A Random Pop Culture List

Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 TV Dramas

1. 24


2. The Sopranos


3. CSI


4. Battlestar Galactica


5. Lost


6. Everwood


7. Gilmore Girls


8. Law & Order franchise


9. Veronica Mars


10. The Shield

I am a faithful viewer of #’s 3 and 5 and a faithful wait-for-the-DVD-set buyer for #’s 1, 2, and 10. I catch up on sporadic episodes of #8 in reruns and syndication. I’ve never seen episodes of #’s 4, 6, 7, or 9 so I guess I’ve got some catching up to do :-)

American Idol

So far this American Idol season: Simon Cowell seems more bored than ever, Paula Abdul seems more incoherent than ever (sometimes to the point of seeming downright inebriated on some shows…I’m not saying that she is but she does seem awfully heavy-lidded and slurry sometimes), Randy Jackson’s hipster routine seems more tired and rote than ever, and Ryan Seacrest’s attempts at wit (especially when trying to slam Cowell) are more lame and annoying than ever.

On the upside, the contestants are as strong a group of singers as American Idol has ever had. As of this writing, Chris Daughtry seems to be the one to beat…he has a great voice, an appealing back story, and a strong sense of who he is and what he does; he’s also not afraid to take chances and, more often than not, he pulls them off. As the judges have said several times I can easily imagine buying CDs by Chris right now.

The rest of the field is filled with some potential stars…Taylor Hicks, Mandisa, Ace Young, and Katherine McPhee among them…and none of the contestants are without some measure of real talent (I could do with less of the “Chicken Little” kid’s smugness but I guess we can attribute that to his youth…and I think that Miss Pickler is overplaying the “ditzy country gal” routine.)

The American Idol juggernaut doesn’t seem to be losing steam yet (as the gold and platinum selling records by Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard, and Bo Bice prove so surely) and it will interesting to see who comes out on top during this very competitive season.

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3/23 addendum: Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais' fanbase failed him as he got the boot last night. It was a mild surprise since his performance this week was, in my opinion, one of his better ones...but that's the way it goes sometimes on Idol.

You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker

Cindy Walker, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has written or co-written dozens of classic country, cowboy, and western swing songs in her long lifetime. One of her most famous tunes, the title track to this affectionate tribute disc, was most famously a big hit for the late, great Ray Charles.

You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker finds Willie, backed by a crack band, putting his distinctive spin on 14 of Walker’s great songs. From the sprightly swing of venerable chestnuts like “Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age” and “It’s All Your Fault”…from bittersweet saloon songs like “Warm Red Wine” and “Bubbles in my Beer”…from sly cowboy songs like “Dusty Skies” and “Cherokee Maiden”…from wistful lost-love songs like “Just Walking Out the Door” and the title song…Willie is relaxed and playful and completely engaged (I love Willie…I’ve been down with him for decades…but even I can’t deny when he’s off his records can have a maddening indifference to them…as if he went into the studio, dashed off the first take and then got the hell out of the studio again.)

And if Willie’s voice is a bit ragged around the edges from time to time (he can’t sustain notes the way he might have in younger days), that’s okay because it just adds a beguilingly authentic touch of raggedness to the proceedings. It’s a sweet little record indeed.

Pop Culture News and Notes

The Donald has another Apprentice. Third wife Melania Trump (see above) gave birth to a boy, Donald Trump’s fifth child, this morning. The child, unnamed as of this writing, is reportedly well. Trump had three children with his first wife Ivana (Donald, Jr., Eric, and Apprentice sidekick, Ivanka, whom he rather creepily said was the kind of woman he might date were she not his daughter) and one daughter, Tiffani, with his second wife Marla.

* * * * *

A judge has banned the continued sale of The Notorious B.I.G.’s album Ready to Die after a jury found that it contained an illegally used sample from a 1992 song (“Singing in the Morning”) by The Ohio Players. The jury also awarded the two companies which won the rights to the Players’ songs more than four million dollars in damages. Sean “Diddy” Combs, the sample-happy producer of the CD, and his Bad Boy Entertainment will doubtlessly appeal.

* * * * *

A company (World Wide Red Light District) which obtained a sex tape featuring Kid Rock, former Creed frontman Scott Stapp, and four women has reached an agreement with Rock which will keep the temporary injunction against releasing the tape in effect until the matter is fully adjudicated. I don’t care if celebrities feel the need to document their sexual adventures for posterity (or for whatever reason they do so), I just wish they would learn to keep the recordings under better lock and key if they’re so concerned about keeping them out of the public view.

Top Chef

I watched and enjoyed both editions of Bravo’s Project Runway even though I haven’t the slightest interest in “high fashion” and so far I’m digging their new show, Top Chef, even though I have little patience for the kind of fussy gourmet cuisine the folks on the show aspire to master.

Top Chef is less manic and stagy than the similar Hell’s Kitchen (the Fox show from last year which starred the always-apoplectic Chef Ramsey) and more interesting than the sedate Next Big Food Network Star (a second edition of which debuts soon on the Food Network.)

As always these kinds of “reality” shows rise or fall on the quality of their casting process…put together an interest bunch of folks and put them in odd situations and it can be escapist TV magic (take a bow, current edition of The Amazing Race.) On the other hand, if your cast is dull and irritating (that’s right, Survivor: Panama- Exile Island, we’re looking at you), it can make getting through episodes slow, mind-numbing slogs.

