Blogger Bash Recap

If you are looking for the F.U. Friday, it's the next post down.

So last night I went to a visitation for a few friends whose mother died this week. It was nice and I had a good time with everyone despite the reason we were there. She raised three wonderful children. Of course I was called back to the office halfway through it and had to race back.
I left after 7 and headed to the Deli for the blogger bash. I walk in and don’t see anyone I know. Then I realized that I didn’t know these people anyway. Fortunately Serrabee recognizes me and calls out to me. I met Paul Ryburn, Serrabee (obviously), Kat (I already knew), Pulp Faction Rachel, Rachelandthecity Rachel, John Sparks, and a bunch of other folks. Paul and/or Serrabee were taking names and blog addresses, but I don’t know if they made the complete list. I know it’s not on Paul’s blog yet.
I sat in the very middle of the table (Serrabee offered me the head of the table when I got there, but I told her it wasn’t my show). I was between Pulp Faction Rachel and Paul. I’m really glad I didn’t get the head of the table because those “Drinking Liberally” people showed up and crashed for a little while…and started talking politics. I think a few people warned me to not get into that conversation. I don’t know if they know my political beliefs or not, but they did know my warnings about becoming belligerent and offensive if I got involved in political talk. I think a few folks agreed with me and didn’t want it to get political either. I forget who, but someone said that at the last blogger bash there was a large contingency of political folks and only a few social bloggers. Apparently people just argued back and forth and no one ever listened to anything the other folks were saying. And you wonder why I don’t like talking politics?
I think the highlight of the night was the “hipster” dude that Rachel knew. I’m slowly beginning to understand what the hell a “hipster” is and beginning to appreciate the fact that I won’t ever be one. If I understand it correctly, a hipster is an individual who does things (i.e. dresses a certain way, listens to a certain type of music) for shock value. What’s my proof? This guy was proud of his haircut. I guess I’m the demographic he’s trying to shock. I mean do you actually get so much satisfaction from the shock value that you will leave the house looking like this? If I ever show up anywhere looking like this (except for a Halloween party), you all have my permission to kick the living shit out of me.

BTW that’s Rachelandthecity with him. Yes, he has a mullet. Yes, it is business in the front and party in the rear. And yes, he has lines shaved in the side. If he's going for shock value, he's definitely got it. If he's going for some strange ass, I doubt he'll get it. Anyway, I’ll be back Sunday. This time I’ll bring plenty of cash. They wouldn’t let us have separate tabs. And that was fun with people coming and going. It was really fun when I went to the ATM and it wouldn’t work. Now I owe Serrabee for what I ate and drank (the muffaleta at the Deli is not good by the way).
Have a good one and don’t get none on ya

F.U. Friday - Thunderclouds

This week's F.U. goes out to those thunderclouds that pass over while making noise, but never rain. It's hot! I want some rain!!!

Fuck You!!! Quit teasing us and rain!!!

Edit (Friday 7AM): So that was the original post I typed last night. I wake up this morning and it's raining. Spooky. Very spooky.

Rockstar Elimination Recap 8/9/06

Are you looking for the HNT? Next Post down.

This is my recap of last night's Rockstar:Supernova (aka Rockstar:Tommy Lee's Unit).
I don’t really have much to say about this elimination show except WOW! There were several surprises:
- two encores instead of one
- the survivors will go with Supernova to Vegas after the show
- and…well I’ll save that one until the end

So they started the show with a clip from back at the mansion. And what happened? The Italian couldn’t stay bottled up inside of Jill for too long. She started some shit. She called all the girls out for not wanting to play with Gilby. When one of them threw it back in her face, she said that she already had. Me-ow! Cat Fight!!!
Well not really. It was more subdued than a verbal cat fight, but you could tell Jill was ready to let the claws fly. I think the others realized that she wasn’t up to their level and just let her go. Of course the guys (I think it was Ryan and Toby) just stood there stunned.
After that they talked for a second back at the show. Blah blah blah. It was boring and I was losing interest until Supernova announced that last night’s survivors would board a private jet to Vegas after the show to party at the Hard Rock Casino/Hotel with the band. Now that’s cool.
Then they said there would be two encores. My initial guess was Lukas and Magni. And in fact Lukas Rossi was first. He came back out to do Radiohead’s “Creep.” The only difference was he had the fishnet gloves which just looked weird. What was up with that?
They went to commercial (Victoria’s Secret Heidi Klum again!!!) and came back. Magni was asked to come sing Live’s “Dolphins Cry” but this time with the house band. I loved it. It was just as good as the first performance.
After that Brook Burke came back out to announce the rockers who were in the bottom three at some point in the night. By the way, did anyone else notice how hot her cleavage was? Yummy!
Sorry I had to remember that for a second. So who were the people in danger?
Jill Gioia
Josh Logan (the crowd was surprised)
Zayra Alvarez
Ryan Star (the crowd was REALLY surprised)
Patrice Pike
Brook started saying who ended up in the bottom three: “Zayra… … … (long ass pause as Zayra started to walk to the stage), you’re safe this week.” WTF!!! How could this weirdo be safe? That makes no sense. I am officially going to say that the voters collectively decided that if Supernova was going to be stupid and not vote her off they’d quit putting her in the bottom three to get rid of the other dead weight.
So who ended up being the first rocker? Jill. She sang “RESPECT” by Aretha Franklin. And you know what she played her banshee roll from the first lyric on. Way to go Jill! You know how much I love your shrieking: about as much as I love a lobotomy. I think at that point I was praying for them to kick her off.
Next up was Josh. He did Bad Company’s “Shooting Star.” Tommy had said he might be in the bottom three for having played his guitar which cut down on his stage presence. And then Josh played his guitar again. Wow. Not too smart. But still a good performance.
The final rocker was Ryan Star. I guess the world didn’t really like his eyes painted the previous night. He rearranged Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy The Silence” to make it current and harder. The only bad part of the performance was when he took off his sweatshirt in the middle. It was kinda funny because he actually struggled singing and taking it off. But other than that it was a great job.
Then it was time for the hatchet to fall. Supernova told Ryan that he was safe. Then they cut BOTH JOSH AND JILL!!! Wow! I got what I wanted and then some. Jill obviously didn’t have the talent or the voice for the job (although she had the power to belt out loud voices she didn’t have the touch needed to actually hit notes). Josh obviously was more of a soul singer (self-proclaimed) than a harder rocker that the job needs.
So I was shocked by the double elimination, but it’s going to lead to more competition among the remaining rockers I think just because no one is safe now.

