Emmy Awards - Hour #1

The wonderful Jane Lynch is hosting and starting off with a production number full of singing and comedy featuring half of the people on TV. The Mad Men part was the best by far. I like the idea of The Emmytones (goofy singers featuring celebrities), I hate the idea of Wilmer Valderrammaa being in it though. Why hasn't he gone away from the entertainment world completely. But the first presenters, Jimmys Kimmel & Fallon were funny. First winner, Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy is Julie Bowen!! WTG, she was hilarious in the Halloween episode of Modern Family! Although looking at her dress, she needs to eat more and work out less. Julianna Margulies is presenting Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. She's funny, but something attack the top of her dress. Or else someone had to use the rest of their gems in their Bedazzler. The winner is Ty Burrell, from Modern Family. Starting off to be a good night for them. Ricky Gervais' part was pretty funny I have to say. And now ZOOEY!!

Let's see, Jane Lynch did a Tea Party joke, now Charlie Sheen is presenting. Why? Can't we send him & Wilmer off somewhere? I have to say, he does look to be in bad shape. Now, Lead Actor in a Comedy is Jim Parsons! I do love Sheldon and Big Bang Theory, but would have loved a Steve Carrell win. An accent joke with Sofia Vergara? Wow, that's as original as a pair of Gap Khakis! LOVED Amy Poehler coming up on stage when her name was announced though, and then the others. What a great plan!! :-) It's just like Miss America! Even Edie Falco played along and she's about as funny as psoriatic arthritis. And Laura Linney who is even less funny than that. WOW!! Melissa McCarthy won!! Go SOOKIE!! (Not that awful Anna Paquin Sookie, but the real Gilmore Girls Sookie). Bridesmaids must have helped her a lot. I was rooting for Martha Plimpton, but I like Melissa.

I loved The Office parody. I love all the different shows being parodied. But why was Kim Kardashian there? I know she was making fun of herself, but really, Kim, making fun of you is our job! Showing some of these reality shows further shows why I don't like most of these crappy shows. And since I watch none of those reality competition shows, I don't care that Amazing Race won. I do always love the writer nominees intros, and shock, Daily Show wins again. That's hour 1 y'all!

VMAs

OK, I got home late and missed the first 20 minutes or so. I have to go back and watch Gaga and watch Britney win Pop Video. I would have chosen Katy with Bruno #2. Brit would have been 4th, maybe 3rd. Oh well, hopefully Katy can win something.

Kanye & Jay-Z were good. I still woulda laughed if Taylor Swift busted in there. Foo Fighters won for rock video. That is AWESOME. That's a great video! Jack Black, Will Ferrell, and the usually funny Seth Rogen as Beastie Boys of the Future was epic mega lame. Glad Nicki Minaj won. She's flipping nuts. And Katy did finally win a moonman for E.T. with Kanye.

Now, my favorite catchy song "Give Me Everything". I love Ne-Yo and Pitbull doesn't annoy me. But this performance is all about the dancing sluts ain't it? Glad he left the Lindsay Lohan line in. Why is she suing? She was locked up.

Apparently, Beyonce still knows how to capture the spotlight. She announced her pregnancy on the black carpet. Her butt is gonna be the size of Oregon! Go Beyonce!

Adele is singing "Someone Like You" YES!!!!! And did she nail it? Heck yeah she did! 21 is a brilliant album. If you don't own it, you really should or else I will question your musical taste.

Seriously, Bieber won? Those other 4 videos were 500,000,000 times better. That's stupid, ridiculous, and a travesty. Stupid teenage girl voters. Then what was up with the Chris Brown performance? Dancing and singing to other people's songs. Dumb.

Now I'm waiting for the Amy Winehouse & Britney tributes. Gaga is still in character as Andrew "Dice" Clay. But the dancing is awesome. Too bad Britney can't even come close to dancing like that. But the whole acceptance speech was interrupted by Gaga and it all seemed too brief. Why did Britney introduce Beyonce in her own acceptance speech. WEIRD! But Beyonce can throw down for a knocked up chick, but she did make it all about her with the pregnancy announcement. If you don't have a good video, get the attention somehow.

