So, immigration is something I've got mixed feelings about... I've had conversations here and there with different people, but nothing sums it up better than this letter I found online. It was written by David Stoddard, a former border patrol agent in Arizona, to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Often letters like this are the product of forwards and passed along email (I work as a lawyer and I know the law!), but considering the source of the letter, I am inclined to believe it truth.
Dear Senator Frist:
There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.
1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship. Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free education for their offspring. Their main attraction is employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What illegal aliens want are benefits of American residence without paying the price.
2. There are no jobs that Americans won't do. Illegal aliens are doing jobs that Americans can't take and still support their families. Illegal aliens take low wage jobs, live dozens in a single residence home, share expenses and send money to their home country. There are no jobs that Americans won't do for a decent wage.
3. Every person who illegally entered this nation left a home. They are NOT homeless and they are NOT Americans. Some left jobs in their home countries. They come to send money to their real home as evidenced by the more than 20 billion dollars sent out of the country each year by illegal aliens. These illegal aliens knowingly and willfully entered this nation in violation of the law and therefore assumed the risk of detection and deportation. Those who brought their alien children assumed the responsibility and risk on behalf of their children.
4. Illegal aliens are NOT critical to the economy. Illegal aliens constitute less than 5% of the workforce. However, they reduce wages and benefits for lawful U.S. residents.
5. This is NOT an immigrant nation. There are 280 million native born Americans. While it is true that this nation was settled and founded by immigrants (legal immigrants), it is also true that there is not a nation on this planet that was not settled by immigrants at one time or another.
6. The United States is welcoming to legal immigrants. Illegal aliens are not immigrants by definition. The U.S. accepts more lawful immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.
7. There is no such thing as the "Hispanic vote". Hispanics are white, brown, black and every shade in between. Hispanics are Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists, Marxists and Independents. The so-called "Hispanic vote" is a myth. Pandering to illegal aliens to get the Hispanic vote is a dead end.
8. Mexico is NOT a friend of the United States. Since 1848 Mexicans have resented the United States. During World War I Mexico allowed German Spies to operate freely in Mexico to spy on the U.S. During World War II Mexico allowed the Axis powers to spy on the U.S. from Mexico. During the Cold War Mexico allowed spies hostile to the U.S. to operate freely. The attack on the Twin Towers in 2001 was cheered and applauded all across Mexico. Today Mexican school children are taught that the U.S. stole California, Arizona, new Mexico and Texas. If you don't believe it, check out some Mexican textbooks written for their schoolchildren.
9. Although some illegal aliens enter this country for a better life, there are 6 billion people on this planet. At least 1 billion of those live on less than one dollar a day. If wanting a better life is a valid excuse to break the law and sneak into America, then let's allow those one billion to come to America and we'll turn the USA into a Third World nation overnight. Besides, there are 280 million native born Americans who want a better life. I'll bet Bill Gates and Donald Trump want a better life. When will the USA lifeboat be full? Since when is wanting a better life a good reason to trash another nation?
10. There is a labor shortage in this country. This is a lie. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American housewives, senior citizens, students, unemployed and underemployed who would gladly take jobs at a decent wage.
11. It is racist to want secure borders. What is racist about wanting secure borders and a secure America? What is racist about not wanting people to sneak into America and steal benefits we have set aside for legal aliens, senior citizens, children and other legal residents? What is it about race that entitles people to violate our laws, steal identities, and take the American Dream without paying the price?
For about four decades American politicians have refused to secure our borders and look after the welfare of middle class Americans. These politicians have been of both parties. A huge debt to American society has resulted. This debt will be satisfied and the interest will be high. There has already been riots in the streets by illegal aliens and their supporters. There will be more.
You, as a politician, have a choice to offend the illegal aliens who have stolen into this country and demanded the rights afforded to U.S. citizens or to offend those of us who are stakeholders in this country. The interest will be steep either way. There will be civil unrest. There will be a reckoning. Do you have the courage to do what is right for America? Or, will you bow to the wants and needs of those who don't even have the right to remain here?
There will be a reckoning. It will come in November of this year, again in 2008 and yet again in 2010.
We will not allow America to be stolen by third world agitators and thieves.
David J. Stoddard
U.S. Border Patrol (RET)
Hereford, Arizona
In the words of the guys when making a great Attacktix shot.... Well played, Mr. Stoddard. Well played, indeed.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Politically Inclined Friday
I'm about to post something that I've hesitated from posting for a long time... political thoughts. Normally, on my blogsite here, I shy away from too much political activism... it's not that I'm afraid to offend people, because when I talk politics, I make sure I'm right so I can win the argument before I even open my mouth, its more that that's not what this site is all about, and I don't want to be pigeonholed by some passersby who just happened to read one politically charged post.
At first, I was just going to post an article that I had heard about, all about the "White Guilt" that is sweeping this country... but then I started typing. And kept going. So I'll post "White Guilt" in a few days. So I'm going to give you a few thoughts...
1) There WERE weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. With 1.77 metric tons of uranium and over 1,000 radioactive sources found there, do you think that Saddam was looking for a low cost way to heat the homes of his loving people? How can anyone even dismiss the idea that there at least could have been, with the way the UN mucked up the whole process over the last 10 years with Iraq?
2) Bill Clinton ruined this country's future and its security, beginning with the Somalian snafu that he didn't deal with (which bin Laden has been quoted as saying was the event which made him realize that the US was a "paper tiger"). Sitting here, I just heard the 2002 soundbite of Bill Clinton saying that when Osama bin Laden had been offered to us by Sudan in 1996, who was holding him at the time, we would not take him... only to hear another soundbite, this time from former Sect. of State Madeline Albright on Hannity & Colmes this week, say that bin Laden had never really been offered. Who's lying?
3) As much as I like W, he needs to get his backbone back, as does most of the Republicans when it comes to domestic policies, including social security, gas prices (which I get into heavily here) and immigration (which I refrain from discussing, yet, because I'm still undecided how I feel about it)
4) Gas prices? First of all, I'm not in the business of defending Big Oil, but despite what the media tells you, the oil companies DO NOT set market price. That is determined by the exchanges across the globe. Yes, Exxon made something like 8 billion dollars last year. Do you know how much Exxon, the biggest company in the world, spent on everything from payrolls to technologies? At least 3 to 4 billion. You do know that Big Oil makes approxametly 8 to 10 cents on a gallon of gas currently, right? If it cost you $55 to fill up your tank, if Big Oil made NO profit whatsoever... it would cost you around $50 to fill up your tank. Did you also know that only 2.3 billion was made in this country? Over 70% of Oil proifts are made overseas.
5) Gas prices?? Don't blame big oil. Blame the government, present and past. Present, because as much as "oil company price gouging" is on the minds of everyone, realize that at least we're getting something, gas, for our high price. The taxes that are placed on every gallon of gas both by local, state and national government are simply ridiculous. Past, because our country hasn't built a refinary in 30 years? Why? We gotta save the spotted owl, or the wood crested dolphin beaver or whatever. Democrats and environmentalists WILL not let the country build a refinary in the gulf, or drill in ANWR (Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve) or seek out other sources of oil in this country.
6) Gas prices??? Do you realize had we begun building a refinary in ANWR 11 years ago, as the country was about to when Clinton vetoed the idea, plus the Republicans wouldn't stand up for it, the refinary would have been operational sometime in late 2005, pumping out about a million or so barrels of oil per day? Will that stop our dependance on Saudi Arabia, Iraq or other countries for oil? Not at all. Not even close. But its a start.
7) Gas Prices???? If you are a Democrat, you should be overjoyed!! If I'm paying $40 to fill up my tank in my reasonably gas-efficient Mercury Sable, then heck, I should be driving a small hybrid. For you SUV owners, you are ruining the environment anyway, so high gas prices should give you another reason to get a small Honda and help slow global warming. Plus, Big Oil is now in the news, and we gotta get them! They make too much money! Its like Wal-Mart, or Microsoft! These companies make too much money! They are too successful! We have to take their money that those companies earned and give them to poor people! Capitalism be darned! Even better, this proves the point that we shouldnt go to war for oil! Its not worth fighting for anyway! No blood for oil, remember? I mean, that is what this war is all about, right?
8) Gas prices????? Let's talk about oil one more time. Of the top 14 oil exporters, only one is a well established democracy at this point, Norway, and two others have recently made a solid transition to democratic government, that being Nigeria and Mexico. Iraq is working on following in the footsteps. Thats it. The other 9? Controlled by dictators. The rising price of oil has been a huge profit for those countries, so saith the LA Times. If oil prices stay at around $71 per barrel this year, TEN dictatorships stand to rake in about 500 billion dollars more this year than in 2003, when oil was around $27 per barrel. Russia could make 115 billion more than in 2003, Venezuala making 36 billion, the Sudan 4.7 billion, Iran 45 billion, Saudi Arabia will make 149 more this year than in 2003. Even allies like Kuwait will make 35 billion and the United Arab Emerites 36 billion. No doubt some of this money will find its way into terrorist hands, and for Iran, probably will continue to fund their nuclear ambitions. Rush Limbaugh made the point that if we seized the oil fields in Kuwait, Iraq and the Sudan (which I'm not saying we should...) the price would plummet and we'd be paying about $1.33 a gallon... of course, we'd be called imperialists and warmongers. And in this top 14 list, these 14 countries that will make a windfall this year, where are we? We are keeping our drills out of our American soil, because oil is dirty, oil is filthy, oil is creating global warming.
9) I have yet to find anything that makes me belive that global warming even exists. Hurricanes? Rising summer temperatures? Melting ice caps? Aren't these things cyclical? Are we on Earth really so cocky that we think our efforts, good or bad, can increase the sun's temperature?
10) Whether they like Bush or not, liberal women should be thrilled that the US has liberated Iraq. This is a country led by a regime that opressed women, kept them as third and fourth class citizens and violated them constantly, old and young, in the infamous rape rooms--which are exactly what they sound like. And W is the monster and tyrant. Hmm.
11) In a recent report listed, 510 people interviewed in January... For all the talk about FEMA and how horrible Katrina was, and how Bush killed black people and blah blah blah, 1/3 of the 510 responants could not locate Louisiana on a map... 48% didn't know where Mississippi was, fewer than 3 in 10 think its important to know the location of a country thats in the news, and just 14% think speaking another language is even important. Then, when shown a map of the Middle East (not asking "where is it?" but "point to it"), 6 in 10 could NOT find Iraq on a map of the Middle East (oh, you don't have to know where it is to know we shouldn't be there!). A whopping 47% could not find India, and 75% had no idea where Israel was. In the meantime, all these college professors and liberal teachers discuss how stupid our administration is. And of course, as a result of these findings, they'll begin new programs to help teach more geography methods... and you know where its coming from? Thaaaaat's right... yours and my paychecks. Yippee.
12) Those terrorists imprisoned at Abu Graib and Gitmo in Cuba cannot be tortured, cannot be overly questioned, must be given prayer rugs and meals based on their religious beliefs and despite the fact that they do not fall under the Geneva Convention, the Republicans have bent over backwards (or perhaps forwards, grbbing their ankles?) to please France, Russia, Germany and mainly the Dems who were whining "oh no, you can't hurt them... they are misunderstood and we must find out why they hate us so...). And yet, when PMSNBC's Chris Matthews asked Senator Joe Biden, D-Delaware, about newly convicted Moussaoui's (the guy who admitted to helping plan 9/11 who was sentenced to life, not death) upcoming life in prison, he said this:
I don't want to be that sucker in prison. I don't want to be that guy in an American prison. If you want to say how to punish somebody, put Zarqawi in a prison with a bunch of red-blooded American criminals. Criminals. Put him in there for life -- and guarantee under no circumstances, no circumstances, could he get out of prison. I think that boy is about to have, as we Catholics say, an epiphany. I think he's about to find out (laughing) that he may not have gotten the better end of the deal. (then he and Matthews both laughed a bit)
Don't get me wrong... I think Zarqawi is in for a fun time, because I don't know if he ever met Sea Bass over in Afghanistan... but I find it funny that Biden is amused about the idea of Zarqawi's possible torture in prison at the hands of other inmates, yet condemn Bush on possible "torture", which doesn't happen on the level you might be led to believe from the NYTimes.
13) Mayor Ray Nagin is a total idiot... and yet, he finally made some sense. He just laid out the new New Orleans evacuation plan for this year, in case of another Katrina type storm. Essentially, you are responsible for getting your own happy tails out of the city. Wouldn't common sense tell you this is what it should have been to begin with?
14) Finally, I'm going to see "Flight 93", probably Wednesday or Thursday of next week. I need to see it. I think YOU need to see it. Because the media refuses to show those horrible pictures of people falling out of the towers, or the towers falling, or the smoke drifting from the Pentagon, or the heroics of the NYFD or the NYPD or the NYPA, we have begun to forget. We don't forget that it happened, mind you, I think everyone will remember where they were.... no, I think people are beginning to forget how we felt that day. I think we are beginning to forget the rage, the horror, the emotions we felt, the tears we cried, and how our hearts broke that day. I think we are forgetting how the world changed that day. And because we are forgetting, we are beginning to question why we went to war. We can debate as to how successful the effort has been, we can talk about the leadership, its mistakes and victories, we can banter back and forth about policy... remember, terrorists hate us. Terrorists hate me. They hate you. They hate Joe Biden as much as they hate Matt Latta, simply because we are Americans. We fight them theree. Or we fight them here. Dont forget that.
Alright, now that I've got that off my chest, I can breathe. So, now I can say Go McPhee!
PS... I just figured out what I think about immigration. I'll post it this weekend.
At first, I was just going to post an article that I had heard about, all about the "White Guilt" that is sweeping this country... but then I started typing. And kept going. So I'll post "White Guilt" in a few days. So I'm going to give you a few thoughts...
