Let's Talk About Sports Baby!

Today I'm going to tell you all about sports. Yes.
The girl who does not watch sports and tends to look down her nose about sports is going to tell you everything there is to know about sports, because I'm very smart and know everything about everything. Deal with it.

Golf
I have decided in my infinite wisdom that golf is the best of all professional sports for several reasons. To be honest, it's not all that difficult to be the best of all professional sports when you look at how pathetic other professional sports really are. Steroids, contracts, cheating, dog fights. Golf has several exemplary qualities that other sports could learn from. Such as 1) it doesn't require men to tackle each other or touch each other in any way 2) Men cannot blame each other for poor performance 3) the amount of money one incurs in based soley on how well you play not how much you can squeeze out of a contract 4) no cheerleaders 5) very little marketing 6) people have actually heard of the LPGA 7) rarely is there ever newsworthy scandelous behavoir of golfers on or off the course.
Not that any of these things are going to make me watch golf or pick up the sport for myself (I even suck at Wii golf) but at least it's a sport with a fair amount of respectability as compared to other sports littered with whiney idiot athletes and unbelievable prices (tickets and souveniers).
You could almost say the same thing about bowling...almost. Except that bowling superstars seem to be of a different, and dare I say lower, elk that that of the gentleman golfers.
Let me also take into account the unfathomable wealth of some golfers, especially Tiger Woods. To this I say, "Hey, he earned it.. by himself. First he had to be good enough to win by himself, and by winning he earned the marketing contracts that bought him all that cool stuff. So that to me is fair". I also don't believe anyone should be as rich as God while there is still hunger in this world but I don't hear Tiger Woods complaining about not making enough millions in his contract to feed his family.

Baseball
This may just be enough to make me start watching baseball, at least watching Marlins games on Tivo so I can fastforward through most of it and watch the Sea Cows perform. The team is currently holding tryouts for their all male (all fat) dance squad to perform during games. Sea cows are not normally known for their grace but the dance team will be judged on their ability in choreographed dance routines. Ironically, to advertise for fat men is funny but to advertise for fat women is demeaning (and somehow only letting skinny women dance isn't?).
No, the Marlins are not the first to try something like this, as the article says the Matadors have been entertaining Chicago Bulls fans for several years now. It's a funny idea, but is it funny for every team in every sport to do it? I guess men don't ever get sick of the cheerleaders, if that tells you anything.

Dance, Fatman, dance your silly dance for all the people, dance so we can point at you and laugh.

Taping the news

Although I still don't have the time in my life to invest myself in such a way as to call myself a "news junkie", there is more and more evidence that I am becoming more and more interested in the world around me:

- I have taken to taping two news shows nightly. Although it is very rare that I watch both of them, I usually watch at least one at the end of the day. Forwarding through the commercials and the human interest stories about new animals being born at the zoo, I can watch an hour news program in a half-hour. And if you were wondering, the two shows are the local 10pm Fox news program, and the Fox Report with Shepard Smith.

- Lest you think that I listen too much to the "right-wing" Fox network, the CNN channel has now become the thing you're most likely to see on our TV at the store now. After I've had SportsCenter on in the background for a few hours in the morning, I usually switch it over to CNN for the rest of the day.

- I have watched 8 of the Democratic debates during the current campaign, either live or on Youtube after they took place.

- I have 7 different RSS feeds for news outlets, both national and local.

- I have 5 news blogs that I check regularly, and that doesn't include the website for Rasmussen polling.

RSS feeds are just the greatest. If you're not familiar with this technology, and you often boot up the internet and get done checking your e-mail and think, "what should I do now?", you really need to get into some RSS. It's a handy way of surfing the subject lines of most blogs and news sites, right from your bookmarks, to determine if there's anything there you want to read. It also saves you a trip to your favorite blogs, only to discover that there's been nothing new posted. For example, I have an RSS feed for the cultural taproom.

Half the time it can save you even reading the news story. For instance, one of my RSS headlines right now reads "Bush says US not headed towards a recession". Don't need to read that one... I've already determined that my President is not all that bright, and I don't need any additional reinforcement.

Not much else to say today. Eric Vitz sent me a great picture that I should post, but I forgot to upload it to a permanent server, so I'm going to save it for another post. Here's a quick "culture check" for me if anyone is curious.

Currently watching on TV: Eli Stone and the Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Currently watching on DVD: Studio 60 and The Practice.
Currently playing on Xbox: Halo 3 and Mass Effect.
Last movie seen in the theater: Be Kind, Rewind (give it a 6).
Last movie seen at home: Click (liked it a lot more than I thought, give it an 8).