Young the Giant was ok. Gaga won female video but was still in character. That's really getting annoying. Oh, and I finally watched her performance. I know why she went for the drag thing, because of the video, and it kinda worked in the performance. She was great at the piano, but that choreography was hideous.

Now here is the Amy tribute. This has the potential to be epic! BRUNO doing Valerie!! He's awesome. You should also check out his Doo Wop & Hooligans CD. I do wish Adele would have sung in this tribute though. What the smurf (pun intended) is Katy Perry wearing on her head? I'd hate to be sitting behind her. And her husband was annoying even in his tribute to Amy.

I haven't read The Hunger Games so I don't know if I'll care about this, but I like Jennifer Lawrence (see Winter's Bone if you haven't). Katy Perry won video of the year for the very inspiring Firework. It was deserved. It was a very well done video.

Lil Wayne trying to sing is as painful as my arthritis without my Humira. Why was he chosen to close the show?

Best performance: Adele (runner up Bruno). Worst: Chris Brown.

OK, see y'all at the Emmys

Green Lantern Review

I went in going for a good fun diversion. Well, except for Ryan Reynolds (and all too brief appearances by Taika Waititi), I hated this movie. The script was awful & the direction was bad. I know it was an origin story but it was a leaden bore. Reynolds seemed to know when to take the story seriously and when not to, something the rest of the cast could have learned from. Angela Bassett was woefully under utilized. Peter Sarsgaard didn't know whether to be serious or hammy. And was I supposed to believe that Tim Robbin's character was old enough to be Sarsgaard's father?

Speaking of that, were Reynolds & Lively supposed to be the same age? If so, I didn't buy her as being in her late 20s, much less her early 30s. And Lively is as believable playing an ace pilot as I am playing Blake Lively. I thought Blake was overrated in The Town (which is an AWESOME movie by the way), so why is Hollywood trying to make her the big IT girl? Besides being pretty, what does she bring to a movie? And as for her recent scandal, Reese Witherspoon was spot on RIGHT at the MTV Movie Awards.

But this movie just wasn't fun. Iron Man and the X-Men movies showed you can have a superhero movie that is fun and knows it isn't making great art (the exceptions being the Batman movies made before Christopher Nolan took over). Superhero movies are bad when they start to take themselves too seriously (see Watchmen and the 3rd X-Men movie. The Christopher Nolan Batman movies are the exception). Ryan Reynolds looked ready to have fun, but wasn't able to let loose.

And then, about 10-15 minutes before the movie was over, a lady and 4-5 kids came in. I think they had bought tickets for the showing AFTER the one I was in. For some reason, she didn't realize the movie had started, much less was almost over. She was talking and herding her kids to their seats in a normal to loud volume, as if there was nothing wrong. Didn't she see the lights were off? Didn't she see the movie on the screen? Didn't she see what time it was? It was so close to the end, people really didn't do or say anything. I think they were ready for the movie to just be done.

I Set Fire To the Rain

Hello happy citizens of Eddieland. I hope all is well with my loyal subject. You've been faithful with my Facebook posts, but thankfully those are pretty much daily. I teased you with my 4 part Grammy spectacular. I know y'all are wanting this for the Oscars as well, but I will be out of town watching the Oscars with friends old, new, and yet to be made. I hope I can kepp up, but I'm not sure, it won't be my top focus. I'm making food for our little gathering. I'm like a caterer, except I'm not getting paid. At least I don't think I am, but if I'm offered money, I'm not dumb enough to turn it down. But I can't wait though. Anytime I get to chat with my friend, I take it. Anytime I get to see my friend, I go for it. And driving to Atlanta is much closer and easier to get to than taking an early bus to NYC, spending the day there, and then taking an overnight bus back. The things I do just so people can see me. But friends are worth it, I guess :-)

