Lyrics Quiz: Best of 2009

The songs are listed chronologically from when I put them in my iTunes playlist that helps me track the best songs throughout the years. As always leave your guesses, both artist and song title, in the comment section or e-mail me. If you are correct I will un-bold the lyric. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them. Now onto the last lyric quiz of the year:

1. I am a weapon of massive consumption; it’s not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function. (The Fear - Lily Allen; guessed by Anonymous)
2. You hold your head up to the sky; you say “What kind of blue are you?”
3. There she goes again the dopest Ethiopian, and in other words she came through exploding in Napoleon dynamite.
4. You’re like a rain cloud if it rains mushroom cloud. Everybody hits the ground, arms folded, heads down. (Magick - Ryan Adams; guessed by Teresa)
5. We are our own devils and we make this world our hell.
6. Yes, I know, that I'm a man, man, man, man, man, man eater. But still you're surprised-prised-prised when I eat ya. (People Got a Lot of Nerve - Neko Case; guessed by Anonymous)
7. Those calendar girls ain’t got nothing on me.
8. Tonight is telling us we’re way too young. Oh, alright. I got forever on the tip of my tongue.
9. Somewhere we went wrong, our love is like a song but you won’t sing along. Have you forgotten about us?  (Don't Forget - Demi Lovato;  guessed by Anonymous)
10. Somebody’s heart is broken – it becomes your favorite song.
11. I’ve roaming around, always looking down at all I see. Painted faces fill the places I can’t reach. (Use Somebody - Kings of Leon; guessed by AJ)
12. I am champion at beer pong. Allen Iverson. Hakeem Olajuwon. (I Love College - Asher Roth; guessed by Anonymous)
13. We don’t cop plea’s, but ya’ll don’t cop nothing. Police come around don’t nobody say nothing. And you be with the cops, you (expletive deleted) is McLovin. (Chillin' - Wale featuring Lady Gaga; guessed by Rose)
14. No guilt, all pleasure. C’mon, I want to hear you yell it now: no guilt, all pleasure. (What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)? - Ben Lee; guessed by Rebekah)
15. It’s the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs.  (The Best Day - Taylor Swift;  guessed by Anonymous)
16. I’m gonna take you out tonight, I’m gonna make you feel alright. I don’t have a lot of money though we’ll be fine. No I don’t have a penny but I’ll show you a good, good time. (New in Town - Little Boots;  guessed by Anonymous)
17. Saw Cinderella in a party dress, she was looking for a nightgown. I saw the devil wrapping up his hands; he’s getting ready for the showdown. (A Dustland Fairytale - The Killers;  guessed by Anonymous)
18. I got seniority, with the sorority. So that explains why I love college. Getting brain in the library ‘cause I love knowledge when you use your medulla oblongata. (Make Her Say - Kid Cudi, Kanye West and Common; guessed by Rose)
19. You rappers singing too much. Get back to rap, you T-Paining too much. (D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune) - Jay-Z; guessed by Rose)
20. The Eiffel tower built to smaller scale. The freshest oxygen I ever inhaled. (Little Bribes - Death Cab for Cutie; guessed by Rebekah)
21. But God could be funny. At a cocktail party when listening to a good God themed joke.  (Laughing With - Regina Spektor;  guessed by Anonymous)
22. My shirt ain’t got no stripes, but I can make your (expletive deleted) whistle… like the Andy Griffin theme song. (Best I Ever Had - Drake; guessed by Rose)
23. Every beauty needs to go out with an idiot. (I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight - U2; guessed by Taylor Blue)
24. I gotta go out and buy myself one of those little black dresses ‘cause I’m so tired of this t-shirt.
25. Every day he'll make the host of Match Game give him a piggyback ride. Yeah, two hour piggyback ride, giddy up Gene.
26. My lyrics spin round like a hurricane twister so get your hologram on off of Wolf Blitzer.
27. I fell in love with you and out of love with you, and back in love with you all in the same day. (A Whole Lot Better - Brendan Benson; guessed by Taylor Blue)
28. It’s been a long time since twenty-two. I don’t remember you looking any better. But then again I don’t remember you. (Who Says - John Mayer; guessed bu Anonymous)
29. When at first I learned to speak I used all my words to fight. With him and her and you and me, ah, but it's just a waste of time. (I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers; guessed by Rebekah)
30. The moon was shining on the lake at night. Your Slayer t-shirt fit the scene just right. ((If You're Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To - Weezer; guessed by AJ)

War: What Is it Good For?

