the 2014 golden globe recap

I love major award shows, especially when it comes to movies... okay, well, I don't watch the Directors Guild or the Producers Guild or the People's Choice or the Independent Spirit or the Palme D'or or the BET Awards or the Soul Glo Awards or the Latin Grammy show or whatever else... but I DO watch The Golden Globes and The Academy Awards.

In years past, I would live blog, tossing up thoughts, jokes, tweets and so on every few minutes.  But since we've had Campbell Isaiah, "live blogging" has a been a little more difficult.  It's not that The Lovely Steph Leann is opposed to it--in fact, she rather enjoys reading it the next day, and even while I'm blogging, she's made many a joke that has ended up in the published post.

No, Campbell has bathtime in the middle of the evening, and then he goes down for bedtime.  While The Lovely Steph Leann does the bath and bedtime, I will prep the room for his bedtime, get his PJ's laid out, then get some of my things gathered for the next day and so on.  However, I'm usually finished before he is asleep, so when we watch a live program like the Golden Globes, she asks me to pause it, so we can pick back up where we left off when she comes back downstairs.

And in the age of social media, to keep pace, it's harder to push pause--because the winners are revealed, the moments are tweeted and posted on Facebook, the pictures are on Instagram and so on... it's easy to say "Oh, then just don't look at social media until its over!" but that's hard to do when you yourself are live tweeting.

So, no live blog this year, but instead, a few highlights of the show...

• Best joke of the night went Tina Fey & Amy Poehler, after they rattle off a list of accomplishments from Amal, George Clooney's new bride, and then say, "And tonight, we give her husband a lifetime achievement award."
• Tina & Amy then went on to burn Bill Cosby while discussing the movie "Into the Woods", saying that, ''Cinderella runs from her prince, Rapunzel is thrown from a tower for her prince, and Sleeping Beauty just thought she was getting coffee with Bill Cosby.''
• Both then do an odd Bill Cosby impersonation all about "putting the pills in the people."  The audience, in an awkward, but laughing, state, gasped then laughed more.  Personally, I thought the Sleeping Beauty line was gold, but putting pills/people schtick just wasn't that funny.  Not because of the subject, just because it wasn't that funny.
• I do love me some Tina Fey, though.  Man she's gorgeous.
• Jennifer Aniston was nominated as Best Actress in a movie called "Cake".  What the heck is "Cake"?  I don't know anyone who has actually heard of this film.
• Margaret Cho came out dressed as a North Korean high ranking soldier, taking a picture with Meryl Streep, only to be photobombed by Benedict Cumberbatch.
• Gina Rodriguez won for the CW show "Jane the Virgin".  Who?  What show?  Huh? 
• Jeffrey Tambor, veteran actor, won an award for a transgender character on the Amazon show transparency. 
• Ruth Wilson won an award for the Showtime show "The Affair".
• Essentially, alternative lifestyles and open marriages are the new hotness.  Straight people and committed relationships? Not so much.
• Prince showed up.  Like the singer.  I can't say that I've ever heard him talk, and yet, there he was, simply saying, "Here are the nominees for Best Original Song"
• Allison Janney, in the audience, was one of several who went a little batnuts crazy.
• Oh, and Prince had a cane.  He didn't use it, he didn't walk with it, he just brought it with him. #BecauseHeIsPrince
• Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, two normally very funny people, came out and did a bit where they recited lines from classic films, only the actually just made up the lines.  Many people felt this was the funniest non-Tina & Amy moment of the night.  Again... I just didn't think it was that funny.
• George Clooney got the Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award tonight.  It's so weird, because Jodie Foster got it a few years back at a then-age 50, while Clooney is 53. It's only weird because again, I grew up watching Clooney as he started his career on Facts of Life and "Return of the Killer Tomatoes".  Interestingly enough, those are two pieces of work that were not shown on his highlight reel.
• This award is supposed to go to old people like Kirk Douglas and Cecily Tyson and Burt Lancaster (Kirk won it in '68, by the way), not to young folks like Clooney or Robin Williams (recepient in 2005) or Michael Douglas (got it in 2004) or Spielberg (2009). Sigh. I'm old.
• Michael Keaton had a great speech, winning the award for "Birdman"... but I also liked Billy Bob Thornton's speech, simply saying that you can get in trouble for saying just about anything so "I'll just say 'thank you'".
• Have you seen "Birdman"?  The movies is great, but the movie as a whole is outshone by a combo of brilliant performances from Keaton, Emma Stone, Zack Galafinikas, Naomi Watts and definitely Edward Norton.
• When Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with) won an unexpected award for "Big Eyes", I tweeted the following:  AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS.  My Timehop app posted a tweet this morning from last year, apparently when she won an award for "American Hustle".  I tweeted the following last year when she won:  AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS.  Good to know my feelings are the same.
• Everyone freaked out with Prince and John Legend both being out.  No one is talking about the fact that rapper Common... COMMON... has a Golden Globe.  It's like when Three 6 Mafia won the Oscar over U2 with "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". 
• Colin Firth came onstage.  Be still The Lovely Steph Leann's beating heart.  I think if he, Robert Downey Jr and Hugh Jackman ever starred in a movie together, she'd camp out for tickets--and she doesn't camp for anything.
• There is a transparent NBC logo in the left bottom corner.  Everyone, mostly chicks, that wear sleeveless dresses or tops end up looking like they have a faded peacock tattoo on their arm.
• Did NOT see that award for Best Animated Film coming.  "How to Train your Dragon 2" not only beat out Disney's latest, "Big Hero 6", but the heavily favored "The LEGO Movie".  I haven't seen Dragon 2, but I can already tell you it likely won't equal Baymax and Hiro's adventures, and will not be better than LEGO. 

