Saturday, February 25, 2006
Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not talking about the Big O which came up regularly as a topic of conversation on Sex And The City. I thought I would say a few words about the other O – The Olympics. The closing ceremonies are tomorrow night, and I imagine there will be viewers tuning in for the pomp and circumstance but I won’t be one of them. Of course, Sunday night means only one thing to me and that’s Grey’s Anatomy. But even if I weren’t hooked on that show I doubt if I would be tuning in. I’d either be watching a DVD or in here pounding away trying to find something interesting and imaginative to write just like this article. Still, I should write something since we won't see the Olympics for another two years.
The television ratings for the Winter Olympics here in the states are way down from what they were four years ago. Not that they’ve been totally mediocre every night, but shows like Gray’s Anatomy and especially American Idol have audiences shunning the Olympics for love and sex in the E.R. and amateur singers on stage.
As for myself, I think I’ve seen about an hour’s worth of the Torino games. I believe it was last Friday night when I was switching back and forth between snowboarders and a story on ABC about the disappearance of a young girl in Japan. I saw enough to see one of our snowboarders going around this huge track, get firmly in the lead, then as she came on her last jump decided to do some fancy maneuver where upon she crashed and burned. It cost her the gold medal but she was still able to get up and cross the finish line for the silver. That tells you how big of a lead she had. All she had to do was get across the finish line, collect her medal and accolades and do a few interviews. Well, she did do the interviews but they were far from being congratulatory.
I don’t know who was more embarrassed, her, the announcers or the viewing audience at home watching. And sadly, I can’t even tell you her name without looking it up. Google tells me it was Lindsay Jacobellis. By then I had seen enough, and I tuned out without looking back.
Once upon a time I was a big Olympics fan. I used to watch all the coverage whether it was the Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics. I’m not sure when my interest began to wane, but it did in a big way. I can remember there were times when watching the Winter Olympics that you could count on one and a half hands how many medals the U.S. would bring home. Not gold medals mind you, we’re talking total medals. But it didn’t matter. If someone won a bronze or silver, it was just as exciting as if they had made it to the top of the medal stand. But those days are long gone.
Now it seems winning is so important that copping a medal of silver or bronze isn’t enough in the United States. Unless an athlete has that gold doubloon hanging from their neck, many people would consider it an underacheivement. In this country second or third best isn’t just quite good enough and doesn’t measure up. I suppose people in the U.S. were spoiled after having a few good years. And then there are those who don’t want to be bothered unless they can wave a flag and yell “We’re number one” at the top of their lungs. It’s easier for them to watch contestants sing it out on American Idol than watch all those foreigners winning the medals.
But that’s never bothered me much. I always liked watching all of the athletes no matter where they hailed from. So where did I go wrong?
Maybe it was when NBC began spending more time with talk, gibberish, analysis, and up close and personal segments than they actually seem to spend covering the games. Generally, you see the top three to five contestants, the U.S. athletes if there is any competing and that’s about it. I can remember if there were twelve or how ever many number of skiers or skaters in an event we would see just about each and every one. Those days are long gone. It’s all about winning. And when I read about the escapades of one Bode Miller, who has more interest in going out on the town, chugging down a bottle of Bud to the last drop, then bothering with doing any kind of skiing worthwhile, it’s not much of an incentive to get me to tune in.
And no sooner are the Olympics over than we have something called the World Baseball Classic coming up on March 3rd. I guess this is something someone dreamed up to bring all the best players together, especially since the International Olympic Committee has decided to drop both baseball and softball from the 2012 games. The U.S. has never sent professional baseball players to the Olympics. Nope, they might have had to pause the season for a couple of weeks in order to do so and we couldn’t have that. I never minded that though, as it was interesting to watch teams from other countries participate, that is when you were lucky enough that NBC might actually cover a game where the U.S. wasn't playing.
But even if the U.S. had sent its professional baseball players to The Big O, I’m sure many of the multi-multi millionaires occupying Major League Baseball would have found one excuse or another not to participate anyway. Certainly there were enough over-priced NBA players who managed to wheedle out of the summer games two years ago. I think they had a run of hang-nails and ingrown toe nails that year. And much of the same things is happening with the World Baseball Classic. Many billionaire players have found one flimsy reason after another not to join in on the fun, no matter which country they would have played for.
I did manage to pull myself away from this article long enough to catch Czechoslovakia and Russia fight it out for the bronze. Yep, the bronze medal, but from the way they were playing, you would have thought it was for the gold. It was refreshing to see.
I’ll probably watch some of the World Baseball Classic also. I’m sure the U.S. team will be featured. Many of the U.S. players, who are going, are playing for their home countries and I think that’s a good thing. There’s no reason at all not to be proud of the country that you hail from. In fact, I’ll be rooting for the team from Japan, the Dominican Republic, or Venezuela as much as I will the U.S. I’ve already seen what most M.L.B. players from the U.S. have had to offer over the past few years. And like the Olympics, it’s a product I just can’t buy into these days. Besides, playing in these games might interfere with their regular manicure appointment, or their steroid shot, and we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?
Friday, February 24, 2006
American Idol Season Five: So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight
0 comments Posted by Clyde at 2:54 AMBecky O’Donohue – Because the Night
First to leave and the one with the least votes was Becky O’Donohue. At the end of my summation for her I wrote: “She wasn’t the worst of the night and if there are enough guys out there with huge testosterone levels she could hang around. But it’s iffy.”
