Because A Murder Isn't Interesting News Anymore

MJ, remember the time when you were awesome?

From nbcchicago.com:

The Pharaoh of Pop doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as King of Pop, but visitors to Chicago’s Field Museum could swear that’s Jacko’s face on a 3,000-year-old Egyptian bust.

The spitting image limestone sculpture has been on display at the museum since 1988, but recently started drawing attention because of its likeness to Jacko --- complete with disfigured nose.

Unfortunately the bust, which was carved sometime between 1550 B.C. and 1050 B.C., is of a woman and MJ likely never had the chance to see the statuette.

“I have no idea whether Jackson ever visited the museum,” a Field spokesperson said to the Sun-Times' Michael Sneed. “But the similarity between the limestone statue of a woman – which is about 3,000 years old --- and Jackson is astounding.”

Interestingly, Jackson cast himself as an interloper in ancient Egypt in his video for “Remember the Time,” so maybe he sensed some Egyptian roots.

Spain..On The Road Again

I have been watching this series the last few weeks on PBS where Chef Mario Batali (who I hated for the longest time when he had that one cooking show with that one sidekick of his..but he wasn't bad in these new series...), Gwyneth Paltrow, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols cruise around Spain exploring it's culinary traditions and history.

In episode 106 "Rockstar Surprise In Catalunya" Batali surprised Paltrow by picking up a hitch hiker who turned out to be...Michael Stipe. But Michael, Michael, Michael, why must you ruin the tapas experience by texting on your phone? You were showed on camera being on the phone and texting a couple of times at the table, buddy. Quite rude of you.

It's quite a good series for Spain, travel and food lovers. I don't know anything about Claudia Bassols work, but she turned out to be a foodie who also spoke six languages. And the mouth-watering food featured, especially freshly-caught seafood served on the same day...I wish it was as easy and inexpensive to get really, really fresh foods here in America, it's quite difficult to eat good, fresh and organic food unless you aren't poor or grow them yourself....

Fisherman's Lobster Stew

Hake With Clams and Parsley

Pisto Manchego

For more info on the series click here
Photos from spainontheroadagain.com

Wipeout!

I have a couple of tv shows that I follow every summer. My favorite is still Hell's Kitchen, but this summer I was attracted to the hit game show Wipeout! airing on ABC, sort of like Fear Factor meets America's Funniest Home Vidoes! Nothing like watching people make fools of themselves, hahaha...the show concluded it's first season with a 1 1/2 hour "best of" episode last night.

Each week 24 contestants go through an obstacle course to win the title of Wipeout! Champion and a $50,000 grand prize. The names of the obstacle courses include "The Sucker Punch", "Big Balls", "The Sweeper", "The Dizzy Dummy" and the "Wipeout Zone". Pretty funny stuff, especially watching the contestants going through the "Big Balls" obstacle...

It's entertaining, mindless tv, and a good time laughing at the misfortunes of others on a Tuesday night (before "Fringe" comes on). Oh yeah, and check out the Youtube I posted...guaranteed LOLS!!!

The Sucker Punch

Big Balls

The Sweeper

Mystery!

On PBS tonight:

After seven seasons, DI Lynley and his partner DS Barbara Havers investigate their last murder case together in "Know Thine Enemy".

Ive always enjoyed the series which was based on Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series of books. It's no secret that I absolutely love British police dramas. Great stuff.

Hell's Kitchen Finale

One of my favorite summertime shows. I can't decide whether I like Christina or Petrozza. None of the contestants stood out this season. But you can bet Jen will try to make things as difficult as possible for both finalists in their final showdown. Season finale is July 8th.

Christina, culinary student

vs

Petrozza, catering director

Cast of Hell's Kitchen Season 4

SYTYCD Top 16

I don't normally watch a lot of summer television, but the couple of shows that I try not to miss are Hell's Kitchen (more on this later) and So You Think You Can Dance. I know, it's cheesy, but American Idol is so over, and besides, nobody watches American Idol past the audition stages anyways (you know, for the dreadful singing and the attitude). Besides, who isn't attracted to the ballroom, hip hop, contemporary routines dreamed up each week by SYTYCD's resident choreographers? I have two left feet (let me put it out there) and just watching the amazing dancers sort of fills this dancing void inside me. So I Think I Can't Dance.

This week the bottom three couples were Chelsea T. and Thayne (quickstep), Kourtni L. and Matt (contemporary) and Comfort and Chris (African jazz) and after their individual solos and judges' deliberation, Chelsea T and Chris were out. Apparently Chelsea's sizzling cha cha in the first week wasn't enough to keep her from elimination. Chris' contagious personality couldn't keep him safe either.