Thank YOU, Writer's Strike!

Usually, this time of year, I am enmeshed deeply into the seasons of two or three television dramas or comedies. I remember this time last year, the Rome season was coming to a climax, the Heroes series had me completely hooked, I couldn't wait for the next The Office and My Name is Earl Episodes. I was a television junkie, with high definition cable and a DVR to capture all my self-gratifying moments of television.

Thank you writers, for doing whatever it was you did the last six months. I am glad you settled whatever it is you needed to settle for your financial future. I was disappointed that you cut my seasons short, but I think you saved America, for a little while at least.

I really think the strike had a positive effect on America. I have no research to back this up, but it seems to me that Americans are more interested in the election this year than in ages. This has to be because there isn't anything else on television. I mean, how much Rock of Love can Americans take?

Apparently more, since there is a second season, another enlightening season of whatever Flava Flave's show is called, and a slew of other such shows, but I couldn't take it and so began watching debates (which I would have died to have to sit through four years ago).

I am able to follow the Pistons a little better this year because those games are better than reality television. I have been able to read up on the Tigers preseason transactions (which I could have cared less about four years ago). Four years ago I was still saying, "Fire Millen".

I am watching the debates and shows about the debates. I am watching the news. I also got the nerve to go back to school, basically because nothing has been on t.v.

So for now, I can delight in my cultural superiority. I am presently above television. I am better than television. Until next season.

assorted thoughts

I haven’t slept well in several days. I won’t go into details, but involves other people snoring. A lot.

Anyway, during one of the brief moments of sleep, I had the strangest dream. The NY Giants won the Super Bowl. Weird huh? Back to back victories for the Manning family, perfection denied, one of the great upsets in sports history. My dream was so vivid, I could actually see Tom Coughlin smiling, which never happens. I bet John Nugent would have been ecstatic if the Giants had emerged victoriously instead of getting crushed 34-10 by the 19-0 New England Patriots.

I don’t know about you, but I’m happy about how this blog is turning out. Several different voices and interests makes for interesting reading. When we all post in succession, it is quite nice. I really enjoy when Dan posts, so I have a moment of enjoyment once every six weeks. Sweet. Tom’s post on potholes was spot on. I plan to take pics of the neighborhood and see if I can’t win some money. Although Aleks is right to say we don’t appreciate what we have, I would say we have high expectations because of where we live and our standard of living. Let’s start meeting those expectations. Of course, our economy is crap, so smooth roads are not the #1 priority, but if our roads were in a good condition, it would stand to reason that we would be more positive, therefore leading to the recovery that is necessary to turn this around. I’m going to stop babbling now.

If you’re having a great day and want to have it ruined or want to see how bad things can really get, do a youtube search of the Eduardo Da Silva injury. Sickening. If you want to double dip, combo that with Henrik Larsson broken leg. These images will truly make you turn away from the screen. I’m here to serve.

I’m off to watch the Turin derby.

The New Beatles?

Well it seems like everyone's doing a music-related piece lately... i'd like to say i've been planning to do this one for a couple weeks and didn't get around to it, but i guess that would sound like a lie....

My cousin Tommy always shows me all kinds of bands i've never heard of or didn't realize i'd never heard whenever i go to maryland to visit him and my aunt, uncle, and other cousin (Angie).... 2 times ago when i was down there for Angie's wedding, he had briefly exposed me to the band Rilo Kiley... and I really dug them immediately. And then he didn't really have time to make a compilation and i came back to michigan and promptly forgot them (mostly cause I couldn't remember the name)

The key members of the band are Jenny Lewis and Blake Soper. They were both child actors and in 1999 they formed this band. (Jenny Lewis played Kristin in Pleasantville (if you want a more recent acting appearance....))

Now, i was back in maryland this past october and Tommy reintroduced me to the band... since then I've really gotten into them a lot... something he said to me really stuck tho... he said, "If they get 4 or 5 more albums out, they could be the next Beatles." At first you may assume he meant that based on the way they sound, and occassionally you can hear a bit of a beatles influence in some of their songs (actually the one linked below has a very george harrison influenced guitar riff throughout) but, knowing him, i know this is not at all what he meant. What he was getting at was the way the beatles had taken a style of music that everyone was doing and made it into something completely unique that could be set apart as a genre all its own. As big as the rolling stones got you never really hear anyone say "hey, that's stonesesque!" Sure, they were a huge band and you know them when you hear them, and, of course, they have influenced bands, but the beatles seemed to bring about a way of thinking about music that runs throughout their entire career as a band.... the music has a life of its own, breathed into it by the writing and the chemistry of the performers as they played what was written that you can feel even when someone else plays them... The construction of the melodies and harmonies and all the little simple things they put in to every song to create something more than just a rock song... They would merge styles of music together, and weave them into something that you could only say is the beatles.

