highly recommend the Western classic The Naked Spur. This is a movie that has Stewart in less of his “good” guy role we usually see him in. He is a bounty hunter that catches a big time outlaw and the outlaw continually messes with Stewart’s head as he tries to bring him in. Great Western and a must see.

Then at 10:00 PM EST we have Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In this movie we see Stewart in his more recognizable type of role, naïve but wise good guy. Stewart plays a guy picked to be a senator who is supposed to go to Washington and not make waves. When he arrives in Washington and sees the corruption that goes on, he decides to make a difference. It is a movie that still plays well today and gives you hope that in all the crap that goes on in Washington, hopefully there is one Mr. Smith willing to do what’s right. You need to see this.

The weekend is even better with both Cary Grant and John Wayne days. I have gone on too long for most of you already, so I will post again Thursday or Friday on my recommendations for the weekend. Keep this in mind, you only have a few more weeks before network TV gets started and all your TV shows make watching movies like these hard to do. Do yourself a favor and try to check some of these classics out, you won’t regret it.

The one huge reason to watch the Little League World Series...

I hope this kid's team, Dahran, Saudi Arabia stays in it long enough for me to watch.

His name is Aaron Durley and at 13-years-old he stands at 6-foot-8 and 256 pounds and he's playing in the Little League World Series. Needless to say, he's a first baseman and I'll be nothing gets by him. The bad news is that his strike zone is big enough to drive a car through.

It says in the story linked in the title of this post that his favorite player is David Ortiz better known Big Papi. He's about four or five inches taller than Big Papi and maybe even has more than a few pounds on him.

I hope this kid is playing basketball and football too. The only strike against him is that we all know that kids outside of the U. S. sometimes have birth certificate problems. I just hope this kid doesn't turn out to be 24 years-old with two kids and a wife like Danny Almonte did a few years ago.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Who are the Best Comedians Ever?

The question of the week this week is a funny one. Who are the greatest comedians of all time? Here's my list of names I came up with to get us started. In no way should this be considered the comprehensive, end all, be all, list.

Bill Cosby
Jerry Seinfeld
Eddie Murphy
Richard Pryor
Flip Wilson
Robin Williams
Billy Crystal
Whoopi Goldberg
Dana Carvey
Lenny Bruce
Red Skelton
Rodney Dangerfield
Dennis Miller
Carol Burnette
Lilly Tomlin
Tim Conway
Gilda Radner
Groucho Marx

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I'm not sure Karr did it...

It seems like everyone in the country went to bed and rested a little easier knowing that JonBenet Ramsey's killer was behind bars, but I'm wondering if we've jumped the gun a bit.

For some reason it seems that officials decided to trot John Mark Karr around like he was Lee Harvey Oswald, the only difference is that instead of being shot he was given a microphone. From there, every word that came out of his mouth is contradictory to the evidence that we all know about.

He said he drugged her and the autopsy says no. He said that she died accidentally and there is no way that her death was accidental in the least. He also said he picked her up from school but it was Dec. 26 and school wasn't in session. And this dude's ex-wife says he wasn't in Colorado and has never been there. One news channel tonight, I can't remember which, said that Karr's brother or brother-in-law may have proof of an alibi.

Then we have District Attorney Mary Lacy telling everyone that we shouldn't jump to conclusions. How insane is this getting? If you don't want people jumping to conclusions why are you haven't him paraded around with these Thai policeman looking to get their photo with him?

It's like they are trying to get him convicted in the court of public opinion in the first 24 hours of his arrest and it's totally backfiring.

I'm sure his family and ex-wife are going to catch a lot of flak for defending him, but the fact of matter is, while everyone wants this case to be solved and is hoping that this guy did it, we should simply be hoping that this actually is the person that did this.

I realize that JonBenet's parents have gotten a ton of grief from the public, but tonight I was watching MSNBC's coverage of this and they showed 3 solid minutes of photos of that little girl and none of them ran twice. And almost every one of them was her dressed up or doing something different. That's just messed up. They treated her like a Barbie doll and that's creepy.

I'm not going to go out on a limb and say this guy didn't do it just yet because he is a convicted sex offender and he's got some child pornography charges against him as well. So chances are he needs to be locked up anyway. However, this is turning into a three ring circus and nothing good will come of it. There are several twists and turns before this is all said and done.

For the last 10 years the JonBenet's parents faught to prove their innocence and right now after letting him "confess" on international television everyone is fighting for John Mark Karr's guilt.

And we are only 24 hours into this thing.

Troy Lee Gentry, successful singer and now Turd of the Week.

I think we have our first nomination for Turd of the Week here on IA, if we had such a contest. Well if we did, I would vote for this guy, Troy Lee Gentry. This is the Gentry of Bratch’s favorite musical act Montgomery-Gentry.

This dirtbag paid someone to kill a “trophy size” bear named “Cubby” at the Minnesota Wildlife Connection in Northern Minnesota. Now I have nothing against hunters or killing animals, witness my possum rant earlier this month, but this moron killed this bear in a sanctuary that advertises itself as a place to photograph animals in the wild.

If that isn’t scummy enough, this a-hole, Troy Lee Gentry, shot the bear with a bow and arrow while the bear was in its cage. What a douche. Then this idiot, Troy Lee Gentry, and the owner of the preserve tagged the bear and registered it as having been killed in the wild. If you click the link and check out Gentry’s picture, you can tell he is a slimy dirtball. I bet he bragged to all his friends about how he stared down the vicious bear and killed him before he was mauled to death. Real big man, Gentry, killing a bear inside his cage. I see how you are, Gentry, real big man. What a turd you are Troy Lee Gentry.

