Lyrics Quiz: Greatest Lyrics of the 00's part 1

Continuing my year long look at some of the Best the last decade had to offer here are some of my favorite lyrics of the past ten years. There will be a second part coming as soon as next month where I have split the lyrics up randomly. 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 lyric quiz:


1. We could hide out under there. I just made you say “underwear?” (Pinch Me - Barenaked Ladies; guessed by Doug)
2. Sweat baby sweat baby sex is a Texas drought. Me and you do the kind of stuff that only Prince would sing about. (The Bad Touch - The Bloodhound Gang; guessed by AJ)
3. You know this song by Phil Collins, “In the Air of the Night” about that guy who could have saved that other guy from drowning but didn’t and Phil saw it all then at his show he found him? (Stan - Eminem and Dido; guessed by Doug)
4. My block live and in color, like Rodman hair. The club is packed, the bar is filled. I'm waiting for sister to act, like Lauryn Hill. (Dirrty - Christina Aguilara featuring Redman; guessed by Angie)
5. Tell me did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights are faded and that heaven is overrated? (Drops of Jupiter - Train; guessed by AJ)
6. I want a girl with good dividends. At City Bank we’ll meet accidentally. We’ll start to talk when she borrows my pen. (Short Skirt/Long Jacket - Cake - AJ)
7. Lucky that my breasts are small and humble so you don’t confuse them for mountains. (Whenever, Wherever - Shakira; guessed by Doug)
8. And it hurts to want everything and nothing at the same time. I want what’s yours and I want what’s mine. I want you but I'm not giving in this time. (Goodbye to You - Michelle Branch; guessed by Angie)
9. We can drive through the city no doubt but don’t say my car is topless, say the (expletive deleted) is out.
10. She got out of town on a railway New York bound. Took all except my name, another alien on Broadway. (Bright Lights - Matchbox Twenty; guessed by Angie)
11. I’m just trying to say the way school needs teachers, the way Kathy Lee needed Regis. (Jesus Walks - Kanye West; guessed by Rose)
12. I don’t mind spending every day out on your corner in the pouring rain. Look for the girl with the broken smile. Ask her if she wants to stay awhile. She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5; guessed by Rose)
13. There’ll be manslaughter right in front of my kids. A little blood get on my daughter, it’s nothing, she’ll live.
14. And that REM song was playing in my mind, in three and a half minutes. (A Lifetime - Better Than Ezra; guessed by Angie)
15. The talking leads to touching and the touching leads to sex and then there’s no mystery left. Portions for Foxes - Rilo Kiley; guessed by Rose)
16. With a name I’ve never chosen, I can make my first steps. (Chocolate - Final Straw - Snow Patrol; guessed by Angie)
17. I hear in my mind all these voices. I hear in my mind all these words. I hear in my mind all this music and it breaks my heart. (Fidelity - Regina Spektor; guessed by Doug)
18. If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied, illuminate the “no’s” on their vacancy signs. (I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Plans - Death Cab for Cutie; guessed by AJ)
19. Who do you think you are? Ha, ha, ha, bless your soul. (Crazy - Gnarls Barkley; guessed by Rose)
20. Get washed-up singers writing all my songs, lip synch ‘em every night so I don’t get ‘em wrong. (Rockstar - Nickelback; guessed by Angie)
21. There’s nothing you can teach me that I can’t learn from Mr. Hathaway. (Rehab - Amy Winehouse; guessed by Doug)
22. For some reason I can’t explain, I know St. Peter won’t call my name. (Viva la Vida - Coldplay; guessed by Rose)
23. 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 by Angie)
24. 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.
25. Somebody’s heart is broken – it becomes your favorite song. (Funny the Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band; guessed by Angie)

Feed Your iPod vol. XLVIII: Tequila

My buddy Doug knows every obscure song ever made (remember Deeper Shade of Soul by the Urban Dance Squad? No? Well he does) or at least I thought he did until I finally stumped him the other day when I brought up A.L.T. and the Lost Civilization and their early nineties ode to alcohol Tequila which sampled The Champs song of the same name (which everyone in my generation will know best as the Pee Wee Herman song). I figure if Doug doesn’t remember the song most of you out there never have either, and that has to be rectified because the song is just cheesy goodness and should be right up there with Skee-Lo in the terms of great nineties one hit wonder rap songs.

