Monday, October 8, 2007
Add This to Your Queue
This weekend, I received Jekyll from my good friends at Netflix. It's a modern day Jekyll and Hyde story from the BBC (who make all things wonderful and entertaining) and stars James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan (aka the new Bionic Woman).
Nesbitt is Dr. Tom Jackman, a descendant from Dr. Jekyll. He realizes he has a dark alter ego and attempts to keep it in check through CCTV and audio recordings (telling his Hyde he will turn himself over to the police should Mr Hyde ever get out of hand). Ryan plays his assistant of sorts who makes sure all runs smoothly between the two personalities. There is also an evil corporation out to get the doctor (run by a Brit playing an American...his accent is pretty bad, but it's kinda funny to see how others portray us elsewhere) and presumably use him for their evil plans. Add a fair amount of blood and guts and scares and you've got an awesome horror/thriller. Just in time for Halloween.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Top 5: UK Edition
Face it. The Brits are better than us when it comes to entertainment. They make the best music and television in the world and are even taking over American TV sets this year (It really weirds me out when they speak so well with American accents). So here are my top 5 UK imports:
Brits on Network TV - Damien Lewis, amazing in Band of Brothers (have I mentioned that yet?), now stars in Life on NBC as a cop who spent 12 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. He's fabulous and a ginger. Pretty much my new favorite actor. And Anna Friel. I watched the entire Pushing Daisies pilot and had no idea she was English. Maybe the fact that she is makes her more likable then all the other new female love interests on TV this season. She also has a kid with Professor Lupin, err David Thewlis from the Harry Potter films, and anyone who gets it on with a Werewolf must be cool.
Top Gear - England's top motoring show, this is one of my favorites and it's now on BBC America. Basically, 3 middle aged white guys play with cars all day. I know it sounds incredibly boring, but it's not. My favorite segments are the races. Once, they raced a Bugatti Veyron against a plane from the south of France to London. Recently, they raced a Toyota truck against a dog sled in the North Pole. They are insane. It's awesome.
The Swell Season - They are Irish and would probably be very offended to be included on this list, but they can deal with it! The Guy and Girl from Once formed a band and this is the result. It's Damien Rice on low dose steroids (if that makes any sense). They're playing 4th and B Nov 11th. Anyone want to go with me?
The Pipettes - A 60's girl band with modern, naughty lyrics. Their album is so much fun it's practically impossible not to dance to...
Jasper Fforde - He writes the cleverest books. I call them literary sci-fi (probably because I heard someone interesting call them that first) and they kinda only work if you are a serious reader. JF takes literature and nursery rhymes and turns them on their head. His Thursday Next series follows a literary detective, who can literally jump into books, as she attempts to save the Book World from evil. He also writes a Nursery Crimes series where the murders of Humpty Dumpty and Goldilocks are solved by Jack Spratt and that contrary Mary Mary, with the psychotic Gingerbread man as the prime suspect.
Man! Now I totally want to go to London...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Pack Your Knives and Go
It's the Top Chef finale tonight. Here's my incredibly unscientific breakdown of the contestants:
Casey - The easy on the eyes Texan seems to have it in the bag. She's the only chef noted for her "soul" and that's gotta be a good thing, right? I was never a big fan, but of the three remaining contestant, she seems to be the front runner.
Hung - If, for some crazy reason, Casey blows it, Hung is probably the winner. He's technically superior to the others and has a more training and experience. I don't like Hung - he's a pompous ass and his food is boring most of the time (crazy cereal dish aside). He claims he has great stuff to show in the finale, but I don't buy it.
Dale - I love Dale. He's the bitchy, gay friend every woman should have. I would love to see him pull out something amazing and win it all. It could happen...crazier things have...
So, anyone want to wager a guess who will win tonight? Does anyone (other than me) even care...especially since Tre, the real top chef, was eliminated weeks ago?
Update: Well, Casey blew it. I thought for 30 seconds Dale might actually win, but Padma informed us all Hung got the prize (and not just Biggest Douchebag)
My Current Obsession
I've already discussed my love affair with Entertainment Weekly (Yes. I realize this is not something to brag about. I'd be much cooler if I was really into Pitchfork or NME, but I'm really not that cool) and reading ew.com fuels my obsession with my favorite columnist, Dalton Ross.
