Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Soupmovie.com - Dweebish-Looking (And Acting) Garden Variety Dude Star of Soap-Style Video Series

Man, I've seen everything. For some reason, the producers of "soupmovie.com" decided to select the most dweebish-looking garden variety dude anyone can find on the streets of Oakland for their online soap-video series about a guy who's dating three women. Still, it's an interesting tie in between their website and MySpace. Indeed, it seems like a slick kind of advertisement for MySpace.

Well, here's the video below. But before you look at it, I've got to warn you the guy can't seem to keep his finger out of his earloab. Man, that's grating! Plus, he's got the most ridiculous wise cracks. The only reason to watch is the story's interesting and the chick's moderately hot. Other than that, I give them some major credit for inventiveness. It's actually a bit simpler to do than "Rocketboom" -- which remind me that I forgot to check it out today.

"Tar Baby" - My Lawyer Has Another Take

So, I was complaining about White House Press Secretary Tony Snow's "tar baby" comment, when he said "What's wrong with that? It's not racist. He's talking about the Tar Baby. It's a character." When I reminded him that it's also a term used to poorly refer to someone black, he winced. Oh, and he's black.

Just goes to show that some people look at things differently. I just know that I've never used to the term.

MacBook Obsession!

Wow, it seems everyone that's into computers has some interest in Apple's new MacBook. Just check out MacBook Freak!

American Idol - Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks - Why Does She Get Top Billing?

I'm just interested. I may miss this -- or, maybe not. I wish it were like Rocketboom.com, where I can tune in at any time.

McPhee, Hicks vie for 'American Idol' crown
LYNN ELBER
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Katharine McPhee, the born-for-Broadway babe, and mop-topped manic dancer Taylor Hicks faced the music Wednesday on the season finale of "American Idol."

The choice for TV viewers was between the sultry McPhee, whose trained voice was shown to perfection Tuesday on the standard "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," and the raw sound and footloose moves of Hicks, who made his mark on Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City."

It was Katharine vs. Taylor, McPheever vs. the Soul Patrol fans, with a recording contract and the fifth "Idol" title up for grabs.

Last season's victor, Carrie Underwood of Checotah, Okla., was scheduled to perform.

McPhee, 22, was the first Los Angeles native to make it big on "American Idol," with a shot at becoming the only winner outside the South or Midwest. With a singer-vocal coach mom behind her and a starlet's beauty, McPhee looked and sounded groomed for success.

Hicks, 29, of Birmingham, Ala., whose thatch of prematurely gray hair helped him stand out from the pack, had barely survived the first audition at which judge Simon Cowell warned he didn't have a chance of advancing in the contest.

They weren't as odd a finals pairing as Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken, but close.

McPhee attended the prestigious Boston Conservatory for a semester; Hicks has been a fixture on honky-tonk stages. McPhee skillfully played to the cameras, all calculated seduction; Hicks stomped across the set, wildly enough that Cowell compared him to a drunken dad at a wedding.

The finale closes out a relatively tame contest compared to seasons past, when jammed phone lines, technical glitches and annoyingly untalented singers drew complaints from fans. Last year, judge Paula Abdul denied an ex-competitor's claims of an affair in 2003.

This season's biggest jolt came when rocker Chris Daughtry of McLeansville, N.C., was voted out before the finale. Many observers had predicted he would win the contest after routinely drawing praise from the judges and online support.

Despite the lack of offstage drama, or because of it, this edition of "American Idol" was the most-watched yet. Compared to last year, the show was up 14 percent in total viewers with an average weekly audience of 30.3 million - impressive growth for an established program.

The Tuesday and Wednesday episodes routinely ranked as the top-rated TV shows, drawing 28 million or more viewers. The series also is seen via delayed broadcast or satellite delivery in more than 150 other countries.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Is Lou Dobbs Racist? I Want To Know.

Look, everytime I'm tuned into CNN as I'm working and the time happens to change to where his show comes on, Lou Dobbs can't seem to help basing his show around immigration, boarder patrols and Latino-bashing

If you doubt me, stay tuned to this blog and I'll present transcripts and whatever else I can get on the Lou Dobbs show. I'm sick of this stuff.

Maybe the CNN producers watched the movie "Network" one too many times!

Massive Air Travel Problem On United Airlines and Other Companies

In light of CNN Ali Velshi's comments on air travel, I had to report my experience of last week. I had deplaned in Chicago's O'Hare Airport from Atlanta, where after waiting "stand-by, non-revenue" I did make that flight into the Windy City -- my home town.

But I wasn't going to Chicago, I was travellin back to my current home in Oakland, CA. My plan was to get on the 6:35 out to San Francisco. But I -- and many other -- discovered that flight and about 10 other flights were massively overbooked and because of a cancelled plane that came from Boston on the way to San Francisco, with one stop in Chicago. It never got out of Chicago.

As a results, a group of 30 passengers -- some revenue and others non-revenue standby like me -- ended up getting bumped from flight after flight. I ended up staying overnight at the O'Hare Hilton. (Here's a tip. If you find that you have to stay overnight in Chicago because of a flight overbooking problem, and you're travelling on United, go to their customer service desk near gate B-8 and look for a pink flyer in a plastic stand that presents an "800" number. Call that number to get a voucher code for the O'Hare Hilton. With the pink voucher, which you present at the hotel which itself is right accross the street from Terminal One, you can get a room for about $90 -- a $200 break of the regular rate.)

The next day, I went back to the terminal and saw many of the same people as one Monday. After trying four flights, I finally got on a specially-scheduled plane sent to San Francisco. United had placed this plane -- a 757 -- into service to releave the giant bottleneck that occured.

During this ordeal, I made a new friend, and saw some interesting interactions between United Airlines staffers at gate B-22. There was one woman working her butt off checking people in with no help for some time until two others came over; but they all were working on three -- not one but three -- flights at once.

This is terrible. I now long for the days when the airlines were subsidized and we could trust the airlines. Now, on the eve of what is going to be the largest travel period since after World War Two, we've got a broken system that may just crush under this new, great weight.

Madonna's Controversial "Crucifiction" Opening Concert Act - Video

You've got to see it to believe it, but here's Madonna strapped to a giant, modern cross and singing one of her hits "Live to Tell" to open her Crucifiction Concert Tour show in LA.

The scene, which you can see below, has already upset some religious groups. But you know Madonna planned to do that all the time.



Article:

Madge's 'crucifiction' act upsets Church

Indo-Asian News Service

New York, May 23, 2006

Pop superstar Madonna has once again upset religious leaders when she sang a song while hanging form a giant mirrored cross as video screens showed images of third-world poverty.

According to People.com, the Church of England made a statement saying: "Why would someone with so much talent seem to feel the need to promote herself by offending so many people?"

Madonna performs during her concert at the Forum in Inglewood, California on Sunday, May 21, 2006.
David Muir of the Evangelical Alliance said: "Madonna's use of Christian imagery is an abuse and it is dangerous." He called for her to "drop it from the tour".