Troy Lee Gentry, IA nominee for Turd of the Week and the guy I hope gets mauled by a bear.

Zay it ain't so, Zayra is banished form RockStar:SuperNova.

Zayra is gone and no matter what you thought of her talent, and that is assuming she had talent, she made the show worth watching. Every week I couldn’t wait to tune in and see what she was going to look like and how she was going to butcher a song. As Bratch has said, she is one of the few singers that sing exactly as she talks. I have never heard an accent as thick as that in a singing voice. I am sure that this little showcase for her talents will get her some sort of deal. She does have talent and I believe she would make a very good alternative rock singer, like Bjork.

I do have to wonder why Patrice was saved over Zayra. At least Zayra brings something different to each show. At least Zayra takes chances and has the guts to let it all hang out. Patrice just does the same thing each week. I thought she did a decent job last night, but truthfully I thought Zayra's performance was great. Patrice is just delaying the inevitable. After being in the bottom 3 so many times already, I think her next will be her last. Get rid of her!

Another big development last night was the brand new SuperNova song that we got to hear last night with Dilana on lead vocals. I thought she did a great job, especially when she was surrounded by the 4 dancers and they were all gyrating and stuff. Perv Alert!! There’s only one thing, is this the best these guys could come up with? Is this not just a rearrangement of Bang a Gong? This song sounds like the generic free music that you can use in podcasts or radio spots. It just seems kind of remedial. I thought they were going for a new sound. I guess they did, I just thought they would be going for a future sound, not a sound from the past. As good as those musicians are, I was just surprised that they would come up with something soooooo old school. I’m sure it will sound nice on cd, but live, it just didn’t do it for me.

Americans Are Having Feet For Breakfast

Good morning America! How's that foot in your mouth taste.

Ten years after Jonbenet Ramsey was killed we finally found out who did it. And it wasn't her parents.

I'll be first to admit that I had always suspected Jonbenet's parents in her stragulation murder. In large part because every report I heard slanted my opinion in that direction. And besides that was the creepy (to me) video's of the young girl in those ridiculous beauty pageants. Then top it off with t.v. interviews of the parents that displayed both of them as cold and relatively unemotional. Last night I saw video of their interview with Barbara Walters (still trying to remain relevant) when they were each asked if they killed Jonbenet. Neither of them shed tears and the father nearly had a smirk on his face. That still creeps me out.

But the point is the killer was arrested in Thailand yesterday. He's confessed that it was a kidnapping plot gone awry. Now this guy has issues. He claims he loved Jonbenet, and the DNA evidence will unfortunately corroborate that statement more than likely.

So how does it feel to know that I was one of those people that thought it was the parents. Frankly it feels pretty rotten. Since the time of the Ramsey murder I've become a parent. I can't imagine living my life under the suspicion that I had killed my own child. The Ramsey's lived with that. Jonbenet's mother died with that over her head when she passed earlier this year.

So I think many Americans are having a nice foot sandwich for breakfast. I know I am. For what its worth on this irrelevant blog, I apologize for assuming the Ramseys were guilty. And no, that doesn't make me feel any better about it. It does make me wonder what else I'm wrong about.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Weekly RockStar:SuperNova Analysis

Time for our weekly RockStar:SuperNova ramblings. Last night's show was the "stripped down" show and it wasn't that bad. Zayra went first and sang an original song. She starts out pulling a Bon Jovi, wearing a guitar as a prop, but she does strum it a little later on. I figured out her main problem, she needs to sing in her native Puerto Russian, not English. She didn't do any worse than a Shakira and she just keeps on doing her thing. She can't win, but she is the most original "rocker" on the show.

Magni was next with a Bowie song. He dressed the part and he had a good performance. He sounds better and better each week, very strong competitor.

Patrice followed Magni with Message in a Bottle from the Police. Patrice just has the same old performance every week. She gives me the blahs and she should have been gone weeks ago.

Udo(Lukas) came on and did the song Hero and did a pretty good job, surprisingly good. He's a lefty as well, I knew there was something wrong with him. His eyebrows scare me.

Storm comes on and sings I Will Survive. She takes us to BROADWAY with this performance. After two weeks of subdued, great performances, I knew the over-dramatic, showtunesy Storm would come back. During her performance, the cameras cut to T Lee and he looked appalled and Newsted look disgusted. I did think she finished well and she had a good Madonna suit circa Vogue. The only thing this performance lacked was jazz hands, yeah. She may be in trouble tonight.

Toby takes the stage with Gilby and sings Solsbury Hill, a great song. Toby just underwhelms me. There is not much to say about him, which is not a good thing. He may be the male Patrice. He does score points for banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee.

Ryan hits the stage all smiles and happy and he really looks like he is glad to be performing for a live audience and getting a chance to front this supergroup. Wait a minute, I must have dreamed that part. Actually Ryan hits the stage with his patented look, no, not Blue Steel, his is called P*^#ed. I hate him like poison. He sings In the Air Tonight and after a horrible beginning he reigns it in a bit. The strings were excellent in this arrangement. I finally figured out who he reminds me off with that stupid look on his face, Sack from the Wedding Crashers. No wonder I dislike him so much. One of the guys loves the transformation Ryan has undergone. Transformation? I think I see it too. He has gone from suck to blow. Perv Alert!!! Dave Navarro just sexually harassed the blonde violinist.