1) There WERE weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. With 1.77 metric tons of uranium and over 1,000 radioactive sources found there, do you think that Saddam was looking for a low cost way to heat the homes of his loving people? How can anyone even dismiss the idea that there at least could have been, with the way the UN mucked up the whole process over the last 10 years with Iraq?
2) Bill Clinton ruined this country's future and its security, beginning with the Somalian snafu that he didn't deal with (which bin Laden has been quoted as saying was the event which made him realize that the US was a "paper tiger"). Sitting here, I just heard the 2002 soundbite of Bill Clinton saying that when Osama bin Laden had been offered to us by Sudan in 1996, who was holding him at the time, we would not take him... only to hear another soundbite, this time from former Sect. of State Madeline Albright on Hannity & Colmes this week, say that bin Laden had never really been offered. Who's lying?
3) As much as I like W, he needs to get his backbone back, as does most of the Republicans when it comes to domestic policies, including social security, gas prices (which I get into heavily here) and immigration (which I refrain from discussing, yet, because I'm still undecided how I feel about it)
4) Gas prices? First of all, I'm not in the business of defending Big Oil, but despite what the media tells you, the oil companies DO NOT set market price. That is determined by the exchanges across the globe. Yes, Exxon made something like 8 billion dollars last year. Do you know how much Exxon, the biggest company in the world, spent on everything from payrolls to technologies? At least 3 to 4 billion. You do know that Big Oil makes approxametly 8 to 10 cents on a gallon of gas currently, right? If it cost you $55 to fill up your tank, if Big Oil made NO profit whatsoever... it would cost you around $50 to fill up your tank. Did you also know that only 2.3 billion was made in this country? Over 70% of Oil proifts are made overseas.
5) Gas prices?? Don't blame big oil. Blame the government, present and past. Present, because as much as "oil company price gouging" is on the minds of everyone, realize that at least we're getting something, gas, for our high price. The taxes that are placed on every gallon of gas both by local, state and national government are simply ridiculous. Past, because our country hasn't built a refinary in 30 years? Why? We gotta save the spotted owl, or the wood crested dolphin beaver or whatever. Democrats and environmentalists WILL not let the country build a refinary in the gulf, or drill in ANWR (Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve) or seek out other sources of oil in this country.
6) Gas prices??? Do you realize had we begun building a refinary in ANWR 11 years ago, as the country was about to when Clinton vetoed the idea, plus the Republicans wouldn't stand up for it, the refinary would have been operational sometime in late 2005, pumping out about a million or so barrels of oil per day? Will that stop our dependance on Saudi Arabia, Iraq or other countries for oil? Not at all. Not even close. But its a start.
7) Gas Prices???? If you are a Democrat, you should be overjoyed!! If I'm paying $40 to fill up my tank in my reasonably gas-efficient Mercury Sable, then heck, I should be driving a small hybrid. For you SUV owners, you are ruining the environment anyway, so high gas prices should give you another reason to get a small Honda and help slow global warming. Plus, Big Oil is now in the news, and we gotta get them! They make too much money! Its like Wal-Mart, or Microsoft! These companies make too much money! They are too successful! We have to take their money that those companies earned and give them to poor people! Capitalism be darned! Even better, this proves the point that we shouldnt go to war for oil! Its not worth fighting for anyway! No blood for oil, remember? I mean, that is what this war is all about, right?
8) Gas prices????? Let's talk about oil one more time. Of the top 14 oil exporters, only one is a well established democracy at this point, Norway, and two others have recently made a solid transition to democratic government, that being Nigeria and Mexico. Iraq is working on following in the footsteps. Thats it. The other 9? Controlled by dictators. The rising price of oil has been a huge profit for those countries, so saith the LA Times. If oil prices stay at around $71 per barrel this year, TEN dictatorships stand to rake in about 500 billion dollars more this year than in 2003, when oil was around $27 per barrel. Russia could make 115 billion more than in 2003, Venezuala making 36 billion, the Sudan 4.7 billion, Iran 45 billion, Saudi Arabia will make 149 more this year than in 2003. Even allies like Kuwait will make 35 billion and the United Arab Emerites 36 billion. No doubt some of this money will find its way into terrorist hands, and for Iran, probably will continue to fund their nuclear ambitions. Rush Limbaugh made the point that if we seized the oil fields in Kuwait, Iraq and the Sudan (which I'm not saying we should...) the price would plummet and we'd be paying about $1.33 a gallon... of course, we'd be called imperialists and warmongers. And in this top 14 list, these 14 countries that will make a windfall this year, where are we? We are keeping our drills out of our American soil, because oil is dirty, oil is filthy, oil is creating global warming.
9) I have yet to find anything that makes me belive that global warming even exists. Hurricanes? Rising summer temperatures? Melting ice caps? Aren't these things cyclical? Are we on Earth really so cocky that we think our efforts, good or bad, can increase the sun's temperature?
10) Whether they like Bush or not, liberal women should be thrilled that the US has liberated Iraq. This is a country led by a regime that opressed women, kept them as third and fourth class citizens and violated them constantly, old and young, in the infamous rape rooms--which are exactly what they sound like. And W is the monster and tyrant. Hmm.
11) In a recent report listed, 510 people interviewed in January... For all the talk about FEMA and how horrible Katrina was, and how Bush killed black people and blah blah blah, 1/3 of the 510 responants could not locate Louisiana on a map... 48% didn't know where Mississippi was, fewer than 3 in 10 think its important to know the location of a country thats in the news, and just 14% think speaking another language is even important. Then, when shown a map of the Middle East (not asking "where is it?" but "point to it"), 6 in 10 could NOT find Iraq on a map of the Middle East (oh, you don't have to know where it is to know we shouldn't be there!). A whopping 47% could not find India, and 75% had no idea where Israel was. In the meantime, all these college professors and liberal teachers discuss how stupid our administration is. And of course, as a result of these findings, they'll begin new programs to help teach more geography methods... and you know where its coming from? Thaaaaat's right... yours and my paychecks. Yippee.
12) Those terrorists imprisoned at Abu Graib and Gitmo in Cuba cannot be tortured, cannot be overly questioned, must be given prayer rugs and meals based on their religious beliefs and despite the fact that they do not fall under the Geneva Convention, the Republicans have bent over backwards (or perhaps forwards, grbbing their ankles?) to please France, Russia, Germany and mainly the Dems who were whining "oh no, you can't hurt them... they are misunderstood and we must find out why they hate us so...). And yet, when PMSNBC's Chris Matthews asked Senator Joe Biden, D-Delaware, about newly convicted Moussaoui's (the guy who admitted to helping plan 9/11 who was sentenced to life, not death) upcoming life in prison, he said this:
I don't want to be that sucker in prison. I don't want to be that guy in an American prison. If you want to say how to punish somebody, put Zarqawi in a prison with a bunch of red-blooded American criminals. Criminals. Put him in there for life -- and guarantee under no circumstances, no circumstances, could he get out of prison. I think that boy is about to have, as we Catholics say, an epiphany. I think he's about to find out (laughing) that he may not have gotten the better end of the deal. (then he and Matthews both laughed a bit)
Don't get me wrong... I think Zarqawi is in for a fun time, because I don't know if he ever met Sea Bass over in Afghanistan... but I find it funny that Biden is amused about the idea of Zarqawi's possible torture in prison at the hands of other inmates, yet condemn Bush on possible "torture", which doesn't happen on the level you might be led to believe from the NYTimes.
13) Mayor Ray Nagin is a total idiot... and yet, he finally made some sense. He just laid out the new New Orleans evacuation plan for this year, in case of another Katrina type storm. Essentially, you are responsible for getting your own happy tails out of the city. Wouldn't common sense tell you this is what it should have been to begin with?
14) Finally, I'm going to see "Flight 93", probably Wednesday or Thursday of next week. I need to see it. I think YOU need to see it. Because the media refuses to show those horrible pictures of people falling out of the towers, or the towers falling, or the smoke drifting from the Pentagon, or the heroics of the NYFD or the NYPD or the NYPA, we have begun to forget. We don't forget that it happened, mind you, I think everyone will remember where they were.... no, I think people are beginning to forget how we felt that day. I think we are beginning to forget the rage, the horror, the emotions we felt, the tears we cried, and how our hearts broke that day. I think we are forgetting how the world changed that day. And because we are forgetting, we are beginning to question why we went to war. We can debate as to how successful the effort has been, we can talk about the leadership, its mistakes and victories, we can banter back and forth about policy... remember, terrorists hate us. Terrorists hate me. They hate you. They hate Joe Biden as much as they hate Matt Latta, simply because we are Americans. We fight them theree. Or we fight them here. Dont forget that.
Alright, now that I've got that off my chest, I can breathe. So, now I can say Go McPhee!
PS... I just figured out what I think about immigration. I'll post it this weekend.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
The Idol Final Four
So, I'm sitting here watching the most ridiculous show this side of Method & Red... its Deal or No Deal. I have yet to see an entire episode, I always stumble upon it, much like you come across a dead possum being eaten by bugs. Anyway, when I turn it on... I can't turn away. Its sickening... of course, it's definately no Unan1mous (but then again, what is?)
But, why are you here? In addition to just checking to see what Dave has to say, you're here to read the results review. So, let's kick this puppy into gear! Its Results Time!!
801pm... the show is just beginning... Ryan coming down like usual, and hey, on the topic of irrelevant skank, there's Carmen Electra! Almost 46.5 million votes came in last night... kind of like a Deucefest turnout, huh?
802pm... So who's left? Elliott Yahmean, Annoying Paris, Daughtry, Taylor Hicks and My Girl McPhee. I actually know someone who went out with Taylor... "he was the cutest thing ever", she says. She's married now, not to Taylor, so apparently that didn't work out.
8:03pm... My Girl McPhee has Pantene hair.
8:04pm... In leiu of having a celebrity guest helper type person, they are just all singing together. This time, its "We Are One"... how inspirational. Daughtry is opening up, with this "man, I hope I get my cajones back after this song is over" look on his face. Boy... they are flying without wings. They've been waiting for a moment like this, haven't they? Ah, to only be inside their heaven.
8:05pm... Perhaps McPhee, Taylor AND Daughtry should tank this show... I haven a sinking suspicion that this song, "We Are One" will be the craptastic single released by the winner. For those Idol novices, during the finals, both of the final two sing one song written for them--the same song, mind you. The eventual Idol winner gets the song released. Oh, and they all suck. No kidding. Much like this song.
808pm... Speaking of really crappy contractual obligations, this Ford commercial has a song in the background that really, really sounds like Kelly Clarkson.
809pm... Coming soon, Madagascar 3: Over the Hedge... the follow up to Madagascar 2: The Wild.
811pm... "Hollywood Swinging " is the Ford commercial of the week, the one that stars all of the Idols. These actually look fun to make, no matter how dorky they end up. Daughtry is wearing a top hat in this one, while Taylor is wearing football shoulder pads and chains. Um. Yeah.
812pm... Time to kill some time... Ryan is talking to the judges, stirring the pot. Oh Ryan, you are such a pot stirrer. Its clip time, where we revisit the really bad showings from Elliott Yahmean and Annoying Paris, and yes, My Girl McPhee's "Against All Odds". Daughtry rocked it with "Renegade", though.
813pm... Boy did McPhee rebound with "Black Horse". Still thinking about how good that was.
815pm... How did you vote, America? Your results coming up... after the break. Let's be honest, in the three seasons of American Idol I've watched (I didn't watch the first one, with Kelly winning) the final two or three has always been either predictable, or I've had a clear favorite. I hated Fantasia, but I knew she'd win (Diana DeGarmo didn't really deserve to be in the top three... or four... or five. And #3, Jasmine Trias? Better tunes on Weather Channel's Local on the 8s.) I wasn't sure about Ruben, but I was rooting hard for him. Last year, I was rooting for Carrie, and I thought she'd win. HOWEVER.... as long as Annoying Paris and Elliott Yahmean don't make it into the final three, I'll be okay with whatever happens.
819pm... Ty Coffey just tried to call me. I sent him to voicemail. How dare he call me right now?
820pm... Here we go... two people with the lowest number of votes. Taylor? He's safe.
820pm... Daughtry... he's safe.
821pm... Annoying Paris is next... bottom two... bottom two... bottom two? YES!!! She's bottom two.
821pm... Now its between Yahmean and My Girl McPhee... but--Ryan is asking Annoying Paris to sing her version of "Kiss" again. Not only does she sound terrible, but her voice is shaky... she's a nervous wreck. While she's butchering this song, I'll tell you that Ryan said a minute ago that next week, the Idols are meeting with Colombia Record executive Tommy Mottola... yes, he's the ex-Mr Mariah Carey. She was awesome while she was with him and Colombia... then the divorce in 1997, and suddenly, Skanksville USA for Mariah.
823pm... Who's joining Annoying Paris? You'll find out... after the break.
825pm... "Rumor Has It", starring Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner is coming on dvd next week. Steph and I saw it... its actually pretty funny. A little frisky, but still... Steph loves Mark Ruffalo, so we had to see it.
827pm... Alrighty... lets get rid of Elliott or Annoying Paris.
827pm... America voted... My Girl McPhee IIIIISSSS SSSSAAAAFFFFFEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now Elliott is going to butcher an already poopy song, "On Broadway".
828pm... So Taylor is 29, Daughtry is what, 26? Elliott is 27 or 28. Even My Girl McPhee is 21... Annoying Paris is 17. YOu konw they are ready to ditch her and her squeakly voice, if not for the sole purpose of being able to go clubbing and not have to find those "17 to Party, 21 to drink" type places.