Have a good one and don’t get none on ya.

HNT - Where I'd Rather Be

The theme for this week's HNT is where I'd rather be: two fisting in the lake. And for my Texas buddy: yes, that is a can of Lone Star beer I'm drinking.
Instead of being there, I'm stuck at work just like the rest of the world.

Happy HNT yall

Social Calendar

So I was looking through the thousands of bulletins on myspace and thought I’d share a few cool things coming up. Then I realized that I hadn’t put up a social events calendar recently. Here you go:

Wednesday 8/9/06
At the HiTone: Four Square, The United, and DJ Court $5 9PM (thanks for the heads up Shawna).
At the Flying Saucer (downtown I guess), the Roxanne Lemon Band at 8:30PM. You can’t ever go wrong with a little of Foxy Roxy.

Thursday 8/10/06 (HNT!!)
Blogger Bash at the Young Ave Deli at 7PM (I’ll be a little late)

Friday 8/11/06 (F.U. Friday)
SABAFEST!!! Or if you want to be a douchebag and not help out a worthy cause, the Nick Pags Trio is playing at Garcia Wells in Overton Square. Go support this guy sometime. But be at Sabafest first.

Sunday 8/13/06
PR said something about being at SleepOut Louie’s at 11 on his blog. Dunno.
Blogger Bash 7PM at the Young Ave Deli
Roxanne Lemon at Newbys 9PM

Monday 8/14/06
Roxanne Lemon plays at Margarita Mondays at Café Ole in Cooper/Young

Put these future events on your calendar:
8/26/06 The Phoenix Club of Memphis hosts its Annual Speakeasy Martini & Cigar Celebrity Mixer (fundraiser benefiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis). If you would like tickets, email me at memphisphilip (at) hotmail (dot) com.

9/2/06 Lord T & Eloise at the HiTone. Their first show ever. Be there ya bastards! Wanna know what they do?? It’s called ‘aristocrunk’. Check it out, bitches!


9/3/06 My football season kicks off as Your Memphis State no talent assclown Tigers come to Oxford to take on My Ole Miss Rebels, bitch. It’s going to be one hell of a party at the tent. Invite only bitches.

Rockstar:Supernova Recap 8/8/06

The show started with the usual intro: what’s happened in the last week? Magni’s wife and son came to visit (and were there for the performance). Dilana found the songs. She was the only one who wanted the one with Gilby on guitar. Yada yada yada...
After the recap, Dave Navarro chastised the rockers for not fighting for the chance to sing with Gilby. I mean, he verbally spanked them all for being stupid. He said “if it were up to me, Dilana would win it right now.” Bold statement.
And that was actually a nice lead into the first performance: Dilana Smith singing The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” I have to say the one thing I don’t like about this show (hey Mr. Producer, Mark Burnett! Pay attention here!) is how they’ll take a great song like this which is normally eight and half minutes long and cut it down to a two or three minute version. The beauty of longer songs is how much is in there. I understand it’s an audition, but come on. That being said, Dilana killed it. I like the way her voice was a nice contrast to how Roger Daltry normally sings it. They had a camera on the end of Gilby’s guitar which made for a few great shots of the performance. They really worked well together. I thought it was a great performance. It wasn’t her best, but that’s only because it’s going to be really hard to outdo her earlier performances of “Ring of Fire” and “Lithium.” After her performance Dave said “as if it didn’t suck to follow Dilana before, now you have to follow Dilana with Gilby Clarke.” Gilby said “Dilana, I’m sure everybody knows this, but you’re a star. And after that, I have no doubt a woman can front our band.” Wow. I wonder if she’s going to drop the ball over the next few weeks or if she’s going to keep it up.
Next up was Jill Gioia singing Tracy Bonham’s “Mother Mother.” I have one question for Supernova (aka ‘Tommy Lee’s Unit’): when are you going to vote her off? She tried to change it up by sitting at the beginning. I was actually enjoying the first half because she had toned down her banshee shrieking, but sure enough she belted out one loud shriek at one of the later choruses. I’m begging you Jason and Gilby. Gag Tommy Lee so he can’t vote tonight and kick her off. We know he’s the one keeping her, because he loves the ladies. The only good thing she did was finish her performance in the middle of the crowd. I literally spent the entire time wondering when she would be kicked out. Dave said he didn’t want to say anything bad, because he felt like he was watching Carmella Soprano on stage. Maybe that’s why she’s lasted so long. The mafia won’t let them kick her off.