Top Chef seems to have brought in enough interesting people to make it work. We already have people to root against (the smug, pretentious Stephen and the whiny, crabby Tiffani) and underdogs to root for (the ditzy, profane Cynthia, who is competing even while her father is dying of cancer and the fun-loving Miguel) and competitive infighting already brewing. (Kenneth, the cocky, acerbic Irish guy, got the boot in the first episode when his food failed to live up to what his ego had promised it would be.)

Katie Lee Joel, the host, is no Heidi Klum (Joel’s kiss-off phrase…”pack your knives and leave the kitchen”…doesn’t hold a candle to Klum’s gloriously abrupt “You’re out”) but she doesn’t get in the way too much. Neither do the judges (whose names escape me and I’m really don’t care enough about them to go look them up.)

Top Chef is not great TV…but it’s fun and engaging and that’s cool by me.

(As an aside: I do wish though that Bravo didn’t run so many promos during Top Chef for Blow Out 3…featuring the self-absorbed wonder that is Jonathan, the gayest self-proclaimed [over and over and over again…we get it, “bro”, you “dig the chicks.” Right. Whatever works for you, dude] “straight” guy in TV history. I like a lot of “reality” TV but nothing on heaven or Earth could get me to watch the show and endure yet another one of Jonathan’s endless prissy/pissy tantrums.)

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

It’s the voice that captures your attention first…it’s the voice that captures your attention and holds it fast. Neko Case…indie darling, remarkable singer-songwriter, New Pornographer…has a voice filled with passion and power, confidence and heartbreak, the soaring and beguiling mixture of “absolute torch and twang” that K.D. Lang once championed before she gave up the twang.

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (no, I’m not sure what that means even after hearing the song of the same name but that doesn’t matter even a little bit) is a shimmering, utterly gorgeous collection of 12 melodic, poetic songs that are neither country nor pop but rather an intoxicating blend of the two (with the stellar musicianship defying any facile pop sheen to take hold.

From the opening acoustic lilt of “Margaret vs. Pauline” to the gospel swagger of “John Saw That Number”…from the wondrous harmonies of “That Teenage Feeling” (an updated version of one of those plaintive girl-group ballads from the 60’s) and the bittersweet “A Widow’s Toast”…from the ominous, yet strangely beautiful, murder ballad “Dirty Knife” to the gently-propulsive pop lilt of the closing “The Needle Has Landed”, this record never takes a wrong turn. And Case’s voice…which, oddly and engagingly enough, often seems to be booming and soothing in the same instant…shines brightly and wonderfully from beginning to end.

Fox Confessor is a grand record indeed.

Pop Culture News and Notes

Actually, South Park’s Chef should be saying “Goodbye, children” as Isaac Hayes, the legendary soul man who has been the voice of the character on the iconoclastic cartoon from the beginning, has quit the show due to religious concerns.

Hayes, one of the many celebrity members of the Church of Scientology, apparently took umbrage with having his religion skewered during a November episode (poking fun at other notable Scientologists like John Travolta and Tom Cruise.)

“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," Hayes is quoted as saying.

South Park co-creator Matt Stone dismisses that explanation. "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem - and he's cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians."

Guess it’s not so funny when your ox is being gored, is it Isaac?

The Calvin or Hobbes Test

My results:

Almost All Hobbes You are 10% Calvin and 90% Hobbes

You're a clever tiger with a dash of little boy. A bit pessimistic about human nature, you think most people would be better as meals than as friends, and maybe you're right. At least, I've known several guys who fit that description. But your cannabalistic streak notwithstanding, you're a sensitive, (mostly) patient, and supportive friend. You have a few wild ideas here and there, but over all, you're quite sensible. Finally, my guess is you're the kind of person who gets along well with others, but who really needs space to be alone, like me.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 0% on calvin You scored higher than 99% on hobbes

Link: The Calvin Or Hobbes Test written by gwendolynbooks on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Deal or No Deal

Deal or No Deal is the first hit primetime network game show since the heyday of Regis and the one-time ratings juggernaut that was Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Deal or No Deal (an international success with versions in a couple of dozen other countries) is proudly simple (no questions…trivial or otherwise…other than the titular one), repetitive, shamelessly giddy (the contestants dance, yell, jump, and mug for the camera like they were all in the throes of the biggest sugar rushes you could ever imagine), and strangely addictive.

Howie Mandell, free from the manic silliness that used to punctuate his standup comedy act, is an engaging master of ceremonies who seems to really enjoy his interaction with the would-be “millionaires” who join him on stage.

The game itself is simple…there are 26 briefcases each representing an amount of money from one cent up to one million dollars (the models carrying and opening the cases, each outfitted in identical outfits, are pure window dressing), the contestant chooses one for themselves and then the other cases are opened with breaks in the action during which the mysterious “Banker” tries to tempt the player into quitting by offering sums of money to sell back the chosen case. If the contestant doesn't sell back the case, the amount of money in their case is theirs. A small group of friends and family members are brought onstage to yell and scream and dance and prod the contestant with giddy advice. Not much more to it than that.