829pm... And now, going home... is Annoying Paris. Its about darn time. I'd have lost her before I lost Pickles (though towards the end, I'm not so sure I'd have taken Pickles over Elliott)
830pm... Aw... they are back to the Daniel Powter version of "Bad Day". I'd like to actually see one of the Idols sing this--I think Elliott might do it justice.
831pm... Now the collage of "how she got here" video. The segment we'll call "Annoying Paris and her 43 Wigs". Perhaps she'll move on to "Billie Holliday Idol", which she might do okay. Now Annoying Paris singing--slaughtering--"Be Without You" again, though they cut her off quickly (before the silent audio sh** part again.
832pm... Yeah--now my brain can rot to its conclusion with the finale of Unan1mous.
Off work tomorrow... having lunch with a buddy of mine, Brooke, and then probably hang out with Ty tomorrow some. Tomorrow night, Survivor. In the meantime? I have about 351 comic books to catch up on, I just started the DaVinci code, and darn it, I still have laundry to do.
Ah, life.
By the way... who else watches Idol, and who leaves it to me to give them the scoop? Who do YOU want to win?
But, why are you here? In addition to just checking to see what Dave has to say, you're here to read the results review. So, let's kick this puppy into gear! Its Results Time!!
801pm... the show is just beginning... Ryan coming down like usual, and hey, on the topic of irrelevant skank, there's Carmen Electra! Almost 46.5 million votes came in last night... kind of like a Deucefest turnout, huh?
802pm... So who's left? Elliott Yahmean, Annoying Paris, Daughtry, Taylor Hicks and My Girl McPhee. I actually know someone who went out with Taylor... "he was the cutest thing ever", she says. She's married now, not to Taylor, so apparently that didn't work out.
8:03pm... My Girl McPhee has Pantene hair.
8:04pm... In leiu of having a celebrity guest helper type person, they are just all singing together. This time, its "We Are One"... how inspirational. Daughtry is opening up, with this "man, I hope I get my cajones back after this song is over" look on his face. Boy... they are flying without wings. They've been waiting for a moment like this, haven't they? Ah, to only be inside their heaven.
8:05pm... Perhaps McPhee, Taylor AND Daughtry should tank this show... I haven a sinking suspicion that this song, "We Are One" will be the craptastic single released by the winner. For those Idol novices, during the finals, both of the final two sing one song written for them--the same song, mind you. The eventual Idol winner gets the song released. Oh, and they all suck. No kidding. Much like this song.
808pm... Speaking of really crappy contractual obligations, this Ford commercial has a song in the background that really, really sounds like Kelly Clarkson.
809pm... Coming soon, Madagascar 3: Over the Hedge... the follow up to Madagascar 2: The Wild.
811pm... "Hollywood Swinging " is the Ford commercial of the week, the one that stars all of the Idols. These actually look fun to make, no matter how dorky they end up. Daughtry is wearing a top hat in this one, while Taylor is wearing football shoulder pads and chains. Um. Yeah.
812pm... Time to kill some time... Ryan is talking to the judges, stirring the pot. Oh Ryan, you are such a pot stirrer. Its clip time, where we revisit the really bad showings from Elliott Yahmean and Annoying Paris, and yes, My Girl McPhee's "Against All Odds". Daughtry rocked it with "Renegade", though.
813pm... Boy did McPhee rebound with "Black Horse". Still thinking about how good that was.
815pm... How did you vote, America? Your results coming up... after the break. Let's be honest, in the three seasons of American Idol I've watched (I didn't watch the first one, with Kelly winning) the final two or three has always been either predictable, or I've had a clear favorite. I hated Fantasia, but I knew she'd win (Diana DeGarmo didn't really deserve to be in the top three... or four... or five. And #3, Jasmine Trias? Better tunes on Weather Channel's Local on the 8s.) I wasn't sure about Ruben, but I was rooting hard for him. Last year, I was rooting for Carrie, and I thought she'd win. HOWEVER.... as long as Annoying Paris and Elliott Yahmean don't make it into the final three, I'll be okay with whatever happens.
819pm... Ty Coffey just tried to call me. I sent him to voicemail. How dare he call me right now?
820pm... Here we go... two people with the lowest number of votes. Taylor? He's safe.
820pm... Daughtry... he's safe.
821pm... Annoying Paris is next... bottom two... bottom two... bottom two? YES!!! She's bottom two.
821pm... Now its between Yahmean and My Girl McPhee... but--Ryan is asking Annoying Paris to sing her version of "Kiss" again. Not only does she sound terrible, but her voice is shaky... she's a nervous wreck. While she's butchering this song, I'll tell you that Ryan said a minute ago that next week, the Idols are meeting with Colombia Record executive Tommy Mottola... yes, he's the ex-Mr Mariah Carey. She was awesome while she was with him and Colombia... then the divorce in 1997, and suddenly, Skanksville USA for Mariah.
823pm... Who's joining Annoying Paris? You'll find out... after the break.
825pm... "Rumor Has It", starring Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner is coming on dvd next week. Steph and I saw it... its actually pretty funny. A little frisky, but still... Steph loves Mark Ruffalo, so we had to see it.
827pm... Alrighty... lets get rid of Elliott or Annoying Paris.
827pm... America voted... My Girl McPhee IIIIISSSS SSSSAAAAFFFFFEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now Elliott is going to butcher an already poopy song, "On Broadway".
828pm... So Taylor is 29, Daughtry is what, 26? Elliott is 27 or 28. Even My Girl McPhee is 21... Annoying Paris is 17. YOu konw they are ready to ditch her and her squeakly voice, if not for the sole purpose of being able to go clubbing and not have to find those "17 to Party, 21 to drink" type places.
829pm... And now, going home... is Annoying Paris. Its about darn time. I'd have lost her before I lost Pickles (though towards the end, I'm not so sure I'd have taken Pickles over Elliott)
830pm... Aw... they are back to the Daniel Powter version of "Bad Day". I'd like to actually see one of the Idols sing this--I think Elliott might do it justice.
831pm... Now the collage of "how she got here" video. The segment we'll call "Annoying Paris and her 43 Wigs". Perhaps she'll move on to "Billie Holliday Idol", which she might do okay. Now Annoying Paris singing--slaughtering--"Be Without You" again, though they cut her off quickly (before the silent audio sh** part again.
832pm... Yeah--now my brain can rot to its conclusion with the finale of Unan1mous.
Off work tomorrow... having lunch with a buddy of mine, Brooke, and then probably hang out with Ty tomorrow some. Tomorrow night, Survivor. In the meantime? I have about 351 comic books to catch up on, I just started the DaVinci code, and darn it, I still have laundry to do.
Ah, life.
By the way... who else watches Idol, and who leaves it to me to give them the scoop? Who do YOU want to win?
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Taylor Horse and the Cherry McPhee
Once again, we join the bedroom television in the guest room of the Casa de Pesos--the home of Dave & Steph--for another exciting edition of American Idol. Sincerely, I will have to find something to write about when this show is over, but for now... its live from Hollywood. We're to the point now where there are few enough contestants--five--to sing two songs each in the hour long show.
The first song is from the year they were born...
Elliott Yahmean was born in 1978, so he's picking a bluesy George Benson song. He just admitted that he's been biting his nails since he was a kid, and wouldnt make a good hand model. Then he smiles, and shows why a teeth model is out of the question too.
Oh, the song is "On Broadway". I always hated this song. Even though I don't think the performance is all that great, I am predicting that the judges will love it, Paula will openly gush, and Simon will say something about techincal performing or something like that. Oh look, Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair is in the house. Randy says "little rough to start, but it was great." Paula says same. Simon says "I don't think it was your best... you are lucky you got two songs tonight." Wow. I was off base.
Oh look, its Annoying Paris. Is she still on this show? She's singing "Kiss" by Prince. WHAT? She was born in like, 1988... oh dear goodness, I'm old. The first line tells me--I hate this version. This song is fantastic, but its one of those rare songs that I've never heard anyone top the original, like, ever. Maybe Tom Jones singing with The Art of Noise, but not Annoying Paris. She's wearing stilletos and jiggling. Gross. Randy says he likes it. Paula says she likes songs from the past eras from Paris. Simon says it best... "Screechy and annoying". That's perfect.
Daughtry is up next, and born in 1979, this should be fun. He's singing STYX's "Renegade", which is great, loud song. You know how some bands had no business singing rock songs--like if Justin Timberlake tried to to "Back in Black" or something? That was STYX in the 70s... kind of like REO Speedwagon and Air Supply. Just sing the love songs, fill the arenas and hair the hairband... yet "Renegade" is one of those great rock songs that somehow is cool. I remember playing it in the mid-morning show of WTBF down in Troy and rocking out in the studio... and on my iPod, its on my "Drive Fast, Man" playlist (which includes Bush, Burlap to Cashmere and Guns N Roses).
Anyway, I'm looking forward to this... one of the things I like about Daughtry is (oh, high note--go boy) that he doen'st just sing the song, he really entertains while he's doing. Something Yahmean and Annoying Paris can't do well, and My Girl McPhee has had trouble with until recently. This one was one of the few songs I can say that I would have liked to have heard all the way through. Randy says "hot one tonight, baby!" Paula loved him, of course. Simon? "A million times better than [Elliott & Paris] were tonight." I agree.
Okay, My Girl McPhee--don't let me down. She's wearing a dress that doesn't show any cleavage, which I'm sure is probably a good thing... she's discussing with Ryan about how, apparently, she was missing a button last week, which explained why the cut in her dress went up to her armpits.
My Girl McPhee was born in 1984, which again, makes me feel old (I was 9), and is singing... oh no... "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins. Oh no. No good can come of this. None at all. Idols don't sing this song and get away with it. I'm not feeling it... Randy? isn't feeling it either "though it was okay at the end". Paula says "fluff fluff not my favorite performance from you fluff fluff fluff". Simon says "Tonight it was a mess. The song got away from you." I'd have to agree... she almost pulls a Pickles and seems like she wants to say "I butchered it." She didn't... but she didn't do great.
Taylor Hicks is actually going to sing Wild Cherry's "Play that Funky Music White Boy" from 1976. This is just the kind of crap that is going to put him into the top 3, possibly the top 2. He's dancing. Love it. LOVE IT. After last week's James Ingram's disappointment, this is EXACTLY the shot in the arm he needed. I don't care what the judges say about him... this will get the fans moving again. And the awkward collapse at the end is perfect.
Randy can't stop laughing. "Wow... yeah...". Paula loved it, of course. Simon has no words. "For me... like a horrible wedding performance." And Taylor's paisley shirt is owning me, man.
Okay... thats the first wave of songs. Now, the next theme is Top Ten Songs from ANY of This Week's Billboard Charts. Ryan is giving us a rundown of American Idol appearances on Billboard Charts, telling us how Idols have had an impressive 9 (did he say 90?) number one hits, over half I'm sure coming from Kelly Clarkson alone. "A Moment Like This" jumped 51 spots into the #1 spot way back in the day, topping a record held by the Beatles, apparently. Never liked that song. And Ryan's pimping the new Idol CD, "Encores", coming out soon.
Elliott is singing "Home" by Michael Buble. I have this theory that Michael Buble's real name is Mike Bubbles, but he got so ragged in high school that when he got famous, he had to come up with something else... after trying Mikey Bubbs, Mike Bubel and maybe Mychal Bublay, he settled for Michael Buble (pronounced Boob-lay). Heh heh... I said Boob.
Yeah, Elliott sang okay too, I guess. Better than the first song. Randy says "I loved the tender side--nice choice baby, nice." Paula loved it, of course. Simon says "I'm not sure that I would have chosen a song that says 'I wanna go home' at this point.... I'm a little concerned."
Back to Annoying Paris... sigh. Do we have to? She's taking on "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige. Let me just tell ya, Mary J is some big mack boots to fill--that chick can sing. Okay, so either my tape cut out for a second, Fox accidentally dropped audio, or they just censored a lyric, because for about three seconds, the audio went silent.
I just looked up the lyrics... the song lyrics are, in the first verse "it's so true that (yes) we've been through it (yes) we got real sh** (yes) see baby we been...". Paris just sang "it's so true that we've been through it, we got real shhh, see baby we been..." Hmm. I mean, Paris is rocking the song, I'll admit. Of course, if she had wanted to say the actual sh** word, Fox cut out the wrong audio...
Randy says "Couple of pitchy things, but you rocked it." Paula loved it, of course, saying, "I would have loved to see you put your flip on it", while Simon smiles and says "I think you got that wrong, Paula... I think she did rather well." Of course, Paula goes defensive, and its sillyness abounding. Now Paris is talking, which is really unfortunate. If Elmo were a small black girl with a bad wig who could sing, it would be Annoying Paris.
Daughtry is singing "I Dare You", though I don't know the artist. You know, if Taylor or Daughtry truly know what is good for them, they'll tank this show and get a career anyway, without suffereing the indignity of singing the crap that Idol finalists have to sing (anyone remember last year's "Inside Your Heaven"? It was stuck in my head on Friday night... maybe that song was what was making me sick on Saturday.). Anyway, the song was just okay--Chris' voice cracked a little this time.
Randy acknowledged that perhaps Daughtry's voice was giving out, while Paula said "I agree, but I love ya" (can you just see Daughtry's wife come barreling up to the stage after one too many "I love you Chris..." flirt comments, and taking out Paula? In a scrap, Paula would last about four seconds--Daughtry's wife is all woman). Simon says "Your voice is going... watch yourself. Great first song, though, so you'll be fine."
At least he didn't sing Bryan Adams.
My Girl McPhee is coming up now... come on, Kat--don't fail me now. I lost Pickles last week, don't let me lose you too.
HOLY CRAP....
