In about 2.5 minutes, they hit all highlights (and lows) from last year... all to the tune of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire." Quite fun and clever and pretty much a wet dream for the pop-culture lover!
I saw this next one a couple of weeks ago... Celine Dion Is F&cking Amazing.
I unabashedly love Celine. This YouTube takes the craziest moments from the DVD release of her now defunct Vegas show... and sums up the many reasons why I love her so. While I do enjoy her singing, it's not so much the voice but Celine herself who totally cracks me up.
I do not think she is trying to be funny and comes across as genuine (even with "audience chat" she repeated every night)... and likewise I don't feel like I am laughing at her... so it's this very fine line... I guess just her special "je nais se quoi" ... a big personality mixed with innocence/naivete. Or else, it could be she's just fu&king nuts!
A week or so ago, we watched the Christmas at Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting show on NBC... it was definitely a mixed bag of musical performances...
Goose-bump inducing awesome (Josh Groban) Quite Good (Carrie Underwood) Mondo Cheesy (High School Musical's Ashley Tisdale) Bit Senile (Tony Bennett... We love him... but sorry, just not a good night!) ... and Tad Inappropriate (Celine Dion capping the show off with her cover version of Heart's Alone)
Now there were some performances that we fast-forwarded thru (bo-RING)... but this was such a wreck we were simply glued...
I generally don't like to go too negative here ... but at times like this, I am reminded of this exchange from Sex and the City:
Stanford: Before I tell you, you have to promise not to judge.
Carrie: Do I judge?
Stanford: We all judge. That's our hobby. Some people do arts and crafts... we judge.
Without further ado... country artist (and just nominated today for a Best New Artist Grammy) Taylor Swift "singing" Silent Night:
Ooooooouchie! Is it "sleep in heavenly peace" or "wake the dead"!?!? And it's pretty much a dead heat between which is more hideous... the singing or the mangling arrangement.
Now I could be wrong. When searching for this ... there were folks who thought it was... (a) awesome, (b) amazing, (c) cute, and (d) gr8!!!!
So give me your best Randy, Paula, or Simon... what do you think?!
Just a bit pitchy... did she "make it her own"... or, do my ears not deceive me and we officially cyber-charger Ms. Swift for assault and battery on a holiday classic?
This post was planned to be a "rainy day" one... but who woulda thunk it would have been literally an actual rainy day here in Phoenix (well, not specific outside our door just yet... but it's threatening).
We've continued to enjoy How I Met Your Mother this season. We missed the first season (barring the occasional re-run during last season), but it's a TiVo staple now... well, until they run out of new episodes due to the strike... which may have already happened, I see repeats are ahead.
Anyhow, we enjoyed the recent Slapsgiving episode ... which originated last season when Barney lost a bet to Marshall and the Lily, Slap Bet Commissioner, ruled that Barney could receive 10 slaps immediately or 5 slaps at any time... Barney chose the latter and the statute of limitations expired on this very special Thanksgiving episode. Classsss... wait for it... sic.
Also quite enjoyable was recent episode that highlighted each character's personality quirk that annoyed the others the most. Robin's was the (over-)use of the word "literally" which Ted then had to correct her when she meant "figuratively." We have stopped ourselves a few times since watching that episode after using the word "literally."
Though getting to "rainy day" part of my post... which was just to share another t-shirt with you. Todd will tell you I have been completely obsessed with Robin Sparkles... the surprise identity of Robin, once a 90s Tiffany/Debbie Gibson-ish Canadian pop-star. Anyhow, her hit single, Let's Go To The Mall, is on regular rotation on my iPod.
So when I stumbled upon the folks at Glarkware (formerly partnered (??) with Television Without Pity, who I now see is brought to you by BravoTV... guess I hadn't been there in awhile)... had this shirt available, I knew I had to get it. When it arrived and I showed it to Todd he pretty much banned me from wearing it in public ... well, if we were together in public. No worries, even I have to admit I am not sure I would go out the front door wearing it...ha!
