Little Indian Guy

Somethings just have to be seen. This is one of those things. (Do not consume beverages while watching the above video. Any liquid could become a choking hazard or a projectile launched from your nostrils.)

Illini Undercut?

Mad About Mascot
The University of Illinois has yet to retire "Chief Illiniwek" a year after the NCAA
ripped the school for continuing to employ an Indian mascot. Now, one group of professors upset over the lack of progress is hitting the athletic department where it hurts, mailing current football and basketball recruits urging them not to attend Illinois because of its "hostile and abusive" use of Native American imagery.
The professors say potential student athletes should know that the school "refuses to commit to equality for all races and places more value on an outdated and divisive mascot than on a
winning program."

How would you like to be a coach at the University of Illinois? Fights between faculty and athletic departments are nothing new. Short sighted faculty see athletics as a trivial thing that often gets precedent over the true mission of the university. Shortsighted members of athletic departments see faculty as the "non-money making entities" saying such things as, "I've
never seen 90,000 people attend a forensics meet or academic meet."Truth is both of them need the other. So if you're in the faculty and you're upset about the athletic mascot, address it with the leaders of the university.

Don't undercut the athletic programs. Like it or not, athletics bring big time money into the university. I still don't understand the uproar over Native American mascots. Why does this offend people? The parallel with the "Fighting Irish" of Notre Dame is my favorite. That's easily the most offensive mascot in sports, and people love it.

Do you know why? Because they don't take it seriously. It's sports. It's not life or death. If the Illini referred to themselves as the Fightin' Savages, or the Ragin' Injuns, the Runnin' Scalpers then that would be offensive.

Did He or Didn't He? (and the Etheridge Faux Pas)

The world may never know exactly what happened with Terrell Owens Tuesday night. The first statements were that he was taken to the hospital with an allergic reaction to generic Vicodin. Then reports surfaced that he attempted suicide by means of a drug overdose (supported by the police report.) Then he flatly denied the overdose story and said he never attempted suicide. A new police report supported him.

So what happened? Did he attempt suicide then put his P.R. machine into high gear to cover it all up out of embarrassment? Or was it simply a goof up?

I have a little bit of the Piccu Conspiracy Bug in me. I think T.O.’s brash personality is a product of an individual who maybe doesn’t have high self esteem. Instead he’s developed this persona as a type of coping mechanism for dealing with the fact that he maybe doesn’t really like himself. And that persona could exacerbate that feeling since no one really likes T.O. except for former(?) crackhead Michael Irvin.

Like I said, we’ll probably never really know what exactly happened. People seem to be readily accepting all that T.O. and his publicists are saying about the incident. To me, that’s being awfully generous.

Before I close this post, let me address T.O.’s publicist Kim Etheridge who will win Mike and Mike’s Just Shut-Up award next week in a decisive landslide. Why? Because Etheridge said T.O. had 25 million reasons to be happy. Obviously referring to Owens’ large contract. Guess what Kim. Money doesn’t equal happiness. Most of us learned that before we entered kindergarten you putz. I don’t think I’ve ever been so incensed by such a moronic statement.

Henderson County Coach Suspended

Our little corner of the world gets its fair share of big news. This news, in and of itself, is not on the scale of the two girls bodies that were found in the strip pit recently. But to me, it’s newsworthy.

Let me preface this with saying that I don’t like the Henderson County football program. I didn’t like it when Tom Duffy, Sr. coached them. I don’t like them now that Tom Duffy, Jr. coaches them. But I wouldn’t wish what happened to that program on anyone. On July 19^th, Ryan Owens, a player on the team, died during practice.

There’s been no small controversy surrounding Owens’ death. The heat index that day was very high and the Kentucky High School Athletic Association had established rules regarding practice during high heat indices. According to the guidelines, coaches much consult an instrument on-site to measure heat index. Duffy, Jr. had stated that he did so, but later it was discovered that he had no instrument to measure heat index and simply called a city near-by to ask what the index was.

Although the coaches were absolved by the lawyer that was hired by the school board, there has been no word on exactly what caused the death of Owens that I’m aware of.

Then last week, former head coach and current assistant coach, Duffy, Sr. announced his resignation effective at the end of the season. So the plot thickened once again.

Today the Henderson Gleaner reports that Duffy, Jr. has been suspended for one week for failure to comply with a directive that was issued to all Henderson County coaches in August of 2005. Henderson superintendent Thomas Richey (that’s three “Tom’s” if you’re counting) was quoted in the ’05 memo as saying, “Coaching techniques and interpersonal conduct with student athletes which demean, harass, abuse or verbally denigrate have no place in our coaching ranks.”

Now, if Duffy, Jr. was suspended for failing to comply with that, then you can draw your own conclusions as to exactly which (if not all) of those he failed to comply with.

The story goes on to say, “Richey stressed that the suspension had nothing to do with the death of football player Ryan Owens on July 19 or any other specific incident. ‘I’m not going to address specific situations. It’s not just one incident. We are looking at the larger picture.’”

So here’s my take. This guy obviously has something going on. It’s hard to say exactly what because not everything has come to light. But we do know he lied about how he measured the heat index, and that PROBABLY had something to do with that player’s death. I would stop well short of saying it’s Duffy’s fault. He just bent the rules and used poor judgment. But it would seem a health condition that was preexisting led to Owens death, not the faulty judgment of a coach. However, Senior Duffy’s resignation is a bad sign, this suspension is a bad sign, and the fact that the suspension is from a history of incidents that occurred AFTER the superintendent felt it necessary to remind coaches not to abuse their players (which should be common sense) seems to me like I’ve been right all along. Tom Duffy, Jr. is a class A-1 jerk and maybe worse.

Go on to the link and read the comments from Henderson residents. It ain't pretty.

Speaking of getting kicked in the face...

Check out this video from USA Today. It's from an ARCA race in Toledo, OH. Apparently driver number 1 was a little angry at driver number 2 who was still in his car. Driver number 1 felt that the quickest way to get to driver number two was to jump over the hood of driver number 2's car and double dropkick him through the windshield.

AWESOME!!!!

Make sure to sit through the sponsorship commercial. The video comes on right after it.

Puzzle time on IA starring Dark M&Ms and "dark" movies.

After not having anything to write about for what seems like a week, I have recently been inspired. I ran across this on the great blog called Pop Candy on the USA Today website. It is a puzzle that is advertising the dark chocolate M&Ms. It contains clues to 50 “dark” movies. You click on a clue on the picture and type in what you think the movie is. If it is right, the box will turn green and if incorrect, it will turn red. This puzzle is much like the rock ‘n’ roll puzzle that we kind of got hooked on about a year ago.

The meaning behind dark movies as I take it is horror movies. Although, there is at least one Hitchcock thriller on the puzzle. I thought that after the fun we had with the rock ‘n’ roll puzzle that this may interest some of you. I have just spent about 6 minutes on it and got 16 or 17 right. You can save your game and come back to finish it later on, which is cool. Perhaps we could keep each other updated and maybe complete all 50 movie titles.

Mayday! Mayday!

Here is another personal injury video clip. Have you ever seen the episode of The Wild Boyz where Chris Pontius throws the boomerang and it comes back and hits him in the face? Well, in this clip, the role of Chris Pontius is played by a seemingly innocent kid and the role of the boomerang is played by a remote control airplane. You can guess what happens, or click the link and watch it.

Getting a kick to the face is not fun, unless it's not your face.

It has been so boring this week, so I thought I would try to break the monotony. Click the link for a karate competition between two Pac-10 schools. In the clip the two competitors circle each other until one of them gets blasted by a roundhouse kick. It is unbelievable that it even worked and the guy who got his face kicked gets a case of the jelly legs as he is helped up. I hope this brightens your day.

Planning the podcast...

It seems like no one has been inspired to blog about anything recently so I thought I would give you a podcast update.

Piccu and I did a little planning for the podcast today and have talked about it a little over the weekend. I think we are nearing the day that I'll have to sign up with Podshow (i.e. free) and get our domain name (i.e. money). But the good news is that it doesn't cost too much. But I think I'm going to register a few that I have on my mind.

One has the .com and .org already taken. But the others are wide open. One of the possible names of the podcast is really funny and off the wall taken from an old time radio show from the 40's called Dangerous Assignment. The other is a little more obvious but one I think everyone will like and it will be a bit more appropriate.

The last website that I'm going to get a domain for is for our fictitious production company.

Of course, I can't exactly broadcast these domain name ideas to the world or someone else will snap them up and hold them for ransom. I won't really have time to sink my teeth into getting everything set up until Wednesday afternoon anyway. And then I have to figure out a way to record Travis on the radio so he can get a radio gig in his own zip code. I don't really blame him since it looks like our high school football team is heading down the familiar road of suckiness making our broadcasts seem like they are about as enjoyable as surgery. Although we did have a blast on Friday since it was a good game even though we lost.

I have all the equipment I need for the podcast with the exception of a few odds and ends, but we have plenty enough stuff to make this bird fly.

And before you know it we'll be plotting our world domination for everyone to hear...

Or something. LOL

*************************

By the way, my sunglasses came in and I'm pretty happy with them except the nose pieces are very, very slick and I think they'll slide down my nose all the time. But I can do a little transplantation with the crappers I bought and make them work well.

Unfortunately, Piccu and I were duped on another pair of glasses. They were pretty much classic Elvis glasses except chrome framed with blue gradient lenses. Turns out they are plastic. Very light weight crappy plastic at that. So they are most likely going back for something different. Although, Piccu kind of likes them and there is shipping and a 15% restocking fee as well so that will have to factor in. They look pretty cool, but when you are paying $15 with a ridiculous $9 shipping, you would expect metal. Especially when the description talks about the hand polished frames and other high tech goodies.

