Da Goddess

Let me preface this by saying: I am not an American Idol fan. It’s not a show that’s really in my wheelhouse at all. So, why am I writing about the show now? Because King Arthur loves it and I love him. He watches, so I watch alongside him. I don’t have to pay attention to anything going on. I can play Sudoku on my cell phone or text friends while it’s going on. He wants to be with me, I endure. The one thing that I can do and do enjoy is that I can tell you what kind of reaction the judges will have and who is the next to go home. You know me and my love for music! I’ve known for the last four weeks who’d be going home and who would win, simply because I know my music, I know what a singer should bring to a performance, and who has the reach to gain a bigger audience once they’re through with the show. So, for the first time in my life, I’m regularly watching Idol and I’m now officially pissed off at one of their stunts.

Last night? I plugged my ears during Mariah’s performance and largely ignored the majority of everything else. Except! Except when they had a little sketch dealing with the males’ eliminations. They called it “Sabotage”. During this skit, they showed the girls talking the guys into telling jokes during their time on stage, wearing crazy clothing, dropping drugs into one contestant’s drink, stealing another contestant’s “lunch money”, and…SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!

What? Since when did slippin’ a couple mickeys into a drink become okay (as done by the youngest contestant this season)? Since when did “bullying” become okay? Even only in jest. Let’s think about this for a moment: millions of kids watch this show. They’re impressionable. They aren’t all old enough to know that this is just pretend and supposed to be silly. And they observe their favorites doping one another and then holding another one upside down as they shake all the money from his person.

Bad idea, AI writers! Really. Bad. Idea. Colossally bad idea. ENORMOUSLY HUGE BAD IDEA!

Earlier yesterday, a Los Angeles high school was shut down after one girl stabbed another in the bathroom. At another LA area school had graffiti sprayed all over it targeting black students, saying, “Ni@@ers gotta die!” And a couple college campuses were shut down because someone called in a threat of an attack. Tell me again how bullying of any sort is “all in fun”. It’s not. It’s a fact of life for far too many young kids and here is one of the most watched shows in the country treating it as a joke.

And the whole dropping a couple pills into a drink thing? Excuse the hell outta me! That’s just so OBVIOUSLY wrong and in poor taste. Poor JUDGMENT! Ya feel me here on this one, folks?

A couple years back, in San Diego, someone spiked a teacher’s drink with hallucinogens. Funny? No. Teacher got very ill. I’ve heard it’s happened elsewhere as well. Plus we know this happens frequently in pick-up bars and at parties. It’s NOT COOL! It’s NOT FUNNY!

So I feel American Idol‘s writers and entire team of producers and directors, and even the participants in the skit, should apologize out the ass to the entire nation and they should have to run endless PSAs about how none of these “funny” actions are really funny and that they are, in fact, inappropriate joke material for a show with a rather large young audience. Drugging someone is ILLEGAL. Drugging someone to win a contest is also illegal and downright immoral. If you need to cheat to win, then guess what? Give up and go home, practice your craft more. But play fair.

I wonder if any of the contestants who had to participate in this charming sketch had any reservations about doing it. I hope they did. I hope they at least talked someone out of showing the girls ganging up on the boys and killing them one by one.

Shame on you, AI!

I’m so seriously ticked off about this that I had to get out of bed to write this little screed.

A television show aimed at families, aimed at young people, should never make light of such serious topics.

All in fun, my ass.

The American Idol team responsible for greenlighting that bit of insanity has some ‘splainin’ to do if you as me.

If you’re a fan of the show, what did YOU think about? (I didn’t care who won, even though I knew it could ONLY be Candice, but that’s not the question I’m asking. So focus on the “all for a laugh” horror show they gave us and let me know what you thought. Also tell FOX.

Guess whose photos are on the cover?

G’on. Guess.

Yup. (more…)

Ryan Bingham

Holy moly.

Fantastic concert.

He sang “Hallelujah” during his encore. Think he did four or five songs for the encore. Solo. It was amazing.

Don’t know who Ryan is? Try this song (which he did NOT play at the show, but everything else was so good it didn’t matter):

Opening the show was honeyhoney. Lead singer Suzanne gave me a copy of their CD and I fell in love with the band even more.

I like “Angel of Death” but I think my favorite is “Don’t Know How”

Don’t get me wrong, I like their livelier stuff, too! But these two songs just kill me in a way I can’t explain.

Bonus videos

Super special thanks to The Fat Guy for being the one to first introduce me to the music of Ryan Bingham years ago.