This is what Tommy meant when he said Rilo Kiley could be the next Beatles, I think... if you listen to an album's worth of their stuff (take a mixture of stuff from any of their albums), you can get a picture of what he was talking about, and the more I listen to them, I think i agree... we all know this alternative style that has so dominated and murdered the idea behind rock music... Sure there's a lot of good stuff, but so much garbage.. and, this is true of any genre, natch, but this particular style is lost within itself.

Rilo Kiley is like the beatles in that they have taken the style of music of this time and transformed it into something beautiful, a signature style that is like the kind of stuff we like, but different so that it always feels fresh... That's what the Beatles did for me, I mean i've been listening to them for as long as i can remember, and no matter how many times i listen to any given song, it still feels new to me... Rilo kiley feels the same... not necessarily always innovative, and not necessarily pushing any envelopes, not even necessarily revolutionizing anything in particular, but constantly renewing itself...

also, i love this chick's voice...

A message in an iPod

An American Idol contestant Josiah Leming performed last week a song called "Grace Kelly,” prompting notorious Simon Cowell to utter words one rarely hears from the mouth of the blunt Brit.

"I think out of all the auditions, that this was the one that I'm gonna remember."

The song by the Lebanese-born British singer Mika seems appropriate for the American Idol, a contest based on popularity.

It carries a message.

Mika's messages and style ranges make his music so appealing. As a relative unknown, Mika stormed onto the world music stage at the end of 2006. He has developed a significant following in his home country and throughout Europe since then. His repertoire reaches beyond superficiality of “Oops, I did it again” or “I want it that way.” And that's just his first album. The 24-year-old singer – whose voice is rumored to range three and a half octaves – joins a stale pop music scene, breathes in a new life and carries it beyond a catchy tune with often-repeated lyrics.



This song serves as an anthem for life's relationships – dating, marriage, or friendship. Awkwardly, a young not-yet-couple go out to a restaurant or a movie theater, making a careful chit-chat so not to frighten the representative of the opposite sex with too much of your real self. They crave each other's approval. To quote Shawn Spencer, a character from the USA Network series Psych, "This is my friend's card. His name is Gus. He is a good listener and is willing to change everything about himself for a girl."

Just listen to the lyrics:

Do I attract you? / Do I repulse you with my queasy smile? / Am I too dirty? / Am I too flirty? / Do I like what you like? / I could be wholesome, / I could be loathsome, / I guess I'm a little bit shy / Why don't you like me? / Why don't you like me / Without making me try?

“Grace Kelly” is a song about the pressures of compromising who you are to get where you ultimately want to be. Ironically, people gravitate to those with genuine personality. Very few can fake genuineness.

But the message in “Grace Kelly” isn't accidental. Messages are strapped on almost every song in Mika's first album “Life in Cartoon Motion.”

Another song, “Big Girl (You're Beautiful),” hasn't yet been released in the U.S., but it's been playing on radios all across Europe.



With media portraying women as thin, slim, attractive, smokin' hot, it's hard to find a song video with a dozen of buxomly thick-thighed women jump about in a London neighborhood, an image that seemingly promotes a healthy self-image for those who do not meet the beauty standards spilled from advertisement, movies, or magazine covers.

Big-breasted women with healthy level of self-worth are extraordinary in the media-saturated world that dictates what's beautiful and what is not. In fact, the message is so vivid and un-worldly that it often gets lost. A friend of mine – after watching the video – said, “It was interesting, but I didn't know if I should laugh.”

Please allow me to introduce myself...

I'm a man of wealth and taste.

Well, no, not really. Taste, arguably. But wealth, no, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Seeing as, unlike Brandon and Aleks, I apparently don't merit an introduction below by Commish, I'll introduce myself. They call me BigD, as I'm a rather large person. I'll be the cultural taproom's roving poster-at-large, posting here and there as the mood strikes me. I'm a music and movie nut, so I imagine that most of my posts will probably revolve around those two subjects. In the meantime, I'll continue making smart-alec comments on the rantings of my fellow posters.

Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name.

