Thursday Jukebox Is A Rising God From the East

This is a jukebox I have probably put off doing for quite sometime.

Why?

Well, once you start talking about boybands, particularly a certain Korean boyband who inspire "anti-fans" to poison members of it with super glue...I'm just saying this band taps into a certain level of obsessiveness. (And given the amount of hits this corner of the internet receives from people desperately trying to figure out whether Mike Woods is gay...)

Nonetheless, I'm going to bravely enter the world of Dong Bang Shin Ki. (SQUEEEEEE!!!!)

First off, Tri-Angle, which actually works even though it's a combination of the gods of the East, KPop princess BoA (who will be debuting in the US this year), and KRockers The Trax.




Skipping ahead to Rising Sun, which seems to me like the video is given more gravitas than is really needed.





However when it comes over-the-top self-importance, nothing compares to the lads' O Jung Ban Hap. I've never heard of an anti-war anthem having several dance breaks.




That same album about world peace and peaceful resistance featured the almost sickeningly sweet Balloons (which is an argument for us all developing Peter Pan Syndrome, in my view). The song is very catchy if you close your eyes, but the second you look at the video--BAM!--instant toothache.





Now the gods, being gods, figured that singing only in Korean could be limiting, so they branched out to Japan in 2005. Their original Japanese output is considered more "mature," but there's still all the SQUEEEEEEE!!! so who can tell? It is catchier and slicker I'd say. Here they are performing the songs ZION (a non-reggae reference to Zion, believe it or not) and Choosey Lover (sic) in 2007.




Being gods, they're also wise to go into full-tilt bubblegum pop sector of Japanese pop music as their smash Summer Dream proves.




This year, they began the year with the song Purple Line, which while catchy as hell, makes no sense in either Korean or Japanese. (Then again, neither does Fergie's London Bridge and that's all in English.)








Later this month, the gods release their 4th Korean language album entitled MIROTIC. I am dying to find out what the meaning behind that title is.

Did You Want An Insurance Company?

I didn't.

And it's interesting to note that AIG was considered "too big to fail."

Why not prevent a company from getting that big in the first place?

Will She Still Be Able To Do Today?

Rosanna Scotto is set to replace Jodi Applegate on Good Day New York, according to the Daily News.

This is probably the only sane decision made at WNYW for at least 2 years. (Seriously, Greg Kelly? If that wasn't a kiss-ass move...) Rumour mill has it that Scotto herself is the one who wanted the move. I wouldn't be surprised.

From the "This is laughing in the face of adversity" Department

A gay bar in Texas celebrates the countdown to curfew (courtesy of Hurricane Ike) with a Tina Turner sing-along.

How I wish the ABC supplied pictures.

Shocker! La Perry's formula revealed

The Daily News does pretty good job at pointing out the formula of La Perry's work.

The surprise isn't in content, but in the fact that a media outlet is pointing it out.

Alitalia e America...or not

While our financial institutions here in the US prepare to write their own obituaries. The Italian government is busy trying make sure that their flag carrier's wings don't get clipped.

Richard Branson says that they shouldn't be bailed out, but flag carriers and their significance mean that you cannot make a decision on their welfare without bringing emotion into play.

Earlier this Spring, the Fiance stated to me--in a very blunt Australian way--that he made a concerted effort to fly Qantas from New York to Sydney, because "it was like coming home." It's the same reason why I try to fly the occasional Midwest Airlines* flight back to Milwaukee. (Hell, I'll likely fly a US carrier back to US from Australia as time goes on.) There is still that emotional aspect to air travel, and quite frankly, the industry needs to remember that.
*I don't even want to think about Midwest's woes at the moment.

Back to Alitalia.

The merger plan which involves merging it with Air One (the 2nd biggest carrier in Italy), seems like the lesser of two evils plan to me. For those who saw the absurd growth and then garroting of the venerable Eastern & Pan Am (mk.I)--not to mention the weird rise of US Airways (ne Allegheny/Piedmont/PSA), we know airline mergers are rarely smooth, and often not always entered into with long-term effects in mind.

Now, I don't know much about Air One from personal experience, but Skytrax reviewers (a curmudgeonly lot, I will say) paint a picture of a lean operation where flight attendants seem to double as food & goods sellers. It has been twentysome years since I've flown Alitalia, but when I was in Italy this past summer, Alitalia did the check-in for my flight and gave me a pass to their lounge. The check-in personnel were good, friendly, perhaps a bit blase about their jobs. The lounge, however, was woeful, especially since this was Rome Airport. It looked like someone took some 1960s suburban office, slapped in a few coffee makers and departure screens and left. That's faded glamour on a Norma Desmond scale.

So I don't think that the young cost cutter and the old diva with laryngitis are going to make a good couple, but it looks time isn't on anyone's side in this situation.

What exactly got Alitalia into this mess? A mishmash of peculiar regulations (including a bizarre "you must live in Rome" rule), union leaders being arrogant, and executives keen on avoiding any major decisions that might actually allow the airline to be competitive. If you think I'm drawing a comparison here between the woes of Alitalia and the woes of some major US firms (toot toot, beep beep), then you're spot on.

It's hard for any entity, particularly one--whether it was "private" like Pan Am or effectively state-owned like Alitalia--to adjust out of a "chosen instrument" status even in the face of impending corporate death or at least radical restructuring.

The harsh sunlight that the new Alitalia walks into, should be watched by every single CEO on the planet.

This is not going to be pretty

It's not even going to be homely.

When I first heard about Lehman Brothers filing for bankrupcy, I have to admit that my first thought was one close to indifference. (Sympathy for the workers, little for the management.)

Well, comrades, this is going to hit us all, especially when you add on Bank of America buying out Merrill Lynch.

I found this BBC News article a good read.

I would add that the ultimate culprit in all of this is basic greed: People thought they could use their homes as ATM machines so that they could keep up with the Joneses, and the financing companies who eagerly enabled them to do so.

And our national budget is such disarray that another bailout--no matter how necessary it is--might not be possible.