My girl Dilana was next and she gets hotter and hotter every week, Perv Alert!!! Anyway, she sings Cat's in the Cradle, you know, that great rock anthem. Who made Brooke say that? Dilana is just good and everyone else should give it up. Each week she is consistently good. I would rather hear her sing this song from now on. She can even conduct the string section. She is the bomb, give this gig to her now. Dig it!

Now for the bottom three tonight. Here are my candidates, Zayra because she is always there. Patrice, that is unless America just forgets she is still in it. I believe that this will be Storm's week to squirm. I also think Toby and Ryan will have been in the bottom at some point and time, but will escape. Tonight I hope they finally send Patrice home, she is just not the girl. I want Zayra to stay because I look forward to seeing what song she will butcher each week. And I can almost guarantee Storm won't go home. Apparently she knows Gilby and Newsted and those two got her on the show without even auditioning, according to some dirt that the rock 'n' roll geek dug up when he went to one of the tapings last week.

Finally finished, maybe they will get rid of three of them tonight and save me a half a page of writing next week.

Rockstar:Supernova Recap

I'm shocked, SHOCKED that piccu hasn't posted his rundown of last night's show. I'll make a feeble attempt at recapping what I saw. But I was partially detained by domestic duties.

Too many "rockers" confused "stripped down/acoustic" with "comotose." People, just because there are no electric guitars doesn't mean that it's slowed to a snail's pace and sang like your in pain.

Zayra opened up with a song she had written in Spanish. She's a lot easier to take en Espanol than en Englais. But she still isn't that good. I'm surprised she's still around.

Magni did a great job covering David Bowie's Starman. I wasn't familiar with that song, but it's a great tune. I thought that was probably the best performance of the night in my opinion. Supernova disagreed, but more on that later.

Patrice was the worst of the night. And that's a bad thing on this night. Singing "Message in a Bottle" (an odd song choice for an acoustic number) she was boring. As she usually is. She tried to amp it up a bit at the end, but by then she was toast.

Lukas (Ud0, aka THE LEPERACHAUN) sang "Hero" from Spiderman 2. He was ok, but it sounded quite a bit like the original. His voice is coverband great. Meaning if I heard him at a rock club, I'd dig him. But on his own, notsomuch. And he looks like a freak.

Storm Large took my favorite disco song, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor and turned it into "I'd Rather Die." Not literally. She also decided the song would "rock" more if she changed the lyrics and added the a-crookedletter-crookedletter word a couple times. It didn't help in the least. She was flat, boring, slow, and altogether rotten. Thank God for Patrice, or Storm would have been the worst of the night.

Toby sang "Salisbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel. If you're like me, you thought you'd never heard of that song. But when it started I remembered, it's the "Boom, boom, boom" song. Great song and Toby did pretty well with it. I didn't think he was the best, but he got to rock with Gilby who is probably the most level headed rocker I've ever heard. Newsted is a close second. T-Lee is a douchebag.

Ryan Starr sang "In the Air Tonight" and it quickly became one of the most uncomfortable performances I've watched outside of Zayra. The band liked him, I thought it was awful. He turns every song into a painful song full of angst. Well, a Phil Collins song doesn't survive that treatment.

Finally everyone's favorite Dilana. She sang the Harry Chapin classic, "Cats in the Cradle." She's good, but she still doesn't blow me away. I was slightly disturbed that she didn't alter the lyrics to fit her gender. But I guess that would be a bit much to do. SN thought it was the best of the night, but then they thought Ryan was the second best. I'd say she was a close second, maybe a 1A to Magni.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Set your faces to scared sh#@less

I have recently seen the best horror movie to come out in the past years: The Descent. It was scary as hell!!! I am not claustrophobic, but there were scenes in this movie that I had to remind myself I was in a giant open theater. There were scenes in there that make you soil yourself. And equally as important, the movie/acting wasn't over the top. It didn't try to be clever or witty or cute, but just delivered lines. It told the story without giving much of anything that didn't need to be said. I am not saying that it will necessarily lose its effect on home video, but I don't think you'll wonder where your money went if you do go.

Monday Night Football on ESPN made its debut last night. And Mr. Tony made it all the way through the game without a nap.

Duh-Duh-Duh-Duuuunnn! Football is almost here and if you haven’t heard the news Monday Night Football is now on ESPN. The first official broadcast is a few weeks away, but last night there was a broadcast for one of those sham exhibition games and we had the debut of the new three man MNF booth. Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann, and Tony Kornheiser are manning the booth this season and besides one practice game, last night was the first night they were ever in a booth. That had to be a little awkward.

Perhaps the biggest news about MNF and its move from ABC to ESPN has been the inclusion of longtime sports columnist and Pardon the Interruption host Tony Kornheiser in the broadcast booth. Many thought that adding a newspaper guy to the booth would bring it down. You need another jock up there to help the fan understand exactly what is going on. If two of the three broadcast guys have never played professional football, then how will the viewers understand the action on the field?

I find most of those complaints baseless and very insulting to the average fan. I think the average football fan knows more than former players, who are now broadcasters, think they do. Football is not something that you have to play professionally to understand or enjoy. The only thing the average viewer doesn’t know about pro football is how it feels, but I can guess that most of it hurts. I think the world will survive a three man booth with only one former pro. My problem is that the one former pro is Theismann. He is not exactly my favorite color man, but I am sure I could learn to like him.

