Can't Stop Til You Get Enough

What album has gotten the most play from you lately?

Lately I've been hooked on The Killers - Hot Fuss album. The songs are catchy, the lead singer is cute and their videos are fun to watch. Along with Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse, I would say they helped define alternative rock in 2004. Plus they hail from Sin City, baby!

My Inner Star Wars Geek got a chuckle out of this.

Let's Go Out To The Lobby

It's been kind of a slow week, so I say, "Bring on more Interactive Questions to the Audience!"

Have you ever walked out of a movie theatre? If so, what movie(s)?

The only movie I've ever walked out on was Escape from L.A. My Uncle Ken and I lasted about halfway through but we just couldn't take it anymore. Thankfully it was at a second-run theatre so we were only out a few bucks apiece. I wanted to leave the snoozefest known as Gosford Park but Tony wouldn't let me.

Evil You Say? *holds pinky to corner of mouth*

(from cnn.com)

Homosexual marriages are part of "a new ideology of evil" that is insidiously threatening society, Pope John Paul says in his newly published book. In "Memory and Identity," the Pope also calls abortion a "legal extermination" comparable to attempts to wipe out Jews and other groups in the 20th century.

Blogger's Note: Oh just die already, will ya?

Repeat Viewing

It's time to go interactive again...

Name five movies that you never tire of watching.

My choices are:
-Galaxy Quest
-Edward Scissorhands
-The Goonies
-Fargo
-The Matrix

What About Burger Time?

(from 1up.com)

The 50 Most Important Video Games Ever Made

1. Spacewar (1962: PDP-1)
2. Pong (1972: Arcade/Console)
3. Space Invaders (1978: Arcade)
4. Adventure (1979: Atari 2600)
5. Battlezone (1980: Arcade)
6. Pitfall! (1982: Atari 2600)
7. Zork (1977-79: DEC PDP-10)
8. Game & Watch (1980-88)
9. Star Wars (1983: Arcade)
10. Pac-Man (1980: Arcade)
11. Donkey Kong (1981: Arcade)
12. Rogue (1980: VAX/BSD UNIX)
13. E.T. (1982: Atari 2600)
14. Dragon's Lair (1983: Arcade)
15. King's Quest (1983: PC)
16. One-on-One (1983: C64)
17. Super Mario Bros. (1985: Arcade/NES)
18. Gauntlet (1985: Arcade)
19. M.U.L.E. (1983: C64)
20. Dragon Warrior (1986: NES)
21. Ultima IV (1985: Apple II/PC)
22. The Macintosh (1984)
23. Tetris (1986: PC/NES/GameBoy)
24. Prince of Persia (1989: PC)
25. FaceBall 2000 (1990: GameBoy)
26. Doom (1993: PC)
27. John Madden NFL Football (1990: Genesis)
28. Sonic the Hedgehog (1991: Genesis)
29. Super Mario Kart (1992: Super NES)
30. Populous (1989: Amiga/PC)
31. Herzog Zwei (1991: Genesis)
32. Street Fighter II (1991: Arcade)
33. Myst (1993: Mac/PC)
34. Mortal Kombat (1992: Arcade/SNES/Genesis)
35. Virtua Fighter (1993: Arcade/32X)
36. Super Mario 64 (1996: Nintendo 64)
37. Tomb Raider (1996: PS/Saturn/PC/Mac)
38. Final Fantasy VII (1997: PS/PC)
39. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999: PS)
40. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998: N64)
41. Metal Gear Solid (1998: PS)
42. Half-Life (1998: PC)
43. Gran Turismo (1998: PS)
44. Parappa the Rapper (1997: PS)
45. Ultima Online (1997: PC)
46. Pokémon (1998: GameBoy)
47. The Sims (2000: PC)
48. Jet Grind Radio (2000: Dreamcast)
49. Grand Theft Auto III (2001: PS2/Xbox/PC)
50. Halo (2001: Xbox/PC/Mac)

Flimflam

I know the Grammys were a couple of days ago, but I needed to take a second to pose a question: Who in their right mind would declare "Daughters" by John Mayer to be the Best Song of the Year??? Am I supposed to honestly believe that out of all the thousands of songs to come out in the last year, THIS was the cream of the crop? It's not even the best John Mayer song, let alone the best song period! I've talked to actual John Mayer fans (they do exist) who have expressed that "Daughters" is one of the worst songs he has put out. Let's look at a sampling of these award-winning lyrics, shall we...