A wise man once pondered the title above, “War: what is it good for?” It is a valid question, but Edwin Starr shouldn’t have tried answering that question himself because it isn’t, “Absolutely nothing.” The actual answer is entertainment. There have been movies about war since the invention of moving pictures and Hollywood is still cranking them out with Defiance, The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Bastards all hit theaters this year. Call of Duty is one of the most popular video games with its six games (the next coming next year) in the series selling over 55 million copies. And if you went to high school undoubtedly you had to read All Quiet on the Western Front.

There is also plenty of war to be found on television; Ken Burns has done two successful documentaries for PBS. And without war, it is doubtful that there would even be a History channel who recently has its own successful documentary series WWII on HD (which you can find on iTunes if you missed it). For anyone who is a fan of war as entertainment, or has one on your Christmas list, I have a DVD set you will want to check out: The World Wars: The Complete History of WWI and WWII from History. Just how complete? How about 41 programs on 14 disks (including four bonus features) for over 25 hours of programming. I imagine if you have a History teacher on your Christmas list, you are not going to find a better gift.

The programs included are what you would expect from History and every angle from the two great wars are covered, air battles, navel battles, trench warfare, political ramifications, American, English, Russian, German points of view, episodes of Battlefield Detectives, Deep Sea Detectives and Biography, very few stones are uncovered. If there is one complaint to be had, these programs were produces individually and are thrown together into one set. So plenty of information found overlap many of the programs. If you didn’t know that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the catalyst of WWI, you will never forget after going through this set as it is mentioned quite frequently.

You can find the The World Wars: The Complete History of WWI and WWII at shop.history.com for 79.99 (that comes to just under $6.00 a DVD). For you barging shoppers, you may want to try Amazon where it is currently on sale for 40.99 (which is less than $3.00 per disk, see below).

Previewing Explorer: Narco State and Inside the Iraq War

Tonight, the National Geographic Channel takes a look at two very different wars our government is currently waging. At 8:00, the war that hits close to home is the War on Drugs which is covered in Explorer: Narco State. While at 9:00, the channel goes Inside the Iraq War from the award winning producers of Inside 9/11 and Inside the Vietnam War.

For Explorer Narco State, former The View co-host Lisa Ling heads to Phoenix to follow the day to day operations of the DEA and local police as they deal with 1800 deaths of year that is cause by drugs traveling north from Mexico, with the Arizona city being the front line of the War. Part of the show features Ling follows a kidnapping case believed to be drug related as the police try to recover the hostage safely. Here is a preview:



The other program, Inside the Iraq War, follows the six year and counting war the starts with the invasion and details major moments including Shock and Awe, Abu Grab, and Saddam Hussein’s capture all the way up to the first visit from President Barack Obama with interviews. The two hour special also features interviews from about thirty military men and woman who spent time in the desert including Jessica Lynch and a few that left body parts and friends over in Iraq. Be warned that the program does have some graphic images. Check out a preview below:

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CX

Quote of the Week: Dan, somebody’s going to have to stick their finger up your butt and I think we’d both prefer it to be Jillian. (Dr. Sands, Mercy)

Song of the Week: Informer – Snow (How I Met Your Mother)

Big News of the Week: TV at Great Prices: To avoid having to talk about Tiger Woods again, I have moved the Deal of the Week up because Amazon is currently is having a TV on DVD sale with sets at the lowest I have ever seen anywhere. Here are some shows that I highly recommend that should please any television fan on your Christmas list, or just want it for yourself (click here for the full list of almost 300 deals, and not these prices are only for a limited time and most of the series sets have equally low individual seasons):

