Friday, November 28, 2008

Black Friday



I don't know how people psyche themselves up enough to brave the chaotic crowds at ass-a.m. in the morning just to go shopping. I don't even like to get up early to rush to the bathroom after a long night of drinking. Sometimes...I just chance it and hope that I wake up in a dry bed.

Yet, I know so many people who have the whole shopping day strategically planned out like an air-raid attack.

I'm just gonna relax in the safety of my own home and wait for the "Mauled at the Mall" footage that is bound to show up on the news later this evening.

Now that's entertainment!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Bravo, Kathy!



I'm very excited, I must say....

Kathy Griffin has confirmed that she has finally signed a one year deal with Bravo and is staying with the network for another season of her reality series, Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D List. Griffin spoke to Us Weekly at the GQ Men of the Year party on Tuesday night.

“It’s Season 5. We start shooting Wednesday,” she said.

“It’s going to be more celebrity oriented. It's the way that American Idol sort of started as a singing contest and then every week you expect to see the mentors. I have some really good guest stars coming on the D-List this year.”

Griffin will also return as host for the next installment of the Bravo’s A-List Awards, and will star in two one-hour stand-up comedy specials for the network. The stand-up specials will be taped during her current nationwide tour.

Two comedy special and a new season of the D-list.

Enjoyable!

My DVR is twitching with antici.......pation!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Twilight zone



Well, it seems "one or two" people went to see the new vampire flick, "Twilight" this past weekend...

The vampire romance "Twilight" drained the box office in its opening weekend, taking in $70.6 million.

Catherine Hardwicke's film also enjoyed the biggest opening ever for a female director, blowing away the previous standard of $41.1 million set by Mimi Leder's "Deep Impact" in 1998. Summit Entertainment, which released "Twilight," announced during the weekend that it's going ahead with production of "New Moon," based on the second book in Meyer's internationally best-selling series.


I usually enjoy the vampire movies and plan, at some point, to see it. However, with the mixed reviews and teen-girl focus, it looks like it might be another "The Covenant"-type movie....so I'm not rushing.

Have any of you seen it? If so....thoughts?

Friday, November 21, 2008

Welcome Back!!



I love this group!

Improv Everywhere is a group of people that stage really unusual and, often very funny, events in public places. Their latest stunt takes place at JFK airport where they welcome perfect strangers home from a flight.



However, my favorite event, of all that they've pulled off, is the one where a group of them freeze in place for five minutes....in the middle of Grand Central Station in New York.



Hilarious!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

2008 Sexiest Man Alive



Well, it's official....Hugh Jackman is the winner.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that his big-budget movie, Australia, opens soon. But, that aside, it's kind of hard to argue that he could be considered, by many, to be sexy.



I mean, he may be a good-looking movie star with a world-wide fanbase.

But, try as he will....



He's no Carrot Top.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A talented little girl

I'm so glad that I found this clip over at JMG.

I saw Ellen interview 7 year old piano prodigy, Emily Bear, a few days ago. Not only is the girl incredibly cute and able to joke about breaking her nose twice over the course of a few weeks, but watching the ease at which she plays the piano is just amazing to me. She has been playing since she was 3 and has composed over 120 songs.

One of those original compositions is the song that she plays for Ellen, called Once Upon a Wish. She tells Ellen "I wrote it as a gift for your wedding...cause you got your wish."

The song is beautiful and you can tell that Ellen was very moved.



You can get Emily's CD here.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

New Star Trek movie trailer

The first extended trailer was released this weekend with the new James Bond movie. If you haven't seen it there (and it looks much cooler on a big screen!), then check this out...



If it's half as good as this trailer looks...we just might be in for a very fun ride with the Trek kids!

The official studio site for the movie was also updated yesterday. It's a nice visual concept, but unfortunately, it's a very flash-heavy site and tends to freeze up a bit at certain points (it happened twice for me in the photos section).



It never ceases to amaze me how some studios continue to build these huge, fancy, technology-filled sites, while forgetting that many people will have trouble viewing it on their computers. When that happens...people just stop going to their site, which is the opposite of what the studios want.

To the studios who do that, I say....

That is illogical.

Oh...and Duh.



Here are some additional photos from the trailer, like wee Spock (above).



Winona Ryder playing Spock's human mother, Amanda, and Ben Cross playing his father, Sarek.



Kirk and Spock brooding on the pristine iMac bridge.



Uhura lookin' sassy.



Sulu lookin'...well, just lookin'.



Kirk and a female in their space underoos, possibly, about to have relations.

Can you hear the sound of thousands of Trek fans getting inappropriately excited?