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

If you read these lyrics to the tune of Hickory-Dickory-Dock, they're actually much more enjoyable. The Grammys will always be one big popularity contest and that chintzy little trophy becomes more worthless every year.

February 14 Means...

Avast! I'll use any excuse to mention something pirate-related. Below you'll find a 50-foot high pirate ship a bunch of students at Dartmouth made for their Peter Pan-themed winter carnival.

Resurrect My Show

Time for something interactive, kids...

What TV show from the past would you most like to see new episodes of?

My choice is Strangers with Candy. It's one of the most hilarious, offensive and well-written TV comedies I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. Much of that was due to the fact that some of the greatest comedic minds today both starred in and wrote for the show- Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert being among them. Every episode was pure gold, in my opinion. You'd be doing yourself a favor by picking up the three seasons on DVD. I do get my wish partially granted this year- Warner Bros. will be distributing the Strangers with Candy film that debuted at Sundance last month.

So let's post some comments...

These are super-high-resolution photographs of actual snowflakes. Cookie might find it interesting to know that they were taken in Rochester, NY by a scientific photographer named Ted Kinsman.

Pierre, The Fighter Pilot

Couldn't help but chuckle at this one...

Pierre, a brave French fighter pilot, takes his girlfriend, Marie, out for a pleasant little picnic by the River Seine.

It's a beautiful day, and love is in the air. Marie leans over to Pierre and says: "Pierre kiss me!" Our hero grabs a bottle of Merlot wine and splashes it on Marie's Lips. "What are you doing, Pierre?" says the startled Marie. "I am Pierre the fighter pilot! When I have red meat, I have red wine!" She smiles and they start kissing.

When things began to heat up a little, Marie says, "Pierre, kiss me lower."

Our hero tears her blouse open, grabs a bottle of Chardonnay and starts pouring it all over her breasts. "Pierre! What are you doing?" asks the bewildered Marie. "I am Pierre the fighter pilot! When I have white meat, I have white wine!"

They resume their passionate interlude and things really steam up.

Marie leans close to his ear and whispers, "Pierre, kiss me lower!" Our hero rips off her underwear, grabs a bottle of Cognac, and pours it in her lap. He then strikes a match and lights it on fire. Marie shrieks and dives into the river.

Standing waist deep in the water, Marie throws her arms upward and screams furiously, "Pierre, what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

Our hero stands up, defiantly, and says, "I am Pierre the fighter pilot! If I go down, I go down in flames!"

What I Learned Today - February 5, 2005

The face of a penny can hold 30 drops of water.

Calling All Twenty-Somethings

(from The Cavalier Daily)

Everything I've ever needed to know, I learned from early 90's television...

It's all about early 90s TV shows. Everything anybody needs to know in life can be found in one of the numerous shows that today's University students watched when they were growing up. So let's take a walk down our television-enhanced memories and see what we learned.

"Reading Rainbow": The mothership of all learning programs. Even though LeVar Burton was simultaneously starring in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," he still found time to read us all those great stories of our youth like "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." Don't even lie to yourself, you can still sing the theme song. Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high... LeVar made sure we were nine-year-olds with sophisticated reading tastes.

"Mr. Rogers": Another PBS winner. This show terrified me when I was a kid, but here's a basic rundown of principles we learned: Change shoes when you come indoors, change cardigans often and always make sure you have puppets around for role play.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles": If you ever for some reason lose your body, you can encase your brain in a fish bowl, attach robot arms to yourself and attempt world domination with your evil sidekick, Shredder. It will work until you're foiled by four mutant turtles and a rat. Speaking of which, if you ever run into a mutant rat while hanging around in the sewer, get him to teach you all of his cool Ninja tricks. This is how I became a Ninja. You might even meet a really hot reporter in a yellow jumpsuit. Also, TMNT was the origin of our generation's love for pizza. Michelangelo loved it, and we all wanted to be Michelangelo, so bring on the Pizza Hut.

