The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

Sorry for the fake out. I actually haven’t watched Ego Trip’s Race-O-Rama series airing on VH1 this week yet. But maybe you have. Don’t worry, I’ve been taping it. EW gave it a B. I’ll write more after I actually view it.

Did you hear about how Ep 3 has been leaked out online in pictures? Not that I was particularly enthralled by Ep 2 (I saw it right after turning in my dissertation and slept through everything except the fight between Yoda and Christopher Lee/Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus and the kiss between Anakin and Amidala), but I just don’t want to know like that. I can wait for the entire movie to come out. I was telling my brother I worried that George Lucas would find a way to sue me for viewing the pictures without his permission if I visited the site in question. As Luke of 2 Live Crew found out, George Lucas is highly protective of his Star Wars trademarks. It is his intellectual property after all.

Speaking of my brother, he went to see Paul Westerberg last night in LA. He said the show was 3 hours long and it was great. A full review will follow.

3/5/05: As promised, here is my brother’s review of Paul Westerberg’s Concert on 2/23/05 at Henry Fonda Theater in LA.

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No, it’s Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Gates. From afar, people seem to agree, it looks like major construction is going on in and around the park.

So, because I’m a smug one, when I heard about the Gates and even after seeing footage and pictures of the Gates, I thought, O.T.T., as a good friend likes to say, cheesy to the max and u-g-l-y, you don’t have an alibi.

But, I still had plans to check it out in person. So with my attitude in hand, I went to see it for myself. For part of the time, I was with a friend who was already a full-out fan (I wanted to give her a quick holla – Sondre Lerche, that’s another one you could use).

From the moment I stepped in the park, I was converted. Aaw. Disappointed I couldn’t hold out longer? Let me cut to the chase and say that in the few hours over two days I devoted to experiencing the installation, I went from apathy/disdain to surprise and appreciation to slight annoyance and claustrophobia. So all in all, I think I totally got it. LOL. Did you see Amy Poehler on SNL’s Weekend Update talking about the Gates? “I think I’m the only who gets it.” Their other piece was hilarious as well. It was with Fred Armisen in case you missed it. It was very Conan O’Brien (in a good way).

I liked hearing people’s comments. I walked a few miles total on either end, i.e., across and down and across again from 110th Street and just up from 59th Street. The positive ones are obvious so I’ll share this story from a friend for kicks:

“Everybody I know loves the park but [I know] a woman… who lives on Central Park West and hates it. She says she looks out her window mornings and sees ‘man made $%#*’ taking the place of nature and ’saffron’ of all colors to ruin the greens and browns of the park. She and neighbors are having a Thank God They’re Gone party as soon as they go.”

Well, I must say that overall, I loved it. Darn it. I thought I wouldn’t but they got me. So here is my favorite picture from my strolls:

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So I didn’t see Hotel Rwanda yet. Let me tell you about Nobody Knows. I knew it would be less than uplifting from the get-go and it certainly hit the mark there. My movie companion kept turning to me in the middle of it and saying, “This is soooo sad!” But I liked it. It was very languid and not heavy-handed. The main boy was very good. Apparently he won an award at Cannes. I am temporarily off Japanese food though because while I greatly enjoy it (except for natto, you’ll never convince me otherwise), now I associate it with this movie. How suggestible am I? The food was fine in the movie except that the kids barely had money for it. Maybe it’s guilt. I will get over it soon enough. Anyway, Angel Season 5, otherwise known as the last season, is out on dvd. I haven’t watched it yet. Instead, I did another viewing of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. What can I say, I have fond childhood memories of going to White Castle, and I find the movie highly entertaining.

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Here’s another picture for the road:

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The first time I watched stylenetwork’s “How Do I Look” the makeover candidate was Yo Yo, yes, Yo-Y0 as in let me go into my cassettes and find Make Way for the Motherlode Yo Yo real name Yolanda Whitaker (b. 1971). Then every episode afterwards was of a “regular person.” But it was fascinating to see how she was, what she was up to (mainly motherhood and preparing for a come-back). I noticed on later episodes that Yo Yo had recorded the theme song for the show. That’s what she’s been doing. Of course when a pal asked me specifics about how Yo Yo actually looked after the makeover, all I could recall was, great. At least I remember the essence of the show.