I have always been a Kornheiser man and ESPN has done something right because there is no way I would ever watch a preseason NFL football game, Monday night or no. But I did last night. I wanted to hear Mr. Tony and see how things would go in the booth. I only got to watch about a quarter of the game due to 30-45 minute power outages and boredom because it is fake football, but I thought the broadcast team did a good job. Joe and Tony seemed to play well off each other and I can only see them getting better as the season goes on and they get more comfortable. The thing that I look forward to most is the humor the Kornheiser will bring to the broadcast. Here is an example from last night’s game from the Yahoo piece I have linked.

Both Theismann and Kornheiser quickly delved into the "ugly past" of the Minnesota Vikings, who were playing the Oakland Raiders, with Kornheiser pointedly talking about how the Vikings were "the most scandal-plagued team in the entire NFL last year."

"I won't go through the whole laundry list, but the sex-boat thing, that was a show-stopper. As they say on `Seinfeld' — `That's gold, Jerry. That's gold.'"

I just hope that the Tuesday Morning Monday Night Quarterbacks are not too hard on them. Let them gel and learn about each other before you deem this a failure. I think things will work out fine and Mr. Tony will only get better.

The other big change on last night’s game, a change that caused a few hundred people to email Colin Cowherd about, was the new little retro scoreboard that was placed in the bottom center of the screen. Cowherd said 85% of the email about MNF was hate for the new scoreboard. I know Bratch noticed it and hated it. I on the other hand liked it. It wasn’t too big, and it was simple and didn’t clutter the screen like most of the other scoreboards you see. Plus there was no scrolling scroller that kept feeding me info at the top or bottom of the screen. I give that new scoreboard a definite thumbs up. I am a casual/average football fan and I do not want to spend my time reading a scroller that is feeding me info on other things that I really could care less about.

There, I have said my piece about the “new” Monday Night Football and I look forward to many weeks of hearing Mr. Tony, the other guys, eh, who cares. As far as I am concerned it’s all about Tony, Tony.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Piccu's Summertime Movietime Picks: Redux TCM Summer Under the Stars Edition

I have once again began my summer ritual of watching classic movies, or at least movies that the “experts” think are classic. To help me and others with this, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has designated August the Summer Under the Stars. Every day in August, TCM will select a star and for 24 hours they run nothing but movies starring that star. We have already had a Bogart day and a Gregory Peck day and this week we have a few days and movies I think you should check out.

Wednesday the 16th is Joseph Cotton day and for those of you who do not know him, he is a great actor that has appeared in classic movies involving Alfred Hitchcock and almost every Orson Welles movie, it seems. There are a few to look for this day.

At 7:45AM East, set your DVR for Citizen Kane, Orson Welles' masterpiece that many consider the greatest movie of all time. To tell you the truth, I did not think so highly of it, but it is shot beautifully and tells a great story of a great man who has a very full life, but can’t seem to enjoy it. Also DVR The Magnificent Ambersons that immediately follows Citizen Kane, which is directed by Orson Welles. I personally enjoyed this movie more than Citizen Kane. At 10 PM East watch The Third Man, a nourish thriller that watches Joseph Cotton track a friend through Vienna, a friend that may or may not be dead. Very cool movie again starring Orson Welles.

Another day worth checking out is Thursday the 17th. Carole Lombard is the star this day and is said to be one of the great comediennes in movie history. I myself will be seeing some of her movies for the first time. At 11 AM East My Man Godfrey is being shown and it also stars William Powell from the Thin Man series. I have always heard that this is a classic screwball comedy and I am DVRing it for the hype. As for any others to watch, consult your guide, DISH does a great job of supplying a star rating to the movies, and I use that to gauge whether or not to watch.

On Friday the 17th, we have Bela Lugosi day. You know, Dracula. As far as I knew, Lugosi only made one movie, but he has made enough for a full day on TCM and Dracula isn’t one of them. I will tell you one I am DVRing is White Zombie at 8:30AM East. The simple reason is that DISH gives it a 3 star rating and stupposedly, this is the movie that Rob Zombie took his band name for White Zombie. Also check out Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein at 8 PM East. This is my favorite Abbot and Costello movie and is also the only one of these Abbot and Costello movies that DISH gives a 3 + rating. It involves not only Frankenstein, but Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney, Jr as the Wolfman and a small cameo by Vincent Price as the voice of the Invisible Man. It is so cool to see all these legends in one movie and it is also pretty damn funny.

A movie I have seen that I highly recommend is The Body Snatcher at 1:30 AM East. It also stars Boris Karloff and involves a doctor who runs a teaching school that needs fresh bodies to dissect and practice on. Boris Karloff helps with the supplying of said bodies and helps the creep factor go way up in this macabre flick. This movie is very dark and eerie and Lugosi only has a small part in this film, but does a great job.

I need to quit here because most of you probably don’t care about this stuff, but I have to say this, if you do not watch any of these movies, watch this one. Saturday the 19th is Audrey Hepburn day. While my favorite Hepburn is Katherine, I highly recommend a movie called Charade that stars Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant that is being shown 9:30 AM East this Saturday. It is a thriller/comedy/mystery that is so good that I bought the stupid remake of it, The Truth About Charlie (which sucks so bad), to get the free DVD of Charade that was packaged with it. This movie is so smart and the is acting so great that I guarantee that even if you do not like movies that are pre-1980, you will love this. Take a chance, all the movies shown on TCM are a great alternative to the crap that is being shown on network TV this summer.

Pre RockStar:SuperNova ramblings and Stones tickets update.

I don’t have anything to write about and I am sitting here at my desk with nothing to do, at least nothing I want to do so I thought I would give a little preview of tomorrow night’s RockStar:SuperNova show. I know we at the IA cannot get enough of that silly a*^ show.