And finally... here are my favorite tweets from the night...

"It makes me sad that a cummerbund company hasn't sponsored Benedict Cumberbatch's tuxedo for award shows yet. #GoldenGlobes" -- @jonacuff

"You can easily recreate Kerry Washington's dress with a little duct tape and a whole bunch of Capri Sun pouches. #DIY #GoldenGlobes" -- @JennaKimJones, as Kerry Washington literally shimmers onstage

"The clothes that 80s movies predicted we'd be wearing 2015... only Prince was listening. #GoldenGlobes" -- @RemodelingClay, on Prince's big appearance

"Prince you are making doves cry with that outfit. #GoldenGlobes" -- @LauraLeighC, on Prince's crazy outfit

"In the Globes control booth: 'Thank you Gambit. Iron Man, you're on!' #GoldenGlobes" -- @RottenTomatoes, as Channing Tatum introduced Robert Downey Jr

"Everytime Meryl Streep loses an award, her horcruxes grow stronger." -- @YrBFF, after she lost again.

"The Golden Globes should be, 'We all get paid because of superhero movies. Good night. Drive safely, everyone.'" -- @pourmecoffee

"The #GoldenGlobes folks use the word 'courage' a lot.  Glad I saw the #60Mins piece on Iraq/Afghan war amputees first." -- @IngrahamAngle

"If Oprah cries when you speak you automatically go to Heaven." -- @samir

"All these men get to throw on a tux over their winter fat.  These poor women haven't eaten in 35 days.  Life is unfair. #GoldenGlobes" -- @JenHatmaker

"So everything is NOT awesome?" -- @daltonross, when "The LEGO Movie" lost Animated Feature.

"Do you think if I use the Loreal shade that is 100% Puerto Rican that I can look like J.Lo? #GoldenGlobes" -- @jamiesrabbits

"I just got to second base with J-Lo's dress. #GoldenGlobes" -- @jenhatmaker

"Apparently it's 'Bring your tatas to work" night at the #goldenglobes. #AllTheGlobes" -- @IAmAmyLatta

 And my absolute favorite of the night...

@dawn_o_mite tweeted: "I often think Jessica Chastain has the career that Bryce Dallas Howard was expected to have 10 years ago."   That made me laugh long and heartily.

Ladies & gents, there are your 2015 Golden Globes. 

