Sunday, May 31, 2009
You Can Dish It Out But You Can't Take It? Shocker.
I'm not really a fan of Sasha Baron Cohen (I think Borat was stupid) but man, his stunt at the MTV Video Music Awards where he tea-bagged Eminem was PRICELESS. There is a part of me that wonders if it was a stunt but at the same time, Eminem is such a homophobe, I just can't see him having enough of a sense of humor to be in on this. 
Eminem is pathetic, constantly picking fights with people who I'm sure don't respect him. And picking on Jessica Simpson? That might have been relevant four years ago but now? I guess all the drugs finally fried his brain. Regardless, to see someone dish it out and see him react like such a child about it was awesome. I just LOVE the look on his face and that I can always picture his mug with a giant male ass planted right in front of it from now on. Good times indeed.
Posted by soft rock star at 11:26 PM
Cornbread: You Make Life (and Chili) Better
Hello cornbread. I want to thank you for last night. If it wasn't for you, my meal would have certainly been decent but your addition made it spectacular. Thanks to your sweet, corn-based deliciousness, and an assist from your (and my) good friend honey, I was sent to dizzying heights of scrumptiousness. Now cornbread, I have to be honest. Sometimes you don't come through for me the way you did last night. Sometimes you aren't as sweet as I'd like. Other times I find you a bit dry. But last night, you were everything I could have asked for and more. You rocked my world and my tastebuds. I just thought you should know.
Posted by soft rock star at 4:07 PM
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The Gossip: Music For Men Infomercial
This is hilarious. I like The Gossip and their sense of humor with this video is awesome.
I especially like the dog paw and the laughing at the end.
Posted by soft rock star at 9:49 PM
Friday, May 29, 2009
Up
I saw Up tonight and once again, Disney & Pixar have delivered a great film. Much like Wall-E last summer, Up offers humor, thrills, touching moments and spectacular animation. I have to admit that I never have any real excitement to seeing these animated 'family' movies but Wall-E and Up definitely were worth the money. Oddly, I think both are more appropriate for adults than children though. How do I know? Well, when you hear kids whine "I don't like this movie" and "I wanna go home" I think it's a pretty clear indication that perhaps these films offer a little more than the prat falls, fart jokes and dim-witted jokes most 'family' movies offer as entertainment. Kudos to Pixar for not underestimating the public's hunger for well written, well executed movies that pay attention to the slightest detail and make you marvel at how far animation has come.
Posted by soft rock star at 11:39 PM
Thursday, May 28, 2009
That's Classic: "What Have I Done To Deserve This?"
I love me some Pet Shop Boys. For twenty-five years they've made smart, catchy electro-pop that's accessible yet still somehow indie-sounding. Fifty-six singles, ten proper albums; and my iPod is full of them... gems like "Suburbia" "Always On My Mind" (my favorite version of this oft-covered song) "Domino Dancing" "It's Alright" "Home And Dry" "Did You See Me Coming" ... the list goes on. But perhaps the pinnacle of their catalog is their duet with the sultry-voiced Dusty Springfield on "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" The song actually became Springfield's biggest US hit reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and revived interest in her music. The 12" versions of the song are excellent too. Their 1991 Greatest Hits package, Discography: The Complete Singles Collection is a must have as far as I'm concerned.
I don't think the Pet Shop Boys get enough credit for their contribution to pop music, though thankfully it seems more artists are starting to recognize them. Recent songs like Robbie Williams' "We're The Pet Shop Boys" and The Killers and Lady GaGa performing with them on stage recently at the Brit Awards are nice things to see. So here, for your (and my) listening enjoyment is "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" and a couple others just because one just isn't enough :)
What Have I Done To Deserve This? - Pet Shop Boys With Dusty Springfield
Its Alright - Pet Shop Boys
01 - HOME AND DRY - PET SHOP BOYS
Posted by soft rock star at 10:11 PM
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Person Of The Week: Jay Leno
We may not be completely rid of him, but after Friday we can at least enjoy a summer devoid of Jay Leno and his decidely un-funny brand of comedy. For years I've been baffled that Leno consistently beats Letterman in the ratings. Apparently there are just more people who like their late night comedy free of... well, comedy. It's telling that the only funny segment of his show is 'Headlines' (which he and his 'comedy' team don't actually write. ) The humor is simply in the headlines themselves. My favorite part of his show (when I have sporadically watched when Letterman is in reruns) has been when they are headed to commercial break. The audience is applauding and the guest is looking away from Jay (most likely just to avoid continuing to look at a host that can't even fein any sort of authentic interest in what they have just told him. Instead he's been busy trying to think of some seemingly hilarious quip to throw in) and he reaches over and places his hand on their shoulder, as if to have something to tell them, and when they look over he just beams a dorky smile and nods his head. He had nothing to say, he just wanted it to seem like they are friends. It's priceless. It's not enough to make me remotely care that he'll be back in the fall. But after 17 comedy-free years of the Tonight Show, perhaps Johnny doesn't have to roll over in his grave anymore.
Posted by soft rock star at 10:30 PM
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
MMMMM....Caaaaaaaake
Happy Birthday Jared! My birthday wish for you is what I would wish for anyone...that you enjoyed Thai Linguine, Macaroni Salad & General Tao's Chicken (separately and on different days of course) and that at least two of these meals were followed with Delicious Cake!