KATHARINE MCPHEE IS SINGING "BLACK HORSE AND THE CHERRY TREE" BY KT TUNSTALL
Any of you who have read this blog enough know that out of all the dozens of things that I'm almost disturbingly obsessed with, My Girl McPhee is one... and KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" is another. I just paused the video... for the first time this season, I will now put down the keyboard and not type until after the song is over... this could change everything for me on Idol. This has the potential to become a monumental minor moment in my life. This is like Scott Latta seeing John Smoltz flip the coin at the Iron Bowl, or Stephanie seeing Barbra Streisand cover an album of Carpenter songs, or Michael Nipp seeing Bono play Attacktix with The Edge.
Here we go.
And...
LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT.... I think I'll watch it again....
I'm not even going to describe it to you, I'm just going to keep it in my memory... I mean what's the point of talking about an almost-as-cute-as-Steph McPhee slinking around on the stage floor, finally in some cool clothes, moving and groovin, along with these two cool guys onstage beating on some wood type thingys in perfect rhythm... whats the point?
Randy says "Now this is the McPhee that I loved!" while Paula loved it, of course. Simon says "I prefered that much more than the first one." Me? I thought it was pretty good. (and the box type thingy is the "boxdrum") Remember what I said about My Girl McPhee's version of "Someone to Watch Over Me" possibly entering into my all time favorites, but only time would tell? Scratch that... this song tonight just did.
Okay, Taylor, finish up strong--give me something good to write about. From an album on the Billboard Album Catalogue chart, Taylor is singing "Something" by the Beatles. He's doing his bluesy best, and sounding pretty good. He's more fun when he's dancing around like an idiot, but he's got a great voice too.
Randy liked the song, Paula said the song was tender and daring, while Simon says "Its very easy to forget with all your balminess that you are a very, very good singer."
If there is any justice, America, you send Paris home. Maybe Elliott. Definately Paris.
Results coming tomorrow night.
The first song is from the year they were born...
Elliott Yahmean was born in 1978, so he's picking a bluesy George Benson song. He just admitted that he's been biting his nails since he was a kid, and wouldnt make a good hand model. Then he smiles, and shows why a teeth model is out of the question too.
Oh, the song is "On Broadway". I always hated this song. Even though I don't think the performance is all that great, I am predicting that the judges will love it, Paula will openly gush, and Simon will say something about techincal performing or something like that. Oh look, Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair is in the house. Randy says "little rough to start, but it was great." Paula says same. Simon says "I don't think it was your best... you are lucky you got two songs tonight." Wow. I was off base.
Oh look, its Annoying Paris. Is she still on this show? She's singing "Kiss" by Prince. WHAT? She was born in like, 1988... oh dear goodness, I'm old. The first line tells me--I hate this version. This song is fantastic, but its one of those rare songs that I've never heard anyone top the original, like, ever. Maybe Tom Jones singing with The Art of Noise, but not Annoying Paris. She's wearing stilletos and jiggling. Gross. Randy says he likes it. Paula says she likes songs from the past eras from Paris. Simon says it best... "Screechy and annoying". That's perfect.
Daughtry is up next, and born in 1979, this should be fun. He's singing STYX's "Renegade", which is great, loud song. You know how some bands had no business singing rock songs--like if Justin Timberlake tried to to "Back in Black" or something? That was STYX in the 70s... kind of like REO Speedwagon and Air Supply. Just sing the love songs, fill the arenas and hair the hairband... yet "Renegade" is one of those great rock songs that somehow is cool. I remember playing it in the mid-morning show of WTBF down in Troy and rocking out in the studio... and on my iPod, its on my "Drive Fast, Man" playlist (which includes Bush, Burlap to Cashmere and Guns N Roses).
Anyway, I'm looking forward to this... one of the things I like about Daughtry is (oh, high note--go boy) that he doen'st just sing the song, he really entertains while he's doing. Something Yahmean and Annoying Paris can't do well, and My Girl McPhee has had trouble with until recently. This one was one of the few songs I can say that I would have liked to have heard all the way through. Randy says "hot one tonight, baby!" Paula loved him, of course. Simon? "A million times better than [Elliott & Paris] were tonight." I agree.
Okay, My Girl McPhee--don't let me down. She's wearing a dress that doesn't show any cleavage, which I'm sure is probably a good thing... she's discussing with Ryan about how, apparently, she was missing a button last week, which explained why the cut in her dress went up to her armpits.
My Girl McPhee was born in 1984, which again, makes me feel old (I was 9), and is singing... oh no... "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins. Oh no. No good can come of this. None at all. Idols don't sing this song and get away with it. I'm not feeling it... Randy? isn't feeling it either "though it was okay at the end". Paula says "fluff fluff not my favorite performance from you fluff fluff fluff". Simon says "Tonight it was a mess. The song got away from you." I'd have to agree... she almost pulls a Pickles and seems like she wants to say "I butchered it." She didn't... but she didn't do great.
Taylor Hicks is actually going to sing Wild Cherry's "Play that Funky Music White Boy" from 1976. This is just the kind of crap that is going to put him into the top 3, possibly the top 2. He's dancing. Love it. LOVE IT. After last week's James Ingram's disappointment, this is EXACTLY the shot in the arm he needed. I don't care what the judges say about him... this will get the fans moving again. And the awkward collapse at the end is perfect.
Randy can't stop laughing. "Wow... yeah...". Paula loved it, of course. Simon has no words. "For me... like a horrible wedding performance." And Taylor's paisley shirt is owning me, man.
Okay... thats the first wave of songs. Now, the next theme is Top Ten Songs from ANY of This Week's Billboard Charts. Ryan is giving us a rundown of American Idol appearances on Billboard Charts, telling us how Idols have had an impressive 9 (did he say 90?) number one hits, over half I'm sure coming from Kelly Clarkson alone. "A Moment Like This" jumped 51 spots into the #1 spot way back in the day, topping a record held by the Beatles, apparently. Never liked that song. And Ryan's pimping the new Idol CD, "Encores", coming out soon.
Elliott is singing "Home" by Michael Buble. I have this theory that Michael Buble's real name is Mike Bubbles, but he got so ragged in high school that when he got famous, he had to come up with something else... after trying Mikey Bubbs, Mike Bubel and maybe Mychal Bublay, he settled for Michael Buble (pronounced Boob-lay). Heh heh... I said Boob.
Yeah, Elliott sang okay too, I guess. Better than the first song. Randy says "I loved the tender side--nice choice baby, nice." Paula loved it, of course. Simon says "I'm not sure that I would have chosen a song that says 'I wanna go home' at this point.... I'm a little concerned."
Back to Annoying Paris... sigh. Do we have to? She's taking on "Be Without You" by Mary J. Blige. Let me just tell ya, Mary J is some big mack boots to fill--that chick can sing. Okay, so either my tape cut out for a second, Fox accidentally dropped audio, or they just censored a lyric, because for about three seconds, the audio went silent.
I just looked up the lyrics... the song lyrics are, in the first verse "it's so true that (yes) we've been through it (yes) we got real sh** (yes) see baby we been...". Paris just sang "it's so true that we've been through it, we got real shhh, see baby we been..." Hmm. I mean, Paris is rocking the song, I'll admit. Of course, if she had wanted to say the actual sh** word, Fox cut out the wrong audio...
Randy says "Couple of pitchy things, but you rocked it." Paula loved it, of course, saying, "I would have loved to see you put your flip on it", while Simon smiles and says "I think you got that wrong, Paula... I think she did rather well." Of course, Paula goes defensive, and its sillyness abounding. Now Paris is talking, which is really unfortunate. If Elmo were a small black girl with a bad wig who could sing, it would be Annoying Paris.
Daughtry is singing "I Dare You", though I don't know the artist. You know, if Taylor or Daughtry truly know what is good for them, they'll tank this show and get a career anyway, without suffereing the indignity of singing the crap that Idol finalists have to sing (anyone remember last year's "Inside Your Heaven"? It was stuck in my head on Friday night... maybe that song was what was making me sick on Saturday.). Anyway, the song was just okay--Chris' voice cracked a little this time.
Randy acknowledged that perhaps Daughtry's voice was giving out, while Paula said "I agree, but I love ya" (can you just see Daughtry's wife come barreling up to the stage after one too many "I love you Chris..." flirt comments, and taking out Paula? In a scrap, Paula would last about four seconds--Daughtry's wife is all woman). Simon says "Your voice is going... watch yourself. Great first song, though, so you'll be fine."
At least he didn't sing Bryan Adams.
My Girl McPhee is coming up now... come on, Kat--don't fail me now. I lost Pickles last week, don't let me lose you too.
HOLY CRAP....
KATHARINE MCPHEE IS SINGING "BLACK HORSE AND THE CHERRY TREE" BY KT TUNSTALL
Any of you who have read this blog enough know that out of all the dozens of things that I'm almost disturbingly obsessed with, My Girl McPhee is one... and KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" is another. I just paused the video... for the first time this season, I will now put down the keyboard and not type until after the song is over... this could change everything for me on Idol. This has the potential to become a monumental minor moment in my life. This is like Scott Latta seeing John Smoltz flip the coin at the Iron Bowl, or Stephanie seeing Barbra Streisand cover an album of Carpenter songs, or Michael Nipp seeing Bono play Attacktix with The Edge.
Here we go.
And...
LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT.... I think I'll watch it again....
I'm not even going to describe it to you, I'm just going to keep it in my memory... I mean what's the point of talking about an almost-as-cute-as-Steph McPhee slinking around on the stage floor, finally in some cool clothes, moving and groovin, along with these two cool guys onstage beating on some wood type thingys in perfect rhythm... whats the point?
Randy says "Now this is the McPhee that I loved!" while Paula loved it, of course. Simon says "I prefered that much more than the first one." Me? I thought it was pretty good. (and the box type thingy is the "boxdrum") Remember what I said about My Girl McPhee's version of "Someone to Watch Over Me" possibly entering into my all time favorites, but only time would tell? Scratch that... this song tonight just did.
Okay, Taylor, finish up strong--give me something good to write about. From an album on the Billboard Album Catalogue chart, Taylor is singing "Something" by the Beatles. He's doing his bluesy best, and sounding pretty good. He's more fun when he's dancing around like an idiot, but he's got a great voice too.
Randy liked the song, Paula said the song was tender and daring, while Simon says "Its very easy to forget with all your balminess that you are a very, very good singer."
If there is any justice, America, you send Paris home. Maybe Elliott. Definately Paris.
Results coming tomorrow night.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Orange Beach Retreated
Here it is, Monday night, after another weekend of Dave's Adventures... this time, the adventure was down at Orange Beach, Ala/Florida, for a weekend couples retreat with Stephanie and some people from our Sunday Sch... er, Life Connection class.
Some friends of ours have access to a few condos down at the beach, and we ended up staying at the Spanish Key condo resort type thingy... it was awesome. Our hosts were already down there, and in Steph's dad's Yukon was myself, Tommy McLeod, Amy McLeod and James & Jessica Hawbaker.
Very close behind us was Willis & Meredith Watkins and Brett & Lindsay Mims. Anyway, the Yukon and the people inside all stopped for a fantastic dinner, then arrived late... the Lattas, the McLeods, the Hawbakers and the 2 Dollars stayed up in the $3 million dollar condo... the Mims and the Watkins were regulated to the condo that cost a mere $990K. Shame.
Anyway, it was the weekend of the great mullet toss... yeah, when I heard of it from Matt Latta, I thought of tossing hair too. No, actually, they toss fish. Mullets, specifically. Really, its just an excuse to get blasted and throw seafood to the wind... and there was alot of wind. A lot alot. It was windy pretty much all day Saturday...
For those of you who didn't go, I won't bore you with the details, because I don't have many--for whatever reason, I woke up feeling blah on Saturday morning... you ever do that? Wake up not really sick, or with a keep-you-from-standing-straight migraine... just feeling... eeech? Yeah, that was me. It didn't help that everything I ate, I threw up about an hour after it. Stephanie and Jessica went shopping, while most everyone else just hung out, went to the beach, went down the road to another condo that featured a lazy river type deal--which I heard was funny, because it was so windy that the wind stopped your float from going anywhere after a certain time.
Spent much of the day watching the NFL Draft, and in typical guy fashion, everyone wanted to know where Brodie went... Willis', the Miami fan of the bunch, was feeling pretty dejected (especially after someone had said "You know what I think of when I hear the word "Miami"? 1992.") until finally, Seattle picked up Kelly Jennings with the 31st pick. The mild surprise was that Reggie Bush went second to Mario Williams (Scott's blog makes good points) but I wasn't shocked... rumor has it that Reggie was a hold-out threat, and that the Texans had said they were'nt going to fool with it. Matter of fact, the Saints apparently grilled Reg's agent to get him to confirm that he would NOT hold out, or they wouldnt take him.
The draft also led to a fun discussion of names after D'Brickashaw Ferguson was taken by New York... what if we all put D's in the front of our names? D'Matt? D'Steph? D'avid? Yeah, it was funny then. Maybe it was just funny to me because I had just finished yakking my graham crackers. Either way, the name comes from the book The Thorn Birds. Not too bad... at first, I thought it was from the cheeseball mini-series in the 80s, The Thorn Birds... which led me to think "D'Brickashaw is better than Chamberlain, I guess."
Anyway, we ate dinner at The Oyster Bar, which had the best coconut shrimp I'd ever had. Of course, I could only eat two pieces and about two crab claws, because my stomach was very queasy... don't feel bad, though--I'd take a day of feeling eeh at the beach than a day of feeling pretty darn good in Birmingham.
Someone gave me a nausea pill, which helped me feel better later, we all stayed up and played Catch Phrase (more on that in a minute)
Sunday morning, the girls and a few guys cooked breakfast, James led a small devotion which was great, and we packed up and headed home. I could have done for another few days there, especially since I feel I only got half my Saturday's worth. It was still nice, though.
