Somehow I need to find a way to get cool with George Lucas. His ranch is way cool. And I liked the softball team names. Rebel Scum and Let the Wookies Win? Now that's brilliant.

Do you know what would be a fitting tribute to "conservative herald" William F. Buckley? If we elected a black President in the year 2008. Seriously. That would be fitting and then some. What an intellectually and morally bankrupt ideology. What a blowhard.

The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Horsepower

The new series/season of BBC America's Top Gear began with an absolutely brilliant episode that featured Dame Helen Mirren likening host/prat Jeremy Clarkson to Paris Hilton (point taken) and being cool in the Big Star in the Reasonably Priced Car segment and a quest for the perfect driving road in Europe that was both hilarious and exhilharating. I'm not even a car guy and my heart was totally racing a kilometer a minute as those three clowns raced their ludicrus (yet thoroughly cool) supercars across the Alps. OK, it's true host/prat Jeremy Clarkson slags off America at least once an episode... but even my Republican buddy laughs so hey- it's all good fun (that and they were almost shot during their last sojurn in our fine country).

And next week they're back on the water turning cars into boats that always (always) sink. You really can't go wrong.

Bienvenidos!

Welcome to BFLO Scott Bernier! 2 goals in your first game. Very nice... very nice indeed.

I liked this trade from the get go but I gotta tell you-I'm liking this trade more and more.

Come Back To Us

The Dude's Top 10 Shows That He Wants To See Reunions Of.

Not what they're doing on The Today Show... I'm talking I want to know what happened to those characters! Who cares about that other stuff. It's all bloody DVD bonus footage I say!

10. The West Wing. Yes it's too soon. I know this. But, that said- I'll take anything.
9. M.A.S.H. I'd have rated M.A.S.H. higher were it not for the fact that then we'd have to consider AFTER M.A.S.H., and that just ain't fun...
8. The Greatest American Hero. Imagine that fro flying around LA thanks to CGI...
7. Diff'rent Strokes. I bet those kids are all fucked up. Even Janet Jackson.
6. Benson. The original West Wing.
5. Picket Fences. No sarcasm. I think it'd be interesting.
4. Mork and Mindy. Did they evade The Man? And how did they keep Jonathan Winter's baby aging in reverse bit secret?
3. WKRP in Cincinatti. Whatever happend to Johnny Fever? And Venus Flytrap? Jennifer- her fate was assured.
2. Barney Miller. Because I want to see a Barney Miller reunion goddamnit!
1. Magnum PI. Yeah... what the hell ever happened to Thomas Magnum? Didn't he re-enlist at the end of the maudlin and lackluster finale? And would that mean that Thomas Magnum is fighting in the war on terror?

Good Grief

Does Hillary not realize that she has just caricatured herself unawares with her strident splitting of hairs over Obama's "rejection/denunciation of Reverend Lou Farrakhan's endorsement? Or that Obama's laugh line worked perfectly at her expense especially because she actually didn't seem to catch it?

Wow... that was a weird moment there kids... with reality morphing into a SNL sketch.

Alas Hillary jumped the... shark... right abooouuut.... there.

New doctor who cinema trailer

I can't believe they showed this in a theater (ok, a theater in the UK, but a theater nonetheless). I can't believe that people filmed it and put it on YouTube. I can't believe that it's been viewed millions of times (looking at the other versions available). I can't believe how good the show looks now that it's heading into it's fourth season, possibly Russell Davies last. And I can't believe what he's got cooked up for us (Catherine Tate in non-obnoxious mode! Martha Jones! Rose Tyler! I think that's Davros!) in two months.

Doctor Who-Series 4 Trailer

The upcoming fourth series/season of Doctor Who officially looks awesome.

Doves - Snowden

For some reason it just seemed appropriate on a cool, snowy Buffalo night. Yes the roads are greasy, but it's also kind of beautiful.

Even when you're not spinning down the street willy nilly.