Instead they are plastic novelty glasses.

Who's The Biggest Nut?

Who's the biggest nut in the world? That's the subject of the rejuvenated question of the week.

Here's a list to get you started, feel free to write in votes.
Kim Jong-Ill...likes to play nuclear chicken
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...also likes to play nuclear chicken
Hugo Chavez...calls the president of the U.S. names while in the U.S.
Tom Cruise...couch jumping, Scientology loving weirdo
Michael Jackson...crotch jumping, Culkin loving, weirdo
Rob Zombie..."Living Dead Girl" was a big, big hint that he's not right
Pat Robertson...hurricanes are now known as "God's Punishment for Sin", I thought it was hell
Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton...at some point you have to admit that black people can be wrong too

Danny Glover is too old for this _____

I've always liked Danny Glover. He's a good actor. Had a good run in the Lethal Weapon series. But now apparently Glover was the actor turned activist who introduced Venezuelan madman...er...President Hugo Chavez at an event in Harlem.

First of all, if Kentucky basketball fans are mad about Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl coming into the state and being named a Kentucky Colonel, why aren't we in an uproar over this? Chavez was speaking at an "oil for poor" event in Harlem. Do we need the Venezuelan president to care for OUR poor?

In case you live in a cave or have watched liberal news outlets that have largely ignore this story, Chavez recently ranted at the U.N. referring to the president of the United States of America as "the devil" and saying the U.S. empire would soon end, and blah, blah, blah, blah.
In Harlem today, Chavez repeated the name-calling.

Which brings me to my second point, what kind of world leader calls the president of the United States names? I said recently that I am beginning to consider myself smarter than all of the world leaders. Guys like Chavez make it look easy to be an idiot.

Third point, what in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is Danny "Lethal Weapon" Glover doing associating with this nut? Why are actors in this country obsessed with nuts anyway? Jane Fonda was hanging with the Vietnamese communists, Sean Penn is dining with Hussein, and now Danny "Lethal Weapon" Glover is emceeing events for Hugo Chavez.

Political lines be darned, I'm not going to support a world leader who comes on my soil and berates my president. I don't care if we elect Paul Rubins president, that stuff just doesn't fly with me. Props to the Representative who said as much.

Chavez thinks the US has been unfair to Cuba. Look, last I checked Cubans still board rafts to come to our country because theirs is lousy. So while you may be chummy with Fidel, don't try to convince me Fidel's a good guy. He's just misunderstood.

Bush is an easy target. We all know that. He is president over a sharply divided country. He's a terrible public speaker. And he's had to make decisions no president should be saddled with. Some of which he made good choices on, some of which he did not. But this is unacceptable and should be treated as such.

Put the TV Down!!

(Began as a reply to Piccu’s Crap on TV post, but got too long.)

At some point in your remote control flipping from one piece of junk to another, do you ever stop to think, "I've got better things to do."

I have reached that conclusion often lately. Sitting around after my son has but put to bed, flipping from one channel to another looking for something to catch my interest. I've turned it off a couple times to read. I need to do that more often.

Maybe stop and play a game. I don't know. It just seems like we've been so enveloped by television that we'll literally watch anything just to avoid doing anything else. As if there are no alternatives.

Here is my list of other things to do:
Read a book. I know many of us haven’t read a book since senior English class in high school or English Lit in college. But books are actually enjoyable. Much more so when you’re not studying them for an exam. A short list of authors I recommend includes Silas House, Larry Brown, and Mitch Albom.
Play a board/card game. This one requires another living soul, so you might have to crowbar someone else off their couch. But it’s worth the effort. Play something that allows for some good conversation and laughs if possible. A short list of games I recommend includes Scategories, Scrabble, Spades, & Trivial Pursuit.
Cook. Yep, I said it. Cook. Cook something you wouldn’t normally. Give it a try. I know Piccu is a famous grill man, so he can relate here.
Get a hobby. Ok, some people have hobbies, others have obsessions. Try not to get an obsession. Then you’re just freeing your mind of one trap and putting it into another. Some hobbies I and friends have are: running, guitar and video games (no problem for piccu and bratch there.)

If you’re like me, you’re just tired of surrendering your time and mind to the television to literally kill time. Why kill time? What did it do to you?

Piccu's Fall TV Preview, Crap I Want to Watch: Thursday Edition.

Not too long ago Thursday nights was the night to watch TV in America, whether it is Must See TV and NBC’s sitcoms followed by ER or more recently CBS’s lineup up. Now, not so much. There aren’t many shows on Thursday that have me excited, except one.

The 7 CST hour has quite a few shows battling it out for ratings supremacy. The shows I will watch are Survivor: Race Wars on CBS and Earl and The Office on NBC. I will DVR Survivor and VCR Earl and The Office because that is the order of interest. I do hate to admit that Ugly Betty on ABC intrigues me as ABC begins their Thursday Night is for Women lineup with Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, and Six Degrees. Unfortunately for Betty, she does not interest enough to drop Earl and The Office. Those two sitcoms, now that Arrested Development is gone, are the best sitcoms on TV and should not be missed. The rest of the 7:00 hour shows pretty much stink and do not deserve your viewership.

At 8 CST we have my must watch show of the night, the all new CW’s, Supernatural. I had heard good things about this show and I decided to watch the reruns this summer and I have become hooked. In fact I have just ordered the entire first season on DVD to catch the shows I might have missed. It is a show about demon killing, vampire killing, evil spirit killing and just plain killing. It is also the best creepy/weird show since the X-Files. I highly recommend that geeks of all kinds watch this show. This will be on my DVR all season.

I will be VCRing CSI: Original Recipe on CBS because this is still one of the best shows on TV and now we get an apparent illicit, undercover affair between Sara Sidle and Grim Grissom. Grey’s Anatomy on ABC has never interested me, probably because I do not have enough estrogen flowing through my body, so I could give two craps about Denny and Dr. McDreamy. The women folk can have it. And as far as Deal or No Deal on NBC goes, I say, “No deal!!!”

At 9 CST in the past I would watch one of two shows, ER on NBC or Without a Trace on CBS. In the last few years I stopped watching ER because everyone kept leaving and every episode was a special episode like you have never seen before. And after six in a row like that, you realize you have seen it all before. Now CBS moves Without a Trace on me and I have to try a show called Shark starring James Woods, who I generally dislike. There is no real reason I dislike James Woods, but there is something about him that really turns me off. But I hate ER and I am not going to watch Six Degrees on ABC, especially if Kevin Bacon isn’t in it, so Shark it is.

If you take nothing away from this installment of crap I like to watch, watch Supernatural at 8 CST on the CW. It is a creepy fun show that is unlike anything on TV right now. And with all the different shows that seem to be about the same thing, this is what everyone should be looking for.

How Taco Bell's service equals broken sunglasses...

I can't believe I broke my sunglasses yesterday. Piccu and I decided to make a run for the border and hit some Taco Bell yesterday evening and had some problems with the service.

So we ordered simple things. A couple of enchiritos, which we had never had before and sucked, and a spicy chicken burrito and grilled stuft burrito. Simple enough, but when the girl attempted to hand me my drink that I didn't order since we were taking it home, I knew there could be trouble.

As we pull away from the drive-thru I had Piccu check the bag and of course we only had the enchiritos and nothing else.

I pulled around front and took the receipt and food in to tell them we needed the rest of our order.

OK, so I have my sunglasses on and for those of you who don't know, they are gigantic gunmetal framed black aviators. They are so obnoxiously large and so old school goofy that they are almost embarrassing to wear. I got Piccu a silver pair with mirrored lenses for Christmas and they are even more ridiculous than mine, but in a good way.

Since I was technically going to complain, I didn't want to look like a complete a-hole and do it with those obnoxious glasses on so I slipped them off and hung them in my shorts pocket by one of the arms. That way they are safe and not getting scratched.

After they gave me my burritos, in separate bags, I had four items in three bags so my hands were somewhat full and I didn't get any free junk for having to come back in so I wasn't thinking about my sunglasses as I jumped back into the truck. Then I thought, "What was that noise?" And it was my sunglasses being smashed into the center console of my truck literally snapping off one of the metal arms. I was actually kind of disappointed even more to see that they didn't bend at all. Just snapped right off.

So last night I had to find some new glasses and I scoured the net for several hours and thought I had some nailed down, but after further research realized that I couldn't spend 50 bucks on a pair of sunglasses without trying them on. I was really looking for some huge black with black lenses sunglasses but they just don't make them large enough for my taste unless they are made for women and I'm not pulling a George Costanza on that.

I was really close to getting some Super Duper Flys from Black Flys, but like $50 for a pair of black plastic sunglasses is a bit much and I'm not exactly sure how large they are. I've got a huge skull anyway so they need to be pretty big. But I've found that Urban Specs has a nice range of glasses at reasonable prices for sure, so I chose their Pro Aviators which are a little more modern version of what I had before.

I'm still paying $25 for these since shipping is like nine bucks, but I'm not sure that I can pay 50 or 60 bucks for internet sunglasses without trying them on or at least seeing them on a picture of a person. Gotta have something to show me some scale.

Anyway, I had to order something because I bought a cheapo pair at a convenient store and they are too crappy.

Meet the new name, same as the old name. The band formerly known as SuperNova chooses a new name.

When I first heard that Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke, and Jason Newsted were forming a new band and going on the RockStar show to find their lead singer, I thought, “This will last about 3 months.” When I heard the name of the band was called SuperNova, that didn’t change my mind one bit.

Then word came out that the name Supernova was taken and the original Supernova, a band who no one has heard of, was going to court to keep their name. In reality, they probably would have taken money for it, but CBS obviously did not give a crap and probably thought they could win the case. They didn’t and after selecting Udo(Lukas) Rossi as their new lead singer, I have given this group one album and one tour, then done. I can’t see this album selling a million copies and most of the people who buy a copy of it will be the same people who search for autopsy photos online.