Apparently there weren’t enough raging male hormones to keep Becky around. And there’s an unwritten law that I was also reminded of on a message board this evening. A woman who is a knockout beauty queen had better be a super amazing performer because anything less than that means you’re toast. And as I pointed out, Becky had everything but the amazing talent. Yet, by no stretch of the imagination can anyone say she was the worst of the night. So why couldn’t she garner enough votes to hang around another week?
Women will simply not vote for a gal who looks like she just jumped out of the centerfold of Playboy magazine. And it doesn’t matter how good they can sing. Women view contestants like Becky as a threat. Period. End of Story. So it was left up to the guys to save poor Becky, and the fact is that of those guys who do watch this show, the percentage of them that phone in votes is probably a whole lot smaller than the number of women viewers who frantically exercise their push button finger. It didn’t help matters that Becky and her twin sister had posted for Maxim, scantily clad in some bikinis where all of their assets were in full display. Let’s face it, teen boys won’t call in, teen girls vote for the hunks, parents don’t want to be reminded of why their little teenage Joey has those Maxim pictures hanging on his wall, and older people probably viewed Becky as some kind of floozy. She didn’t stand a chance.
Don’t worry though; I’m sure we’ll be seeing Becky somewhere or some place. I’ll keep you posted. On second thought, you keep me posted, just in case I should happen to miss it.
Stevie Scott – To Where You Are
Here’s what I wrote in regards to Stevie’s performance: “There is a huge difference between getting out there and belting a song at the top of your lungs and vocalizing a song intimately and making it your own………..There is no doubt the girl has talent, and I hope she gets another chance to prove it. Sadly she may not.”
That about sums it up. The judges said it was just a bad choice of songs. I agree with them to a degree, but they are the ones who always want a contestant to do something different. And when they do try, they are often browbeaten for not sticking to their element. This is known as the American Idol Catch-22. I knew when most people heard Stevie sing “To Where You Are” that they wouldn’t understand what she was trying to do with it, and the reaction of the judges sure didn’t help matters. Yet, someone should have advised Stevie that this was not the time or the place to go that far out on a limb. But still I was surprised it was her instead of Heather Cox. Heather did give the worst performance of the girls, and my feeling is it was probably a very close vote and it could just as easily have been Heather, Brenna, or Kinnick.
When it came to the guys, I was perfect in my picks. I had chosen both Patrick and Bobby to be given their discharge papers and so they could wave at the Idol mansion from a taxi cab on the way to the airport. So why didn’t they get enough votes to hang around?
Patrick Hall – Come To My Window
About Patrick’s performance I wrote: “it’s just an average rendition of a song I’ve always liked. My theory is that when you open the show in these episodes leading up to the final twelve contestants, you have to do something memorable.” I should have added that it is doubly important to do so if you aren’t carrying the drool of the judges all over you and your name isn’t Lisa, or Paris, or Katherine, or Mandisa. You have to do something to stand out and Patrick just didn’t do it. From what Patrick said when he was given his walking papers, I think he knew it also. As I said, he was the only contestant that I had to go back and look at my notes thoroughly to refresh my memory of his performance. That tells you everything you need to know. Patrick was just forgettable.
Bobby Bennett - Copacabana
If you read my show summaries, I wrote at the very end, “Bye, bye, so long, farewell.” That’s how sure I was of this pick. If he had stayed, I would have been shocked. He gave it a great deal of effort, and his performance wasn’t totally bad, but his vocals were. They were just awful and they took the rest of the performance into the toilet with them. It was probably even worse if you were watching it on a large wide screen TV in high definition with surround sound and everything bad was amplified that much more. I actually think Paula and Randy were a big too soft in their judgment. And I can still hear the blood curdling scream of Barry Manilow as he jumped out of his hotel window.
Bobby seems like a nice enough fellow, but I hope they kept his Target uniform pressed and cleaned for him.
That’s it for this week. Next week they’ll try it again. Can the favorites stay at the top of their game, or will one of those who gave a weak performance surprise us? Stay tuned.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Patrick Hall:
Remember me telling you how Idol likes to kick off the season with a strong performance? They did that last night with Mandisa. Would they give us two strong opening performances in a row? Leading off we get Patrick Hall. Patrick opens the show with Come to My Window. It's not a bad performance; it's just an average rendition of a song I've always liked. My theory is that when you open the show in these episodes leading up to the final twelve contestants, you have to do something memorable. By the time the next two contestants had sung, I'd already forgotten about Patrick and had to look at my notes
to refresh my memory. That's a bad sign.
Patrick was obviously nervous, as he started weakly and got better as the song went along. I was distracted by his hair for some reason. Randy liked it a lot better than I did. Simon thought it was terrible. You can put me somewhere in the middle, but in the middle may not be good enough.
It was at this point that we also get the judges famous bit that you need to be an original to win this competition. I always laugh when they say that because they don't necessarily mean it. Just depends which contestant they are talking about.
David Radford
David is this year's croon a tune guy. David did a song called A Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
He comes out like Elvis and immediately he reminds me of Jon Peter Lewis of a couple of years ago. The difference is that David is a much better performer and a lot more likable than Jon seemed to be. He's sincere and I think the performance and vocals are good enough.