Highlights from the weekend included:
--Busting out the iPod for its first road trip. On the way back, we all created a playlist which included Jennifer Knapp, Billy Joel, Vertical Horizon, Amy Grant, Hootie and dialogue from The Big Lebowski. Good times all around. --The aforementioned Catch Phrase, which when James described a clue as "Something you do after you pee", Matt replied, loudly, "Shake it"
--Also the aforementioned Catch Phrase, which when James described a clue as "From Russia, three words", I yelled out "Mail Order Bride". Much to the room's bewilderment, I was right.
--The clash of wit from James Hawbaker and Tommy McLeod, two of the driest humorists I know, with a splash of Willis' goofy humor thrown in the mix
And so, today, I started on Starbucks' 280 location as their Assistant Manager. New crew, new location, new everything. I did bookwork this morning, then went behind the bar... its amazing how a store can be selling the same product, yet be so different. The set up is different, the style is different, the routine is different... not better, not worse, just different.
I'll be there for what they are telling me is the next six months, though Josh, the manager, is kinda predicting about two to three before they yank me out and give me a store. Who knows.
I've got Starbucks Open Forum tomorrow night at the Hoover Met, which is a big meeting of all the area partners. We'll eat, frolic, make merry, watch baseball and most will drink (not coffee, mind you). Anyway, I mention this only because after tomorrow night, plus opening on Wednesday morning, I won't have American Idol up until at least Wednesday afternoon. Just so you know.
Man I wish I had some more of the coconut shrimp.
Some friends of ours have access to a few condos down at the beach, and we ended up staying at the Spanish Key condo resort type thingy... it was awesome. Our hosts were already down there, and in Steph's dad's Yukon was myself, Tommy McLeod, Amy McLeod and James & Jessica Hawbaker.
Very close behind us was Willis & Meredith Watkins and Brett & Lindsay Mims. Anyway, the Yukon and the people inside all stopped for a fantastic dinner, then arrived late... the Lattas, the McLeods, the Hawbakers and the 2 Dollars stayed up in the $3 million dollar condo... the Mims and the Watkins were regulated to the condo that cost a mere $990K. Shame.
Anyway, it was the weekend of the great mullet toss... yeah, when I heard of it from Matt Latta, I thought of tossing hair too. No, actually, they toss fish. Mullets, specifically. Really, its just an excuse to get blasted and throw seafood to the wind... and there was alot of wind. A lot alot. It was windy pretty much all day Saturday...
For those of you who didn't go, I won't bore you with the details, because I don't have many--for whatever reason, I woke up feeling blah on Saturday morning... you ever do that? Wake up not really sick, or with a keep-you-from-standing-straight migraine... just feeling... eeech? Yeah, that was me. It didn't help that everything I ate, I threw up about an hour after it. Stephanie and Jessica went shopping, while most everyone else just hung out, went to the beach, went down the road to another condo that featured a lazy river type deal--which I heard was funny, because it was so windy that the wind stopped your float from going anywhere after a certain time.
Spent much of the day watching the NFL Draft, and in typical guy fashion, everyone wanted to know where Brodie went... Willis', the Miami fan of the bunch, was feeling pretty dejected (especially after someone had said "You know what I think of when I hear the word "Miami"? 1992.") until finally, Seattle picked up Kelly Jennings with the 31st pick. The mild surprise was that Reggie Bush went second to Mario Williams (Scott's blog makes good points) but I wasn't shocked... rumor has it that Reggie was a hold-out threat, and that the Texans had said they were'nt going to fool with it. Matter of fact, the Saints apparently grilled Reg's agent to get him to confirm that he would NOT hold out, or they wouldnt take him.
The draft also led to a fun discussion of names after D'Brickashaw Ferguson was taken by New York... what if we all put D's in the front of our names? D'Matt? D'Steph? D'avid? Yeah, it was funny then. Maybe it was just funny to me because I had just finished yakking my graham crackers. Either way, the name comes from the book The Thorn Birds. Not too bad... at first, I thought it was from the cheeseball mini-series in the 80s, The Thorn Birds... which led me to think "D'Brickashaw is better than Chamberlain, I guess."
Anyway, we ate dinner at The Oyster Bar, which had the best coconut shrimp I'd ever had. Of course, I could only eat two pieces and about two crab claws, because my stomach was very queasy... don't feel bad, though--I'd take a day of feeling eeh at the beach than a day of feeling pretty darn good in Birmingham.
Someone gave me a nausea pill, which helped me feel better later, we all stayed up and played Catch Phrase (more on that in a minute)
Sunday morning, the girls and a few guys cooked breakfast, James led a small devotion which was great, and we packed up and headed home. I could have done for another few days there, especially since I feel I only got half my Saturday's worth. It was still nice, though.
Highlights from the weekend included:
--Busting out the iPod for its first road trip. On the way back, we all created a playlist which included Jennifer Knapp, Billy Joel, Vertical Horizon, Amy Grant, Hootie and dialogue from The Big Lebowski. Good times all around. --The aforementioned Catch Phrase, which when James described a clue as "Something you do after you pee", Matt replied, loudly, "Shake it"
--Also the aforementioned Catch Phrase, which when James described a clue as "From Russia, three words", I yelled out "Mail Order Bride". Much to the room's bewilderment, I was right.
--The clash of wit from James Hawbaker and Tommy McLeod, two of the driest humorists I know, with a splash of Willis' goofy humor thrown in the mix
And so, today, I started on Starbucks' 280 location as their Assistant Manager. New crew, new location, new everything. I did bookwork this morning, then went behind the bar... its amazing how a store can be selling the same product, yet be so different. The set up is different, the style is different, the routine is different... not better, not worse, just different.
I'll be there for what they are telling me is the next six months, though Josh, the manager, is kinda predicting about two to three before they yank me out and give me a store. Who knows.
I've got Starbucks Open Forum tomorrow night at the Hoover Met, which is a big meeting of all the area partners. We'll eat, frolic, make merry, watch baseball and most will drink (not coffee, mind you). Anyway, I mention this only because after tomorrow night, plus opening on Wednesday morning, I won't have American Idol up until at least Wednesday afternoon. Just so you know.
Man I wish I had some more of the coconut shrimp.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Bad Love Night... ***With Results***
Results at Bottom of Posting...
So, here we are with another American Idol... and its one of those themes I hate--all love songs. No specific era, no year to work with... just love songs.
I've read some reviews already about what transpired last night, and from what I gathered, its not pretty. Taylor goes down in flames, they don't like My Girl McPhee, Daughtry takes on Bryan Adams and Pickles... oh Pickles.
The guest celebrity musician helper person is Andrea Bocelli, which I found out is blind. Had no clue. The other one is David Foster, a super producer who was huge in the 80s (he wrote the theme to St. Elmo's Fire--yeah, you've heard it, even if you don't know it), and he's written tons of stuff for Whitney Houston and Celine Dion and the like. Anyway, Foster produced Bocelli's latest album, so naturally they come hand in hand.
David Foster says "If you can't cut it in my studio, you're gone". This should be good. An honest celebrity musician helper person.
Starting off is My Girl McPhee, singing Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" from the Bodyguard soundtrack. I hate it when My Girl McPhee goes first... the first spot traditionally is a bad place to be. Once again... she looks incredible. The song is one my favorites from Whitney (great high school memory associated with that movie--see previous posting) and I think that My Girl McPhee is doing it justice. Its a big song.
Heard on the Rick & Bubba Show this morning:
Bubba (watching it back): Yep... they showed her dad crying again in the audience
Rick: Well, if my daughter's breasts were hanging out on stage for 30 million people to see, I'd be crying too.
Randy says he didn't like it. "You're talking about Whitney Houston in her prime, one of the best singers in the known world... you didn't come close." What?? What!?
Paula says something that doesnt make any sense, yet she didn't like the song. What?? What?!
Simon says "Very simple... by choosing that song, its like saying 'I'm as good as Whitney', and you're not." She's not as good as Whitney in Whitney's prime... few people were. But I thought My Girl McPhee was pretty doggone good.
I think Ryan just hit on her.
Its hard to know what Idol wants... first, they like it when you put your own style on things--but when you do, and do it well, as McPhee did, the judges want to know why it doesn't sound like Whitney. Its a no win situation.
Sidebar: Going back to the phrase "Whitney Houston's Prime", from the years 1987 to about 1995, Whitney was da bombdiggity. Even if you didn't like that style of music, even if you had no use for that flavor of R&B or whatever... you couldn't deny how good her voice was. From the beginning with "How Will I Know" to the end of her really good phase with the Bodyguard soundtrack, few voices compared.
My favorite six Whitney songs: 6) Run To You... 5) Saving All My Love For You... 4) You Give Good Love... 3) I Will Always Love You... 2) I Have Nothing... 1) I'm Your Baby Tonight
Elliott is next, and Ryan just used the term Yamenians to describe his fans. Holy crap... this episode of American Idol has official tanked already. He's singing "A Song for You" by Donny Hathaway, a song that I don't know that I'm familiar with.
Watching them practice with David Foster is cracking me up... Foster is kinda mean to them... he made Elliott sing the same line three times, telling him about the first two "What? That isn't going to get anyone excited."
I see Elliott Yahmean going the way of Clay Aiken--not the huge success that Clay had, but the style of music. As in, in two years, you'll hear the latest Elliott Yahmean song played on 94.5, or John Tesh's radio show, or Magic 96 in between their nine formats every hour.
No doubt he's got a great voice... but too bad this competition is about the whole package, not just the voice. One way to prove this contest is not rigged is to see Elliott in the finals, or to win the Idol championship--you know they are pushing one of the Big Four--Pickles, McPhee, Daughtry and Taylor.
Randy: "I hated the arrangement, but you sang great... sing it like Donny anytime, you were the bomb."
Paula: "You move me". She's crying. She's actually talking and blubbering and openly weeping.
Simon: "In parts [of the song], it was like a vocal masterclass... it was superb."
I thought it was just eeh.
Oh Pickles.
I read horrible things about her performance tonight, much like what happened last week. I think it was MSNBC that said it seems like Pickles is testing her fans to see how much she can get away with before they vote her off. Okay... so Ryan just asked Pickles if she had anyone special that she was dedicating her song to... Pickles says "Thanks for reminding me that I don't have a boyfriend and I'm lonely... you know "Ghost", the movie? (Ryan nods) I'm singing "Unchained Melody" (Pickles claps). You know that scene where they do the pottery thing? Isn't that sweet? Maybe I'll find someone to do pottery with like that."
I still like Kellie Pickler, desipte the fact she's an abosolute moron--but I can definately see why others don't. I can't even defend her anymore, so I'll stop trying.
She says she is going to be doing the Leann Rhime version of the Righteous Brothers version of "Unchained Melody", which--and I'm not a singer--has to be one of the hardest songs ever to sing. Watching her sing, however, I do know one thing--she needs to give her hairstylist a backhanded pimpslap with extreme prejudice. That bouffant thing in the front is unsightly.
Pickles is keeping the song alive, barley, as if she is only trying to get to the last note so she can impress American and redeem the song. And I'm not sure that she did it.
Randy: Pitch problems, the high note was okay... wasn't the right song.
Paula: Sunshine, happy, flowers, you didn't raise the bar, sunshine, flowers, daisies, I didn't feel the greatness, bunnies, babies, love
Simon: It was like the never ending song... so monotonous and so bland... no heart, no warmth... you were like a robot. (and the music cuts him off! Ryan explains they are running behind)
Cutting off Simon might have been good, though, before Simon had a chance to convince America that Pickles is falling apart. And they go straight to commerical, no banter with Pickles, no chance to let her make some stupid remark.
Oh Pickles.
Annoying Paris is up next... I wonder how she likes the fact that no one is talking about her at all... you got Taylor's Soul Patrol, Daughtry's rockin', Pickles being Pickles, My Girl McPhee's strong voice, and even Elliott's darkhorse status... but no one is talking about Paris at all. She's sining "The Way We Were" from Barbra "I Whine, I Sing but I Know All About What We Are Doing in Iraq Right Now, I'm a Lib, You Should Love Me, I'm the Best, My Songs All Sound the Same but Give Me Accolades ALWAYS" Streisand.
Paris is sporting the Donna Summer "Last Dance" 1978 hair flip tonight. Personally, she could do armpit farts to this tune, and it would improve on the original. In fact, I'd like to see that. I'd vote for Paris if she did 90 seconds of armpit noises... it would be taking a song, making it her own, adding her own style and all... but alas, she just sings. I used to have trouble because I didn't want to like Paris. Now? I could care less about her... is that even worse?
Randy: "I wasn't blown away... but I liked it."
Paula: "You might have over sang it, but I loved it"
Simon: "Good vocals, it sounds like you were trying to impersonate an older artist." What?? What?? And you dig on My Girl McPhee for NOT sounding or even trying to sound like Whitney Houston?
Taylor Hicks is next, and he's doing "Just Once" a classic 80s soul ballad from the 80s. Good song. David Foster and Andrea Bocelli both have said they love the song, and that Taylor has the potential to blow the audience away with it. Of course, having already read the review, the audience may have been blown away, but the judges were not.
Hearing him, the song is not doing it for me. I like the song, I am a big T-Hicks fan... but I'm just shaking my head, especially on this night.
Random Tori Spelling sighting! I loves me some Tori Spelling... I think I'm just addicted to her new show.
Okay, back to Taylor...
Randy says "Completely the wrong song for you."
Paula says "Fluff fluff fluff wasn't my favorite song fluff fluff fluff"
Simon says "That's what you hear in every hotel lounge across the country." You know, Simon is right--I wasn't wanting to use the word karaoke, but "lounge singer" is a good phrase to use.