Couldn't quite get a good picture of the back... the self-timer photos of my attempts to do so (the outtakes) probably would have made for a more entertaining entry than this one! Anyhow, it's hard to see... but just a like any classic concert t-shirt the back has Canadian mall locations and date for Mall Tour 1993.
Unfortunately, it is no longer available... it was a limited edition/NoN ("now or never") shirt... so call the Slap Bet Commissioner on me for not telling you about it when it was available. But then again, I am probably the biggest loser (and not in the NBC reality weight loss show way) when it comes to Ms. Sparkles.
But just because I love it so... and since it is the holiday season... here is the video again...
..and HIMYM now has it's own YouTube page... so check it out, there's a music video version of Marshall singing "You Just Got Slapped"... though I prefer the episodic version with Neil Patrick Harris' embellishments at the end of the song.
Since it's Todd's birthday today thought I would do a little bit of a video treat... granted he's already seen it on TV (twice!)... but it is worth another look!
Dancing With The Stars' Sabrina Bryan and Mark Ballas were on their "voted off" media tour and stopped by The View yesterday... coincidentally (or not!) enough, DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba was filling in as a guest co-host (the Hassel-bot is on maternity leave ... and apparently here in AZ no less!)!
For those of you who do not watch DWTS, this is a very good example of why we were smitten with Mark. He's definitely in fine form here. The video does drag on... including the entire post-dance interview... but the Cha Cha Cha to the Pussycat Dolls' Don't Cha is right near the start of the clip.
And to think this was their very first dance of the season!
I was a nerd and tried to figure out how Sabrina & Mark could have possibly been eliminated... honestly it doesn't take all that much!
The DWTS scoring is % of the judges votes + % of public votes. The team with the lowest sum is eliminated. These were the scores and percentages from last week:
Mel & Maks 30 (16.7%) Helio & Julianne 28 (15.6%) Jennie & Derek 27 (15.0%) Cameron & Edyta 25 (13.9%) Sabrina & Mark 25 (13.9%) Marie & Jonathan 23 (12.8%) Jane & Tony 22 (12.2%)
With the judges' scores so close (as they pretty much always are!), Marie & Jane just had to get less than 2% more of the public vote to pass by the "stars" who were ultimately in last week's bottom 2... Cameron & Sabrina.
Hard to believe that it is already Friday, with Todd back from France tomorrow night.
I managed to survive the week pretty well ... though let's say I don't plan on having a frozen pizza any time soon. Work really picked up in the past week, so I didn't have that much idle time... and didn't even watch all the TiVo backlog that I thought I would while Todd was away... granted we have a whole new backlog of shows that I "saved" for Todd (and, for the most, part didn't watch)... and I won't be catching up tonight.
Unfortunately, Todd is missing out on the first show of our 2007-08 theater season (and the next one's not until January!)... so tonight, this ex-Jersey boy is off to see Jersey Boys. I have heard pretty good things about the show and it's still at capacity on Broadway two years after it opened... so that seems to be a pretty good sign.
Ok, time to get around to the title of this post!.
I am aging myself, but iTunes has kind of brought back the days of the 45 record. To my confused younger readers (though I am not sure I have any of those), there was a time when you could buy a small (the size of a personal pan pizza), vinyl recording of just one song (and a "B" song on the flip side). I would guess 95% of my iTunes purchases are songs, not albums.
Alas, there wasn't too much internal debate about purchasing the whole album of the latest from Annie Lennox, Songs of Mass Destruction. I have listened to it...and it is incredible! It's a good sign when you have those earbuds in, he music up and you get those goosebumps. Only a handful of singers can do that to me. If you haven't heard the amazing first single, Dark Road, here is the video for it via YouTube (nicely provided by Annie herself!)... got some interesting imagery, is America on that dark road?