Veronica Mars - The Complete Series ($62.49)
Friday Night Lights 1.x ($14.99)
Rome: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] ($83.99)
Chuck 1.x ($17.99)
Rescue Me 1.x ($20.99)
Deadwood: The Complete Series ($97.49)
The Big Bang Theory 1.x ($19.99)
Pushing Daisies 1.x ($19.99)
Dead Like Me: The Complete Collection ($42.99)
Dexter 3.x ($18.99)
How I Met Your Mother 1.x ($14.99)
Everwood 1.x & 2.x ($38.99)
Chuck 1.x [Blu-ray] ($29.99)
Pushing Daisies 1.x [Blu-ray] ($23.99)


The Big Bang Theory: Always a good episode whenever there is a heavy dose of Penny and Sheldon interaction and Sheldon teaching Penny physics that failed as bad as I expected (hopefully there is an upcoming episode where Penny tries to teach Sheldon something which on paper should be even funnier). You can download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Castle: The last time I wrote about this show I complained how whenever an actor I know shows up I instantly figure out they are the killer. And wouldn’t you know it, this episode had two (Riley Finn, the second Buffy alum in a row, and Shawn Hunter) and neither turned out to do the crime. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sure to check out my chat with Stana Katic.

Mercy: I liked at her Veterans meeting, everyone else there looked disheveled and dressing one step above a homeless person, but Ronnie struts in looking absurdly hot in a designer coat. Gotta love television. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Mercy on iTunes.

Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins: Well that sucked. How can you go so slow on the balance stage that five people can pass you, even after falling off and having a one stage lead. Hopefully the show puts a moratorium on inviting Kenny, Evan and Johnny because they have made their last couple challenges lame. You can stream recent episodes over at mtv.com. You can also download Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins on iTunes.

Survivor: Samoa: Now that is balls. Russell pulls out the hidden immunity idol and puts it around his neck and then doesn’t even play it. They should have voted him out just for that. They should do more of these double eliminations (with two separate tribal and immunity challenges instead of the two for ones like they have done in the past) as it can beat the doldrums that some of the later episodes have in a season when there are fewer people around. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Community: That may have been the greater brawl in the history of television and almost as gay as the one my high school production of West Side Story, where I played Hispanic #3, staged. And yes you read my role right, I didn’t go to the most diverse school in the country. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Free Download of the Week: Holiday Sampler (iTunes): Last week I pointed you to Amazon’s 25 Days of Christmas Music and now iTunes if getting in the giving spirit with this twenty song sampler featuring holiday cheer from Weezer, Sarah McLachlan, Musiq Soulchild, Barry Manilow, and Stephan Colbert. Yes Stephan Colbert singing Another Christmas Song (that’s the title of the song).

Video of the Week: It is disappointed that Adam Sandler didn’t put out a proper video for any of his three versions of The Chanukah Song, but this Neil Diamond version more than makes up for it. Here’s hoping Neil gets around to recording the full trilogy.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Survivor, Thursday at 8:00 on CBS: Thanks to Russell, this season started out very exciting, but thanks to the ineptitude of Galu, it went downhill after the merge as none of them realized that Russell was getting them to vote out their own until they realized that they no longer had the majority. Hopefully Jaison and/or Mick wise up and we get some fireworks in the final two episodes and not just lie down and let Russell walk away with a million dollars.

Around the Tubes vol. XXXIII

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Califiornication, Big Love, Chuck, Parenthood, and Life After Film School.

- Today at 3:00 (Noon PT), log onto sho.com to chat with Californication star David Duchovany about this Sunday’s season three finale which sees the return of Madeline Zima.

- It’s that time of the year and even the folks of Juniper Creek are getting into the Christmas spirit with their own eight song album of holiday classics. Head over to HBO.com to download them and listen to them in the widget below. And don’t forget Big Love season four starting up January 10 at 9:00 (and for those of you like me and catching it on DVD, season three is being released January 5).