As of this writing, nobody has won a million dollars but everybody seems to be having a grand time. NBC is trying to avoid the Millionaire overkill by scheduling the show just twice a week…on Mondays and Fridays…and so far it’s working. It will quickly get old…this sort of show has a short shelf life…but for now it’s entertaining enough (and it doesn’t take itself anymore seriously than that which is cool.)

It's my birthday, too...yeah!

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too--yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

It’s my birthday…yay!...and if it’s your birthday too, have yourself a grand one!

Namaste, y’all.

"Birthday"
words and music by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Pop Culture News and Notes

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Monday March 13^th in New York City. This year’s list of inductees is a relatively eclectic bunch:

Blondie, the poppy New Wave band fronted by Deborah Harry who had the first rap (well, sorta…) single to top the Billboard pop chart with “Rapture”.

Miles Davis, the jazz legend whose blending of jazz and rock (starting with the monumental Bitches Brew...see above) gave birth to a flood of lesser jazz-rock fusion attempts (yes, we’re looking at you, Return to Forever…)

Black Sabbath, the prototypical (and enormously inventive and influential) Heavy Metal band fronted by absent-minded reality TV show Ozzy Osbourne.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Southern Rock legends that are still soldiering despite the deaths of leader Ronnie Van Zant and two other band members in a plane crash back in 1977.

The Sex Pistols, the raucous punk band that had more attitude than talent (though “God Save the Queen” is still a thrilling rock and roll song all these years later. The ever-pretentious (some might call him cool but I don’t) John Lydon (aka “Johnny Rotten”) and the rest of the surviving members of the band have already said that they won’t be at the ceremony (maybe they’re honked off that The Clash, a superior band, made into the Hall before they did :-)

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Isabelle Dinoire, the French woman who was the recipient of the world’s first face transplant late last year is ready to tell her story on to a major American network…if they’ll meet her quote. Allegedly she wants something in the six figures for an interview and an additional half-million bucks for the rights to broadcast a documentary about the groundbreaking procedure she went through. NBC has already demurred (Matt Lauer had already been waiting in the starting gate) and ABC is denying rumors (propagated it seems by Dinoire’s lawyer) of a deal involving an interview with Diane Sawyer and a trip to Disney World.

Free enterprise is a wonderful thing…and face transplants can’t come cheap…so I don’t begrudge Dinoire taking her shot at the golden ring (and eventually, despite all their high-falutin’ bluster about not paying for news, I won't be surprised when one of the networks ponies up some cash in one way or the other for her story.)

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American Idol has their Top 12 (one might wonder how a couple of them made the cut but America voted and these are the folks who will sing and dance endure Paula Abdul’s pointless treacle, Randy Jackson’s hipster babble, and Simon Cowell’s acid barbs.) Now let the real show…on the big stage with the big band…begin.

For those who bet on such things, Pinnacle Sports (the first sports book to list odds for reality show contestants) has rocker Chris Daughtry (one of my favorites) listed as the early favorite to win with odds of 7-2. Mandisa goes into the finals with odds of 11-2 followed by Katherine McPhee and Ace Young both at 6-1. Kevin Covais (40-1), Bucky Covington (50-1), and Melissa McGhee (60-1) are the longshots at this juncture (but, of course, things can…and probably will…change as the season rolls on.)

Project Runway

Ah, Project Runway…with Heidi Klum’s endless wardrobe of stylish maternity clothes and her oddly-endearing cool Aryan charm (you almost forget that her catchphrase…“You’re out”…is a kiss-off sending yet another would-be Versace or Donna Karan out of her presence and off of the show)…with sanctimonious judges with pursed lips (Nina Garcia always looked like she was smelling something extremely foul) and quips not nearly as clever as they thought they were (Michael Kors might be a great designer…honestly I wouldn’t really know…but his “witticisms” almost always lacked anything resembling real wit)…with 16 designers full of good reasons for making bad fashion…with the celebrity aesthetic that actually thinks that Nikki Hilton is someone to be lionized…with the fussy dithering of Tim Gunn…and, of course, with the self-proclaimed majesty of the one and only (at least we should hope so) of SANTINO!...what was not to like this season?

Well, silly outfits made of plants notwithstanding, not too much. The second season was better than the first…more interesting challenges and just enough bitchiness, cat fighting, rampant egos (well hello there, Santino, fancy meeting you here) and overemotional weeping (yes, Andre, we’re looking at you) to keep it interesting. Chloe’s win was a bit of a surprise (the straight woman trumps two gay men in a fashion designing competition...go figure :-)…Daniel seemed to be the anointed one until his final collection sort of fell flat and Santino seemed to have the maverick thing going for him but he went soft (though often pretty) with his final collection…but then I didn’t think that what’s-his-name should have won the first season so what do I know about this fashion stuff?

(Me, I was rooting for Nick but he got bounced before the finals.)

They’ve put out a casting call for Project Runway 3 so Heidi and the gang will be back…and so will I (as unabashedly fashion challenged as I am and will ever be.)

Over and Over

One of the Christmas gifts I gave came with 50 free downloads from eMusic.com, a site I hadn’t heard of at the time (they’ve since started running TV ads), and as the recipient of that gift isn’t much interested in new music, he gave the downloads back to me (sometimes it’s cool to give AND receive :-).