Given all of that, I am now beginning to wonder if they can even get 1000 people at their shows. Why do I feel this way? I have just found out the new name for the band formerly known as SuperNova. The band’s new name is…RockStar:SuperNova. What? This can’t be serious. That is like Kelly Clarkson changing her name to Miss American Idol. That is like naming your band, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

These guys are artists (I use that term loosely). They create original (I also use this term loosely) compositions all the time. While they are not musical geniuses, you would think that between the three of them they could come up with a more creative name. I don’t think they gave The Schlongs serious enough consideration. If that were their name, I would go see them. It is genius, even if I was the one who came up with it.

Mark my words, this group will be disbanded by St. Patrick’s Day 2007. T-Lee will go back to his real job of being a celebrity. Gilby will disappear back into the rock music background. Jason will join six new bands to go along with the four or five bands he is in now. And poor Udo(Lukas) will end up back at Hooter’s manning the hot wings station. What a short strange trip it’s been.


As an added bonus, if you click the link, you can go to RockStar SuperNova's MySpace page and hear two brand new songs with Udo on lead vocals. Click if you dare!!!!

Piccu's Fall TV Preview, Crap I Want to Watch: Wednesday Edition.

It’s Wednesday night and that means only one thing to me, it’s Bones night. The 7 CST hour belongs to Bones on FOX, at least as far as I am concerned. This show has a great cast that is so entertainingly weird. You also have the best team-up of polar opposites since the X-Files in David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. It has quickly become one of my can’t miss shows every week. This will be DVRed and I hope to VCR 30 Rock on NBC when it premieres in October, the other show about a fake Saturday Night Live. I thought Studio 60 was pretty good and I hope this one will be better. I love Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan is underrated as a comedian. He could be the breakout performer sitcom-wise this season. Jericho on CBS doesn’t interest me at all and 20 Good Years on NBC, following 30 Rock, only slightly interests me. I highly recommend you add Bones to your schedule.

At 8 CST we have a bit of a battle shaping up, at least for my viewership. In October we have the premiere of Lost on ABC. I have to be honest; I am not as fired up for this season as I was for other shows, like House, Bones, or Veronica Mars, Tuesdays at 8 CST on the new CW. I hope that the writers answer a few more questions than give us more questions to answers. I will still watch, but to be honest, I am looking more excited about the new season of Criminal Minds on CBS. This show grew on me last year until it turned me fully on to its side. I hate Greg from Dharma and Greg and I dislike Mandy Patinkin as well, but the stories are all pretty interesting and I don’t have to worry about mysteries that last four seasons, I get a resolution at the end of the show. We also have a new season of Ghosthunters starting in October on Sci-Fi, but this show comes on twice during the night so I won’t have to give something up to watch these idiots run around debunking haunted houses. I’ll just DVR it later in the night. As for the other shows, I have no interest and as far as The Biggest Loser goes, I have this saying, “When we watch The Biggest Loser, we’re all losers.”

The 9 CST hour looks a little weird without Law & Order on the schedule, so I will have to give two new shows a shot. I plan on DVRing Kidnapped on NBC because of all the new shows that involve kidnappings, this show has gotten the better buzz. I can’t say I am really that interested in it, but I will try it out for a bit. The other new show I will give a shot is called The Nine on ABC, following Lost. The only thing I know about this is that 9 people become involved in a hostage situation during a bank robbery and the show follows their lives after escaping this traumatizing event. I have heard good things about this and will watch it live after Lost for our weekly visit to Big Kev’s. CSI: NY has lost me. I watched the first couple of seasons and last year after I missed a couple shows, I realized I just didn’t care about the show. Truth be told, that also happened to me with Law & Order.

There it is, Wednesday nights aren’t the greatest on TV, but Bones and Lost definitely make it better than most.

Live at Winterland... I have it again.

Many moons ago I purchased a CD on clearance from a department store going under. I had never heard of the CD, but I knew I had to have it. That CD was Jimi Hendrix: Live at Winterland. Winterland as in San Fransico.

I bought the CD because it was like five bucks and it had a ton of his best songs on it, but more importantly it had a nearly seven minute version of my favority Jimi tune Hey Joe.

Somewhere along the way I misplaced this CD. I'll probably find it now that I've purchased it again, but it's gone.

I got back into Jimi after seeing him inducted into the UK Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame recently. So I thought I would hit Amazon.com and see if I could find cheap. It's an old CD so I figured it wouldn't be too much.

I ultimately ended up with a nice used copy for about $10 with shipping, but few of the copies were cheap. Some were original 1987 pressings still in the wrapper for $50.

Since this CD is out of print and I care more for the music than anything else, I figured that if I could get the cheapest one and get the songs into MP3 form on my computer I would be alright.

And I have. The CD is a little worn out with the top of it flaking away a bit, but still pretty sturdy. Piccu has recently found some of his old CDs disintegrating which is why he wants an iPod so he can start converting his entire CD collection into MP3 form and simply have an iPod.

Unfortunately for him, they don't make iPods that big since his CD collection grows by leaps and bounds annually. He couldn't even get "the high school years" on a single iPod.

I guess Apple needs to make an extreme iPod with 250 gigabyte hard drives for him. I'm not sure 250 gigs could handle his collection, but it would be interesting to find out. Maybe I'll get a 500 gig external drive and we'll start getting to work on saving the music and seeing if it will fit.

It'll take six months to do, but it might fit a 500 gig drive.

Is Microsoft's Zune the iPod killer? Probably not.

Coming up in November, just in time for that wonderful Christmas buying season, Microsoft will have available what they are referring to as "the iPod killer." Actually, "iPod Killer" is a much better name, in my opinion, but they are calling it the ever edgy-- Zune. Why is it edgy? It has a "z" in it, that's why.

I'm not quite sure that Microsoft really knows what they are doing with this. They are about five generations late as in Apple has already updated the iPod five times not including adding new models like the mini, nano and shuffle. That tells me that they didn't quite see the writing on the wall when the iPod crashed through it.

And in reality the problem that Microsoft is facing isn't the iPod, it's iTunes. The fact of the matter is that iTunes is what got me to buy an iPod. I couldn't listen to all of the cool songs that I had purchased unless I had an iPod. So a shuffle was mine.

See, iTunes is like a crack dealer. Every week it gives you a little taste with a free song. Then while you are listening to your satellite radio(terrestrial radio is so over) you hear a song on the 80's channel that you remember loving but never knew who performed it. You need that fix again and iTunes pops up on your desktop with exactly what you need, baby.

So the iPod is half the battle. But wait, some believe that Microsoft might buy you out of iTunes. To me that tells me that they are admitting a bit of a defeat, but that also means they are going to have to work super hard at creating a service similar to iTunes in quality but in much less time. Apple has been developing it for... Well, they just released version 7.

Personally, I don't think it will beat out the iPod or iTunes. I almost think that it's impossible. The only thing this Zune contraption has over the iPod is WiFi as in Bluetooth capability. What Microsoft is raving about is the capability of two users connecting to one another and swapping a song and from that song the user who didn't pay for it can play it three times so they can figure out if they want to buy it.

Cool ideas but neither of them are things that Apple can't do with the iPod. I've also heard rumors that Apple has patented a possible design for a music player that has a full face touch screen. Meaning that when playing music the buttons will be on the screen, but when watching a video, the whole screen would be showing the video. Think about the possible screen size on an iPod if you could eliminate the scroll wheel.

The bottom line with music players and iTunes and podcasting (which Microsoft mentions nothing about), Apple is on the cutting edge of creativity. Their computers are hot, their operating systems make you want to spend the day poking around inside them and when it comes to artistry and creativity, Microsoft is trying to figure out that math. And that's not what it's about.

The only thing Microsoft could do to get into the market is sell the Zune for $99 instead of what is projected to be $250-$399. Sell it for a loss and hope to make it up with your iTunes-like music service and hope the public doesn't go nuts when the second version of the device is three times the price.

Let's not forget that Apple just updated the iPod Shuffe and Nano, but not the big dog iPod video. Who knows, by the time Microsoft unleashes the Zune, Apple could slip in a new iPod with similar features and crush it. And, man, would that crush it.

Piccu's Fall TV Preview, Crap I Want to Watch: Tuesday Edition.

Tuesday nights this fall season are without a doubt, the best nights on TV. In quality and quantity, even the new CW has good offerings on this night. This is why I need a DVR that can record two shows at once. Tuesdays screw my ability to watch everything, or at least everything I want to see.

At 7 CST we a little show called House that I love. House is the story of a doctor who is a pr*^#, but a brilliant pr*^#. He solves a case every show after many trials and errors. The same show every week, but it is so good. I have watched this show since the beginning and I am not giving up now. Also at this time is a new show by the name of Friday Night Lights. The show is based on the movie based on the book. We have all seen the movie and we know the story. This show is getting great buzz and I will check it out, but I will have to use a VCR so it better be good. We also have Dancing with the Stars (sucks), NCIS (don't care), and Gilmore Girls(will only watch if it helps Veronica Mars which airs after this show).

Now we move to the best hour on TV, the 8 CST hour. Starting Oct. 3, I will be DVRing the best show on TV and that is Veronica Mars on the new CW. I have praised this show many times and I never lied. It is smart, funny and unlike other shows, cough, LOST, cough, it wraps up it mysteries leaving you feeling satisfied after you watch a season. The CW has only ordered 13 episodes, but if Veronica does well in its post Gilmore time slot, we get a whole season. So watch this show! Unfortunately in the winter American Idol will probably knock House into this time slot and I will have to VCR House and totally drop another favorite of mine, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. This is my favorite of the Law & Orders and I will hate to give it up, but am not giving up Veronica or House. In fact, I would give up House or anything before Veronica. I'm telling you, watch this show.