We were fortunate to see Annie during her last tour (sadly there's no Phoenix stop on her recently announced tour for SoMD). Incredible show and we were in the 2nd row! However, it is also remembered for my view being blocked by a rather large (and high!) wheelchair! It kind of ticked me off... how could one be in the 2nd row and not be able to see the artist at various points around the stage?!?! Todd pondered how I could be whiny about being blocked by what I am guessing was a quadriplegic! Now that I think of it, it was all very Seinfeld-ish.
Ok, I said Soul Sisters... plural. Lately, we've come around to groovin' on Joss Stone. I'll admit I was not an early fan. For the most part, I am not fond of the "child prodigy"... particularly those in the entertainment business. We purchased have a bunch of her more recent hits (songs, not albums) off of iTunes.
Todd stumbled upon a song from her debut album (when she was 16!), that was never released as a single, but is now on frequent rotation on my iPod... it's called "Dirty Man"... LOVE IT !! It has quickly ascended up my list all-time favorite "somebody done somebody wrong" songs. I prefer the album version, but here's a You-Tube of Joss singing it live:
If you're looking to inject some soul in your life... Annie or Joss are currently at the top of my recommendation list!
I know the whole Larry Craig thing is old news (even Jon Stewart was none too pleased that it hit at the start of his two-week vacation break)...and I am sick of hearing about it as much as the guy in the next stall next guy... I am also aware that it has made the rounds on other blogs... but just wanted this You Tube handy here on W&C... IMHO, it's the best thing that came out of the whole mess... and if by chance you haven't seen it... enjoy!
Not that I feel like I should be hawking stuff for NBC, but this extended promo (3 minutes!) for the upcoming season of The Office was just too good not to share.
Tonight is the first eviction on Big Brother 8... can't say any personal favorites have emerged quite yet, but there are few gals I wouldn't mind meeting the Chenbot sooner rather than later.
Disclosure on my viewing... just the couple of episodes that have aired thus far on CBS and some of the ShoToo's nightly 3-hour block of the live feed. I have yet to sit through the entire 3 hours... sometimes I think I've been watching for an hour an hour and it ends up being just 20 minutes! Great having it on TiVo, skipping through the silence or too much rambling (Joe [cough, cough]). The Showtime addition has been nice... but it's more than enough hamster time for me, so I am not even considering getting the live Internet feed.
Ok, onto my annoying trio!
#1 - Amber
One of our first nominees for eviction... but, going on absolutely no inside information (the house seemed split the last I saw/hear), I am guessing Carol will go home tonight. Primarily there are two things that annoy me about Amber.
First, she was upset (see above) about being nominated by Kail, my "first impression" annoying houseguest. Amber felt that for the sole reason of popping out a baby, she should have been given a free pass from the only other Mom in the house... after all, Amber is doing this for her family... which leads me to two of my reality tv pet peeves.. a) reality tv is not a charity and b) don't cry about your kid(s) when you voluntarily left them behind for months to appear on a reality show.
Next, was last episode's talking aloud monologue to God asking for the strength to continue on... and, oh not to get evicted. Amber seems to believe God is on her side and will do the right thing and keep her in the house... or something like that, I was too busy retrieving my jaw off the floor when people seem to believe they have the undivided attention of the Almighty. I would also like to put a word in... now, only after securing Amber's place in the Big Brother house for another week, that God gives just a little attention to the genocide in Darfur. Thanks in advance!
# 2 - Jessica
Still have some lingering annoyance that Jessica is in the house only because of a high-school spat with Carol over a $5 unpaid loan ... and that has only been exacerbated with Jess not budging a centimeter on that issue. They may just not be showing it (or I'm missing it), but Carol seems to have let it go... granted she still wants Jessica to go... but who can blame her for that! I thought former-BB houseguest Holly had an annoying voice, but Jessica is giving even her a run for the money. The pitch is pretty ear-splitting... but do people really talk like this intonation-wise... or is just a unfortunate consequence of living in a post-Paris Hilton world!?!