That'll leave a mark

Before I even get started, I want to acknowledge two new contributors to the blog, Brandon Caroland on Wednesdays and Aleks Tapinsh on Saturdays. Brandon posted his Wednesday post on Monday this week, I totally didn't even see it until just now, so if you're like me and you accidentally missed it, be sure you scroll down.

Ever wonder how a pothole is made? It all start with cracks in the concrete, which seems harmless enough. Eventually every road wears down, and cracks in the asphalt are bound to happen. But in Michigan, potholes follow quickly and fiercely in the winter and spring, because every rain or snowfall fills those cracks with water. When the water freezes, it expands, pounding that crack out into a minor hole. Then after a few thousand cars have driven over the hole, the edges wear away to make the hole bigger and bigger, until finally.... voila! A gut-wrenching, suspension-shattering, curse-inducing pothole.

It's even worse in winters like the one we've just had, with unseasonable warm weather following cold weather, and then giving way to cold weather yet again. The water freezes, beats up on the street, then melts back into water, then freezes again.

Not much our fair state can do about it either... every county has its own road commission, and its own road budget, based on what it has been allocated from the state and city taxes. These taxes include portions of your income tax, along with gas taxes and other juicy morsels. But after pouring salt and man-hours into keeping the roads clear all winter, those budgets are in rough shape by spring, and the commissions have to pick and choose which roads are going to merit repair dollars every winter.

So what options are you left with? Not much. Some people think that a campaign of complaining or "raising awareness" might result in larger budgets for the roads, but of course that funding will have to come at the cost of something else. The group at drivemi.org is doing their best to promote wise transportation spending, and this winter they're even giving away $300+ to three motorists who send in pictures of the worst pothole in their area.

The Lansing State Journal has posted a user-fed map of the worst areas of town regarding potholes, and encourages viewers to contribute their findings to the information pool. In the meantime, just keep your hands on the wheel, drive slow, and hit the potholes head-on instead of trying to steer out of them at the last second and knocking your alignment out of whack.

Interview with a Vampire

No post today, everyone, but here is a comic strip that has always made me laugh way more than it probably should....

Oh, and thanks again, Brandon, for switching days with me! That was incredibly intuitive of you!

enjoy!


(click it.... it will expand to a legible size...)

this is an old Matt Groening strip (in case you didn't recognize that....)

TV rots your brain and I love it

This weekend was spent in front of the TV. It was miserable outside, so I figured I would park it in front of the idiot box.

House. I am caught up. The secret santa episode was good for the inter office politics and the examination of “everyone lies” aspect. The South Pole episode was ok I thought. For some reason, I thought House’s infatuation with the doctor was contrived. Then there was the last episode, where House had to confront his theory that no one changes on several fronts.

Several things are sort of bothering me about House.

First the credits. Cameron and Chase are in the hospital but not on the team. Why are they on the intro credits? I mean they show up for maybe two minutes a show, clearly in scene pages that have “insert Cameron or Chase here” on them.

The last two episodes have tried to examine a facet of House’s persona and have instant change (love and relationships). The love, or the reasonable facisimile of love, was possible. Here’s a doctor, smart, good looking, feisty, so House is interested. But the following episode has Cutthroat Bitch dating Wilson, while interesting, should be a thread that is slowly developed. I would much rather had each point/counterpoint explored in an episode, instead of being resolved in each segment of the show. I mean imagine the personal change House would have had to gone through to say, I allow you to date her, despite the possible loss of the only friend I have, midway through season 5, rather than at the end of a show ¾ of the way through season 4. But I don’t write the show.

Finished season 2 of Rescue Me. Devastated. I didn’t cry during the final two shows only because I was in shock. The show is like watching Dancer in the Dark for 8 hours instead of 2.

On a slightly more uplifting note, I watched Manchester United thrash Arsenal 4-0 in the FA Cup. Nani showed some amazing skill and shows that United will be around next year. I also watched Juventus and Roma, which was boring. Surprising that two teams of this quality played that poorly. Turnovers, bad challenges, lack of finishing. Highly disappointing for one of the biggest games of the season. Inter has won the title and now everyone else is fighting for scraps.

The Champions League starts Tuesday and should provide some interesting scenarios. Will Arsenal implode? Will AC Milan finally give up the ghost and rebuild? Will Liverpool weasel their way through the rounds? Will United go the extra step? I know you don’t care, but I do.

Sunday night I watched the Family Guy, in which James Woods steals Peter’s identity. Hilarious. That show skewers pop culture in a way that is offensive, funny and insightful.

