Tonight's Rockstar:INXS (Week 8)

Oh, you want my reaction to tonight's great episode of Rockstar:INXS - well, okay...



The bottom three tomorrow will be:

1. Ty
2. JD
3. MiG

The bottom three tomorrow should be:

1. JD
2. Jordis
3. Ty

HOWEVER - I do have to admit that this wasn't my man MiG's best performance. He still provided an extremely solid rock show, but while it's definitely a classic tune, Live and Let Die isn't really a vocalist's song.

I still think that Jordis should be in the bottom three because quite simply - her smiling her way through the most light-weight version of Imagine I have ever heard doesn't make for good television. However, it's apparent that even when she does a terrible job (like last week) she is still going to get the votes, so there's no way she'll sink this week.

Marty really impressed me this week, and to this point, I have disliked almost every performance he has given. Last week, I seriously had to fight the urge to get up and walk away when it came his time to sing. This week, he blew me away - and I'm not even a fan of Pink Floyd. Great job though - quite tasty! I wish he always put that much care into melodies and pitch.

I stand by my earlier statement that Ty gets voted off this week. He doesn't really deserve to, but I think it'll happen.

And as central PA's biggest Queen fan, I have to say that "Sweet Suzie McNeil" did a spectacular job with "Bohemian Rhapsody." I really enjoyed her performance of what may be the greatest rock tune ever written.

Linnen out!

What a mess this is!!

First things first - my buddy Doug, who incidentally sent me that link I used below with the woman falling down through the bubbles, sent me this picture yesterday. Seems that he and some other folks feel that the dude over on the left looks just like me, only with longer hair. You know what? I tend to agree! I would never be reaching for my own butt like that in public though!



Finished the first stage of my landscaping project for my yard. You don't want to read about it here though because it's pretty boring. Looks pretty though.

Read the first chapter of the book A History of Violence which is soon to be released as a major motion picture starring Viggo Mortenson from LOTR. AHOV is actually a graphic novel released by the same imprint of DC Comics that released The Road to Perdition. I'm very impressed with it so far and I'm anxious to see how it plays out. The film will definitely be on my "must see" list.

Tonight's Rockstar: INXS is the weekly concert show. This week, Bohemian Rhapsody will feature prominently so I'm even more excited than usual about the show. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this week Ty will be told that he is just not right for INXS. I originally thought it would be "Sweet Suzie McNeil" but after the great swell in popularity she gained last time, I think that she is good for another week.

Desert Island Discs

My friend Julie and I were talking about this a couple weeks ago, and here's the list I ultimately came up with, and my favorite track on each CD. I know you were wondering....
: )


Queen - Innuendo ("The Show Must Go On")
Depeche Mode - Black Celebration ("Stripped")
The Mission - AurA ("Mesmerised")
Roger Taylor - Electric Fire ("Pressure On")
Styx - Greatest Hits I ("Suite Madam Blue")
The Cure - Disintegration ("The Same Deep Water As You")
Queen - A Day At The Races ("Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together")
Depeche Mode - Greatest Hits 86-98 ("Never Let Me Down Again")
David Bowie - Station To Station ("Station to Station")
The Beatles - #1 ("We Can Work It Out")

Post your top ten if you get a chance. If not, have a good weekend! Linnen out!!

New Batman comic makes my stomach sick!

Ugh. The latest issue of Batman is beyond horrible!

In an attempt to clean up the wreckage of the horribleness that was the "War Games" crossover, the creative team has written one of Batman's oldest and most loyal allies completely out of character. And when I say "completely" I mean "COMPLETELY!"

I tolerate an awful lot of crap due to my love of all things Batman, but this is just terrible. I can't believe both the writer and the editor got together and thought this was appropriate. The conclusion of this issue seriously made me sick to my stomach.

Disgusting.

Already missed a day....weak!

Hey folks! I missed posting yesterday, which I'm sure upset me more than it did you. You see, I didn't start this blog just to annoy my friends with my insipid thoughts (hard to believe, I know!) I actually started it because I read something that I wrote recently and it was TERRIBLE!! I changed verb tense halfway through a paragraph; I had some unclear pronoun references; It was pretty pathetic. And the thing is that I used to be a pretty good writer - not very ambitious, but good. I even taught writing in high school for a couple years before moving to my current job.

I figured the best way to improve would be to start writing again on a regular basis - hence the blog. As a little bonus, I hope that if you occasionally visit the site, there will be something that interests you. Through it all, I always have YOUR best interests at heart.