- Here is a five minute “Super Preview” of Chuck (also premiere in January 10 at 9:00)featuring interviews with the cast. If that is not enough Chuck for you, TVGuide.com has an interview with Zach Levi.

Season Three Super Preview


- Parenthood was relegated to midseason to give time to recast Lauren Graham on the show and here is a first look at her on the show coming sometime after the Olympics finish:

Parenthood


- In other NBC news, NBC.com is getting into the Christmas spirit letting stream popular shows during the holidays. Look below for details:

All the episodes of the current seasons of Heroes, Trauma and Mercy are online!
30 Rock – Every 9 days, 3 more episodes from Season 4 will go live between December 11 and January 14
The Office – Every 9 Days, 3 more episodes from Season 5 go live between December 11 and January 21
Chuck – Starting now, 5 episodes from Season 2 will go live every 13 days until the January 10 premiere of Season 3

- Coming this Sunday to Fox Movie Channel on their Life After Film School show is Avatar producer, Jon Landau.

I Want My Music Television vol. LXXI

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Must Be Santa – Bob Dylan



Adam Sandler once famously proclaimed “Bob Dylan was born a Jew, then he wasn’t and now he’s back.” And now for his first holiday album, Bob Dylan is saluting the patron saint of Christmas in this odd song (he inexplicitly slices recent US presidents with reindeer names) with an even weirder video where, for reason only Dylan knows, he wears a stringy wig. Someone needs to keep off the eggnog.


¡Happy Birthday Guadalupe! – The Killers



The Killers are also ready for Christmas with their new festive, albeit south of the border, tune. Complete with a video, half that looks like outtakes from the When We Were Young video featuring a bearded Luke Perry look-a-like, the other half looks like outtakes from a Mexican horror film. Feliz Navidad.


Full Steam – David Gray and Annie Lennox



This video reminds me of the classic age of music videos when all of them had vague narratives that morph into a performance piece in some non descript area that really has nothing to do with the song. And I couldn’t stop laughing at their movements and especially David Gray’s weird mouth thing. It is too bad this won’t get enough attation because there could have been a decent SNL spoof here (the video is funnier than any Digital Short in recent memory).


I Wanna Rock – Snoop Dogg



In a story I broke Tuesday, Snoop Dogg has a new album out (see: Boss Dogg Chilin, Lookin Like a Million) and this is really the only song worth listening to. And it looks like Snoop wants to add superhero to his already long list of extra-curricular activities.

Feed Your iPod the CD vol. II

Feed Your iPod was created to highlight songs that may not have been hits, or even released as singles, but deserve a much bigger audience. And now I have posted enough for a second CD. Of course Feed Your iPod is just a catchy title and any of these can be for any mp3 devise, just your computer and now you can make a CD out of them as the first set comes in at 78:57. You can even help create volume three by emailing me (or use the comment section) song suggestions and a short description on way everyone should have it on their iPod for me to post. Click the links below to be taken to iTunes or the Amazon MP3 widet at the bottom where you can sample the songs or use the label function to scroll through what I had to say about these songs when I originally posted about them and full song previews.

1. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room – John Mayer

2. Two Wrongs – Wyclef Jean featuring Claudette Ortiz

3. Breakdown – Handsome Boy Modeling School

4. Like a Feather – Nikka Costa

5. Fireflies – Rhett Miller Featuring Rachael Yamagata

6. I Got Mine – The Black Keys

7. Bold as Love – Jimi Hendrix Experience

8. ‘Til I Get Over You – Michelle Branch

9. If God Would Send His Angels – U2

10. Hitchhiker Joe – Rugburns

11. Summertime – D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

12. On the Radio – Regina Spektor

13. Summer in the City – The Lovin’ Spoonful

14. Broken Hearted – Eric Clapton

15. Mass Appeal – Gang Starr

16. We’re Going to Be Friends – The White Stripes

17. Follow the Leader – Eric B. and Rakim

18. Regulate – Warren G featuring Nate Dogg

19. Spin the Bottle – The Juliana Hatfield 3

Boss Dogg Chillin, Lookin Like a Million

Sometimes it hard to remember that Snoop Dogg still raps with all his acting, reality show, porn producing, wrestling enthusiast, product pitcher, Steelers and UFC cheerleader, and just general celebrity. It is hard to remember because despite releasing nine albums (six solo, three collaborations) this decade, he has only amassed one massive hit. And if you think about it, Snoop has had more hits being featured on a Dr. Dre track then ones credited to Snoop himself.

So it is not surprising on his tenth solo outing Malice N Wonderland, the best song on the set is the one that was produced by Dre. I Wanna Rock takes the intro from the seminal rap classic It Takes Two by D.J. EZ Rock and Rob Base and loops it into its own beat and turns the first three words by Rob Base into the hook to great effects even if Snoop shouts out Michael Vick who you would think would be the nemesis of the Doggfather. Though the only other producer who seems to get the best out of Snoop, Pharrell of the Neptunes, contribute to the album the slow jam Special featuring Brandy.

Other guest fall flat too, Soulja Boy Tell ‘em continues to suck massively with his auto-tune abusing Pronto with stupid lyrics like “I don’t freestyle because my rhymes aren’t free.” Lil’ John is resurrected from obscurity for 1800 that sounds like every other song he has ever produced. The-Dream, whoever that is, for some reason gets two spots (both of which he produced) on the album but also drowns his voice in unnecessary auto-tune which just makes the tracks worthless. Old schooler Kokain appears on Secrets which feature a sample Talking in Your Sleep by The Romantics that rivels anything by Puff Daddy has done for lamest 80’s sample ever.

The one guest spot that does actually work is by someone who doesn’t need any auto-tune R. Kelly (who recently released his own album that I won’t be reviewing because it didn’t feature any new chapters of Trapped in the Closet) on Pimpin Ain’t EZ which sounds like a fun extension of That’s That. But much like every album since Doggystyle, there is no reason to buy Malice N Wonderland in whole, just cherry pick the few good tracks and hope Snoop wises up and gets Dre to produce his whole album next time.

Song to Download – I Wanna Rock

Malice N Wonderland gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Previewing Men of a Certain Age

A warning to men younger than a certain age, watching Men of a Certain Age can feel like getting a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future. The three lead characters pushing fifty act as worst case scenarios for those of us in the twenty or thirties. There is Ray Romano (Ice Age), recently separated, living in a hotel and has resigned to a life of gambling additions. Andre Braugher (The Mist) manages to have a loving marriage, but that barely makes up for his expanding gut, receding hairline, and the lack of respect that comes along with working at his dad’s dealership. Scott Backula (Quantum Leap) is the playboy of the bunch that has to come to terms with his dream of being a successful actor just isn’t going to happen.

The three college buddies routinely get together to hike, eat and talk about things I fear will happen to me, the copious amounts of creams and pills that need to be taken, working in a dead end job, the prospects of dating in your fifties (granted Ray’s first date is the best episode of the early batch), basically everything I do not want to happen to me, these guys are going through, and it is extremely depressing to watch.

Oddly enough, the most entertaining characters on Men of a Certain Age are the background characters, not the three man one. Another of the better episodes include when Ray spends the night hanging out with his bookie that is always good for some comic relief throughout the early episode. Same goes for his employees at his party supply store and the token white guy who works with Braugher. But they are still not enough of a distraction for men of a younger age who fear of turning into Men of a Certain Age.

Men of a Certain Age airs Mondays at 10:00 on TNT and is preceded by new episodes of The Closer at 9:00.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CIX

Quote of the Week: Like, I grew up watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I practiced these moves. I actually have a shot at this. (Casey Cooper, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins)

Song of the Week: Girlfriend – Matthew Sweet (Trauma)

Big News of the Week: Tiger Woods: When Tiger Woods crashed his car in a post Thanksgiving romp, I could care less and though all the losers refreshing TMZ for updates needed to find something better to do with their time. He didn’t hurt anyone (except himself), he wasn’t drunk, he could easily pay for any damage. As a wise man once said, he didn’t kill nobody, he didn’t rape nobody. We all make mistake, just let him be.