Last night we watched more of Studio 60. 4 more shows to go before moving on to the West Wing, although Ben sent me an email saying there are new episodes of House scheduled for the end of April. We shall see.

I had my first shame spiral on Facebook this morning. I started listing my favorite movies, then I started rating them, then I started listing ones I have seen, would see, and then started the Great Movie Test or whatever it is called and answered like the first 20 in a row correctly and I looked up and 30 minutes had passed and I still don’t know how to make a bumper sticker. Ugh.

Listen to the Tony Kornheiser Show, keeping the world safe for emperecy. HAHAHA!!!

Wednesday

It wouldn't be me if I didn't start my cultural taproom posting with something about U2. I recently saw the sensational film of U23D. If you have never been to a live U2 show, this is an affordable way to get about 90% of the experience. I say 90% because you really do get everything but Bono's long-winded speeches. I personally like his speeches, but I know for many that foregoing those speeches would be an upside.
I had seen the last tour, Vertigo, and was a little apprehensive of what I might find in the movie experience (especially since I also already have the DVD from the concert in Chicago). At the end I was completely satisfied.
What you got was a 2.5 hour movie of perfectly performed U2 songs, reminding me of how incredible the actual concert was. The photography was all in high definition 3D with digital effects galore. The theater I saw it in, The Henry Ford IMAX, was the perfect location because it truly felt like a museum experience, reminding everyone in history of how different from most rock bands this group truly is.
It was so innovative, so alive, so energizing. It truly was the next best thing to being there. The nice thing is that it was much more affordable than actually being there.
The alarming thing is that it painted a picture of the future for me. The days of being able to afford going to the big rock show, at least for the average Joe like me, are limited. I think with recent events like the Led Zeppelin show in December and the amazing technology of this movie that getting close to the stars in the future will be a thing of the past.
If you haven't had a chance to check out the U23D experience, do so before it's too late. It may be already! Here's the trailer. Sadly, not in 3D.

Best of the Web February 2008

Being a librarian I think I should be able to bring the fair readers of this blog a definitive "Best of the Web" every once in a while. I know how to find good information and good entertainment. However, being me, most of your are going to see my "Best of the Web" and a pile of creative if moronic YouTube videos.

Oh well, get over it.

Politics
It's coming soon and personally I'm surprised we haven't seen more commercials interrupting my favorite TV shows (Pushing Daiseys cough, cough). But if you're wondering who you should vote for and don't feeling like shoveling through the political nonsense they're trying to blind us with. I suggest you check out http://www.whoshouldyouvotefor.com/
Choose between Repbulican, Democratic, or Independent and take a detailed quiz on what you feel is important and it will tell you which politician lines up most with your beliefs. Pretty cool as long as you don't mind voting for some guy that doesn't stand a chance. Who knew Ru Paul was even running for President?

Entertainment
This video is both offensive and hilarious. More hilarious than offensive unless you're really really sensitive, and since the kid is obviously in on the joke, I don't feel too bad. So if you want a good chuckle for a couple of minutes, you'll stop by YouTube for a dose of The Retarded Policeman. There are six episodes with another clip with his response to criticism. So awesome, you know what else is awesome? Pushing Daiseys!


Fan Site
www.ThePieMaker.com takes you to the fan site for televisions best show since they canceled Arrested Development. I can't tell you about the show without making it a long story so bear with me...bare with me? Anywho, Ned is a mild mannered pie maker with a twist, he can bring things back to life with one touch, the next touch makes them dead again. This isn't a problem since he also works with a detective solving murder cases by basically asking who killed them and then making them dead again. This is a problem because he brought his childhood sweetheart back to life and now can never touch her or she'll die again. This story is full of quirky characters (picture Swoozy Kurtz with an eye patch and Kristen Chenoweth just being herself) and witty dialog and doesn't take place in any particular time but takes the best things from many times, classic cars, cool costumes. Leave reality at home and come to the Pie Hole for some comfort food and a feel good story. Aren't you sick of reality by now?
I can't find any really good clips on YouTube so here's the extended preview.

Spring Movie Previews!

It's time for your spring movie preview edition of the Cultural Taproom, Part 1, Volume 1. Watch for many, many more juicy spring movie preview editions to follow until such time as the spring movies become summer movies, at which time this segment will need to be re-titled and possibly scrapped altogether.

March 28th - "21". Ever since the success of the movie Rounders and the following mad rush of America to the poker table, movies or shows centering around casino-style gambling have raked in the cash. For evidence of this, you need look no further than the rising television ratings for poker... if you yourself play poker, it's enjoyable fare, if you don't, it's as engaging as watching C-SPAN at around 3 in the afternoon.