For instance, check out this young lady. Pretty crazy! Just click and hold your mouse over her and you can kinda control how she falls. It's probably sexist, but I thought it was neat.

Also, I can't recommend this highly enough. Drink up!!

Just because I like you all so much...

...here's a link to hear some of the first single from Andy Bell's (erasure) debut solo CD. It sounds really good to me - I'd probably be acting like a dancing fool if I wasn't so tired. See what you think....

http://193.128.49.29/andybell.com/news_04.html

Got home late...45 minutes to Rockstar: INXS

Yes, it's been a long day as I'm just getting in. My brain is wiped from learning SQL for 8 hours and we are on downtime for "Rockstar: INXS" which is like crack to me.

Regardless, I had to log on to share something with you, my dear friends (who have yet to post a comment here to let me know that they have stopped by! C'mon chums, don't you know this blog is now the main internet site for all things Linnen???)

When the hell did THIS happen to CarrotTop??? He could kick my ass!!

I Don't Want To Go On The Cart!!

Ventured forth on very little sleep this weekend to NYC to see the hilarously wonderful "Monty Python's Spamalot." Currently starring David Hyde Pierce and Tim Curry, the show features delightful songs, an insanely talented cast, and just as many laughs as the movie it was based upon.

How exciting it was to see many of the skits I have been quoting since college acted out before my eyes! Unless you are a fan of Monty Python, you can't imagine the excitement that comes with hearing sentences like:

1. I don't want to go on the cart!
2. I feel...happy!
3. I told them we've already got one!
4. Old Woman!
5. There are some who call me...Tim?
6. We want...a shrubbery!

There are dozens more I could list, but I guess that's enough.

One of the best things about the show is that they take most of the highlights from the film, and a few other classic M.P. songs, and they tie everything together with genuinely funny new material.

If you recall, in the film, the Grail is never found as the police show up and arrest everyone. In the play, there is a "proper" ending, and it is both fitting and hysterical. Eric Idle really did a wonderful and respectful job with his "adaptation." Kudos to him!!

I also enjoyed hanging out after the show and seeing David Hyde Pierce and Sara Ramirez come out to sign autographs. While I didn't get lucky enough to have anything signed, it was still exciting to be so close to both a Tony Award Winner and Dr. Niles Crane. : )

What a great way to spend a weekend! I'd love to do it again!

"I feel happy... I feel happy. (WHOP!)"

Me and Reality TV - Never Tear Us Apart!

You know, I used to pride myself on the fact that I had never watched a "reality" show on TV. Survivor - nope, never seen it. American Idol - pass! Anna Nicole Smith - somehow missed it. However, over the past six weeks, I have become completely and wholeheartedly addicted to "Rockstar: INXS." I mean SERIOUSLY addicted!

I originally taped the first episode so I could scan through it to see Ty Taylor sing. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform in the Las Vegas "We Will Rock You" show twice last January, and he was fantastic! So anyway, I was going to watch the first so, but I deemed it "quite insipid" and threw in a tape. I said "I'll scan through it later and just watch Ty."

In the meantime, I discovered that MiG Ayesa, another contestant, was the lead in the London version of "WWRY", so I figured that I would have to check him out too. Because of this, I sat down and watched an entire episode. Two nights later, I was hooked!
I have gone from rolling my eyes to people who talk about Survivor to actually penning emails with content like:

I agree with you about Ty. He is very talented, but his talent does not lend itself to fronting a rock band. He is GREAT in a live theatre role. When I saw him in WWRY, I left the theatre thinking he was the second best performer in the whole show. The more I see of him on TV though, the less I think he is appropriate for INXS. Last night, he sang well, but I hated what he did to the arrangement of "Maggie May."

JD deserves to be in the bottom 3 after his performance last night - I think that performance-wise he was the worst of the group. However, his fans will keep him out of the bottom 3. JD was the reverse of Ty - he didn't sing well, but his arrangement of the song was fine.

I actually thought Jessica did a pretty good job once she got going, but she is cursed with three things:

1. got off to a weak start (but recovered nicely.)
2. Kind of a light-weight song to begin with ("Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia)
3. People just don't seem to like her.

I wasn't too impressed with Marty - he just turned the song into the same style song that he always sings and he did what he always does (shifty-eyes, acts nervous, grops his own hair, etc...). I don't see the appeal. He seems so limited to me - but I seem to be in the minority. I think he could have done a terrible job singing it and still gotten by simply on the novelty of an angsty version of Britany Spears.

