Spring Fever Remedies

Antidotes for Spring Fever

Ladies and Gentlemen…Spring is officially here, and while I’ve been keeping my eye on the Charlie Sheen fiasco, not to mention the tragedy the world is going through with Japan I think it’s time for some happier thoughts. I’ve found the top five ways to keep your mind off your oncoming spring fever and draw your attention to the following:

5. While social media sites are the newest craze, I’ve found some throw back entertainment embedded within their virtual walls. For the past three decades, the world has been chasing two elusive characters that always seem impossible to find. Carmen San Diego and Waldo! Yes that’s right I went old school. Why not try your hand at The Learning Company’s Facebook version of Carmen San Diego? Or if you’d like something with less of a learning curve, Classic Media has released three variations on the Where’s Waldo series. Now available for iPhone, PC and Nintendo Wii console you can chase the elusive man in red stripes across scenes you may remember from yesteryear. Don’t forget to look for Wanda, Woof and Odlaw too!

4. Rolling Stones Magazine released the 20 Most Annoying Songs as voted on by the readers. Despite my disagreement with more than half the list, take a nostalgia trip into the 90’s and head over to iTunes and download a few. Personally where they have listed songs such as Aqua’s “Barbie Girl”, Chumbawumba’s “Tub Thumping” and Lou Bega’s “Mambo No.5”, I can’t help but wonder exactly where is Madonna’s “Music” or Hanson’s “MmmBopp”? I guess Bieber has not yet made the top annoying list yet…

3. Got Royal Wedding Fever? BBCAmerica.com has been keeping a blog so mere mortals like you and I can follow along with the insanity and constant additions to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding extravaganza. In fact, the latest news is BBC is launching “Weakest Link: Royal Wedding Edition” as a new app for iPhone which will hit the iTunes store on March 22. The game features 10,000 trivia questions and over 1,000 devoted just to William and Kate’s nuptials. Stay up to date at http://blogs.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/category/royal-wedding/ and even watch Michael Flatley send his well wishes to the couple.

2. Find a good book, well… I have found some great spring reading. Check out Kyla Duffy and Lowrey Mumford's series "Lost Souls: Found, Inspiring stories... “I have read the Pug, Dachshund and Cat volumes and after crying my eyes out about some of these animals I finished the books with a smile on my face. Published by Happy Tails Books, these are not to be missed. Not to mention money made off the sales of these books goes to helping out our furry and feathered friends. Check it out at http://www.happytailsbooks.com because every animal deserves a happily ever after, even if it’s a short period of time. The authors are wonderful ladies and have poured their hearts into collecting these touching and tearful stories. A good read for anyone who loves or ever loved an animal!

1. Of course, to top my list off, I couldn't neglect the sports fans! Catch baseball fever! Opening day for the regular season is March 31st and the stars will be out that night! Hometown Yankee’s will host the Detroit Tigers at 1:05pm. On the West Coast, watch as the Los Angeles Dodgers host World Series Champion’s the San Francisco Giants starting at 8:00pm. Both games are not to be missed. Then of course, by that time, we’ll be keeping our eye on the NHL, as the New York Rangers are on a four game winning streak, maybe we’ll see some play-off time this year and at least get to take a peek at the Stanley Cup, hey if I bleed “Ranger Blue” I can dream can’t I?

***P.S*** If you noticed, I mentioned once again the same books as my last post, they were amazing! So instead of criticism, pick one up!

Idol Loses One...and other Heart Felt Things

Ok well, Idol loses Ashton tonight which eh, is ok in my book. I would say that the wild card not being used was good in theory but wasn't it the wild card that got her there in the first place? Will Idol never learn from past mistakes, they always end up using the save and then they get voted off the next week, may have well gotten it done and over with to begin with.

However, I do need to apologize to my readers who may have noticed I was absent from this week's paper. I needed a break after Oscars to regroup, not to mention the tiresome ordeal of keeping up with Charlie Sheen, I mean the minute I would send something to print for them it would already be yesterday or even last week's news because let's face it, Mr. Sheen, while you make good entertainment, you make it very difficult for us without Tiger Blood and in Los Angeles to follow you closely. While I'm at it...Kudos to you Jon Cryer for coming onto Conan tonight and meeting face to face with the troll comment Charlie Sheen threw your way. I do think you would make a great troll for my pencil eraser.

