Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, or as those outside the U.S. like to call it, Thursday. So I hope you have (or had depending on when you read this) a great Turkey Day. Just a heads up with the holidays upon us, here’s a look at the schedule the 9th Green will be taking the next couple weeks as well as a list of the best of 2007. There is a link on the sidebar for future reference. Feel free to dive into the archives on days that I will be taking off and on day or check out my peeps in my blogroll (card subject to change):
*As you may have noticed, on the 27th I will have a Reader’s poll on what you all thought were the best songs of the year. So if you would sometime time before Christmas, e-mail me, ScooterKSU(at)aol(dot)com, your top ten songs of the year in order. If you need a refresher of songs from the last twelve months, check out the list of the albums I reviewed for my Terror Alert Scale as all the songs from those albums are eligible, look through the music videos I highlighted the past year and of course any song released this year is okay too even if I didn’t talk about it. Your nominations will be confidential and I won’t disclose it here at the 9th Green. Hopefully I will at least more responses than I did last year, so if you enjoy the 9th Green please send me an e-mail with your list by December 24 (subject: 9th Green Reader's Poll). As an added bonus, whoever sends me their songs will be automatically be added to my Christmas list.
And with Christmas coming fast upon us, if there are any readers out there wondering what they could get their favorite blogger this year and have way too much disposable income, here is my Amazon wishlist:
And if you have a TV fan on your Christmas list (or just want to treat yourself), you may want to take a look at the NBC Universal DVD 60% Off Sale. You can get Scooter’s second favorite childhood show The A-Team for under $20 and The Office for just $11. Movies are also included in the sale such as Inside Man, which got a Severe rating here, and good friend Mandy Moore in American Dreamz on the cheap.
For some reason I have been labeled as some American Idol basher. This is understandable in regards to the show itself which is just of mediocre singers singing crappy songs. Despite my hatred of the national karaoke night, I have gone into listening former karaokers alums with an open ear but rarely been impressed with America’s ability at picking the next great singer. Of course this has led to people calling me a music snob just because I don’t like the mom-rock of Daughtry even though they fail to point out both Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood both ranked multiple times on my Best Songs of 2006 list.
After the puzzling win of Taylor Hicks selection, America has gone back to anointing a young girl as their karaoke queen. But unlike Clarkson and Underwood who used their girl next door charm to vault them into superstardom, that will not be the case for Jordin Sparks and it really doesn’t come as a surprise that the Ugly Betty doppelganger is the product of a former defensive back. And one listen to her first single Tattoo leaves non-Karaoke watchers scratching asking themselves, seriously her? That’s the best they could do? The song is a blatant rip-off of Rihanna’s Umbrella complete with nonsensical metaphors and annoying over-intrusive production. But unlike Umbrella, which had a second life with sweet acoustic cover versions, don’t expect many lame YouTuber to upload their own versions or any semi-ironic covers from established artists.
What’s so bad about Jordin’s self titled album is that we already heard it earlier this year when fellow former karaoker Katherine McPhee released essentially the exact same album (see I Want this to Be Over, I So Want this to Be Through). Both albums are chalked full of your typical bland overproduced album we have heard over and over again for the last five years. Okay, at least there are no songs on Jordin’s album as horrible as Open Toes, but at least McPhee didn’t have Chris Brown, who is by far a better dancer than singer, on hers.
It is not surprising that the two best songs on the album, Now You Tell Me and Permanent Monday, are the only tracks that actually use real instrumentation instead of using drum machines and beats that no rapper would think of using. But on the other end of the spectrum there is the laughable God Loves Ugly. The song basically sounds as if the writer thought, “that Christina Aguilera song Beautiful is great, but what if I wrote a song with the same sentiment but not as touching, then give it to someone that doesn’t have the vocal power to express the message anyway.” Of course you can take this review with a grain of salt because as you know I’m just a music snob.
The good people over at Amazon were nice enough to give an early Christmas present in the form of a Flip Video Camcorder. Instead of writing about it, why not tell you in all my monotone glory with my new toy (note the grotesque fingernail where my mom’s dog bit me over the summer):
Just a quick note of some things I didn’t cover in the video. First the camcorder takes two AA batteries. I really haven’t used it much but I have to imagine those won’t last long considering my digital camera takes four and burns threw them pretty quick. Also the videos are pretty huge; the one above is 40 MB’s for a two minute video. Oh, and it takes for fracking ever to upload and process these videos to YouTube. But it is a cool toy. Is it $150 cool? That’s debatable.