Then we cut to commercials, now I normally don’t talk about the commercials because I fast forward through them, but I had to go back and watch the Victoria’s Secret bra commercial with Heidi Klum. Wow, she is still hot as ever. Excuse me, I need a minute.
And I’m back. BTW there was a Verizon Wireless commercial for the new ‘Chocolate’ by LG phone. Can anyone tell me what that song was? I want it. It sounded real badass.

And back to the show. Brook Burke said “and somewhere in this auditorium is Ryan Star.” Next thing you know, there is a camera on a hooded man in the audience walking and singing. Obviously it was Ryan. Did anyone else think that the stuff on top of his head looked like black feathers from a Sesame Street character’s head? I did, but then I looked again and I thought only of Garth Brooks’ fatass rocker persona from back in the 90s: Chris Gaines. So anyway, we have a hooded muppet in all black walking to the stage singing. He gets on stage and at the chorus rips off the hood to show that he’s actually shaved his face! Kidding. He had painted the area around his eyes black. It looked like a painted on Zorro’s mask, which is kinda cool because he was singing The Rolling Stone’s “Painted Black.” And you know what? He rocked it! At the end of the performance he leaned over and kissed some chick in the audience. All the judges were blown away. Dave said “unbelievable,” and “Ryan Star has just shown us that he is a contender.” And I’ll be honest, throughout the last few weeks, he’s gotten better and better with each performance. Jason Newstead said he hoped it was just the tip of the iceberg.
Another one of my favorites was up next: Storm M-Fing Large. She did Queen’s “We Are The Champions.” Her vocals were unbelievable. She was not over acting. She’s letting her vocals and the song itself do the ‘talking.’ She really showed her vocal range on that song. I also liked the way she changed the arrangement a little. All the judges like her performance, but Tommy said that he hoped she would still “go bananas.” Storm said “ok, I’ll spank the crap outta you.” Nice.
Next up was Zayra Alvarez singing Mott The Hoople/David Bowie’s “All The Young Dudes” with Magni on acoustic guitar. As usual her outfit was more interesting than her actual performance. She had a gold body suit that started down by her feet and stopped just above her breasts. She had dark, shiny elevator shoes with stiletto heels. And of course, she had a black top hat. It’s like she’s trying to be David Bowie in this costume, BUT I really want to call her the Anti-Bowie. Why? Because I can’t understand any of her lyrics, and I know the song! Bowie is always crisp and easy to understand. Zayra is singing with rocks on her brain and marbles in her mouth. So guess what, I didn’t like her performance. Dave said “if this show was called Rockstar:Planet Pluto, you would win by a landslide,” and the crazy bitch took that as a compliment! Gilby said she has great showmanship, but she needs to watch the keys, because she was flat. Not where I’m looking Gilby. Oh, you mean her vocals?
Josh Logan jumped on stage next to sing Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song.” He’s about to start and “The Unit” stops Josh so he can come play drums. Surprise! Josh honestly looked like he thought it was a joke. I thought it was a perfect song for his voice, and he didn’t let the fact that Tommy Lee was on drums inflate or deflate his performance. It felt natural watching that. Dave said it was a good performance, but asked at this stage is ‘good’ enough? Gilby said it was a great job. I think he should be safe from elimination.
Magni came up to sing Live’s “Dolphins Cry.” It him alone on stage with a guitar. And they put a spotlight on his wife and child in the audience too. It was actually really cool. He’s about to start playing, and the crowd is screaming. He hushes them and then rocks the song. I was honestly too mesmerized by the performance to write any notes. It was awesome. Gilby said “you have inspired everybody.” I think having his family there really charged up his batteries for this performance.
Patrice Pike came up next to sing John Lennon’s “Instant Karma.” I have to say that I like her, but I don’t think she has the right voice to stay in this much longer. She’s really starting to lose me. She was playing guitar during the performance and singing at the mike stand. Towards the end of the song, she grabbed the mike stand and walked to the end of the stage. That was actually kinda cool. In the end, she didn’t get much applause from the audience. And I have to say that when I compare her vocals to the competition she really doesn’t have much of a chance.
Lukas Rossi came out to sing Radiohead’s “Creep.” I’ve read the entertainment weekly online recap of this show and they keep referring to him as the Lemur King from ‘Madagascar.’ You know what I kinda see it. My initial reaction to his performance was thinking that he’s really into this song, and it doesn’t feel fake. It was a great performance. His body actually shook while he sang the song. He was really intense. And his vocals were on. It proved my skepticism wrong. The judges loved it, especially Jason who’s been trying to get him to actually sing for weeks now.
Toby Rand sang The Talking Head’s “Burning Down The House.” I thought that he looked great and natural singing that song. It sounded great too. Before the last verse, Zayra (now in an all black outfit obviously hiding her gold thing) brought out a megaphone with an Australian flag on it. Toby sang a verse through the megaphone and then sang on the mike for the last bit. At the end of the song he used the siren option on the megaphone into the mike. That was awesome, but Dave said he loved the performance until the megaphone just because he doesn’t like props. Jason contrasted that saying that he did like it and that he enjoys them as long as it doesn’t happen all the time. At the end Jason gave Toby a standing applause.
The initial bottom three were Jill, Zayra, and Patrice.

Here are my picks for the bottom three:
Jill
Zayra
Patrice

If it’s someone other than that, I will be really surprised. Those were the weakest performances.