On an off note I have found some great summer reading. Check out Kyla

Duffy and Lowrey Mumford's series "Lost Souls:

Found, Inspiring stories... " I have read the Pug, Dachshund and Cat volumes

and after crying my eyes out about some of these animals I finished the

books with a smile on my face. Publis

hed by Happy Tails Books, these are not to be missed. Not to mention money

made off the sales of these books goes to helping out our furry and feathered friends. Please check it out at http://www.happytailsbooks.com because every animal deserves a happily ever after, even if its a short period of

time. The authors are wonderful ladies and have poured

their hearts into collecting these touching and tearful stories. A good summer read for anyone who loves or ever loved an animal!

American Idol - Top 12 Boys

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, it's that time of American Idol again where America gets to vote. This year Idol producers came to the ingenious idea that America could vote online, which is good since they have changed the open phone lines from 4 to 2 hour duration.

Overall the night had it's up and downs, however I don't think this year will go to the rockers as it has for the past two seasons. Casey Abrams (Seth Rogan's doppleganger) ended the night rocking out to "I put a spell on you" which wowed the judges, but James Durban let down the rock gods, despite the judges review when he screamed out a Judas Priest song ala Adam Lambert. Sorry dude, just because it worked for him, doesn't mean it works for you.

Crooner Paul McDonald and Aladdin look alike Robbie Rosen sang sweetly and gave the audience a reason to vote for them as they wooed the girls in the audience, but no one did it better than Scotty McCreery. His deep country drawl drew in the audience both in the room and in living rooms around the country. No doubt he'll be staying for a few rounds.

That leaves the rest, Clint Jun Gamboa who's performance was all but mediocre despite what judges though. Go back to Karaoke bars dude. Brett Lowenstern gave a memorable performance however I could have done without the 14 count them, 14 hair shakes he included. Jacob Lusk surprised the audiences by not screaming with that big mouth of his, and Jordan Dorsey gave a similar but ok run. Jovany Barretto and Stephano Langone showed they were more than a pretty body when they crooned out pleasing notes, but I don't expect them to be consistent. That left Tim Halperin who typically is behind a piano, took a risk by singing a fast paced song and didn't quite hit the notes.

Dialidol.com has predicted that Clint Jun Gamboa will be the first out, and putting Scotty McCreery in the first place spot. They have been right on the money every year, lets see if that holds up again with the addition of online voting. Stay tuned tonight for the top 12 girls to take the stage... though personally I rarely vote for the girls, most of them act beyond snotty, and I'm already getting that from Pia Toscano which is a shame because she has a nice voice. Last year front runner Crystal Bowersox (Mama Sox) had my vote, but alas, the male vote won out...but then again it's lil girls doing most of the voting, who else would keep someone like Sanjya in the running!?

Oscar Night!

Sleeping through the Oscars: Has the Academy gone crazy?

By: Heather Johnson

Sunday, February 27^th the 83^rd Academy Awards aired on ABC giving us an up-close and personal seat on the red carpet for the Super Bowl of Hollywood awards! However, I think I saw it better in my sleep than I did on TV.

This year the hosts for the night of festivities were Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Now, anyone who watched could tell that Hathaway worked her butt off and did her best to as they said “bring in a younger demographic.” Franco on the other hand, his performance was almost as bad as the 1995 Letterman/Host episode, in fact I may have even rather listened to Roseanne sing the Star Spangled Banner again! It was as if he had better things to do than host, and added no input to Hathaway’s struggling one-liners. By far the most boring moments of the night. Sure, their entrance ran on line with past montages. They inserted themselves into the night’s nominations for Best Picture, and even had a lil help from last year host Alec Baldwin, and the great Morgan Freeman but they seemed to be the best part, though personally, using Back To The Future was very ingenious, especially after the leak of them doing Grease which appeared last week on the internet.

Thankfully we got a break from this half way through as Billy Crystal was introduced to a standing ovation as he took us on a look back at the first ever televised Academy Awards show. Making note that the host of that night, Bob Hope, had hosted 18 times in his life, whereas Crystal holds a booming 8 honorable nights. Though it was rather awkward they projected a Bob Hope hologram and had voiceover actors act on behalf of him and introduce Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.