I’m digging eMusic.com, a site featuring music of all genres from independent labels, more than I thought I would. It’s led me to discover (and in some cases rediscover) cool music not spotlighted by radio or the other online sites (iTunes, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, etc.) Case in point is the wondrous Erin Bode and her new CD, Over and Over.

There’s a mellow, jazzy feel to Erin Bode’s music that brings to mind the music of other noteworthy female artists who straddle the worlds of pop and jazz…artists like Norah Jones, Lizz Wright, and the late, great Eva Cassidy. But where there those ladies bring a smoky, undeniably soulful vibe to their vocals, Bode’s voice has a more delicate and lilting quality…harkening back to some of Joni Mitchell’s early jazz-influenced efforts or, perhaps a bit more on point, to the ever-wonderful Nanci Griffith (though with less twang :-)

The songs on Over and Over are all slow simmering, soothing mid-tempo offerings that keep Bode’s evocative voice always at the forefront (though space is given over to tasteful piano solos and yearning sax solos to bring additional colors to the program.)

Where Bode's last album, 2004’s Don’t Take Your Time, was dominated by an eclectic group of interesting covers (Lennon & McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Irving Berlin, Bob Dylan, the Gershwins), this disc is filled mostly with poignant originals co-written by Bode and keyboardist/guitarist Adam Maness…the three covers here (a sprightly take on Paul Simon’s “Graceland”, a slow-building version of the jazz standard “Alone Together, and a lovely, spare [just vocal and acoustic guitar] cover of Simply Red’s “Holding Back the Years”) fold nicely into the overall flow of the CD without being the distractions that cover songs can sometimes be.

Over and Over is a Sunday morning/soft rainy day kind of album…the kind of music that slips up on you and takes you into its gentle embrace and soothes your soul. And hey, that’s all right by me.

78th Annual Academy Awards

Okay, the fact that Crash won out over Brokeback Mountain for Best Picture was a bit of a surprise (especially after Ang Lee snagged the Best Director Oscar) but the biggest…and most whimsically amusing…surprise of the Academy Awards was the fact that they gave an Oscar to a song entitled “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”. In some ways it doesn’t get much cooler than that (though I’m guessing Dolly Parton didn’t find it that cool…)

The show itself was a bit tedious and anticlimactic (I guessed all of the winners…with the exceptions of the two mentioned above and the two short subjects…before the envelopes were opened and I doubt that I was alone in that.)

Jon Stewart, like Chris Rock last year, was okay…nowhere near great (he reined himself in to the point of being just this side of dull for large stretches of the evening), but okay. And thankfully they got the unavoidable Brokeback gag out of the way at the very beginning of the show with Billy Crystal and Chris Rock.

With no blockbusters (no Lord of the Rings: Return of the King or Titanic, for example) in the mix for the major awards I’m presuming the audience for the show was down in the ratings…and truthfully they didn’t miss much. Better luck next year, Academy.

(“It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”…heh. Priceless.)

Grey's Anatomy

Let me go on record in saying that I’m not that fond of Meredith Grey, the pivotal character in ABC’s hit nighttime soap opera/medical drama/relationship comedy Grey’s Anatomy. Dr. Grey is at turns whiney and naïve, self-absorbed and clueless, wistfully foolish and earnestly self-flagellating.

When I say that I’m not that fond of Meredith, I mean that I wouldn’t want the character as friend (for all of the reasons above and more) but, that said, as the focal point of a sterling ensemble of characters, she is more than fine. Ellen Pompeo plays first year intern Meredith with this pouty Ally McBeal meets Renee Zellwegger thing that, for the most part, works (though her goopy narration and constant moping both do tend to grate at times.)

Her star-struck romance with Dr. Derek Sheppard (Patrick Dempsey)…given the too-precious-by-half nickname of “Dr. McDreamy”…is so tedious now (what with him being in love with Meredith but having gone back to his cheating wife out of a sense of duty and honor and the two of them…Meredith and Derek…making soulful doe eyes at each other at every turn) that it derails the show for me whenever it comes to the fore (if the doctors Sheppard are going to stay together, Meredith needs to get over it and get back into the mix…I was hoping that the bomb squad guy in the most recent episodes was going to be a possible love interest but, after teasing us with he and Meredith engaging in that “bickering-as-foreplay” thing that people on TV do when they’re falling in love, they blew him up.)

When it’s clicking (and lately it has been doing so more often than not), Grey’s Anatomy walks that tight line between soap opera and medical drama with aplomb.

On the soap opera side, the relationship between the imperious Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) and the nakedly ambitious Dr. Christina Yang (the wondrous Sandra Oh) is more interesting by far than the Grey-Shepherd-Shepherd triangle. Even the sometimes awkward relationship between the earnest ex-model Dr. Izzy Stevens (the radiant Katherine Heigl) and the caddish Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) has more juice.

The medical drama side is well-served without too much mind-numbing medical jargon. And the comedic elements are never allowed to take over the show.

The rest of the regular ensemble…the sad sack (but often quietly-heroic) Dr. George O’Malley (the delightful T.R. Knight) along with the tough love Resident Dr. Miranda Bailey (the sassy Chandra Wilson), the long-suffering Chief Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), and prodigal wife Dr. Addison Sheppard (Kate Walsh)…all bring nuance and color to their characters and the overall ambiance of the show.