I like it but Randy wastes no time telling me I'm an idiot because he thinks it was absolutely terrible. Paula's on my side somewhat, but Cowell says it's just average. Maybe this is one of those cases where something looks better on TV than on the stage. Since Simon and Randy are so harsh, David could be in trouble but he shouldn't be.
Bucky Covington
Bucky has about as thick of a Southern accent when he speaks as anybody they've ever had on the show. Not so when he sings though. He has chosen Simple Man by Lynerd Skynerd. When he sings, Bucky sounds as if he he swallowed a sheet of gravel from the bottom of his pet parakeet's cage. I get
the impression he's modeling himself after Bo, but he lacks Bo's charisma and stage presence not to mention vocal ability. I like Bucky, he seems like a nic enough fellow, but I don't think he'll be around for long. Randy says he's cool, Paula says he's growing, and Simon says you can find Buckys in every bar in America.
Simon and I agree on this one, I am officially at 33 1/3 percent in agreement with Cowell tonight.
Will Makar
Makar picks an old Jackson Five number called I Want You Back. Right away I'm thinkin that it is not a good song choice.
It's obvious that Makar has some raw talent, but it's very raw. His nerves
are showing quite a bit at the beginning of the song and his vocalization isn't as strong as it should be. That spells trouble when you're singing a song of this type. But it was good enough to entertain Randy. Will reminds Paula of Bobby Brady. Well, I guess that's not as bad as comparing him to Greg Brady's Johnny Bravo persona. Simon isn't too harsh and says he's just average. I'll agree with that just so I can get my Simon agreement
percentage back up to fifty percent.
At this point my girlfriend, Alice Kramden chimes in with her opinion.
Alice says she liked it and it's a very hard song to sing. She also thinks the judges are being harder on the guys tonight then they were on the girls. I tend to agree with Alice as far as that goes. Since a lot of people still like The Brady’s, Will may survive to see another day.
Sway Penala
When I find out that Sway is going to sing Reasons by Earth Wind and Fire, I'm very intrigued. Reasons is a difficult song choice and I hope he's up to the task. I love the song and it's one of Alice's favorites. When he comes out on stage and begins to sing I'm immediately distracted but I'm not sure why. Maybe
it's the goofy hat. I try concentrating on the vocals but it's difficult. He sings it entirely in falsetto, but if you've heard the original recording of the song as often as I have, you can't help but think he's not really measuring up. I'm really not liking it at all, not the vocals, not the performance, and least of all the outfit.
Not to mention the fact that for someone who already has a CD under his belt, he should be a lot better than this.
Randy is ecstatic, Paula is amazed, and I'm beginning to think I don't know squat until Simon bails me out. He calls it a "pimpy third rate copy of Earth Wind and Fire" and my Simon agreement percentage for the night
shoots up to 75 percent. I'm on a roll. It also clears up why the outfit was so distracting. I kept waiting for a pink Lincoln Continental to pull up. Alice says wow at one point when Sway had let loose, and she really likes him. I think it's just the song she likes. But Sway should be safe this week regardless.
Chris Daughtry
I've liked Chris since his first audition. I also like the fact that so far, that was the only time we heard his wife give us their touching family story so we aren't being hammered over the head with that stuff the way the girls use theirs to weasel every vote possible out of the viewing audience. Chris tells us he's going with Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive and instantly Jon Bon Jovi's voice rings through my head. It's a song we've all heard about fifty million times, so the viewing public and myself should instantly know whether or not he's up to it.
And it doesn't take long for us to find out that he is indeed and Chris is far and away the best performer of the night so far.
I thought I detected a little bit of a hitch in his voice in the chorus, but not enough to detract from the overall performance, and most people probably didn't even notice. He also reminds me of a miniature version of Vin Diesel. The judges and Alice agree with me about the performance, and I'm having visions of Chris easily making it to the final twelve.
Kevin Covais
Kevin, at sixteen is the youngest contestant on the show. Every time I've seen him he's always looked so pale. But I've liked most of his vocals so far. Kevin is going to have One Last Cry by Brian McKnight. In the interview portion he's not looking so pale to me and that's a plus. Out on stage it's a different story. I think his vocals are right on the money but he appears to be pale again. You can tell he's not polished and that he is nervous. I think that's why I like him is because he is fresh and is not manufactured the way that Lisa and Paris are and hasn't had the tons of training they've obviously had. And unlike them, he seems to actually feel the song when he is singing. He has the voice, and if his stage performance can grow, he can stick around a while. Randy and Paula tend to agree with me.
Simon and I are back off track as he has nothing much good to say at all. He hasn't had anything good to say about Kevin in any stage of the competition. Maybe Simon is building up to one of his, "I take it all back" moments. Alice says, she kind of liked it but could give a better opinion if she knew the song.
Gedeon McKinney
Gideon is the contestant who seemed more than a bit conceited when talking to the judges just before they gave him his ticket to the final twenty four. It was so bad in fact that after he got on the elevator, Simon said if he had heard all of that beforehand, he'd have said no. Gideon has chosen to sing the song "Shout."