"Full House": The most wholesome family programming of all time. What didn't we learn from DJ, Uncle Jesse, Steph and Uncle Joey? Even that kooky Danny Tanner knew what he was talking about. Here are some good lessons: If you're seven years old, it is not a good idea to take Uncle Jesse's car without permission, as you will inevitably drive it into the house. If your crazy neighbor Kimmie tries to make cooler friends than you, just remember--even though you may be upset--that she'll come back to you in due time. If you're interested in a rock star who worships Elvis, be prepared that he will spend more time and money on his hair than you do. Also, don't worry if you get a zit on the day you have yearbook pictures. Everybody gets zits--see if anyone wants to play "Connect the Dots." Oh, "Full House," you were so good.

Since I've already been so wholesome, I'll skip the Mickey Mouse Club, but we know we all watched it. Most notably, we learned that if you were on the show, you had a 30 percent chance of becoming a sex-crazed pop star (à la Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera or our Lady of White Trash, Britney Spears).

Nickelodeon was a powerhouse of TV shows in the early 90s; think "Doug," "Wild and Crazy Kids," "GUTS," "Hey Dude," and "You Can't Do That on Television!" But "Salute Your Shorts" was Nickelodeon's best show. We all know that "Salute Your Shorts" helped us learn many great things, such as: If your camp counselor's last name is Lee, call him Ug, so you get Ug Lee; Sponge may be a nerd, but he knows that a giraffe's tongue is black and this knowledge can win you the radio contest; and finally, "heart" rhymes with "fart" and you should always substitute "fart" for "heart" in camp songs.

"Fresh Prince of Bel Air": Will and Carlton were role models for everyone. I learned all my dance moves from Carlton (thus explaining my lack of suitors). Will taught us a plethora of things, including a really sweet rap. First, the more attitude you have, the better. Don't pretend to be preppy just to impress a girl--she probably likes bad boys anyway. Flat tops are so hot. If you find a best friend named Jazz, you will increase your cool quotient by 200 percent. There is no defining the awesomeness of this show. I have no words.

That brings us to the mother of all early 90s TV shows that shaped our lives.

"Saved by the Bell": Zack Morris = a stonewashed denim god. The lessons learned from this show are so extensive that I can only touch on a select few. If your cell phone is larger than 3" x 5" x 2," you are using a dinosaur. Date the beach resort owner's daughter, if only to make her dad angry. When you go to college, everything changes. Caffeine pills are not cool, just ask Jessie Spano. Calling your girlfriend "Mama" and having her call you "Papa" is the most awesome thing ever. The Max is always the place to be, and the Sprain is the dance of the century. Find yourself a Kelly Kapowski. And last, but not least, everybody needs a dorky but lovable friend named Screech.

The Pope finds your lack of faith disturbing.

Bonehead Decision Of The Week

(from New York Daily News)

Even Tony Soprano would appreciate this: The A&E Network has agreed to shell out a record $195 million to air reruns of HBO's mob drama "The Sopranos."

Many wondered if the show would ever be fit for television with commercials. But producers of the violence and profanity-laden "Sopranos" have come up with a show sanitized enough to air on basic cable.

"We're going to work with HBO as our partner to create a version of each episode of the show that is tailored for our needs," said Bob DeBitetto, head of programming at A&E.
DiBitetto said it was too early to discuss exactly how the show would be cut or how commercials would be placed in each hour-long show.

Since "The Sopranos" was launched on HBO in 1999, there has been much discussion over whether the show would ever be able to air on a basic cable network or broadcast station that relies on advertisers to succeed.

The graphic violence and coarse language of the story lines involving a New Jersey mob family headed by Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, are so integral to the show that their loss seemed inconceivable.

Blogger's Note: That's because without the course language and graphic violence you've got no show! Just this weekend I was discussing with some friends how HBO programming does not work on basic cable, using Sex and the City as an example. At one point I said that surely The Sopranos could never make such a transition because the show would be around two minutes long. Well, I guess that logical thinking is why I'll never be a TV executive. How can we introduce Mr. & Mrs. Joe Public to The Sopranos? Let's strip away everything that makes the show unique and interesting AND insert lots of commercials. Phooey. Let's see them try OZ next.