Grey’s Anatomy is what it sets out to be…a good show with characters and situations engaging enough to make you want to tune in each week…and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Random Notes (Grammys '06 Edition)

Okay…the broadcast of the 48th Grammy Awards was a mess. Bad camera angles, numerous audio malfunctions, awkward pauses, glimpses of people working backstage, bad transitions, a zillion commercials, padded out to 3 ½ hours…it was a mess. They chose to go without a host this year…and that was probably a bad idea too.

Some of the performances were pretty good, though:

Gorillaz and De La Soul opened the show with “Feel Good Inc.” (the rappers being a bit more animated than the too-cool-for-the-room cartoon characters :-) followed by Madonna (who, judging by the stylish leotard she was wearing, apparently came directly to show from a workout) and bunch of dancers gyrating through “Hung Up”.

Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys dedicated a couple of a cappella bars of “Higher Ground” to Coretta Scott King before giving out an award to Kelly Clarkson.

(Ooo look, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are sitting together in the audience…ain’t love grand?)

Coldplay (Chris Martin really likes that “prancing in the audience thing”, don’t he?), John Legend, and Sugarland (missing a member and plagued by mike problems) kept the show moving.

U2 kicked things up a level with “Vertigo” (though they got lost in the smoke there for a while) and then Mary J. Blige joined them to raise the roof with “One” (see above).

Kelly Clarkson (who had bawled through her acceptance of the aforementioned award) was in fine voice on “Because of You”

Sir Paul McCartney performed “Fine Line” and then got frisky with a rockin’ rendition of “Helter Skelter”

(Wait…are the Black Eyed Peas finished announcing the Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Male yet? They do babble on, don't they?)

Comeback girl Mariah Carey opened with “We Belong Together” and then went gospel with a choir on a soaring “Carry Me Home”

(Why is Teri Hatcher wearing a negligee?)

Keith Urban (thanks for dressing up for the occasion, guy) sang “You’ll Think of Me” on top of plastic box and then joined Faith Hill for a sprightly “The Lucky One”

The “tribute” to Sly and the Family Stone was…okay, let’s be charitable again and say “ ragged.” John Legend, Joss Stone, Van Hunt, Maroon 5, Fantasia, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Robert Randolph, and others (what the hell is Randy Jackson doing playing bass with the band? Shouldn’t he be at home practicing his “hip” banter for the next edition of American Idol?) stumbled through tepid versions of Sly hits with the man himself (resplendent with a blond Mohawk) came out to lead the ensemble in comparatively lively version of “I Want to Take You Higher”.

Jay-Z and Linkin Park brought things back up a bit with “Numb/Encore” and then they slipped into a lovely version of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” where they were joined by Sir Paul himself.

Bruce Springsteen got off the most political statement of the night with a simple cry of “bring ‘em home!” at the end of his Iraq War inspired “Devils and Dust”

And then there was the Kanye Show. Mr. West and Jamie Foxx put on an extravaganza with marching bands, dancers, and costume changes as they ripped through “Gold Digger” and “Touch the Sky”. It was gloriously over-the-top and fun.

Christina Aguilera looked sultry in her glittering gown and platinum blonde hair as she joined Herbie Hancock for “A Song for You”. (That she oversang the song goes almost without saying, doesn’t it?)

(That Recording Academy President guy is a long-winded son of a gun, ain’t he? We get it, you guys are wonderful and you’re rebuilding New Orleans all by yourselves…now shaddap already!)

After U2 picked up the Album of the Year (0 for 2 in that category, Kanye), a tribute to New Orleans featured Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Irma Thomas, and The Edge on a loping version of Toussaint’s “Yes We Can Can” (featuring more bad audio on the vocals.)

Bruce Springsteen and Sam Moore joined the group for “In the Midnight Hour” a soulful tribute to late Wilson Pickett.

The broadcast is just over as I write this and I’ve already forgotten who won what (I know U2 and Miss Clarkson and Mr. Legend were up there a couple of times each for stuff.)

Hopefully the broadcast of the 49th Annual Grammy Awards will be less snakebit next year.

The Stones at the Super Bowl

As games go, Super Bowl XL was only so-so (occasional flashes of football brilliance but with lots and lots of ragged moments along the way.) As Super Bowl halftime shows, the Rolling Stones’ three-song set was also so-so (occasional flashes of rock and roll brilliance but with lots of ragged moments along the way.)

But, that said, it was fine…theatrics at a minimum, the Stones played their tunes…”Start Me Up”, “Rough Justice”, and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”…took a bow and quit the stage. Mick Jagger strutted his skinny butt around the circular stage while the designated dancers shimmied and mugged for the cameras; Keith Richards looked like he couldn’t wait for the set to be over.

“Start Me Up” was…oh, let’s be charitable and just say, again, that it was “ragged”. “Rough Justice”, arguably the best song from last year’s A Bigger Bang, was tighter and “Satisfaction”, which Mick impishly said could have been played at the first Super Bowl 40 years ago, was also fine. ABC’s nervous censors (still lingering in the shadow of Janet Jackson’s nipple from that now-infamous halftime show a couple of years ago) saw fit to blank out some lyrics in both of the first two songs (seemed silly to me but I guess they would rather to be safe than sorry.)