The House of Pain

• The Campbell saga is over at last. Do I like the deal? Dude got too big for his britches and he had to go- and that's that. We got another big garbageman (in hockey garbageman = good) to park his ass in front of the net and snag goals and a first round pick so it's all good. At least we can't get on with the rest of the season, which is totally hanging in the balance.
• "Hanging in the balance" is right. These playoff quests can be a total bitch, with every game a must win game. Believe you men, I've totally stocked up on Tums and Prilosec.
• Tonight we shall have some primo political theater when Zeppelin Hillary crashes into the field in NJ that is Barack Obama. Will we get AAAANGRY Hillary? Junkyard Dog Hillary? Or Hillary the Great Concilliator? It will be interesting.
• Speaking of interesting, how cool was it that the Oscars were a total TV ratings dud? Not even celebs joyously gussied up for the first time in ages could save the old boy without the full on Hollywood hype machine running in front of it. Oh well.

Nice

Many, many moons ago... I was an X-Files fan.

This sort of reminds me of what that felt like.

5-25-08.

Very Tasteful

America salutes you Christina!

A Long Week

Folks, we've got a long week ahead of us:

- 3 Sabres games and the trade deadline between now and Saturday. Who knows what's gonna happen? Anybody? Anybody?

- Hillary is going waaaay negative, which means we are in for a long week and a half. A brutal week in fact. It's not hyperbole to suggest that we are going to a dark place, us poor fools in the Democratic Party... a very dark place indeed.

- Even though there's one more week in February and thus one more week of sweeps there's absolutely no television of note this week other than Lost (Tivo) and the new season of Top Gear (also Tivo'd).

- I really hope U2 3D is still up on Friday, when I can finally get out to the OC Regal to see it in digital 3D. You know that damned Hannah Montana movie will be up forever, but U2? At the OC Regal? Probably not.

- I am totally jonesing for next week's Torchwood, featuring Alan Dale (The OC) and the return of Martha Jones, who is doing a few episodes of Torchwood before returning for the second half of Doctor Who's fourth season this spring/ summer. Freema Agyeman was gloriously brilliant as Martha Jones* last season and I'm dying to see how her within the context of the more adult, more hardcore show that is Torchwood.



* What a great blaxploitation name. Martha Jones.

Updating the Netflix Thingy

The extended commercial (dare I call it a trailer?) for the second season of Robin Hood that BBCAmerica aired during last night's Torchwood actually made me pause Torchwood and update my Netflix thingy so I can get the first season Robin Hood dvd's sooner rather than later. Sorry Lost (I'll get to you eventually), but I really need to get ready for new Robin Hood. The second season looks bolder, ambitious, and more epic than the superlative first, and needless to say I am jonsed. Battling to save "the spirit of England" from the power mad greed heads? Do I detect a possible modern allegory about our future in relation to what's at stake in the present? Hmmmmm.

I can't wait.

Reality Checks 2/24

• Ronan Tynan should be banned from singing at HSBC Arena before Sabres games. They even tried having Doug Allen sing the National Anthem beforehand and still Tynan's bad juju won out. I'm sorry chief- you're a nice guy and all but Ronan you are poison to us. Poison.
• What the fuck is SNL doing getting a honky to play Obama? What's next? Blackface? How using CGI to suitably darken honky Fred Armisen? Jebus.
• The only folks as removed from reality as a Republican voter discussing current events is a die hard Hillary supporter discussing why Hillary's campaign is at death's door. Fogetaboutit Hillary supporters, you've been done jive and been on the wrong end of a hoodwink. Read Frank Rich's latest column and wake up from the dream. You will feel better when you do.
• Bill O'Reilly really does need to disappear after his lynching crack about Michelle Obama. After all of that shit about Tiger Woods there's just no fucking excuse for that shit. At the very least the guy is a total fucking nimrod... at the very least. And that goes double for his audience.
• Colter Bay really is the lamest bar in Buffalo. In addition to being an elbow-a-rama and a total sausage bar (1 female for every 10 males) you got guys in poofy shirts and Vidal Sasoon haircuts (you know, those fancy haircuts with the hair brushed and moosed against the grain... you know- like Mr. Spock from Star Trek but without the precision trim*). Poofy shirts and Vidal Sasoon Mr. Spock haircuts? In Buffalo? For real? Not on my watch... hence Colter Bay is the lamest bar in Buffalo.