Troy State's Freshman Spring

Time for some new music on The Clouds, and this time around, I've decided to pull out the Troy State Freshman Spring playlist... these are all songs that were released, out and popular between December and June of 1994... my winter & spring quarters as a frosh at Troy State University...

"Cantaloop" by Us3... Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we have something special down here at Bird Land this evening, a recording from Blue Note Records. I dare you not to get into this beat.

"Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty... I don't think, even as an 18 year old, I recognized this song being about mary-ju-wanna at the time. This brings back memories of Erin Magonigal sitting with myself, Lisa Murphy, Allison Wiggins, Stephanie Massey, Wookiee, The Wench and Kate Gates, singing along during dinner at SAGA. The video, featuring a then-young-and-hot Kim Basinger? Awesome.

"Because the Night" by 10,000 Maniacs... There's a bridge at the end of the song that I, to this day, still have no clue what exactly she's saying. I actually made up an entire verse that had something to do with "I have no... idea... what to sing so I will go... and make... it up". I sang this to Lisa Murphy while driving to Subway around 1am one night. She loved it. Lisa Murphy rocked.

"...And Our Feelings" by Babyface... Ever had those songs that are like, forever old, and to this day, when they come on, you're still all about it? Babyface was awesome back in the day... this is one that I happily sing along to, loudly, while in the car... "AAAAnd our feeeelings! Just aren't feelings anymore... they're just words without emotions from people we don't know... No! No! No No No nonononono!!!!"

It also helps that the song title has at its beginning an ellipsis. You know my love of ellipses... much better than the use of ( ) in song titles (more on that below).

"You Mean the World to Me" by Toni Braxton... This song is part of the Toni Trifecta, also featuring "Another Sad Love Song" and "Breathe Again". Its rare for any artist to have three straight incredibly incredible songs, but she did it. I love me some Toni... she's who my car is name after.

"Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows... My main problem with Adam Duritz is how in the world he could be some homely looking and still get with all these hot celebrities? In his prime, he dated not only a in-her-prime Jennifer Aniston, but also a in-her-prime Courtney Cox, a still in-her-prime Monica Potter and even a relatively-cute-then Winona Ryder. This would be like dopey me dating Julie Wise and Sandy Wright, but then going on to date Tiffany Abbott, followed by Laura DeGarmo before finally ending up with The Lovely Steph Leann. Wait... come to think of it, I had a pretty good run myself. Scratch all that.

"Come to My Window" by Melissa Ethridge... For The Lovely Steph Leann's money, she'd take "I'm The Only One" over this song anytime. Not me. I love the slow kick off, followed by the great vocals and guitar. I mean, yeah, she's singing in the choir of the Lesbetarian Church, but still... just cause Elton John is Brokeback doesn't mean that "Your Song" is any less diminished. So be it with Melissa.

"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow... I feel sad that Sheryl Crow has slowly become a laughing stock liberal. She used to be so awesome! As a matter of fact, I'm actively working on a list of "d$'s Favorite Artists, Ever", and Sheryl has to be Top Five. "The Globe Sessions"? One of my favorite CDs, ever.


As lamented in a previous post, I miss this Sheryl Crow. Sassy, hot, talented, and not a left wing moron.

"Stay" by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories... There are those songs that you know by heart, and can sing anytime, anywhere. Then there are those songs that you know by heart, but you can't start in the middle... you have to start at the beginning. If someone said to you, "Hey, what's that part in the song about living forever? How does it go, I would have to start at the beginning, singing really softly and quickly to myself, "yousayidonlyhearwhatiwantto... (mumble through the verse)... soiturntheradiooniturntheradioupandthiswomanwassingingmysong... (mumble some more)... someofushoverwhilewerewaitingfortheotherwhowasdying... (a big more mumbling)... and I thought I'd live forever, and now I'm not so sure!! That's it!"

"Shine" by Collective Soul... I think Collective Soul could have been bigger, had they not come on the heels of Pearl Jam and Nirvana. They were rock without being metal, and were still pretty cool. As it is, they were awesome for the next, I dunno, like 7 years or something... "Gel", "December", "The World I Know" and one of my favorite running/driving songs, "Heavy". This song started it all though. There was a rumor that dcTalk's "So Long My Friend", a song about someone who gave up their walk with Christ to be famous, was about Collective Soul.