Now I am not entirely sure how or if I will incorporate my Flip into the 9th Green so I am up for suggestion. Keep in mind there will Paris Hilton type video and I won’t torture you with my singing. Although you have not lived until you have heard my trilling version of When Doves Cry so maybe the next time I am in an alcoholic haze I’ll record and upload it. I thought it would be cool when ever I make a list of some sort to give you an audio preview. I practiced on my playlist of the Best Songs of 2007. If you are interested in buying any of the songs or seeing the list in written form, I did a Lyrics Quiz of the list last year.
(Pardon the technical difficulties, like I said, I hate technology)
And while I am talking about Amazon, you may have noticed the widget on the sidebar that will have a Deal of the Day everyday until Christmas including a new deal every hour on Black Friday. You may also want to keep an eye on the Lightning Deals because those are where the truly great deals are, but there are only limited supplies so you have to act fast (hence the lightning title). I remember last year they did something like this that included getting all the seasons of Arrested Development for something like twenty dollars. I’m not talking about twenty for each individual season, but twenty for the whole series.
Big News of the Week: The Writers Strike Continues: Yawn. As a wise man once said, “Wake me up when September ends.” Let’s move on to more interesting things.
Tapeworthy: Vance was guest blogging on another site and refreshed his current TV Top 10 List to introduce himself. After the TV bloggers strike, it was nice to see Pushing Daisies again to brighten up the day and to prove why the writers deserve better compensation in the first place. Finally, there were a lot of That Guy this week, on Bones, on House, from Gossip Girl to Heroes (which, has completely lost/confused Vance at this point) and the CBS comedies (the good ones with long names HIMYM and TBBT).
TiFaux: This week, TiFaux had more than a little Project Runway on the brain. After giving a preview of all the contestants, Dan gave a rundown on the first episode including thoughts on the contestants’ fascination with the celebrity of being on Project Runway. In other news, we plotted various male characters (from Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Dirty Sexy Money, etc) on a chart based on their annoyingness and machismo.
Chuck: It bugs me to no end that they would ship off the extremely more entertaining Henry Tang to Hawaii yet let Morgan stick around. There is something to say that the minor characters are more entertaining than some of the main ones (Token Hot Chick and Jayne not included). Case in point, the best part of the episode (aside from the picture above of course) was when we learned that the Curly-looking Nerd Herder’s mom was in prison. And what was with the inclusion of the Brittany Spears song? Seriously, if you really, really wanted to use Toxic (get it? Because the episode was about toxins) why not use the semi-ironic version by Local H instead? And the preview hyped the biggest secret yet next week. Is there anyplace where I can buy Bryce Is Still Alive stock? This of course would solve my biggest complaint of the Pilot that Jayne would kill an un-armed CIA agent. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: This episode would have worked much better the first season when we didn’t know the characters very well. Aside from Barney and his catchphrases, the other character haven’t really done what they were accused of doing, but had they done it ealier when we didn’t know them very well, it would have been much less annoying that they would pull all these traits out of nowhere. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
Everybody Hates Chris: This week’s random black dude guest star who hasn’t been seen in at least a decade: Tommy Davidson. But I loved that Greg put on a Superman costume first to go to sleep as Clark Kent. Classic.