I don't remember who might have originally recorded this but instantly I remember the Otis Day version in Animal House and I begin thinking "Toga! Toga! Toga!" and I'm ready to party. And maybe that moment in that film is so stuck in my head that I don't think anybody else can measure up to Otis Day and the Knights becasue I'm not digging Gideon at all. At one point I'm beginning to look for John Belushi to rise from the grave, walk up on stage and break the microphone into a million pieces. Alice say's, "She loves this song," but halfway through she's not digging Gideon's version either. And she's not a fan of Animal House so I feel somewhat vindicated but then again it shoots my theory about why she liked Sway all to hell. Randy and Paula love it, but Simon says Gideon's performance reminds him of an opening act for the Chippendales. Now I feel completely vindicated.
Elliott Yamin
Ever since his audition, Elliott has been one of my favorite vocalists this year. He performs If You Love Me and he doesn't miss a note. He looks so relaxed on stage when he's singing. It really aggravates me when people tell me he doesn't have the looks as if the only thing necessary for a career are some long flowing locks, a syrupy smile, and being able to look longingly at your female audience. Then again, listening to some of today's recording artists, they may be the ones who are right and vocal ability comes in about fifteenth on their list. All the judges agree with me about Elliott, Simon saying he's the best vocalist of the guys. Alice agrees with them and me then drifts off to sleep.
Bobby Bennett
Bobby is a 19 year old from Colorado. I remember seeing him in the auditions, but I wasn't all that impressed. I wasn't even sure he should have been in this group. He seems like a nice enough guy and I'm willing to give him another chance. Bobby's going to rock us with a little Barry Manilow by singing Copacabana. He rocks out on the stage, and gets Paula's Poodle Pound going.
Maybe they feel sorry for him or something because to me everything about this performance is awful. He certainly seemed like he was giving it his best effort, but when you're doing that and you still come off as poor as this, you might as well head back to the hotel and pack your bags hoping the taxi drives past the Idol mansion since you're not going to see the inside of it. Randy does his best to compliment him a little, make that very little. Paula thinks he is a great performer which is her nice way of saying he lacks vocal talent. Simon, not one to mince words tells Bobby that Barry is in his hotel room in Vegas screaming at the top of his lungs. Bye, bye, so long, farewell.
Ace Young
Ace is this year's teenage and tweener age idol. If you watched last year, think of Constantine. Ace does seem to be a lot better vocally. Since my teen years disappeared some time ago, you'll have to excuse me if I can't relate. I look over at Alice hoping to get her opinion but she's still snoozing.
Ace is singing a song called Father Figure. Well, I'm sure that when his female fans think of him that's not what they have in mind. His vocals are good, and the judges are ecstatic and I'm sure the girls at home are panting. They say Ace is the whole package which he may very well be but I'm really bored now.
Part of my problem is I've seen so many Ace type singers come and go over the years. And while there really is nothing wrong with them vocally, once their audience grows up there is nothing left for them because they haven't really done anything to distinguish themselves beyond being a teen idol no matter how good they are vocally. Very few escape that stigma.
And don’t give me Clay Aiken either. I like Clay, but it will be his next album that will let us know if he’s going to be around much longer. And, besides, Clay was hardly a pretty boy anyway so theres no real comparison there.
Another case in point is earlier the judges say you have to be original, but they don't mean it. Obviously Ace is going to be around for quite a few weeks. Anyway, my boredom is temporarily relieved by a Victoria's Secret commercial.
Taylor Hicks
Taylor is a prematurely grey 29 year old from Birmingham. He may have too old of a look for some, but to me he is an original and I've liked him since I first saw him during the original audition. Taylor doesn't take the easy way out either and is singing an Elton John song called Leave On. Risky, but I'm hoping he pulls it off.
Taylor does a very good job on this song and only falters the tiniest of bit in a few places but who doesn't when they are singing Elton/Taupin songs? And everything about Taylor Hicks spells fun. He is an original. I'm hoping his fan base grows and he stays around a while. I think the judges and audience agree.
So, how did the boys stack up against the girls? Overall, I actually liked the guys better than the girls last night. I think the guys have more raw talent and for the most part they were taking chances and trying to be themselves.
Too many of the girls last night seemed robotic as if they had been programmed to perform. Except for about three of the girls, none of the others took any real risks. Whether or not this is the guy's year only time will tell.
The Best: Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin, and Chris Daughtry were my favorites tonight. I'd probably put Ace in that pack too if I was 13 and had a sex change operation.
Who will be going home?
Pack your bags: Not as easy to pick as one would think. Certainly in my opinion Bobby Bennett will be one of them. That leaves Bucky Covington and Patrick Hall. It could go either way, but since Patrick led off the show and people had more time to forget about phoning to save him, my choices are Bobby Bennett and Patrick Hall. I'll give you my opinion on what America decided tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Girlfriend: What are you working on?
Me: A recap of tonight’s American Idol
Girlfriend: Oh? Aren’t you writing the political stuff anymore?
Me: On occasion. When the mood strikes. I didn’t think you were that interested. I have to practically tie you down to get you to read any of that. And if I talk about it you always seem totally bored.
Girlfriend: Well, I’m not interested. Not really. But I thought you might be writing about this ports thingy.
Me: Ports thingy? What about the Ports thingy?