The Map of the American Personality: The Palindrome Post

That sodding governor has killed any joy I had in terms of using the word "palindrome."

Anyway, here's an interesting article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Apparently researchers at Cambridge University (I guess they have free time and/or grant money to waste) have created a "personality map" of the United States. This map identifies a "stress belt" stretching from Maine to Louisiana.

Wisconsin is outside this belt and ranks #2 for extroversion. I would agree with that, but you have to temper that with the fact that it also ranked #47 for openness. Try to mesh those two aspects together. You also have to remember that the state has 1 or 2 random spree killings a year, and these spree killings are just people (generally outside of Milwaukee, I must point out) going crazy. Remember the murders that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho happened in Wisconsin.

New York ranked in the top ten for neuroticism. Equally not surprising.

Time for happy music! MISIA released a digital single last month called Catch the Rainbow, seems rather appropriate escape from the nonstop September 11th coverage today.

The Grand Super Special 1000th Post Celebration

It would only be appropriate to start a special occasion with an opening number, so opening up the proceedings is Aira Mitsuki with GALAXY BOY (yes, she has a lisp which makes the refrain unintentionally funny*).






* I think she's singing "look up at," but it sounds like "look up the ass," at least to my ears.


When I started working on this corner of the internet back in January 2005, I set out to do essentially one thing: express my opinion to the world and also get opinions back. It is truly a rough world out there and it is extremely easy and tempting to stay isolated (oddly enough courtesy of the internet). So hopefully in a way, this little corner helps someone feel less so.

Growing up, I was given the opportunity and the encouragement of both of my parents to form my own opinions and beliefs. In fact, I came out as a Socialist before I actually came out as gay! Yet, I don't want to devote this 1000th post to a personal political tirade. I'd like to do something I don't do much on here, which is "talk" about who I am as opposed to what I think.

Back in 2005, for the 200th post I did a Q&A, which you can read here, this time around I'm just going to talk directly, particularly about everything that has happened (personally) since 2005.

It's hard to believe that so much has happened in 3 years: I've changed apartments twice, for starters.

And it's part of the reason why I'm moving. When I was growing up, I pretty much figured that I was going to live in New York for a brief period of time. It was kind of a family tradition, my mother lived here for nearly 30 years, my father lived here for a little under a decade, so perhaps it was in my blood. I had this image in my head that I--like George & Wheezie--would find my own "deluxe apartment in sky." So what does one do after that? You go looking for new challenges.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Ever since I can remember, I wanted to spend my adult life outside the US. I'm not an America-hater by any stretch of the imagination. I owe this country my existence, quite literally, as the racial mixture of Native Americans, African slaves, and European immigrants (all groups in my ancestry) doesn't exist anywhere else. Yet, creatively, I felt--and continue to feel--that I can't reach my full potential as a playwright and a scriptwriter living here. US media is focused on profitability--even the theatre--as opposed to quality. That's why LOGO is so historic, it basically says that we (LGBT Americans) are now an audience to be catered to by advertisers, because we'll buy, and in the US you are nobody unless you are recognised as a desirable consumer demographic.

Ok, so I kind of backtracked on the no political tirades promise.

Personally, I want to be able to write without worrying about demographics. I also want to work at telling stories that aren't always vetted for how they will play in Peoria. (Look at the state of gay theatre here in New York, where plays and musicals often are excuses for buff men to get to walk around naked while catty/bitchy characters deliver a stream of one-liners. It sells tickets, but there have been very few pieces that really get beyond burlesque.) Sadly, the US is not a place for that. I do believe that will change, and oddly enough, I feel I can do my part by leaving the land of my birth.

Leaving the US, on the other hand carries its own risks: Expat's Disease, being the big one. Expat's Disease, which can happen to even the most well-rounded, open-minded person, is where someone goes overseas and starts either lionising or demonising their homeland beyond what it really is. I'm going to do my best to stave it off by coming back frequently. I pretty much have to, since my family is here, and when your family is as small as mine, the bond is extremely tight.

Now even though I have planned for quite some time to leave the US, I wasn't expecting it to happen "so soon." Yet, I met an Australian man, got engaged, and since he's ready to move back to his homeland and I'm at a point where I can move, I'm moving to Australia, which is even more of a change than I expected to make. (I was thinking Canada, the UK, or Germany when I thought I'd be making the move solo.) Isn't fate funny?

I reckon it's time for a comedy break, and I can think of no better choice for that than clips from Designing Women.

And we're back.

One thing you might've noticed is that this corner of the internet is low on pictures of shirtless men. It's intentional for two reasons:

1. You can find them easily on other sites and blogs. (Some of which are in the blogroll just to the right.)
2. I have little desire to put any on here.

I've mentioned it on here before, but I was anorexic for 2 years in college and I pretty much fight a daily battle with body dysmorphia. For whatever reason, there is very little discussion (at least not as much as I reckon there should be) about what images men are receiving and how it impacts their self-esteem, particularly gay men. It's like all the fanfare around The Adonis Complex never happened. It may seem cliched to say so, but I truly believe that gay men can be our own worst enemies when it comes to making ourselves feel good about our bodies. In my case, I find that my worst critic is myself. I work out 5-6 times a week at a relatively intense pace, and often afterwards, I have to remind myself that I have pushed myself to the limit and not failed in comparison to other guys at the gym, some of whom have other things (i.e. steroids) that allow them to have a certain physique. Plus--and this is the hardest pill to swallow (npi)--my body is just genetically predisposed to being a certain way.

Now here's the big struggle, how does one get to the point of liking one's body without it veering into narcissism? I'll be honest with you, I don't know. I'd like to think that having a strong egalitarian streak can put a clamp on it, but who knows?

