57 Channels and Only This Is On - 12/16/12

Quote of the Week: What are you even doing here? Why don’t you go live with that crazy woman and leave alone. (Dana, Homeland)

Song of the Week: Good King Wenceslas – Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Four years ago there was a boost of gun sales among the gun nuts fearing that the newly elected Obama would take away their guns or at least make it harder to purchase guns. Except he did not introduce one anti-gun legislation and even ignored a question asked at the debate. Not after someone shot up a mosque. Not after a nutjob dressed up like The Joker and shot up a theater in Colorado. Someone even shot one of his colleagues in the Congress in the face and he did nothing. So I doubt that a bunch of school children will even get Obama to become the anti-gun president that the gun nuts feared. But something needs to be done. Can we please at least reintroduced the bill to again ban assault riffles and other guns that make it easy to kill hundreds of people without even reloading. I am sure that arming school children like some of the gun nuts suggest is the solution.

Preview Picture of the Week:



Homeland: Sure Carrie is clinically insane, but I just do not understand how this Carrie, who absolves Brody of the murder of the Vice president of the United States of America, is the same Carrie who ignored her superior’s order so she could stand over Body and tell him he is a disgrace to his country while detaining him for being a terrorist. But anyway.

So now the biggest boogyman of the series, Abu Nazir, is dead but we still have one more episode left. I know I said this prior to the first season, but Brody cannot make it to the next season, right? I do not see any way out of it for him except if Saul goes to the press with Estes assassination of a sitting Congressman plot. Even then, Brody would end up in jail with a mountain of evidence (and certainly someone will realize that he was along with the Vice President when he died and get suspicious). Granted, why is Brody not dead already? Why did Quinn not kill Brody in between his house and Carrie’s? Seemed like a good time for a “car accident” which makes me think Brody will inexplicably make it to season three. Either that or Carrie will kill him when she realizes Brody is still a terrorist.

The Voice: Somewhat uneventful week because it was clear it was time for Trevin Hunte to go and he did (not that it always works out that way because Trevin should have went home two weeks ago instead of Amanda Brown). I guess the most shocking revelation was that the show would have a final two. Sure Mark Burnett has an unhealthy obsession with final threes even though everyone watching hate them (see Survivor) but me thinks that they made have done it this way so Blake would be the only coach with a contestant in the finals.

Speaking of Blake’s final two, when Carson first said they were going to sing Little Talks, my first thought was, is there some classic rock song I am forgetting that is called Little Talks (this is Terry McDermott who was singing) because they certainly are not going to perform that weird indie pop song. But they did sing the weird indie pop song which was very high on my list of songs I never thought I would hear on a karaoke show. And just when you think it would not get any weirder, Carson announces Of Monsters and Men were randomly in the audience (which begs the question, why did they have them sing the song).

This week we also got to see the triumphant return of RaeLynn although, I much prefer when she is stomping around like a grown up version of Toddlers and Tierra’s. No more mid tempos and ballad RaeLynn. If Cee-Lo is managing Juliet Simms, she needs to find new representation because her new song was a train wreck. And Chris Mann still sucks massively. Christina’s claim of him being the most commercially successful when the song he performed could not even crack the top 100 on iTunes when RaeLynn made it into the top 25. Even Juliet’s train wreck got into the 40’s. But I did predict last season that RaeLynn would be the most successful of the first two season and it looks like I am going to be right.

No Power Rankings this week because Cassadee Pope is the inevitable winner, the only question is who is second (I am hoping for Nicholas David).


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice by clicking on the artist’s name.

How I Met Your Mother: The show has had some pretty bad ideas in its run, but family with benefits has to be the worst hands down.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

Parenthood: Of course they did not let Kristina die because I would have started a riot. I now it is not realistic, but they better they better just cure her in the next episode because I am not sure I can deal with it anymore.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

The Neighbors: This episode really made me yearn for a Weekend at Bernie's reboot.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Neighbors on iTunes.