Posted by soft rock star at 10:34 PM
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day
I saw a story on the news last night that said 1200 WWII vets die every day. Of the 16 million that served only 2 million are left. That's sad. But life goes on I suppose. You just hope the lessons learned aren't forgotten just because those who were there to learn them aren't there to teach them to those that weren't. In honor of all the men and women that have died defending our country and our freedom, thank you.
Posted by soft rock star at 10:20 AM
RöYKSOPP f/ Robyn "The Girl & The Robot" (Video)
Posted by soft rock star at 10:04 AM
Jean Redpath Rules
I gotta admit, I'd never heard of Jean Redpath until about 10 minutes ago when I saw her perform on an episode of Letterman I had on Tivo from Friday. This is just one of the most soothing, touching songs I have ever heard. And if you aren't at all moved by it then you one cynical bastard. Watching her perform it just warms my heart and makes me think of my grandma. Jean seems like the sweetest lady in the world, which is exactly how I felt about Gram. She also reminds me just a bit of Joan Plowright. Anyway, it's a pure, simple and incredibly satisfying performance that I wanted to post here as soon as I heard it.Posted by soft rock star at 12:53 AM
Phoenix Are Fun
I remember the first time I heard Phoenix: driving in my car, listening to Radio K and "If I Ever Feel Better" came on. I've been a fan ever since. Each album since has delivered more air-tight, ridiculously catchy, electro-tinged indie-pop. From "Run Run Run" and "Everything Is Everything (off their 2004 Alphabetical release) to "Consolation Prizes" and "One Time Too Many" (from It's Never Been Like That), you always know a Phoenix song when you hear it. The band has returned with their fourth release, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and they are back in fine form. I've included first single "1901" below as well as the song that first got me into them and one of my personal faves that was never a single. If you already know Phoenix, I hope they're songs you love too. If not, I hope it gets you into their great sound!
If I Ever Feel Better - Phoenix
1901 - Phoenix
One Time Too Many - Phoenix
Posted by soft rock star at 12:31 AM
Saturday, May 23, 2009
I had my first experience with public/self storage today. It's a whole different world, let me tell ya. The woman working there had plenty of stories to tell of people trying live in their units (which is pretty sad and a telling tale of the condition of the economy) as well as a crazy lady whose entire unit is filled with apple boxes full of newspapers. I can only imagine what sorts of things people who aren't quite right in the head store in some of these units. I just hope I don't run into any of them as we pack the rest of our stuff away, haha.
Posted by soft rock star at 7:44 PM
Another baseball post?! Yes, I know. But it's the only thing I can think to blog about for yesterday. Michael Cuddyer hit for the cycle as the Twins beat the Brewers 11-3. Do I need to explain what the cycle is? haha. It's hitting a single, double, triple and homer in the same game. The Twins, who had Jason Kubel hit for a cycle on April 17, are the first team with two cycles in a season since the Expos in 2003 (Brad Wilkerson and Vladimir Guerrero). So that's kinda fun. Now if they could just be above .500!
Posted by soft rock star at 7:28 PM
Thursday, May 21, 2009
It's Not Easy Being A Twins Fan
After watching four spirit-crushing one-run losses against The Yankess over the weekend I needed a break from the Twins. They could have and should have won at least three of those games. What makes it even more frustrating is that it's the Yankees. The Twins just cannot beat them. The Twins are The David - low(ish) budget scrappy team with a deep farm system that cultivates players until they become stars and get scooped up by Goliath (The Yankees) who just throw enormous amounts of money at players, pricing 'David' out of the running to keep their players. They are willing to pay penalties for going over the salary cap every year. It's frustrating to always be the underdog and lose to such an arrogant soul-less team. What makes it all the worse as that for every loss (including two more at the hands of the White Sox) the Twins lost a game in the standings with every one of those losses as Detroit simultaneously went on a six game winning streak. Just the Twins luck. So when I checked the score today and the Twins were up 20-0 in the 7th it raised my spirits just a little. The final score was 20-1. It was just the 13th time in Twins history that they have scored 20 or more runs and tied a record for the White Sox's most lopsided loss in team history. I suppose the Twins have many frustrating losses ahead of them but it's nice to see David actually win now and again... and win decisively.
Posted by soft rock star at 10:06 PM
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Journey, Can I Have A Glass Of Wine To Go With Your Cheese?
No rock band in the 80s brought the cheese quite like Journey. The only thing more dramatic than Steve Perry's histrionic vocals was his rockin' mullet. Over the top was not part of the band's vocabulary. Too much passion wasn't even a consideration. I'd like to submit that if they had been even remotely cool they could be considered the forefathers of emo. One song I've just never been able to get into in their cheese-filled canon is "Don't Stop Believin.'" An iTunes download favorite, you can almost always find it perennially in the Top 100 Most Downloaded songs for it's myriad use in commercials and TV shows, but I could never fully understand why. 
But my personal disinterest in the song came to an end last night when I saw it performed by the cast of the new Fox TV show Glee. Heartfelt, spirited, cute and in keeping with the underdog spirit of the song (just minus Steve Perry ... oh, maybe that's why I liked it now!), I wanted to post the video of it but it wasn't available.
The show itself is also a lot of fun too and I'll be watching more of it, provided it's one more clever, well-written show that doesn't last because people would rather watch crappy reality shows. Jane Lynch alone is worth watching for. Anywho, here's the song. It's really a great take on the original and it's burning up iTunes!
Dont Stop Believing - Glee
Finally, in order to fully back the crown of cheese I have bestowed upon Journey, you really should check out their video for their song "Separate Ways". Ridiculous!!