Tequila – A.L.T. and the Lost Civilization

Previewing Covert Affairs

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Covert Affairs borrows heavily from Alias that every review of the show mentions (ever notices when someone like something, it is an homage; when they hate it, it is a rip-off): a moderately attractive CIA agent has to keep a secret life from her family and goes on mission that involves little amounts of clothing.

Though Sidney Bristow kept a double life because she was deep undercover (so deep it turned out she was part of a rouge organization), it really isn’t explained why Annie Walker tells her sister she works at the Smithsonian when she is just a normal CIA trainee. On the bright side we do learn by the end of the first episode why Annie got called to Langley when she was still a months away from graduating (and if you think her language knowledge and the ability to pass as a call girl is a lame excuse that cannot be the whole reason, you are right).

But besides being in the CIA, the secret life and the scantily clad costumes, there are very few similarities after that (thankfully no convoluted prophesies, at least not yet). The show stars Piper Perabo (the live action Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle movie) as the new agent in question while Anne Dudak (Big Love) plays the unaware older sister of whom Annie stays with. Annie works alongside Christopher Gorham (Harper’s Island) as an intelligence officer slash blind dude and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes) who doesn’t actually show up in the first episode. They all report to Kari Matchett (Invasion) who in turn reports to Peter Gallagher (who also starts a run on Rescue Me tonight at the same time on FX) who currently is the most interesting part of the show. But then again when is Peter Gallagher’s eyebrows not the star of a show or movie?

The first episode of Covert Affairs prods along for the most part whenever Gallagher is not on screen and the gratuitous show of skin in the first five minutes is, well, gratuitous (I guess that is another worthy Alias comparison). Perabo and Matchett particular do not seem to settle into their roles very well. But the big reveal at the end of the pilot makes it worth another viewing or two, though it seems pretty clear that Rescue Me will be the better alternative in the timeslot. And if Annie turns up in any prophesies written centuries ago, I’ll definitely be done with the show.

Covert Affairs airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on USA. The show does have a Hulu page, so presumably you will be able to stream episodes there after it airs. You can download Covert Affairs on iTunes.

Previewing Rizzoli and Isles

This summer TNT has launched 100 Days of Drama with new episodes of favorite shows on the network as well as two new shows. Last month Memphis Beat premiered to a lukewarm response and tonight sees the start of the network’s other offering Rizzoli and Isles which hasn’t fared much better in the entertainment department.

Rizzoli and Isles follows Boston police detective Angie Harmon (Agent Cody Banks) as the first half of the title. While Sasha Alexander (He's Just Not That Into You), who despite being the other half of the title rarely appears onscreen without Harmon, plays her medical examiner buddy. It is your token opposites attract friendship with Harmon playing the tough as nails tomboy to Alexander who dresses up even to clean. Though it is unclear why Alexander is so obsessed with fashion because she is also p0rotrayed as someone with a mild case of Asperser’s who enjoys the company of the dead to that of the breathing.

Tonight’s episode involves a serial killer that Rizzoli had a run in before he was caught whose M.O. pops up again years later. The episode also has Rizzoli pull off the dumbest move I have ever seen a cop make in the history of television. On the second episode, another serial killer may possibly have returned, this time being the Boston Strangler. Yes, the Boston Strangler may have returned despite the man convicted of the crime died a long time ago. The second episode also sees the introduction of Donnie Walberg (New Kids On the Block) as Rizzoli’s new boss and probable love interest, or so Isles thinks.

On the scale of TNT cop shows, Rizzoli and Isles is darker than The Closer but doesn’t get as dark as Dark Blue, which makes for a bland combination. An things get even more clichéd with the introduction of Mr. and Mrs. Rizzoli (Chazz Palminteri and Lorraine Bracco), the latter of which is so over the top to get her baby girl hooked up with someone, she suggest putting on makeup before going to a murder scene because you never know who you will meet. Though Lee Thomson Young (Smallville’s Cyborg) is mildly entertaining as Rizzoli’s new partner who has adverse reactions to grizzly crime scenes (Isles’ attempt to cure him of his phobia is particularly entertaining). But I really do not seeing the show appealing to anyone is going through procedural withdrawal this summer and just new episodes The Closer just is not enough.