Survivor: Philippines: After one of the best season in recent memory, it is kind of a boring foursome for the finale. Sadly nobody believed Abi-Maria’s fake Immunity Idol story. But do know what Abi, it may not have been the best strategy to call someone who hope to vote with you a moron and an idiot multiple times.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons: I was three episodes behind because Time Warner Cable and / or MTV forgot to add that episode to the On Demand which finally was uploaded this week. And of course the episode they waited three weeks to upload was not only the best episode of the season, it may have well been the single greatest episode ever in the history of The Challenge. Seriously, the whole house got in a twenty minute fight culminating in what is now my favorite insult of all time when Frank said Dustin just has “porn Muscles”. Awesome. Not so awesome was the following week when Marie tried to get in on the action, clearly doing it solely for the cameras. Hopefully she never gets asked back because faking crazy for the camera is not entertaining. Whereas Nany is legitimately crazy should be asked back to the next five seasons. And it is amazing over the course three episodes that Trishelle went from certainly going home because her partner Alton basically quit to probably going to win the whole thing (I really doubt Devyn or Sam will be able to make to the end).
You can download The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Free Holiday Songs from Amazon MP3

Deal of the Week: Best Selling MP3 Albums for Just $2.99: Amazon MP3 announced their latest batch of super cheap albums, and there are a bunch of soft rock hits from the 00’s including John Mayer, Coldplay, Jack Johnson, and Taylor Swift.


New Album Release of the Week: 12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief - Various Artists

New DVD Release of the Week: Pitch Perfect

Video of the Week: I love the Nolan The Dark Knight Trilogy, but to be honest, I prefer my superheroes with a side of kitsch so I am not sure if we really need a super serious, super dark Superman series. We definitely do not need a Superman with a Ben Affleck in Argo beard. With that said, superheroes are only as good as his nemesis so the trailer did need more Zod in it so I should hold my judgement until we se more of him. And it definitely needs more Amy Adams as Lois Lane. But I have a feeling this will be another one and done movie from the Superman franchise. I hope I am wrong.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Homeland, Sunday (tomorrow) at 10:00: Abu Nazir is dead, Vice President Walden is dead, Roya is in prison. But we still have one more episode left so there will be one more explosion left. Will that explosion go thanks to Brody or will Quinn explode Brody’s head first. And let’s not forget that Brody also blamed Estes for Issa’s death so his safety is not guaranteed especially after blackmailing Saul. And I have not even brought up crazy Carrie yet, I have long stopped trying to guess what she will do.

Lyrics Quiz: Best of 2012

I have rounded up my favorite lyrics of the year for you to guess. 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 and give you credit. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them.


1. Give me a second I… I need to get my stories straight. My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State. (We Are Young - Fun featuring Janelle Monáe; guessed by Kevin)
2. The stairs creak as I sleep, it’s keeping me awake. It’s the house telling you to close your eyes.
3. You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness.
4. It started with a whisper and that is when I kissed her. And then she made my lips hurt.
5. Bless my heart, bless my soul, didn’t think I’d make it to twenty-two years old. There must be someone up above. Say c’mon Britney you gotta come on up.
6. How does it feel, oh how does it feel to be you right now? You brought this apart so pick up your piece and go. Please just let me go now.
7. Oh, can it be, the voices calling me? They get lost and out of time. I should’ve seen it glow. But everybody knows that a broken heart is blind.
8. We both know it’s not what it seems. We both know what’s between the sheets. I know that it’s a secret and that I got keep it.
9. Take me at your best friend’s house. Go around this round-about, oh yeah. Take me to your best friend’s house. I loved you then and I love you now, oh yeah.
10. If happy ever after still exists, I would still be holding you this. And all of the faiytales are full of (expletive deleted). One more (expletive deleted) love song and I’ll be sick.
11. I just met you, and this is crazy.
12. Human beings in a mob. What’s a mob to a king? What’s a king to a God? What’s a God to a non-believer who don’t believe in anything?
13. I’m a good man with a good heart. Had a tough time, got a rough start. But I’ve finally learned to let it go.
14. This is it boy, this is war. What are we waiting for? Why don’t we break the rules already?
15. First there lights out then its lock up. Masterpieces serving maximum sentences. It’s their own fault for being timeless.
16. Love is not a whisper or a weakness. No love is strong so we got to get together.
17. But does not make logical, if you say I’m just an animal. You can’t explain away the way I feel.
18. No troubles ever gonna take anything away from me.
19. Pull it out, turn it up, what’s your favorite song. That’s mine, I’ve been crying to it since I was young.
20. No I don’t like you I just thought you were cool enough to kick it. Got a beach house I can sell you in Idaho.
21. It’s better to feel pain then nothing at all. The opposite of love is indifference.
22. And you would hide away with some indie records that’s so much cooler than mine.
23. Fear like a habit, run like a rabbit out and away through the screen door to the unknown. And I wanna love you and more, I wanna find you and more. Where do you reside when you hide how can I find ya?
24. I lit a fire with the love you left behind and it burned wild and crept up the mountain side. I followed your ashes into outer space.
25. We got engaged on s Friday Night. I swore on the head of our unborn child that I could take care of the three of us. But I got the tendency to slip when the nights get wild. It’s in my blood.