Ok, I’m done now. Have a good one and remember “camo thongs are so you don’t see her coming!”

Rockstar Tuesday 8/8/06 Spoiler

Ok, I watched the internet show at rockstar.msn.com and here's a spoiler about what a few of your favorite rockers will be singing. They didn't show all the songs or say who got what, but this is what I do know:

Available songs
Mott the Hoople - "All The Young Dudes" (originally written by David Bowie)
This is a classic song from the 70s back in the androgenous (sp?) rocker era. You know when you couldn't tell if Bowie was trying to be a girl or boy.

Radiohead - "Creep"
Great ballad from this band back in the mid to late 90s. If you don't know this song, slap yourself for me.

John Lennon - "Instant Karma"
Ok, let me take that last comment about slapping yourself if you don't know "Creep" and apply it to this song instead.

The Who - "Won't Get Fooled Again" ...with Gilby Clarke on guitar
A classic. If you don't know this, go out and buy The Who's Greatest Hits album right now. Then drive to Memphis. We'll meet at a bar. I'll buy you a beer while we listen to it. Once the song is over, I'll slap the taste out of your mouth for not knowing that damn song.

So who got what? Well, Dilana found the songs and after looking through them, brought them to the rest of the group. The only real picking they showed was Dilana saying she wanted "Won't Get Fooled Again" and no one else going for it. I like how Ryan Star said that this is a show full of great singers and not great strategists. I agree. He went on to say that if Dilana kills this performance she can run away with the show and win it all. Guess what, Dilana got it.

Dilana sat outside smoking a cigarette with Lukas Rossi. She convinced Lukas to sing the ballad "Creep":
"They (Supernova, I mean 'Tommy Lee's Unit') wanted to hear you with a ballad. You can make it yours, man." They went back inside and Lukas took it. They later showed a few clips of him practicing. You can hear his voice struggling over and over. That may be risky. Let's hope he can bring it.

Patrice Pike got "Instant Karma". Let's hope she does well and doesn't end up in the bottom three again.

That's all I've got for now. I'm going to head to the gym. If I don't get to the recap after the show tonight, I'll do it in the morning.

Have a good one and remember:
"Camo thongs are so you don't see her coming"
Thanks Kevin. That's a great line.

Theta at Vandy confirmation / Queen of Fiesta (San Antonio)

Ok, so I don't really like to repost things (previous post) BUT it has been confirmed by multiple sources that this is in fact the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority chapter at Vanderbilt.
How was it confirmed? Well there was one alumnus (or is it alumnae?) of this chapter from the 90s who said "it's not their finest hour."
I had another friend from college who emailed me today with this story. I have edited a few bits ONLY to save her identity and the identity of the girl she singles out.

...I was going through today and came to the one (email) he sent of your blog with the Theta pic from Vandy. You are never going to believe how random this is...ok

we have this thing in SA where one girl gets voted to be the queen of fiesta...(edit) anyway its like this big deal with older people and parents is like a 110 yr tradition, supposed to be very high honor and all that BS, you represent the city for a year ...(edit)... anyways this years queen was (name deleted) and she went to Vandy and was a theta. Anywys, about 2 weeks ago someone went around to all the mebers of the society club that votes doors and posted this pic HUGE and worte on top "CAN YOU FIND YOUR QUEEN" she is dead center in middle....i thought it was all a myth until I saw your pic....isnt that random???? so damn funny....kinda mean someone did that ...(edit)...sorry for the rambling on, just could not believe it when i clicked on your link and saw this infamous pic i have heard so much about but never seen....

So, yall have a chance to finally see the San Antonio Queen of the Fiesta. Supposedly she's in the center area with blonde hair and not much cleavage.

Arkansas's New Gift

The great state of Arkansas has brought us many wonderful things throughout history:
-Prime duck hunting land
-Some of the best rice in the world
-Jim Dandy
-Bill Clinton ("I feel your pain...while I feel your wife's thigh")
-Charly ("I'm Asian, I'm hot, but I don't know Michelle Wie so stop asking!")
Arkansas has also brought us some terrible things throughout history:
-Hillary Clinton

But the great state of Arkansas has finally redeemed itself and will now go down in the history books as the inspiration to the single greatest invention ever to be brought before mankind. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...

Camo Prom Wear!!!

I'll tell you what boy, she is hawt! I want her phone number. Yum Yum! I bet she's got a bikini that matches that. Hmm...if you wear a camoflauge thong does that mean it's see-thru?

And does anyone know where I can get some yellow boots like he has? I need some of those.

Weekend Recap

Well the blogosphere is boring today. It just seems like no one is doing anything fun. They just talk and talk. Give me a story people! Paul at least put up pics from an evening of drinking. He talked about some dude named Ish who was obnoxiously drunk. That was interesting. Why don’t other people understand that? We want to read interesting things. I don’t care about you cleaning your A/C ducts. You are boring us. And if you are boring, you suck. End of story.

Ok, now that I’m done with that, how are you doing? I spent most of my weekend trying not to be the main entertainment for a 7 year old. Yeah, my cousin was back at the lake with us this weekend. I had a good time, but I really don’t like spending my precious free time entertaining a 7 year old.
So Friday after work, the brother and I left the office and headed to Arkansas. Before we were out of the city we saw this minivan. It had spinners on the driver's side but not on the passenger. The passenger side only had regular hubcaps (maybe he's waiting for this month's welfare check to get here). Check out the pic. I think we need a press conference to tell this guy how much of a pimp he is.