Enter "21", about a group of above-average college braniacs who are led to Vegas by their professor to learn, and exploit, the practice of card-counting. Leading the "Who's that?" cast are a pair of thespians who haven't done much since they appeared together in Superman Returns, and that's probably no coincidence. Lex Luthor and Lois Lane lead the charge to the blackjack table in late March.



April - "Goal II: Living the Dream". Strictly inserted for Austin's benefit... actually, no one will go see this movie and I'll be surprised if it's actually showing at a theatre within 50 miles of my home.

April 4th - "Leatherheads". Ah, here we are, a movie about a sport that Americans actually care about. Football has seen its share of Hollywood successes (Remember the Titans, Friday Night Lights, Rudy), but this movie, from the looks of the trailer, is more of a comedy. The setting is unique - the early days of football employed a leather helmet instead of the hurtful assemblage of resin and Kevlar that are used today. I daresay that George Clooney would not soon recover from a helmet-on-helmet collision with today's gladiators, although people would still go see his movies because he is, so to speak, "dreamy".



May 2nd - "Iron Man". For those of you not familiar with the comic book character or his origins, this film stars Robert Downey Jr. as a filthy-rich womanizer whose life is easily overtaken by booze and excess. I know, I know, poor Robert may have been typecast for this role before our Creator even conceived of him, but that is actually the makeup of Tony Stark, the Marvel-universe genius who, out of circumstantial necessity, builds himself an "Iron Man" suit capable of going toe-to-toe with any tank or jet plane. The machine also makes a good martini.



Tune in next week for more amazing previews.

4/5/94

So I’ve been reading “Come As You Are” by Michael Azerrad, which is the inside story of Nirvana’s rise to pop domination in the early 90’s. I read it probably 10 years ago, shortly after Cobain’s suicide, and felt like taking yet another stroll down memory lane.

The book definitely glorifies Cobain, his music, his impact on pop culture and his position as a voice for a generation. It’s the last point that has really struck me this time around. Did he really speak for my generation? Lots of angst, the children of broken homes, the desire for something better. Maybe. But reading this book, the author breaks down lyric after lyric, saying see, see how this is speaking about Gen X in matters X, Y, Z. Yet at the same time, the author mentions that Cobain wrote the lyrics days before recording and culled them from notebooks of poetry. He cut and paste lines to fit into the song, so that almost every song is a collage. It’s almost as if the thesis is that the spokesman of a particular generation just threw up his psychological baggage against the wall coupled with guitar hooks to see what would stick, which led to a musical revolution, which in turn led to the revolution becoming the establishment (read “alternative” music).

I would dare say that Nirvana might not have reached the same heights in the internet age. An underground album that gains momentum that reaches #1 and crushes everything in its path, while bringing along a regional music scene? Imagine a Nirvana myspace page or Nirvana on TRL. It’s an interesting proposition.

I listened to first the half of Nevermind last night. It’s good. I was surprised how well it held up. I plan to listen and re-familiarize myself with the music and see where that leads me. This process has provoked the following question: Who is the spokesman for the following generations? Is there one? Can there be one unifying voice in an era where there hundreds of TV channels, millions of websites and several media conglomerates fighting for one’s attention? I don’t see how. We no longer live in a world where are shaped by a very select few. The world is truly at one’s fingertips. Everything is niche programming, and I would say that there is too much to search through. By the time Larry hits adolescence, the current fragments will have fragmented further until each individual forms his or her own media universe. Gone are the day of American Bandstand and Kasey Kasem. Now it’s mailto:kewlkid@gmail.com play lists on the ipod or zune or whatever. Watching TV on a standard is a thing of the past. Burger King was ahead of the curve when they said, “Have it your way.” Welcome to the future.

Enough of that. Over the weekend I watched Babel, which was pretty good. I watched it in several fragments, which dissipated the intensity and story telling. I’ll probably watch it on sitting in a couple of years and have a better feel for the movie as a whole. Remember, guns don’t kill people, people do.

Also . . .

Started season 2 of Rescue Me. I hate/love/want to be Denis Leary’s character. What a great show.

Watched Word Play, a fabulous movie about crosswords, the people who create them, the people who take the time to do them and the national championship of crosswords.

Listened to Stevie Ray Vaughan, live at Montreaux. Awesome.