I still have my clothes from the days when I was overweight, and I still wear them. Honestly, the fashion crowd would have a field day with me, because I do not like to wear anything that conforms to my figure, I like things baggy. By baggy, I don't mean saggy, because I just don't get that whole trend of showing one's underwear to the world--at least in public. I just like to catch a breeze through my sleeves and my trousers or shorts. Fitted, in my view, feels restricted. As a writer and observer, there's a definite advantage to this: I blend in to the background, which is perfect, frankly.

I think it's time for another music break.

That's Miho Fukuhara singing CHANGE, by the way. Killer voice, don't you think?

So I've been pretty serious for the first two parts of this shindig, so let's lighten the mood a bit.

Here's a list of small irritations--hey, I said lighten, not upbeat:

• Those damn Cablevision commercials. I think the entire Tri-State knows the number and has no intention of calling them, even if they like the concept of the Triple Play.
• The NYC tourism industry. Let me explain this: I pass by the Empire State Building often. I like to believe that my body language suggests that I have a destination in mind and I am not taking in the sights. So why do those tour bus company employees keep trying to thrust some literature in my face or convince me to take a tour?
• Being near Penn Station on Saturday when it seems the entire state of New Jersey and most of Long Island descends upon the city en masse and stops to get their bearings on 7th Avenue.
• 1 Penn Plaza. It just blocks everyone's view, and it's an ugly building.
• Tyler Perry. Yes, I consider him a small irritation, like a gnat.
• For whatever reason every single day at 5PM the fire department decides to send a truck down 6th Avenue, knowing fully well that it will be choked with gridlock. I suspect graft.

And that comrades, brings this celebration to a close. I would just like to thank everyone who has stopped by this corner since 2005, and hope that they've enjoyed their time here. I'm looking forward to bringing on another 1000 posts.

Now, since you know that I believe in opening numbers, you know I definitely believe in closing numbers, and who better to close it out than the one, the only MISIA.

Best of Eurovision Reviews

As part of the 1000th post bonanza here, I reckon it'd be fun to take a gander at the myriad of Eurovision reviews posted at this corner of the internet.

Why?

Well, they're mostly done live, so I don't have much time for editing, so this is as close as I get to raw & uncut, so to speak.

• The first ever Eurovision review to appear at this corner: Melodifestivalen 2005, Semi-Final 1. Notable for the fanboyishness that Shirley Clamp inspires in me.
• Russian Eurovision entries don't believe in no grammar--part 1, part 2.
• Spanish Eurovision finals are trippy as hell, seriously. I'm not joking, TVE execs must be high.
• Remember SWWBN?
• The Polish final of 2006 had the best song ever...which didn't win.
• Miss Sextape won Dora 2006.
• For 2 days in May 2006, the US decided to inflict Maria Menuonos on Europe. It will take a miracle for Europe to forgive us.
• I'm starting to believe that Estonia just doesn't care anymore.
• In 1992, Vegas went to Eurovision in Malmo.
• What the hell happened at the Eurovision 2007 Qualifier?
• Rumoured lesbian wins Eurovision with about average ballad.
• Italian disco singer presents the Spanish Eurovision preshow and makes it all about her. Thank god.
• Video logs are fun when you're hopped up on pain-killers, recovering from a surgery, and watching a pan-continental song contest!

Since this is the 999th post, it would only be appropriate to play the theme song to Galaxy Express 999.

The New Season: CBS

This review has been performed in front of a live DVR that is occasionally paused in order for me to type.

Wrapping up the previews of the new season is CBS, which I believe is still holding onto the top spot as the most watched network (ah, the joys of live blogging, I don't have to go hunting around for facts until after I finish my opinion).

As I'm not familiar with CBS's entertainment propaganda machine, I have no idea who Lara Spencer is, but apparently the Eye trusts her enough to be the face of this year's Fall preview bonanza.

First off, Worst Week--which I think is an adapatation of a UK sitcom. If you live in New York--or any major market city, you have seen the adverts for this show illustrated by a man in average shape (TV-wise, in real life he'd be 6 or a 7) wearing nothing but what looks like an adult diaper. Diaper man is apparently Sam and it looks like one of those shows (CBS at one point had two of them) where Joe Average (again a television Joe Average) has a knockout girlfriend and various humiliations occur to him. It is lightly amusing, but it looks like Kurtwood Smith will basically run away with this show. It's got the prime slot of right after Two & A Half Men, so the Eye is expecting a lot out of it.

Next, Lara--who looks suspiciously like Felicity Huffman--tells us about Simon Baker's new show The Mentalist. (Again, if you live in a major market, the ads for this have been heavily plastered all over town.) Personally, when I heard they were giving Simon Baker another show, I had to wonder..."why?" Yes, he's still good looking (a hell of a lot better looking than he was in The Devil Wears Prada, where he looked like he was trying to outdo Mickey Rourke in terms of bad facelifts), but if it didn't really happen for him with The Guardian, then why get him another lead? ENSEMBLE this man, CBS. Don't make him a lead, he's not that interesting. Anyway, The Mentalist is another one of those "quirky, ultra-observant man solves crimes" shows, which again, CBS does well. It sort of looks like a santised version of Dexter, except I guess Baker's character isn't going to kill anyone. If they don't give him a love interest and focus on the crimes, then there's hope. That being said, pairing it with NCIS? Why? This is much more a Monday or Friday night show.

Commercials--for things other than CBS.

When we return, Lara gestures excitedly about Jay Mohr's new sitcom, Gary Unmarried. Time for a personal admission: I watch Ghost Whisperer (I don't mind Jennifer Love Hewitt--Aquarian solidarity, you know--and David Conrad--who plays her husband and will be leaving this season supposedly--is great eye candy, even when you realise there is a 12 year age difference between them, it doesn't really matter). I thought that the writers were pretty much shoving his character in our faces because there was going to be a romance between the two of them. Apparently not. Gary Unmarried sounds and looks like All of Us without the ghetto sassiness (boo!), but with less annoying children (yay!) and no moral-of-the-week (HURRAH!). Still not going to go out of my way to watch it, despite having Paula Marshall, who is quite good. You'll have to toss in liberal amounts of Jay Mohr shirtless for me to become a regular viewer. Pairing it with The New Adventures of Old Christine is very wise, but seriously why steal from an old UPN sitcom?