* Because to be honest I think that look works for the stoic and logical Vulcans.

And, it's fucking Star Trek- not a bar in Buffalo.

UPDATE: I just saw a clip of Armisen as Obama on CNN's Reliable Sources and Jebus H. Christmas they came pretty damn close to using blackface. What. The. Fuck. Yikes!

Os Mutantes - Preciso Urgentemente Encontrar Um Amigo

Os Mutantes

Mind boggling and irresistable.

World Cup 2014 in Brasil is calling to us.

Hollywood Babylon 2

Oh, and that Rolling Stone cover feature on THE TRAGEDY OF BRITNEY SPEARS did not disappoint. Future generations pondering when and how America went to the dogs will find this article extremely useful indeed...

Hollywood Babylon

At last. Lindsay Lohan gets topless for us. Of course that usually means that the career is lagging, but I'm not going to quibble because it's always a happy day when a child star goes starkers for us. And as Marilyn near the end of her life no less. Very tasteful. Of course discriminating people will note how the years haven't been as kind to Lindsay as they were to Marilyn, but again, ya really can't quibble. Marilyn was Marilyn and always will be, whereas Lindsay Lohan is another child star upended by life in the fastlane- bless her soul. I guess that's why they call it life in the fastlane.

Ah, Obsessions

I like obsessions.

The Current Obsession List:

MUSIC: Black Mountain, In The Future. Os Mutantes, Live in London 2006. It's all about the psychedelia baby. Also, trolling the web for news on Radiohead tour dates in the US.

TV: How did I get through the writer's strike? British TV. Why? Because it's better than ours. Examples? Later... With Jools Holland is amazing, the best music show around, a calvalcade of music in every episode. Torchwood is heady, gloriously adult fun that gets better and better. And the next series of Top Gear starts in 2 weeks! The gap between original airings in the UK and in the US are getting shorter and shorter, and the Dude is glad (new Doctor Who and Robin Hood in April!). The Daily Show is also back off the boycott list.

DVD: I'm on a mission to catch up on Lost so I'm watching a borrowed season 2 boxed set. The theory is that I'll eventually be caught up in time for the final season so I can properly participate in water cooler dissections.

COMICS: Richard Donner's contribution to the Superman mythos continues to pay off in the monthly Superman comic. Having Clark and Lois adopt the abused son of General Zod and Ursa was a masterstroke, and it's really given the book a genuine emotional resonance. Each new issue of Joss Whedon's Buffy Season 8 also gets devoured with gusto...

Note: no books will be listed on the obsession list. I don't read enough for that. How about I just let you know about what I'm reading after I'm done with it? I'll finish No Country For Old Men eventually.

Pop Candy

Whitney Matheson's Pop Candy blog for USA Today is sublime, and will forever be on the link list. She covers the pop culture universe with a wider lense, and I am jealous of the fact that she gets paid for it. But, jealousy aside, she appears to be a Doctor Who fan, her pop culture taste looks to be impeccable, she blogs well, and I like her taste in sneakers. Check it out.

Cheers and Jeers 2/16

CHEERS: Labatt's is having a big Pond Hockey Tournement in BFLO today. The weather is great, the sky is blue like in a beer commercial, and we're in Hockeytown so you know the hockey is going to be fun.