The Big Bang Theory: I loved how Sheldon made a huge speech about the princess stuff, goes on a date with her, and she ends up being an afterthought by the end of the episode. Then the Token Hot Chick making his virgin drink, “a little slutty” was just classic. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download or The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Heroes: After they flashed back I get a feeling that the writers didn’t know what was actually going on back then when they wrote the season premiere. Seriously, how does DL get shot with a gun aimed at his chest? If you are going to kill him off at least shoot him in the back so he can’t see the bullet coming. And are supposed to believe that with how methodical The Company is that they wouldn’t make sure their guests wouldn’t be able to talk to each other? And how was Nathan able to grow that bushy beard in two weeks? And of all the flashbacks, how is it we don’t get to see how Sylar goes from being stabbed to the middle of the jungle with the shape shifting chick? But when it comes down to it, seeing Kristen Bell make out with the dude with no acting ability was the most disturbing thing on television this year that hasn’t involved Chris Hansen confronting naked dudes in a kitchen. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Journeyman: Well that was a waste of Bo Duke. Of well. But I guess if you ask, you actually receive. Last week I said it was time for a big reveal, and Olivia is from the 1940’s and is traveling to the future is a big one, and definitely something I never saw coming. But this begs the question is current day Olivia still alive? I guess she would be in her eighties or nineties so it is plausible she still is. Now we just need to learn how the Dr. dude figured into this all. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com. You can also download Journeyman on iTunes.
Pushing Daisies: Maybe my favorite episode of the season so far. I would still like to see them do without the Ned’s childhood prologue ever week though. And seeing Jenny Wade as one of the wives made me wonder whatever happened to Project Greenlight, the second best reality show ever? With the strike looking like it will never end, how about getting thins back in production. Since the scripts would be coming from amateurs, you don’t have to worry about the WGA. Plus you get great television and possibly a watchable movie out of it. Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Bionic Woman: Well I guess two decent episodes in a row is all we are going to get out of Bionic Woman. What really bugged me this week is how they switched the cinematography between your token slick sci-fi camera work with shaky, Friday Night Lights, zoom for close up expressions. Have they always done this and I have never notice before or was this the first time? Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
My Name Is Earl: Gotta love the movie trailer into. But this episode belonged to Joy trying to induce labor and Crabman who delivered the baby even after he got the induced labor drug. And surprise, even Michael Rappaport wasn’t as annoying as usual with him being mesmerized with Joy’s birth. Still, I hope he is in the Hole for the rest of Earl’s prison stay because I really could do without seeing him ever again. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.
Survivor: It was really annoying that last week during the promo they teased that something was going to happen after Tribal Council only for this episode to end with that tease. Some promo monkey needs to be fired for that. Especially since it will be two weeks until we finally see what is going to happen because next week’s Thanksgiving episode is a clip show. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.
Smallville: With all that is wrong with Heroes this season, I forgot to mention how it broke one of the three worst television clichés: amnesia. I bring this up because, for no real reason, Kara just happens to be transported to Michigan without any memory. Yawn.
Friday Night Lights: This show is the best at casting characters, from the lead roles to the extra to the guest stars, but what is with the English teacher and his hair? Don’t dudes like that get beaten down in Texas. What is worse is that Tammi, as a mother and a guidance councilor, didn’t call the dude out for being alone behind closed doors, breaking the number one cardinal rule for teachers, with her daughter. Hopefully the dude gets a newspaper job in Wisconsin next episode and is never seen again. At the very least can we get Chris Hansen down to Texas?
Thankfully the rest of the episode was vintage Friday Night Lights. From Tyra and Lyla teaming up to Coach being passive aggressive with Buddy again to Smash’s mom finally getting some quality screen time. And at least the lame teacher did led to a great scene when Coach complained his “No comment” was because he was behind the bathroom door. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
Rush’d: I’m a little backlogged on the online show for ABC Family’s Greek that is chronicling five fans as they compete for a walk on role on the show. But I thought I’d mention that voting starts tomorrow and goes until Friday. You can vote three times a day for your favorite. As I mentioned before, I’ll be rooting for fellow Ohioan Laura Wise, also known as White Cup. Below is a picture of her from the set with Frannie, who just happens to be my favorite character on Greek. And of course head over to Virtual Rush to vote for White Cup (or one of the other contestants if you choose so) and/or check out the latest episodes of Rush’d.