But enough about others, let's talk more about me. I've been at my new job for a month and I still love it. That's a good thing. I moved back with only a good chance at one job, and that's not the job I took. This one came about pretty suddenly and after I'd put in my notice at my former job. The other job seemed more certain, or at least a good starting point. But I know that I made the right choice all around. I'm glad to be home (although moving to Birmingham wouldn't be bad, know any affordable apartments in decent areas), glad to be back at my churches (but finding a choir director job would be nice, know of any churches in the Bham area looking?), glad to be at this job (especially since the one I didn't take could be in jeopardy since the company is being bought out), glad to be around friends (if you haven't seen me yet, what the heck is your delay?). It was sad leaving my old company though. I made many good friends, plus I knew my way around my insurance (if any of you work for medical insurance companies, don't let me know. I'd harass you for hours about what an awful industry yours is.) I'm hoping my insurance is now all settled and proof of coverage means I can go to my arthritis doctor soon. I'll be happier once I can take my arthritis medicine again though. My hand is swollen more than Rush Limbaugh's ego and stomach. But since I'm sick again (probably from taking my arthritis medicine too soon after being sick in January. Patience is a virtue, but impatience is quicker.

I've even gotten back to the gym and back on Weight Watchers. I wonder if it'll be easy as last time. Sadly, I don't think it will be. My next goal is to get under 200 pounds. If I do, I need a good celebratory act. I just don't know what yet. I know it won't be running a marathon. I don't like to run unless I'm being chased.

OK, now, controversy time, somewhat. When did we stop worry about big problems in the world? Why are we letting pettier things rule us? We fight over football  and whether arguing over it caused a nutjob to kill trees. We listen to sports talk radio argue over arguments about spots. Finebaum & The Opening Drive have turned into the radio equivalent of PeopleOfWalMart.com Listening to those people makes me ashamed to be southern at times. And while it's nice that Bama & Auburn fans came together to say a nutjob was crazy (that's about as obvious as banding together to claim water is wet) and give money to trees, I thing about all the good that money could do for those in need in the state. The poor, the hungry, the elderly, the sick. Nothing against Auburn at all, but perspective. Same thing with the Sunday liquor sales initiative. I don't foresee this making an impact on my life at all to be honest. I don't think it was God's will that the measure be defeated. I know many good Christians who supported the measure and who opposed it. Where does that leave God in this? For some though, it seemed more a referendum against alcohol itself instead of just selling it on Sundays. You know what, the sun will still rise tomorrow. There will still be work to be done. There will still be a positive example of God's love which needs to be shown. And that is my final thought of this long blog (it's been a while, so sue me. Plus I figured it if was long and I put controversy at the end of the blog, most of you would have stopped reading by now. I guess I'll find out), there is more than one way to tell others about Christ. As I've heard before (and sometimes attributed to St. Francis) "Preach the gospel, use words if necessary". If others know we are Christians, they learn more about Christianity from how we live our lives & treat others, than by quoting the entire Bible at them. You can quote John 3:16 or the Roman Road to someone all day long, but if you don't show love, then what have you done? You haven't acted like Christ. I try to treat everyone with love & respect and treat them all equally. "Good Christians" shouldn't get treated more equal than others. I hope that I show the same love, respect, & courtesy to everyone, no matter what you believe or who you are. I'm glad I have friends of all makes & models (for lack of a better term).

OK, enough rambling for now? I hope so!

Grammy Awards Blog - The end

Rihanna & Drake were introduced by Diddy who was talking really slowly and seemed to have something in his mouth. That's odd because Diddy is usually so put together and confident. Rihanna may not be the best singer, but she knows how to entertain and pick catchy songs. These days, that's all it takes. That being said, it's a fun song, it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Skeletor and some chick who can't sing presenting Record of the Year. I can't believe the safe choice. I'm kinda ticked. And this is coming from a Lady A fan. They are BORING compared to the other nominees. I'm resenting Lady A, when I'm really upset at the boring Grammy voters. 4 Urban songs up against a pop/country adult contemporary song. I would have placed Lady A no higher than 4th in that line-up. After their song of the year win, I would have placed them 5th.

Next, a band The Friend introduced me to, ARCADE FIRE! I'm glad they went full on rock tonight. The Suburbs is a great song and real low key. This was a super flippin rockin' song!! Gotta love a good rock song!

Now Jeff Bridges Kris Kristofferson & Barbara Streisand present album of the year. I'll take a Gaga win over Lady A if I can. The winner is ARCADE FIRE! Congrats to them!! I have that album, it's awesome. I also have Katy Perry and Lady A, Arcade Fire is the best of those 3! I do now wish they had played The Suburbs before they end of the show cut them off haha.