And finally, Chris Daughtry, who is singing Bryan Adam's "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman." This was Dayla Ellison's favorite song in college... she was this chick from Dothan, one of the loudest girls I've ever known. She has four brothers, all older, which explains why she could bodyslam me in Hamil Hall. Where was I?
Okay, so David Foster says "Chris is great... if he delivers the performance of his life, he'll do amazing..." and they cut out the audio about one second before the video, so you get to see Foster mouth the word "...but...".
Admittedly, I like this song... its from "Don Juan DeMarco", the Johnny Depp film. However, its a sad reminder of how Bryan Adams rocked in the 80s ("Run To You"--not the same as Whitney's-- and "Cuts Like a Knife" and even "Heaven") but totally wussed out in the 90s ("Everything I Do, I Do it For You"--the Robin Hood song--and the dreadful "All For Love" with Sting and Rod Stewart, where they all officially lost their manhood). Anyway, Daughtry is doing okay with it.
Randy: "Love you, amazing"
Paula: "Fluff, sunny, Love You, fluff"
Simon: "Very good choice, very good song"
Who should be in the bottom three: Elliott, Paris, Pickles (gulp)
Who will be in the bottom three: Elliott, Pickles, Taylor
And during the show recap, the audio guy left some of the microphones on... you can hear indistinguishable chatter... Idol chatter?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
And now, its time for the results... Ryan is looking chipper as ever... last night, over 47.5 million people voted... is this a good thing for our nation?
So, six are left, that being Daughtry, Pickles, Annoying Paris, Elliott Yahmean, Taylor and of course, My Girl McPhee. Wow... just heard something I've never heard:
Ryan: Simon, lots of calls to Fox about the judges, specifically about you... some are saying you were a bit unfair last night... how do you respond to that?
Simon: I think I was unfair to one person last night, and I'd 'd like to apologize because I dont think this person got the right appraisalwas judged too harshly. That would be Katharine. Sometimes playing it back you hear it differently.
Ryan: That was very classy
Simon: Well, when I heard it back, I realized we were a bit harsh
Randy (piping in): Yeah, a bit harsh
Of course, if my Girl McPhee gets voted off because people listened to Simon and the judges and voted that way, then this apology helps a whole lot, huh? Anyway, My Girl McPhee laughs and grins big, the Idols clap, McPhee's mom stands up clapping. Here comes the recap, and I'll just say this about My Girl McPhee... I told you so. Last week was better, but that was like asking OutKast to top "Hey Ya" the very next week. Paula's weepy meander is played back, while Pickles is replayed again.
Another Idol commercial... this time, to Blondie's "Call Me", and their all chasing a dog, while riding in a Ford. It ends with puppies. Who doesn't like puppies?
And introducing Andrea Bocelli and David Foster, from last night. They are singing, but I don't really care. I've tuned it out, pretty much.
Commercial is over... and here we go again. Let's get rid of Annoying Paris or Elliott Yahmean (Ryan used the term Yahmeanians last night... I'm stepping off the Elliott bandwagon for a minute, so as not to be called such things)
Hey, it's Lisa Turtle! She's plugging her O.C. appearance tomorrow. Ryan is breaking the 6 into three groups of 2... My Girl McPhee is going over to Group 1. Elliott Yahmean is up... and is going to the middle, starting Group 2. Pickles, who I think is in real danger this week, is up and starting Group 3. Annoying Paris is now going to join Pickles in Group 3. T-Hicks, who also could be in real danger this week, is up and going to join Elliott Yahmean in Group 2, putting Daughtry with McPhee in Group 1.
My Girl McPhee & Daughtry, Elliott Yahmean & Taylor and Pickles & Annoying Paris. Ryan is sending both Elliott & Taylor back to the couches... safe. So its McPhee, Paris, Pickles & Daughtry. Oh geez... I need a drink.
My guess is that Paris and Pickles are in the bottom two. And I'm guessing Pickles is finally done.
Just saw a commercial saying "WBRC Fox 6 is proud to be awarded the Associated Press Award for Alabama's best News". After working at NBC for almost 2 years and learning what I know about Fox, I'll tell you... I find that funny.
And we're back. Yahmean and Taylor are safe... Ryan just told us that Daughtry and My Girl McPhee are not only safe, but got the highest number of votes. WWWHHHHEEEEWWWWWWW......
Paula just basically said it should be Pickles going home, in her own fluffy way. Ryan is now sending Pickles home. Annoying Paris is safe... and here is the video of her "journey"... and here comes the "Bad Day" song, only its not Daniel Powter singing. Weird.
I like me some Kellie Pickler, who just said "I'm glad ot have been here, though I won't be here much longer... I know commercials are coming!" Anyway, she just did crappy too many times in a row. Seriously, though... I'd be willing to buy a Pickles cd, when (not "if", but "when") it comes out.
So now, I can say: MAC - FEE!! MAC - FEE!! MAC - FEE!!
Monday, April 24, 2006
The Weekend of iTunes
Happy Birthday this past Saturday to Amy McLeod, who turned 29 for the second time. I can't say that I've ever been more excited about a birthday card than the one I got you--I'll have to send it, I guess, because I don't know when I'll see you again. So expect it in the a few days. I could probably not sign it, and you'd figure out who sent it...
Song playing on iPod, set on shuffle: "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith, from Willennium
So... as I said before, I got my iPod. I went out and paid cash for a 60 gig black video Apple iPod, and I own it--no credit cards, no charging, no check... its mine, all mine. By the way, the iPod is currently on shuffle right now, so I'll give you the songs that come up as they do. Oh, and just for fun, I'll tell you that I was in the restroom a few minutes ago, with the iPod plugged in (in the other room--duh). I thought I heard the O.C. Supertones, though I didn't remember that song being on one of their albums. I was engrossed in the latest EW anyway, so I didn't pay much attention, and when I got back, I noticed this song was playing now:
Song playing now: "One Day I'll Fly Away" by Nicole Kidman, from The Moulin Rouge Soundtrack.
So, I did a flipback to see what Supertones song I had heard... turns out, it was "Come Around" from Factor 7. Some of you are enjoying that comment right now.
Anyway, I'm a nerd. I can't just have a screen on the iPod that says "Don't Cry" on one line, then "Guns N'Roses" on the next. No no. I have to have the top line say "Don't Cry", the next line say "Guns N'Roses", the next line say "Use Your Illusion I" (the album) then have in the info about the song the year (1991), the ratings ("Don't Cry" gets five stars from me--tops) then the genre (90s Rock), and finally, one day the lyrics. I have my catagories I want them in, and I want them organized a certain way... see, what took me so long, though, is that I had over 4500 songs to import.
Song: "I Know Why" by Sheryl Crow, from Wildflower
I worked on iTunes for about two solid weeks, organizing and catagorizing--remember, I had worked on loading cds into the computer for about three weeks prior. When I got the iPod last week, I was tempted to just plug it in and let it load, and re-organize later... I decided to have patience. So here was my iPod, sitting unbothered on the counter for 9 days... finally on Saturday morning, in the wee hours of say, 3am, I finished with iTunes, and was ready to load the iPod. I went to bed instead, having to be at work at like, 930am that very morning. When I got home, around 430pm, I figured I'd plug it in, give it an hour to load, and listen to it on the way out to Jon & Emily Taylor's house--with whom Steph and I had dinner plans.
Song: Fool For You, Nichole Nordeman, performed live on "Live at the Door"
Well, I plugged it in at 430p... by the time we were ready to leave at 630p, it had loaded about 760 songs of 4553. When we got home at 1030ish, it had loaded 3557 of 4553. So I went to bed, again. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, I got to hear my iPod in action. Very satisfying. Of course, the videos didn't work, so I had to figure that part out... you have to convert videos to iPod format, even if they show up in iTunes... and they take fooooorrreeevvveeerrr..... Currently, I have only one music video on it--"Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim. BUt I do have several Star Wars videos, including the classic "Star Wars Gangsta Rap", and the hilarious Law & Order type short "The Trial of Han Solo", on trial for shooting Greedo... did he shoot first? Was it self defense?
Song: Everytime I Close My Eyes, by Babyface.
Right now, its converting a few more into iPod playability... "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani, "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter and "Food Good Inc" by The Gorillaz..
Can I say how bitter I am that "Bad Day" is being played everywhere? This is what happened to "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik, from 1997. Fantastic song.... loved it. I was on the verge of considering waiving my two year waiting period before it could jump into my top twenty all time songs.
"God" by Rebecca St. James, from the God album.
I have my Top Ten favorite songs, and as an extension of that, I have ten more behind it, making it my top twenty all time favorite songs... In order for inclusion into Dave's Top Twenty-and possibly Top Ten--I give it two to three years... this ensures that after hearing the song a thousand times, I will still like it... if it grows tiresome, or I find myself turning the channel when it comes on, then I'll know its not Dave Top 20 material. This is what happened to "Barely Breathing"... every station in Montgomery and Birmingham and Troy and Dothan played it all the flippin' time... and I grew tired of it within a year.
"If You're Thinking You Want a Stranger (There's One Coming Home)" by George Strait, from his 1st Volume of Greatest Hits
Unfortunately, this is whats happening to "Bad Day"... not that I think it was ever in consideration for Dave's Top 20, but as much as I hear it now, it probably not going to even come close to my top 100 when its all said and done. Sadly, repitition and overplaying is what is killing Kelly Clarkson's "Behind These Hazel Eyes", though its not played nearly as much, so Kelly has a chance to recover... Daniel Powter's run is just getting started on the radio.
Of course, KT Tunstall's "Black Horse & the Cherry Tree" is on the fast track for a 2008 possible Dave Top 20 appearance.
"Love Me More" by PM Dawn, from The Bliss Album
Where was I? Who knows. Anyway, with the iPod, now its just a matter of tweaking the music, making sure the version of songs I have are what I want, correcting spellings and such... and converting my dozen or so videos to iPod formats. The longest will be the Pearl Jam MTV Unplugged show that I have-it clocks in at around 55 minutes. That might take days.
"When Did You Ever Listen To Me" by Rebecca Lynn Howard, from Forgive
The question I'm getting alot now is "What they heck are you doing with 4500 songs?", usually crossed with the comment "I dont even know 4500 songs..." My thought is, I love music... it makes me who I am. Songs, certain ones, take me back to a place when things were different... sometimes better, sometimes worse. Not that I would give up what I have now, namely Stephanie, my job, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), a lifetime charter membership in the Deuce and my iPod, for anything--but sometimes its good, fun to remember.
"But Anyway" by Blues Traveler, from Live From the Fall
I mean, I hear "Sailing" by Christopher Cross, or "Old Man and Me" by Hootie & the Blowfish, or "Wanted" by Alan Jackson, or "Seven Bridges Road" by The Eagles or "Luv is a Verb" by dcTalk, and there's a story that goes with it. And amy one of you know there are certain songs that hit you in different ways... and so now I've got the capability of holding all the songs that may or may not affect me, or might affect me in the future, in the palm of my hand. Plus, you can't go wrong with anything that lets you hold the lyrics to both "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies, and "Numb" by U2 in your hands.
Music that has played while I was attaching links to this post...
"Piece of Glass" by Caedmon's Call, from Long Line of Leavers
"She" by The Monkees, from Listen to the Band box set.
"Its In His Kiss" by Vonda Sheppard, from Songs From Ally McBeal
"Lonely People" by Jars of Clay, from Who We are Instead
"I Wanna Luv You Up" by Color Me Badd, from C.M.B. (wait, how'd that get on there? that's not mine...)
"You Made Me Love You" by Jimmy Durante, from the You've Got Mail Soundtrack
"Long Time Gone" by The Dixie Chicks, from the Top of the World Tour live album
and from the catagory of "Bad 80s Hairbands With Crappy, Yet Awesome Music", it's "Sometimes She Cries", by Warrant, from the colossal, multi-dozen selling "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinkin' Rich"
As for something completey random, here's one more reason I like LL Cool J... check out his comments on money at the Hip Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment. (I don't know that I could have made that up if I tried...) Anyway, he says "Give 10 percent to your church, then 10 percent to your house". Cool J is a tither! Go God! Now, I'm going to listen to LL Cool J sing about "dying to creep 'tween your sheets"
American Idol again, Wednesday morning...
Song playing on iPod, set on shuffle: "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith, from Willennium
So... as I said before, I got my iPod. I went out and paid cash for a 60 gig black video Apple iPod, and I own it--no credit cards, no charging, no check... its mine, all mine. By the way, the iPod is currently on shuffle right now, so I'll give you the songs that come up as they do. Oh, and just for fun, I'll tell you that I was in the restroom a few minutes ago, with the iPod plugged in (in the other room--duh). I thought I heard the O.C. Supertones, though I didn't remember that song being on one of their albums. I was engrossed in the latest EW anyway, so I didn't pay much attention, and when I got back, I noticed this song was playing now:
Song playing now: "One Day I'll Fly Away" by Nicole Kidman, from The Moulin Rouge Soundtrack.
So, I did a flipback to see what Supertones song I had heard... turns out, it was "Come Around" from Factor 7. Some of you are enjoying that comment right now.
Anyway, I'm a nerd. I can't just have a screen on the iPod that says "Don't Cry" on one line, then "Guns N'Roses" on the next. No no. I have to have the top line say "Don't Cry", the next line say "Guns N'Roses", the next line say "Use Your Illusion I" (the album) then have in the info about the song the year (1991), the ratings ("Don't Cry" gets five stars from me--tops) then the genre (90s Rock), and finally, one day the lyrics. I have my catagories I want them in, and I want them organized a certain way... see, what took me so long, though, is that I had over 4500 songs to import.