In space...no one can hear you ovulate.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Yep, she's....

Protesting.

Oh, and she's also gay.

I've always liked Wanda Sykes, especially now that she's on "The New Adventures of Old Christine". But, until she spoke at this rally in Las Vegas over the weekend, I didn't know that she was gay. I thought she might be (because she's always been such a big supporter of the gays), but all of the craziness surrounding Prop 8 passing must have pushed her to take that leap into the public eye and talk about her marriage too.

I didn't think it was possible for me to love her more...but I do.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Ultimate Creepy Doll



I have very mixed feelings about this technology...

Scientists have created the first 'humanoid' robot that can mimic the facial expressions and lip movements of a human being.

'Jules' - a disembodied androgynous robotic head - can automatically copy the movements, which are picked up by a video camera and mapped on to the tiny electronic motors in his skin.

It can grin and grimace, furrow its brow and 'speak' as his software translates real expressions observed through video camera 'eyes'

On the one hand, it's kind of cool that more human-looking robots are being developed (it sure beats that little robot vacuum cleaner that hoovers under couches). I mean, it really was only a matter of time before things got to this stage. We're bound to have real-life Datas working among us in the not too distant future.

However, and I realize the dialog is just for comic relief, listening to the voice and watching the creepy eyes roll from side to side in the demonstration is a bit unsettling...



"When can I destroy humanity?!"

Let's hope that newer models are given more productive and positive programming before they start selling the latest "Jules: The Happy Man-servant" line at every Costco and Walmart.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

End of Days?

Looks like Roland Emmerich (the director of "The Day After Tomorrow") has made another end of the world visual epic called "2012"...



He seems a bit obsessed with the idea of everyone on the planet being wiped out. But, of course, I'm gonna go see the movie cause I enjoy all the crafty special effects the kids make these days.

There are various predictions about what could happen on December 21, 2012 at 11:11 GMT (there is another 1111 reference, like I mentioned earlier in the week).

One says that the world will "end" or suffer some sort of global catastrophy, while others say there will be some cosmic, positive, spiritual transformation on the planet.

I realize that the latter doesn't make for a thrilling visual movie experience...

But, I'm going to root for the spiritual rebirth over the elimination of our species.

That's just me...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Ship ahoy!



Entertainment Weekly got the first look at JJ Abrams's new Enterprise design and, overall, it looks pretty close to the original.

Abrams wanted to take the original TV-series Enterprise and the movie-franchise Enterprise and fuse them together into a new yet familiar Enterprise. His ambition was a ship that felt very realistic, that could stand up to today's F/X standards -- and beyond. "If you're going to do Star Trek, there are many things you cannot change. The Enterprise is a visual touchstone for so many people. So if you're going to do the Enterprise, it better look like the Enterprise, because otherwise, what are you doing?"

As usual, fans are giving it mixed reviews...some love it, others hate it.

I think it looks fine and will reserve judegment until after I've seen a full trailer. I really liked the recent set of cast pictures from the film that I posted recently, so I'm still pretty happy with how the new version appears to be looking.

The good news is that the first extended "Star Trek" movie trailer will be released with the new James Bond movie opening this weekend....so, I'm really looking forward to seeing both of them.

I have a friend at Paramount who has already seen the new trailer (which was presented by JJ Abrams himself) and, although my friend is not a big Star Trek fan, his reaction to the trailer was simply "AWESOME!".

That's enough for me.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

1111



I see this series of numbers all the time.

I used to think it was just some random coincidence when I noticed an address, receipt, or digital clock that displayed these numbers. But, over the years, they seem to pop up more and more, like a couple weeks ago when I randomly checked out PostSecret.com on the day when the postcard (above) was featured. I've mentioned it to a few people and have been told that, to some, it "means" something.

So I did a little research online (cause all the kids find their information there) and found that I don't appear to be the only one. There's even a book about it...



According to Numerology and Psychics, this is what it means:

When the 11:11 appears to you, it is your wake-up call. A direct channel opens up between you and the Invisible. When this happens, it is time to reflect on whatever you are doing for a moment and Look Larger. A transfer is in position. You can enter the Greater Reality if you wish pray or meditate and seed your future and also, you can be seeded by the Invisible. You can ask for help in some specific area of your life or simply listen quietly and receive a revelation.

Without getting all Miss Cleo, I do relate a bit to that because I've found, when I do see these numbers, a part of me feels a sense of relief and the thought "everything is going to be okay" comes to mind. I also find that I take a quick few minutes to pray for friends in need or for direction in my own life.