Whatever the NFL paid the band (these guys don’t do stuff for free for the most part), they probably got their money’s worth.

Academy Award Nominations

Brokeback Mountain (see below) and George Clooney (see above) lead the pack in the race as the nominations for the 78th Academy Awards are announced and the chase for the precious Oscars is officially joined. Brokeback scored 8 nominations…including Best Picture…while Clooney got 3 nods all by himself (Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck as well as Best Supporting Actor for Syriana.)

Along with Brokeback Mountain, the other Best Picture nominees are Capote, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck, and Munich. The directors of those movies…Ang Lee, Bennett Miller, Paul Haggis, Clooney, and Steven Spielberg…are vying for the Best Director prize.

Capote’s Philip Seymour Hoffman (see above) is probably the favorite in the Best Actor race for his portrayal of the titular writer. The other Nominees include Terence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), and David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck).

Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) and Felicity Huffman (Transamerica - see below) are the likely frontrunners for the Best Actress prize. Dame Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents), Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice), and (having survived the bomb that was Aeon Flux) Charlize Theron (North Country) will likely have to settle for being happy to have just been nominated.

The year’s biggest moneymaker, Star Wars: Episode 3-Revenge of the Sith, got just one nomination (for Best Makeup). It was shut out of the Best Visual Effects race by King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, and War of the Worlds.

Peter Jackson’s King Kong had to settle for a handful of technical nominations (Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects) after being shut out of the major categories.

And for some reason there were only 3 (instead of the usual 5) Best Song nominations this year: “In the Deep” (from Crash), “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” (from Hustle and Flow), and Dolly Parton’s “Travelin’ Thru” (from Transamerica).

The Oscars will go to the winners on March 5th.

Dancing with the Stars 2006

The first edition of Dancing with the Stars was a guilty pleasure of sorts…engaging enough as these “reality” show things go…but after the suspect awarding of the championship at the end of the series I wasn’t sure if I would bother with the new edition.

But I decided to give it a chance and, thus far, it’s a harmlessly entertaining way to spend an hour or so on Thursday nights. The same hypercritical (they don’t seem to understand that they are watching novices who have had a week to learn a routine and not seasoned professional dancers who will hit every move with perfection), pompous judges are back …but this year their votes are only half on the competitors’ scores (the public gets to vote to make the other half of the score.) The unctuous Tom Bergeron is back as co-host (with a different giggly co-host whose name escapes me.)

But then there are the dancers. The celebrities are mostly from the C-list again (though future Pro Football Hall of Fame member Jerry Rice and Academy Award winner Tatum O’Neal…yeah she won it when she was 12 but she won it just the same…lift the caliber of the group a bit) but they are, for the most part, quite game.

The most pleasant surprise is the incredibly graceful Stacy Keibler (above with her professional dance partner Dovolani.) Keibler is a professional wrestler (the 2004 “WWE Babe of the Year” who is, quite aptly, nicknamed “the Legs of the WWE”) and she is a wonder to behold.

Rice, Drew Lachey (late of the “boy band” 98 Degrees and brother of Jessica Simpson’s soon-to-be ex-husband, Nick…who has attended the shows to cheer his bro on), and TV reporter Giselle Fernandez are also among those who have worked hard not to embarrass themselves during the dancing.

And then there’s Master P (below with his professional dance partner Ashly DelGrosso.)

Rapper/Athlete (he played semi-pro Basketball last year)/Businessman P (for Percy) Miller gets props for stepping into the breach when his son, rapper/actor Romeo, got hurt and had to drop out. That gets him points as a good Dad but as a ballroom dancer…? Well, he’s a good Dad…

(I guess there must be some kind of campaign among the phone voters to keep P in the competition because his lead-footed performances and headstrong behavior certainly haven’t merited him making the cut during the first two weeks of the show.)

Dancing with the Stars was such a hit for ABC last summer that it has spawned its own Fox-TV rip off, Skating with Celebrities, which debuts this week. I guess these things are good for keeping C (and D list “stars” out of rehab and away from other unsavory ways of trying to get back into the spotlight if for nothing else.

The Book of Daniel

Daniel Webster (and yes, he’s supposed to be descended from his historic namesake) is an Episcopal Priest living in a large house in an affluent neighborhood. But his life...as portrayed by Aidan Quinn (above)...is anything but serene.

Over the course of the 2-hour series debut we find that: Daniel seems to be addicted to pain pills (he pops Vicodin like breath mints), his wife seems to be an alcoholic, his daughter sells marijuana to finance her fledgling career as a comic book artist, his adopted Chinese son is bedding the 16-year-old daughter of one of his more conservative parishioners (whose shrewish wife unabashedly disdains the possibility of having “Asian grandchildren” running around her Christmas tree), his mother is plagued with Alzheimer’s, his father (a Bishop) is a sour, self-righteous prig who is having an extramarital affair with Daniel’s direct superior, a prickly female Bishop (who herself is now taking part in Daniel’s Vicodin popping), his wife’s sister is a high-strung flake who’s having an affair with the woman her husband brought in to spice up their sex life, his brother-in-law (husband of his wife’s sister) absconded with millions of the church’s funds (Daniel had put him in charge of building a school for the Church) and ended up dead (with the money nowhere in sight), and the most level-headed (well, relatively speaking) person in his family is his gay son (who is teased, constantly and unmercifully, by his siblings about his sexuality and who so afraid of coming out to his grandfather that he allows himself to forced into a date with a woman arranged the old man.)