JEERS: Labatt's is having their big Pond Hockey Tournement opposite a pivotal Sabres game. Good looking out you corporate retards. I mean, that Sabres schedule has only been hanging at my cubicle at work and on my fridge for how many months now? Ah well.... leave it to corporate nimrods to twat up what should've been pure gold and a perfect event.


CHEERS: Jane Fonda dropped the C-Bomb on the Today Show the other day. Hanoi Jane strikes again.

JEERS: Former Fox News anchor Kieran Chetry (sic?), after 10 minutes of breathless coverage of that school shooting in Illinois said something to the effect that "this is the third school shooting in a week" and "we don't know what's going on" as to why this is happening every other day when the answer is totally fucking obvious. The nuts are finally copycating each other (what I have feared for years), and all of this breathless media coverage cannot be helping matters.


CHEERS: Congress is investigating Spygate and Steroidgate.

JEERS: People are actually complaining about Congress investigating Spygate and Steroidgate. Sure there are other more important matters for Congress to weigh in on but Congress is also a big entity, it can have multiple oars in the water simulatneously; and the fact that 2 of our biggest sporting pasttimes are rife with perfidy and foulness demands some action from somebody. Or maybe those people are cool with America going down the drain spiritually, physically, ethically, morally, etc etc. Maybe it's time to enjoy the show.

Odds and Sods

• It's been a busy week and I apologize for not posting near enough as I should have. A thousand apologies.
• Holy shit the Sabres in 7th place and climbing. Millertime is back, Connolly is our Deco, Kaleta is a magnificent bastard, Vanek is finding it right on time, Ruff is a god, and in the studio Robey is brilliant when left to his own devices when paired with Kevin Sylvester during the intermissions. His bit last night about how Nolan Pratt has improved Kalinan's game was almost existentially brilliant with it's lofty, vague probity. I'd even classify it as esoteric. Keep up the good work- all of you!
• Razor is also a magnificent contributor to the otherwise shoddy MSG broadcast. One feels that we're learning a lot about the nuts and bolts AND finer points of the game, and are better fans for it.
• The parents bought the family tickets to To Kill a Mockingbird at Studio Arena Tuesday night and it is good. I was genuinely moved. I missed the best Sabres game of the season so far... but it was good. More on that eventually.
• Did you get a shiver when you watched that INDY IV trailer? I did.
• The Writer's Strike is OVER. The Daily Show is back, and I almost wept when I watched it for the first time in over three months. And The Office is back April 10. It's all good.
• And how about The Police with Elvis (Fucking) Costello at the HSBC in May? The Police by themselves might not have been a shoo in, but with Elvis it's a must (if he brings The Attractions I will shit myself).
• Hey now... Todd a few week's back, Bruce in March, The Police and Elvis in May... 2008 is looking good for live rock in WNY. How about them apples?

Indiana Jones Official Teaser Trailer

It's been a few days, but The Dude has not forgotten about you.

Behold.

Minga

Well last night's Sabres game made the BBC World News this morning. Gor blimey- did I need to see the Zednik episode in slo-mo from 2 different angles? Jebus. So much for holding down my morning coffee....

Categories

Yes, this blog now features handy categories, highly descriptive and carefully cross referenced, to make your reading experience more enjoyable.

!@#$

The Dude is mighty pleased that Richard Zednik is resting comfortably after emergency surgery after getting his throat accidentally slashed during the game last night. I won't even get into it. I had a flashback to the Clint Malarchuck episode (which I was there for) and it's just too raw for pithy BS on my part.

But that said, the Dude is also mighty pleased that we got 2 points for last night's game. God do we need those points.


Also, special kudos to the fans at the game last night who behaved admirably and showed tremendous class with the standing ovation when good word about Zednik was given over the PA. We got good hockey fans in BFLO, and good people in BFLO too.

What the fuck is up with that block quote thing? Why does it mock me and my posts?