Around the Tubes - 12/14/12

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 Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, Andrew Dice Clay's Indestructible, Whisker Wars, Portlandia, Girls, Enlightened, King of the Nerds, Arbitrage, Bro, Leader of the Pack, The Incredible Dr. Pol, Huffington Post's Best Movies, and Playboy.

- Note to ABC: We all loved Dick Clark and New Years Eve will not be the same without you, but titling your special Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2013 is really clunky. But anyway. This year there will be a two hour special on Dick Clark starting at 8:00 while Ryan Seacrest starts the festivities at 10:00 going all the way to 2:12 in the morning (with a break for your local news at 11:00). Justin Bieber, Jason Aldean, Greyson Chance, Ellie Goulding and The Wanted will be performing on the west coast. In New York Psy, Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Neon Trees, performing live in Times Square.

- If the Ryan Seacrest affair is a bit cheesy for you, you cam ring in the new year with Andrew Dice Clay as his comedy special Indestructible will premiere 10:00.

- New episode of Whisker Wars is on IFC tonight at 10:00 and stick around because right afterwards there will be a special “Winter in Portlandia” episode.

- The new seasons of Girls and Enlightened returns to HBO January 13 at 9:00 and you can check out the key art for both below:


- So King of the Nerds, premiering January 17 on TBS, is just Beauty and the Geek without the beauties and Revenge of the Nerds alumni as hosts. Sure, I’ll still watch. But maybe it is time for a Beauty and the Geek reboot.

- Out on DVD and / or Blu Ray over the next couple weeks include Arbitrage (12/21) which features Richard Gere as a hedge-fund magnate whose fortunes turn when a deadly error threatens to destroy both his financial empire and his family as well as the motocross film Bro (12/18) starring Danny Trejo.

- Just a reminder to fans of Cesar Millan fans, his new series Leader of the Pack is set to premiere early next year on January 5 at 10:00 on Nat Geo Wild. The show matches abandoned Dogs with the best adoption candidate to provide a permanent home for a new canine companion. And prior to that at 9:00 will be the return of The Incredible Dr. Pol.

- It is that time of year for the best of list (mine coming next week) and the Huffington Post has released their list of the 30 Best Movies of 2012. Sadly it looks like That’s My Boy just missed their list.

- In the latest issue of Playboy (hitting newsstands 12/18), Scott Speedman answers this issues 20Q where he talks about why he despises social media. In his funny and candid interview he covers his stalker, his selective Canadian pride, and the odds that he’ll be starring in a superhero movie.

Never Had Much Faith in Love or Miracles

Bruno Mars is perfectly mediocre. You are not going to actually buy his music, but you are also not going to switch the channel when he comes on the radio. It is probably why his music is so popular on karaoke shows, his songs are inoffensive and his voice is mediocre enough that you will not embarrass yourself singing one his songs like the morons who think they can match notes on an Adele song. But some would argue it is better to be horrible than mediocre because you can get more attention being horrible. I believe scientists call this The Rebecca Black Phenomenon which was recently perfected by the Gangnam Style dude. And even though Mars is much better than Psy, I do find myself thinking about Psy more often. Sure it is a fiery cauldron of hate, but like they say, it is better when people talk about you then do not talk about you (i.e. The Kardashian Paradigm).

Then Bruno Mars came out with Locked Out of Heaven much dirtier than anything on his debut with some annoying chopped up yeah’s (but hey, annoying is more memorable than mediocre), and was a changed note away from getting sued by The Police for ripping off Message in a Bottle. Even the album art is a bit offensive with a close up of a woman’s chest with a plunging neckline.

But for the rest of Unorthodox Jukebox, Bruno Mars is back to just nine other hard to hate songs. There is not a bad song on here and most certainly be the soundtrack of many of Middle School dances and Vegas is currently taking bets one weather someone on The Voice or American Idol will be the first to have a contestant sing Young Girls. There really is not unorthodox about these jukebox of songs, it is exactly what you expect from a Bruno Mars album, overwrought lyrics, danceable music for your bar mitzvah, be it awkward grooving or even more awkward arms length slow dancing with the cute chick whose braces are supposed to come off in the next week.