But all that changed when it came out that one of Tiger’s alleged mistresses was one that appeared on Tool Academy. And not even one of the hot chicks. And the irony being that is was the one that stormed off the show when her Tool’s other girlfriend showed up. Apparently she doesn’t mind being the other woman when the dude is loaded. And just when you thought it couldn’t get better, she went on to say that Tiger had a fear that he would walk in on her having sex with Derik Jeter or, wait for it… David Boreanaz. Seriously, the dude from Angel. I don’t even fear walking in on my mistress hooking up with him. This is just the story that keeps on giving.

Now if you excuse me, I have to find something better to do with my life.


Trauma: Holy E.B. Farnum sighting! It took me awhile to recognize him without the stringy hair. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Trauma on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: Well that was excited. Sure there were some loose ends I would have liked for them to tie up, but it is hard to complain about the finale. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins: It is always a sad day when Casey goes home. She is easily the most entertaining reality star MTV has produced this decade even if she participates on a competition show with zero physical prowess. With that said I hope she is on every Challenge for the foreseeable future. You can stream recent episodes over at mtv.com. You can also download Real World-Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins on iTunes.

Survivor: Samoa: Has anyone ever been blindsided more in a season without being the one voted off than Shambo. This is about the fifth time she has been as shocked as the person going home at the outcome of the votes. But Galu will go down as the worst tribe in the history of the show. How do you go into a merge doubling the other tribe and let them vote four of yours straight to make the numbers even? With Shambo on the outs of both tribe, should make for an interesting vote this week. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Free Download of the Week: 25 Days of Free Christmas Music (Amazon MP3): Amazon is getting into the spirit of giving this holiday season by giving away a new song every day up until Christmas. And for those that missed the first week, each song stays free up until Christmas.

Deal of the Week: Top Holiday Deals: Still looking for a good Christmas gift, Amazon has great deals every hour until it is too late for the gifts to get shipped by Christmas.

Video of the Week: When I released my list of The 100 Hottest Hot Chicks of the 00’s, Rachel Bilson nearly split the list at 51. But that was before the nude scene from an upcoming movie of hers was leaked and surprisingly after seeing this, not only would it not put her higher on my list, but I am not sure if she would even make it if I were to redo it now. Check out the behind the scenes footage to see why (obviously not safe for work):

Rachel Bilson's Deleted Sex Scene from Rachel Bilson

Next Week Pick of the Week: Men of a Certain Age, Monday at 10:00 on TBS: Look for a full review of the show coming tomorrow.


If you remember back when I asked some of my buddies what The Best New Shows of Fall 2009 were, a couple more recently shared their ballots if you are interested on how the list took shape.

TV Screener

Tapeworthy

Daemon's TV

Around the Tubes vol. XXXII

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Alice, Shaquille O’Neal, Chuck, Haven, Community, and Harry Potter.

- One last Alice promo before its premiere this Sunday on Syfy.

Alice: The Queen of Hearts


- Coming tonight to Showtime tonight at 11:00 is Shaquille O’Neal Presents: All-Star Comedy Jam – Live from South Beach hosted by D.L. Hughley for those in need of a laugh.

- Another week, another Chuck promo. Hopefully this over promotion leads to some decent viewership because NBC doesn’t have much going for it these days. And be sure to mark your calendar for January 10 when it does return.

A Whole New Chuck


- Another one of Steven King’s work is coming to television, this time his novella The Colorado Kid is coming to Syfy sometime 2010 under the name Haven.

- Community is getting into the holiday spirit while filming their upcoming episode that will feature someone Chevy Chase should be familier with. Check out this video get get a holiday greeting from the cast and find out who from Chase’s past will be showing up.