Rizzoli and Isles airs Mondays at 10:00 on TNT. You can download Rizzoli & Isles on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CXXXVIII

Quote of the Week: We don’t have any money. I’m in the 10th grade. It was my first time. I threw it away, and I don’t want to throw my life away. It’s just really obvious that my mom wants me to have this abortion because I was her mistake and she has just struggled and hurt and everyday she wanted better. And I knew better. I was just thinking forget about what she wants, what do I want? Maybe I could take care of this baby. And maybe I would be good at it and I could love it and be there for it. Then I think about how awful it would be if I had a baby and I spent the rest of my life resenting him or her. (Becky – Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: Percussion Gun – White Rabbits (Friday Night Lights)

Big News of the Week: LeBron Is Gone: As someone who has lived in Northeast Ohio all his life, the only sports championship I have witness in my lifetime was by the Cleveland Crunch (bonus points for anyone who can name the sport). So really came as not much as a surprise that LeBron would be “taking his talents to South Beach” (really, is the a more douchebagery way of saying you are leaving) but it still stung a lot coming from a guy who should know very well events like The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Blown Save, and Art Modell. Things are so bad here in Cleveland, the past decade, we were not even good enough in anything to have a gut wrenching loss to name. Instead we get events like watching game one of the World Series where the starters of both teams were a year before, both Indians.

So I am totally with Dan Gilbert’s douchebagry letter and I hope he is right that the Cavs with a title before the Heat and that the Cleveland Curse will follow LeBron down to South Beach. And that highlights what may be the worst byproduct of this trade: if the Heat end up playing the Lakers in the finals next year like many predict, I will have to root for Kobe Bryant for the first time ever, and I even secretly hoped he didn’t win Olympic Gold a couple years back. On the funnier side of the trade, you can now buy a LeBron James Fathead for the deeply discounted price of $17.41 (cut from $99.99), which just happens to be the same year that Benedict Arnold was born. Also keep in mind Fathead is also owned by Dan Gilbert.

Persons Unknown: Another Lost parallel, they killed off the Token Hot Chick way too early (as in ever). Hurmph. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Persons Unknown on iTunes.

Rescue Me: Of course Tommy’s great idea to get his daughter off the sauce was to pour more down her throat until she didn’t want to drink anymore. I may have to try the overindulge approach whenever I need to hold my next intervention. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Rescue Me on iTunes.

Happy Town: The final two episodes popped up online this week (check out the Hulu link below) and all I have to say about it is that I really did not care for the reveal of The Magic Man (though I correctly guessed the gender). You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Happy Town on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: It must have been heavy discussion with you parents week with Becky, Luke, Vince and Jess (you can also throw in Tim as Billy raised him) all had heart to hearts with their parents. And watching this episode reminds me of how Tami really needs more screen time with the students because those are what got her the much deserved Emmy nomination (congrats to Coach Taylor for finally landing one also). Big laugh of the week, though, goes to the Riggins brothers for their ill conceived plan to bury the car skeletons. And even though Tim asked him to quit, I have a feeling it will not be easy to get out from under Vince’s buddy (and how heartbreaking was him getting into the car was). You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Free Download of the Week: Rubicon Sneak Preview - Rubicon, Season 1 (iTunes): I am not as enamored with AMC’s critically adored series as most, so I have not checked out Rubicon yet. But if you want to check it out before it’s August 1 premiere (and didn’t catch the sneak peak after the Breaking Bad finale), you can do so for free.

Deal of the Week: TV Spotlight Deal: Save Up to 58% (The Dark Knight, Planet Earth, Watchmen)

Video of the Week: LeBron may be leaving Cleveland but John Mayer will be playing here soon as he proclaims in this almots funny video.

Announcement


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Closer, Monday at 9:00 on TNT: Click here for my Preview of the new season of The Closer, which will be followed tomorrow by new show Rizzoli and Isles which you can look out for a review tomorrow.

Around the Tubes vol. LVII

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 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Haven, Drugs Inc., Betty White, and Jersey Shore.

- Jerry Bruckheimer (along with Michael Bay) are everything that is wrong with movies these days and Nicholas Cage seems to say yes to the biog blockbusters that no one else is willing to slum it for. Yet when the two teamed up for the National Treasures movies, they turned out entertaining. So I am cautiously optimistic with their latest collaboration The Sorcerer’s Apprentice which also stars the highly likeable Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder) and the moderately attractive Teresa Palmer (Bedtime Stories). The tagline for the movie is The Coolest Job Ever and now you can enter The Coolest Job Ever Sweepstakes where you become an apprentice for a day for a Disney Imagineer at Disneyland in California. And to get you ready for the release of the movie July 14, here is a five minute extended scene:

- As I mentioned earlier, Haven premieres tonight at 10:00 (preceded an hour earlier by the return of Eureka), here is a sneak peak of the show:

Welcome to Haven


- Also premiering this weekend is a miniseries Drugs Inc. that will focus on specific drugs. Cocaine (8:00) and methamphetamine (9:00) on Sunday and heroin (9:00) and marijuana (10:00) on Monday. Here is a preview of the Cocaine episode:

Life as a Coco Farmer


- Just when you thought 2010 was a big year for Betty White, get geared up for twelve months of her next year with the 2011 Betty White calendar. The calendar will go on sale in September at $12.99 with proceeds going to the Morris Animal Foundation.