Girlfriend: You know, about Bush selling the the ports to the Arabs.
Me: Well, technically he isn’t actually doing the selling himself. Or so we’re told. I think they are buying them from a British company.
Girlfriend: Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. Maybe you should write about that.
Me: I had planned to write a little something tomorrow. Why the sudden interest? I though you approved of practically everything Bush did?
Me: I thought you fell asleep during that movie?
Girlfriend: Well, I saw enough. Don’t make such a big deal out of it and don’t give me a bunch of technicalities. Just write it.
And with that she left the room. So not being one to want to disappoint a loved one, I am now writing about it. And the smell emanating from this deal is permeating all over the country. The stench is so bad, it could give the numerous Dairy Farms up the road a run for their money in that department. You know that when my girlfriend is interested in something political, and the Dems and Repugs on Capitol Hill are holding hands and singing “We’d like to teach the world to sing” that something is either very much amiss or Pat Roberson has been right all along and the rapture is taking place.
The Dubai Ports World acquisition of the London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation is being portrayed as the operation of free markets in which the United States should have no objection or interference. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
DPW was formed by a September 2005 merger of Dubai Port Authority and Dubai Port International. DPW is 100 percent owned by the government of the Emirate of Dubai via a Dubai government holding company called the PCFC (Ports, Customs, and Free Zone Corporation). The government holding company is headed by the ruler of Dubai, Shiek Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who took over on Jan. 4, 2006, following the death of his father, Sheikh Maktoum.
Last month, George Bush nominated one of DPW's senior executives, David C. Sanborn, to serve as maritime administrator, an important transportation appointment reporting directly to Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. Mr. Sanford, a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Maritime Academy, joined DPW in 2005. Before being nominated to be maritime administrator, Mr. Sanford served as DPW's director of Operations for Europe and Latin America.
And why should we be afraid?
Dubai has been far from faultless in the War on Terrorism. The 9-11 Commission Report documents how al-Qaida and the 9-11 terrorists who flew the airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon used Dubai as a banking facility and a country of transit. Dubai continues to work actively with the radical religious clerics ruling Iran, serving both as a vacation home and a capital haven to many of the wealthy mullahs and their families, including former Prime Minister Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who is the first mullah to be considered a billionaire while the Iranian per capita GDP continues to be calculated at around $1,800.
By the end of 2006, Dubai calculates that some $300 billion will have been moved from Iran to Dubai by over 400,000 Iranians. Iranians who travel to Dubai for business are estimated to constitute 25 percent of Dubai's population.”
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Left unmentioned is how components for nuclear reactors passed through Dubai on their way to Iran and North Korea. But it’s not much to be worried about is it?
Okay, Corsi, here’s a bone. Now go away.
Now today we hear that Bush was totally ignorant of this deal until a few days ago when somehow word of it got out and a few people began to think this wasn’t such a hotsy totsy idea. Yeah right, sure, uh-huh. And if you believe that I got a few hundred acres of prime real estate sitting on the strip in Las Vegas I’ll let you have it if you're brave enough to stand under a tree, put an apple on your head, and let Dick Cheney shoot it off.
Bush and his family have spent a good portion of their lives dealing with Arab countries and their numerous companies and conglomerates. They’re as close to kissing cousins as you can get. And if you had watched Fahrenheit instead of calling Michael Moore an obnoxious fat man you would have been clued into this already. But now we are to believe that Bush knew nothing about it, and now that he does he has had all of a few days to examine it and everything is A-Ok. “Just trust me,” he says.
I have this picture of a recent conversation taking place between Pa Bush and George Jr.
Pa: Well, son, there’s going to be a big stink about this Dubai deal if word gets out.
Jr.: But daddy, this deal is worth billions of dollars to all of our buddies and friends. We can’t turn on them now. I mean, aren’t they the ones who helped us get rich so I could take all those nice vacations down on the ranch?
Pa: I’m not saying we shouldn’t let the deal go through, sonny. We just have to think of an angle to cover your backside should word get out. I told you to keep Cheney’s faulty shooting eye in the news a little longer than we wouldn’t have a problem.
Jr: Angle, what’s an angle daddy?
Pa: An angle is……never mind. I know, when word comes out we’ll just tell everybody you were clueless. That you didn’t know about it. But when you found out you checked it over thoroughly and everything is A-Ok.
Jr: But pappy, won’t people think I’m stupid if I tell them I didn’t know nuthin' about it?
Pa: They already think that so it won’t matter.
Jr: Oh. Okay, pappy.
Isn’t this the same Bush Crime Family that has gone out of their way to instill fear of terrorism for the past five years in order to keep Jr. and his money grubbing friends in power? And now they are telling us,
“You don’t have anything to fear, at least not this one time until I tell you when to be afraid again. You can trust me. I am your buddy. Have I ever lied to you before?”
Well, do I really need to answer that? Didn’t think so. But what do I really think of all of this? I’ll let that great Repugnican, Congresswoman Sue Myrick from the great state of North Carolina say it all:
In regards to selling ports to the United Arab Emriates, not just no, but HELL NO!
Sincerely,
Couldn’t top that if I tried.