I’m all for awarding circus poodles for their performances. Let’s face it, life is pretty boring without the movies, TV, or music. Who cares if the performers are people we like or if we even bothered to see half the movies that are nominated. But, you know what? At least give those of us at home a decent host.

Scott Marks of the San Diego Reader was pretty spot on with his assessment of Sunday’s show:

Last night’s show was indefensible; a modern day Joe Barbera riding herd over a three-and-a-half hour orgy of inanimate self-veneration. It’s bad enough that MacFarlane turned the Academy Awards into an infomercial complete with industrial musical numbers, Seth fancies himself a song and dance man, too. At times I was not sure if I was tuned to Oscar or Tony. A tribute to big screen musicals produced over the past ten years only helped to illuminate how far the once mighty genre has fallen.

I don’t watch Family Guy. The little of it that I have seen is nothing I’ve found funny. Seth MacFarlane himself is fine when I’ve seen him on the Late Late Show or whatever, but that’s at most a ten minute segment. Three plus hours is too much.

I was smart to not watch more than dribs and drabs of the show as it aired. (Hey, The Amazing Race was on and I’m not even that big a fan of it!) I should have rewatched Princess Bride and laughed at something that was actually funny.

The Academy owes the movie-watching/loving public much better than what they gave them Sunday night. That’s the least Hollywood can do after they’ve taken so much hard-earned money from our tightly clenched fists.

Also, if I never see Anne Hathaway in anything ever again, it’ll be too soon. That speech of hers? Yeah, THAT’S what should have earned an award. She pole danced her little heart out for that statue and I was over her right around The Devil Wears Prada time.

Don’t even get me started about the First Lady giving an award. Unless it’s IN a movie, I don’t want my politics and entertainment mixing, thankyouverymuch.

Aaaand, scene.

“Right or wrong I’m here to fight. Unless you run away with fright. And if you wonder who I be, it’s me it’s me, it’s Ernest T.” – From “Malcolm at the Crossroads” ep of The Andy Griffith Show, which was on earlier today.

My favorite song on The Dick Van Dyke Show appears in the “Alan Brady Show Presents” episode (along with another episode, but that’s not the one I saw…this is and it’s appropriately themed). “I Am A Fine Musician” is just…the best!

Caught the Train Behind The Music show, too. Their song “I’m About To Come Alive” just about killed me. “Don’t give up on me, I’m about to come alive…”

Also: The Princess Bride. And A Christmas Story.

Two largely unrelated videos that simply make me happy. One is upbeat. The other is just beautifully written and sung by a favorite artist.

Ian Britt

Alfie Smith

Today’s Two-fer is different from what I submitted to Blinded By Sound. That post includes a cookie — because I like cookies.

General Hospital did it right in the last two episodes. In crafting a story to say goodbye to John Ingle (who was the last actor to play Edward Quartermaine), they figured a way that allows the action of other stories to keep moving forward, yet still pays tribute to Edward, the dysfunctional Quartermaines, and their history with the soap.

Most touching to me was the ending with Edward and Lila.

John Ingle died in September of this year. Anna Lee died in 2004. And yet, for a moment, we had them back together, guiding their odd family and then finally walking off to get back to the business of loving one another.

It broke my heart.

As much as we’re having to endure big changes at GH, I have to say, when they get it right, the GET. IT. RIGHT.

Seen on ESPN’s NASCAR channel. Funny. And yet, really cute.

C’mon. That’s brilliant!

“Steve Irwin Day, celebrated each year on 15 November, is an annual international event honouring the life and legacy of the one and only Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin!”

Yep, that’s what today is about. Celebrating the life and legacy of a man who put his heart, soul, and body into wildlife conservation. Why not don some khaki duds and find a way to volunteer with a wildlife rescue group or at least donate some money to help such a group out. Let’s all join in and honor Steve’s memory in a fitting way!

Just to help us all keep our minds off the last minute political bitching and back-biting, I’m sharing music I love.

First up, is Robert Ward. I love this song!

Then, Eli “Paperboy” Reed, who blew me away a few years ago at Doheny Blues Festival, gets down with Darryl Hall.

Now the ladies take a turn! E.G. Kight – I love this song. It’s not the one I wanted but it’s good. (I wanted “I’m Happy With The One I Got Now“.)

Then we let Susan Tedeschi rock us on out of here and into a better frame of mind!

It was too good NOT to watch the whole thing.

I warned you there’d be photos!

Just a couple for now.