Not sure why...but I just do.

Someone on Yahoo Answers even said this:

11:11 is the time of day when legend has it that one can make a wish, and there is a greater chance of it coming true.



It may mean nothing or it may mean something....who knows?

But, I do know that, for me, it puts my mind at ease and causes me to take a moment to reflect, meditate, focus on others in need or the path I'm currently on and then...send out some good thoughts and energies into the collective universe to help us all along.

Until I find evidence to explain otherwise, I'm just gonna keep doing it and hope that it does some good.

It's kinda like dental floss for the spirit.

Hmmm....Mental floss.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Competitive nature

Eve is one of the most intelligent, creative (you should see her art), hilarious people that I know.

She is also not one to self-promote if it turns out she's involved in an art show or making a TV appearance. However, when I got an email from her today mentioning that she will be appearing on the "New Trivial Pursuit" game show (she's a trivia whiz!) a couple of times this week and a link to a clip....I had to check it out.

Especially when she couched the message with "I'm my usual inappropriate self"...



I almost spit up the ginger ale I was drinking at the time.

I'm definitely setting my DVR for the show this week and will be praying for at least one "real" moment like this to slip by the sensors.

Adopt ME



I think I could live on this...

Seth MacFarlane is Hollywood's hundred-million dollar man -- and he's not even bionic.

MacFarlane, 35, is creator and executive producer of "Family Guy," Fox's top-rated prime-time 'toon (yes, even more popular than "The Simpsons"), one of the all-time best-selling TV-on-DVD titles, and a show that spearheaded the digital-download video phenomenon. So it's no wonder the studio recently served up a $100 million production deal to keep their "Family" man happy. MacFarlane also is at the helm of the Fox 'toon "American Dad!" and is working on a "Family Guy" spin-off series, "Cleveland."


"In all honesty, my representative said I could get that much money and I didn't stop him," MacFarlane said. "Can I spend a hundred million dollars? No. I'll spread it around a much as I can."

Seth...if you need help spreading that money around, just let me know.

I have plenty of room in my dwindling bank account available.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Snap!

With all of the chaos and stress slowly easing off now that the election is finally over, I thought I'd end the week with something smile-worthy.

A friend of mine sent me links to a game that Ellen plays on her show called "Snap". I'd never heard of it before and, now that I have, I'm hooked.

Rather than try to explain it....why not take a look for yourself.



Again...something that politicians should consider doing instead of the old standard campaigning for months on end.

Two candidates + One rubber band = Fun for all!

Just a thought...

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Oprah and Tina



Well, it looks like it's double the Oprah/Tina fun today.

First, Tina Fey gets interviewed on "Oprah" this afternoon, then Oprah guest-stars on Tina Fey's "30 Rock" tonight.

Two great tastes that taste great together!

Set your DVRs now!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

President Barack Obama



Although Prop 8 didn't turn out well, I'm VERY happy with the presidential results!

Six months ago, I honestly believed that there was no way that there were enough rational, educated and open-minded people across the United States that, in this day and age, would actually elect a woman or an African American as president...no matter how qualified they might be.

I am not only happy that I was wrong, but find that I have a little bit of something back that, honestly, I haven't had for many people in this country for a very long time...

Hope that people can change.

I've really missed that.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Vote today!

Well, today has finally arrived and, as much as I'm looking forward to NOT hearing about every silly detail of each candidate's life, policies and dressing habits every minute, it's time to get out there and make a difference.

If you don't want to listen to me...listen to Borat and several of his celebrity friends (directed by Steven Spielberg).



"What you do inside the voting booth is a sacred. I like to make a hand relief...NICE."

Try to just focus on the voting part when you're in there...

Monday, November 3, 2008

A priest and a soldier go into a bar...



Oscar and I drove up to meet a couple of our friends at Paddy's bar in Ventura on Friday for their whoppin' Halloween party. The place was decorated to a tee and there were plenty of fun costumes parading all around us.



Although he didn't win the costume contest, Oscar's "dead priest" look was very popular, so he and his creepy white eyes were getting a lot of photo requests throughout the night.







The first place winner of the contest was this wedding cake costume....



Second place went to this creative costume of "Fall"...



They even had some celebrities there, like...Frank Langella.



Roseanne Barr.



Jesus and Pontius Pilot.



And, of course, no party is complete without....Abe Vigoda.



It turned out to be a really fun night and, if any of you are in the Ventura area next year, you should stop by for a scare or two.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Sarah Palin Ayers Fresheners

"For those times when somethin' just don't smell right."



Tina Fey....

Why you have to be so funny?