"Loser" by Beck... Let's face it, I don't know what this song is about. No, you don't either. Don't try.

"Regulate" by Warren G feat. Nate Dogg. Had to listen to this song throughly to make sure the only questionable material in the song was just mentions of tricks and ho's. We're good.

Maybe this was the first, maybe it wasn't, but this song was at the beginning of the "Featuring" trend. Remember how Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson sang "Say Say Say"? It was "Say Say Say" by Paul McCartney AND Michael Jackson. The "And" represented the fact that both parties did equal amounts of work. But here? Its not Warren G and Nate Dogg... oh nay nay. Its Warren G "FEATURING" Nate Dogg... and its not even "featuring", its "feat.". Can you imagine "Islands in the Stream" by Dolly Parton feat. Kenny Rogers? Or "Endless Love" by Diana Ross feat. Lionel Richie? I'm more bitter about this than I am with the use of ( ) in songs.

I hate when a song uses parantheses in the title. Bryan Adams, are you listening? Either name your song "Everything I Do", or "I Do It For You", or even "Everything I Do I Do It For You", but don't throw ( ) in there. "Everything I Do (I do it for you)". Why? "Over My Head (cable car)" is stupid. Either call it "Over My Head", or "The Cable Car", or even throw a / in there... "Over My Head/Cable Car" would work, though still silly, just not as silly. There are no reasons to have subtitles in your songs. Unless your Meat Loaf, and in that instance, your songs are 24 minutes long, so you probably deserve a subtitle. Just my thoughts.

Anyway, everyone now... "REEEGGUUULLLAAATTOOOORRSSS!!!!!! Mount up."

"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Prince... One of The Purpled One's lesser known tunes, I like it. I own the cassette single. It's fun. It's silky. It's Prince before he lost all of his talent.

"The Sign" by Ace of Base... Personally, I preferred "Don't Turn Around", but this one is the most popular.

"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by The Crash Test Dummies... In the archives of ridiculous songs, this has to be right up there. I daresay that when this song comes on the playlist, this will be the first time some of you have either ever heard this song, or have heard it in about, maybe 14 or 15 years.

There's my new playlist, courtesy of "In My Coffee (the clouds)", starring d$ feat. The Lovely Steph Leann.

Idol's End

Here we are... the last night of Idol. And it's time for the running diary...

702pm... Out comes a dashing Carrie Underwood, followed by Taylor and My Girl Mcphee, then all the rest of the ousted Idols, all dressed in white. They are singing some crap that would be perfect to go with last night's crap, "My Destiny" and "Proud of Me"

703pm... Random Heather Locklear and Ben Stiller cameo. At least its not David Spade... how did that all happen?

705pm... A compilation of Randy Jackson's vocabulary, consisting of these words: "Dude", "yo" and "We got a hot one tonight" (not to be confused with "America! We got a hot one tonight!"). Paula's compilation is next, filled with kittens and cleavage. Finally, its Simon's turn. And its funny.

707pm... Todd Bridges again? Where's Gary Coleman??

708pm... A report from the BJCC, featuring ousted semi-finalist Becky O'Donahuge (sp?) and her twin... why them? Oh yippee... they are bringing back all the finalists to sing (gotta fill two hours somehow), and first is Annoying Paris (complete with her Patti LaBelle hair). She's singing with Al Jarreau, all in pimp gear.

712pm... Okay, so the Fed Ex commercial with the cavemen is on. I love this commercial... if only because the couldn't-care-less boss caveman grunts "Not my problem" when he fires the other caveman. The other caveman walks out, and gets stomped on by a dinosaur--but not before he kicks a small dinosaur. Classic. Almost as funny as that silly Geico commercial where the guy says "Its so easy, a caveman could do it". Cut to the dinner table at the swanky restaurant, where he's apologizing to the two caveguys. One orders "roast duck with the mango salsa", while the other says "I don't have much of an appetite, thank you". Then smirks. Classic.