I'd like to see these couples in the final three:

1. Courtney and Gev: They are so good together and you can just tell that Gev has a little bit of a crush on Courtney, and for a breaker he's actually quite versatile. I forgot what they danced in the first week but they drew contemporary in the second week and the rumba last night (choreographed by Melanie LaPatin & Tony Meredith), and they danced the shit outta both!

Courtney & Gev...awww cute!!

2. Kherington and Twitch: Another sort of mismatched couple, he does hip-hop, she's contemporary. But they both have larger than life personalities, and don't take themselves too seriously. Last night they danced a hip hop number choreographed by Napoleon &Tabitha.

Prison break with Kherington & Twitch.

3: Katee and Joshua: I think they're the strongest of the three technically. The performed a so-so routine the first week, but blew up with a Broadway routine the second week, and a brilliant samba last night (choreographers Melanie LaPatin & Tony Meredith). I hope they'll be around for a while.

Hola!! Katee and Joshua do the samba.

Yea I don't normally gush about TV shows (If you ever see a post here about Grey's Anatomy or Desperate Housewives, just shoot me, 'mkay???) but SYTYCD is a fun show and like I said, cheesy. Although Jay did point out, "What's up with the British host and shit?"


Videos:

Sources:
tvsquad.com
fox.com
youtube.com

Cranford Episodes 2 & 3

From PBS.org:

As winter approaches, Cranford is beset by sorrows and struggles to regain confidence.

Dr. Harrison's housekeeper, Mrs. Rose, discovers a leg of mutton has been stolen from the kitchen window on the very same night that Mr. Johnson, the owner of the town's most important store, is mugged. The ladies decide that a crime wave has hit Cranford.

Mr. Johnson, meanwhile, becomes convinced that Job Gregson, the local ne'er-do-well, must be his attacker and Job is arrested. Job's son, Harry, decides to make a confession to Mr. Carter of his own part in the poaching to save his father from transportation and has to bear the acute disappointment that Mr. Carter feels. Mr. Carter pleads Job's case with Lady Ludlow, saying that without her intervention, Job will be found guilty and the Gregson family will starve. Lady Ludlow is immovable — the Gregsons are not her responsibility.

Christmas arrives and Cranford huddles together to celebrate, though the town has been so buffeted by events that it feels strangely unsure of itself. An invitation for Matty arrives from Mr. Holbrook, asking her to visit him on his farm. Miss Pole and Mary urge her to accept, and they accompany her on what turns out to be a delightful — and hopeful — day for Matty.



Meanwhile, Dr. Harrison confides in his medical school friend, Jack Marshland, about his love for Sophy. Jack encourages him to send her some Valentine flowers. But Jack, a perpetual prankster, has set up some mischief by sending a Valentine card to Caroline Tomkinson as if from Dr. Harrison, hinting at marriage. Caroline is ecstatic and eagerly awaits Dr. Harrison's proposal.

Matty suffers great disappointment and, in a nostalgic mood one evening, decides to confide in Mary about Mr. Holbrook, and how things were put asunder by a trick played by her younger brother, Peter, who then ran away in disgrace to India and has not been seen since.

The mention of India prompts Mary to write to Major Gordon to tell him that Jessie regrets her decision not to marry him, since her father is now so busy at the railway works he really has no need for her.

Dr. Harrison visits the Rectory and formally asks the Rev. Hutton for permission to court Sophy. He promises he will propose as soon as he is able to provide a home for her.

At an auction, Dr. Harrison bids for a small table. When he gets it home, he discovers it is a sewing table so suggests his housekeeper, Mrs Rose, might like to use it. To Miss Pole and Mrs. Forrester, this is tantamount to a proposal. Gullible Mrs. Rose believes them and allows them to dye the grey out of her hair. They convince her that Dr. Harrison will propose on May Day.

Miss Tomkinson, meanwhile, becomes concerned by Caroline's fretful waiting on Dr. Harrison to proclaim his love, and decides to draw him out on the matter.

Preparations for May Day excite everyone in the town, and there are high expectations of the day. Dr. Harrison looks forward to the first time he will be able to be with Sophy openly as a couple. The whole town gathers on the Heath.

Jem and Martha marry and live as lodgers in Matty's house — a source of joy for Matty.

Miss Pole invites the ladies of the town to a secret meeting to discuss Matty's crisis. United in their love for Matty, they decide to secretly share part of their own incomes with her. Mary is recruited to devise a means of getting this to Matty without her knowing where it came from.

Dr. Harrison, on the other hand, is shunned by the town — no patients will come to him now that he has been exposed as a philanderer. Dr. Morgan suggests he must move on to start afresh.

Mr. Carter is horrified to discover that Lady Ludlow has secretly mortgaged her estate to raise money for her son's villa in Italy, and knows what pain such an unfathomable mortgage has cost her personally. He confronts her and there is a heated exchange.