Next Week’s Pick: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday at 9:00 AM on NBC: Now in it’s 81’s year, it is a Thanksgiving tradition for me to watch the festivities while getting things ready for the meal part of the day. Okay, this year’s guest list is less than stellar: Ashley Tisdale, Bindi and Terri Irwin, Corbin Bleu, Dolly Parton, Good Charlotte, Grandma from the Big Apple Circus, Jonas Brothers, Jordin Sparks, Kay Hanley, Lifehouse, Menudo, Michael Feinstein, Miss U.S.A. 2007 - Rachel Smith, Ne-Yo, Nikki Blonsky, Sarah Brightman, and Wynonna Judd. Seriously, Menudo? And should I even know who Tisdale, the Irwin’s, Blue, Grandma, the Jonas’ Sparks, Hanley, Blonsky, or Brighman are? But as long as there is a five story Garfield I’ll be happy.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
I wonder if Ever Ever After had any problems with her cartoon version being totally anorexic. Seriously, Cartoon Carrie makes Courtney from Survivor look like defensive lineman in comparison. But anyways. Too bad Carrie didn’t put this on her latest album because it is better than half the songs (see Here’s to You Hairbrush Singers and Dashboard Drummers). Of course knowing record companies, they will release a special edition version of the album in six months with this, three other songs and a DVD, screwing over anyone who actually bought it when it first came out.
For those keeping track at home, this would make the third video where Alicia Keys has cast a rapper to player love interest with Common joining Mos Def (You Don’t Know My Name) and Method Man (If I Ain’t Got You). I hate these time mash-up, granted it is more annoying when television shows and movies pull this, because it takes me a few viewings to piece together the story. Luckily the video didn’t have much to it to figure it out.
There are very few things in this world that we need less than a Spice Girls reunion. Yeah I was heartbroken when Old Spice originally left the group just as they were embarking on a world tour of which I went to anyways despite her absence (have I ever told the story about the time I pissed off Posh Spice at that show?), but in the decade since their demise I have moved on to crappier, more disposable pop like Rihanna and Fall Out Boy. And with their reunion, what do we call Baby Spice now? Do we just refer to them as Old Spice 1, Old Spice 2, Old Spice 3, Old Spice 4, and Extremely Old Spice?
It is a rarity these days when the local radio station plays anything good. Yeah I am ambivalent to hearing The Sweet Escape as much as the next clinically deaf guy, but do we need to hear it every hour on the hour? One of the few songs that is actually good and they don’t overplay in recent months is this song by Emerson Hart and since the evil empire that is Viacom has successfully deleted ever copy of Kanye West’s Good Morning from every steaming site on all the internets (you know, because low quality embedded videos are destroying the music business, not record companies pushing crappy music on the public) I thought I’d share this video instead of one that will likely be deleted by the time you see it. Now you may not notice Emerson’s name, but if the voice sounds familiar, he is (was?) the lead singer of Tonic.
Well the Feds finally came down on Big Head Barry with four counts of perjury, one count of obstruction of justice and surprisingly with all my hatred of the oversized dome in recent years; I met the news with apathy. I came to the realization near the end of the past season, a season where I did not watch one game of for the first time possibly ever, that aside for maybe Craig Biggio and David Eckstein, I’m pretty sure everyone else is on something. There is a poll right now on ESPN.com asking what should be done with the home run record with options of nothing, asterisk, almost fifty percent of the almost 100,000 responses said they should be stricken from the record books completely.
Of course that will never happen and the best anyone can ask for is an asterisk which No Back Bone Bud Selig will be happy to comply. For me I think it should go further and after baseball implements an Olympics style drug testing, complete with B samples for future tests that haven’t been invented yet, they stricken the whole steroids era. I am content with thinking the last fifteen to sixteen years haven’t happened. In fact, just contract all the expansion teams during that time too because the watered down talent has hurt the game to. And while we are at it, throw in a salary cap. Maybe then I’ll start caring about baseball again.
Of course another reason why I stopped caring about the indictment was that the story preempted Pardon the Interruption. Couldn’t they let Tony and Mike break the story and have Five Good Minutes with Peter Gammons? Ugg. But anyways. Here are some articles from ESPN.com about the indicted including the actual indictment of Barry Lamar Bond (wait, Big Head Barry’s middle name is Lamar? Of course he was evil, have you ever met a non-evil Lamar?)
And in another sport related story, I would like to congratulate the New York Yankees on guaranteeing that they will not win another World Series in the next decade (see A-Rod, Yankees agree on outline of contract).