7:15pm... Ah, its Idols with their Idols... which is why Daughtry is now singing with Live. I can't believe Ed Kowalcyzk agreed to this. You gotta think at the next Bonneroo, Live's cred is pretty much shot.

719pm... a Video called "Puck & Pickler", featuring Wolfgang Puck, the famous chef, and Pickles, who has cut her hair. I'm a big fan of short hair (re: Stephanie Dollar), but I liked Pickles with long hair. Anyway, Puck is teaching Pickles about famous, expensive food, as a result of the "didn't know what Calamari incident earlier this year. He's making her eat es cargo--snails--which she's resisting. I liked es cargo.

722pm... My Girl McPhee is singing a Celine Dion song with... no, not Celine. Meatloaf. Yes, that one. I'm not sure I even have a joke here.

723pm... Okay, now that I've regained my thoughts after seeing Meat Loaf and My Girl McPhee onstage singing "Its All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion, plus My Girl McPhee's dress, let me address this. The words "When you touch me like this..." sung to Meat Loaf is just weird. And creepy. Meat Loaf's hit in 1993, "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" has a video that is almost exactly like "It's All Coming Back to Me Now".

724pm... You CANNOT convince me that Meat Loaf is My Girl McPhee's idol. No way. Oh, and apparently, he's got "Bat Out of Hell III" coming out. This is after the 1970s album "Bat Out of Hell", which spawned hits like "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" and "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad", and 1993's "Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell", which gave us the aforementioned "I Would Do Anything For Love". I wonder where the Bat is going in III?

730pm... A little clip called "The Golden Idol Awards". Steph said "Talk about filler...". Of course, its a mocking video... the first award is "Best Female Vocal", and they just showed Cierra Johnson, who was AWFUL in the auditions. Then Kristen Pryzkyzyyzky, who had the rugged suntan. And for "Male Vocal", there's Derek Dupree with pit stains the size of my head... and thats a big head.

735pm... And there's "Dancin'" Dave Hoover, the guy who just jumped and screamed all during the audition, and somehow got a golden ticket to Hollywood. He's jumping all over the stage. Ryan says "Bring on the mace"

740pm... More "Puck N Pickler". I have a feeling this will be a running gag through the show.

742pm... Here's Chicken Little, Bucky... Bucky... Elliott Yahmean, Daughtry and Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair all singing BTO's "Taking Care of Business". They didn't. Thats why Taylor is in the finals. Ha! Speaking of, here he comes, on the harmonica. Now they transition into "Tobacco Road", which only Bucky, Daughtry and Taylor look remotely comfortable singing.

744pm... Fleetwood Mac? If you look in the back of the Kodak Theater, you'll see the words conveniently on the teleprompter. Those Fox guys are so helpful.

750pm... Ryan just matter-of-factly handed My Girl McPhee and Taylor hands to new Ford Mustangs. You'd think they'd be more excited. Now, more Golden Idol Awards, this time "Proudest Family Moment". Elliott Yahmean's old mom wins. This leads to Elliott performing with... no one. He's singing "One" by U2. Don't tell me Bono is coming out.

753pm... Oh, here comes Mary J. Blige. Okay, so Idols performing with their own Idols is now not true. Currently, she's singing more of the song, as well as better, than Elliott. She's got his hand, pumping the fist, and making him look like one awkward white boy.

801pm... Hey, its Carrie Underwood, fresh off of 2 country awards. One for best new artist, one for "Jesus Takes the Wheel". She looks hot. And she's a Christian. Which means she's a righteous babe. Ha!

806pm... Hilarious little clip featuring Ronetta Johnson, and her very, very foul mouth. You had to see the original show back in January.

807pm... Taylor Hicks is singing "In the Ghetto" with Toni Braxton. Did they just draw who is singing with who out of a hat?

812pm... Shania Twain song alert! Here are all the chicks... Lisa Turtle, My Girl McPhee, Mandisa, Annoying Paris, Pickles and of course, Melissa "Does Anyone Know who I Am?" McGhee.