Non-CBS commercials.

And we're back with Lara touting the latest Jerry Bruckheimer hour long action drama, Eleventh Hour. (Seriously, the man seems to run everything on CBS that isn't a comedy or news broadcast.) I'm actually intrigued by this because the ad campaign has given me no clue whatsoever as to what the show is about. Lara chirps that it's about some rackishly handsome scientist who solves crimes for the FBI when all other leads fail. Doesn't CBS have a show like this already called NUMB3RS? Leave Ridley Scott alone Jerry! Well, Rufus Sewell is no Rob Morrow, but he is more appealing to look at than David Krumholtz. The preview seems to suggest that the difference between this and NUMB3RS is that Eleventh Hour will deal with "scientific crimes"...and where science meets ethics, it looks like. I'll give Jerry credit, this looks intriguing even though Sewell's character isn't. It's coupled with CSI...of course.

If there's a serious weak link in CBS's new armour it's The Ex List. Lara's tone is ever-so-slightly sarcastic as she reads her propaganda copy, and can you blame her? This show has bomb written all over it based on the premise: Self-Absorbed Woman sees psychic, psychic tells her that her true love is one of her exes, Self-Absorbed Woman goes hunting down her (many) exes to find out which one it is. Wisely, they have upped the male flesh content (including gay male couple friends?) to make up for the daft storyline. Personally, I'm wondering if her problems could be quickly solved if she figured out why she's self-absorbed. It's after Ghost Whisperer on Fridays, and quite frankly, that might be the only way for this show to do well enough to survive to next season.

Commercials CBS and non, including one for The Unit, which is going to be interesting with Scott Foley leaving. (Why he's leaving, I don't know.)

Lara bids us adieu in record time, just quick enough to tell us to go to CBS's website.

Well, I have to withdraw my faint praise of NBC, CBS has the stronger Freshman roster this year. They also have the biggest possible turkey as well, with The Ex List.

The Circus Comes to Ozaukee County & 1000 Post Special Plans

Am I glad that I'm out of the county until Election Day.

Mr. Nice & Mrs. Mean apparently were in Cedarburg. It does say something that those two went to the reddest of the red counties in Wisconsin. By the way, I've been to Cedarburg many times, I wouldn't in a million years describe it as a small town. (There is actually a Town of Cedarburg, which is small, but N&M were in the City of Cedarburg, which is pretty much a tourist trap for those who like antiques and dairy products.)

Perhaps it's a good sign of the times, but the Journal Sentinel is not endorsing Jimmy Sensenbrenner in the Republican primary, perhaps this might actually turn into (GASP) an endorsement for the Democrat in the district? I'll be optimistic.

By the way, coming up soon: The 1000th Post special! Believe it or not, this corner of the internet and my id has almost churned out 1000 posts. Feel free to drop a question or several in the comments section of this post.

If You Can Please Donate

The multi-network Cancer initiative, StandUp2Cancer is tonight.

Given how much it's taken a toll on me this past year--as someone who has had several people close to me affected by it, I cannot stress how important it is that this disease in its many forms be fought.

The event may have a daft name, but its cause is just.

Can't Say I'm Surprised...

Palin allegedly makes racist slurs.

She's Cheney in drag.

There's A Little Bit Something Strange About "Change"

Mr. Nice last night told the country that he is the true candidate of change.

This made me think: If he's a member of the party in power, and the party that up until 2006 pretty much ruled everything with an iron fist, then he's arguing for a change much like a cadre of the Chinese Communist Party would say that he or she is for change.

Just a bit ironic in my view.

Meanwhile in Canada

The Canadian PM is set to call an election, and believe it or not, the Conservatives are winning the polls.

Peculiarly it seems like voters like the Conservatives for economic issues and Liberals for environmental. Economy apparently trumps environment as the Liberals are coming in 2nd place.

There is a silver lining to all this, Jack Layton of the NDP (aka the party I wish was down here) is just managing to beat out Stéphane Dion (by 2 points). I don't mind Dion, but he is no Chretien and the fact that he is coming in 3rd behind Harper and Layton underlines this.

Mr. Nice comes to St. Paul

I'm a POW.

War is bad.

I'm a POW.

But Iran is a threat.

I'm a POW.

I used to be cocky.

I'm a POW.

And so on and so forth for 45 minutes.

It seems that the tone McCain/Palin will take is one McCain being the kind grandfather and Palin, the vicious aunt/sister/nurse.

That being said, there were shreads of the 2000 McCain in there. He is very fortunate that the political climate is so anti-Bush that he explicitly slated his own party in his own acceptance speech.

Perhaps he was being ironic, but his story of losing his "selfish independence," was interpreted by me as McCain having his own catharsis about how he got (read: sold out for) the nomination.

Just...Nasty

Perhaps it's me, but does the Republican National Convention seem well...unnecessarily nasty?

Some observations:

• The attendees just keep yelling over the speakers who are actually on their own side.
• Is the only thing these attendees can think to yell is "U-S-A?" The Olympics are over.
• Giuliani makes a coded dig at New York City while lamenting the omission of September 11th from the DNC.
• Not all terrorists are Islamic, Rudy, or did Oklahoma City never happen?
• Maybe I'm dense, but does it seem to be a bit foolish to castigate the media...on primetime television?
• John McCain is a POW? No, really? Really? I'm sorry I didn't hear that the 500 times previously.
• Palin's speech basically said: "I'm a reformer, and a McCain/Palin administration would give you 4 more years of the last 8." That is, when she actually bothered to say anything that wasn't a dig at the Democrats. Lay out a program! Say something of substance! One must've had low expectations to call that speech "outstanding."

What has really surprised me though is that this past night has seen Republican ugliness and just plain old bigotry front and center.

Have they forgotten that they are the ones most at fault for this mess? Or is that too cruel a notion to contemplate?