- The MLB All-Star game is coming up soon, Travel Expert Nicole Hockin interviewed Joellen Ferrer of StubHub on how to get hard to get tickets to your favorite events and other traveling tips.

- Personally, I am hoping Jersey Shore goes the way of Joe Millionaire, one season then no one cares anymore, but that is not going to stop crafty marketers like Three-O Bubble vodka to come up with their own Jersey Shore specialty drinks like the Snooki approved Snooki Bubble Up (3/4 oz. lemon-lime soda, 3/4 oz. cranberry juice; 1 oz. Three-O Bubble vodka; Combine ingredients with ice; garnish with a lime wedge).

Previewing Nat Geo Amazing!

New show premiering on National Geographic Channel tomorrow at 7:00, the appropriately titled Nat Geo Amazing! The show is very reminiscent of Ripley’s Believe or Not with short minute or two length segments that make up an episode. Tomorrow you can expect stories about killer swarms, city-dwelling penguins, and Lego sculptures. There is also an accompanying book to go along with series called Nat Geo Amazing!: 100 People, Places, and Things That Will Wow You that you will want to check out if you enjoy the show. Here are some previews of some of those segments.

Licking Amphibians for a Living



Spectacular Sandcastles



Lego Michelangelo

I Want My Music Television vol. LXXXVI

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.


King of Anything - Sara Bareilles



I wonder if King of Anything will be like You're So Vain where we are guessing the identity of the person in the song for the next three decades. My guess: Kanye West.


Sign Of A Victory (feat. Soweto Spiritual Singers) - R. Kelly



No one does an over the top inspirational anthem quite like R. Kelly. Whe dude goes all out, he really goes all out. I do not know why he doesn’t just release a straight gospel album. Well first he needs to give us more chapters from Trapped In the Closet (Chapters 1-12) - R. Kelly, then make a gospel album Kells.


Hot-n-Fun - N.E.R.D. & Nelly Furtado



Wow, that Nelly Furtado part is kind of jarring and takes you out of a pretty otherwise mellow song from N.E.R.D.


Popcorn - The Muppets



The Muppets have a new video out. Um, alright.

Previewing The Closer 6.x

Despite a major recession, Benda Leigh Johnson and her team are moving into a multi-million dollar headquarters on Monday, July 12 when The Closer returns for its sixth season. Yet no one seems too happy about it as they all have to learn how to use their new gizmos and try to find anything (with the exception of Will who may have very good reason to enjoy his new digs) . And the case of the week for the return episode just also happens to do with some remodeling when a contractor is found dead and the wife of his most recent client found in his bed.

Fans of Mary McDonnell will be happy to know Capt. Raydor show up in the second episode back and accompanies Brenda on a missing nanny case. Also be on the lookout for Lost’s Man in Black in the episode. And before you are quick to suspect the evil incarnate as the perp, another serial baddy, Joe McCoy (Friday Night Lights) also makes an appearance in the episode. But do not look to me to spoil the ending of the July 19 episode because TNT cut off the screener early and teased a “shocking ending” (I will say it doesn’t involve the case of the week because we do get that resolved in a heart stopping fashion).

The Closer airs Mondays at 9:00 on TNT. You can stream recent episodes at TNT.tv. You can also download The Closer on iTunes.

Feed Your iPod vol. XLVII: Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song

Watched When in Rome over the weekend, I wasn’t expecting Citizen Kane or even Hot Tub Time Machine (which I also caught, more on that after the video, small spoiler warning if you have not seen it) but I figured that a movie starring Veronica Mars, Gob Bluth, Sonny Crockett, The Penguin, The Piemaker, and Ghostface Killah at the very least has to be watchable. But not so much despite a few funny gags. But in the movie there is a song by Matt Hires that keeps popping up on my iPod every once in awhile and I thought I’d share it.

Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song – Matt Hires



Back to Hot Tub Time Machine, what is with all the revisionist Cleveland sports history going on lately? First Nike created the biggest did I see what I think I just saw moment possibly ever (or at least in the history of advertising) when they had Michael Jordan missing The Shot. Then in Hot Tub Time Machine, a squirrel keeps John Elway from completing The Drive. What’s next, is there going to be a Lost deleted in the upcoming DVD release where in flashsideways world we learn Jose Mesa actually earned the save in game seven of the 1997 World Series?

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CXXXVII

Quote of the Week: No I didn’t hit him. Did you just forget because you’ve kissed so many people at school? Do you realize by proxy I’ve now kissed Glenn? (Coach Taylor – Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: Crime Wave – 50 Cent (Friday Night Lights)

Big News of the Week: Still Finding it Hard to Back Up World Cup Officiating: Yeah, another week of bad calls at the World Cup, most notably the England goal that was not. But instead of instant replay, which I am vehemently opposed to, how about shelling out an extra hundred bucks a game and put an official on each goal line whose sole reason is to make sure the goal crosses the line. Soccer fields are so wide, it is hard for the referee or linesman to see the goal line clearly, so why not put someone behind the net that is only looking for that?

Leverage: So we finally get some real back-story about Parker this week by meeting her “father” who happened to also a have few run in with Nate. It may be getting to the time we get more flashbacks from these characters. I would like to see more of them back before they turned good. You can stream recent episodes on TNT.tv. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

Persons Unknown: If I were a betting man, I would have put a large chunk of change for Joe being the mole (dude had no back-story), but I was hoping for Cameron Frye to turn out to be in on it. And did the token hot chick actually get release just for apologizing to her father? Could it really be that simple? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Persons Unknown on iTunes.

Memphis Beat: Just how many plot twist can one case have? I got tired of them all after about the second. You can stream recent episodes on TNT.tv. You can also download Memphis Beat on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: Oh you silly little promo monkeys trying to make me think that Riggins knocked up Becky. Of course I wouldn’t have had to spend the last week thinking that if someone would have keyed me into the knowledge that “going to the car wash” was a Texan euphemism for having sex. But the out of the blueness of Becky’s pregnancy doesn’t even make the top of the list of the most absurb moment of the week which goes to Julies, “let’s just skip the whole dinner thing and go straight to the making out part.” If only girls would actually use this approach, us dudes would be a lot richer. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Free Download of the Week: Pilot - Friday Night Lights, Season 1 (iTunes): Ever wonder why I go on and on about this show, check out the first episode ever for free on iTunes (keep in mind I really didn’t become obsessed until around the forth or fifth episode).

Deal of the Week: Save up to 54% on Television Shows (Freaks and Geeks, Party Down, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Video of the Week: It seems like once a month a Congressman does or says something so stupid I think who are the morons that elected this fool? The latest to embarrass the nation comes courtesy of Minnesota (the land of Jesse Ventura and Al Franklin) whose Senator that wasn’t a writer for Saturday Night Live took precious time out of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee, a life time position of which there are only nine of, to ask Elena Kagen a question about the movie Twilight. It is times like these where I believe that states have the right to veto the baboons that other states elect to federal office. That would go a long way to solve the current political logjam at the capital (that and open primaries, can we make open primaries a national law please). So Minnesota please do the right thing and get Amy Klobunchar out of office.



Next Week Pick of the Week: It is America’s birthday tomorrow, go outside and enjoy some hamburgers and fireworks and be glad that Amy Klobunchar doesn’t represent your state (unless of course you live in Minnesota, then you should feel really ashamed).

Around the Tubes vol. LVI

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 Maroon 5, The Choir, Warehouse 13, Eureka, Haven, Leverage, Shifty and the Big Shots, and The Biggest Loser.

- It is real easy to attack MTV for not showing videos anymore, but when you can find them online whenever you want, why sit and hope for a good one to come up on television? And MTV.com is where you can find the latest Maroon 5 video for the first single off Hands All Over due out in September. Like every other Maroon 5 video, Misery features lead singer Adam Levine, who says about the video, “It was great to be back on set with the guys again. Everyone in the band really dug the concept and it was fun working with director Joseph Kahn. I am looking forward to our fans getting to check it out!” making out with a token hot chick, not that there is anything wrong with that. Check Misery out below:

Misery – Maroon 5
‬

- New show alert: The Choir premiere July 7 at 10:00 on BBC America. Here is a sneak peak:



- In returning show news, both Warehouse 13 (7/6 at 9:00) and Eureka (7/9 at 9) return next week. New show Haven will premiere following Eureka at 10:00 the same night, here is a preview:



- No new Leverage this Sunday due to the country’s birthday, but there will be a four hour mini-marathon starting at 9:00 of the four episodes that have aired this season.