She was given the privilege of going first, and if memory serves me correctly they always try to lead the season off with a strong performance. This was no exception. Mandisa was the young woman who Simon made a wise crack about during the auditons saying they needed a bigger stage because of her weight. He later apologized to her so hopefully we’ve heard the last of those jokes. Mandisa surprised me right off the bat by choosing the Heart song, "Never". The last person to sing Heart was Carrie Underwood when she sang Alone last year. That performance was good, but Mandisa nailed it in every aspect for me. Her look, her outfit, her vocals and her stage presence was right on the money. You couldn’t ask for a better performance than that and she moved around on the stage as if she were as light as a feather. Unless she falters in the next two weeks, she should make the top twelve easily and is an early favorite of mine in this competition.
I like Kellie, I think she’s real and personal and she has a good voice. That being said there comes a time when you have to stop talking about how difficult your life has been and get on with the show. After a while, at least for me, the sob stories begin to wear a little thin. Even Fantasia who had a difficult upbringing didn’t talk about it every time she was on stage. Kellie sang "How Far" and it was just okay. But what I like about her is that she hasn’t had the lifelong training some of these contestants have had so even when she’s down a bit, her sincerity comes through. I also think her nerves may have been getting to her but she should make it through to the next round. And everyone in the world knows about what your mom and dad did so that should suffice for the rest of the season.
Becky is the raging beauty on the show. In other words, she has the beauty pageant look but so far hasn’t had the vocals to match. She sang "Because the Night" and her vocals weren’t bad but they weren’t better than okay either. If it weren’t for her looks, she wouldn’t have made it this far on vocal talent alone. That being said, she’s far better than Lisa Wilson of two seasons ago who was a beauty queen that couldn’t’ sing a note. Becky could hang around. She wasn’t the worst of the night and if there are enough guys out there with huge testosterone levels she could hang around. But it’s iffy.
For me she was a surprise tonight. Ayla is the high school basketball player that everybody likes to pick on because of her privileged background. I never could figure that out. She is obviously not the only one who comes from a well-to-do family, but I guess people have to single someone out every year. As for being a basketball player, I don’t care what background you have, it’s not easy playing basketball. It is hard work and why people complain because she says as much is something I don’t understand. Oh yeah, she did sing didn’t she? She sang "Reflection" from Mulan. It surprised me that she would make such a difficult choice. Privileged or not she certainly doesn't back down from a challenge. As Randy might say on occasion, she was feeling it. The vocals weren’t absolutely perfect, but on a difficult song I thought she did quite well and I like her. She should stick around another week, and if she continues to improve could make it to the top twelve.
Tonight she sang "Midnight Train to
It was as if she had drank from the fountain of youth, regressed to the age of 17 and taken to the stage again. Every last detail of this performance spelled Fantasia. It was as if somebody had put in a video tape of Fantasia for
This is probably where I disagreed with the judges entirely. There is a huge difference between getting out there and belting a song at the top of your lungs, and vocalizing a song intimately and making it your own. The song was "To Where You Are", and I really liked the way she sang it. I think if she was recording it and you were playing it on a CD player, most people would have liked it a lot better. The judges didn’t seem to like her at all and I felt bad for her because if you understand what she was trying to do with the song, then you know it was a lot better than they gave her credit for. But it is only the big brassy performances on this show that people seem to understand. You can check out her singing in another performance by clicking here. There is no doubt the girl has talent, and I hope she gets another chance to prove it. Sadly she may not.
Brenna is this year’s bad girl of the competition. She’s the one everybody loves to hate and they judge her on that first and her vocal ability a very distant second. She sang "You Are the Sunshine of my Life", which is a safe song to sing. It was too safe for the judges. They wanted to see her rebellious attitude. I thought she was okay on the song, and would be somewhere in the middle of the pack based on that alone. Whether she goes home or not depends on if she has been able to gather up enough fans who like the rebellious attitude. I don’t think she has had time to do that and I don’t think she’ll get the time. If she makes it through this week, she’ll really have to give a heck of a performance next week to keep going.
Heather was the contestant who went through the
Of all the contestants on the show tonight, Melissa has had less screen time than any of them. To put it bluntly, most viewers were probably asking who the hell is Melissa McGhee? Up until tonight we haven’t seen her sing once, neither in the city auditions or the
She sang "When The Lights Go Down". Frankly, her performance was no better or no worse than the others in the middle of the pack. In fact I liked her better than at least four or five others on tonight's show. I hope we get to see her at least one more week to have a better idea of what she can or cannot do. If she had been one of the featured performers, she probably did well enough to make it to the next round. But you can’t build a fan base if you’re the invisible woman, can you?
Lisa is another one of the very young contestants. I loved her audition, but just like
She and Paris are similar in many ways. No, Lisa isn’t trying to be a young Fantasia; it was more like she was trying to imitate Latoya London. But like
Lisa sang a song called "I Am Changing", and while she may be growing up, I don’t think her performance has changed much in three years. Of course the judges fawned, and I’m sure a lot of other people did, but every time I look at her I’m going to see a kid who’s been dragged out by a stage mother to every vocal lesson possible, every audition (she appeared in the L.A. production of Lion King) there was, and has been wrapped into a nice pretty package. Look folks, there is a world of difference between going out and putting on a good show and going out and giving a good singing performance and performing a song from the heart so that it means something. And not to keep harping on a subject, but it seems odd that some people keep harping about Ayla’ s privileged upbringing yet give Lisa a pass because of her youth. You’ll see Lisa in the final twelve for sure though, and unless she falters badly it appears the judges are going to push her for the rest of the run. I hate it when they are so obvious, and maybe that's what's really bothering me.