Embrace Soccer

Well folks, the check is in the mail. From yesterday's News article about local efforts to SAVE THE BILLS:

Another problem is that NFL owners have a vested interest in seeing other
teams sold for the highest possible price. Speculation has been rife, before and
since Wednesday’s news conference in Toronto, that the wealthy Toronto
organizers of the Bills games there might be willing to offer $1 billion — or
more — for the Bills.

One billion dollars $$$$$?!? Shit people. That's Doctor Evil money we're talking about now. And bless Congressman Brian Higgins and his funny pants but his plan ain't gonna work either.

Ah well, that's that. The Dude is moving on. I've never been a Bills season ticket holder (too rich for my blood), but seasons for Queen City FC are $40. I'll see you people at All High Stadium this spring.

My Ever Changing Moods

Actually my mood hasn't changed. All of this Clinton dischord has still got me pretty steamed. But, it's a Style Council I haven't seen before- and it's a metaphor or two that seemed strangely appropriate and germane to the Democratic Party at this pivotal and fractious time. Enjoy.

Please, Just Go Away

Not you people. Heavens no. I'm talking about the Clintons, who are sowing dischord here there and everywhere in their quest for the Democratic nomination. First it was white women versus white and black men, then it was black voters versus white voters, and now the demographics slated for Clinton inspired fracas are black versus hispanic voters. From today's Frank Rich column discussing Hillary's Hallmark Channel informercial Monday night:

But the wholesale substitution of Hispanics for blacks on the Hallmark show
is tainted by a creepy racial back story. Last month a Hispanic pollster employed by the Clinton campaign pitted the two groups against each other by telling The New Yorker that Hispanic voters have “not shown a lot of willingness or affinity to support black candidates.” Mrs. Clinton then seconded the motion by telling Tim Russert in a debate that her pollster was “making a historical statement.”

It wasn’t an accurate statement, historical or otherwise. It was a lie,
and a bigoted lie at that, given that it branded Hispanics, a group as
heterogeneous as any other, as monolithic racists. As the columnist Gregory
Rodriguez pointed out in The Los Angeles Times, all three black members of Congress in that city won in heavily Latino districts; black mayors as various as David Dinkins in New York in the 1980s and Ron Kirk in Dallas in the 1990s received more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote. The real point of the Clinton campaign’s decision to sow misinformation and racial division, Mr. Rodriguez concluded, was to “undermine one of Obama’s central selling points, that he can build bridges and unite Americans of all types.”

Jebus H. Christmas. I'm having visions of Navy ships being torpedoed left and right.... of Howard Dean playing Battleship! against the Clintons on behalf of the Democratic Party and losing... and it's making me sick. Rovian wedge issues, Bush-style Q&A's, a scorched earth divide and conquer strategy... what's next? What else gets sacrificed for the CLINTON LEGACY?

There is way too much shame in their game. Period.

Radiohead - All I Need (Scotch Mist Version)

For the Record

And for the record, the Dude thinks Chelsea is cool. She grew up in and survived a real shitstorm coming out intact- a genuine American success story.* All of America should be proud of her.


And how about John Mellencamp getting the McCain's Straight Talk Express to chuck his cd out the window? Brilliant. I know the pickings for good Republican rock music are thin (anemic actually) , but come on now...


* Unlike Britney Spears, who graces the cover of the next Rolling Stone, which includes a feature on "Britney Spears: An American Tragedy." I am looking forward to that ditty immensely.

Overly Profuse

Watching MSNBC fall over themselves to apologize to the Clintonland over the David Schuster crack about Chelsea possibly being "pimped out" by Ma and Pa struck me as something right out of a Monty Python sketch (that may or may not actually exist) about Englishmen trying out apologize each other.

Englishman #1: Dreadfully, dreadfully sorry old chap.

Englishman #2: No no no my good man. It is I who should apologize. A thousand humble apologies.

Englishman #1: Well that's jolly good of you but it's I is who truly, truly sorry. Terribly, frightfully sorry.