- You may know Seth “Shifty” Binzer as that dude from Crazy Town (or his stints on Celebrity Rehab) and now he wants some help choosing the art for his new single, Save Me. Head over to shiftyandthebigshots.com to pick by July 10 and below is a video of Shifty asking you to do just that:



- Fans of The Biggest Loser should expect to see a lot of Cybex equipment in the next couple seasons as their new Fitness Equipment Partner.

Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky

In his lifetime, Jimi Hendrix released only three studio albums before his overdose death a month short of his twenty-eighth birthday. Sure we all have The Ultimate Experience in our CD collection, and a greatest hits compilation is usually good enough for a career that short, but all three releases from The Jimi Hendrix Experience are worth getting individually, and you might as well start at the beginning with Are You Experienced? this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

Yes The Ultimate Experience has the stand out tracks like Purple Haze (one of the great track 1’s of all time), Manic Depression (with frantic drumming from Mitch Mitchell), Hey Joe (one of the great break up songs ever), The Wind Cries Mary (maybe the best song Hendrix ever wrote), Fire (a great jukebox anthem), the bluesy Red House, and of course, Garth Alger’s favorite song, Foxey Lady.

But The Ultimate Experience was so loaded that even the title track from Are You Experience? didn’t even make the cut. The song was Hendrix at his psychedelic best and his experience doesn’t necessarily involve being stone which he suggests in the song. The even trippier, somewhat instrumental Third Stone from the Stone also gets left off most compilations. And May This Be Love is like a more melodic Wind Cries Mary.

Forty years after his death, some of Jimi Hendrix’s unreleased works are officially seeing the light of the day with the recent release of Valley of Neptune with many more to come over the next couple years. I am a little hesitant when it comes to posthumous releases of unfinished work, but at least we have three albums full of songs the way we know Hendrix intended them to be.

Previewing Locked Up Abroad 4.x

In its run, the fourth season premiere of Locked Up Abroad has by far its biggest get so far. Sure if you are my age or younger, you probably have never heard the name Billy Hayes, but he wrote a book about his escape from a Turkish prison, Midnight Express that was later turned into a movie that won Oliver Stone an Oscar in 1978 for Best Adapted Screenplay and landed William Hurt a nomination for a Supporting Actor.

Much like every “Based on a True Story” movie that Hollywood makes, Midnight Express had plenty of inaccuracies where they do not let facts get in the way of a good story. Now Hayes sets the record straight and tells the whole story, something he was not legally able to do when writing the book version. For those unaware of his story, Hayes was your normal sixties hippie who would smuggling hashish out of Turkey and was sentenced to four years in prison which the courts changed to life in prison just months before he was set to be freed. Hayes then makes up his mind that he was going to escape the prison or die trying.

Being an actual storyteller, Hayes’ narration is much more fluid than others that have appeared on the show and paints a vivid picture of his harrowing efforts o becoming a free man again. There is such a wealth of information delivered with such emotion, afterward you may wish that they did a special two hour edition of the episode because you know had to happen behind those Turkish walls or more story with how Hayes assimilated back into American lifestyle. I guess you will have to check out the book for that.

Locked Up Abroad airs Wednesdays at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel. You can also watch select episodes on Hulu. Other stories you can expect this season include contractors trapped in Iraq, backpackers kidnapped in Panama, and drug smugglers caught in Tokyo, Bangkok, and Spain. If you cannot get enough of the drug stories, National Geographic Channel is having a four episode special called Drug Inc. on Sunday July 11 and Monday July 12 each dealing with a different drug, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana. Back to Locked Up Abroad, check out a preview of the premiere below:

Locked Up Abroad: The Real Midnight Express

Previewing Rescue Me 6.x

Last we saw Tommy Gavin, he was sitting in the pool of his own blood after his uncle shot him because Teddy blamed Teddy for his wife dying in a drunk driving accident. That is really all that came to the top of my head of what happened last season on Rescue Me after a ten month absence. Sure I vaguely remember Maura Tierney and Shawn singing, but even a lengthy “previously on” isn’t much help after a layoff like that, though I shouldn’t complain too much because of the even lengthier break it had the previous season.

