Air Guitar Nation

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This might just rank up there with the movie Trekkies. It's a documentary, not a "comedy". I just watched the trailer, and I'm pretty much speechless. This leads me to believe there might still be a chance for free-style walking to catch on, so Kevin, don't ever give up on that. You could be famous (beyond the ESPN bird outfit incident).

Reign Over Me

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I admit there were a few parts that felt just a little forced, but overall, a REALLY good movie. First of all, it's funny. Very funny. It goes in unexpected directions. Emotionally it has pretty intense moments. Some people say it's manipulative, but you really feel for Sandler during three scenes in particular. If you can get past the language, it's worth seeing. I want to see it again already.

What are we becoming?

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As a culture, I mean. I know this is certainly not a new topic, the de-personalization of bringing people closer through the Internet.

Yesterday I started an account at http://www.twitter.com. I added "friends" who I've never met, yet many of whose voices I've heard. If you aren't familiar with twitter, I'll explain. Twitter asks just one question: "What are you doing?" Users get 140 characters to answer using the web (twitter.com or Tweetbar, which lets you chronologically track all your friends, or even all twitter users, in a sidebar to Firefox), IMer, or phone text messaging. It's almost like real-time (if somewhat shallow) blogging with just a hint of IMing.

Then Cliff Ravenscraft listed http://twittervision.com in his twitter post today. This is literally a worldwide Google map combined with twitter. So messages are tied to a virtual pin in the map as they happen. As one person put it, we no longer need reality TV because a person could sit and watch people posting to twitter from all around the world...and it NEVER STOPS. I'm sitting here watching what people all over the world are doing RIGHT NOW and thinking, "But what am I doing?" I'm not working today, but there's got to be something better to do right now than this! I'm taking the dog for a walk...right now.

TV 'Tigh'm (Battlestar Galactica)

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Here we are less than halfway through the Heroes hiatus, and some of the best television ever aired is raining down on all sides. There have been a few twists and turns in Prison Break, but I'm still waiting for it to be renamed Prison Broke. Lost is in overdrive with Anthony Cooper trying to kill his own son (Locke), then showing up duct-taped to a chair in Ben Linus's closet. Next week is supposed to be the game-changer that will give a new direction to the show for the rest of the series, and a new rumor suggests that episode 20 will take place in the 1970's, with the founders of DHARMA, including Marvin Candle, and Hanso himself. Less than a month ago we got episodes of The Office directed by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams. The Sarah Connor Chronicle pilot has been filmed (fingers crossed that it won't disappoint). And it looks like there will even be some decent summer TV (Drive).

But best of all, Battlestar Galactica goes and completely redeems the many lackluster episodes of season 3 by completely blowing away all our expectations and revealing 4 of the final 5 cylons to be Resistance leaders (including Colonel Tigh - see subject line) from New Caprica. Starbuck's either not dead, or the 5th of the final cylons, and she claims to know where Earth is. I for one did not get upset about the use of a 20th Century song in the show, as some people have. It played the emotions of the reveals just fine. And to top things off, they actually showed Earth.

The only thing that could make TV any better right now is if I could get paid to watch. (Yes, I do actually leave the house on a regular basis.)

Happy Birthday Steve McQueen

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Dream

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Last night I dreamt about carbeurator icing. I was flying with a student when we started losing altitude. By the time we got the engine to full throttle we were 50 feet above the ground, but not just about the ground, above the street. The buildings looked like a residential area of New York, like on the Cosby show, but of course the streets curved a lot, forcing us to constantly turn. I finally got smart and turned on the carbeurator heat just in time to keep us from getting to ground level, but I woke up before we started climbing again.

One time...

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I overheard a guy in Meijer complaining that they didn't have any Elvis CDs. He was looking under "E". I guess he forgot that Elvis had a last name, too.

Groovy (as in records...you know, before cassettes)

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Music from before you were born

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I've found it really interesting in the last few months to discover music I've heard before. I don't mean once or twice, but music that's been around my entire life and has been heard in movies, TV shows, commercials, classic rock radio, etc. The weird thing about "growing up with" the music is that hearing it so much prevents a person from realizing that some of it is really quite good. Yes, most of the same bands put out some music that makes it seem like they were just tring to pay their mortgage. I thought I'd never seek out music from bands like The Doobie Brothers, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Three Dog Night...but there's some seriously good music there.

On a whole different level is one of rock's greatest showmen, Jerry Lee Lewis. I guarantee you've never heard a 71-year-old burn up a keyboard the way he still can. You own it to yourself to spend the 99 cents to download Rock and Roll with Jerry on Balwin piano and Jimmy Page on that legendary Les Paul.

(Note that when this picure was taken, these guys were already covering Chuck Berry tunes, so who's the father of Rock 'n Roll?)

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=7375214&s=143441&i=7375109

McQueen on Letterman tonight

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Barbara McQueen, that is.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/LIFE01/70313028

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
McQueen's widow headed to Newburgh

Barbara Minty McQueen will plug her new book, "Steve McQueen: The Last Mile," on "Late Show with David Letterman" tonight before heading to Newburgh this weekend for a number of appearances.

The widow of the "King of Cool" and her co-author, Marshall Terrill, will sign copies of the book at Barnes & Noble, 1245 Route 300 in Newburgh, on Saturday at 1 p.m. before they attend a premiere of "Steve McQueen: An American Rebel" at the Downing Film Center later that day.

The documentary will be screened as part of a Steve McQueen Film Festival that begins Friday and continues through Monday.

Congratulations...you're dumb.

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Sword Fight Ensues After S.C. Break-In

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — A man toting a 3-foot sword apparently met his match when he broke into his ex-girlfriend's apartment: The woman's roommate grabbed a sword of his own and sliced the intruder, police said.

The roommate, a sword collector, fended off the ex-boyfriend, who was cut on the arm, police said.

Elvis Javier Polanco, 18, was treated at a hospital and charged with burglary and aggravated assault, Beaufort County sheriff's Capt. Toby McSwain said. He said Polanco broke a window and climbed on his friend's shoulders to get into the apartment.

The roommate, Louis Delgado Hernandez, disarmed the intruder while the woman called police, McSwain said.