The “jukebox” instead sounds like Mars checking off his influences. The New Wave of Locked Out of Heaven, the eighties soft rock of Moonshine (when Mars sings moonshine, I swear I can hear Don Johnson singing Heartbeat, I do not think that is particularly a good thing), the Elton John balladeering of When I Was Your Man, the watered down reggae of Show Me, and the Motown of If I Knew. The only unorthodox is when Bruno goes disco for Treasure. And in true Bruno Mars tradition, he is not completely horrible even when he goes Full Travolta. You might find Unorthodox Jukebox to be mediocre, I am sure the album would be something to give your mother for Christmas. Moms love mediocre music. Why do think Michael Bublé still has a career.

Song to Download – Locked Out of Heaven

Unorthodox Jukebox gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Don’t Want Your Sympathy, I Don’t Want Your Honesty, I Just Want to Get Some Piece of Mind

In these musical times, it is not enough to be good (with the exception of Adele), you have to have a gimmick. Which Is probably why Green Day planned to release three albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré!, about seven weeks apart. But shortly after ¡Uno! was released (see my review: Tonight My Heart’s on the Loose), lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong went on an anti-Bieber rant and landed himself in rehab and has not been heard from since. With the lead singer in hibernation, ¡Dos! was released with little fanfare last month aside from a creepy, but entertaining heartless music video. Apparently their record company is cutting their losses and just released ¡Tré! this week instead of the original mid-January release, less than a month after ¡Dos!. Well they were either cutting their losses or decided it get it released before the world ended.

During my review of the previously mentioned review of ¡Uno! I mentioned that the final song, Oh Love, was sonically different than the previous eleven songs, possibly hinting at what ¡Dos! may have to offer. As it turns out, I was wrong because ¡Dos! turned out to be more of the power pop that most of ¡Uno! was. The band did not change much up until late in the album with the slick Nightlife featuring an almost half rap from Monica Painter which is the first time I can remember anyone besides Billy Joe singing lead vocals on a Green Day song. That album ends with the sparse sixties inspired Amy, which I dare to say again may hint at what was to come on ¡Tré!?

¡Tré! actually does start up with another sixties garage rock song Brutal Love which kind of sounds like Green Day trying to record a U2 song when they are trying to record a mellow song. But after that, it is back to more power pop. Of the thirty-seven tracks among the trilogy, thirty-one are in that fast paced rock that the band was known for in the nineties, but with an elder twist to them. It makes it a bit repetitive if you listen to all three albums for the two hour plus runtime, but who listens to albums straight through anymore? If you like classic Green Day, grab all three albums and enjoy them when they come up while randomly listening to your music library on random.

Song to Download – Brutal Love

¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! all receive a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Feed Your iPod vol. LXVI: Winter Song

I am a huge Christmas music fan; I just recently downloaded my 500^th holiday tune which means I can listen to my playlist for a full twenty-four hours straight without hearing a song twice. Let me amend the original, I love Christmas music in December, the other eleven months I skip it when they come up on random. But there are a few songs from the season I will not skip even when it is ninety degrees outside, one of which is Winter Song by Eisley. It is not really a holiday song per say, there is no fat men or babies born in a manger, but then again neither does Let it Snow, and that even gets skipped come January (probably because Christmas is the only time I actually want it to snow as long as it is all melted by New Year’s Eve).

The Winter Song

I Want My Music Television - 2012 Christmas Edition

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.


All I Need Is Love –Cee-Lo Green featuring The Muppets


Ha Lo-Cee. I wonder if CeeLo's team was eliminated from The Voice we would had seen more of Lo-Cee. And apparently Walter from the most recent The Muppets movie is becoming a thing. But The Muppets do make anything better, with all the reboots happening, I am surprised no one has thought about rebooting The Muppets Show. Seriously Disney, you are rebooting Boy Meets World, but it has not donned on you to start up The Muppets Show? At least do a periodic special every couple months.


I Feel It In My Bones - The Killers featuring Ryan Pardey


The Killers holiday single has become a yearly tradition, but I think they may have ran idea when they start record dark Christmas carols. This sounds like something that would be used in a Christmas movie made Bret Easton Ellis. It may be time to move onto the standards guys.


Christmas in the Sand – Colbie Caillat



As someone who has living in cold weather his whole life, I really would like to spend Christmas in the sand one day, preferably with Colbie Caillat. Although I have no desire to see Santa Clause in his bathing suit.