Bloody absurd. Wait.... I think I'm having a 90's flashback... yes... I am... there it is.... the Clinton White House has justifiably got their britches bound up over a crack made in the ether about teenager Chelsea... good times good times... no... wait... it's over. Back to present day reality. It might not have been the best chosen crack but hey now, she's a grown woman. Hell, she's playing the game for Jebus's sake. This makes her fair game and if Chelsea is that cheesed off over said flap than Chelsea should get out there and kick up some shit. It's like me Ma always said while gleefully serving me runny eggs on hungover Sunday mornings baaaaack in the day: "you want to play you got to pay." What's even more absurd is the fact that Ma and Pa Clinton are totally acting the role of angry pimp with their full court press on the network to get the guy suspended (busted up!). The whole thing is absurd. Totally, completely absurd... especially considering it's those harpies on The View who started it with their breathy impressions of a Chelsea phone call (that they are now backtracking on bigtime).

Or maybe it's just the corporate candidate getting what she wants from a big corporation. Hmmmm.

Sabres Notes 2/8

• That game tonight was a fucking disgrace. Giving up a two goal lead. Shit.
• The following players failed to succesfully handle the puck at any point in the game tonight: Pominville, Ryan, Lydman.
• The following players limited themselves to one or two decent shifts all night: Vanek, Campbell, Spacek, Roy, Stafford.
• I don't care what anybody says- Brian Campbell is Captain Giveaway. The dude is a sive.
• The only player who earned his keep was Ryan Miller, who has every right to be disappointed as hell.
• I was thinking about getting "RUFF" and "22" put on my jersey, but that's been put on hold after watching the Sabres go 18 minutes in the third period without getting a shot. What third period was he watching? Jebus H. Christmas. It's not like you need to call a time-out to tell the fellas to "shoot the fucking puck!" The guy must have spaced out like the rest everybody else on the Sabres bench. Oh Obi-Wan Ruff.... what happened man? Yikes.
• That Vanek third period cock up was classic. You know the one I'm talking about.... when he skated in on that two on one on the power play backwards, passed the puck out of the zone, and then proceeded to fall on his ass behind the Boston goal. Like I said... classic.
• Lydman is a total headcase. I don't care if he scored a goal the other night, the guy has gone to pieces.
• The song they played for the "opening credits" was great. It sounded Springsteen-esque, but it also sounded local. Intriguing.
• The Robey/Golisano "interview" bit seemed like an obvious public relations maneuver. Watching that tripe on the HD Jumbotron one could almost feel the sunshine getting blown up yer ass. Public relations is not what this situation requires.
• If the Robey/Golisano "interview bit" was an actual live interview I stand corrected. It wasn't my fault though folks- the bit looked totally rehearsed. Preposterously rehearsed.
• Seeing all those Sabres fans in their jerseys is always a thrill.
• That point we pissed away is probably going to haunt us in the end.

Reality Check

It's time to face facts Bills fans: they are leaving us. Oh I know you're saying "Dude, you're just being a pessimist," and you're absolutely right; of course I'm also a realist, and that's they way I am. Now I know you're saying "Dude, your blog is about bullshit. You read comics. Watch Doctor Who. A realist?!?" You got that right muthafuckah. A realist. I might enjoy fantasy and flights into bullshit but that's about it. I believe in facts. Figures. Taking stock of reality. And the reality of this situation is the Bills are going to Toronto, in 5 years. Let's face the facts kids:

• Our season tickets are among the cheapest in the NFL, if not the cheapest.
• The Canadian dollar is kicking our dollars ASS.
• There's a lot of money in Toronto. A hilarious amount of money in Toronto.
• To quell local uproar the Bills released a statement making hay out of the fact that the Bills signed a 15 year lease for the Ralph in 1998. Now let's do some math. 2008-1998=10 years 15-10 years = 5 years
• The grand Toronto experiment ends in 5 years.