Community Celebrations


- Just a reminder that it is Harry Potter for ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas (just do not ask my how Harry Potter is related to Christmas) and will be airing exclusive footage from the upcoming Blu-Ray release of the Ultimate Editions of Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets this Tuesday. For the full rundown of this year’s festivities, check out ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas 2009 Schedule.

I Want My Music Television vol. LXX

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Brick by Boring Brick – Paramore



I would say the new Paramore video is Alice in Wonderland on a psychedelic trip, but the original was already that to begin with. And though it may not fit with her persona, Hayley Williams actually looks thoroughly attractive with the blonde hair and summer dress here.


Cousins – Vampire Weekend



When you hear a band is going to name their album Contra, you assume it is some pretentious political statement about the Nicaraguan rebels. But no, Vampire Weekend named their new album after one of the great video games of all time which gave way to the greatest cheat code of all time that, even though I haven’t played the game in almost two decades, I still know by heart.


Give it Up to Me – Shakira featuring Lil Wayne



I’m really not a fan of Shakira’s turn into electronic and Lil’ Wayne is the most overrated rapper of all time, but she really hasn’t looked much better than the two videos from her new album.


Remember December – Demi Lovato



I am not sure what is more disturbing, that Demi Lovato raided Rob Halford’s closet for the performance portion of the video, that she is sporting the Amy Winehouse for the girls night out scenes, or that I even watched it. At any rate, I swear this song was on the Less Than Zero soundtrack even though it actually predates the person singing the song.

We on Award Tour: 2010 Grammy Awards Nominations

Last year’s Grammy Nomination special was a good watch if not overblown with most performances paying tributes to past winners. This year was as lame as lame gets with no nod to the past except Maxwell’s excellent tribute to Michael Jackson. The Black Eyed Peas sucked massively. Sugarland was bland. And who cares about Nick Jonas and the Association? He and his brothers have only been nominated once and his new band as never played live ever. It would have been fine for the Kids Choice Awards, but not something associated with the Grammy’s. Oh and I would call the LL Cool J opening embarrassing, but this is coming from a guy who stars on an NCIS spin-off, nothing gets less credible than that.

And of course there were the award nominations which may have been the worst collection of artists ever assembled for a Grammy telecast. When they read Song of the Year, if it weren’t for the inclusion of Maxwell, I would have thought it was a VMA nomination. And Record of the Year was even worse because it was the same nominees with the Black Eyed Peas switched out for Maxwell. Best New Artist was conspicuously absent from the show, but I understood why when I saw the actual nominees. Below are some of the major categories and my thoughts (for all 109 categories, including one that has Michael J. Fox, Richard Dreyfuss, Jimmy Carter and Carrie Fisher battling it out, head over to Grammy.com):

Record of the Year
Halo - Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Who Will Win: Halo
Who Should Win: Use Somebody

I have a feeling (no crappy song reference intended) that Beyonce is going to go home with more than a few Grammy’s this year (she leads the nominations with ten; but keep in mind there are an absurd amount of R&B categories), they have loved her in the past and with the amount of nominations she garnered, they still do. So what is the dude who wrote the song basically reproduced the same song for Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis. Of course, keep in mind the Joe Satriani stealing Viva la Vida won this award last year. Hopefully Use Somebody wins because it was truly the best song of the last twelve months.


Album of the Year
I Am...Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame - Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band
Fearless - Taylor Swift

Who Will Win: I Am...Sasha Fierce
Who Should Win: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

Remember the good old days when the Grammy’s were considered too old, when Herbie Hancock was beating out Kanye West, Amy Winehouse (or as Ringo Starr says, Amy White House) and Foo Fighters? Now they look like as if MTV were doing the nominations. With any luck everyone else splits the youth vote and the Dave Matthews Band. But then again, the Grammy’s didn’t even bother to put LeRoi Moore in the In Memoriam section last year so I won’t hold my breath.