This week’s episode should make most of you vomit, except for that hippie Travis, as this week is an unplugged show. That means the songs will all be “stripped down.” That is a fancy phrase meaning not rocking. I know some of the song’s that will be played because I watched the reality portion of the show earlier today.

The “rockers” went to Vegas and Toby and Udo(Lukas) passed out drunk before 10:30 PM. That doesn’t bode well for them if Newsted has anything to say about it. Speaking of Vegas, the rock ‘n’ roll geek of the great podcast The Rock ‘N’ Roll Geek Show had some inside info on some of the girls in the group being more debaucherous than the guys. He said word was that three of the girl “rockers” have been inviting guests to their rooms, but not for Scrabble. Did I mention that these guests were also female? Sounds like a ribald group of girl “rockers” that T Lee has to choose from.

After they returned home from Vegas they received their list of songs they can perform. Someone is doing Cat’s in the Cradle and Message in a Bottle. There were a few battles for songs this week. One battle that occurred between quite a few “rockers” was over the song Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel. This song had Gilby playing on it and after last week most of the rockers wanted this, or at least wanted it to seem like they did. Storm fought for a second and then dropped out early and Dilana and Toby were left fighting. Dilana then gave it to Toby after he ran naked around the pool. Toby then went in with the band and Gilby and realized he might regret taking this song. He had trouble with the arrangement and the melody and just everything.

The next big battle was over the opportunity to play your own song. Ryan and Zayra fought for this right. I wanted Zayra to win because I wanted to see her perform something of her own to see where see is coming from. Ryan just stinks. He relented and decided to do In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins. I am sure he will c*^k that one up completely. Storm took the disco hit I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor and she just couldn’t get an arrangement that she liked for it and looked like she was going to cry. I loved it.

One other thing that should cause some problems between the “rockers” is that Dilana went o T Lee privately, or at least semi-privately, in Vegas and told him he could go ahead and send the rest of the “rockers” home because she could front them and draw a crowd with them. She could have been drunk while saying this, but she is right as far as I am concerned. I am not sure if the other "rockers" saw or know about this, but I bet they will tomorrow night. It should be interesting.

This should be a crappy show song wise, but intriguing nonetheless. By the by, Jasper, I got a couple of tickets to the Stones at Churchill Downs. The seats are located in the first grandstand, section 126, row E. They look like pretty cool seats. I found out that there have been special presales going on for a bit and the $99 and $60 seats are the only ones left. I have a cousin sending out feelers to some big wigs that have ties to Churchill Downs for some free tickets, perhaps better seats, but we will have to see how that goes later this week and beyond. Now all I need is someone to go with me, or better yet take me. Bratch is screwing me by having to work a football game that night being as the 29th of September is a Friday night. You dirty, stupid, stupid man.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Best Lead Singers in Rock History

The question of the week. Who rocked hardest? There have been a lot of great frontmen in rock from the eccentric (David Lee Roth) to the angry (Kurt Cobain) to the legends (Robert Plant.) But who's the best? Rank them. Here's my short list to get us started.

David Lee Roth
Kurt Cobain
Robert Plant
Roger Daltry
Steven Tyler
Sammy Hagar
Scott Weiland
Layne Staley
Ronnie Van Zant
Ozzie Osbourne
Jim Morrisson
Brian Wilson
Chris Cornell
Eddie Vedder

Too late for the "Bad Boss Contest"

I stumbled across this while nosing around Yahoo! and it turned out to be fairly entertaining, however I think I could have contended for the title.

The web site is WorkingAmerica.org and they were having a contest for the the best, or worst depending on how you look at it, story about a bad boss. Apparently, this web site is dedicated to the working class American. Very patriotic indeed, but the contest was pretty cool and the winner got a vacation trip out of the deal.

However, I think I could have contended for the title except for the fact that the public voted and the winner had a story about her dentist boss docking every employee's pay because all of the appointments cancelled on 9/11.

Since I probably shouldn't even tell my story I will anyway because it's classic and needs to be told.

Anyway, in the building where I work a new office was being constructed breaking up a huge room that was being used for storage. At the same time we were hiring a new employee who wasn't going to be able to access our rest room facilities because they are down a fairly large flight of stairs in the basement of the building.

This is an elderly woman who was hired and my "co-worker" thought he would go to our boss and see if we could put in a small restroom upstairs. This wasn't just for the new employee. Besides myself and my "co-worker" our 10 employee crew includes two 60 year-olds, four 70 year-olds and one 80 year-old.

So these stairs are definately a hazard to say the least and to top everything off, the founder of the company I work for was KILLED in a FALL down these STAIRS.

Needless to say, we felt that this was a no brainer. The guys were already there building an office and we could just have them do it.

So when our boss comes in one day my co-worker pops the question. He asked if we could build a restroom upstairs since our new employee was unable to access the restrooms and since they are dangerous with the elderly employees who have to use these stairs several times a day. He said that it would be terrible if one of them fell.

Without batting an eye our boss says, and I quote, "That's why we have insurance."

Tell me that's not a winner of a story for this little contest. It's child's play.

So it looks like Bratch will be taking a trip shortly after they revisit this little contest. And that's just one story I have, if they make it an annual event I'll be a world traveller in no time.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Is Garfield the cat dead? The investigation begins.

Check this out. I ran across this on one of my favorite blogs, Pop Candy on USA Today.com. It is a series of Garfield comic strips that are very disturbing if not flat out weird.