Tony Kornheiser is back on the air. I strongly suggest subscribing to the podcast. Give it a week and you will either hate it (because you’re an idiot and don’t get it) or will love it and wonder how great it would be if you could sit around with your friends and gossip and dream and remember and rip on people and share and have a great time, all the while getting paid for it.

I gots to go.

who's going to win Super Tuesday?

who cares?


here are some CD's to check out or avoid as you move through the 2008 political season.


All American Rejects, self titled

I checked it out because I liked the track “Move Along” (used in the recent Ford ads). I can sum up the album with one word—POP. Sugar coated, catchy (hit and miss in that aspect), repetitive songs. Most tracks sounded the same, which is to say they sounded very much like alternative albums of the mid-90’s. Not much there.



Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Baby 81

I almost broke down and bought the most recent BMRC album Baby 81, but lucky for me it was at library so I got to check it out for free. Quite good I have to say. It rocks out, big plus, with sort of a snarl, which of course I’m all for, and there’s a track that sounds suspiciously Beatles-ish. Now I’m going to say something I haven’t said in a long time, the album is good from start to finish. Is every song a winner, no, but good enough to get you to the next tune, which usually rocks the house. Albums these days are one, maybe 2 tracks surrounded by filler or experimental pieces of crap. So this was quite a change of pace, and I would definitely recommend this album.



Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Howl

I loved Baby 81 so I got an older album, which was a completely different style. Very very folksy with some blues mixed in. Imagine if Bob Dylan had a kid with a bunch of Chicago bluesmen. Of course, my favorite track on the album, Ain’t No Easy Way, is a completely different song than any the others, more of the style I like, so that was nice. The album is ok, but not rockin out and I can listen to so many low key songs in a row.

One add note. On the CD case, there was a note from the library not put the CD in your computer because files would be loaded from Sony that could do damage. What is that? Is that true? Crazy. I’m glad they put the note on it though.



Next up, Keane, Pete Townsend, the Band and Hot Hot Heat. I also got SRV live at Montreaux. I know I’m going to love that.



Remember turn off your radio and turn on Pandora. (unpaid advertisement)

Extra! Extra!

hello.... it's me again... today's topic is Extras. It's a show created by the guys who created the original British version of The Office. Ricky Gervais and some other guy....
I have watched the first season of this show, and it is definitely one that other people should watch/be watching. Extras: The story of a man with small parts.
Ricky, as a the main character, plays this guy who considers himself a serious actor. Acting is what he wants to do with his life, however, he has perhaps the worst agent in the world (this man is completely uninterested in Ricky's career, at times actually using opportunities that Ricky has created in order to attempt to get other clients gigs). And he has found himself stuck in a seemingly neverending hell of "background artist" jobs. The background artist is what is commonly referred to as the extra. And just in case you don't know, extras are the people you see in every movie who are standing around at the bar in a bar scene, or the fans you see around an actor who is appearing in a scene at a sports arena, or the people waltzing around the park having picnics, walking dogs, jogging, etc.... They are scenery and they get paid a little something...
Ricky uses these little gigs to try to get something bigger in any of the films/tv shows he happens to be an extra in.
Every episode has a guest star played by a major celebrity (either in the American or British realms of entertainment). Because I'm not a major British film/TV watcher, some of these "big" celebrities have escaped me, but they always play themselves as the actor/director who is the big deal in whatever production Ricky finds himself in.
Ricky plays a guy who, frankly, is actually a little hard to like, which is a pretty popular thing to do in storytelling (Seinfeld as a popular example)... He's kinda a bastard very often, but he actually has a fair amount of moral ground that comes about occassionally when he is faced by various situations. One that really stuck out, and I was glad I could find a clip, will play below, but first, I give you a small amount of backstory.
This clip was from an episode where Ben Stiller was playing the director of a film based on a book. The book was about this guy (the author, name/nationality escaping me at the moment) who's family was murdered by the government (or maybe it was invaders... hmm... really losing track of that aspect....) .. Anyway, the author is in the show, and Ricky approaches him to get a line in the movie... the author is looking at photos and shows Ricky a picture of his wife... he thinks it's a picture of her sunbathing, turns out it's a picture of her after she was murdered in the streets... So it's a pretty depressing moment (of a few) in this episode... anyway, point is, he thinks the guy is crazy, insults him behind his back while talking to his best friend (she's in all the episodes with Ricky as they try to find work), and continues to use the guy to try to get lines....
Near the end of the episode, the author is discussing with Stiller about a certain scene and how he didn't think the scene was reflecting the book (and the reality) properly. Ben Stiller freaks out and insults the author and his "dead f***ing wife" and kid, and is making a total ass out of himself... a worker for the movie says something to him and Ben asks him who he is, tells the guy off and fires him, and then Ricky kinda mumbles something to him.... there... longest short set-up for a scene ever... short version: he brings Ben Stiller down several notches...in Britain at least....
here's that scene (the scene i'm talking about starts at 1:58 in the clip, but the rest of this clip kinda builds up to what Stiller's been like throughout the episode)


Anyway... actually made me proud of his character... that doesn't happen all the time when you're watching a show like this...
so... yeah...