It has been awhile since I last ran a mystery theme quiz (a year to be exact) so maybe I’ll make November the official mystery theme month. If you guess the theme you will get three extra bonus points and as always you need to put both artist and title in the comments section (along with the theme if you think you know it) and if you are correct I will un-bold it and give you credit. The Lyrics Quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please do not use anything besides your own meandering mind to help you up with the answers. Now onto the quiz:
Hints:
9. This song also includes the lyric, "Let's get married" which is odd considering the relationship of the two people in this band.
Mystery Theme: I actually thought this would be easier than the last one which was guessed fairly quickly. Oh well. As for a hint, take notice to the individual lyrics specifically.
1. Slip inside the eye of your mind, don’t you might find a better place to play. (Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis; guessed by Dara)
2. Love. I get lost sometimes. (In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel; guessed by Dara)
3. Now if there is smile on my face, it’s only there trying to fool the public. But when it comes down to fooling you, now honey now that is quite a different subject. (Tears of a Clown - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles; guessed by Dane Bramage)
4. You sit there in your heartache waiting on some beautiful boy to save your old ways. (When You Were Young - The Killers; guessed by Dara)
5. Now here’s a little story I gots to tell about three bad brothers you know so well. (Paul Revere - Beastie Boys; guessed by Angie)
6. Don’t wish it away. Don’t look at it like kids forever. (I Guess that's Why I Call it the Blues - Elton John; guessed by Dara)
7. She calls me Goliath and I wear a David mask. (Cumbersome - Seven Mary Three; guessed by Doug)
8. See the stone set in your eyes. See the thorn twist in your side. (With or Without You - U2; guessed by Dara) 9. I was watching with one eye on the other side. I had fifteen people to move; I had moving on my mind. 10. Something’s in the air tonight, the sky’s alive with the burning light, you can mark my word: something’s about to break. (Nothing Left to Lose - Mat Kearney; guessed by Dara)
11. Base, how low can you go? (Bring the Noise - Public Enemy; guessed by Angie)
12. This is a call to the color blind. This is an I.O.U. (Bigger Than My Body - John Mayer; guessed by Dara)
13. It was the third of December, that day I’ll always remember. (Papa Was a Rollin' Stone - The Temptations; guessed by Angie)
14. Step out the front porch like a ghost into the fog where no one notices the contrast of white on white. (Round Here - Counting Crows; guessed by Dara)
15. There is freedom within, there is freedom without. Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup. (Don't Dream it's Over - Crowded House; guessed by Dara)
16. It doesn’t matter what I say as long as I sing with inflection. (Hook - Blues Traveler; guessed by Dara)
17. Once upon a time not long ago, when people wore pajamas and lived life slow. When laws were stern and justice stood and people were behavin’ like they ought to: good. (Children's Story - Slick Rick; guessed by Angie)
18. She gets too hungry for dinner at eight. She like the theater and never comes late. (Lady Is a Tramp - Frank Sinatra; guessed by Doug)
19. You burden me with your questions; you have me tell me no lies. (Unbelievable - EMF; guessed by Dara)
20. Neon sign through smoky eyes tonight. It’s 2 AM, I’m drunk again, it’s heavy on my mind. (Grace Is Gone - Dave Matthews Band; guessed by Angie)
21. She’ll only come out at night. (Maneater - Hall and Oates; guessed by Dara)
22. I know it sounds funny but I just can’t stand the pain. Girl I’m leaving you tomorrow. (Easy - The Commodores; guessed by Doug)
23. I took a walk around the world to easy my troubled mind. I left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time. (Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down; guessed by Dara)
24. I came in the door, I said it before, I never let the mic magnatize me no more. (Eric B. Is President - Eric B. and Rakim; guessed by Angie)
25. 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 Dara)
There is no more annoying phrase in the American lexicon than, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” First, the city stole that phase from every spring breaker. Ever since The Real World set up shop on the Strip, more and more reality shows take place there or make a pit stop for an episode or two there. And in today’s world where everyone has a camera phone and the desire of instant celebrity, rarely does anything actually stay in Vegas.
The most egregious example of how things in Vegas don’t necessarily stay in Vegas is the release of Taking Chances from Céline Dion, who, up to recently had been spent the last four years at Caesars Palace entertaining blue-haired woman who needed some rest from pulling the slot machine lever all day. But now she is back to torture the rest of the world outside of Vegas with all her hand waving and weird performance moves.