Sophy returns to Cranford ill, but is diagnosed by Dr. Morgan as simply being heartbroken. He assures Rev. Hutton that, with time and love from her family, she will recover. By the time Jack Marshland arrives in town to help clear Dr. Harrison's name, Sophy's condition has worsened and she is diagnosed with typhoid fever. He enlists Mrs. Rose's help in treating her, while Dr. Harrison is physically barred from either seeing Sophy or assisting.

Mr. Carter visits Captain Brown at the railway works in a desperate attempt to see if he can raise capital for Lady Ludlow's mortgage by selling timber or tools. While he is there, disaster strikes and the injured are taken to Dr. Harrison's for emergency treatment. As Sophy's condition deteriorates, her young sisters defy their father and ask Dr. Harrison for help. But has the call come too late?

Cranford Episode One

Last night PBS aired one of three episode of the stellarly casted "Cranford" (2007) adapted from Elizabeth Gaskell's book of the same name. From PBS.org:

Mary Smith flees a crisis at home in Manchester to stay with two spinster sisters, Deborah and Matty Jenkyns, in the small, rural town of Cranford. Deborah is the dominating force in Cranford society, and the kind-hearted and eccentric Matty believes her to be the best judge in all matters.

A new young doctor, Frank Harrison, is brought to Cranford to join Dr. Morgan in his medical practice. Despite Dr. Morgan talking up his protégé, the mere fact that Dr. Harrison is a young bachelor and trained in London is enough to make him the talk of the town. When the town's carpenter, Jem Hearne, has a catastrophic fall from a tree, Dr. Morgan is horrified to learn that instead of amputating the injured arm, Dr. Harrison is determined to attempt new and risky surgery. Everyone gets involved in the case, and gossip and rumor spread, led by the unassailable Miss Pole.

Meanwhile, Cranford's reigning aristocrat, Lady Ludlow, who lives two miles outside Cranford at the splendid Hanbury Court, wants to turn her attention to the planning of her annual garden party with her trusted estate manager, Mr. Carter.

The Jenkyns are intrigued when the house across the street becomes occupied by a retired soldier, Captain Brown, his daughter Jessie, and Jessie's ailing older sister. Deborah and Matty are riveted to see that he seems acquainted with another local aristocrat, Sir Charles Maulver, who engages the Captain in an unknown business proposal.

Deborah surprises Matty by encouraging Jessie's romance with a visiting soldier named Major Gordon.

Cranford's ladies are focused on preparing for Lady Ludlow's garden party, the social event of the year. New bonnets are made by the town's long-suffering millner Miss Galindo, and there's a new gown for Caroline Tomkinson, who has fallen for Dr. Harrison and is eager to impress him. Dr. Harrison has set his sights on Sophy Hutton, the eldest daughter of Cranford's rector, Reverend Hutton. But Mary Smith's stepmother Clara is determined to play matchmaker between the doctor and Mary.

Forced to assume responsibility for feeding his family, 10-year-old Harry Gregson instructs his little brother Malachi how to steal milk from Mrs. Forrester's beloved cow, Bessie. Unfortunately, six-year-old Malachi forgets to close the gate and Bessie escapes.

Meanwhile, Harry sets off to poach, but becomes transfixed by Lady Ludlow's glasshouse and the exotic plants and fruits he sees there. Cold and exhausted, he falls asleep on the heated floor and is caught the following morning by Mr. Carter. However, Mr. Carter is so moved by Harry's dismal poverty that he offers to pay Harry to run messages for him during the preparations for the garden party. Harry proves to be reliable, good-natured and intelligent, and Mr. Carter offers to teach him to read and write. This is something to be done secretly, as he is fully aware that Lady Ludlow is passionately against educating the working classes.

Matty, meanwhile, is clearly shaken when, at the party, she meets a mysterious acquaintance from her past, Thomas Holbrook. No one witnesses this meeting and Matty tells no one about it.

Things start to go badly wrong at the party when Miss Pole and Mrs. Forrester overhear Sir Charles's startling news that a railway line will be built to come right into Cranford. They immediately report this to Deborah, who leads a deputation of the ladies to Captain Brown in hopes of having the rumor refuted. But Captain Brown shocks them further by telling them that not only is the rumor true, but that he will be the Head of Works. All the woman are scandalized by this news, but the most stricken is Deborah, who sees Captain Brown's secrecy as the ultimate betrayal of a friendship, and the railway as the absolute end of Cranford.

While I had not planned on watching the 2-hour episode initially, I found myself drawn to the comings and goings of the eclectic residents and of course the costumes. And I will watch anything with the amazing Judi Dench in it.








There are funny moments in the episode especially involving the gossipy Miss Pole's beloved cow Bessie, ice-cream at the garden party (imagine ice-cream being a novelty, what's with ice being virtually non-existent), desperate attempts of Miss Caroline Tomkinson to woo Dr. Harrison despite Dr. Harrison already in love with Sophy Hutton.