The New Season: NBC

There is some poetic justice in that one of the most omnipresent networks (mostly due to takeovers as opposed to actual creation) has been pretty much getting its rear end kicked by the former underdogs ABC & CBS. (Speaking of which, only last decade ABC was considered the inoffensive network and CBS the channel for the elderly.)

Now that I've taken my pleasure in ruffling the peacock's feathers, I have to admit something: NBC's new crop is probably the best out there. That said, that's more an indictment of the overall quality of the Freshmen shows for 2008-09 rather than an endorsement of NBC.

Either way, let's get on with it:

• America's Toughest Jobs: It's already premiered, and I have to wonder why NBC would think that someone who hasn't seen the same type of "look at my job! Isn't it difficult? Isn't it dirty? Isn't it dangerous?" show on A&E/Discovery/National Geographic would be interested? So, in true NBC style, they turn it into a competition. Perhaps they are taking a gamble here, but the faith they seem to have in it must be minimal for it to premiere before Labor Day. Doubt we'll see it next year unless it's really cheap to produce.
• Knight Rider: Give the Peacock credit, they are at least resurrecting their own show as opposed to the CW which brings an old FOX show back to life tonight. That said, the new Knight Rider movie did well, so it makes sense to see if the same audience that watched that will do the same. The creator managed to keep the inanity that was Las Vegas on air for much longer than need be, so this might limp its way into next year. Personally, I doubt it. Would the American public be all that interested in watching a car speeding every week, given the cost of gas? Would NBC be all that interested in paying for that to boot?
• Kath & Kim: The fiance--who is Australian and a fan of the show--has very low expectations for this sitcom (which was originally Australian). Conversely, I think it will do well, and I also think it will be quite successful. When I first saw the original show on the late, lamented Trio network (oddly enough, gobbled by NBC and then obliterated), I couldn't understand a word the characters were saying--with captions! NBC's version does appear to keep the same spirit, which is about a spoiled mother-daughter duo with little common sense and lots of self-absorption. One thing NBC does well is nuture offbeat sitcoms. I reckon it'll get through the season with little trouble.
• My Own Worst Enemy: Christian Slater tries to become relevant again by playing a man who lives a double life and apparently doesn't know about it. It's The Three Faces of Eve meets James Bond. It'll get some of the Heroes crowd, but seems too complex for its own good. In fact, it probably should've gotten the mini-series treatment first. Just might make it, but I doubt it.
• Crusoe: Hands up if you heard about NBC doing a series adaptation of Robinson Crusoe. Anyone? Not even a peep? Good, I'm not alone (no pun intended). If this was a miniseries, I'd understand it, but the NBC website propaganda seems to indicate otherwise, and that seems like a very silly risk the peacock is taking. They might try to drum up the similarities to Lost, but this is classic literature we're talking about here. It may be classic potboiler literature, but it is classic nonetheless. The peacock will get the accolades for showing classics to the masses, and then quietly dump any remaining episodes on Bravo. "Watch what happens," indeed.

I say Kath & Kim makes it to next season with either Knight Rider or My Own Worst Enemy (not both) joining it, based on who gets the higher ratings on their USA Network repeats.

The Chickens Come Home To Roost

This recent revelation about Sarah Palin's daughter certainly puts an interesting dent on any supposed moral superiority the GOP may claim to have.

I've been reading Commie Girl in the OC and one of the phrases that author Rebecca Schoenkopf has mentioned often is that the Right only cares about you until you're born and then you're on your own.

It'll be interesting to see if the holier-than-thou types will stick by this ticket. I have my doubts.

The fiance frequently says that when I go silent or terse that I am actually speaking volumes about where I stand on a subject. I reckon there will be a lot of silence amongst Republicans from here on in.

I suspect that this is the last gasp of the old Jerry Falwell wing of the GOP, and the next few years will see them go closer to the Centre (possibly even Center-Left on some occasions) and the Democrats go even further to the Left.

If this is the ultimate result, then I welcome it.

The Pain in The House

In order to balance out this Labo(u)r Day's marathon festivities I went to the dark side: I watched part of the House of Payne marathon on TBS*.

*Clearly Turner knows that they have to aggressively market this show, because otherwise no one would watch it.

It was jaw-droppingly horrible and I have come to several conclusions:

1. La Perry is not only a hack, but one who refuses to grow as a writer.
2. La Perry is an insecure control freak and an incompetent director.
3. La Perry's casting choices are surprisingly inspired and better than the dreck they are given to speak.
4. I have never heard so many missed cues and poorly rehearsed lines on what I am assuming is a show not broadcast live. (I haven't even heard any live show be this poor, and given the hierarchy of power in television this responsiblity falls upon the directors and producers.)

My god, I weep for Allen Payne. Here is a man who is not only stunning, but also quite talented as an actor (take note of his work in the rarely seen 30 Years to Life and in the more widely seen Jason's Lyric), and he's reduced to joint eye candy/straight man role with Lance Gross (who has the potential to do well, if he ever makes it out of the Hades that is Tyler Perry Studios).

For all of its faults, the late UPN could've made this work well, but since the Tyler Perry Juggernaut is involved, there is nobody in the room willing to say no.

Pitiful, but what is even more tragic in my view is that the majority of the cast (regardless of their skill at their art) don't have that many options--if any--outside the Perry empire of dreck.

Labour Day 2008

Well it's North American (except Mexico) Labour Day today, and I can't say that 4 months has changed the landscape that I brought up during International Labour Day.

At least candidate Obama sounds like he gets it.

From the "otherwise it will be awkward" department

Georgia will not participate at next year's Eurovision in Moscow.

It's not that shocking that Georgia would pull out--"You just invaded us, but sure, we'll go to your capitol city to participate in a pan-continental singing contest with the highest amount of political voting in existence." Quite frankly, Georgia* could send a cow with a bell and rack up the sympathy points.

* For the record, I'm from the "all sides acted stupidly" school of thought in respect to the Georgian conflict...Like Atlanta is that important.