I Think You Might Like It - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John


John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John recorded a Christmas album. And they are line dancing in the video. No Sandy, I do not like it. And what the frack is on Danny’s head.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 12/9/12

Once Upon a Time: When Snow White and Emma jumped into the portal, I thought, “Wait, are they really going to leave Sleeping Beauty and Mulan in a deserted world with Cora?” Seems kind of rude. Granted Cora and Hook ended up finding their way to Storybrooke so the duo is basically alone with a bunch of ogres, giants, maybe Frankenstein’s monster and the lifeless body of the Prince.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Revenge: I realize this week that I liked the show much better when Emily was taking down people one week at a time than all this cooperate espionage that just goes way over my head this season. I do not really care about the British dude and they literally doubled down on the bar takeover storyline by bringing in another brother who does nothing but just repeats what his brother said. And the Initiative is such an evil monolith they hang out in a room that looks like the Injustice League lair.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Walking Dead: I hate it when shows think they are going to be all clever by not starting an episode which what is expected (in this case Rick storming Woodbury) but instead introducing unknown characters. But I guess whenever introduce a new black dude; the old black dude has to be killed off.

As Rick was leaving Woodbury, I was disappointed because the whole season seemed to be building of a confrontation between the sheriff and The Governor. Then a couple minutes later Michonne sticks a shard of glass in The Governor’s eye and all the disappointment disappeared. I guess we may have to wait until the season finale to see the Rick / Governor showdown.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Homeland:Since Abu Nazir is the only thing keeping Brody from a Quinn delivered bullet, how much more in trouble can he get for essentially killing the Vice (and possibly future) President? I doubted how Brody could make it out alive during the first season, and though he did, it is hard to think of possibilities of him making it to season three. But does Carrie overlook his part in the Walden assassination because it meant saving her life and just not tell anyone? But as awesome as the opening and closing scenes were, why is the CIA no longer tapping his phone? I know sometimes the show has potholes so big you can drive a semi truck through them, but this is pretty big. Of course Nazir was going to continue with his plan even if a bunch of his lieutenants got captured.

The Voice: I knew it was not going to be a good week when on the results show, the two people I thought (hoped) would go home were the first two saved. And somehow Amanda Brown, who have the two best performances of the week (well solo performance, the Nicholas David / Melanie Martinez duet may have been the most bizarrely beautiful thing ever), was sent packing. Not only that she got voted off right after out-singing Cassadee on Breakaway and even was better than Ne-Yo on his own song.

A lot has been made of the teen girl voting bloc ruining singing shows, but after MacKenzie Bourg went home after the first week of voting, I think it is the bored housewife that is keeping these bland singers around. The finals should be Cassadee and Nicholas, but I have a feeling it will end up being Terry and Trevin. But I guess this final four is still better than last season, but anything without Chris Mann (who inexplicably made over Lindsey Pavao thanks probably to the previously mentioned bored housewife voting bloc) is an upgrade.

Final Four Power Rankings

1. Nicholas David
2. Cassadee Pope
3. Terry McDermott
4. Trevin Hunte



You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs from The Voice by clicking on the artist’s name.

Go On: I am a bit disappointed we did not get more time at the Holiday / End of the World Party. I would have been content with a bottle episode at just the party.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Go On on iTunes.

Parenthood: I cannot remember much of what happened in this week’s episode because all I can remember is the Promo Monkeys daring to suggest Kristina may die next episode. They better be seriously misleading because I do not want to spend all of Tuesday night crying.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Sons of Anarchy: Of course Jax was not going to let Pope kill Tig especially when Pope was responsible for Opie’s death. The only question was how he was going to get out of it. Apparently it meant setting up Clay. So the question to ponder until next season is how is Clay going to avoid the bounty on his head because you know the show is not going to let Clay die unless it is at the hands of Jax.
You can download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.

Survivor: Philippines: Stupid Malcolm had to just go and win Immunity. Very few things are more entertaining than watching someone get voted out with Immunity in their pocket. I have a feeling he would because all the talk before the challenge was about the blindside which always means something would happen to screw it up. Instead they end up voting out… um… who was that guy who got voted up? Did he sneak into the game with the rest of the Loved Ones and hoped no one would notice?
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Subugatory: Ryan acting like a wild animal was way too funnier than it had any right to be.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Suburgatory on iTunes.