Apparently this is a Halloween series that Jim Davis did and he wanted to use something besides ghosts and goblins to “scare” people. So now because of this series, there is now a debate on what the meaning of these strips are. Some even believe that Garfield is dead, which should come as a surprise to Bill Murray.

Click the link for a look at The Death of Garfield and come to your own conclusions.

Look out below! Piccu's gross out clip of the week.

For those with a weak stomach and for those who haven’t had lunch yet, I strongly advise NOT watching this video. You have been warned.

For those of you who think that projectile vomiting is hilarious, and let’s be honest who doesn’t, this is for you. I have never in my life seen anything like this. It is only a few seconds long, but it packs a punch. Some guy is on a news program and is talking about video games, I believe, and then all of a sudden. BLLLAAACHHHH!

It comes out of nowhere. The suddenness of it is as startling as the act itself. As I said, you may want to wait until after lunch, but if you love watching Steve-O barf after anything he eats on Jackass or the Wild Boyz, you will be amazed and pleased at this footage.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

David Ortiz or Derek Jeter? Now that is the question.

There is a rising debate in the baseball world about who the AL MVP will be, or more importantly, should be this year. The two main players people have been talking about are New York Yankees shortstop, Derek Jeter and Boston Red Sox DH, David Ortiz. The main knock against Ortiz seems to be the fact that he does not play in the field and Jeets, as I call him, plays a great short. This was the same argument used last year during the A-Rod or Ortiz for MVP debate. A-Rod won for two reasons as far as I can see. He won because he played the field and last year he played it well, and the Yanks won the division beating out Ortiz and the Red Sox.

This year may be different. I will rundown some of the categories the baseball writers should look at, or at least categories I would look at when placing my vote for MVP. This of course is all assuming that Big Papi and Jeets keep up their pace and finish healthy.

The first category to look at is the stats. Some of you hate stats, but as far as I am concerned, this should be 60% to 70% of the vote. Papi is of course having an incredible year. As of this hour he is batting .291 which is not bad for a big guy, with 41 HRs and 110 RBI(s). While Jeter has a .346 BA, 9 HRs, 68 RBI(s) and 24 stolen bases. I think both are looked at as team leaders and both are clutch players, although Ortiz is as clutch as anyone has been in the last three years. On numbers alone I go with Papi because I like power and game winning hits over speed and finesse.

Another category and the one that will get the most attention is the defense or lack thereof when it comes to Papi. Jeter is of course the better defensive player, if for no other reason than he plays the field. I just wonder when the writers and fans started holding defense in an MVP vote up to such a high standard. It seems to me it started last year. Papi does not play the field and if he did it would be first base, not a glamour position like shortstop. He would also play a horrible first base, but I do believe there have been horrible fielders to win the MVP award. Ever hear of Barry Bonds? He won it taking steroids and playing a horrible left field. If A-Rod were having the same hitting year he had last year but had played the field like he did this year, would Papi have won? I look at it this way, if Boston had to play Ortiz in the field to keep his bat in the lineup, they would. It is baseball’s own fault that this is even a factor. Will Ortiz continue to be punished for a rule he had no control over? I have to give this to Jeter, but I do not make this a huge factor in my vote.

Now we can look at some intangibles. I already mentioned that both are team leaders and clutch players. I think you could split that and give Jeets the edge in team leader because as all the other Yanks seem to be either falling apart or having subpar years, Jeter is having a career year and can always be counted on to lead this team. Give the Mr. Clutch Award to Ortiz, basically because he has won more games in late innings than anyone in the history of the world.

Another intangible is the teams for which these two play. Jeter is on the hated Yankees, who buy anyone they want and always have to win. Ortiz is on the Boston Red Sox, the team that was so annoying and whiny because they never won. Even now they still seem that way to me. This is a wash because both teams are really unlikable. Still another intangible is the hunk factor. Papi is not exactly GQ quality, while Jeets is so dreamy. I have to give it to Jeter, when you have notches on your bedpost from Vaneesa Minnillo, pre-breakdown Mariah Carey, and just about every hot actress that ever spent one hour in New York City, you are doing something right.. The rest of the intangibles do not matter because basically they are intangibles. If you can’t categorize them you can’t really rate them.

What seems to be the biggest factor for the baseball writers, especially in a close race is which team, of the two or three in contention for MVP, finished the best. If the Red Sox end up with the AL East championship then I believe Papi will win. If the Yanks win, then I believe Jeter will win. I do hope the Ortiz can get a fair shake, no matter the outcome because he deserves some kind of award. Maybe the award for the most feared hitter in the 7th inning on, with his team down 2 runs or left. He would be a lock for that one and he wouldn't even have to field one ball.

The Stones are coming to Churchill Downs and Wild Horses can't keep me away. Or can they?

I saw this in our local daily newspaper yesterday and I have to tell you, I am excited. The Rolling Stones are coming to Louisville, KY to play at the legendary Churchill Downs race track. I have never seen the Stones live and I have never been to Churchill Downs. I think I want to do both in one fell swoop this fall. Tickets run from $60-300 and to me that doesn’t seem that bad. I thought that I had seen Stones’ tickets going for $500 and up to $1000 a ticket.

The way I figure it is, this is the closest they have come to me. Usually I would have to go to Chi-ca-ca to see them or stupid old Nashville. This is also the first or just one of the very few music concerts ever held in Churchill Downs. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I like to try every one of those if I can. The price seems right to me. There are so few acts out there that I clamor to see and the Stones are one of them. Also if I only go to one or two concerts every two or three years, is $120 or $150 too much for an experience like this? There will also be about 50,000 people there and I don’t know if you have ever been in a crowd that big, but it is so cool. The energy the crowd puts out is unbelievable. Am I trying to convince myself or Bratch? Maybe both.