But really the most annoying thing about Dion is that her songs are, for the most part, catchy. Don’t tell me that late last decade when the Titanic song came on and your windows were up you weren’t singing along. The lead single and title track follows that trend with a catchy vibe that you know you shouldn’t like but can’t help sing along. And don’t hate her for blatantly stealing the “talk with me like lovers do” from Here Comes the Rain Again because the song was actually written by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. Certainly you can hate her because she is Canadian, French Canadian at that, her creepy old husband, the duet with R. Kelly but don’t hate her for stealing that song.
You can also hate her for the extremely bland cover of Alone by Heart which is could have been recorded at a karaoke bar (or on a national karaoke televised competition) because adds nothing to the original. In fact, the title track aside, the album as a whole is pretty bland without any over the top power balled courtesy of Jim Steinman or Diane Warren for Dion to tackle. Instead we get songs written by The-Dream, the guy suggested we all stand underneath Rihanna’s Umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh, who wrote the most boring of all, the album closer Skies of LA.
Although there is a song near the end That’s Just the Woman in Me, a song originally recorded by Katrina and the Waves (yes that Katrina and the Waves) that stands out with a weird bluesy vibe to it. Then in the middle of the song without warning Céline starts to sound like Janis Joplin, okay, she actually starts to sound like Melissa Etheridge channeling Joplin, but you get the point. Had she taking more chances (see how I worked in the album title, I’m clever like that) like this on the rest of the album, maybe it would have been more enjoyable.
Last year Nas declared Hip-Hop Is Dead. The only problem was that the album was in fact proof that hip-hop wasn’t dead. Yeah ring tone rappers have watered down the art form, but albums from Common and Kanye West this year has kept the genre afloat. On the other hand, R&B has been on its deathbed for a long time and great R&B albums have been few and far in-between this decade. Even the great ones getting little airplay instead radio spent more time to R&B artists who excel more at dancing than singing with tracks that sound more like hip-hop beats than something coming out of Motown or Stax.
One of the few R&B artists that manage to have soul and still have commercial appeal is Alicia Keys. This may be in part that she still infuses the use of hip-hop beats like her contemporaries, but the bases of her music is still primarily the piano which leads to a mix of hip hop and classical with Keys’ heartfelt and introspective lyrics overtop. Her first two albums, which combined to sell ten million records, were just appetizers to what she is truly capable of.
Now at twenty-seven, her third studio album As I Am has a maturity that her first two were lacking. This is most evident with That’s the Thing About Love. The song is definitely not something that a twenty year old could write, and the older Keys lets loose at the crescendo at the end of the song, knowing, even in this world of Pro Tools, it isn’t about hitting every note right if the emotion behind it is there. The song itself is just one of those timeless love songs that should be a requirement at every wedding for the next century.
On the other side of the spectrum is the more subtle Like You’ll Never See Me Again where Keys coos over bells that go up and down the scale throughout the whole song and some well placed finger snaps. The album is bookmarked with two of the strongest track. Go Ahead is a tuba heavy (no seriously) kiss off with Keys in full woman scorned mode. The album closes with Sure Looks Good to Me with its grandeur than transcends R&B and is much closer to a sweeping power balled of the seventies than any contemporary artist of today.
Alicia Keys definitely has a classic album that stands the tests of time in her, but unfortunately As I Am isn’t that album. There is just too much filler on it. The biggest disappointment is the John Mayer (she appeared on his Gravity) assisted Lesson Learned a boring melodrama that isn’t up to par with either artist. Certainly the females out there can appreciate the I Am Woman Here Me Roar esthetic of Superwoman, but as a grown man I just found the song trite and skipable.
Then there is I Need You with lyrics that seem left over from either Karma from the last album or a sophomore poetry assignment. But much like Karma, the song is saved by a killer backing track from Mark Baston (Dr. Dre, Dave Matthews Band), who also produced Go Ahead. Hopefully by the next album, all the filler will be gone and Keys makes the album she was born to make.