Song: "I Know Why" by Sheryl Crow, from Wildflower
I worked on iTunes for about two solid weeks, organizing and catagorizing--remember, I had worked on loading cds into the computer for about three weeks prior. When I got the iPod last week, I was tempted to just plug it in and let it load, and re-organize later... I decided to have patience. So here was my iPod, sitting unbothered on the counter for 9 days... finally on Saturday morning, in the wee hours of say, 3am, I finished with iTunes, and was ready to load the iPod. I went to bed instead, having to be at work at like, 930am that very morning. When I got home, around 430pm, I figured I'd plug it in, give it an hour to load, and listen to it on the way out to Jon & Emily Taylor's house--with whom Steph and I had dinner plans.
Song: Fool For You, Nichole Nordeman, performed live on "Live at the Door"
Well, I plugged it in at 430p... by the time we were ready to leave at 630p, it had loaded about 760 songs of 4553. When we got home at 1030ish, it had loaded 3557 of 4553. So I went to bed, again. Finally, on Sunday afternoon, I got to hear my iPod in action. Very satisfying. Of course, the videos didn't work, so I had to figure that part out... you have to convert videos to iPod format, even if they show up in iTunes... and they take fooooorrreeevvveeerrr..... Currently, I have only one music video on it--"Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim. BUt I do have several Star Wars videos, including the classic "Star Wars Gangsta Rap", and the hilarious Law & Order type short "The Trial of Han Solo", on trial for shooting Greedo... did he shoot first? Was it self defense?
Song: Everytime I Close My Eyes, by Babyface.
Right now, its converting a few more into iPod playability... "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani, "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter and "Food Good Inc" by The Gorillaz..
Can I say how bitter I am that "Bad Day" is being played everywhere? This is what happened to "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik, from 1997. Fantastic song.... loved it. I was on the verge of considering waiving my two year waiting period before it could jump into my top twenty all time songs.
"God" by Rebecca St. James, from the God album.
I have my Top Ten favorite songs, and as an extension of that, I have ten more behind it, making it my top twenty all time favorite songs... In order for inclusion into Dave's Top Twenty-and possibly Top Ten--I give it two to three years... this ensures that after hearing the song a thousand times, I will still like it... if it grows tiresome, or I find myself turning the channel when it comes on, then I'll know its not Dave Top 20 material. This is what happened to "Barely Breathing"... every station in Montgomery and Birmingham and Troy and Dothan played it all the flippin' time... and I grew tired of it within a year.
"If You're Thinking You Want a Stranger (There's One Coming Home)" by George Strait, from his 1st Volume of Greatest Hits
Unfortunately, this is whats happening to "Bad Day"... not that I think it was ever in consideration for Dave's Top 20, but as much as I hear it now, it probably not going to even come close to my top 100 when its all said and done. Sadly, repitition and overplaying is what is killing Kelly Clarkson's "Behind These Hazel Eyes", though its not played nearly as much, so Kelly has a chance to recover... Daniel Powter's run is just getting started on the radio.
Of course, KT Tunstall's "Black Horse & the Cherry Tree" is on the fast track for a 2008 possible Dave Top 20 appearance.
"Love Me More" by PM Dawn, from The Bliss Album
Where was I? Who knows. Anyway, with the iPod, now its just a matter of tweaking the music, making sure the version of songs I have are what I want, correcting spellings and such... and converting my dozen or so videos to iPod formats. The longest will be the Pearl Jam MTV Unplugged show that I have-it clocks in at around 55 minutes. That might take days.
"When Did You Ever Listen To Me" by Rebecca Lynn Howard, from Forgive
The question I'm getting alot now is "What they heck are you doing with 4500 songs?", usually crossed with the comment "I dont even know 4500 songs..." My thought is, I love music... it makes me who I am. Songs, certain ones, take me back to a place when things were different... sometimes better, sometimes worse. Not that I would give up what I have now, namely Stephanie, my job, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), a lifetime charter membership in the Deuce and my iPod, for anything--but sometimes its good, fun to remember.
"But Anyway" by Blues Traveler, from Live From the Fall
I mean, I hear "Sailing" by Christopher Cross, or "Old Man and Me" by Hootie & the Blowfish, or "Wanted" by Alan Jackson, or "Seven Bridges Road" by The Eagles or "Luv is a Verb" by dcTalk, and there's a story that goes with it. And amy one of you know there are certain songs that hit you in different ways... and so now I've got the capability of holding all the songs that may or may not affect me, or might affect me in the future, in the palm of my hand. Plus, you can't go wrong with anything that lets you hold the lyrics to both "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies, and "Numb" by U2 in your hands.
Music that has played while I was attaching links to this post...
"Piece of Glass" by Caedmon's Call, from Long Line of Leavers
"She" by The Monkees, from Listen to the Band box set.
"Its In His Kiss" by Vonda Sheppard, from Songs From Ally McBeal
"Lonely People" by Jars of Clay, from Who We are Instead
"I Wanna Luv You Up" by Color Me Badd, from C.M.B. (wait, how'd that get on there? that's not mine...)
"You Made Me Love You" by Jimmy Durante, from the You've Got Mail Soundtrack
"Long Time Gone" by The Dixie Chicks, from the Top of the World Tour live album
and from the catagory of "Bad 80s Hairbands With Crappy, Yet Awesome Music", it's "Sometimes She Cries", by Warrant, from the colossal, multi-dozen selling "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinkin' Rich"
As for something completey random, here's one more reason I like LL Cool J... check out his comments on money at the Hip Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment. (I don't know that I could have made that up if I tried...) Anyway, he says "Give 10 percent to your church, then 10 percent to your house". Cool J is a tither! Go God! Now, I'm going to listen to LL Cool J sing about "dying to creep 'tween your sheets"
American Idol again, Wednesday morning...
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
The Votes are In
So, its raining like crazy by now, and I just got home from KidStuf practice... just in time to see the new results of Idol.
Notice the big weather map in the corner of the screen, highlighting the severe storm that is taking place somewhere probably 200 miles from here. Usually when weather comes up like this, they immediately go to James Spann, or Jerry Tracey, or the weather guy of the week over at CBS 42... Fox will mostly go to David Neal, but when Idol is on, you get (during commercials, no less) "coming up after Idol, we'll bring you the latest on the weather." Don't touch the cash cow.
Just saw a three minute clip for Kiefer Sutherland's new movie, "The Sentinel", also starring Michael Douglas. You also see Eva Longoria, from Desperate Housewives, but looking at all the trailers and previews, you'd never know it. She says like, four words combined in all the previews I've seen... its almost as if she's just the pretty face for the movie, with no line. "Eva, stand there, look all hot and crap, and don't say a word, okay?" Personally, I'm a Teri Hatcher fan myself, but thats me.
And the show is recapping last night's performances...
That Burger King commercial featuring the King in bed, waking up to see a guy sitting next to him, in front of a crowd of people... you know, the one advertising the McGriddle ripoff "The French Toast Sandwich"... completely freaks me out, yet amuses me at the same time. Sort of like any movie featuring Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen.
Speaking of, have you ever had the French Toast sticks at the BK? Being in college at Troy, I never was up early enough to actually eat breakfast (you know how it is... you get up just in time to put on clothes that don't match and rush off to make it to class about two minutes late). Anyway, when I would get hungry and go with Julie Echols and Jennifer Mullins to the Burger King, the BK would make me French Toast sticks, even though it was 9 pm. Loved that place. They took checks too... imagine my surprise when I first moved to Birmingham in 1998, when I tried to write a check at the BK on Hwy 31 they looked at me like "What the...?"
Back to the show... Rod Stewart is on the show. He's letting us know he's doing a 70s classics rock album soon, and Ryan is suggesting that as a theme for next year's show. Rod is now singing "The Way You Look Tonight"... which Frank Sinatra's version will never be topped. I actually wanted to use that song in my marriage proposal, back in the late 90s when I thought I'd propose to and marry Amy Wible, but that's a whole other story. Love you Steph.
Ryan just announced that next week, Andrea Bocelli will be the guest vocal coach, and the Idols will be taking on the "greatest love song of all time". You'll hear Whitney or Celine, I promise you.
And here we go... Ryan will be separating the Idols into two groups... Elliott is in Group 1, on the far side. Chris is Group 2. Paris is in Group 2. Elliott's gotta know this is bad.
Pickles is in Group 1. Yeah, this is bad. Steph's man Ace with the Ace Hair is in... Group 2? Really?
My Girl McPhee is in Group 1, with Pickles and Elliott. Oh boy. And Taylor? Ryan doesn't send him anywhere, he just tells him he's safe. One of these groups is the bottom three. Ryan tosses up the "Taylor, join which group you THINK is safe." And we go to commercial...
So our two groups are: Elliott, Pickles and My Girl McPhee... the other group is Daughtry, Paris and Ace. I am guessing... the Daughtry/Paris/Ace group is the bottom three. Just a guess.
And we're back... Taylor decides to go to Daughtry, as Ryan says "Taylor... I'm sorry..." then Taylor turns around and heads to Pickles, My Girl McPhee and Elliott... So Ryan says "Taylor... I'm sorry, you are correct." The bottom three is Paris and Daughtry and Ace.
Ryan sends Paris back to the couch. So either Daughtry or Ace will go home... and finally... ACE GOES HOME!!! The fact that The Yutz Currently Known as Ace Young is now going home is not the surprise... the face that Chris Daughtry has the second lowest number of votes is the shocker.
They show the "goodbye" montage for Ace, complete with the requisite "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. Don't you know that Daniel Powter feels like the luckiest guy alive? I mean, not only has he got a great song that is played on stations like 96.5 and 94.5, but also on "hip" stations like 103.7 The Q... and Idol sends people scrambling to their computers every week to look up "who sings this song?" (that's how I found it).
Oh yeah... and Ace is singing, but is cut off about 45 seconds into his song. Who cares.
Notice the big weather map in the corner of the screen, highlighting the severe storm that is taking place somewhere probably 200 miles from here. Usually when weather comes up like this, they immediately go to James Spann, or Jerry Tracey, or the weather guy of the week over at CBS 42... Fox will mostly go to David Neal, but when Idol is on, you get (during commercials, no less) "coming up after Idol, we'll bring you the latest on the weather." Don't touch the cash cow.
Just saw a three minute clip for Kiefer Sutherland's new movie, "The Sentinel", also starring Michael Douglas. You also see Eva Longoria, from Desperate Housewives, but looking at all the trailers and previews, you'd never know it. She says like, four words combined in all the previews I've seen... its almost as if she's just the pretty face for the movie, with no line. "Eva, stand there, look all hot and crap, and don't say a word, okay?" Personally, I'm a Teri Hatcher fan myself, but thats me.
And the show is recapping last night's performances...
That Burger King commercial featuring the King in bed, waking up to see a guy sitting next to him, in front of a crowd of people... you know, the one advertising the McGriddle ripoff "The French Toast Sandwich"... completely freaks me out, yet amuses me at the same time. Sort of like any movie featuring Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen.
Speaking of, have you ever had the French Toast sticks at the BK? Being in college at Troy, I never was up early enough to actually eat breakfast (you know how it is... you get up just in time to put on clothes that don't match and rush off to make it to class about two minutes late). Anyway, when I would get hungry and go with Julie Echols and Jennifer Mullins to the Burger King, the BK would make me French Toast sticks, even though it was 9 pm. Loved that place. They took checks too... imagine my surprise when I first moved to Birmingham in 1998, when I tried to write a check at the BK on Hwy 31 they looked at me like "What the...?"
Back to the show... Rod Stewart is on the show. He's letting us know he's doing a 70s classics rock album soon, and Ryan is suggesting that as a theme for next year's show. Rod is now singing "The Way You Look Tonight"... which Frank Sinatra's version will never be topped. I actually wanted to use that song in my marriage proposal, back in the late 90s when I thought I'd propose to and marry Amy Wible, but that's a whole other story. Love you Steph.
Ryan just announced that next week, Andrea Bocelli will be the guest vocal coach, and the Idols will be taking on the "greatest love song of all time". You'll hear Whitney or Celine, I promise you.
And here we go... Ryan will be separating the Idols into two groups... Elliott is in Group 1, on the far side. Chris is Group 2. Paris is in Group 2. Elliott's gotta know this is bad.
Pickles is in Group 1. Yeah, this is bad. Steph's man Ace with the Ace Hair is in... Group 2? Really?
My Girl McPhee is in Group 1, with Pickles and Elliott. Oh boy. And Taylor? Ryan doesn't send him anywhere, he just tells him he's safe. One of these groups is the bottom three. Ryan tosses up the "Taylor, join which group you THINK is safe." And we go to commercial...
So our two groups are: Elliott, Pickles and My Girl McPhee... the other group is Daughtry, Paris and Ace. I am guessing... the Daughtry/Paris/Ace group is the bottom three. Just a guess.
And we're back... Taylor decides to go to Daughtry, as Ryan says "Taylor... I'm sorry..." then Taylor turns around and heads to Pickles, My Girl McPhee and Elliott... So Ryan says "Taylor... I'm sorry, you are correct." The bottom three is Paris and Daughtry and Ace.
Ryan sends Paris back to the couch. So either Daughtry or Ace will go home... and finally... ACE GOES HOME!!! The fact that The Yutz Currently Known as Ace Young is now going home is not the surprise... the face that Chris Daughtry has the second lowest number of votes is the shocker.
They show the "goodbye" montage for Ace, complete with the requisite "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. Don't you know that Daniel Powter feels like the luckiest guy alive? I mean, not only has he got a great song that is played on stations like 96.5 and 94.5, but also on "hip" stations like 103.7 The Q... and Idol sends people scrambling to their computers every week to look up "who sings this song?" (that's how I found it).