Cranford is an engaging, smart, charming, at the same time dark portrayal of life in a rural Victorian village struggling to preserve its identity in the face of change and modernity.



The cast includes Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Imelda Staunton, Julia Sawalha, Greg Wise, Michael Gambon, Simon Wood and Francesca Annis.






Sources:
dailymail.co.uk
pbs.org
guardian.co.uk
Also see LA Times review

The Clash: Revolution Rock

Almost missed the show tonight, but caught it 10 minutes in. Great stuff!!



(From PBS.org):

- New 60-Minute Documentary Chronicles Live Performances From the Iconic Punk Pioneers at the Peak of Their Popularity -

THE CLASH LIVE: REVOLUTION ROCK is an electrifying new performance documentary film, compiling an extraordinary range of peak live concert and live studio performances and more from the Clash, the groundbreaking British band that defined and expanded the power of punk rock in the 1970s, 1980s and beyond. The program airs as part of the March 2008 pledge drive (check local listings) on PBS.

THE CLASH LIVE: REVOLUTION ROCK follows the transformation of the band, incorporating footage from all phases of the Clash's meteoric career, beginning with live-in-the-studio clips from 1979, crescendoing with triumphant concerts from clubland (London's The Music Machine, 1978) and theatres (the Lyceum, 1978, 1980) and climaxing with a transcendent blow-out performance at New York's Shea Stadium in 1982.

Formed in London during the first wave of punk-rock in 1976, the Clash, known by fans at the time as "The Only Band That Matters," became the most progressive and visionary rock band of its era, releasing five albums in six years, each a brave step into uncharted territory. Joe Strummer (guitar, vocals), Mick Jones (guitar, vocals), Paul Simonon (bass) and Topper Headon (drums) embraced the energy and confrontational attitude of punk. Refusing the limitations of any musical genre, the Clash incorporated elements of reggae, funk, dub, rap, hard rock and roots rockabilly into a continually evolving and challenging sound. Taking its name from the headlines of the day, the Clash wrote songs addressing the issues of class and race confronting the UK in the 1970s.

The Clash was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in January 2003, a month after the untimely passing of Joe Strummer, age 50, in December 2002.

Legacy Recordings will release a deluxe DVD edition of THE CLASH LIVE: REVOLUTION ROCK in March 2008.

Watch out Dirty Kitchensss...

Man oh man, I watched "superstar chef" Gordon Ramsey's new show "Kitchen Nightmares" last night and laughed myself silly; that man is a genius!!! What's more entertaining than watching a bunch of idiots get their collective asses chewed out by the foul-mouthed, evil genius chef! He basically goes to a (usually) crappy, deserted, horribly rodent and bug-infested restaurant, chews out the management and staff, throws around a few choice expletives and sets about turning the place around in about sixty minutes. I mean, for mindless television, that's one of the best shows ever. Can't wait for the next season of Hell's Kitchen.

One Good Song

"My Life In The Knife Trade"

how many times have i noticed that our eyes hardly ever meet
from your judgment seat i can feel the anger for my very being
fill me in on when you became such a big part of my life
that i should bother with all your lies designed to bring me down
wrong again don't depend on any reaction again
i remember the icy walls that shot up from no where
and i can see every lie that you ever told yourself
you bleed me dry and i don't ask why but i'm left with the dust
judas kiss i dismiss thank you all for this i am unjudged i am
wait again i'm not through with the screaming
i contend that you've got nothing better to do
trade my life for a barrel of gold find someone else before i get too old
if i live my life for aesthetic gain will you repay me with all your shame
i can see every light inside your brain
go on every time that i walk by for noise and whispers
your comfort in my suffering is no longer disturbing
i'm lost beyond your petty stopwatch in life's real time lifes real
wait again im not through with the screaming
and i contend that you've got nothing better to do
trade my life for a barrel of gold find someone else before i get to old
if i live my life for aesthetic gain will you repay me with all your shame
don't get up i was slowly leaving the room when the door of your judgment swings back around again
maybe i'll stop to watch your act and i'll go on my way
i've seen quite enough of too many childish games
i'm ashamed of every moment that i ever gave them the time of day
all the worst of enemies are somehow always friends that used to be



On another note...my current favorite show is 24, while Heroes is on hiatus..I guess I am a bit slow when it comes to watching the latest big shows on the telly, I'd never followed Friends, or Will and Grace, or any of the other shows other people love, not even Seinfeld..strangely I never miss Senifeld now its on syndication, or 24. Now I try to catch 24, and Alias every Sunday night..strange, eh. The only channel I watch regularly is PBS.. entertaining and informative at the same time.