At the beginning of the television season you were bombarded with a bunch of “Best Of” and “Must Watch” shows even though it is a little unfair to judge a show by one episode. For instance last year had you asked me at the beginning of the season, Friday Night Lights wasn’t even on my radar, yet a month later it was my favorite show of the new season. With that in thought I brought together some TV Bloggers to see what are the best new shows of the season now that we are a good month into the new season. Here is the list that I came up with after placing the votes into an algorithm that would make the dudes from The Big Bang Theory blush. You can catch up by streaming the shows, or downloading them on iTunes and/or Amazon Unbox:
(numbers in parentheses denote first place votes)
Also receiving votes: Life, Woman’s Murder Club, Private Practice, Bionic Woman, Cane
Voters: Dan, Ducky, Kath, Jo, Liz, Rae, Sandie, Scooter McGavin, Tube Talk Girl, TVFan, Vance
Not surprising that Pushing Daises took the top spot as it lived up to the preseason hype, the show and Chuck were easily the top two shows on the list. On the other hand, the shows 3-10 were fairly bunched together with very little separating them. There was a good mix from all the networks this year (sans Fox who didn’t even have one of their shows get a pity vote) unlike last year (see Best New Shows of 2006) that was dominated by NBC with the top three positions, and ABC taking the next four spots. In a measure of full discloser, here was my ballot:
1. Pushing Daises
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. Chuck
4. Journeyman
5. Bionic Woman
And for all the TV fans out there, you may want to check out your local Best Buy, Target, or store of that ilk because I saw ads in this weekends newspaper for both stores selling many Warner Brothers produced TV on DVD shows like Veronica Mars, Nip/Tuck, and Smallville for around $15.00 per season. So you can get the whole West Wing series for just over $100. In most cases the most recent seasons are not on sale, but with Christmas certainly you can find a show for someone on your list or even yourself.
Scooter Update: It looks like the sale has hit the Amazon store. Below are just some of the select seasons you can get for under $20 (note: if the price is above 20, you are too late):
Typically I take holidays off, but it seemed wrong to just sit on the couch on Veterans Day when future veterans are currently fighting in harms way. What makes thing worse this year was a report that came out earlier this week that, despite only making up eleven percent of the population, one in four homeless people are veterans (source: MSNBC). This is just unacceptable. I guess something like this happens when the past fifteen years our commander in chief was someone who wouldn’t fight, but did everything in their or their dad’s power to get out of fighting (you may want to keep that in mind the next time you choose your president). I am not one to write my representative, but I had to point this figure out to him and I hope you do so with your own.
So I would like to personally thank servicemen and woman past and present for fighting for the security of out. I have featured this song before, but there is no more fitting song for today than John Legend’s Coming Come. Here’s hoping you all come home safely and to homes to live in.
Quote of the Week: Are you asking me on a date Williams? (Tim Riggins, Friday Night Lights)
Song of the Week: Lucky Man - The Verve (Journeyman)
Big News of the Week: NBC’s Green Week: Boy, was that annoying especially the solid green logo instead of the regular transparent one. And it looked like the shows themselves didn’t care for being forced to have an environmental show either with Chuck openly mocking it twice this week. The best though, and by best I mean worse, was when Sylar said something like, my character tries to destroy the world but I want to save it. This is what happens when the writers go on strike, folks. But on the bright side, NBC wants you to dave some green too so you can currently buy all the episodes from Green Week at $0.99 on Amazon Unbox.
Mikey Likes TV: Trying to ignore the traumatic effects of the writers' strike, Mikey reviewed the two most recent issues of the Buffy comic series and welcomed a speedy end to NBC's green week.
Tapeworthy: Vance wants to give a big Marc-styled "bravo" to the fantastic writers at Ugly Betty for turning Victoria Beckham intentionally funny, giving Christina a plotline and giving Vanessa Williams a career again. He however dislikes another Vanessa for intruding on his pretty friends Dan and Serena on Gossip Girl. And as supportive to the WGA as Vance wants to be, he was still super excited about the new season of The Amazing Race!