On top of all that, Daniel contacts a Catholic Priest…an Italian-American who, as a matter of course for this series, has direct ties to the Mafia…to help him track down the brother-in-law and the missing money and finds that the church money will be returned only if he hires a mob-connected construction company to build the school.

And, if all that weren’t enough, Daniel has regular conversations with Jesus Christ, who is portrayed as a bland guy with a surfer dude attitude and more vapid platitudes than actual wisdom and comfort.

I’m not sure what The Book of Daniel is trying to be (I’m guessing that it wants to be a hip, “edgy” cross between Desperate Housewives and Joan of Arcadia)…but what it turns out to be is a mess. It’s not funny (the early promos for it positioned it as being much more light-hearted than it turned out to be)…it’s certainly not as whimsical as it thinks it is…it has no characters that you really care about…and the sheer accumulation of over-the-top plotlines is just plain numbing.

(I’m not Episcopalian and I don’t think I know any Episcopalians personally but I have to imagine that this show is insulting to them on myriad levels.)

The Book of Daniel is a limited series and I can’t imagine it being picked up to continue after the 8 episodes scheduled for this run (at this point…given the furor, the lack of sponsors (most the ads during the 2 hours were promos for other NBC programs), and the so-so ratings…I’d imagine there’s only a 50-50 chance that NBC is going to finish airing even these episodes; they're likely to shunt the show over to Bravo or one of the other cable outlets in the NBC- Universal family.)

The 2005 Twenty (Part 2)

The Twenty are my 20 favorite reasons to have owned a CD player in 2005. They are listed in alphabetical order (by artist).

The second half of the 2005 Twenty (the first half was presented in the previous post below):

Los Super Seven – Heard it on the X

The very tasty third album by the loose collective known as Los Super Seven, celebrates Border Radio in all of its glory, invoking the living spirits of Doug Sahm (represented here with two cuts), Buddy Holly, and all of other great musicians who ever had their joyful noises beamed unabashedly from Baja California to the wide, welcoming world. Anchored by a crack band of players (and despite the name of the group, there are indeed more than 7 musicians involved), an array of lead singers take their turns at the mike.

Shelby Lynne – Suit Yourself

Stripping away excess production and musical embellishment, Ms. Lynne finds her homespun soul in this spare, relaxed set of songs. From the mournful stroll of “I Cry Everyday” to the graceful ode “When Johnny Met June” to the sprightly kiss off “You Don’t Have the Heart” to the simmering, bluesy take on the classic “Rainy Night in Georgia”, Lynne (who wrote all but two of the songs) and a crack set of players…including Benmont Tench and Tony Joe White (who wrote the other two songs)…offer up tart, unadorned, great music.

Van Morrison – Magic Time

Magic Time touches on most of Morrison’s favorite latter day touchstones: the majesty of the blues, love (the beautiful “Celtic New Year”, the rocking “Evening Train”), odes to self-reliance and solitude (the earnest “Keep Mediocrity at Bay”, the wistful “Gypsy in my Soul”, the delightfully tongue-in-cheek “Just Like Greta”, the title song’s enchanting “stop and smell the roses” plea), and acerbic jibes against the invasiveness of fame (the world-weary “The Lion This Time”, the rueful “They Sold Me Out”.) But these familiar themes are no less engaging since the disc finds Van in fine, feisty voice backed by an ace band that knows how to swing, how to soothe, how to work contours of the music as each song needs (Morrison contributes wailing harmonica and subtle guitar playing to several cuts as well as some lovely alto sax work on the opening “Stranded”.)

New Pornographers – Twin Cinema

Anchored by singer/songwriter/guitarist A.C. Newman and the luminous Neko Case, the Pornographers deliver another sterling set of pop/rock gems ably abetted by newcomers Kathryn Calder and Nora O’Connor.

Bruce Springsteen – Devils and Dust

This collection is filled with atmospheric, insightful stories mostly told in a burnished, heartfelt twang that suits these fine songs to a tee. It’s a quiet…not as stark as Nebraska or The Ghost of Tom Joad, but much gentler than most of his work with the mighty E Street Band…haunting record indeed.

Sufjan Stevens – Illinois

The second disc (following Michigan) in Stevens’ ambitious 50 States project is all about the “Land of Lincoln”. It’s filled with clever, engaging…sometime ornate and baroque, sometimes spare and simple…pop that soars gloriously.

Kanye West – Late Registration

I guess it ain’t bragging if you can do it. Egocentric Bush-basher West delivers the goods with great hooks, nimble…unapologetic, clear-eyed, sometimes caustically funny, sometimes profane, sometimes bitterly sad…rhymes, judiciously chosen samples (Shirley Bassey, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Natalie Cole, Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron) and guest stars (including Common, Jay-Z, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, Brandy, Nas, and of course, as anybody who listened the radio this year knew, Jamie Foxx.) It’s too late to hope for moratorium on “skits” on hip hop CDs so I won’t bother to ask for one here.