Point/counterpoint (Part II)

Note the lower-case "c."

Having just heard Sarah Palin's speech in Dayton, all I can say is that the GOP has either lost their collective mind or really just wants to spend the next 4-8 years rebuilding.

Honestly, I spent most of it laughing.

They have one weak ticket this year and she is the weakest link. The only card they have left are identity politics, but that could be a tipping point for many.

Point/Counterpoint

Obama/Biden meet McCain/Palin.

On one hand, you could say that this is identity politics, but I reckon that with identity playing such a major role, it may actually mean that they will have to actually focus on the issues.

As of this moment, it looks like another close election--for whichever party wins.

Without A Doubt...

...That was a speech.

I only hope that the Congressional elections will help him fulfill half (and if we are truly fortunate, all) of those promises, because god, our problems are truly that bad.

Sometimes it would be nice if we just had a Prime Minister instead

Not that it should be necessary, but just to underline the point: Yes, I am voting for Obama.

Yet something is amiss.

He doesn't stir me in any way shape or form. It's more case of he's the Democrat, I vote in Wisconsin, Wisconsin is generally a swing state, so voila.

Yes, I understand the importance of the first African-American nominee. I'd be a fool not to note it, but where is the genesis of the hype? (Personally, I have mixed feelings about the Obama = MLK connection, but I'm not the target audience.)


Or have some (not necessarily all) just finally come to the conclusion that the issues most always be more important than the ego?

I've watched the main speeches so far, and while my vote is a given, I find the issues and the plans for the future more stirring than anything else.

I find more solace in the upcoming Congressional elections rather than the Presidental ones, because at least I feel that these issues (health care, education, THE SINKING US DOLLAR) are going to be addressed. However, it seems oddly befitting of our indirect "my vote is really just a suggestion, if you don't mind" presidental electoral system, that we are being obsessively courted by both political parties to vote for a figurehead. (We just happened to have a really ignorant figurehead with several Machiavellis behind him for the past 8 years.)

The true power remains in the collective cacophony that is Congress, and that is where the true battles will be fought, it is where the most innovative ideas will be hatched, and it's where we will have to be vigiliant against the enemies within.

Sometimes I reckon that when we tossed the British out, we made up our minds to have a nation founded on being (irony intended) bloody minded at all costs.

Tuesday Jukebox Just Wants To Shake Its Thang

About 15-18 years ago, MTV ran a promo that featured two "around the way" girls reacting to a supposed controversy over a music video they appeared in. For some bizarre reason, I still remember their lines.

ATW Girl 1: "They just told us to shake our thang..."
ATW Girl 2: "...real fast."

It is the spirit of those two girls (read: actors) that brings us to today's jukebox, featuring Japanese trio YA-KYIM, which seems to best personify Japan's answer to booty-shaking music.

To be blunt, these women are fierce performers when it comes to dancing. (Vocally, they're no SOULHEAD, but booty-shaking music is not so much about great singing.)

Let's start off with their latest Super Looper, which really seems to be...well, I have no clue what the video is all about, but it does make you want to shake it...fast.



YA-KYIM - Super☆Looper

We're going backwards in their career, which means that the next stop is 2007's Superstar.

YA-KYIM - Superstar


And our final stop for the day is the lyrically nonsensical, but damn catchy Happy The Globe Part II from 2005.



YA-KYIM [Happy The Globe Part II]

Bonus: Korea's own booty-shaker Moon Ji Eun's performance of Unsure Unsure from this past July. Considering how conservative Korea is, it's amazing that she got away with basically slutting it up for the cameras. (Although I reckon the lyrics are probably tamer than When I Grow Up.) The beat could be faster, but she certainly gives it her all (no double entendres intended).

Moon Ji Eun - Unsure, Unsure (20.07.2008 Inki Gayo)

Please Don't Rock Me...Baby

New York is woefully unprepared to deal with earthquakes, says a study from Columbia University.

Even though I'm going to be leaving New York in less than a year, this is news I do not want to hear.

Hell, anyone who lives above the 3rd floor does not want to hear this!

Let's think happier thoughts about rocking:

Kara ~ Rock You
Uploaded by JonnyHill

The August Video Log: Better Late Than Never

When will this month end?

Or is that the point of August?

All this in the out-of-sync video log for the eighth month of 2008.

Sunday Jukebox Goes Yugo(slav)

While the August Video Log is uploading, let us go back...

Once upon a time there was a country that was communist with a little "c." Sure, the Communist party ran things and pretty much dictated what went on, but it liked to do many things outside of the Eastern Bloc, such as buy Western aircraft for the national airline, participate in multinational singing contests, and send chirpy ditties about men being pricks.



The bitter theme seemed to work well for the Yugoslavs, although some of the entries were a bit ahead of the time. Apparently, Brazil makes a lot of sense when you view it as a socio-economic commentary about that country as opposed to a song about some washed up singer trying to get her end over in South America.



Or maybe it was the woeful performance in Rome.



In my opinion, the Yugoslav entries were actually at their best in the 1970s, where you couldn't tell whether they were being darkly comic or just depressing.

1971 (And he really brought the bipolar emoting live)



1973



1974 (It is supposed to be wry, seriously)



1975 (The group's name translates as Blood & Ashes, by the way)



1976 (the ultimate "I-hate/love-you" entry)



Given what we know now, it is rather surprising that Yugoslavia's only win was with a song devoid of any emotion whatsoever...although it could be interpreted as a commentary on the rest of the world ignoring the fact that the country was going to fall apart at any moment.



On second thought, it's just a daft number that happened to just luck out.

When Criminals Don't Even Want Your Money...

First it was the Supermodels saying they want to be paid in Euros.

Then it was shops in the US accepting Euros.

Now organised crime and drug dealers are--according to the ABC--wanting to conduct monetary transactions in currencies other than the Canadian & US dollars.

Ouch.