Tickets go on sale this Saturday on Ticketmaster and I am going to have to really debate this. The cons may outweigh my pros. I don’t like to travel. I hate Louisville. I hate people, especially crowds. I really shouldn’t spend this much money on a ticket.

See, there are plenty of reasons to not do it, but the reasons to do it seem to heavily outweigh any against. We will see what happens. If nothing else I could probably sell two tickets on EBay for a nice little profit.

Maurice Clarett, from the gridiron to the Iron Bar Hotel.

This has gone from bad to sad really quick. Maurice Clarett was pulled over last night in Columbus after a high speed chase. When cops pulled Clarett over they had to Tazer him but that didn’t work because he had a bullet proof vest on, so they maced him and got him under control enough to cuff him and stuff him, although officers said he was still kicking at the doors of the paddy wagon. They then found four guns and a hatchet in his SUV. There was also a half full bottle of vodka in the passenger seat.

This is sad and scary. It’s sad because this was a guy that was on top of the world. He was getting all kinds of gifts from boosters, he just won a national championship and he probably owned The Ohio State University. He then got greedy and started listening to the wrong people and tried to beat the NFL in court, which was very stupid and then when he was drafted, he didn't put in the effort to stay on an NFL team and was cut. He then stepped it up a notch and tried to rob someone in his hometown without a mask or anything to disguise himself.

The guy is obviously screwed up and has screwed himself of any chance at bigtime football. It’s hard to play pro ball if you star for the Ohio State Penal League. He had a chance to make his life and his family’s life better and when that looked impossible, instead of working hard to make that dream come true, he decided to essentially give up and turn into a professional thug.

It’s scary because he was caught with a rifle and three handguns and a hatchet while wearing a bullet proof vest and having downed a half bottle of vodka. I don’t know about you, but this sounds like the police stopped someone who was going to go on a rampage killing. All those guns and ammo, the vest, the vodka for courage and a hatchet to chop up...things? That may be a huge stretch, but he was definitely up to no good. If I were the residents of Columbus I would hope this guy spends a lot of time in jail so I don’t have to worry about him going nuts and taking someone out with him.

I hope that Clarett can get some professional help and if jail is what is needed, send him to jail. If it keeps him from hurting people or attempting to hurt people, then jail is fine with me. If he can’t function in a free society where there are laws and rules to live by, then he does not deserve to be free and should be sent to a place a whole lot worse than the real world. Maybe that will be the shock to the system he needs to realize that he has to quit being a thug and an idiot and start being an adult and taking responsibility for his actions.

Maurice Clarett arrested, poster boy for what not to do...

Maurice Clarett had the world by the tail at Ohio State University several years ago. He punched in the winning touchdown of the national championship bowl game giving Ohio State it's first championship since 1968 putting all eyes on him.

And then... He imploded. Lied to the cops. Threw his school under the bus about receiving gifts, etc. Then, of course, he had to drop out of school a year before he was eligible to enter the NFL draft. Then sued the NFL while he was laying up at the house losing his ridiculous speed.

Finally he got drafted but his lay off was too much to recover from and even the Denver Broncos couldn't work with him. And the Broncos are known for turning no name running backs into superstars.

Now he just got busted because he made an illegal U-turn and decided he would rather run from the cops than get a ticket. It turns out that he had a reason to run in that 1) he was wearing body armor, 2) had a half empty bottle of vodka in the truck and 3) had a loaded rifle and three loaded pistols in the passenger seat of his SUV. All things the cops frown upon.

Then after a chase and the cops having to throw out stop sticks to blow out his tires, he resisted arrest, was tasered–however the body armor stopped that–which caused the cops to Mace him and once corralled into the paddy wagon, tried to literally kick his way out.

This is while he's waiting to go on trial for six counts of robbery, two aggravated, and a concealed weapons charge. The good news is that the weapons he had with him this time weren't concealed, they were in the passenger seat.

I don't know if any of you have ever seen Kingpin, but in that movie Woody Harrelson plays Roy Munson, this superstar young bowler who turns pro and ends up a washed up has-been before he actually was anything at all.

In the words of Randy Quaid's character in that movie, Clarett "Munson-ed" himself.

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad that a 22 year-old kid has basically wasted his life before he even got to the good part.

Weekly RockStar:SuperNova Ramblings

RockStar:SuperNova looks like it is all but over to me. One “rocker” seems to have pulled completely away from the rest of the group and that is of course, Dilana. She looked like a veteran up there singing Won’t Get Fooled Again. She held her own with Gilby and just put on a good show. She also seemed to be the only one who wasn’t afraid to get onstage with one of the band members. The others were all worried about what would happen if they sucked while playing with Gilby. Dilana either knew she would not suck or knew that if she pulled it off, she was a lock for top 2. She pulled it off. Give her the prize.

As for the rest of the so called “rockers,” most of them continued to have no business being on stage. Patrice was just blah as she always is; she just needs to be gone. I’m sure she is alright and I heard she has already had a couple of top ten hits in he 90’s unfortunately, she is not original enough to front this band.

Ryan cam out in a hoodie with a Mohawk pasted on top of it for yet another Rolling Stones song. He sucked as usual. He just always scowls and looks angry. He just seems like he would be a miserable person to be around. And he isn’t that good.