White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan

There are more piano and marimbas and fewer guitar solos and yet it’s still the Whites rocking hard (and slowing it down for delicate ballads when they want and need to.) One spin of the throbbing “My Doorbell” or the crunchy “Blue Orchid” is all it takes to dispel any notion that Jack and Meg might have gone soft.

Neil Young – Prairie Wind

This is the quiet Neil…as opposed to the rocking grunge Neil who turns the amps up to 11 with Crazy Horse…putting his fragile but compelling voice and his introspective lyrics into a sonic tapestry anchored by guitars (slide, acoustic, and steel), harmonicas, and sweet harmonies. Prairie Wind is a soothing, contemplative delight of a record, of a piece with other “quiet Neil” gems like Harvest, Comes a Time, and Harvest Moon.

Zucchero – Zucchero & Company

The Italian pop/R&B star shares the mike with a host of his influences and admirers…John Lee Hooker, Macy Gray, Jeff Beck, Sting, B.B. King, Miles Davis, Delores O’Riordan, Solomon Burke, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Cheb Mami, Paul Young, Mana, Vanessa Carlton…for a shimmering set of soulful duets recorded over the years 1988-2003.

The 2005 Twenty (Part 1)

The Twenty are my 20 favorite reasons to have owned a CD player in 2005. There were a fair amount of good records released during the year but these are the ones that tickled my fancy most. They are listed in alphabetical order (by artist) because I realized that trying to rank them was an apples and oranges thing.

The first half of the 2005 Twenty:

Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine

The mercurial Ms. Apple resurfaces with a grand collection of baroque pop, contemplative confessions, and intriguing, clever wordplay. The music is at turns playful, delicately sparse, and (quite effectively) dense and Apple is in fine, earnest, affecting voice. Extraordinary indeed.

Beck - Guero

With an intoxicating blend of potent pop hooks, funky rock ‘n’roll and hip hop beats, tasty world music and electronica touches, cool vocal arrangements, and funny/touching/insightful/willfully oblique lyrics Beck and producers The Dust Brothers recall the feel of their classic Odelay collection without merely repeating themselves.

Big Star – In Space

Okay, this is not on a par with #1 Record or Radio City…but then not much pop music is (and those original Big Star records are 30 years old…they should have been massive hits but they weren’t…hopefully they’re being rediscovered by more and more people every year)…but so what? This is a mighty fine power pop collection with two original members of Big Star (including Alex Chilton, an underappreciated pop music genius) and two members of the Posies delivering 12 shimmering, infectious, catchy pop tunes (including the sweetly wistful “Turn My Back on the Sun” and the playfully funky “Love Revolution”, the best dance song that Gamble & Huff never wrote.)

Mary J. Blige – The Breakthrough

Aretha is, now and ever, the Queen of Soul but, that said, it’s been a long while she put out an album with as potent a mixture of heartache, passion, longing, and self-affirmation as this one. The astonishing Mary J. breaks through with grand songs, great beats, and, most important of all, her amazing gospel-infected voice. (Another plus is that the guest-stars aren’t allowed to take over the show…and that includes U2, who team up with Ms. Blige for a soaring cover of “One”.)

Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

This collection is ragged, heartfelt, wryly poetic, insanely catchy and utterly engaging...from the wistful opening of "At the Bottom of Everything" to the controlled cacophony of the coda to the closing rocker "Road to Joy". (It gets extra points for bringing in the peerless Emmylou Harris to sing harmony on three cuts.)

Common – Be

Mostly produced by Kanye West, this terrific CD focuses on tight mid-tempo beats and funky hooks (along with judiciously chosen samples) that keeps the attention on Common's smooth flow and his vibrant raps about love, faith, respect, and empowerment.

Ry Cooder – Chavez Ravine

On this dazzling, bittersweet, compelling new CD, Ry Cooder chronicles the tale of the co-opting a thriving Los Angeles Mexican-American community to make way for Dodger Stadium with the help of an enormously talented assemblage of like-minded friends and comrades. Cooder has always followed his muse wherever it took him...pop music, soul music, "world" music, movie music, whatever appealed to him he immersed himself in it with exuberance and reverence.

Shemekia Copeland – The Soul Truth

The blues are all right...especially when they're storming so passionately...so sensually...so powerfully...from the body and soul of Ms. Shemekia Copeland. There are a couple of awkward lyrical patches here and there but those are easily forgiven and quickly forgotten when you're being totally engaged by real heartfelt blues...by real honest-to-Aretha soul music.

Cowboy Junkies – Early 21^st Century Blues

A remarkable collection of songs...two originals by ace guitarist Michael Timmins (the evocative "December Skies" and the wistfully bittersweet "This World Dreams Of"), two traditional folk songs arranged by the band (the oft-covered "Two Soldiers" and the anti-slavery song "No More"), and seven shrewdly chosen covers...that comment on the state of our world in a still new century.

Bettye LaVette – I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise

A soul survivor turns 10 songs written by women…Fiona Apple, Dolly Parton, Lucinda Williams, Sinead O’Connor, Aimee Mann, others…into searing, pure rhythm & blues magic; from the raw, undeniable a cappella opener of O’Connor’s “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” to the closing affirmation of Apple’s “Sleep to Dream”, it’s a wonder.

(The second half of the Twenty will be presented in the next post)