Also at 8 CST we have The Unit which I watched a little of when it came on late last season, but the show is set up to watch the husbands go out and kick a** and then it shows the wives at home going about their day. It bored me. The new show I wanted to check out was the Knights of Prosperity, which used to be called Let's Rob Mick Jagger, a much better title. The title says it all and it stars Donal Logue who is quite funny, but it is on in the death hour, too many good shows to do well.

Thankfully at 9 CST we don't have such a bottle neck and there are only 2 shows that interest me. One I will definitely be watching is Law & Order: SVU. This show gets better and better every year and I see no other shows in this time slot that sounds like it will top it. The other show I have interest in and will be VCRing is Smith. Smith is a heist show, the 50th in the past year, and it has maybe the best cast on TV headed up by Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen. I have already heard bad buzz on this, but I will check out the first couple of shows.

I don't want to have to write another letter to America, so if you only take one thing away from this piece, let it be Veronica Mars on your local CW channel at 9/8 Central every Tuesday night after Gilmore Girls starting Oct. 3. Check it out for 3 or 4 episodes, I promise you will enjoy it.

Best Ending in Baseball History?

The phrase "Best Ending in Baseball History" should not be thrown around lightly. Baseball has a rich, rich history. So if you're saying a game has the best ending in baseball history it has to be better than the Shot Heard 'Round the World. It has to be better than Bill Buckner. It has to be better than Kirk Gibson's HR.

Last night's game between the Padres and Dodgers may be that good. The Padres had a 1/2 game lead in the NL West and had a 9-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Then the Dodgers did the improbable. Two consecutive solo homeruns against reliever Jon Adkins. So the Fathers make the switch to All-Star reliever Trevor Hoffman who hadn't blown a save against LA in 24 straight chances. Two pitches, two more solo home runs and the game is tied 9-9 off FOUR SOLO HOME RUNS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH INNING!!!

So we go to extra innings where the Padres right the ship and score a run in the top of the 10th to take 10-9 lead. Kenny Lofton got on base off Hoffman. Hoffman is replaced by Rudy Saenz who gives up the game winning 2 run home run to Nomar Garciaparra.

I heard the call from Charlie Steiner (one of my former favorite Sportscenter anchors, did a great commercial where he punched the Syracuse Orange) and I got goosebumps. That was amazing.

An open letter to America on the behalf of ZZ Top

Dear America,

This is your friend Piccu and I want to talk with you today about ZZ Top. ZZ Top was formed like a 1,000 years ago and they have contained the same three guys for the whole run, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. They are a power trio and that is pretty cool. You don’t have that many power trios in today’s music, much less power trios that have been together for 37 years. ZZ Top is just plain cool. In fact, ZZ Top is so cool that Jimi Hendrix said Billy Gibbons was his favorite guitarist. I can stop there, if Jimi thinks you are bad a**, then you are bad a**.

Why am I writing to you America? Well I’ll tell you, I just read a piece on Yahoo informing me that Zed Zed, as I call them sometimes, has just split with their management and their record company and it seems that no one cares. I also read that ZZ Top’s last tour consisted mainly of casinos and state fairs. When you begin to hit casinos and state fairs, you are just about done with this world. All apologies to Journey and Styx.

This p*##es me off to no end. The Top is an icon in the history of music. I will admit that they have put out some clunker albums in the last couple of decades. Hello Antenna, XXX, and Recycler. But they have had two great cds with Rhythmeen and their latest Mescalero. On those two discs, ZZ Top went back to the basics of great backroom boogie Texas blues and quit the gimmicky/keyboardy rock they got hooked on in the 80’s.

Right now it seems that ZZ is out there without a record deal, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I think they could sign with an independent label and go farther back to their roots and release super blues records and tour clubs for decades. In fact, I think they should start their own label and sign unheard blues bands and introduce the world to great unsigned talent. Whatever the case, this lack of support must stop.

Now America, go to Amazon.com and search for ZZ Top or just click the link provided. Look for a collection called Six Pack and order it immediately. I bought this when it first came out and paid roughly $50 for it. You can now get it for $11 used on Amazon. This collection contains ZZ Top’s first 6 albums; every one of them is a pure delight. They will make you a fan of the blues even if you hate the blues. If you like what you hear, check out some others I have named like Rhythmeen, Mescalaro and DeGuello. These are all great albums.

After all that, anytime you see that ZZ Top is playing in your neck of the woods, go see them. Support a great band. Stop seeing crap. Even though they may be a little geezerly, they still rock live. I know, I have seen them. Also, anytime they release an album, even if it sounds like crap, buy it. Even if it sucks, at least you know it is by a band that cares about real music. Not these cookie cutter types that are put together by marketing teams.

If we can all do this and band together as a country, I believe that we can get the Top back on top and touring arenas in the next decade. Thank you for your time and your support of ZZ Top.

Piccu's Fall TV Preview, Crap I Want to Watch: Monday Edition.

Tonight begins a full scale rollout of new and returning TV shows this fall and there really isn’t anything that great coming on Monday nights. I will be watching Prison Break, but the good thing about Prison Break is that it always seems to go by fast, especially if you DVR it. Another good thing about Prison Break is that you can skip chunks of it and still have no problem following it. The whole storyline involving the prison doctor and the guy trailing/stalking her, I just skip through those scenes. I love prison movies and especially prison break movies, so this so was something that I would check out and surprisingly it has gotten better since they have broken out and added William Fichtner to the cast. If you like cons on the run check it out, but I do not make this a must see.

We also have the return of CSI: Miami, which for some reason I really love. David Caruso is such a bad actor that he is great. He never looks anyone in the eye when he talks to them, he seems to say the same lines every week, and he always just kind of pops up out of nowhere during a scene. Another I don’t think is a must see and I actually think of this as a guilty pleasure.

The new show I am interested in tonight is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It is the first of two fake shows about Saturday Night Live. This one is an hour long and probably will be listed as a dramedy. Aaron Sorkin, former crackhead and creator of The West Wing, brings us another talky show, but this time it is a show about a show. Actually, I heard it is more about the backstage scene than the show itself. I am interested to see if I can watch this show and not think of Chandler from Friends whenever Matthew Perry is on screen. I am not sure that is possible, especially considering I couldn’t keep from thinking Chandler during The Whole Nine Yards.

So, I will be DVRing Prison Break and CSI: Miami tonight and videotaping Studio 60. I hate videotaping, so Studio 60 needs to show something in a hurry. I may DVR Vanished at 8 CST, but I have missed 2 of the first 4 and I am not that interested in any of it. I hate all the actors in the show and it just bores me.

Next week, we get the premiere of the NBC show, Heroes. I am definitely fired up about that because it focuses on a group of people that somehow acquire different kinds of “super” powers. Sounds comic-y and X-Men-y and I am a geek so I will definitely be checking that out. That means bye-bye Vanished. I predict Vanished will vanish from our TV screens before season’s end, if not year’s end.

Attack of the Cockroaches

Cilck the link to see what happens when an effeminate weather man comes face to face with a cockroach. His girlfriend must have been so embarrassed. Likewise all his brothers of the Hell’s Angels.

Maurice Clarett headed to the big house...

We all blogged about former Ohio State running back and sure-fire NFL prospect Maurice Clarett's last run in with the law. It was a bit of a crazy deal really. Body armor and enough guns for a small army, it was a scene, man. Now it seems that he's headed to prison for 3 and a half years.

That's a long time, folks. And this is after he had the world by the tail and all he had to do was play two years of football and then make big time money in the NFL.

Instead he took gifts at college, got caught and threw "The" Ohio State University under the bus. His only problem was that he was still a year away from being eligible for the NFL draft and now he's going to be playing ball in the Ohio State Prison League (OSPL). I just made that part up.

It's been a while since we've had a promising young college sports star flame out in a blaze of incompetence, but this may end up being the worst case that didn't involve a death.

The media is going to keep up with this. In 3 and a half years, they'll have footage of him leaving prison and ESPN will be dying to get an interview. Maybe he can write a book about it or something.

If he starts the day he goes into prison and rehashes the whole situation, it might be pretty interesting reading.

Setting up Movie Mayhem part II

1. Plans/food-- Friday eat out, Saturday morning IHOP or eat there what ever the fancy (several people will be around so I am sure there will be multiple options), Saturday evening cookout.

2. Arrivals/departures-- You can come anytime of the day you want. If you should beat us there by a short time then a key will be waiting. Leaving on Sunday morning; we will be there and you can leave whatever time we'll likely have food for breakfast.

3. Kev and Sus-- spoke w/ them and will do so again

4. Movies-- most watching Friday w/ a couple on Saturday; I like some of the suggestions but I feel like we need one classic for Friday (Friday 13th, Halloween 2, Nightmare on Elm Street). I have the orginial Omen if we want to watch it.

As it stands here are the suggestions:
1. Dog Soldiers
2. High Tension
3. The Uninvited
4. Young Frankenstein

I think the oldies would be good, but i am afraid that only Piccu and I would really like them. I suggest we realistically shoot for 4 on Friday and 2 on Saturday with a few back ups if the party really gets started.

What Was the Pope Thinking?!?

The sitting Pope, Benedict XVI, apparently decided to quote 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and his talk of Islam. No big deal. Except what Paleogos said was Muhammed didn't introduce anything new except violence and inhumanity.

Has this pope been living in the Vatican or in a cave? Listen your popeness, its generally not conisdered intelligent to insult Muslims. They tend to get a little cranky.