Oh yeah... and Ace is singing, but is cut off about 45 seconds into his song. Who cares.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Someone to Watch Over McPhee
Taking a break from the iPod project, we're back with another Idol review... Ryan is onscreen right now, telling us "if you didn't vote, you can't boo". I just got off work at Starbucks (which, by the way, I'm leaving Vestavia for 280 the first week of May) and I havne't heard or seen anything about this night's show.
Tonight's famous singer working with the Idols is Rod Stewart... I like Rod quite a bit, actually. "Maggie May" has to be one of the best songs to come out of the 70s. In fact, when someone named Maggie orders a drink, I will put it up on the bar and say "Wake up Maggie, I think I've got a grande soy latte for you." Usually, when the Maggie in question is like, 14, she doesn't get it, but I crack myself up.
Old Rod has been doing "The Great American Songbook" lately, a collection of old standards from the 40s, 50s and 60s, and I think he's done... four volumes of them? Maybe three. I thought of checking them out, but I will stick with the traditional Rod--"Maggie May", "Infatuation", and two of my favorites, "My Heart Can't Tell You No" from 1989, and his unplugged version of "Reason To Believe", from 1993.
On with the show...
Daughtry is up first, doing 'What a Wonderful World". I'm wondering if its the Louis Armstrong version, or the "Don't know much about history..." Sam Cooke version--either way, its something different for him, so hopefully he can pull it off.
It's the Louis Armstrong version, which is a fantastic song. Daughtry is on the stage, with a single guitarist guy strumming along. The song sounds great--which is great because before, he's been rocking out and belting out his music, so its good to know he can actually sing without screaming. He looks like he's stepped out of the set of "Queer Eye" with that vest, however. Randy said "You just slayed 'em... man, it was da bomb!". Paula loved it, of course. Simon is smiling, and since he's been saying "You should change up your style some to show what you can do", and Chris did, Simon is happy. "I thought it was a GREAT performance." As did I... as did I.
Just saw a promo for Mission Impossible III... Tom Cruise is whacked out about Scientology (and Katie Holmes had her baby tonight) and everyone in the world thinks he's weird, going on and on about his religion. Christians, however, are not called weird... we're intolerant bigots who are naive to the real world. Perhaps thats why we are so reluctant to share our faith like Tom is doing. Now back to our show.
Annoying Paris is up, and it just struck me that this night is right up her alley. She was awesome doing some Billie Holliday during her audition, so this shouldn't be too far removed from what she's done. I think she closes her eyes and sticks her hand in a box of wigs and ends up wearing whatever comes out. She's singing Lady Holliday's "These Foolish Things", and like Daughtry, knocked it out of the park. I think if I knew Paris, I would never let her talk to me unless she was singing, because I can't stand to hear her talk.
Randy says "Your best performance" and Paula loves her. Of course. Simon says "You bewilder me. You talk Minnie Mouse, and yet, you sing in that very grown up way." I agree.
Taylor Hicks is singing Sam Cooke's "You Send Me", which, like most Sam Cooke songs, is a great song. Apparently, SNL or Mad TV did an American Idol parody, including one of Taylor Hicks--I would have liked to have seen that. Soul Patrol, baby. His voice is pretty good... waiting for the dance. He's just walking and singing... waiting for the dance... wait for it... wait for it... and... there is is. Spaz that he is, Taylor is the man.
Randy says "Keep it real, baby, keep it real--that was hot." Paula loved it. Of course. Simon says "It started with lame cabaret... and then... magic." I liked it all the way through. Soul Patrol indeed.
Okay, so I just pulled up MSNBC.com to confirm what Paris was singing (I was right, its Holliday." I scrolled down, and apparently, Pickles SUCKED tonight. This might be bad for me. I haven't seen what My Girl McPhee has done--that might hurt me too much to know.
Here comes Elliott Yahmean. He's singing classic crooner song "It Had To Be You", and Rod Stewart comments that since Elliott is 27, he was born the same year that "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was #1. While I'm standing with my hand on the handrail to climb aboard the Elliott Yahmean Bandwagon, I'll have to admit, he can sing great--but he's got the performance stylings of a green scrubby pad. Not sure thats something you can fix.
Randy liked it alot. Paula loved it. Of course. Simon says, "It was a good vocal, but it lacked personality... I am slightly concerned for you." Remember, Elliott, as long as Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair is in the show, there's a chance you won't go home.
Oh Pickles.
She's singing "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", a song that I'm not sure I've ever heard before. Rod's a dirty old man! Pickles says, after having him help her practice, "You took a load off my chest", and he smiled and laughed in that "You bet I would" sort of way. Perv.
Now to the performance... While she looks fabulous, its not a very good performance. She just doesn't sound good... and on a night like this, thats not good. Simon has his head on the desk. Right out of the gate, after the song, she says "I butchered it." with an almost tearful smile. Randy says "it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't good." Paula loves her. Of course. Simon says "Boring. It didn't suit you. You could have just done 'Bewildered'."
If Latoya London and Jennifer Hudson can get voted off early, so can she. Oh Pickles.
The Yutz Currently Known as Ace Young is up now, singing "That's All". Rod said "It was brilliant." Um... right. Oh dear allah... Ace has his hair pulled back in pony tail. If George Michael were younger, I could see he and Ace being twins. Ace Young is a goob.
Randy says "Fals' (falsetto) is your thing, dude." Paula loved it. Of course. Simon says "It wasn't bad... a little bit nasally... but charming." Man, bring back Chicken Little, bring back Bucky, heck, bring back Brenna... no, don't do that. Get rid of Ace.
Finally, My Girl McPhee is coming up. She's singing "Someone to Watch Over Me", one of those great, sultry songs that I've always liked. The bigger and better the song, the easier it is to screw up. And she's not going to screw it up, I can tell. She's sitting on the edge of the stage, doing her thing. Wow she sounds amazing. Between the words "thing." and "Wow", instead of typing like I usually do during the song, I sat in silence, mesmerized--not by her looks (though that might do it) but by her voice. Amazing.
Randy says "You sailed on this... excellent." Paula loved it. Of course (she used the words "Mr. Holland's Opus" and "elegwant"). Simon says "you made everyone else look like good amateurs... it was a completely and utterly different league." You know what I think?
During American Idol 3, Fantasia (whom I never cared for) sang "Summertine" from the show "Porgy and Bess". It was one of the most riveting, elegant and beautiful performances I've ever seen--not just on Idol, but anywhere. Ditto for the Ruben Studdard performances of "Superstar" and "Kiss and Say Goodbye". I might be willing to consider arguments in favor of putting Katharine McPhee's "Someone to Watch Over Me" in that list. Yes, that good.
Also on this list: "Take Me To The Pilot" by George Huff (Idol 3); "Whippin Post" & "Vehicle" by Bo Bice (Idol 4); "Sin Wagon" by Amy Adams (Idol 2)... but McPhee might rank above all of these--if I'm talking about it during season 8, we'll know. Time will tell.
I just voted for the first time, ever.
Tomorrow's bottom three--Elliott Yahmean, Ace Young and (gulp) Pickles.
I've also decided, if I can work it out, I'm doing a running diary for the Idol finale, which will have My Girl McPhee and Daughtry in it.
Tonight's famous singer working with the Idols is Rod Stewart... I like Rod quite a bit, actually. "Maggie May" has to be one of the best songs to come out of the 70s. In fact, when someone named Maggie orders a drink, I will put it up on the bar and say "Wake up Maggie, I think I've got a grande soy latte for you." Usually, when the Maggie in question is like, 14, she doesn't get it, but I crack myself up.
Old Rod has been doing "The Great American Songbook" lately, a collection of old standards from the 40s, 50s and 60s, and I think he's done... four volumes of them? Maybe three. I thought of checking them out, but I will stick with the traditional Rod--"Maggie May", "Infatuation", and two of my favorites, "My Heart Can't Tell You No" from 1989, and his unplugged version of "Reason To Believe", from 1993.
On with the show...
Daughtry is up first, doing 'What a Wonderful World". I'm wondering if its the Louis Armstrong version, or the "Don't know much about history..." Sam Cooke version--either way, its something different for him, so hopefully he can pull it off.
It's the Louis Armstrong version, which is a fantastic song. Daughtry is on the stage, with a single guitarist guy strumming along. The song sounds great--which is great because before, he's been rocking out and belting out his music, so its good to know he can actually sing without screaming. He looks like he's stepped out of the set of "Queer Eye" with that vest, however. Randy said "You just slayed 'em... man, it was da bomb!". Paula loved it, of course. Simon is smiling, and since he's been saying "You should change up your style some to show what you can do", and Chris did, Simon is happy. "I thought it was a GREAT performance." As did I... as did I.
Just saw a promo for Mission Impossible III... Tom Cruise is whacked out about Scientology (and Katie Holmes had her baby tonight) and everyone in the world thinks he's weird, going on and on about his religion. Christians, however, are not called weird... we're intolerant bigots who are naive to the real world. Perhaps thats why we are so reluctant to share our faith like Tom is doing. Now back to our show.
Annoying Paris is up, and it just struck me that this night is right up her alley. She was awesome doing some Billie Holliday during her audition, so this shouldn't be too far removed from what she's done. I think she closes her eyes and sticks her hand in a box of wigs and ends up wearing whatever comes out. She's singing Lady Holliday's "These Foolish Things", and like Daughtry, knocked it out of the park. I think if I knew Paris, I would never let her talk to me unless she was singing, because I can't stand to hear her talk.
Randy says "Your best performance" and Paula loves her. Of course. Simon says "You bewilder me. You talk Minnie Mouse, and yet, you sing in that very grown up way." I agree.
Taylor Hicks is singing Sam Cooke's "You Send Me", which, like most Sam Cooke songs, is a great song. Apparently, SNL or Mad TV did an American Idol parody, including one of Taylor Hicks--I would have liked to have seen that. Soul Patrol, baby. His voice is pretty good... waiting for the dance. He's just walking and singing... waiting for the dance... wait for it... wait for it... and... there is is. Spaz that he is, Taylor is the man.
Randy says "Keep it real, baby, keep it real--that was hot." Paula loved it. Of course. Simon says "It started with lame cabaret... and then... magic." I liked it all the way through. Soul Patrol indeed.
Okay, so I just pulled up MSNBC.com to confirm what Paris was singing (I was right, its Holliday." I scrolled down, and apparently, Pickles SUCKED tonight. This might be bad for me. I haven't seen what My Girl McPhee has done--that might hurt me too much to know.
Here comes Elliott Yahmean. He's singing classic crooner song "It Had To Be You", and Rod Stewart comments that since Elliott is 27, he was born the same year that "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was #1. While I'm standing with my hand on the handrail to climb aboard the Elliott Yahmean Bandwagon, I'll have to admit, he can sing great--but he's got the performance stylings of a green scrubby pad. Not sure thats something you can fix.
Randy liked it alot. Paula loved it. Of course. Simon says, "It was a good vocal, but it lacked personality... I am slightly concerned for you." Remember, Elliott, as long as Steph's Man Ace with the Ace Hair is in the show, there's a chance you won't go home.
Oh Pickles.
She's singing "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", a song that I'm not sure I've ever heard before. Rod's a dirty old man! Pickles says, after having him help her practice, "You took a load off my chest", and he smiled and laughed in that "You bet I would" sort of way. Perv.
Now to the performance... While she looks fabulous, its not a very good performance. She just doesn't sound good... and on a night like this, thats not good. Simon has his head on the desk. Right out of the gate, after the song, she says "I butchered it." with an almost tearful smile. Randy says "it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't good." Paula loves her. Of course. Simon says "Boring. It didn't suit you. You could have just done 'Bewildered'."
If Latoya London and Jennifer Hudson can get voted off early, so can she. Oh Pickles.
The Yutz Currently Known as Ace Young is up now, singing "That's All". Rod said "It was brilliant." Um... right. Oh dear allah... Ace has his hair pulled back in pony tail. If George Michael were younger, I could see he and Ace being twins. Ace Young is a goob.
Randy says "Fals' (falsetto) is your thing, dude." Paula loved it. Of course. Simon says "It wasn't bad... a little bit nasally... but charming." Man, bring back Chicken Little, bring back Bucky, heck, bring back Brenna... no, don't do that. Get rid of Ace.
Finally, My Girl McPhee is coming up. She's singing "Someone to Watch Over Me", one of those great, sultry songs that I've always liked. The bigger and better the song, the easier it is to screw up. And she's not going to screw it up, I can tell. She's sitting on the edge of the stage, doing her thing. Wow she sounds amazing. Between the words "thing." and "Wow", instead of typing like I usually do during the song, I sat in silence, mesmerized--not by her looks (though that might do it) but by her voice. Amazing.
Randy says "You sailed on this... excellent." Paula loved it. Of course (she used the words "Mr. Holland's Opus" and "elegwant"). Simon says "you made everyone else look like good amateurs... it was a completely and utterly different league." You know what I think?
During American Idol 3, Fantasia (whom I never cared for) sang "Summertine" from the show "Porgy and Bess". It was one of the most riveting, elegant and beautiful performances I've ever seen--not just on Idol, but anywhere. Ditto for the Ruben Studdard performances of "Superstar" and "Kiss and Say Goodbye". I might be willing to consider arguments in favor of putting Katharine McPhee's "Someone to Watch Over Me" in that list. Yes, that good.
Also on this list: "Take Me To The Pilot" by George Huff (Idol 3); "Whippin Post" & "Vehicle" by Bo Bice (Idol 4); "Sin Wagon" by Amy Adams (Idol 2)... but McPhee might rank above all of these--if I'm talking about it during season 8, we'll know. Time will tell.
I just voted for the first time, ever.
Tomorrow's bottom three--Elliott Yahmean, Ace Young and (gulp) Pickles.
I've also decided, if I can work it out, I'm doing a running diary for the Idol finale, which will have My Girl McPhee and Daughtry in it.
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