Friday Jukebox Goes Danish (part 2)

It's Media Day here at this corner of the internet and the Jukebox is honouring/roasting Danish Eurovision entries from the 1980s and 1990s. On with the show!

1990: Lonnie Devantier may look and move like Denmark's answer to Tina Turner, but I don't think Tina will be covering Hallo, Hallo at any time in the near future.



1992: Alt det som ingen ser may sound like a classic German oompah-pah-pah band drinking song as sung by demure schoolteacher and a hair rock singer, but if you read the lyrics it's really about justifying one night stands. Damn catchy without a doubt.



1997: Denmark sends a rapper with a song about harassing the phone operator. Danish is oddly suited for orchestral rap.




1999: The song takes a second place to the interesting body language between sex-on-legs Michael, his confidence and slightly nervous Trine. I reckon it's better in Danish, myself.



We won't mention 2000...hehehehe.

Bonus: As much as I like Denmark, I have to say that Wogan really nailed the annoying presenters in 2001.



Then again, my personal taste was for the slick and cool Swedish presentation of the year before.

Friday Jukebox Goes Danish (part 1)

With all those reports about Denmark being the happiest country in the world, I reckon it's time for a Danish Eurovision prespective.

1981: Denmark sends Danish Tommy Seebach and the US-born Debbie Cameron with a bouncy song about racial harmony.



1983: Denmark sends a perky woman in fashinonably ripped clothes to tell us that the world is spinning.


1984: Danish group Hot Eyes begins their 2 year run of representing Denmark. The first entry pretty much sets up the formula: do a 2-step to a happy synth beat, and a key change.


1986: Trax (supported by Danish dancers with rickets) tell us we are full of lies, even fact we're real all out scummy, but at least she's doing it to the jauntiest beat imaginable.



1988: Hot Eyes is back, and Kirsten is heavily pregnant. Whether there's a running gag here or not I'm not certain, but the song's title roughly translates as "Can you see what I said?" and it is sung by a chastising pregnant woman...




1989: Denmark gives perenninal Melodi Grand Prix runner up Birthe Kjær an ode to graffiti.

The New Season: FOX

Alright, News Corporation Propaganda Arm, make me care about you*:
* Out of courtesy to the other networks, I'll keep my critiques limited to just the Fall premieres.

• Do Not Disturb: Now this show has been getting lots of promotion. The idea is basically a retread of Faulty Towers, with Jerry O'Connell as Basil and Niecy Nash as Sybil, except they aren't married. This show is interesting in that it started out with O'Connell being the one with the show resting on his shoulders, and Nash just part of the ensemble. Now they are hyping up Nash as much as possible. Even more interesting is that I reckon that even if the show fails (and the odds are against them, let's be real), Nash's star will continue rising and O'Connell gets no career boost. Worth watching if only to see if there's any on-set tension spilling out into the performances.
• Fringe: This is just as confusing as next year's Dollhouse, but at least it's being promoted that way. At the risk of turning people off, I am going to go out on a limb and say that if anyone can do drawn out make-it-up-as-we-go-long series, it's J.J. Abrams. The man made a show about a lovelorn college student extremely complex, engaging--complete with time travel--and it still seemed believable. I'll definitely give it a shot, and I reckon it'll stumble into another season. (Hell, Prison Break is still on.)

Wednesday Jukebox is AAA

AAA is rather hard to categorise. There's 7 members (5 male, 2 female), they all dance and sing, but their sound varies wildly between electrothrash and the omnipresent cute side of JPop. If you remember the '90s Mickey Mouse Club band The Party, that might be a good comparison...except I reckon nearly nobody remembers them.

AAA (short for Attack All Around, which begs the question "what or who are they attacking?")'s latest release is the schitzophrenic double-side single MUSIC/ZERO.

MUSIC is from the frothy side.


ZERO is clearly isn't. (Well it is the theme song for a show called World Destruction, which is actually more upbeat than the video--seemingly)



I'm inclined to believe that the sugary sweet side of AAA is pretty much on the wane. This is a group whose first single was entitled Blood on Fire.

The New Season: the CW

aka the network designed to make anyone over 15 feel decrepit.

The CW is like Fox in the late 90s: trying to shock everyone while actually really just doing variations on the same theme: Teens seemingly behaving badly. (All that depth  in characterisation that the old WB teen dramas had is g.o.n.e.) 

Driving this point home is a resurrected 90210, to which I have to say: why? The show only went off the air 8 years ago, and I just see this falling flat. (By the way, why didn't the CW wait 2 more years so the show could have a premiere date of 9/02/10?)

Then there's the pointless Privileged, which seems to mostly ride on the whole Gossip Girl bandwagon. I don't know about you, but how can this show be of interest to any sentinent being? Idealistic young woman become tutor to 2 self-absorbed brats in "Palm Beach." Sounds more like a low-ranking TV movie from the 1960s rather than enough to base a whole TV show on. It's like a very shallow version of Up the Down Staircase in reverse.

In Harm's Way sounds like it was aiming for the Discovery Channel but wound up on the CW instead. Apparently the network thinks no one else has seen early evening basic cable.

Since the CW is living in a timewarp, they have also come up with Valentine, which seems to channel both the failed series Cupid and The Addams Family. I see another bomb here as well.

Finally, the network bizarrely rips off ABC's Dirty Sexy Money, which is not exactly setting the Nielsens on fire, with Easy Money. All I have to say is that Laurie Metcalf must've been hard up.

The CW: You ignored them before, you'll ignore them again.

When In Doubt Raid The Archives

The Banana Splits are back.

In a decade where there isn't even agreement on a name for this period of time, perhaps the plethora of adaptations are a way of giving a sense of comfort and reassurance.

...Or just lazy execs.

The New Season: ABC

So what does the Mouse House have in store for us for 2008?

Very little that's new, to be honest, and can you really blame them? They've got our eyeballs in a vice grip, ratings-wise, so why rock the boat? 