Ok, so that was fun. Not a bad show. Unlike last year, people sang on key, even Katy, for the most part. Enjoy your week. It will be upper 60s/low 70s all week. I can't wait. I will also see Black Swan & True Grit this week and try out the Y. It's a busy week!

Grammy Awards Blog - Hour 3

We are starting off with Katy Perry for hour 3. I can't help but like her. She seems like such a nice girl, and got a raw deal from Sesame Street (how ironic is it she followed Cee Lo?). Sometimes she sounds good, sometimes not. She sounds ok tonight. The Friend loves the song she started with. Teenage Dream reminds me of being in San Diego (I heard the song a lot there and it's catchy fun). After Russell's awful SNL last night, she redeemed the family. It was fun to see Nicole Kidman dancing and singing along with Katy. See, she's not a robot.

Jolene by Mayer, Jones, & Urban, that was awesome. But is John Mayer trying to look like Johnny Depp's younger dirtier brother? Depp can pull off greasy as cool. Mayer looked like he had been hanging out with Charlie Sheen all weekend. Now onto Song of the Year. I do love that it is The Song otherwise known as Forget You. That should have won over Lady A. Grammys just don't like urban songs I guess, PUNKS! I like the drunken booty call song, but I was rootin for Cee-Lo.

Hooray for Seth Rogen for the Miley Cyrus joke. Now, on to Eminem's performance! Wow, Rihanna is starting out sounding FIERCE! I don't know that I've heard her sound better. Eminem is firing on all cylinders tonight. WOW! Dre joins in too. More fierceness. That was absolutely amazing!

Now, best new artist. I'm rooting for Florence or Drake. The winner is Esperanza Spalding in a HUGE upset. I don't even think she knows who she is.

With most of the Rolling Stones looking like cadavers donated to medical schools, I'm not sure it's smart having Mick Jagger come on right after the death parade. It's fun to see him go back to the Stones' R&B/rock roots. He seems to really be enjoying himself. Nice Cyndi Lauper sighting.

Kris Kristofferson is a very talented man, but is he drunk or did he have some medical problems? Now, Barbra. Song, hair, and dress straight from 1974. I know the song won an Oscar and Grammys, but it's very dated and not very good. Couldn't she have sung The Way We Were or something good? But you know some too old Grammy voters are thinking "Why aren't there more songs like that anymore?"

On to the last half hour & such!

Grammy Awards Blog - Hour 2

We start with Bieber & Usher. I just don't get the Bieber popularity. He's not that great a singer or a dancer. He's like a mediocre church singer. No better than other those little disposable teen pop boys that have come and gone over the years. Then out pops half of Will & Jada's retirement plan. Yeah, that was annoying. I love Usher's Star Search dance routine, but he looks like he got his outfits at a Star Trek garage sale.

Best Rock Album went to Muse!! Their performance was AWESOME! I'm happy for them. Best Pop Vocal Album went to Gaga. I was rooting for Katy. Why are Gaga and Donnie Wahlberg both wearing sunglasses. You are INDOORS!

In the same set used by Zac Brown Band at the CMA Awards, Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons, & Bob Dylan performed. I love a song with a banjo AND a horn section. That's good! I'm loving this acoustic section, really digging it.The bouncy guitar player in the suit for Avett Brothers is really into the song.  Dylan can be hit or miss with me. I know he's a great songwriter to be revered but his voice, wow. He sounds like someone's old coot grandpa trying to tell you a story from the depression.

Lady Antebellum singing Teddy Pendergrass? Skeptical, but starting off really well. I do wish they wouldn't do a big medley and just sing 1 song, but what do I know. But why is the girl wearing a ring pop on her hand? Nobody believes that is a real gem. But it was too low key for my taste.

What has Kings of Leon ever done to anyone to deserve having to present an award with Miley? Congrats Lady A.

Now, CEE LO! I do wish Gwyneth Paltrow wasn't singing with him. Gwyneth was good in the context of Glee, but this is Cee Lo's moment. Gaga, this is how you do over the top! Like 70s Elton. Plus, PUPPETS!! How can't you like that :-) It was like grown up Sesame Street. I won't say what letters it was brought to you by. Cee Lo is AWESOME!!

On to hour 3!