Kinnick sang "Get Here". She can sing loud and hold notes a long time, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen from hundreds of other contestants. I agree with Simon on this one. Imitation will get you no where unless you’re a perky little sixteen or seventeen year old. The vocals weren’t that bad at all but to me it was just a boring repeat of something we’ve seen way too much of and better from the likes of Latoya London and Jennifer Hudson. Not to mention that it looked as if she was in pain the whole time. Frankly, I was surprised she was chosen over the other girl in Hollywood who went up in the elevator with her. She may make it past this week but it’s a roll of the dice.
I wasn’t very excited during most of the show or at least hadn't been since Mandisa. I was ready to fall asleep and then Katherine came on. I had almost forgotten about Katherine. Katherine sang “Since I Fell For You” and she absolutely nailed this in every way imaginable. And it all looked so totally natural, something that was sorely lacking in Lisa and Paris tonight. Her stage presence was excellent, her pitch perfect, and she just has to be one of the favorites. I’m sure we’ll see her in the final twelve for sure and if there is any justice, she should go far in this competition. At least that is my hope.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
I know a few people might wish that I write nothing but political stuff as I once did. But let’s face it, in writing political stuff I was a guppy in a sea of sharks. There are thousands of political blogs out there on both sides of the aisle. Some of them are good, some not so good. You can even find a few in my links off to the side, and if you visit those pages, you’ll find links to hundreds of more. I was simply one small voice, and trying to come up with something new and imaginative every day about the evils of Bushco can be really depressing.
But I’m not about to give up the political ghost completely. I’ve already written two political articles here, and I haven’t yet been on this blog for a week. As we get closer and closer to the election this year I’ll probably be writing more.
The fact is there are a lot of people who are political and are espousing their opinions in one form or another. It can take many shapes and forms. Sometime last year, when I was writing my fictional story about a gay teenager over at The Sims 2 web site, I received an email complaining about two things. One was that every once in a while, even in my blog on that site, I would get quite political. The other complaint was that they didn’t like a certain part of my story because it had become too political in nature. They were of the opinion that a gaming site was no place to espouse your political philosophies, that people shouldn’t be bombarded with political messages when they just want to have fun. She said in essence that she works, raises a family, and when she came home in the evening she didn’t want to be bothered with the events taking place in the real world. I suppose so, but I certainly didn’t agree with her opinion.
Of course none of them had a story about a gay teenager trying to cope with the realities of her sexual identity either. Also in my story Laurie and Dag, there is a girl who decides to have an abortion for various complicated reasons. I tried to make it as sensitive as possible, to make people understand why I believe in a woman’s right to choose, and how difficult of a decision it must be. And yet, I did not receive one email of complaint about that (although I expected to), while I did receive several complaining about the fact that my story dealt with a gay teenager. So I still have to wonder if the person who complained about my political writings wasn’t really more disturbed about what that opinion was then the fact that I dared to give it on a gaming site.
There were also those that would design clothes for their make believe Sims with anti-Bush messages. It was something I did myself. I also did one in regards to Bush and Blair. I think the British must have a better sense of humor because it was one of my most popular creations.
Probably the most disturbing incident came when one of the readers of my story, who also happened to be gay and had said so in her profile, had someone leave a message in her guestbook telling her she was certainly going to hell. They deleted the guestbook entry, but if they had reported it, I’m sure the person who wrote it would have been banned or received some kind of warning.
That’s one thing about The Sims. It is all inclusive. You have the ability to let your Sims be gay if that is what you desire and I have to applaud Maxis for that. They did hedge their bets though when it comes time to marry. Gay Sims are considered joined, not married, but I’ve already written an opinion about that and I may put it up on this blog in the future.
So we all have political opinions. They can certainly spout to the surface at almost anytime and as you can see almost anywhere. There is of course many of the younger Simmers who were simply echoing their parents political viewpoints, but there were just as many who were giving their opinions that they had formed on their own based on the events of the world around them. But the fact that so many of them are thinking about it is a good sign.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Meredith’s Opening Narration:
After careful consideration and many sleepless night, Here’s what I’ve decided: There is no such thing as a grown up. We move on, we move out, we move away from our family. But those basic insecurities and all those old wounds just grow up with us. And just when we think that life and circumstance have truly once and for all forced us to become an adult………..We get bigger, we get taller we get older, but we’re still a bunch of kids running around the playground trying desperately to fit in.
The Patients:
Pamela Calvin who was having spontaneous orgasms, Chuck Eaton with a tumor who only had a 25 percent chance of survival if he had it removed. Jake Burton, 15, with skull tumors (think of the kid in the movie Mask) that were growing inward.
We finally meet the best friend/lover, Mark, who was McDreamy’s ex-best friend who slept with Derek’s wife. George continues his crush on Meredith who doesn’t even know he exists. The ongoing romance between Christina and
Derek’s feelings toward Mark go into overload when he punches out Mark at the same time Mark is hitting on Meredith. Did he punch him out because he was hitting on Meredith, because he slept with his wife Addison or was it a combination of the two? Dr. Burke spends most of the episode angry with Christina not only because she had kept her old apartment, but was secretive about it. Mark finds out that
How the medical cases were resolved:
Pam, the woman with the spontaneous orgasms is told that an operation might fix it.
