More on The Sing Off

Because I so love posting things no one cares about but me, my favorite number from The Sing Off...Styx "Come Sail Away" by Tufts University's Beelzebubs:



How adorable is that lead singer?!

Also, Ben Folds need to host something full time...anything. He is amazing.

That is all.

UPDATE: Ugh! Stupid YouTube. The performance can still be seen here. Scroll down to the second video.

Top 5: Reasons BBCA's Any Dream Will Do is Better Than American Idol

Occasionally, I am really thankful I am single. How else could I spend a Sunday watching the new version of Sondheim's Company and a TV show about young British dudes and their quest to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest musical staging of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat without constant harassment and mocking? Blessing and a curse, friends. Blessing and a curse.

Anyway, all that to say, I am hooked on BBC America's Any Dream Will Do. It's exactly like that show from a few summers ago (You're the One that I Want) where producers scoured America to cast the leads in a new staging of Grease on Broadway, except replace "Grease" with "JatATD" and "fresh faced Americans" with "boy bandish Brits." It's also kinda like American Idol, but way better. Here's why:


1. The Men! - Sure most of them are probably gay, but I don't have to spend precious life moments not lusting after the images on my TV set. All dudes, all the time. Ahhh yeah...

2. The Lord! - Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber himself is very involved in the show so there is no shortage of jokes about his Lordship like, "You have the blessing of the Lord. You could be Joseph" or "The Lord couldn't stand any more terrible singing today so he left." Hilarious! (I swear they are kinda funny when uttered by Graham Norton aka the show's Seacrest.)

3. John Barrowman! - The show's dreamiest host, Barrowman is also the star of BBC's Torchwood. He takes this judging job so damn seriously, it's almost laughable, and yet refreshing when compared to the lack of professionalism on Idol these days. (Also, totally gay.)

4. The Accents! - On AI, you only get Simon Cowell. On ADWD, you get more Brits than you can handle. And did I mention they're all male? And some are quite attractive?

5. The Ending! - Having aired last year in the UK, if I ever get tired of watching, I can just google the final results and move on with my life. If only I could do that with American Idol this season.

I don't actually expect any of you to watch this show because a) everyone hates Musical Theater and 2) no one listens to me anyway, but it brings me joy and thus I wanted to share. Like I said, 2 episodes in and it's already better than AI.

Jane Austen + Zombies = Awesome

As someone who loves both the novels of Jane Austen and zombie movies, this sounds like perfection:

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead."



My prediction: Best Book of 2009.

Signs I am Getting Old - Vol. 3

I used to read this:

Now, I read this:
I may not know all the new sex tricks, but damn if I can't organize a closet.

In Which Someday Google Will Rule Us All

I just stumbled across this little gem. Apparently, you can put "Mail Goggles" on your Gmail account to prevent you from sending late night emails you may later regret. If you ever get the urge to confess your undying love or hatred after a few too many cocktails, Gmail will block those emails until you complete some simple math problems (basically, until Gmail verifies you are coherent enough to broadcast your late night thoughts). I can think of a few emails I would have liked to e-block, but really, I need this for my phone to stop me from sending texts messages after respectable hours. Can someone get on that please?

This picture has nothing to do with the post. It just makes me laugh really hard.

Veronica Mars: The Movie

In news few people care about, rumors are circulating that Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell are chatting about a possible Veronica Mars movie. Considering 50% of GitW contributors love Veronica Mars more than life, this is very exciting news! (In fact, in case you ever wondered, our blog name is partly a reference to a Veronica Mars episode. Obsessed much?) Considering I wasn't crazy about the pseudo-pilot for the would-be 4th season, I hope the movie version doesn't find Veronica at the FBI training school in Langley, but still in Neptune, fighting with Logan, helping Keith fight the bad guys and making the world better for sassy ladies everywhere. Keep the dream alive!

Have I ever mentioned I know Ryan Hansen? Oh, I have? My bad.

High Crimes and Misnomers

For the past week, I’ve been completely fascinated with a real-life Lifetime Original Movie that’s unfolding in Boston. I’ve considered writing about it but put it off because I figured no one else would care. Then I remembered I don’t care what you think, and decided its high time you heard this story.

It’s the story of a father who kidnapped his daughter amidst a nasty custody dispute. Sadly a common occurrence, but what’s unique about this case is it involves false identities, yachts to Peru and a possible connection to an unsolved murder in California.

Oh, and Segways. It also involves Segways.

I first got intrigued when I was reading a Boston news site two weekends ago to check on the Red Sox. I saw an Amber Alert had been issued for a girl named Reigh Rockerfeller who’d been kidnapped in the Back Bay. The Back Bay is an anciently upscale neighborhood in Boston where all the old money lives. And obviously, “Rockerfeller” is about as blue blood as you get. This was odd.

But wait – Google tool bar informed me that the Standard Oil family spells it “Rockefeller.” Maybe this girl was a mere commoner after all.

Over the next few days, I start finding out more. A lot more. The Web site’s spell check was off – the girl’s name is in fact “Rockefeller.” Reigh Storrow Mills Boss Rockefeller to be exact. That’s five names, two of which (Storrow being the other) are navy blue blood in the northeast.

The girl’s mother is a Stanford and Harvard educated marketing executive who divides her time between Boston and London and sits on the board of Edith Wharton’s estate. OK. Big money. Check. But the father, who snatched the kid…He’s another story.

His name is Clark Rockefeller, but no one can figure out if he’s one of the Rockefellers. He’s always been vague. He’s also gone by a host of different aliases. He claims he owns a yacht on Long Island and police think he’s taking the daughter on it to Peru.

This guy is quite the character. He acts like he comes from money – speaking in a faux British accent, dressing like an uber-preppy and riding everywhere on a Segway. Yet no one knows anything about his family or where he comes from. He claims to be a scientist, but apparently doesn’t work. Information leaks that at least one reason he and his wife got divorced is because he lied about his background. He lost custody of the girl because he wouldn’t show ID at a hearing.

Finally, over the weekend, the police catch the guy. He’d taken his daughter to Baltimore and rented an apartment in a converted carriage house in a tony neighborhood. He had a boat in Baltimore, but it weren’t no yacht. He was arrested and taken back to Boston.

Now, homicide detectives in LA are flying to Boston to interview Rockefeller – if that’s his real name – because his fingerprints were somehow connected to an unsolved murder there. The little girl and her mom, by the way, have been reconnected and are said to be doing just fine.

Isn’t this crazy!? I know I’m not supposed to feel this way, but the fact that fabulously rich people with questionable pasts are involved make this case ten times more interesting. I’m not gonna lie. And I didn’t even mention how the father dragged a social worker behind his car when he first kidnapped the girl, or the mom’s emotional plea video that the Boston Police Department posted online.

Call me a sicko, but I really hope this guy turns out the Zodiac Killer or something. If he’s just some failed actor or White Snake’s original drummer, I'm going to be really disappointed.

You're totally the one on the upper left, aren't you "Rockefeller"?