As if the clashes between Islam and other religions weren't prominent enough, we've got the world's largest symbol (for better or for worse) of Christianity basically taunting Islam before taking a November visit to Islamic country Turkey. Through his underlings, the pontiff has said he didn't intend to offend anyone.

Look, if you're quoting, you've obviously taken the time to read it and you're quoting it for some purpose. What I'd like to know is what exactly that purpose was.

Thanks alot Pope.

Survivor: Race Wars should make for interesting TV.

The new TV season has begun on FOX and partly on ABC with the all world craptacular, Dancing with the Stars, but now the rest of the new shows will start up. I had thought about going through each night and giving a rundown of the best shows, but I don’t have that much time on my hands. I will tell you to be sure to watch House and Bones. I will also tell you that you are an imbecile if you do not watch Veronica Mars on the new CW, but more about that at the end of the month. Tonight, we get our first look at the new Survivor, which I am calling Survivor: Race Wars.

If you have been under a rock for the last month or so, here is the premise. The producers have taken contestants and divided them among racial lines. We have a team of Asians, a team of blacks, a team of Hispanics, and a team of whiteys. This sounds like a show to me. People have been going off and predicting the end of the world as we know it, but I am just looking forward to great TV.

I have been a fan of Survivor since the beginning, but the last few seasons have been lackluster. This season they have a provocative premise and if the gameplay is stepped up, then this could be a great comeback for Survivor. I assume that at some point, the tribes will merge together and then we will see if people stay among their own kind no matter what or if they will jump ship if it affords them a better chance of advancing further in the game. Personally, I do not think you can play this game and not backstab your partners. It has been that way since the beginning.

The outrage that I see from people is not unexpected, but I just don’t get it. This is a game, not the end of the world. Are we just too uncomfortable with the loosest thought of segregation? Will the non-white races be running around the jungle singing, “I’m gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see!” I highly doubt it.

A few things we do know is that the Hispanic team will have no problem squeezing a group of people into a small shelter. The black people will not do well in the water challenges. The Asians will use some sort of Zen Buddhist meditation to remain calm and cool in the midst of chaos. And the white folk will feel very uncomfortable throughout the whole season.

That or they will all try to show each race how much they know about and appreciate their culture. You know, telling black players that they love rap music and talking about how many black friends they have. Or telling the Latin players that they love Mexican food and start rolling their R's when saying spanish words. Or with the Asian players they will talk about how they took karate at the age of 8 and tell them that Bruce Lee is their favorite actor.

Before you start to track me down and firebomb me, I am kidding. I think everything will go fine and the only difference between the Asians, Hispanics, blacks and whites will be their skin color. They will play the game for themselves, not their tribemates. They won't care whose throat they cut as long as it gets them a million dollars. That's the American way. It should be a pretty good show, but we all will be hoping for some huge clusterf*^# to occur and push this season in to legendary TV status. That, too, is the American way.

With SuperNova's choice of lead singer, they can change their name to SuperSucksters.

I really can’t believe what I saw last night. First off, I knew Magni was toast. T-Lee, for some insane reason, hated him. Well, maybe he didn’t hate him, but he hated his performance style because he never seemed to have a good word for Magni. But when they sent Toby home instead of Pukas or Dilana, that actually shocked me a little bit. Toby had a hit song waiting for The Schlongs that was better than any of the other songs they had written. But, BUT, we still had Dilana, who I thought had no chance a week ago. Now I was thinking they are going to take her, they have to. She has the best voice by far of anyone who was in this thing. For exactly the same reasons Travis has already laid out.

Wrong! Wrong! They get rid of Dilana and take the one who received the most votes, Pukas. First off, how the f*^# do we know he got the most votes? I would assume that Dilana did because she wasn’t in the running for bottom two. When Magni was the only one to not stand a few weeks ago, Brooke pointed out that Magni was winning the show at the point. I would think the same could be said for Dilana. Apparently not.

Another thing is that I posted a piece a few weeks back that concerned a gossip site that said that Pukas had been picked as the winner weeks ago. The same site also said that he and the band had already taken publicity photos. I love a good conspiracy, and I really have no proof this was or wasn’t the case. It seemed like T-Lee and Gilby loved Pukas from the start. I am sure it takes time to record and rehearse and get to know each other before you head out on a massive world tour. Had Pukas been disappearing mysteriously throughout the last few weeks? Was he already practicing with the band?

I wonder if the other "rockers" knew about the rumors. It didn’t look like Dilana knew, she looked shocked. Or maybe she was shocked because she had heard about the rumors and was told they were not true and at that moment the look on her face conveyed a realization that she had been played. Who knows for sure.

I think this is a mistake for the band, for the most important reason that Pukas doesn’t sing in English. He sings in badger and only .1% of the world’s population can understand him. I swear, he sang a verse in the second song last night and I could not pick out one word I understood. I actually had interest in The Schlongs album, that is if they picked Magni, Toby, or Dilana. I’m like Travis now, I don’t think I will be buying this thing and I definitely won’t be going to see their show, not as long as Udo is the lead singer. For those of you who are going to buy the new cd, you better pray they have the lyrics in the cd booklet; otherwise you will need to capture a badger and learn a new language.

One person I know who will be buying The Schlongs(in case you haven’t figured it out, I think this should be their new band name) new cd and that is Bratch. It seems that he has been a closet Pukas fan all season long. He was so happy that Pukas won over Dilana. But he hates women and he thinks they should not have the right to vote or own property. That may explain why he was so overjoyed that Pukas won the competition. He sucks as bad as Pukas.

Unbelievable

I'm sure piccu will have plenty to say on the surprise ending of Rockstar:ArtistsFormerlyKnownAsSupernova, but I just have to say a couple things.

You've got three good rockers to choose from. The hot Dilana with a gravel filled voice that has the ability to be soulful and powerful (Roxanne) and still can get soft and sexy (Behind Blue Eyes.) But you don't choose her.

You've got a guy with an obvious appreciation and love for classic rock with a great modern look and sound in Magni. Sure, he's Icelandic, but he's rocking. But you don't choose him.

You've got the young Aussi Toby, who's energy ignites the crowd everytime he performs. He got better every week and had as good an upper register as I've heard in a while in rock n' roll. And the single he wrote would be top 20 today. But you don't choose him.

No, you chose Lukas Rossi. The guy everyone in America wondered what you saw in. The guy who constantly endured Jason's criticism for his singing style. The guy who looks like the spirit of Mick Jagger took over Lucky the Leprachaun. The guy who doesn't bother to pronounce entire words. The guy who's original was either a tribute or a fiery dart for his mother. No one is quite sure. That's your boy.

Let's face it, I wasn't going to see their concert or buy their album anyway, but now I'll be joined my millions of others who won't touch this band. Good eye fellas.

Flaming shots seemed like a great idea at the time.

I saved the best for last. Not only is the video fun to watch, but when the dude catches on fire and starts screaming like a little girl, it kicks it up a notch. This video will take care of any curiousity you might have had about a flaming shot. Enjoy!!!

Four words: Out. Of. Control. Dirtbike.

This next video is one that I thoroughly enjoy. I am sure some of you have seen and heard these guys who drive loud trucks or bikes and the rev them up for no reason just to appear cool. Well, this clip features a guy revving up his bike and things get out of control. I am not sure if the guy just held on or had his shirt caught but he goes for a hell of a ride. It's a shame he doesn't appear to be injured more than he is. Enjoy!!!

Golfer + Slick Patio Area = Hilarity

I have a few videos you need to check out. They all involve idiots and the consequences you pay for being an idiot. In this one, we have some rednecks in the rain forest, or so the guy says. Well, not IN the rain forest but the guy claims he is going to hit a golf ball into the rain forest from the patio area of his hotel room. He is so cocky that you know things can only go wrong. Enjoy!!!!

SuperNova gains a lead singer, but loses a band name.

Well, it is a good news, bad news situation for the boys in SuperNova. The bad news is that they have to change their name because a judge has ruled that they cannot use the name SuperNova. A punk band, which 13 people have heard of, has the legal rights to the name. The good news is that they have to change their name. I was never really sold on the name SuperNova in the first place. It kind of sounds like the name a kid in junior high fantasizes about calling his band when he “makes” it. It sounds like a name Dilana would come up with because according to Gilby she lacks no imagination.

What can the now call their band? Maybe we can help. I have a few suggestions and T-Lee and the boys are more than welcome to steal them.

1. Check, Please!
2. Magni Haters
3. Oh Snap!
4. Boneblack
5. The Buttonless Shirts
6. Big Mistake
7. Gone Tomorrow
8. The Schlongs
9. The Pervs
10. The Metal Rose Crew
11. The Tommy Hawks
12. The Bores
13. The Irrelevants
14. The Steve Irwin Project
15. Sh*t Sandwich

RockStar:SuperNova FINAL Analysis

This is the last RockStar:SuperNova analysis and Brooke Burke said it best, “It is incredible to think that one of these four will win.” I am not exactly sure how she meant that, I probably understood it differently than she meant.

To start off the last show, America had a chance to vote someone back for an encore and I’ll be damned if America didn’t bring back “The Suck Horse.” I immediately threw up a little bit in my mouth. He still sucks. I thought I was finished with him and his goofy armband, his girlie screams, his fake intensity, and his “Blue Steel” of looks, “P!$$ed Off.” I have a feeling we won’t have to worry about him after this performance, except for those who will more than likely see him live with The House Band on the SuperNova Tour. I hope that weasel doesn’t come anywhere near Kentucky.

Now on with the real show, Toby is up first and he sings Karma Police by Radiohead. This is not a great song for Toby. Toby needs up-tempo rockers to really show off his stuff. He is great at getting the crowd whipped into frenzy and this song does not do that. He then brings out Magni on guitar and performs his hey, hey, ho song and this is a crowd pleaser. He is his best with this type of music. He and Magni should form a family band, they work well together. He did a great job.