Chuck: After this episode I have come to the realization that I don’t care about the Bryce backstory. Every time they went back I fell asleep. And I know it seems like every week I complain about the music selection on the show, but they did a really great job selecting songs this week. I know whenever I think back to 2003 I instantly think of Don’t Look Back in Anger. Okay, enough sarcasm. What’s worse even, when they replayed it in 1999, it was still a good four years off. Just off the top of my head how about Hurt (Johhny Cash), The Other Side (David Gray) or if you really wanted an Oasis song, why not the more era accurate Stop Crying Your Heart Out? Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: Here’s to hoping that the show doesn’t ever bring back the “That’s what he should have said” thing. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
Heroes: Well it took them about five too many episodes but Hiro is back in the present and we learn the least surprising plot twist that the white samurai was the dude under the hoodie. At least that is what I think they were telling us. That is the big problem with this season, they set up the big whodidit and there was no big reveal, I’m not entirely sure if it was him, Matt’s dad or if we haven’t really learned who it was. But anyways. Now that the least surprising plot twist has been revealed, who long until they have the next two least surprising plot twists in that Bob is Elle’s father and it is Elle kissing some dude over Noah’s dead body. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Journeyman: Dan is a recycler, how Green Week of him. I think of all the forced storylines, this was the most forced. It was interesting to follow Olivia to present day, but I am still wondering were she goes when she in’t with Dan. Is she holed in hiding somewhere in present day? Is she in a future holding tank like the bodies from Quantum Leap when Sam has taken over their bodies. The show is seriously due for a huge reveal soon. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com. You can also download Journeyman on iTunes.
Bionic Woman: Wow, two straight strong episodes in a row. I’m not ready to say the show has turned around yet because there are still plenty of things I could fix when I am hired as a scab. First off, get rid of the CIA dude. I was kind of hoping Jamie wouldn’t go back for him. But it was nice to see Jamie’s sister actually was included in more than a half a scene this week. It is frustrating that they made a lot out of her being not allowed to use a computer yet hasn’t been brought up since. At first I thought she would eventually hack into her sister but now I just wonder if they just dropped that all together. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
My Name Is Earl: Great poster of the week: “Friends Don’t Let Friends Shiv.” And of all the NBC shows that shamelessly promote Greenness, this show definitely did it the best when Coach forced the Scared Straight to add environmental friendly themes into their act. My favorite was when the big dude said he was sorry for littering when he dumped a body on the side of the road. Plus it was yet another shot at NBC for forcing them to add Green themes themselves. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.
Survivor: Two straight highly entertaining tribal councils. Seriously, these have got to be the dumbest contestants ever. I used to think Todd was the only competent player, but he just went off the rails this week. It now is Amanda’s game to lose. The only way the tribal council could have been better if Erik had made Jean-Robert believe what he found was indeed the immunity idol and he played it leading Jeff Probst again to throw it in the fire. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.
Smallville: I have to say I much preferred bad-Lana better when she was possessed by a fourteenth century witch. Vengeful, bad-Lana is just not doing it for me. Well not as much.
Friday Night Lights: First off, I would like to thank the show for plucking Kim Smith out of obscurity (fun fact: Kim graduated from Permian High School, the school that Friday Night Lights the book and movie are based on). I don’t expect Saracen will be going back to Julie anytime soon. Speaking of hook-ups, is there anyplace we can bet on when Riggins nails Julie’s aunt? It really bugged me that they instinctively though of the ex-con as a TE. If he has all that athletic ability but can’t catch a football, why not make him a DB? He would be able to blanket any receiver and wouldn’t be required to catch any balls, just knock them down. Can’t the defense get any love on this show?
But this episode had some head scratching moments, like what is Jason going to do now? Quad Rugby looks to be done and he is not going back to the team. But the worst was Landry’s dad burning the car. If the car shows up on the list of potential cars and it happened to go missing, doesn’t it just make him more of a suspect? I wonder if Daddy is eventually going to take the rap for the crime. Oh, and it was nice to see Smash’s mom do something more than just reaction shots. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com.
Promo of the Week: Here is an exclusive clip of episode three of Nip/Tuck:
Next Week’s Pick: Pushing Daisies, Wednesday at 8:00 on ABC: Don’t ask me why last week ABC replaced the smartest show on television with an award show whose audience’s IQ added together still isn’t as high as the combined IQ of the guys from The Big Bang Theory, but Pushing Daises is back on this week. And if I am not mistaken, this episode starts an arc featuring SNL vet Molly Shannon (although if she doesn’t actually show up, it may be the week after she starts).
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