We picked up beer and booze at Porter’s Liquor in Augusta, AR. That’s the last stop for beer on the way there. He got a 4 pack of San Salvador’s premixed margaritas (or ‘road pops’ as we call them). I saw that they had a new mango flavored style. I love mangos. I love margaritas. How could this go wrong? It was a weird kinda sweet. Too much of a “fru-fru chick drink” for me. It got better the more I drank, but I just didn’t really like it enough to get it another time. Next time, I stick with the tried and true regular margarita. We got to the house and started grilling hot dogs and burgers. We stayed up drinking and watching the Three Stooges.
Saturday we went on the water, tubed, and then went in to hang out and start dinner. We had steak, grilled bbq chicken, twice baked potatoes, fried green tomatoes with a remoulade sauce, tomatoes with basil & gorgonzola cheese, and fresh watermelon. We had several bottles of wine among everyone. After everyone went to bed, Dad, the brother, and I stayed up to watch Casablanca. Always a great movie.
Sunday, the grandparents and cousin left early. I decided to come home earlier rather than around sunset. I’m glad I did, because Dr. JR called me to invite over to hang out by the pool at his place and eat some fish. Hmm…fish…pool…beer? I’ll be there. I headed over to find two dogs, one doctor, and no one else. I thought it was going to be a party, but it turned out to be just us, and another guy with his wife and daughter. We had pan seared grouper with jerk sauce in fish tacos and a grilled grouper. It was too damn good. So after plenty of fish and a 6 pack of Bud Light. I headed home.

So that was the weekend. Remember there are a few functions coming up this week and weekend to check out:
For bloggers, you have the blogger bash Thursday and Sunday at the Young Ave Deli at 7.

For everyone there is the Sabafest party/fundraiser benefitting St. Jude.

Have a good one and don't get none on ya.

Songs on the Playlist:
The Allman Brothers Band – Revival
The Allman Brothers Band – Wasted Words
The Allman Brothers Band – Blue Sky
The Allman Brothers Band – One Way Out
The Cars – You’re All I’ve Got Tonight
The Allman Brothers Band – Melissa
The Who – Eminence Front
The Cars – Bye Bye Love
The Allman Brothers Band – Blue Sky

F.U. FRIDAY

I'm leaving from the office today to go to the lake for the weekend. It's going to be a family weekend (except for my sister who wants to stay in Memphis to see her friends, whatever). Anywho, I'm leaving at 4:30. That's t-minus 7 hours and 55 minutes from when this pic was taken. So my F.U. this week is to time.F.U. TIME! AND SPEED UP, BI-OTCH!

Happy F.U. Friday to all you mother effers out there.

Come play with us

Rockstar:Supernova Recap - Elimination Show 8/2/06

Ok, I haven’t posted this yet for two reasons:
Number 1: It’s Half Nekkid Thursday (see previous post) and that’s always fun.
Number 2: I really can’t believe what the hell I watched last night.

I am honestly struggling with how to describe what I watched. The more I watch this dog and pony show, the more I realize a previous statement I made is turning out to be more and more accurate. I said I was afraid that this would be another one of Tommy Lee’s 15 minute projects. Here are my exact words from that post:

Last year, the INXS guys always invited the person booted off to come say goodbye to the band. Yeah I know a little nitpicky, but I just noticed it. It’s like they seem less genuine in finding a singer that they’ll have for years and more interested in finding a gimmick to sell a few albums before dissolving. I feel that Tommy Lee will be the first to leave the band. He just seems to have an ADD approach to his career path that will probably doom Supernova from the beginning. It's like he changes his mind all the time:
I’m with Motley Crue.
I’m doing a solo project.
I’m with Motley Crue.
I’m making porno flicks with my wife and my “third leg.”
I’m with Motley Crue.
I’m giving Pam Hepatitis.
I’m with Methods of Mayhem.
I’m with Motley Crue.
I’m going to Nebraska and shooting a reality show about it.
I’m with Motley Crue.
I’m with Supernova.
What’s the next step? I’ll let you look back and take one guess. Maybe it’s more schizophrenic than ADD.

So what’s my proof? They kept shrieking Jill Gioia. They haven’t kicked off the Latin alien Zayra Alvarez (even though she does have hot outfits and did a somewhat decent job ‘punking up’ Jenny/867-5309). But Jason Newstead actually admitted that they kept her because she keeps changing it up week after week. Can you say “a clown for entertainment's sake?” They kicked off Dana who was growing as a singer in front of our eyes. Am I the only person who seeks this as a gimmick? I honestly don’t think Supernova will be around for more than one album.

Anyway, Ryan Star got the encore with his performance of “Losing My Religion.” I saw it the previous night so I fast forwarded through it. Then they were going to announce the bottom three rockers. But Brooke forgot to say who the bottom three were the previous night (they were Toby, Jill, and Zayra). She just came out and started off with Jill. Then it was Patrice. Then Dana. Jill rocked Heart’s Alone. Did she pick it to show her lower voice (even though she still shrieked) or to kiss Gilby’s ass? I don’t know, but she saved herself. Then Patrice came out to do Jeff Buckley’s Eternal Life. Umm…what? I thought she was gone for sure. Then Dana was the final one. UMM…WHAT?!? Did the voters go retarded? She came out and did a great job with the Animals’ House of the Rising Sun. They told Jill (who only does well on elimination…well, except for the shrieking) she was safe. They then told Dana that although she had grown considerably over the last few weeks, they were afraid of how much more she had to grow. Guys, you’re not picking her as the finalist. Keep her! She did a much better job than Patrice. After Tommy Lee played Hatchet Man and sent her packing, she thanked them and yada yada. Then Jason got on the mike and told everyone to be more like Dana. She may be the youngest but she’s the most mature. THEN WHY DID YOU CUT HER? I’m serious, this episode just baffled me.
Anyway that’s the end of the recap. Have a good one and don’t get none on ya.