Now we have Udo(Lukas) with a Coldplay song. Does Coldplay sponsor this competition? There is a Coldplay song on here every week. It must be wuss night on RockStar because all the covers are weak. This may have been his best cover because with the background singing, I can understand the words. He needs more eye makeup, though. And there’s Paula Abdul, a traitor to her own silly singing competition. Now Udo(Lukas) is doing his Headspin song again. What? But this time it’s “stripped down.” Whenever I hear the words “stripped down,” I think simultaneously, “sucked up.” His vocal style can be summed up with one word, grunty. He doesn’t sing, he grunts and growls, that’s fine for a band like Cannibal Corpse, but for SuperNova? I have heard this goofy song 3 times now and I can’t tell if it is a tribute to his mother or a slam. Why are the guys in SuperNova and Dave so fascinated with Lukas?

Now we have Dilana, who looks to be totally recovered from her “torn” calf muscle. Hallelujah!! It’s a miracle. Oh, no. She is not going to sing Roxanne, is she? My favorite Police song? Please say it ain’t so. That is what I thought when I first heard she was singing this. I have to say, I love her version. She sang beautifully and utilized the boys perfectly as HER background singers. Surprisingly good, definitely the best cover of the night. Her original is alright, but not a blow you away great like Toby’s. This was her best in the last 3 or 4 weeks, easily.

Lastly we have Magni and he performs Hush by Deep Purple. You can’t go wrong with the Purp, especially Bratch’s favorite Purple song. I have to say I wasn’t that impressed. Magni did fine, but the House Band disappointed me on this song. It was the second best cover of the night though. Now we have his original song. Did he just forget the title to his OWN song? It is fine, but not great. Once again, T-Lee slams Magni. He really hates Magni. Every week he has something to pick at when it comes to Magni while he is ready to bow down to Lukas. I would not want T-Lee to pick the lead singer for my band. Magni is in big, big trouble.

Now we are down to the last night, America will vote for a bottom two, then they will play and one will get the boot. How they will whittle down the remaining three, I do not know. I ranked all the performances last night according to how I felt. Dilana had the best cover and second best original, Toby had the third best cover and the best original, Magni had the second best cover and the third best original, and Udo(Lukas) is bringing up the rear with the worst of both the covers and the originals.

I think that Lukas and Magni will be in the bottom three and we all know they love Lukas. Magni will be the first out, very undeservingly, especially over Lukas. I have to tell you, I think Dilana redeemed herself and should win this thing. Whatever you think about her little “episode” a few weeks ago, she has the most unique (and still be listenable) voice of any of them. Unfortunately Gilby will veto her because she can’t write. So I expect Toby to be the one to be picked. He makes the most sense. He is a good singer, a great entertainer and Gilby said he was a great writer. In fact, SuperNova could have a hit with his original song. I am just worried that Lukas is a practitioner of the black arts and has SuperNova under a spell. We can only hope that Toby is able to break this unholy hold Lukas has over the band. Congratulations Toby, you are now a member of SuperNova. Man, I am so not gonna/gonna miss this show.

The Triumphant Return of Ryan "Darkhorse" Starr

Last night's episode of Rockstar: Supernova was dominated by the stellar performance of Ryan Starr. The entire country (if not the world) has got to be turned all the way up to 11 (thanks Spinal Tap) for the release of Starr's album, Darkhorse.
There were a few other performers last night, but it didn't matter. Starr ruled the show and proved that he should have been the choice for Supernova as their front man. Or rather, he should choose them to back him up.

(NOTE: This post does not reflect the true feelings of its author. It is composed entirely in jest to get under the skin of one piccu.)

Worst Album Covers of All Time

This should provide a little levity to the overly heavy IA today. This is a list of the worst album covers ever, and they are hilarious. Enjoy Affecters.

If you've got something to say, Keith, just say it...

This is from an opinion piece from a web site called The Nation. It was the most emailed story today and it quotes an 8-minute long rant that Keith Olberman, I'm assuming on his show Countdown, went on about 9/11 and his feelings about the empty space from which he broadcasted his show from when he delivered this powerful monologue.

I'll preface this in saying that I don't necessarily agree with everything that is said, but he makes some pretty solid points that are undeniable. Actually the one thing I don't agree with is the point Olberman makes about the war in Iraq. I've not heard about the Senate Intelligence Committee's finding, but it seemed like going into Iraq was somewhat inevitable. Poorly planned, but inevitable.

Anyway, check this out because it's pretty good. Keith isn't beating around bush. He's beating Bush.

Half a lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space. And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter.

All the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in the planes and -- as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared still into my soul -- two more in the Towers.

And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or more, as our ancestors.

I belabor this to emphasize that, for me this was, and is, and always shall be, personal.

And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft,"or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante and at worst, an idiot whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.

However, of all the things those of us who were here five years ago could have forecast -- of all the nightmares that unfolded before our eyes, and the others that unfolded only in our minds -- none of us could have predicted this.

Five years later this space is still empty.

Five years later there is no memorial to the dead.

Five years later there is no building rising to show with proud defiance that we would not have our America wrung from us, by cowards and criminals.

Five years later this country's wound is still open.

Five years later this country's mass grave is still unmarked.

Five years later this is still just a background for a photo-op.

It is beyond shameful.

At the dedication of the Gettysburg Memorial -- barely four months after the last soldier staggered from another Pennsylvania field -- Mr. Lincoln said, "we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."

Lincoln used those words to immortalize their sacrifice.

Today our leaders could use those same words to rationalize their reprehensible inaction. "We cannot dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground." So we won't.

Instead they bicker and buck pass. They thwart private efforts, and jostle to claim credit for initiatives that go nowhere. They spend the money on irrelevant wars, and elaborate self-congratulations, and buying off columnists to write how good a job they're doing instead of doing any job at all.

Five years later, Mr. Bush, we are still fighting the terrorists on these streets. And look carefully, sir, on these 16 empty acres. The terrorists are clearly, still winning.

And, in a crime against every victim here and every patriotic sentiment you mouthed but did not enact, you have done nothing about it.

And there is something worse still than this vast gaping hole in this city, and in the fabric of our nation. There is its symbolism of the promise unfulfilled, the urgent oath, reduced to lazy execution.

The only positive on 9/11 and the days and weeks that so slowly and painfully followed it was the unanimous humanity, here, and throughout the country. The government, the President in particular, was given every possible measure of support.

Those who did not belong to his party -- tabled that.

Those who doubted the mechanics of his election -- ignored that.

Those who wondered of his qualifications -- forgot that.

History teaches us that nearly unanimous support of a government cannot be taken away from that government by its critics. It can only be squandered by those who use it not to heal a nation's wounds, but to take political advantage.

Terrorists did not come and steal our newly-regained sense of being American first, and political, fiftieth. Nor did the Democrats. Nor did the media. Nor did the people.

The President -- and those around him -- did that.

They promised bi-partisanship, and then showed that to them, "bi-partisanship" meant that their party would rule and the rest would have to follow, or be branded, with ever-escalating hysteria, as morally or intellectually confused, as appeasers, as those who, in the Vice President's words yesterday, "validate the strategy of the terrorists."

They promised protection, and then showed that to them "protection" meant going to war against a despot whose hand they had once shaken, a despot who we now learn from our own Senate Intelligence Committee, hated al-Qaida as much as we did.

The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had 'something to do' with 9/11 is "lying by implication."

The impolite phrase is "impeachable offense."

Not once in now five years has this President ever offered to assume responsibility for the failures that led to this empty space, and to this, the current, curdled, version of our beloved country.

Still, there is a last snapping flame from a final candle of respect and fairness: even his most virulent critics have never suggested he alone bears the full brunt of the blame for 9/11.

Half the time, in fact, this President has been so gently treated, that he has seemed not even to be the man most responsible for anything in his own administration.

Yet what is happening this very night?

A mini-series, created, influenced -- possibly financed by -- the most radical and cold of domestic political Machiavellis, continues to be televised into our homes.

The documented truths of the last fifteen years are replaced by bald-faced lies; the talking points of the current regime parroted; the whole sorry story blurred, by spin, to make the party out of office seem vacillating and impotent, and the party in office, seem like the only option.

How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death, after monstrously transforming it into fear and suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections? How dare you -- or those around you -- ever "spin" 9/11?

Just as the terrorists have succeeded -- are still succeeding -- as long as there is no memorial and no construction here at Ground Zero.

So, too, have they succeeded, and are still succeeding as long as this government uses 9/11 as a wedge to pit Americans against Americans.

This is an odd point to cite a television program, especially one from March of 1960. But as Disney's continuing sell-out of the truth (and this country) suggests, even television programs can be powerful things.

And long ago, a series called "The Twilight Zone" broadcast a riveting episode entitled "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street."

In brief: a meteor sparks rumors of an invasion by extra-terrestrials disguised as humans. The electricity goes out. A neighbor pleads for calm. Suddenly his car -- and only his car -- starts. Someone suggests he must be the alien. Then another man's lights go on. As charges and suspicion and panic overtake the street, guns are inevitably produced. An "alien" is shot -- but he turns out to be just another neighbor, returning from going for help. The camera pulls back to a near-by hill, where two extra-terrestrials are seen manipulating a small device that can jam electricity. The veteran tells his novice that there's no need to actually attack, that you just turn off a few of the human machines and then, "they pick the most dangerous enemy they can find, and it's themselves."

And then, in perhaps his finest piece of writing, Rod Serling sums it up with words of remarkable prescience, given where we find ourselves tonight: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men.

"For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own -- for the children, and the children yet unborn."