Adios muchachos. Make yer peace with it. Or not. Get pissed off for all I care. It won't matter in the end. It's all about the almighty dollah (US or Canadian) and that's just the way it is.

You know what? I really do think that burlesque can save the world...

The United Nations Children's Fund relies on $1 billion in private sector
donations for its $3.5 billion global budget, but the U.N. had never before
granted permission to a company to erect a 42,000-square-foot tent on the north
lawn of the U.N. for such a lavish event with a commercial tie-in. Gucci gave
paying guests its limited edition "Gucci Loves NY" handbag, with a big red
heart, costing more than $600 each.

The red-carpet reception drew stars such as Drew Barrymore, Demi Moore
and Ashton Kutcher, Amy Adams, Brooke Shields, Salma Hayek, Djimon Hounsou, Dita Von Teese and UNICEF Ambassadors Tea Leoni and Lucy Liu, followed by a cocktail party with the likes of Donald Trump and media mogul Barry Diller.

It's All About Points

Notes on tonight's 3-2 win over New Jersey:

• What a crucial win. These four points in two nights have propelled us (for now) into a playoff spot. Hot shit.
• Tallinder put the whammy on Marty B and he deserves the key to the city for putting us over in a shoot out at last.
• What the hell happened to the fans? I know it's been a couple of weeks but shit people, a little cheering and chanting before the third period would have been nice. Thankfully I'm going Friday night so that won't be a problem.
• Personally I love these point quests for a playoff spot. Every game... every point... every night is critical. It's fucking brilliant.
• Kevin Sylvester should not be going to McDonalds.

Sabres @ Bruins 2/5/08

A great game brilliantly called by Rick Jeanneret. He might well be one of the best ambassadors for the game the NHL could ever have.

If only they were smart enough to utilize him. Kudos again to our away fans. Bloody brilliant.

The Dude Likes Lent

Sure I am a (proud) lapsed Catholic. I've read too many books, went to college, and thought about too much shit to be a good Catholic anymore- I admit it. But I still like Lent. I like the Mardi Gras/Carnivale meltdown of sin and that symetrical desire for penance and denial, and hey, it's not like it's serious denial. You give up something you can handle for a couple of weeks and pass on meat on Fridays and on Ash Wednesday... shit- the Dude considers that a minor challenge and the chance for some fun in a good Lenten city like ours. And tonight's adventure, some ordered in advance take out from Cafe Garangelo's hit the fucking spot. Ah... navigating icy, shitty roads is worth all the BS for that spectacular garlic and cheese loaf and the baby shells and peas (white) that will purify me from the inside out for days thanks to the copious garlic. I should have ordered that canoli to go but hey, it's Ash Wednesday. It's better to keep it real on the high holy days, even if you are a lapsed Catholic.

Finally

It's about fucking time R.E.M. got around to rocking instead of reminding us how old they (and we) are like they have on the last three post Bill Berry albums. Behold their new single: catchy, punchy, and alive.

U2 - ZooTV Sydney - Lemon

I am all about the Fat Tuesday. Behold Bono in Devil Drag! The band in faux fascistic gear! Baubbles! Gimcracks! Wonder at the ludicrous stage design!

In other words it's totally fucking brilliant. A vastly underrated era for U2. Hey, at least they were interesting back then...

The Flaming Lips - The W.A.N.D. (Live on Jools Holland)

Speak of the devil. Here's some spiriting Flaming Lips action from Later. It seemed appropriate (and the confetti reminds me of Fat Tuesday).

Now I want you all to picture you've got big hands like Wayne... and you're going to use them for good instead of bad. Yer gonna reach out.... and point the way... to voting for Obama.