Nashville: Way to ruin the proposal Promo Monkeys. Okay, of course fake-Tim Tebow was obviously going to say yes. But it is a little weird that the show stole the Fresh Prince of Bel Air plotline from the time Will got fake married (officiated hilariously by Jazz) just so he could have sex with a chick waiting for marriage. Also Gunner is an idiot, I would totally choose the much hotter Hailey over the whiney Scarlett.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: I cannot believe Sheldon did not sing Soft Kitty to Amy.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Best of the Week - 12/8/12

Quote of the Week: “I'm not destroying lives, Amanda, I'm righting wrongs. (Emily Thorne, Revenge)

Song of the Week: High Hope – Glen Hansard (Parenthood)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Debt Ceiling Crisis: The democratic ran on taxing the rich and painted the Republicans as pandering to the rick at the expense of the Middle Class. So what is the first thing the Republicans do after the election, so no increase on the top two percent even if that means letting all the taxes increase, even on the middle class. Seriously Republicans, you really need to get your stuff together by 2016 unless you want another four to eight years of President Clinton, and that is certainly something I do not want to see because as we learned from the Bushes, the sequel is always significantly worse than the original.

Preview Picture of the Week:


Free Download of the Week: Rising Stars of 2013 Sampler

Deal of the Week: R&B and Classic Soul MP3 Albums for just $2.99: A lot of good ones here including greatest hits packages from Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, James Brown, Sam Cook as well from contemporary artists like Amy Winehouse, and just in time for the holidays, Christmas albums from Boyz II Men, The Temptations, and the twenty-five song A Motown Christmas (which comes to about twelve cents per song).


New Album Release of the Week: Music of Nashville Soundtrack

New DVD Release of the Week: Mankind: The Story of All of Us

Video of the Week: Ray Donavan starring Live Schreiber and Masters of Sex starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan (yes, Lizzy Caplan is starring in a series entitled Masters of Sex, the Mayans better not be right) do not debut until some indeterminate date next year, my best guess is one or both will begin whenever the next Shameless season comes to an end sometime around March, but Showtime is giving you a first look. A first look at Lizzy Caplan in Masters of Sex. In the immortal words of Bart Scott: Can’t wait.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Survivor, Wednesday and Sunday at 8:00 on CBS: After a couple failed experiments (Redemption Island, One World) Survivor went back a more tradition fame, except three tribes for the first time is a long time. They also brought back three contestants who were medically evacuated (of course there was one of those this season) and it turned out to be one of the best seasons in recent memories. We are now down to three hours left (and a reunion show) and five contestants; two separate alliances with Abi, who was once aligned with Lisa and Skupin) sitting in the middle. Will Lisa finally get to blindside Malcolm? Will Malcolm over think things and give his Immunity Idol to Denise? Can Abi somehow weasel her way into the Final Council? Should make for an interesting final two episodes.

Around the Tubes 12/7/12

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 Ax Men, Bamazon, Mel Brooks Strikes Back, Game of Thrones, Southland, Downton Abbey, Inside Comedy, and Save the Date.

- Big night of premieres on History this Sunday. First at 9:00 is the new season Ax Men. That will be followed at ten by new show Bamazon which follows eight determined Alabama construction workers into the dark heart of South America, hoping to strike it rich as upstart gold miners. But it won’t be easy. Men have come to this unforgiving part of the world for centuries searching for El Dorado and most have gone home empty-handed, if they’ve survived the experience at all!

- If you do not like Mel Brooks you obviously do not like to laugh. But for those that do like the him, Mel Brooks Strikes Back debuts this Monday at 9;00 on HBO. Appearing onstage with Alan Yentob, creative director for the BBC, this entertainment legend looks back on his remarkable career with the same trademark wit that earned him his success.


- In other HBO news, Game of Thrones season three went in to production this week and though you will have to wait until March of next year to see it, HBO has released this behind the scenes video:


- Also just starting up its production of its upcoming season is Southland. Season five will premiere on TNT February 13 at 10:00 which will include C. Thomas Howell as he gets promoted to the cast as a series regular.

- Downton Abbey returns early next year (1/6 on PBS) and you can relive the most memorable moments (so far) by watching the video below. If you want to relive more of the second season, PBS is reairing it throughout December (check your local listings.

Watch Downton Abbey: Official Seasons 1 & 2 Recap on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

- Showtime has announced that the second season of Inside Comedy will premiere Monday, February 11 at 11:00 and will feature Drew Carey, Robert Klein, Steve Martin, Martin Mull and Robert Schimmel. - Sign me up for any movie starring Lizzie Caplan and Allison Brie. Save the Date does not hit theaters until December 14, but you can already pick up the Save the Date Soundtrack now featuring Wilco and others.