When those who dissent are told time and time again -- as we will be, if not tonight by the President, then tomorrow by his portable public chorus -- that he is preserving our freedom, but that if we use any of it, we are somehow un-American...When we are scolded, that if we merely question, we have "forgotten the lessons of 9/11"... look into this empty space behind me and the bi-partisanship upon which this administration also did not build, and tell me:

Who has left this hole in the ground?

We have not forgotten, Mr. President.

You have.

May this country forgive you.

Bush's Speech

President Bush's speech last night was delivered well. He made strong points. He provided solid reasoning. In short, he did all he intended to do.

The problem lay in his intentions. He apparently intended to use the fifth anniversary of the greatest tragedy in American history to rally support for the war in Iraq. A very political move in a very political time of the year. The mid-term elections will take place in less than two months and this speech sounded like a president trying to keep his party in power.

Again, he did this well. He sounded very convincing in his explanation of why Iraq is important. To me going into Iraq was never the problem. The execution of the battle plan in Iraq (or more directly, the battle plan itself) has always been the problem. We expected a tough victory, but what we've gotten is a tough quagmire.

But that isn't what yesterday should have been about. His speech should have been sprinkled with a mention or two of Iraq. A reminder to Americans that our men and women in the armed services are still carrying out duties and need support. Instead the speech was dominated by Iraq and justifications.

What I wanted to hear is that we still morn the loss, but we are stronger now than we were five years ago. I wanted to hear how we are moving on. I wanted to hear human interest stories. Instead I got political rhetoric. I expected better.

Making movies about 9/11 will never interest me...

This being the anniversary of 9/11 everyone is doing a tribute or something about it today. Most of the morning news shows were doing memorials, but MSNBC was airing the Today Show in its entirety as it happened on 9-11-2001.

To me, the news as it happened being shown on MSNBC was the most interesting.

This event in our history occurred and we watched it live as it happened when it happened. I missed a little of it because I was still in bed, but even with the worst memory ever, I can remember exactly what happened that morning.

I had my radio on as I usually do when I sleep and I was in a somewhat semi-awakened state and I can remember hearing something about a plane, but it wasn't until I heard someone on the radio saying a plane hit the Pentagon and the words "coordinated attack" that I knew that I needed to be up. From there I flew up out of the bed and turned on the TV and I saw video of one of the planes hitting the second tower and then within 60 seconds the first tower fell and I was absolutely beside myself.

And that is why no movie will ever even be as remotely captivating as the news coverage of that day as it happened. I realize that the World Trade Center movie could be really good and I'm not saying that I won't ever see it, but I really have no desire to see it because we all watched it as it happened and anything that we didn't see is nothing but speculation as to how it went down in movie form.

This morning watching that Today Show I could have stayed home from work and watched it all day long.

There have been monumental single events happen in the world involving this country. To me the first was the Pearl Harbor attack, then D-Day and then the assassination of president JFK.

All of those events were before the information age. We've seen a little video of the Pearl Harbor attack, I'm not sure anyone had a video camera or maybe even a still photo camera on D-Day, but we have the few videos of JFK's assassination.

9/11 is an event that will most likely never be surpassed in scale, coverage and impact on our country. Simply because we all watched it on TV from a half dozen different angles.

There were probably a dozen professional news cameras rolling on the towers from the get go. You could fill a library full of video and photos and newsreel coverage of this event.

Hollywood will undoubtedly make more movies about events that happened surrounding 9/11, but I don't really think that they should. I think it's just a waste of time.

HBO had a documentary on yesterday that I'm sure they'll run over and over again and it was really good what I saw of it, but it's a documentary and it used all the news video coverage it could find. It's probably as good as a documentary could ever get on this subject. A movie can't bring out the fear, sadness and disbelief that everyone felt while they were drinking their morning cup of coffee and while watching the news that morning.

And I'm in Kentucky, I can't imagine how folks in New York or D.C. felt.

I do remember emailing Travis back and forth that day and we both regretted not driving through NYC and seeing the skyline on our trip through that region a few weeks before. That's probably something I'll always remember about it because those twin towers set NYC's skyline apart from all other cities.

Movie Mayhem

The second annual SC edition of Scary Movie Mayheim is rapidly approaching; this year equipped with a new ski boat and a couple of jet skis. This year there is an agenda to be distributed in the coming week.

Agenda or not, there is one major underlying question at hand: What are we watching this year? I was very impressed with the diversity and overall quality from last years festivities, so this year it's time to step it up a notch. This is what I see as a successful agenda as was last year: something much older, something from the last 15 years and something new. Then fill in the gaps with whatever else. If The Descent is out on video then that would be a good one.

Update on the two sisters found today...

A little new information on the death of two local sisters. Click here the story up to this point or just scroll down. Anyway, it turns out it wasn't the ex-husband who had his house burned to the ground it was a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend who was the last person to see them.

Having visited the site today I'm pretty torn on what may have happened. At first, I thought there was no way that foul play couldn't be involved, but having looked at the site, there is no way I can see that anyone could have "aided" the car in getting up over the embankment that runs along the side of the road. And it isn't 3-feet high, it's more like 4 or 5 and it runs the length of the strip pit that runs along the gravel haul road.

No one could have set that car up to go off in that strip pit. Because 1) it would require too much speed to drive this car up on the narrow embankment and stop it to then push it in without risking going over with it. When it got up on the embankment it scalped the top of it because it wasn't wide enough for the car to set on it's tires. It was scraping the undercarriage so even if someone could position it on the embankment, it could be difficult to push it in resting on the undercarriage.

And 2) if a truck or other vehicle was used to push the car in there would be easy evidence showing up on the ground. Also, most any vehicle used would have been pretty banged up on the front end no one would push it up and over at an angle. It would be a lot harder to do.

However, while I don't think there is foul play, I can't help but wonder how this car could have kept up the speed needed to negotiate the embankment. It somewhat edged up the front tire about 18-24 inches high on the bank for about 15 to 20 feet before making a hard turn toward the water and that could have really taken away a lot of momentum...

After reading that back I have theory.

When the car's passenger side tire(s) edged up on the bank that shifted the driver's weight toward the driver's side door. When your weight shifts like that, a natural instinct to "hang on" could make you turn the wheel say 90 degrees in the opposite direction to pull yourself back into a proper driving position. There has been speculation that they were drinking that night so that could be a factor in all of this. Carrying as much speed as they would have needed to get that car up there, that 15 to 20 feet that the tires rode along the bank before the car veered toward the water would have been a split second. Assuming the car still carried enough momentum to get up and over the bank after riding up on it a little bit.

And since there is a semi-soft left-hand turn in the road right before the spot where they hit the bank, if they were really speeding down the road they likely would have drifted toward the bank or risk spinning out on the gravel road. If they were drinking, one of the girls was a race fan and gravel roads are fun to play on sometimes and things could have just went bad.

I'm not ruling out foul play. An anonymous tip clued the cops to look at the strip pit that is a local swimming hole. That tells me that someone might have been talking about something they've done. However, an officer I talked to today said that he could see the shadow of the car in the water at 5:30 p.m. in the evening and since a lot of kids go out there someone may have just spotted it in the bright sunshine.

If foul play is ruled out, I'm thinking my little theory is the only way it could have happened, but we may never know. The sad part about this is that I don't think the family will accept anything other than murder. They already seem convinced of it.

Audioslave's Revelations is their best yet.

Audioslave is back with their third album called Revelations and it is by far their best. On the past two Audioslave albums, it seemed like the focus was more on Chris Cornell than Rage Against the Machine. On Revelations, however, the focus is on the band as a whole. Tom Morello lives, in other words. Guitarist Tom Morello shows us some of his best work on this album without taking away from the powerful voice of Cornell. Some of the songs would have no problem being on a straight up Rage Against the Machine album, and that was what has been missing from Audioslave.

The first two albums were by a band that had not had time to gel and learn about each other's tendencies, whether in performing or writing. The first two albums had songs that were out of place next to the metal funk of most of Audioslave’s music. Now we have the music of a band that knows each other and what each other like. With the second best rhythm section in the business behind Tool’s, drummer Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Commeford hold things down as both Cornell and Morello showcase their instruments. There isn’t a song I do not like on this album and that has been something I couldn’t say about Audioslave's first two. The guitar is back with Audioslave, but for how long?

I believe that the band has said they will not tour with this album and Chris Cornell is recording a solo album. This is leading some to speculate that this will be the last Audioslave album we will receive. In fact, one of the song’s on the album is titled, “Nothing Left to Say but Goodbye.” On the other hand, Audioslave has a podcast out with the band talking about putting out an album or two a year, like bands in the 70’s used to do.

I hope this isn’t the last we hear from Audioslave because they seem to have hit on the perfect system after a few years of working the kinks out. If this is their last, however, they couldn’t have gone out in a better way.

I thought this only happened in the movies?

For the most part our sleepy little town pretty much stays a sleepy little town, but every now and again things get crazy and the past 48 hours have been crazy.

A couple of days ago we got some information from a family that two sisters aged 23 and 20 were missing and had been missing for several days. It was a situation in that they left their house one night without purses or cell phones or anything and said they were headed to a local store and never returned.

Yesterday evening about 5:30 p.m. the police were somehow notified to check out a local strip pit. For those of you who don't know what a strip pit is, it's a pond or lake that was left behind after coal mining was completed in an area. Usually great for fishing.

After they called in the dive team they found the sisters in their car at the bottom of that strip pit. There has been some speculation as to where the sisters were in the car (i.e. trunk, back seat, front), but either way this is a bad situation.

This is the kind of stuff they do TV mystery specials on and this town can have a few of them.

The plot just thickened a few hours ago as the ex-husband (scratch that, it was an on-again-off-again boyfriend of one of the girls) was questioned by the police and promptly after the police left his home was burned to the ground as well as an out building he had.