Magni had his little acoustic moment; unfortunately he sang a Live song. He was alright and I think a top 4 lock right now. He impresses more and more each time out.

Josh sang Interstate Love Song and probably crapped his pants when T Lee said he was going to play drums. This dude didn’t want to play with Gilby and be outshined. T Lee is 1000 times the personality. He deserves to go for being a hip hop/R&B singer and wasting everyone’s time.

Jill sang Mother Mother a one hit wonder from who knows when. She at least looked more rockerish. She sang well enough. The bad thing for this sexy little dwarf is that if she has a performance in which she has to really move around, she blows up and can’t catch her breath. She was better this week, but she has a long string of crapulence to uphold.

Storm sang another low key song by one of my favorites, Queen. She just performed and didn’t worry about adding her fake Broadway flair. Unfortunately, the guys in the band want her to rock, but rock without the Broadway. I don’t think she can do it. I do think she is another top 4 qualifier though. And I dislike her so much.

Zayra sang All the Young Dudes, not one of my favorite songs, but she looked insane again with her 10 inch heels and top hat. She always surprises when she appears on screen and always does her own thing. She is the most original and unafraid performer on this show and she should stay just for that reason. Unfortunately she can’t sing a lick. Sometimes that is secondary in rock ‘n’ roll and Zayra is pure rock n’ roll.

Then we have Udo(Lukas) who sang Creep and actually sang some notes for once which made Newsted ecstatic. This dude is weird and I would not want to travel the world with him. He is a top 4 qualifier though. He is good, but like most of these guys, he is not great.

Now we come to Toby singing Burning Down the House. He gets more and more unimpressive every week I see him. He just doesn’t look like a good fit for this band. He may be a sleeper top 4 qualifier though, but he can’t win.

The bottom three for tonight will be just as you saw at the end of last night’s show, Jill, Zayra, and Patrice. They all did decent jobs last night, but no one did worse and they have a history of being in the bottom three. SuperNova should just let all 3 bottom 3 go tonight and make this show a little more interesting because I only see 4 with the goods to win and they are Dilana, Magni, Storm, and Lukas. The rest are just taking up space and time.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Nights, Vice, and Heroes

I really have had a boring day and that gives me time to write about crap you don’t care about.

This weekend, Bratch and I went to see The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. All I can say is if you like Ron Burgundy, you will love Ricky Bobby. This movie is basically Anchorman with rednecks and race cars. I found myself laughing at things that others didn’t really pick up on. There is so much to laugh at in this movie, but the little red head kid, Walker or Texas Ranger, I’m not sure which, steals the movie. I don’t want to ruin this, but the line of the movie for me was the little red head kid coming into the kitchen as Ricky Bobby and his momma are arguing, and complaining about the noise and saying, “One of you turds is going to get slapped in the mouth.” I laughed for two minutes just thinking about that line. Check this out, it is worth every bit of money you spend. I also must say that for a 3:45 matinee, the place was packed, which led to Talladega Nights claiming the number 1 spot at the box office this week.

We also saw Miami Vice earlier in the week and I must say, it wasn’t as good as I would have liked. The plot was just not there. I am not sure if it was too convoluted, or too vague, or it was just too simple to be worthy of the big time movie treatment. It is shot well and looks great. The film has a bluish tint and is grainy and gritty. The violence is almost too realistic and the gun battle in the end is excellent. It is the best gun battle since director Michael Mann’s great street shootout in Heat. It is alright, but I would recommend waiting for the DVD.

Now on to Guitar Hero and Bratch and I may be music geeks, but we converted four others, 3 of which who are not quite as geeky as we are. We played this addictive/frustrating game all weekend long. I actually left my home to share this great invention with others. You ask my friends how hard it is to get me to give up my hermit-like lifestyle. I have to tell you, this game is like a slice of fried gold. I hope you can all get a chance to try it out, it will change your life.

The password is...possums.

I was going to post this as a comment to one of my earlier posts, but it got too long so I decided to post this as a slice of life in a rural Kentucky county. It has to deal with the subject of the day, possums.

I have made my feelings known about them and some of you have to, and this "incident" just adds to my hate of possums.

One night, my cousin and I were out spotlighting, and for those of you who don’t know what spotlighting is, it is the act of shining a bright spotlight into fields looking for deer. Usually you are also looking to shoot a deer after spotting them, and I am neither confirming nor denying I have ever been a part of something like that, but when in Rome.

Anyway, we were without a gun for those of you interested, and we came across a possum. He was walking through a freshly turned over field and I told my cousin to take this club we had called the totem beater (a whole other story all together, it was just a good solid club) and go out there and whack that possum on the head.

I know it sounds cruel and not to mention unusual, but I hate possums. I kept the light out on the field as my cousin got the beater and went after the little bugger. When he caught the possum he was about 30 to 40 feet away from the truck. He reared back and hit that sucker right on top of the head. It sounded like Albert Pujols had just hit a homerun it cracked the little varmint’s skull so loud.

Well, the possum just turned and faced my cousin and hissed at him. Like the devil himself was hissing at us. My cousin turned and ran to the truck a s^*#in’ and a gittin’ as they tend to say around these parts. I then watched as the possum waddled off through the field in what resembled a drunken man’s plodding.

That is the night that I found out that possums cannot be killed by conventional weapons. I have often thought of pledging my life to ridding the world of these evil creatures, like Sam and Dean of the great CW show Supernatural do with supernatural evil. In closing, I will do almost anything that will end a possum’s life and I hope they burn in hell (reread that last part in the voice of Samuel L. Jackson).