817pm... So, if next year, Alabama, or Birmingham specifically, has no connections to anyone in the Idol top 12, will this area even care about American Idol? I mean, we've had Ruben, Bo, even Diana--whom it was a stretch, but she did live her for the first year of her 17 years--and now Taylor...

821pm... Clay Aiken. Right now, I'm losing it. Clay Aiken.... Clay Aiken!

822pm... So, they gave out the award for Best Impersonation, and the winner was Michael Sandecki, who did one heck of an awful Clay Aiken impersonation. So, Sandecki comes out, Ryan asks him to sing, and he starts into "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me", and its AWFUL. And here comes Clay Aiken. So, Sandecki turns around, almost faints and freaks out. Clay is singing, and now he's got longer hair. Steph said "I like his hair, but its too long... he should trim it for his gay self." Then Steph looks at me and quietly says "Oh, he is gay, right?"

826pm... Ryan just said the words "Burt Bacharach", "Tribute" and "Here are your Idols". This might be where I go to the bathroom.

828pm... Ace Young. You can't convince me that Michael Bolton didn't look like that when he was 24.

828pm... Melissa McGhee had better make the most of this appearance... after this season, she goes the way of Julia DeMato, Vanessa Oliveraz and Charles Grigsby. Who, you ask? Exactly.

833pm... Chicken Little is singing "Whats New, Pussycat?", made famous by 60s sex god Tom Jones. I'm guessing the producers were laughing their heads off when they decided to do this to poor Kevin Covais. And now, two names I thought would never go together... "Chris Daughtry" and "Christopher Cross". Annoying Paris is now singing The Carpenters. Stephanie is very happy. And now.. its Dionne Warwick.

835pm... What kind of comedy would it be to have Dionne go "My psychic friends network told me the winner would be..."? I had an algebra teacher named Mrs. Maund, a little white woman. Dionne and Mrs. Maund look alike. I actually called her the White Warwick. I'm just sayin'.

837pm... I was hoping it wouldn't come to this (and I'll be the majority of the Idols were too), but she just busted out "What's What Friends are For". Daughtry better get back stage and beat the crap out of Chicken Little just to preserve his cred, otherwise Fuel is gong to retract their "be our lead singer" offer. I hate this song. Always have.

844pm... They are reshowing "Brokenote Mountains", featuring Cowboy Garet--a hilarious sooof with two hicks and a black dude that made it to the second round... but no further. And here they come, singing "Mommas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys". Funny, funny stuff.

848pm... In a bizarre twist, Prince just came out. And it looks like he got his jacket back from Taylor last night. I mean, talk about your filler...

850pm... I am wondering why they've never done a Prince night on Idol, but it occured to me that most of his songs are pretty dirty, and at least innuendous... "Little Red Corvette", "Raspberry Beret"... you don't want to know what those songs are about.

854pm... Just went to the blogcounter website to see why my blog counter wasn't working... it told me I've jumped about 40 hits in the last three hours. You guys rock. Its nice to know I've had some views. So, who are you?

856pm... Taylor is being forced to sing "I've Had the Time Of My Life" from Dirty Dancing. Now My Girl McPhee is joining in... okay, okay, I like this song. Leave me alone.

856pm... "Nobody puts Baby in the corner" (if you don't get that, Google it)

858pm... Okay, here we go... the winner is...

859pm... 63.4 million votes came in last night... thats like the number of hits on Scott Latta's Sporting News blogsite!

859pm... And the winner is... Taylor Hicks. Soul Patrol! Soul Patrol! Awww... Taylor is about to cry... that's good stuff. Heck, even David Hasselhoff is crying. Who knew they had some Hasselhizzle in the House?

900pm... Oh man... Taylor is ruining the night by singing that suck "Proud of Me" song. Perhaps I'll turn it off and relish his win happily.

902pm... Okay, thanks for indulging me tonight... and this season. Now I gotta find something else to write about.

iPods, TV Music & Deuce Madness Day 4

The Deuce Madness scores are below my other thoughts for the day.

I'm on a hunt for an iPod.