My Tivo Loves Later....With Jools Holland

• The Flaming Lips, Cat Power, the Strokes, the Divine Comedy.
• Foo Fighters, OK GO!, Arcade Fire.
• John Fogerty (who they rightly treated like a god), Richard Ashcroft, We Are Scientists, Matisyahu.
• Pearl Jam, Jenny Lewis, Jaimie Foxx.
• Jarvis Cocker (with a bunch of guys from Pulp), Kasabian, Damien Rice, Just Jack, Smokey Robinson (the Botox!).

Those are just some of the show line ups this guy has put together. What an amazing fucking show: a giant warehouse studio crammed with full bands who stand around, wait, groove, and get to perform multiple numbers for a discerning and lively audience. I still can't believe it's on FUSE. It ain't always brilliant, but generally every show has two or three really good acts that make it all worth while.

Check yer local listings.

Happy Days?

Apparently the Hollywood Writers Strike is nearing an end. Does this mean The Daily Show will be returning to my nightly schedule?

God that would be nice.

Random Super Bowl Thoughts

• The HD broadcast of that thing was utterly brilliant. The best advertisement for HD I have seen thus far. Even some of the commercials came in HD. The Russell Crowe thing almost knocked me out of my chair.
• Jordan Sparks was totally lip sycnhing.
• Off the top of my head the Coke Commercial with Charlie Brown getting a Coke was awesome (philosophically offensive, but awesome), the one with the talking crab and the talking SUV was great, the first talking baby ad was disgusting while the second ad with the talking baby and the clown was brilliant, and the nipple torture ad was torture period.
• Tom Petty was awesome. And no teenie bopper guest appearances- just some straight up Petty and the Heartbreakers. Inspiring in it's purity and all around awesomeness.
• Good triumphed over evil. The Evil Empire was vanquished. That generally doesn't happen all that much in real life, so that makes it even more precious when we get to see it happen on (inter)national television. What a football game.
• Bill Bellichek is an asshole. Running off the field with one second left. What a wanker. Even his admirers had to admit that that was a mighty lame maneuver. Hell, I was waiting for him to burst into tears during his postgame interview. Oh well. Those are the breaks. That shit sometimes happens to the best of us.. let alone an asshole.

What is the big fucking idea? Less than 4 months till it hits theaters and no trailer or commercial hype for Indy 4? Jebus. All they are giving me are crumbs and bits to make me drool. It ain't fair.

Super Bowl Follies

Who the fuck do I even root for in this thing? You can't rightly root for the Patriots because they are 1) evil and 2) a hated divisional rival, and rooting for the Giants is near impossible because I had to watch grown men weep in my parent's dining room 17 years ago when they beat our Bills... and that sort of thing scars you for life. I hate to say it but I'm almost watching it for the commercials this year and Tom Petty.

And maybe a flash of some titty or some other craziness. It is on Fox after all.

Royale with No Cheese

Finally got around to seeing Casino Royale on dvd... and by jove I think they got it right again. The Bond movies had gotten way too 1) cliched, 2) predictable, 3) cartoonish, and 4) entirely devoid of any real human emotion, and were in dire need of a reboot; thankfully Casino Royale managed to address all of these issues satisfactoraly while also making Bond almost relevent again as a compelling character thanks to the gritty, tactile performance of Daniel Craig. I also liked the fact that it wasn't a "let's go back to Sean Connery" thing but rather a "let's find those indelible elements of the original Connery bond movies and update them" endeavour. It all worked, and I can't wait for the sequel.


And Eva Green is mindboggling. A goddess.

I think it's time to add The Dreamers to my dvd collection permanently.

Yes We Can

Remarkably, this is not shit. The Black Eyed Peas might be rubbish but this I admit is good. Inspiring even.

Fucking Hilarious

Pure brilliance. I salute Matt Damon and his handlers for agreeing to participate so enthusiastically.

Trade Suggestions

Toni Lydman is a complete twat. A jackass. He should be traded for a hammock... or a couple of Super Mighty Packs.

What an amazing defensive collapse tonight. They collapsed like an old man's lung in the emphysema ward.