We On Award Tour: 2013 Grammy Nominations

The Grammy’s hit primetime again to announce next year’s nominations, or at least to the categories that anyone cares about (you will have to hit the internet to see if you were nominated for Best Hawaiian Album) with some performances by artists not good enough to perform on the actual show (sorry Ne-Yo, no major nominations for you). Oddly one of the big four (Song of the Year) was relegated to search the internet. The big news this year is they unsegregated the categories by genre which did not favor male pop performers (all chicks), RnB or country chicks (only one nominated in each). Here are the categories that were televised:


Pop Vocal Album
Stronger – Kelly Clarkson
Ceremonials – Florence + the Machine
Some Nights – Fun.
Overexposed – Maroon 5
The Truth About Love – P!nk

Should Win: Some Nights
Will Win: Stronger
Should Have Been Nominate: Little Broken Hearts - Norah Jones – Norah Jones

Kind of a boring category, but pop has been boring lately so I guess it is apropos because I had a hard time think something else that deserve to be nominated, maybe Norah Jones who I do not think qualifies as pop anymore, or possibly Kimbra, but she did not have much success except for singing with Gotye.


Record of the Year
Lonely Boy – The Black Keys
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson
We Are Young – Fun featuring Janelle Monáe
Somebody That I Used to Know – Gotye featuring Kimbra
Thinkin Bout You – Frank Ocean
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift

Should Win: Lonely Boy
Will Win: Somebody That I Used to Know
Should Have Been Nominated: Ho Hey – The Lumineers

Just throw out Clarkson and Swift for being extremely cheesy and the final four is extremely competitive category, any of which are deserving of winning. The only way they could have made it tougher had they added the much deserved Ho Hey or Norah Jones Happy Pills.


Best New Artist
Alabama Shakes
Fun.
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean

Should Win: The Lumineers
Will Win: Frank Ocean
Should Have Been Nominated: Gotye

Best New Artist is the only category that seems to have quotas so Hunter Hayes took the token country spot that should have gone to the more deserving Gotye who got the shaft because Fun. took the token pop slot probably because they were able to score a second hit (sorry teen girls, no love for the crappy Carly Rae Jepsen and / or One Direction). The big surprise was the inclusion on Alabama Shake who put out a good album but it was little listened to outside of rock critics. And since this is always the most shocking category, do not count them out.


Best Country Solo Performance
Home – Dierks Bentley
Springsteen – Eric Church
Cost of Livin' - Ronnie Dunn
Wanted – Hunter Hayes
Over – Blake Shelton
Blown Away – Carrie Underwood

Eh, do not care.


Album of the Year
El Camino – The Back Keys
Some Nights – Fun.
Babel – Mumford and Sons
Channel ORANGE – Frank Ocean
Blunderbuss – Jack White

Should Win: El Camino
Will Win: Babel
Should Have Been Nominated: Handwritten – The Gaslight Anthem

Over the last couple years the Grammy’s usually likes to throw in some crappy pop artist to make them seem cool (see Katy Perry) so it was shocking that they actually nominated five really good albums. Really any of them deserve to win, I think Mumford and Sons have a slight edge because they are the biggest artist right now not named Adele. But aparently rock is not dead with three of the five come from that genre, four if you count Fun. because they do play their own intraments.


If you go through all 100 plus categories, six artists tied with six nominees each: Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys (he also got nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical along with all his band’s nominations), Frank Ocean, Fun, Mumford and Sons, while Jay-Z and Kanye West racked up all theirs in the not cool enough for prime time. You will have to head over to Grammy.com for the full list, but here is the other big catergory that was missing from the live telecast.


Song of the Year
The a Team - Ed Sheeran, songwriter (Ed Sheeran)
Adorn - Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)
Call Me Maybe - Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters (Carly Rae Jepsen)
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Jörgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi, songwriters (Kelly Clarkson)
We Are Young - Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe)

Should Win: We Are Young
Will Win: Stronger
Should Have Been Nominated: Anything but Call Me Maybe

I now understand why they did not televise this category: Call Me Maybe was nominated. Keep in mind this is a songwriter’s award. “I just met you, and this is crazy, so here's my number, call me maybe.” Seriously. You know there is something wrong when Kelly Clarkson quoting Nietzsche is not the most absurb nomintion for a songwriting award.

Previewing Big Cat Week

Nat Geo Wild is launching their third annual Big Cat Week next week starting this Sunday and for the fans of felines, here is a complete schedule.

Snow Leopard of Afghanistan
Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous places on earth, is also home to a population of endangered and elusive snow leopards. These big cats are a species under constant threat from poachers and farmers who fear that the leopards are attacking their livestock. But experts can’t protect them without knowing more about them. Now, Nat Geo WILD joins the WCS and an international team of experts, including big cat tracker Boone Smith, as they set out on a mission in the middle of a war zone: to find, capture and collar a snow leopard, and release it back into the wild. With GPS to track the big cats’ location and WCS camera traps already in place, if successful, the expedition will offer a deeper understanding of the rare and beautiful species.