I first noticed Dalton when he wrote What to Watch each week for the magazine. It was hilarious and became my favorite part of each issue (no one else made reading about Temptation Island and Making the Band so funny and entertaining). Now, he writes a weekly column called The Glutton and provides Survivor TV Watch online. Reading his columns is the highlight of my websurfing each week. He is the ultimate beta male (which is so hot right now), he's married to Christina Kelly of Sassy magazine (which significantly shaped who I am today) and he likes most of the things I like (which makes him a genius). He also includes an Obsession of the Week and a video Top 5 in his columns...two things I write all the time. Actually, I think my obsession is so great, I've started to emulate Dalton. Maybe I need and EW intervention...
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Hooray for (the) Hollywood (Bowl)
It’s against my nature to compliment Los Angeles, but every city should have a Hollywood Bowl.
This past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite bands, Bright Eyes, perform with the LA Philharmonic. In addition to dovetailing perfectly with my new habit of telling people I like classical music, the Hollywood Bowl made the experience that much better by letting the audience bring their own food and drink, including alcohol.
How rad is that? I’m fairly new to So Cal so maybe its well known that you can picnic while you listen at the Bowl, but for me it was a most pleasant surprise. Tickets were a little pricey, but not much more than any other large venue. To not be additionally gauged at the refreshment stand was a lovely change of pace. The music industry is losing control of its bodily functions trying to find out why they’re losing money. Obviously most of that is music downloading, but making the overall experience of following a band feel more like a fun night out and less like you’ve been shaken upside down by your ankles for your pocket change might be a nice place to start.
It's Bruce Springsteen Day!
Well, it is in Connecticut anyway. Bruce plays the opening show of his US tour in Hartford tonight and his new album with the E Street Band is out today. I'm listening to it right now. Man, I love the internet.
Not as much as I love Bruce, though. I grew up (as most children of the 80's did) digging Born in the USA, but it wasn't until a professor in college turned me onto his older stuff that I truly appreciated his genius. I really want to see him play live. So does FM 94.9. They've started a petition to get Bruce to come play in San Diego. Sure I could (and may) go see him play in LA, but I'd rather see him in my hometown. Won't you celebrate Bruce Springsteen day by signing the petition and making all my dreams come true?
Monday, October 1, 2007
OK Piracy
Radiohead announced last night that they’re releasing they’re upcoming album In Rainbows via the Internet – and only via the Internet - on October 10. And that’s not even the most interesting part.
The most interesting part is that you get to decide how much you want to pay for it. $15? $10? How about $0? That’s right, you can get it for free if you want.
I’m torn. At first I thought, “You know what? I really like Radiohead, this is very cool of them, I know they have more money than they’ll ever need, but I’ll give them 5 bucks for this record.” But then I was discussing it with a co-worker, and he pointed out that if you can get it for free, but you don’t, you’re kind of a chump.
What do you think? To pay or not to pay? I don’t want to be a chump, but it
also might be nice to have some protection from the karma police.The Downward Spiral is Complete
Dear Britney,
I hear you just lost custody of your kids. What happened to you? How effed up do you have to be to lose custody to K Fed? I liked you, Britney. I don't think you're particularly talented or bright (tough love, babe, sorry), but there is something about you I always liked. You out slutted X-tina when you smooched Madonna, out hicked Jessica Simpson with your "barefoot in the gas station" episode, and out cheesed Mandy Moore in Crossroads. Now, though, you're a bit of a train wreck and I just feel sorry for you (well, kinda...I have a hard time feeling sorry for millionaires).
At this point, you just need to disappear for awhile - make up with Mama, go back to Louisiana and chill out for a few years. Kick the drugs and the insanity and get back in touch with everyone's favorite snake charmer. In, like, 5 years, you can make a comeback and be bigger then the Spice Girls.
All the Best,
Lora
Celebrate Your Freedom
It's Banned Books Week! I can't tell you how many "Banned Books" I've read...and they are usually my favorites (who doesn't like a little extra naughtiness?). Banning (or challenging) books is obviously ridiculous and really just makes people want to read them more. Most are banned for the craziest reasons - I read today, Black Beauty was banned in South Africa during apartheid because it has the word "black" in the title...racists are such morons.
Seems most books today are challenged due to homosexual content. I realize I live in California (and have a gay roommate), so my views on homosexuality are different then many, but I'm still shocked when I realize homosexuality is considered a threat to American society (Too bad Osama isn't gay...we'd defiantly have killed him by now). So to celebrate the week, I'm gonna pick up And Tango Makes Three and enjoy thinking for myself...