Here's my dilemma... I've got $250 on a Wal-Mart card. And I've got $300 cash. The 60 GB iPod that I've been wanting retails for about $399.99, and the 30 GB iPod that I may get is $299.99. If I had all the money on a Best Buy card (totaling $550) there wouldn't be an issue... I'd go to Best Buy and pick me up a 60gig.

The simple answer would be "Well, use your gift card plus cash and get it from Wal-Mart". Here's the problem: They don't sell 60gig iPods. They don't even have them listed online, and their 30gigs are only in stores. Sam's Club doesn't have them either. The other solution would be to save up more money to buy it at Best Buy, which means I'm about $150 short, when you consider taxes, plus the service plan that I'd want to put on it (for $49.99... and Wal-Marts? Their's is $22 and some change)

I'm definately buying my accessories at Wal-Mart, though. The iPod plug adapter, the case and a car apperatus that would allow me to listen to it, and charge it in the car, cost about $89, $30 and $99 respectively. At Wal-Mart? The same iPod adapter was $38, a similar case was about $17 and a similar charger was around $29. I'll figure it out, I guess.

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Was there ever a time when there were no "(fill in number) Greatest/Best/Sexiest/Most Shocking Moments in (name the industry)" specials? I flipped it to Vh1, and on is the "100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock", and I've been privvy to the details of Michael Jackson's hair fire in 1984, Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off of a bat and other fun things.

I'll be honest with you--I don't know who sings it, but "Girl You Know Its True" is a great R&B album. We know its not Milli Vanilli. I actually heard Rob and Fab sing live on Arsenio Hall in the early 1990s, after the lip-sync fallout, and they were AWFUL...

Is there a more disgusting "Woman That the World Says is Hot" woman in the world than Pam Anderson? I mean, she's absolutely revolting. I would be willing to put her and Anna Nicole Smith in a boat to test the viability of the Bermuda Triangle.

Soon to come: "The 50 Greatest 100 Greatest Moment Shows."

_________________________

Alright, I'll ask it. If David Mark, Jonathan and Meredith Osborne had been born in England, would their names be David Mark, Jonathan and Meredith Osbourne?

__________________________

I may end up re-thinking this statement, but I think that the opening music to Cold Case has taken the spot left empty by Six Feet Under in the catagory of "The Coolest Opening Music on TV".

_________________________

Speaking of music, I'm learning that there are bands that I'm supposed to like. I'm flipping through this week's edition of Entertainment Weekly, and occasionally they have an insert called "Listen 2 This", which highlights new music and other things YOU should be paying attention to. This time around, they asked celebrities to give a list of albums that "you've gotta get-by any means necessary-right now". There's a lot of Rufus Wainwright, The Who, David Bowie, Erykah Badu, Jefferson Starship and others. Have you heard any of these artists? None of their music that I've heard really appeals to me, and honestly, I can 't see how it appeals to anyone.

Some of it, like Radiohead, Jane's Addiction, Beth Orton and Joni Mitchell, I can see how you'd enjoy it (Tommy McLeod is a big Radiohead fan) and I even like some of their stuff--but what makes David Bowie brilliant? I don't get it.

What did I like in the listings? Peter Gabriel's "So", Lauryn Hill's "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (was there ANYONE who had more hype after her first album only to have her career disappear faster?) , Prince & the Revolution's "Purple Rain", Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall", Nirvana's "Nevermind" and Abba's "Gold".

__________________________

Okay, enough chatter... here's the update on Deuce Madness, heading into next weekend's Sweet Sixteen.
1) Jon Osborne - 360
2) DMOsborne - 353
3) Brad Latta - 348
4) Lori Smith - 345
5) Scott Latta - 340
6) Yours Truly - 338
7) Drew Morris - 325
8) James Hawbaker - 323
9) Tebe Shaw, Stephanie Dollar & Jess Hawbaker - 320
12) Tommy McLeod, Michael Nipp, Jon Taylor - 315
15) Matt Latta - 313
16) Daniel Powell - 310
17) Jason Barnette - 303
18) Tyler Campbell - 275