BTW I am convinced that Jill is a banshee.

Songs on the Playlist (album Two from The Vault):
The Grateful Dead – Good Morning Little School Girl
The Grateful Dead – Dark Star
The Grateful Dead - Saint Stephen

HNT

So here's my HNT post (which really should tie into the F.U. Friday post). It's what I've been doing non-stop since I walked in the door this morning: answering the damn phone. So if I don't immediately make it to comment on your HNT, forgive me. I'm swamped. Happy HNT Yall.

Blogger Bash & Saba Fest

Ok, so there are two functions coming up in the next two weeks. The first is Saba Fest in honor of Bill Saba. Bill passed away a month or so ago. His friends decided to honor him by throwing a party and sending all proceeds to St. Jude in the form of a donation. It is a $10 cover with a cash bar BUT you get to see three bands and eat all the free appetizers you want. When we say appetizers, we're not talking about a veggie tray. The guys throwing it are bringing their setup from their Memphis in May barbecue teams. That means good food. So come by and hang out for a little while or stay all night. I know I'm taking a cab myself.
The next is the Memphis blogger bash. It's actually spread out over two nights (Thursday and Sunday). It's open to any bloggers from the Memphis area. It'll be at the Deli Thursday Aug 10 and Sunday Aug 13. This is a good chance to meet fellow bloggers and finally put faces with the names of other smartasses in the area. Although I promise to become very obnoxious and cynical if it turns into an all political discussion.

Rockstar:Supernova Recap 8/1/06

Ok, I just finished watching Rockstar:Tommy Lee's Unit. Here's the recap you're all waiting for.
They started off showing stuff from between last week and this week. It was drama blah blah blah. The best part was when I showed Magni getting a video from his wife in Iceland of his child's first steps. That was actually great TV. Then they kicked off to the performances.

Patrice Pike started us off with the Red Hot Chili Peppers version of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground. She was fortunate enough to have Tommy Lee on drums. She killed it. She was energetic...but I wondered the same thing the judges did: was she 'on' because Tommy was behind her? Hmm...

Josh Logan came out to do Sublime's Santeria. He mixed it up. Before one of the verses, he threw himself in as a human beatbox. That's cool once, but if he does that anymore, he'll be known as the douchebag beatbox. As far as stage presence, he kinda stayed in the same general area the whole time and I didn't like that. It was good but not great.

Dilana did Can't Get Enough. It's an old 70s/80s tune. She killed it. She ran out into the audience in front of the rockers. Then she ran through the crowd and jumped on the judges platform. She rocked out in front of them and THEN jumped on some dude's shoulders for a ride back to the stage. BADASS! I know she's safe until the final 3 for sure if she keeps this up. The song wasn't that great, BUT her stage presence will save her after that one.

Toby Rand, your Aussie rocker, covered Nirvana's Pennyroyal Tea. Too bland. If you're going to do the slower version, do it acoustic. Otherwise rock it! I think he has a shot after this performance to be in the bottom three this week. One thing he did that was very good was how he walked into the audience and sang/danced to one girl. That was cool, even though he came out right after Dilana.

Zayra Alvarez did Tommy Two-Tone's 867-5309/Jenny. A classic 80s pop song. She changed it up. Considerably. I have no idea what style she was going for. I'm sorry, although she looks incredible every time she is on stage, she keeps losing me in her performance. I actually lost my attention while she was up there. I'm sure she'll be in the bottom three this week.
Now we did get a little closure after her performance. The judges couldn't come up with anything, I mean ANYTHING, to say after her performance. So they sent us to commercial and then came back. They said that one of the reasons she survived last week and Phil didn't was because she keeps changing it up each week. Gilby said all that after commenting that her vocals were off. Tommy The Tripod Lee commented that he has a kiddie pool full of mud backstage and he wants her to wrestle. Always the gentleman, he never deals with sexual innuendo.

Magni sang Coldplay's Clocks. A great song. He turned up the rock on the keys. I felt the vocals were too high for his range. He did have a good stage presence. After the show, Tommy told him that Supernova was going to fly in his family because of his dedication to this show. That's really cool. I'm sure that'll give him the sympathy vote...not that he needs it. I think he did a great job regardless.

Jill Gioia, the Italian New Yorker who can't shut up or take constructive criticism (is that a stereotype?) sang the Simple Minds' Don't You Forget About Me. My initial thoughts are she looks hot, BUT she was screaming too damn much. And she really had a bad stage presence. She couldn't keep my attention. I think it was Gilby who said that there is always one song where an audience will go get another drink or go to the bathroom. That was that song.
I think she'll be in the bottom three.

Ryan Star came out next to do R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion. He sang it while playing a grand piano. It was beautiful. It showed depth to him that we haven't seen all week. It was really captivating. Here's what the guys said:
Dave: "phenomenal"
Jason: "best performance yet"
Tommy: "your voice is perfect for a song like that I wrote for Supernova. And by the way, that performance is so gonna get you laid!" Always the gentleman Tommy, always.