But here are the few freshmen:

• Opportunity Knocks: A game show where apparently some game show just plops itself on the front lawn of some family, asks them questions about themselves and the crap they own...or something along those lines. Personally, I don't see the point, except that it's asinine. For some reason, ever since those days of Who Wants to be A Millionaire, ABC is hellbent on having some primetime game show. 
• Life on Mars: Adaptation of the BBC series of the same name about a NYPD cop who goes from the present day back to 1973. I found the original ambitious, but confusing. That said, this might have some legs, and may actually make it through the year. Not appointment television for me, but the appeal is there for the Grey's crowd. (Life will follow Grey's Anatomy.)  

You Must Be Kidding Me, NBC

Even though for the most part I've been content with switching from Uncle Charlie at ABC to Brian-is-he-stoned-Williams at NBC, I must say that NBC in Olympics mode is insufferable. 

Yesterday, Nightly News didn't get to any non-Olympic coverage (Hurricane-to-be Fay, Obama-McCain at the gluttonous preacher's hoedown, the conflict in Georgia) until the last 15 minutes. 

I understand Phelps-mania, but shouldn't he get the last 15 minutes as opposed to the first?

Naughty, naughty, NBC.

From the "You Must Be Joking" department

Marie Claire magazine declares Milwaukee the "sexiest city," according to an article in The Journal Sentinel. 

They have the most ridiculous rationale whatsoever, in my view:

"A long list of summer festivals, moderate seasonal temperatures and upcoming events such as the Governor's Cup weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, Arab World Fest and the Harley-Davidson 105th anniversary celebration made Milwaukee the G spot - as in a go-to spot, for those of you with your sex-crazed minds in the gutter."

It's spelled C-A-R-T-E-L

You could argue that all these airline alliances are cartels of some sort, but this BA-AA deal is just a little bit too cozy for comfort.

"We believe our proposed co-operation is an important step towards ensuring that we can compete effectively with rival alliances and manage through the challenges of record fuel prices and growing economic concerns," said Gerard Arpey, chairman and chief executive of AMR Corp, the parent company of American Airlines.

Oh really?

If two of the most largest airlines on the planet can't make it work...

Seriously though, this is some serious spin. Granted fuel prices are hitting every business (especially airlines) hard, but please! I'd like to believe that the US government won't approve it, but you-know-whom and his ilk are still in power until January of next year, so it just might squeak through.

August has failed to live up to the hype (so far)

Before you start wondering if I've lost my mind, let me just point out that this particular August was supposed to be action-packed: the Olympics, the DNC, and every tense point in between.

What have we gotten instead? An Olympic games that is like a suburban housewife smiling on the outside waiting for her Percoset to kick in, an almost surreal conflict between Russia & Georgia that is playing out as if it's 1966, and the presidential candidates are sniping at each other like two drag queens giving each other shade--because really there is seemingly little policy difference between the two.*

* That being said, all those "Gore & Bush are the same" people from back in 2000 should eat their words, given what has transpired over the past 8 years.

Times were that even in the slow month of August, there would at least be a new season to look forward to. Fox used to roll out its shows starting in August, but not this year--unless you consider the return of the very suspicious Moment of Truth notable.

The new season--which I'll get into as it gets closer (mid-September! You lazy network bastards had extra time plus a political convention bump--which means people will definitely want non-political programming--and most of you programming execs aren't rolling out shows until mid-September!)--is relatively lacklustre, in my opinion. The only new show that I'm interested in is Kath & Kim (because it will be a car crash, even with extremely talented leads, since NBC has a near perfect record with screwing up adaptations when they should actually just let the writers and performers DO THEIR JOBS) .

Oddly enough, the only new appointment television I've found are the old UPN sitcoms now in reruns. I had studiously avoided All of Us during its original run mostly because I despise Will Smith and suspected that it would be another one of those "moral of the week" shows, and have found that surprisingly it isn't. It's flawed, and I can see why it's cancelled, but it really isn't half bad. As for Half & Half, I didn't even know it was on. (Did anyone know what was on UPN beyond America's Next Top Model & Everybody Hates Chris? And this was UPN's 4th most popular show!) Again, it turned out not to be a "moral of the week" show, and despite some journeys into hack joke land, it showed a lot of potential. Plus there's the added bonus of seeing which old black star from the late 1970s/early 1980s will turn up in any given episode.

Yet to end on a lighter note, it is probably good to have a quiet month to garner up strength before the chaos that is September/October/November/December (four months which seem to fly by in a nanosecond).

Tuesday Jukebox Remembers Isaac Hayes

It takes sheer genius to make Burt Bacharach* songs deep and soulful, but he did it with ease.






* Don't get me wrong, I like Bacharach & David, but the original orchestrations do come across as a bit shallow.

Tuesday Jukebox Watches Daichi Miura Grow Up

Meet Daichi Miura, former child JPop star turned young adult JPop star. (In 12 days he can drink in the US, and he was born in 1987! I remember 1987--vividly--I'm getting old.)

Anyway, Daichi was originally part of a group called Folder, around the time he was 10, and as Wiki.theppn points out, he split when his voice changed. Personally, I think he's better now than as a preteen, but judge for yourself.

The Folder years:







It's pretty standard for any prepubescent male singer to tackle Jackson 5, but he manages a decent job with I Want You Back.



And as a solo artist:







Bonus: Completely unrelated to Daichi, here is something for the comedy files. The jukebox has already paid tribute to Mika Nakashima as well as SMAP, so it's quite appropriate to see what happens when the two collide. This past July, Mika along with a female comedy troupe released a single called I Don't Know under the name MICA 3 CHU. MICA 3 CHU went on SMAP's show and as always the SMAPers perform with them. Given that this is a collaboration with a comedy group, I'm going to say that the lyrics are meant to be funny, but what even makes it funnier is the earnest performance of SMAP--even though I reckon everyone onstage pretty much knew that they were singing a bunch of nonsensical English--and the aural/visual pleasure of seeing a demure Mika Nakashima (via Bif Naked) and a surprisingly mellow Masahiro Nakai sing "you've got a lot of balls."