Then more recently, I saw Tami from the Real World as the friend who nominated the “How Do I Look” makeover candidate. I didn’t recognize her until she said she was on this tv show ‘The Real World’ and Monique (the nominee) was in a musical group with her but it fell apart. Sorry, lots of near fragments and run-on sentences here. Anyway, remember Tami? I saw someone else at Wetlands once…oh Becky from the first Real World. She performed with her band. I feel they are almost artifacts of pop culture because they were among the first in that series.

So, Academy Awards are a week away and I still haven’t seen Hotel Rwanda or Closer. Is there anything else major I should be seeing? Oh, I didn’t see any of the foreign picture nominees. The Sea Inside is the only one on my list. I could rent Maria Full of Grace though the last time I had a chance to see it in the theater, I saw Napoleon Dynamite instead (and missed the end credits sequence in an uncharacteristic move). Re: Napoleon Dynamite, there were things I liked about it tho’ I had Paul Mooney’s voice in the back of my head again.

I read the first three Lemony Snicket books but haven’t seen the movie yet and may never. I liked the books but, the movie, eh. Of course I am not the target audience. I’m only mentioning it because it has a couple of nominations.

Alan Cumming was very funny on The Daily Show the other day (I’m still not seeing Son of the Mask though I remain a fan of Spy Kids). John Stewart asked him if he really had a cologne line and AC said it was all true. He said he’s had 40 years of people making fun of his name and now it’s his turn to embrace it especially with the lotion…something about having it all over you (too blue for this site). I was LMAO, as some like to say. And then on Conan he talked about the rumor about how he and Keanu Reeves got married. While I think I usually hear all wacky rumors (such as the one about how M. E. Kerr was really Lemony Snicket – she isn’t, it’s Daniel Handler, in case you didn’t know), I hadn’t heard this one. And he also made me laugh with his comment about “hairbs” i.e. “herbs” and then as an aside said, “it’s not ‘ello, ‘ow are you.” Also, did you know coffee is a nose palate cleanser – just sniffing it, not snorting as Alan Cumming said he almost did by mistake while creating his fragrance.

Also on Conan the same night was They Might Be Giants promoting their ABC’s album (I’ll be back with the link). They were cute as ever. I have one of their kid albums. But while I think I could listen to Don’t Let’s Start and Ana Ng a million and one times, children’s albums these days don’t have the same staying power. But as for TMBG, love them, love them, love them.

So, I keep meaning to go see the Gates. Obviously I haven’t even approached Central Park because I hear they are visible from every angle. I know someone attending a wedding there this weekend. I guess that’s a clever idea although the wedding pictures will have a preponderance of saffron in them. I just had a thought – I think the black and white photos will look really cool with all the hanging fabric against the trees, etc. Here’s another site: http://the-gates-at-central-park.com/.

Okay, enough of this. After all my pre-Oscar talk, I am going to go see that Japanese movie Nobody Knows (Dare mo shiranai) which is not nominated for anything. It’s the only movie I really feel like seeing right now. Maybe I’ll catch Hotel Rwanda next.

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I hope you caught the rerun of the Chappelle Show ep where he conducts an experiment to prove that white people can dance. I saw it last night. I must admit the first time I saw it, I only caught the very end when Dave Chappelle sings the Diff’rent Strokes theme song and then the Facts of Life theme song as John Mayer, ?uestlove and this keyboard player (sorry, I didn’t catch your name ) accompany him. (Added 4/7: I have since watched it again and it seems like his name is John Sanchez. Added 5/7: I have now learned I am a gullible fool. The keyboard player’s name is John and he plays with Nora Jones. He isn’t Latin and his name is not Sanchez. Dave Chappelle just called him “Sanchez” because Dave is funny like that.) Those couple of minutes were burned into my memory as the funniest thing I’ve seen in awhile. I’ve talked about this before in the forum when I was speculating about what Michel Gondry might make of the footage he shot of Dave Chappelle’s Brooklyn block party whenever that was. I don’t remember. Anyway, John Mayer’s appearance on the Chappelle Show made one of my pop culture mates, an ardent hip hopper, ask to borrow some John Mayer. But someone else was the voice of reason (if you view it that way) and said, he really wouldn’t appeal to her outside of the show. But I thought, hey, the power of Chappelle.