Lukas Rossi was next. He did Hole's Celebrity Skin. It was a decent performance. He 'marbled' a few words in my opinion. He never actually sang the song as much as he just gargled it. He needs to sing sometime. The roommate said he was "kinda sucking tonight." And he had his back to the audience too much (which Supernova called him on). I looked back at the end of the song and the band was together jamming and he was on an island by himself. He had no idea what they were doing. Dave said it was his least favorite performance.

Storm came out to do David Bowie's Changes. She rearranged it to show her softer side, her vulnerable side. She turned it into more of a ballad. It showed the great voice that she has. I'm sure she's going to make it to the top three.
Dave said it was his favorite performance of hers.
Gilby said she made a risky choice and did a great job with it.
Jason said it was a classy performance.

Dana Andrews did The Who's Baba O'Reilly (aka Teenage Wasteland). She brought great stage presence. I thought it wasn't the best version of that song because they had to cut so much to fit the TV time requirements. But I think she's really getting better as the weeks progress. Dave said she did a great job. She's really learning and adapting to what she's learned. They said that song was about rebellion and asked if she was going to really rebel. She said she's getting a tattoo tomorrow.

That was the last performance. After that Brook showed who the bottom three were after the initial voting:
Toby
Zayra
Jill

Here's who I think will be in the bottom three:
Zayra
Jill
Lukas or Josh

I don't think Toby will get voted into the bottom three.
Ok, I'm going to bed. Have a good one.

Cubanos

I guess Cuban cigar prices are about to go down. Hopefully they'll drop the embargo too. Of course with our luck, Castro will come back to power.

Next Door To What?

I actually forgot to tell yall yesterday…when I couldn’t sleep Sunday night I was flipping channels and landed on the beginning of the second season of one the best shows E has ever done (but that’s not really saying much is it):
The Girls Next Door
Great show. Brilliant writing. I love how they can make Kendra look like the stereotypical dumb blonde. What’s that? They aren’t acting?!? Are you sure? There’s no way she can be that dumb. She is? Oh well.
The season opened with preparations for Hef’s 80th Birthday party. For those of you who are stupid and are still waiting on the sexual revolution to arrive, wake up! It’s already happened! And Hef (Hugh Hefner) was one of the most important people for it (in my opinion). The show ended with the actual parties. They throw two parties. The first night is Casablanca night where all of Hef's friends come over. They show Casablanca and then have and evening of champagne, birthday cake, and caviar. The next night is the big bash for all the celebs who want to come. Of course they had to show Paris Hilton singing "Happy Birthday" to Hef. Seriously, why ruin a perfectly good show with that no talent ass clown? I don't need to see that! I wanted to see Bridget get out of the birthday cake for Hef. That was HOT! If you missed it, you need to catch a replay of it. Wow!
I have to say that my favorite girlfriend is Bridget. She just seems like a genuinely sweet person WITH brains (she already has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree while working towards another master's). Holly seems like a ditzy golddigger, and Kendra seems like a…well I covered her earlier. Of course that could just be the editing, but I doubt it.
Anyway, the new episodes premiere Sunday nights at 8, but that’s when Deadwood comes on, so I’ll catch the reruns.

Songs on the Playlist:
Jimmy Buffett – Banana Wind
Lionel Ritchie – All Night Long
The White Strips – The Hardest Button To Button
The Grateful Dead – I Know You Rider

Damn It's Hot

So I'm stuck on the phone on hold and I thought I'd tell you about my trip to get lunch. Many people have asked me if I take my digital camera everywhere. The answers no. Sometimes I do, but when I don't, I tend to see things worth taking pics of. For example I was driving down the street to the Subway when I passed a local neighborhood store in the ghetto. I was stopped at the light next to this store when I saw a girl get out of one man's car and climb into another man's car. Now she wasn't wearing anything red, but I'm certain she could have. Now I'm not saying she's a hooker, but only because I couldn't tell if one of the cars had a pimp in it.
Now I wish I had a pic of that to show you. But I didn't take the camera with me. Damn!

Other than that I've just been sitting in the A/C at my desk. Why? Because it's hot outside. I actually saw a car melt. Well maybe the heat is just effecting my vision. What's that you say? It's hot everywhere? Well, no shit Sherlock. So how do you beat the heat? Spend that hard earned money on electricity for your A/C. Drink cold water. Or be smart and go to a friend's house, use their A/C and drink their water. That'll help.

Now get back to work, ya bums.

Holy Crap It's Here Already!!!

Well today is August 1. That means that school starts in just a few weeks so we can finally get these little bastards off the streets. If that’s true, then we are just around the corner from Labor Day. Labor Day weekend is the start of college football, so really when you think about it we are at the college football season. Well my birthday is always in the first half of the college football season, so technically it’s almost my birthday. My birthday is right before Halloween, so I guess you better buy your costume. And Thanksgiving tends to sneak up right after Halloween. And what are you already in the middle of when Thanksgiving rolls around? The Christmas shopping season! Which means...

MERRY CHRISTMAS YALL!!!