In what may be the least surprising cliffhanger resolve (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Tommy lived through the gunshot and as much as he does not admit it, he has come out a changed man thanks to what he saw on the other side (hint: it is not as musical as Shawn’s near death experience). The show returns with Tommy in the ambulance (don’t worry, we do hear how we get there after Teddy was adamant that Tommy die a slow death) which triggers another one of his lucid dreams, but the question is, was it a dream or him about to pass over?

The near death experience of Tommy also have some of the boys thinking too and thinking about making some changes themselves, most hilariously of course being that of Shawn’s plan to get into heaven. And the House has other problems as the economy has hit home and word is New York City plans on shutting down one or two and the recent shooting of one of their own with many of them in attendance doesn’t help their case very much. Unfortunately for Tommy, his experience had an adverse effect on Colleen, who just so happened to turn twenty-one during his stay in the hospital, and has been taking advantage of what you can legally do at that age.

Rescue Me is down to it final nineteen episodes starting tonight, with ten episode airing the next couple weeks and the final nine airing next year just in time for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. And from the first couple episodes of season six, Rescue Me looks to go out the way it came in, with a mix humor, tortured guilt of those that survived 9/11, and breathtaking rescue scenes. Let’s hope the final season or two doesn’t turn out to be purgatory.

Rescue Me airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on FX. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Rescue Me on iTunes.

Previewing Louie

It is easy to compare Louie to Seinfeld because they both start with comedy bits, but what they do after that where the shows diverge into something completely different. Jerry’s bit would then lead into a traditional sitcom of four friends who migrate between his apartment and the dinner the most patron and very few places else. Louie is anything but tradition. His standup is the catalyst for the scripted bits, most of which would not fly on Must See TV.

Louie C.K. is a standup’s standup, he has written for Letterman, Conan, and Chris Rock chat fests, but always seems to miss his big break. He wrote and directed the criminally under watched Pootie Tang, he got his own HBO show that only got one season, and he co-starred along Ricky Gervais in The Invention of Lying that no one seemed to like. Now he has gotten another chance for television stardom, this time on basic cable.

Louie played a slight version of himself and the only permanent actor on the show; both are recently divorced and have two young girls. His stand up routine at the beginning of each segment (there are two separate ones each episode) set up the following storylines that deal with his divorce, dating and volunteering at his kids’ school.

When Louie is funny, it is have to rewind because I was laughing too much funny, mostly during his stand up segments and one or two bits during the scripted part, but the show can also be painfully uncomfortable at points even fans of The Office’s awkwardness will cringe at some bits. While Louie may not be appointment television (even airing after one such show in Rescue Me), but it is worth catch every once and a while if the show ends up on Hulu (which I am assuming it is because there is already a Louie page on Hulu) it would be a great ten minute diversion if you need a short break at your commercial and take in a segment.

Louie airs Tuesdays at 11:00 on FX.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CXXXVI

Quote of the Week: Yes, I’m a lurker. That’s my thing. (Elliot, Leverage)

Song of the Week: Trashcan – Delta Spirit (Friday Night Lights)

Big News of the Week: USA Wins Late; Loses Even Later: After scoring a goal in stoppage time in group play that boosted them from elimination to first place and an easy bracket. It looked like America was a team of destiny. But once again, the team gave up an early, poorly defended, goal. The cardiac kids came back once again, but gave up yet another early, poorly defended goal, in extra time and were too tired to get another late equalizer. On the bright side I do not know any Ghanaians so I don’t have to hear them rub it in like the Canadians after the Olympics.


Persons Unknown: One thing I would have never considered if stuck in an abandoned ghost town would be dig under the city. Maybe it’s my fear of the tunnel collapsing. Granted it took them too long to figure out maybe they should try to build a signal fire. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Persons Unknown on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: The whole campus visit felt a little eh, and I am not too thrilled with the chop shop plot line. Still a solid episode, I love Buddy Garrity becoming the color commentary on a Spanish language station. But hopefully the previews are just a red herring and what is suggested doesn’t actually happen. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Free Download of the Week: Levi’s Pioneer Session: The jeans company has a cool series of downloads with artists from today covering songs that inspired their sound including Nas doing Slick Rick, The Shins taking on Squeeze, Raphael Saadiq doing his best Spinners impression and many more. Note you have to submit your e-mail to download the songs which will put you on the Levi’s mailing list, but you can always opt out later.