If that's not enough for you, her BB bio lists "jump on trampoline" as one of her favorite outdoor activities... oy!
#3 - Jen
If you are watching BB8, you know it is sadistic and with great glee that I post the above picture. In just the second episode of the season, Jen had a classic reality show meltdown (or else she's just smart and knows what will give her screen time)... all over her official BB picture in the house... apparently she never takes a bad picture... well, except this one time. Here is what the beauty normally looks like and her attempts to deal with the picture:
If delusions of gorgeousness isn't enough... there's her custom-made t-shirt collection (Jenth Degree, I Am A Jenius) that provided the inspiration for the title of this post... however, that's when she is wearing clothes! One thing that you probably won't see in its entirety on CBS (but on ShoToo and the live feeds) is Jen's ass... she wears the tiniest of bikinis, particularly the bottoms. She bends over and I pretty much know what it's like to be an OBGYN for a split second.
Oh, thanks to YouTube I guess I should just go ahead and post the Jen meltdown... though hat tip to DeAnn/TV Goddess via OregonLive.com for being the place I saw it first.
So my fellow BB fans... anyone else you lovin' to hate... or hatin' to love?!
While much of our summer television viewing awash in reality, the proverbial diamond in the rough has been HBO's new comedy and pseudo-reality-ish series, Flight of the Conchords.
The show is named after the "fourth most popular" folk duo from New Zealand and stars Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie... as Jermaine and Bret of the band Flight of the Conchords as they try to find success in the States with a move to NYC.
It is quite the odd little series. The guys have apparently been playing these "characters" for years (of course, all you need to know is in their Wikipedia entry)... so the show has a definite improv feel to it and the guys have their act down. If I had to pitch it, I would say it is kind of like The Office (British version) that occasionally breaks out into song. So that should probably tell you whether you would like it or not.
Of course, I am telling you about this quirky gem a tad late as 4 of the 12-episode run have already aired. Though these days, I am sure there are at least a handful of ways to catch up with Conchords even if you don't subscribe to HBO (it looks like HBO puts the latest, and full, episode on their website for a limited time).
Oh, in my still unofficial "oddly appealing men" series allow me to add Bret McKenzie (pictured, upper right) to my list. Us gay bloggers regularly offer up the no-duh gorgeous guys, so I am still threatening to do/start this non-traditional list (you may remember, this all started when I dubbed Three Sheets host Zane Lamprey "oddly appealing"). But there is something quite adorable about Brett (pronounced with a Kiwi accent as... Brit).
The HBO site has a bunch of videos from the show for you to explore... and being no dummies, they conveniently allow you to embed them on websites... so I am falling right into their "word of mouth"/free publicity trap here. I was torn between sharing their Pet Shop Boys-ish "Inner City Pressure"... but ultimately had to go with their brilliant pre-getting mugged Episode 3 rap of...
Hip-Hopopotamus vs. The Rhymenocerous (click play below)
If all is going to plan, right now we should be smack in the middle of our NYC side-trip... attending the Mets vs. Cardinals game at Shea last night and off to Broadway to see The Color Purple tonight. Or in the "half glass empty" scenario, if Manhattan has been nuked... well, there's a couple of more entries to go before you read my last words.
Today's entry was easy... and come to you thanks to Scott for sending me it along to me (last week!)... it's a quite humorous MINI Cooper commercial that is currently airing on TV (though I have yet to run across it). Here it is (apologies if it has been yanked off You Tube):
I considered doing a pre-dated post about our upcoming MINI Cooper roadtrip... but then I realized it would be pretty obnoxious to blog about a vacation when I am currently on a vacation of sorts! I know we are very lucky to get away twice in one summer. So I'll give you the details about that in the upcoming weeks... and it will certainly be a 180 from what we're experiencing in the big city.