Saturday Night Panic Show Recap

Well after a badass Friday night, I went back Saturday. I caught a ride to the show with Too Tall Todd. He was going to leave at setbreak to head back to Newby's. I ended up sitting with Dr. JR and his cousin one row from the top. And that was nice because I really wanted to sweat out a hundred and fifty pounds of water weight. What am I talking about? IT WAS HOTTER THAN HELL UP THERE. But I had a good time.
The crowd was different Saturday night. While Friday night was full of folks who were into the show, there was an element to the crowd that weren’t the normal kinda folks. There were more angry people. During the second set I looked down in front of me to find two guys doing blow. Five minutes later they were screaming “WOOOOO” during a slow song. I’m surrounded by tons of hippies just swaying to the music and these two assholes are screaming like it’s a Kid Rock concert.
Before the concert I actually walked the lot. Not the area where all the locals park, but Shakedown Street where all the hippies park in a community and try to sell wares to get them from one show to the next. I just thought it would be kinda cool, but all I could smell were people who obviously haven’t showered in days. It was nasty. I watched them as they tried to sell things or even carry on conversations completely intoxicated. It was really pathetic.
“No, dude, wait, how much did I say it was?”
“No man, it would be killer if they played like ‘Song A’ not ‘Song B’.”
“Grilled Cheese Sandwiches! Grilled Cheese Sandwiches For Sale!!”
Although it all sounds rather clichéd, that’s actually what I heard. After walking shakedown street. I got inside and couldn’t find Zac and the rest of those guys. They said they were just above where we were the night before. So I headed to the top to look down. Sure enough that’s where I ran into Dr. JR so I sat with them. Here’s the setlist from Everyday Companion:

7/29/06 Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN
1: Space Wrangler > Rock, Mr. Soul, Old Neighborhood*, Crazy*, Holden Oversoul** > Sharon, Dyin' Man, From The Cradle, Give*
2: Second Skin > Protein Drink > Sewing Machine, Pigeons, Ribs And Whiskey*, Ride Me High > Drums > City of Dreams, Impossible***, Visiting Day***, Last Dance***
E: Expiration Day*, This Part Of Town*
* with John Keane on guitar** with John Keane on pedal steel*** with Sam Holt on guitar[Last 'Protein Drink' - 12/31/01, 285 shows; Last 'Sewing Machine' - 12/31/01, 285 shows]

Here are a few pics from the show:

This is the stage as the band is about to kick off the first set. That's zoomed in. I told you I had bad seats.This is a shot during the show where they were actually rocking hard. Unfortunately you still can't see jack.This is at setbreak. This is a non-zoomed shot of the stage. Remember I'm at the top of the stands.Here is a better shot of the crowd. Most everyone had already gone to the toilets or to get beer.After setbreak they started up the second set. I really dug Second Skin, Ribs and Whiskey, and Ride Me High. I lasted up in the sweltering heat until the end of City of Dreams. I told Dr. JR that if they didn't play something I knew/liked, I was going to leave the stands and head down below. They played Impossible. I don't really know that song. Yeah, it's on the Light Fuse/Get Away live album, but I never really listened to it. So I headed down the stairs. I hung out sitting on a concrete wall trying to cool off. I saw a few folks I knew and mostly watched the hippies dance. There was this one hippie chick who was barefoot and spinning around to the music with wings. I said "Hey Tinkerbell, can I get a pic?" She said "My name's not Tinkerbell" and posed with her friend:Yeah, I told you she had wings. I know her parents must be proud.

After that I went back to sit on the wall again. I tried to get more interesting characters but there were no more of the ones other than the dirty hippies. So I hung out and listened to the music. At one point these ladies came by pushing carts full of unsold merchandise. One had about 10 things of cotton candy. I said, " 'scuse me ma'am. How much for one of those?" She smiled and tossed me one. I wasn't that hungry but once I started eating it, it was pretty damn good. It was a blue one. After I finished my cotton candy, I wondered where the bus was. So I went walking. I found the bus outside and decided to hell with the end of the set and the encore. I'll get on this bus because SURELY THERE IS ANOTHER BUS AFTER THIS ONE. Wow, was I mistaken. I walked out of the coliseum and found out that this was in fact the last bus of the night. She was going to wait until everyone got outside. So I got to wait a while in a bus full of A/C. The bus driver was on the phone with 'one a herr gerfrends.' Her grammar was so horrendous that I actually used my camera to record it. Once I post it on youtube I'll link it here.

After she talked for a while, she went off the bus to find more folks who were supposed to ride the bus. That didn't work well. She just stood out there. I was looking out the window waiting on the crowd to come out when I noticed this guy and girl standing there. All of a sudden the girl took her water bottle and threw water all over the guy. Then she threw water in the opposite direction. She dropped her bottle and started shaking. She collapsed on the groud convulsing in a seizure. Thank God, there was an empty ambulance just in front of our bus with paramedics standing by. They came over, tended to her, hooked up an IV, and took her away. I hope she was ok. I still have no idea what she could have taken to cause that. Is there a drug that'll give you seizures? This is a pic of them about to take her to the hospital.After that the crowd finally came out and we headed to Newby's. I went in, had one beer, and decided to go home and go to bed. That was my Saturday at Widespread Panic. It was a pretty good time, but not as much fun as Friday night.

Ok, I'm going home. Have a good one and don't get none on ya.

Songs on the Playlist:
The Grateful Dead – Bertha
The North Mississippi Allstars – Skinny Woman
Pink Floyd – Time
Led Zeppelin – Rock and Roll
Robert Earl Keen – That Bucking Song
Bob Dylan – Buckets of Rain
Jimmy Buffett - Ragtop Day
Hank Williams Sr. - Your Cheatin' Heart
Van Halen - Ain't Talking bout Love
Bush - Everything Zen
Jane's Addiction - Superhero
Jimmy Buffett - Migration