As of right now the police are treating this as a "death," but like I've said to a few people today, it's easier to build a murder case than an accidental death or a suicide case.

I have my speculative opinions as to what I think may have happened, but I'll keep those to myself for now.

A question mark is that where the car was in the strip pit had a large hump about 3-feet high to negotiate to get it in the water. So how the car negotiated the hump to get into the water is in question. The is a 10-foot drop on the other side of the hump so I'm thinking kids used it to jump off of and perhaps ride bicycles off of into the water.

The saddest part about this is that the 23-year-old has three children.

It was several years ago when we had several murders here in the OC that went unsolved because of these strip pits. In fact we had so many that Paul Harvey said on his radio show that if you ever wanted to get away with murder this was the place to be. I don't think it was so much because the cops weren't able to solve the crimes, but the fact that all of the victims ended up in one of these huge strip pits out of the way from anyone and rarely visited even for fishing.

So now we have a situation that could get serious media attention. This story cooked overnight and all of the regional news outlets have had time to dig around. Now that the ex-husband's house was burned down things could get even crazier.

I thought this kind of thing only happened in the movies.

The Storm has finally blown out of our lives and RockStar:SuperNova.

We have finally gotten rid of Broadway Rose. Stormy is gone and we are down to the final four. I have to admit, I wasn’t as happy to see Storm go as I thought I would be. I chalk this up to being so filled with joy that Ryan “The Suck Horse” was booted off last week that I had nothing left to give. I am glad she is gone and I think that even though it seemed to have taken 3 and a half years, we finally have gotten rid of all the trash and are left with the cream of the crop.

Dilana’s version of I Want You to Want Me was a little weird, especially since she can’t really move. Remember when I said a few weeks back that Dilana was a megalomaniac? Have you noticed since her little “episode,” all her songs focus on her and what she is going through? I am beginning to think she has mental problems, man. Yeah, mental problems, man. With that being said, she is still the best singer out of the group. She has the most distinct voice that is listenable. She has no shot at this thing, but I hope she is able to do something with her career.

Lukas is loved by the band for some crazy reason. I don’t see how they can love a stumble bum dwarf who sings horribly. He has the look and has a unique stage presence, but I can’t imagine things lasting if they choose this guy.

Toby seems to be the one to beat right now. He has had the encore two weeks in a row, if my figures are correct and he got to sing with SuperNova. In fact, I thought his performance with the band was the best of all the “rockers.” He has become the new Magni, nothing super spectacular, but he is solid.

Speaking of Magni, how could a guy that was bottom three for what seems like 6 weeks in a row, somehow become the number one guy in the hearts of the voting public. The Rock ‘N’ Roll Geek thinks it is because all of Iceland is voting for him, but are there that many people in Iceland? I can’t understand his new found popularity, but I do not think it will carry him to a win. He is good, but Toby is hotter right now and I think that will keep Magni from the win.

Next week I am not sure what to expect. I don’t know if there will be voting from the fans or if the band will make the decision all on their own. I do hope that Zayra comes back and sings a crazy song. I miss her kooky performances. I expect to see Toby picked as the winner and then SuperNova, The House Band, and The Panic Channel will be rocking to a town near you. I am not sure I would go see them since I seem to go to a concert once every 3 or 4 years, but you better get it while you can.

su•per•no•va n. pl. su•per•no•vae or su•per•no•vas
A rare celestial phenomenon involving the explosion of most of the material in a star, resulting in an extremely bright, short-lived object that emits vast amounts of energy.

I would put extra emphasis on short lived.

Film Depicts Assasination of President Bush

Where is our national pride? Where is our patriotism? Where is our outrage?

A British group has produced a film depicting a fictional assasination of the sitting president of the United States, George W. Bush. Have you even heard about this? I submit that our partiotism is mired in a thick coat of political partisanship. We're so divided politically in this country, that we don't really care if someone thinks this sort of thing passes for entertainment.

The film's producer said he created the piece, debuting at the Toronto Film Festival, to "spark debate about White House policies." Well gee whiz, at least someone will finally be talking about White House policies. Who's this guy kidding? The news is inundated nightly with debate over White House policies. To me, that sounds like a quick, not-so-clever excuse.

Call it what it is. Its hate speech. Incredibly, Farenheit 9/11 caused more of an uproar. And all it did was criticize Bush and Washington using out of context quotes and misconstrued theories. This is a movie that imagines what it would be like if the president of the US were killed. This movie would have been just a movie if it had been about a fictional president. But its not.

I don't particularly like Bush. I don't particularly dislike him either. He's a politician in a country filled with them. But this steams me and should steam any red-blooded American.

A Poem by Karl Pilkington

For God’s sake,
Me belly ache.
The doctor said it’s me kidney.
He said he’s got to stick a tube up me knob.
I said you got to be kidding me.
For God’s sake,
Knob ache.

Composed by Karl Pilkington

Pakistan, today's worst country in the world.

I truly do not know how to begin this piece. Pakistan’s National Assembly is trying to change a rape law that was put in place by a dictator in the 1979. Unfortunately, there are 68 of the lawmakers who are going to walk out if any change is made. The Yahoo article claims that if these 68 men walk out it will throw an already shaky situation in Pakistan into chaos.

When I first saw this, I thought maybe it was a good law and the government was trying to make it harder to prove rape. I was wrong. The original law says that for a woman to prove she has been raped, she has to have testimony from four witnesses. Four witnesses? Good Lord and people think those of us who live in the South are backwards. Not only does the woman have to have four witnesses to prove she was raped, if she does not prove she was raped, she can then be prosecuted for adultery, which is punishable by death.

I don’t understand how societies like this can still be relatively functional in today’s world. How do men in these places find women who will bear their children? I am surprised there are not more women murdering men in places like this. Who could blame them really? I just do not know what else to say. It is ridiculous things like this that make you realize that no matter how messed up you think our government is, at least it isn’t Pakistan.

RockStar SuperNova Analysis

The end is near, and I believe I know who is going to win this thing. I have in depth analysis that is rock solid. That is unless someone c*#^s it up next week. This week we had a mini set from each of the “rockers” and some were hits and others were misses. Before we heard any singing, we saw footage of the “rockers” meeting with Gilby and writing together. I am surprised that Dave didn’t bring up the fact that Dilana said her lyrics to the new SuperNova song were a f*^# you to the fans. I figured they would have slammed her.

Dilana was first and apparently she has torn her calf muscle. How did we get here? It must have been during rehearsal when she broke into an inspired chicken dance. She begins her set with Behind Blue Eyes by the Who. I want to know how you can be 34 years old rock singer and have never seemed to have heard of a little band called The Who. She has never heard this song or Won’t Get Fooled Again? Maybe she just never got Who’s Next. Anyway, she did a great job, even changing her voice a bit. I thought she sounded completely different singing this song than any other she has sung before.

Then we have her original song called, Super Soul. It was alright, I don’t think it is a hit, but it was a nice song. At least her torn calf kept her from chicken dancing and her running tires dance. Her set was fine, but she no has no chance to win this thing. Gilby won’t have her because she can’t write or doesn’t want to write. Now she has an injury that could put a tour in jeopardy. Someone who had this locked up 3 weeks ago has no shot in hades to win now.

Magni was next and Magni was just being Magni. He sang Back in the USSR, which I am not sure is a good song for this competition. He did a good job. He looks like he belongs on stage. He then sang his original called When the Time Comes. I liked his original better than his cover song. It was fine, but not spectacular, which can be said about Magni as a whole. I think I am souring on him, even though he is good and seems like a great person. I just am not sure he can win this thing. For one thing, T-Lee hates him. Once again T-Lee finds something to pick at about Magni’s performance. Oh snap!!!

Now we have Storm singing Suffragette City and she does not do very well. To be fair, I think it is hard for anyone to sing a Bowie song because Bowie is so unique. Dave was great on guitar. Storm then sings her original called What the F*^# is Ladylike, while dressed like Kid Rock. She seems to have blown herself out during the cover song, she is struggling for air. I have to admit that out of all the originals, I liked her song the best. She could win this, she is a good showman, a good writer, and always puts forth the energy. Unfortunately, her crazy eyes and ability to turn rock ‘n’ roll into a Broadway show will keep her from winning. That and the fact that T-Lee will never respect her as an artist, only as a piece of a**.

Udo(Lukas) is up next with Bratch’s favorite song in the whole world, Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer. He turned a classic rock song into a grunge song. I thought it was alright for what it was but not great. His original song called Head Spin was my least favorite of the night. I think his original song would have been better if someone else sang it. I think Lukas has a great shot to win. He has the look, he is a decent showman and when he actually sings, he sounds great. Newsted is the one who will keep him out if he doesn’t win. His songwriting wasn’t that great and his voice can be grating.

We now come to Toby who sings Mr. Brightside a song he does okay on, but I don’t think this is the kind of song he needs to sing. I am not sure anyone in the band but T-Lee even likes The Killers. Toby does much better with straight up rock songs, which is what his original song is. It is called Throw It Away. It was a really good song. He got the crowd into it and actually had them singing along to a song they had never heard. He writes great songs, he sounds great, he puts on a good show. This ladies and gentlemen is your winner, or should be. Unless Toby really messes something up, I think he will be chosen as the lead singer for SuperNova next week.

As for who is going this week, I think all will stand up except Toby. He was first after the first 4 minutes of voting and I think he has convinced America he deserves to win. I think the bottom three will be Dilana, Storm, and Lukas. I think Storm will go this week, but I would not be surprised to see Dilana go with the combo of bad song writing and her injury. Things are getting very interesting. Only one more week after tonight, what are we going to do with ourselves?