As Derek prepares to operate on Jake, the boy with the skull tumors and facial disfigurements, Mark (who is a plastic surgeon), says he can also fix the boy’s disfigurement. Later, Derek tells the boy and his parents that it is too risky to have both surgeries because the tumor growth is very bad and the boy could die. After the boy talks to his parents it is agreed that both operations will be performed. The boy dies during the operation to remove the skull tumors making the plastic surgery unnecessary. After his death, Alex and Izzy convince Mark to do the plastic surgery anyway, because that was what the boy wanted.
Get out the handkercheifs:
Meredith’s visit to her father’s house, the conversation between Izzy and the Orgasm patient when she tells Izzy why having them is not as good of a thing as Izzy thinks it is, the boy telling his parents why he should have the plastic surgery, Alex, Christina and Mark performing the surgery after his death and later his parents coming in to see him. George’s speech at the end of the show to Meredith when he professes his love.
Most unexpected moment:
As usual, at the end. First, George finally telling Meredith that he loves her and then Meredith answering by removing George’s shirt to begin making love. Fade to black of course.
Weakest moment:
We are never told exactly what was causing the woman’s spontaneous orgasms or how an operation was going to cure her. A rather glaring error of omission.
What they said:
Meredith’s Mother: I was going at it all night in the on call room, what’s your excuse……..I tell you that man makes me purr like a kitten, he is making me growl like a tiger.
*****
Christina: What the hells wrong with you.
Meredith: My mom is a filthy whore
*****
Chuck Eaton: With all due respect there is no way you can make a man dying a slow death comfortable.
*****
Dr. Weber (to Mark): Did you put your weight behind it?
*****
Mark: I heard about you all the way back in
Meredith: I heard about you all the way here in
Mark: We’re the dirty mistresses
Meredith: I suppose we are.
George (watching Mark and Meredith): Why is he suturing his own face?
Christine: To turn me on.
*****
Meredith (talking about Mark): McSexy wants some X-rays to check for fractures. I think it’s a bad idea if I take him.
George: Why is it a bad idea?
Christina: McSexy?
Meredith and Izzy: Umm…no.
Izzy: McYummy?
Meredith and Izzy: No
Meredith, after a second of contemplation: McSteamy.
Izzy: Ah, there it is.
George: I’m choking back some McVomit
*****
Izzy: You know how when you haven’t had sex in a while and you forget how good it is…..It’s like a beast, a beast that was asleep. Now the beast is wide awake and it wants to be fed and the food that Alex gave it was good food, George.
*****
Chuck Eaton (with tears in his eys as Meredith is videotaping): This is a message for Suzie Sullivan, my college sweetheart and the love of my life. I loved you with my whole heart, I never stopped loving you, You have been the finest whore to ever walk the planet earth.
*****
George (talking about Pam’s spontaneousorgams): It’s not exactly something you want to cure.
*****
Meredith: You seem like such a nice man, wouldn’t you rather they remember you that way?
Chuck Eaton: No.
*****
Jake Burton (to Christina): You really have nice eyes you know. I’m just saying you’re mostly all surly and hard core, but your eyes aren’t. I’m really big on eyes. They’re the only part of my face where tumors aren’t growing.
Christina: You’ve got nice eyes.
Jake Burton: You do get that I’m jailbait, don’t you?
******
Christina: I don’t see what McDreamy sees in
Alex: She’s McHot
George: Yeah, she is.
*****
Izzy: You know I’m not hungry, and neither is the beast.
Christina to Alex: The beast? Is that like some sly reference to your penis.
Alex: Get your mind out of the gutter you crack whore.
*****
Jake (talking to his mother about plastic surgery): Mama, I almost died when I was 10 years old and again when I was twelve, then again last year. But I’m still alive…I’m still alive…so I say we go for it….I know you think I’m perfect just the way I am…that’s your job to do that….but for once in my life I’d like to think that someone else thought that.
*****
Pam (talking to Izzy): I like sex as much as the next girl. Like in bed or even in private. But when you can’t go to the movies or drive a car, or go to church with your parents….you know that dream when you show up at your school naked?.....I would really like to wake up.
*****
Christina: I gave up my apartment twenty minutes ago.
******
Mark: What if just this once life comes down on the side of the dirty mistresses?
*****
George (to Meredith in her bedroom): I know I’m not a world renowned surgeon. I know I’m not a lot of things you have gone for in the past. I know. But, I would never leave you. I would never hurt you. And I will never stop loving you. (At which point Meredith really looks at him, as if for the first time and begins removing his clothes.)
Meredith's Closing Narration:
I’ve heard that it’s possible to grow up. I’ve just never met anyone who has done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we made for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don’t go our way. We whisper secrets with our best friends in the dark. We look for comfort where we can find it. And we hope against all logic, against all experience. Like children, we never give up hope.
A (It could have been an A plus but because of the glaring omission of what was causing the woman's orgasms and what they were doing to cure it it kept it just a small step behind the End of the World episode).
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