Anyway, I'm offering no excuses and I don't really regret getting into the show. I just think it is odd how for years I ignored this realty-trend, but then so fully embraced it. I have no intention to continue with the genre when this show ends - there are no other shows which have caught my interest. However, if Paul McCartney decides that reality TV might be a good way to reform the Beatles, I'll definitely check it out.

What's the story with Chicken Fries?

Last night, I went to Burger King to try these new-fangled "chicken fries." Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in them. I'm not sure why, but I was expecting them to be some sort of revolutionary new treat. Thinking back, I am not sure why I was looking at Burger King of all places to revolutionize chicken. Seems dumb.

Flash to this morning: Imagine my surprise to read in today's local newspaper that the fast-food gourmet gave an incredibly enthusiastic "thumbs up" to these poultry products! Actually, it seemed that the critic was very impressed with the chicken fries packaging, which includes a lid which holds a cup of dipping sauce for you. I didn't utilize this miracle of modern science because I wasn't driving while I ate. I get a sense from reading the article that his love of the built-in cup holder is causing him to be overly complimentary to the chicken itself - more so than he intends or realizes. Of course, this may be me inferring something that I shouldn't.

I wanted to write something about the TV show I watched last night, but I ran out of time over lunch. I'll be sure to get to it this week though because this particular show has become my addiction over the past few weeks.

Hmm...let's see if I can do this.

Blog. Sweet! Let's jump right into it!

Hey - the Adversary's identity is revealed in this month's issue of Fables! I have a feeling that there is going to be more to it than what we have been told so far - if there isn't, then my guess from the very beginning was correct (and that never happens!)

As always, this is a well-written beautifully illustrated piece of graphic storytelling! This book is consistently spectacular, and yet I'm never excited about it until I finish reading it. It constantly ends up tucked comfortably in the middle of my weekly stack while books must more poorly written but with flashier covers find their way to the top. Not sure why that happens. I guess I get mesmerized by the pretty colors.....

Also picked up Alan Moore's Top Ten: The Forty-Niners hardcover. Mr. Moore is one of the few writers who warrants the deluxe DC hardcover format, and without a doubt, the original Top Ten mini-series was one of the best stories published in the last decade. This book deals with both the origins of Neopolis and the Neopolis Police force. Most of the characters from the original series aren't around, but there are a few familiar faces (the Captain from the mini-series is a very young Jet Lad here for instance.) Due to the shorter length, there aren't as many storylines to be found this time around, but over the course of the 100 (or so pages), we encounter Vampires, Superheroes, a time machine, Nazis, and romance. Not too shabby!
Coupling the fantastic artwork with Mr. Moore's always-exceptional writing, I couldn't recommend this book more highly.

Ed Brubaker continues to make me interested in Captain America, a book I have never before given a second thought. He is weaving a tale that ties military adventure with super heroics, betrayal, intrigue, and murder. I think that over the course of my almost 25 years of reading comics, I may have purchased 6 issues of this book before this, now suddenly I can't stop wondering if Cap's old partner Bucky is in fact back from the dead and working for the enemy! It's incredible how good Brubaker is, but by now it's not surprising. I have followed him on Batman, Detective Comics, Authority, Sleeper, and DeadEnders (amongst others) and he has NEVER disappointed.

Batman is acting out of character in this new four issue crossover "War Crimes", but I guess it could be said that he has been acting out of character for many, many years now. It was never as blatant as him altering the scene of a crime like he did last week. I'm trying to think of the last time I really felt that Batman was acting like Batman and not some anti-social masochist, but I'm not sure if I can put my finger on it right now (I don't' have my books in front of me.) It can't be all way back to pre-Knightfall storylines, can it?

John Byrne's Doom Patrol is ending with issue 18, a fact that was brought to light this week with the new DC solicitations. Of course, all over the web, the Byrne-Bashers are celebrating and the Byrne-fans are blaming the current market for the book's failure. I don't know whose fault it is - maybe it's Byrne's - who knows? All I know is that I enjoyed the book and I will miss it. I hadn't followed John Byrne for many, many years - not since the end of his first year on Superman in the mid-1980s; however, I tried this out and enjoyed it. I think maybe I like him on team books because it put me in mind of his Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight work. It was different than most everything else in the market right now - had kind of a retro-feel to it - and it was an enjoyable change of pace from all the gloom that is creeping back into the industry. I'm sorry to see it go.

Wanted to get into the new Defenders book by the laugh-out-loud funny team who brought us Formerly Known as the Justice League, but my store sold out and I never got my hands on issue #1. I guess I'm waiting for the trade on this one.