Attack of Big Cats
Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET/PT
There may be nearly 40 different species of wild cat running around out there, but only four make it into the big cat club: the lion, tiger, leopard and jaguar. And they’re armed with an arsenal of weapons and bulk to back up one hell of an attitude. In their world, nothing is small and many things are surprising. So get ready for a vicious lesson on what makes a big cat a big cat. Is it the roar? The teeth? Maybe it’s their diet, because they’re certainly not living on Fancy Feast® and loading up litter boxes. We’ll take a look at their size, speed, claws and hunting capabilities, among so much more.

Tiger Dynasty
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET/PT
A legendary Tiger Dynasty has ruled India’s Ranthambhore National Park for decades. Led by a fierce queen, a tigress named Machli, the family has beaten the odds and continues to thrive despite the constant threat of poachers. Now, as Machli nears the end of her life, Nat Geo WILD takes a closer look at the reign of one of India’s most beloved tigers through the lens of wildlife filmmaker Colin Johnson, who began filming her in 1998 when she was just 1 year old. In a film nearly 15 years in the making, witness important milestones in her life — including her first encounters with prey, battles with dangerous crocodiles and sloth bears that share the park, and life-threatening fights with male tigers. And see how she managed to live side by side with humans, even those out to kill her. Finally, join Johnson as he attempts to capture her on camera one last time — that is, if she survived the last monsoon.

Born Predator
Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, at 9 p.m. ET/PT
Meet Moja, a 5-month-old lion cub, and his single lioness mother Nyota. Outcasts from a pride, they live a fragile existence in the Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya. Living between neighboring pride territories, life is hard at the best of times. But now it’s even tougher. Food is fast running out and the wildebeest migration is still hundreds of miles away. Nyota must provide everything for her son, but she is low on energy. Hyenas are threatening to steal a kill — Moja’s first meal in a week. And because she and her cub are constantly trespassing into other prides’ territories, they face dangers in every direction.

Fatal Instinct
Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, at 9 p.m. ET/PT
The cheetah: the fastest land animal on earth and a feared predator. But before her cubs can dominate the African savannah, a mother cheetah must transform her offspring from adorable kittens into bold, powerful hunters. Nat Geo WILD follows one mother as she struggles to teach her offspring how to survive in one of the most cutthroat environments on the planet. High-speed cameras reveal every stunning detail of one of the most important lessons: how to hunt for prey. And although they will one day be feared, the cubs are under constant threat from surrounding lions, leopards and hyenas.

Find Your Peace of Mind with Some Indie Record Much Cooler Than Mind

Over her first three albums, Taylor Swift has made country pop that moved closer and closer to the latter genre. But earlier this year she recorded a song for The Hunger Games Soundtrack with The Civil Wars. Safe and Sound was dark and moody and the second best song in her career (I still contend that Our Song is the second finest pop song written over the past decade). The song really got me excited for her next album as I was hoping Safe and Sound was the direction she was heading in her career. Then she released We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, a song so sugary it makes Call Me Maybe sound like Radiohead in comparison. Ugg.

The song was the latest ear candy from the teen pop svengali Max Martin who produced three songs on Red. The other notable song Martin contributed to is the “dub-step” I Knew You Were Trouble that really does not drop the bass like the DJ’s that make the subgenre famous and just comes off across a watered down version of dub-step. It really is just a novelty for Swift because is you listen to the acoustic version of the song it is much better. The other Martin enhance song is the forgettable 22 where Swift makes fun of hipsters, echoing her slam of indie records during We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

Aside from Max Martin, Taylor brings in a few more collaborators for the new album. Dan Wilson, who co-wrote Someone Like You, co-wrote Treacherous with Swift but just does not hit the heights of the Adele monster hit or even his work on the last Dixie Chicks record. The Last Time features Gary Lightbody and comes across more like a Snow Patrol castoff than a Taylor Swift song. She alaso duets with Ed Sheeran on Everything Has Changed and the acoustic ballad sound more like something you would find on his album. Of court that may be the point of these duets because Safe and Sound sounded much more like a song by The Civil Wars.

But Red is at its best when Swift goes back to writing by herself. The best song on the album is actually stuck at the end. Begin Again is a sweet ballad where Swift is ready to move on with a James Taylor fan. As the second single it is a great yin to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’s yang. Really Swift should stick to writing by herself or work just with The Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett for now on.

Song to Download – Begin Again

Red gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.