Video of the Week: Two of the funniest movies of last decade are currently on Hulu, Pootie Tang (which expires at the end of this month) and High Fidelity which is embedded below. If you need a good laugh, give them a look.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Rescue Me, Tuesday at 10 on FX: It has almost been ten months since Tommy was shot and left to die a slow death by the hands of his uncle. With nineteen episodes left, spread over two seasons, I am going to go out on a limb and says he survives somehow (hopefully the series finale isn’t one of those, he actually died then, and the last two season was all flashsideways dream type of thing). Check back later this week for more on the season premiere.

Around the Tubes vol. LV

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 Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, The Roots, Most Daring, Jonas, Chad Vader, and Johnny B Homeless.

- First let me shamelessly remind you of my contest where you can win the third season of Ice Road Truckers on Blu-Ray. For those tha cannot wait, you can also purchase it at Amazon (see below):



- God bless Syfy. Shortly after announcing they are letting you the viewers determine their next crappy B-Movie of the Week (my suggestion: oil mutated pelicans from the gulf battle Chernobyl mutated super-fish), they announce another going into production named Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. If the name alone doesn’t draw you in, the movie will also feature eighties mall heroes Debbie Gibson and Tiffany with Gibson playing a pro-snake animal advocate with Tiffany playing a pro-gator park ranger in the everglades.

- Showtime recently announced that it picked up the fourth and final season of Secret Diary of a Call Girl and will start production sometime in August. The final seasion will consist of eight episodes. No word of when we will see it.

- The Roots can just stay at their day job when promoting their new album when they performed Dear God 2.0 on Late Night along with Jim James, an orchestra and a choir to help them out.



- Just in time for July 4th weekend, next Wednesday TruTV is running a special episode of Most Daring entitled Holidays from Hell featuring fireworks gone wrong, Christmas trees up in smoke, and April Fools pranks gone wrong. Luckily no one got my attempt at making the Thanksgiving turkey on tape.

- The latest season of Jonas recently premiered on Disney Channel and The Daily Beast has obtained a Disney internal research found kids think they are dorky. On the bright side for the brothers Jonas, Hanson still put out decent music over a decade after losing their tween fans.

- Chad Vader is an internet icon and now Babelgum has acquired the entire library of the series. For those unfamiliar with the web series, Chad Vader “features the adventures of Darth Vader's younger brother and his comedic struggles as the Day Shift manager at the Empire Market grocery store. He clashes with customers, tries to earn the respect of his employees, and occasionally incorporates dialogue and concepts from the historic franchise.” Look out for a new episode every month over at Babelgum.

- A heads up that another of Johnny B Homeless hit Atom.com this week.

Look How They Got Me on the Def Jam Payment Plan

What is going on behind the scenes of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? In front of the camera, The Roots have no problem with getting in on some comedy bits like Slow Jam the News or perform the Save By the Bell theme with Zach Morris himself, and don captain hats will backing Christopher Cross during Yacht Rock Week. But for their first album since becoming the house band of the unfunniest host of late night, they made the moodiest album of their career with How I Got Over which says a lot considering their bleak last two albums.

Late Night may be the key because when they are not backing fake Saturday morning characters, they have a front seat for a slew of indie bands that frequent Jimmy Fallon’s show like Monsters of Folk, Dirty Projectors, Patty Crash, and Joanna Newsom, all of which show up in some fashion on How I Got Over. And they definitively help with the moodiness to the start of the album with members of Dirty Projectors and the track opener and the album hits its heaviest with track number three, Dear God 2.0 which heavily samples the Jim James part of the Monsters of Folk songs. A bit of a disappointment considering The Seed 2.0 was a complete reworking of the Cody ChestnuTT song, not just a simple sample with some drums added on top during the verses.

Things do not start to pick up on the album until the title track six tracks deep. Thing stay relatively more upbeat after that highlighted by the quick bops of Tunnel Vision which goes straight into the funky Web 20/20 featuring Peedi Peedi with one of their weirdest beats the band has ever come up with. But even with that ending it is hard to shake the mood they start up at the beginning of the disk which Kid Cudi would find too depressing with lines like, “I’m in the slow lane, I’m on my Cobain.” Here’s hoping for their next disk, The Roots release some of the live performances from Late Night with the likes of the Beastie Boys, Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Buffet and their killer cover of Let’s Go Crazy with Incubus, just to show that the band can actually have fun every once and a while.

Song to Download – How I Got Over

How I Got Over gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.