The other thing I liked recently was on a Conan O’Brien skit about odd tv shows. One show was called “Toddlers With Too Much Responsibility.” It was hilarious. The babies were sooooooooo cute! I keep showing it people. It doesn’t sound as funny if I describe it. I just hope you see the clip. Maybe it’s on ifilm.com. I’ll check later.

Even more recently on Jay Leno was a continuation of Tom Green’s search for the most interesting people in America. I’ve been catching it every now and then when I tune it to see a specific guest. It has been a nice surprise considering I don’t typically find that show funny or interesting. Anyway, in this particular segment, a snow rescue dog, Abbie, is able to find Tom Green and his camera person who are buried in a simulated avalanche. It is adorable and impressive. Then they show footage of Abbie slip-sliding away down the mountain in an expression of pure joy. It really made me love that dog! Needless to say, Abbie the dog won the segment very deservedly!

So I guess I just felt like talking about tv today. I am looking forward to Season 2 of the Chappelle Show on dvd. Let’s see when it’s due out…May 24, 05. We have to sit tight for bit. Okay, what’s on 2nite? Oh it’s a JJ Abrams double-header Lost and Alias.

Oh, I’m such a doof. I had links to some cool open source ipod software. Okay, I will try to remember to find them.

Laters.

A couple hours later…

As promised:
My bad, this is not open source, it’s just free with an invite to donate if you will:

http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/index.php
http://www.gigadial.com/public/

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Clearly it was all about Green Day and their album American Idiot. The Green Day performance far surpassed anyone else’s in energy, caliber and memorability. They were so adorable!

Jennifer Lopez should’ve ditched her husband and performed Get Right like we all wanted. That song is hot, the video is hot, as Queen Latifah noted. Speaking of the host, she was cute too. Very likeable. Not at all stilted, unfunny or annoying (all pitfalls of hosting award shows).

Aside from Green Day, I would say Gwen Stefani’s legs took the cake. Zowie. She and Eve gave a great performance.

It was very satisfying watching Usher dance. It made me think of Paul Mooney but it’s too involved to explain here. Let me say it has to do with how Usher was like, don’t compare me to Justin Timberlake, and something Paul Mooney said on the Chappelle Show in his “Ask a Black Dude” segment on the dvd of season 1.

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Kanye West had a strong set piece.

It’s always a pleasure to hear Stevie Wonder sing live.

Loretta Lynn gave a very cute speech. As I’ve said, I love that single Van Lear Rose. I wish she and Jack White had performed.

U2 gave a sweet speech too. It’s nice to acknowledge your fans so directly. I did think about their iPod promo and that bit on Best Week Ever about how U2 was trying too hard and that they didn’t need to work so hard for our support.

Oh, I liked seeing Franz Ferdinand. And I’ve already said how I like that song This Love by Maroon 5 (though I wondered how many million times they’ve performed it).

Oh, now I’m remembering Jamie Foxx, Quincy Jones and orchestra and Alicia Keys performing Georgia on My Mind. That was excellent. And I must say I do enjoy John Mayer’s music. His live album is really good.

I think that’s it with my Grammys observations.

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I wanted to say that my new makeover show is What Not to Wear on TLC. I also caught the original on BBC-A. A pop culture colleague who’s familiar with my penchant for makeover shows said I should watch this one and boy, was I won over! It works because the hosts Stacey London and Clinton Kelly are cool and sweet. The “victims” are real people with different backgrounds and body types, hair types, skin types, etc. So you can relate to them. And they really focus on feeling good about yourself and taking care of yourself. It’s a moving experience – not at all superficial or shallow as it could easily be.

I am not abandoning How Do I Look? But I am more likely to make time for What Not To Wear. Let me say a word about the original BBC version. The hosts, two women, are drop-dead gorgeous but are very real and warm. The BBC version also picks real people to makeover. It’s only 30 minutes which is a good length I suppose though I’ve gotten accustomed to the 60-minute TLC American version. Plus, the TLC version takes place in NYC so that’s always fun. In the BBC episode I watched, both model-esque hosts were pregnant but they dressed off the runway like they were wearing second skins.

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To be honest, as I wrap this up, the Grammys are still going on but I can’t imagine anyone or anything trumping Green Day tonight. So I am going to sign off.

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