Best Rock Album
Black Ice - AC/DC
Live From Madison Square Garden - Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
21st Century Breakdown - Green Day
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band
No Line on the Horizon - U2

Who Will Win: No Line on the Horizon
Who Should Win: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

Conventional wisdom would say that since the Dave Matthews Band was nominated over U2 for Album of the Year they would beat them here, but I wouldn’t be surprised that people vote for U2 here since they weren’t nominated for the big one. Keep in mind U2 nor Green Day, who both have won the award recently, were not nominated for Record of the Year, but Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas were. Really, when was the last U2 record not nominated for that award?


Song of the Year
Poker Face - Lady Gaga & RedOne
Pretty Wings - Hod David & Musze (Maxwell)
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Thaddis Harrell, Beyonce Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart
Use Somebody - Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill (Kings of Leon)
You Belong With Me - Liz Rose & Taylor Swift

Who Will Win: Pretty Wings
Who Should Win: Use Somebody

Keep in mind that this is a songwriting award. Poker Face was nominated for a songwriting award. Just let that soak in for a moment. I should be taking this time to laugh at Single Ladies being nominated for a songwriting award, but Poker Face is an even bigger joke to be nominated for a songwriting award.


Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band
Keri Wilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Who Will Win: Who Knows
Who Should Win: Who Cares

Now I understand why this category wasn’t announced live. And to think, one of these artist can pick up an award previously won by Milli Vanilli. And so what if Silversun Pickups released their second album this year or that Keri Hilson (note that the misspelling of her name was a cut and paste, not my mistake) was been in the biz since 2001.


Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
We Weren't Born to Follow - Bon Jovi
Never Say Never - The Fray
Sara Smile - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Kids – MGMT

Who Will Win: I Gotta Feeling
Who Should Win: Sara Smile

Yes, that was a song from 1975 being nominated, that is just how bad music was this year.


Best Rap Album
Universal Mind Control - Common
Relapse – Eminem
R.O.O.T.S. - Flo Rida
The Ecstatic - Mos Def
The Renaissance - Q-Tip

Who Will Win: Relapse
Who Should Win: The Renaissance

I doubt he wins, but it is nice to see Q-Tip nominate. Hopefully he does go on another Award Tour. Too bad Kamaal the Abstract didn’t get one too.

Previewing Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura

I have never been a big fan of conspiracy theories, there are no aliens in Area 51, if you drained Loch Ness you won’t find a pre-historic animal, Bush didn’t down the Twin Towers (although with that said, basketball referees are totally in the tank). That doesn’t mean that I don’t like listening to conspiracy theories and the more out there, the more entertaining like how Woody Harrelson’s father assassinated JFK.

And who better to host a show on conspiracy theories than former Navy Seal turned professional wrestler turned governor turned television host Jesse Ventura. Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura follows “The Body” as his team hunts down the truth behind some conspiracy theories floating around out there including secret societies, 9/11 cover ups, and global warming.

Tonight’s premiere features Ventura’s team as they try to get information on a research center in Alaska that some think the United States military is building a secret government weapon that can control the weather and people’s minds. My theory is that our government has not actually been successful because if they were, they would just brainwash Jesse to believe it wasn’t so to keep other people from discovering it. But anyways.

Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura airs Wednesdays at 10:00 on TruTV.

Tell Your Friend Veronica it’s Time to Celebrate Chanukah

I am not Jewish but I have an uncle who is so I know the inferiority complex one may have celebrating Chanukah over Christmas. That all changed in 1996 when even the good Christian children around the world wanted to celebrate the eight crazy nights thanks to Adam Sandler who proceeded to run down a who’s who of Jew (and one famous non-Jew: O.J. Simpson) on The Chanukah Song part 1. And apparently there were so many Jews in showbiz he recorded two more versions on 1999’s Stan and Judy’s Kid and the soundtrack for his animated holiday movie Eight Crazy Nights to round out the trilogy. And fellow Jew Neil Diamond (who for some reason never got a shout out from Sandler in any of his three versions) even recently did his own version of the song which is this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.