Mind Reading and the Art of Matrimony

When I think about how long I've been married to Ben, it defies logic. Don't get scared, I just woke up in the middle of the night last week and thought to myself, "Why is Ben still married to me?" and in my mostly asleep state I couldn't think of any reasons and that really freaked me out. In the light of day I am a little more sensible, however, it still got me thinking. I mean when I really take a minute to really think about the 5.5 years we've been married, and then I add on the 3.5 years we dated and the 5 months we were friends I'm awestruck for several reasons.

1) I still really really like him. I'm not talking about love although I do love Ben. Love is great for those really bad times or emergencies or major crisis. But from day to day the most handy emotion is "like". I like to talk to him, I like to be around him...I mean...a LOT. If I don't get at least a couple of moments of concentrated Ben time my day is not complete.

2) He still seems to like me, this is weird for a completely different reason. It's more of a "how has this poor guy put up with me for this long and he still doesn't seem to mind." I mean really! Something about being married makes me feel it's ok to let it all hang out, I am often rude and childish, sarcastic, impatient, unladylike, inconsiderate etc etc etc. I mean I feel bad for the guy, somehow I tricked him into thinking I was worthwhile and now he's stuck. I really need to pay more attention to what he seems to like about me and work on those things more. He likes it when I laugh really hard but how does one go about doing more of that without looking completely insane?

3) We are polar opposites, which works because as we all know "opposites attract" but why? and why does it work? And sometimes it seriously doesn't work! For example, he likes to talk about computer and other sciencey things and sometimes I just sit there and pretend to listen because but for the most part I never have any idea what he's talking about and he kinda sounds like the teacher on the peanuts cartoons. Or like sometimes (ok, most of the time) he slips in to "Big Brother" personality and makes himself responsible for teaching me morality and basically bossing me around. And me, being the baby sister, can be incredibly needy and pathetic when I should be more of a partner in marriage.

4) Men and women are almost two different to make things work well. We think completely different, whether this is biological or environmental depends on who you talk to but it's there either way. Like cleaning house, I can walk into a room that he's been sitting in for 4 hours and say "How can you live in this filth?" and he says "What? I just cleaned up!"
Or the fact that he asks me where things are when he was obviously the last one to have it. And then I have to remind him to look with his hands and not just his eyes or else he'll just look around a room and never pick anything up and look underneath. I, being a woman, think to myself, "How can you possibly say you have looked for something when you never even touched anything". And he being a man is thinking...well...I really have no idea what he's thinking, maybe he's thinking he's a jedi and if he just concentrates hard enough whatever it is he wants will just find it's way magically to his hand. (I'm just keeding!)
At the same time, I don't feel any need to close the blinds ever and to Ben this is a huge deal. He also sees no reason why I need to buy new shoes every season. He is enjoying a plethora of facial hair while I'm doing everything in my power to get rid of it (both his and mine). Then there's power tools, politics, car repair, video games, lawn care, not to mention rationally dealing with emotions and so many other things where our thoughts and ideas are totally incongruous. How do I live with this person day in and day out!

However, I do understand that we couldn't be exactly the same. I certainly don't love myself enough to marry someone just like me. I'd probably have to punch him in the face if he baby talked like me or any of several other bad habits I have. I'm not even sure I would be friends with me.

I suppose, in the end, I just have to be really glad that of the millions of people in the world, I happened to find one that I can get along with and even when we don't get along, we find a way to get through it.

I have a theory, I think we're like sponges. And one sponge started growing on another sponge until the first sponge doesn't even remember what it was like before the other sponge came along. And the sponges, for the most part, enjoy each others company and they understand each other without having to do a lot of extra explaining and they read each others feelings pretty well, and sometimes they help each other out and can lean on each other, so even though it's not always convenient or comfortable or even nice to have another sponge around, they know that the good outweighs the bad and that it would be a major negative without a lot of positive to go along with it. So basically, we're like sponges with a lot of complex human emotions, but still...sponges...