The night had aspirations at the beginning; the first host of the night was Tom Hanks, who gave out the award for Best Art Direction (Alice in Wonderland) and Best Cinematography (Inception- their first win of the night). The next presenter got nothing short of yet another standing ovation as Kirk Douglas, who was almost still incoherent from his stroke a few years back, presented the award for Best Supporting Actress. He did however provide a great few moments of comedy, keeping the ladies on their seats with suspense as to who won the award. In the end Melissa Leo won for her role in The Fighter, which proved to have gotten into her head as she became the first person of the night to drop the F-Bomb. It was ok though, because it became one of the only running jokes of the entire evening. Though, I do have to say, she looked like a disco doily, what was she thinking with that lace dress and who starched her collar?

A little mystery came next as Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis presented Best Animated Feature (Toy Story 3) and Best Animated Short (The Lost Thing) but kept making reference to the movie Exit Through The Gift Shop’s elusive director, Banksey. According to The Hollywood Reporter he had many attendees guessing whether he was going to the show in disguise. Mr. Brainwash, aka Thierry Guetta (star of Exit) told THR on the red carpet that “He’s here, but you’ll never know.” Wonder if anyone figured out that it was Timberlake or if it was just me?

Keeping the night going awards for Best Adapted Screenplay (The Social Network) and best Original Screenplay (The King’s Speech) brought around no surprise as these winners were favorites to win this year. Though it seemed as if the awards hit a lull, Hathaway showed up on stage in a tuxedo and sang her version of Les Miserable “On My Own”, which was an ode to Hugh Jackman whom she says “bailed out on their duet at the last minute.” By far one of her most humorous moments of the night. Though why Franco felt he needed to come out in a hot pink strapless dress and make a Charlie Sheen joke was beyond me and the critics. Franco, go get changed, you’re not funny enough to pull off drag. Though this was not the end of embarrassing moments for the show, the announcer audibly stumbled on Reese Witherspoon’s name, which presented the award for Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale-The Fighter). Though Witherspoon, despite the stumble on her name, was simply beautiful!

Best Original Score was presented to The Social Network to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. How surprised was I to find Reznor in a suit, clean cut, and short haired?! He shed his “Nine Inch Nails” to accept his Oscar. Inception swept the next two awards for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, which of course is always the biggest lull in the show. Hoping the Makeup category would spice things up along with the costume portion, I was highly disappointed to find that Cate Blanchett, who herself looked like something out of a horror movie (what was she thinking with that purple and yellow shower curtain), was presenting these awards. The Wolfman won for makeup (not after Blanchett made a comment that it was disgusting) and Alice in Wonderland beat out the King’s Speech and True Grit for costumes. Guess there was one advantage to having Helena Bowman Carter’s head that big.

We were treated to live performances for Best Original Song, though presented by two separate people, Kevin Spacey for the first two and Jennifer Hudson for the remainder. And how awkward was it that Hudson called Gwyneth Paltrow country music’s next big star? I doubt the country genre will be holding a spot in the Grand Ole Opry for her just yet. The incoherent performance by Randy Newman for “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 won the category, though he did keep a light note about him joking in his speech by saying “I'm very grateful for this and surprised. My percentages aren't great. I've been nominated 20 times and this is the 2nd time I won. At the Academy, at the lunch they have for the nominees, where they have like a Randy Newman chicken by this time.” That makes him the Susan Lucci of Oscar music.

As the night continued to drag on the awards for Best Visual Effects (Inception) and Best Film Editing (Social Network) were given out only prolonging the wait till the real awards of the night. However, we were treated at this time to the “Memoriam” section of the night, which shunned some actors and highlighted a mere 24 people instead of last year’s 36. Celine Dion came on stage and performed the song “Smile” beautifully as we watched the slide show. Stars such as Tony Curtis, Gloria Stewart (the old lady from Titanic), Leslie Nielson, Lynn Redgrave, Dennis Hopper and Lena Horn were honored. This included a dedication by Halle Berry to Lena Horn who was the first African-American woman to sign a long term contract with any studio. However, where was Corey Haim? Overlooked by the Academy that’s where, even in death.

The biggest awards are always Director, Actor/Actress and of course, Best Picture. So as the wait went on, Best Director was given to Tom Hooper for the King’s Speech, no surprise there. However, he was nice enough to mention his newly founded “bromance” in his acceptance speech, “Thank you to my wonderful actors. The triangle of man love which is Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and me.” Truly a nice way to lighten up the dull mood.

Best Actress was presented by last year’s winner and nominee again this year, Jeff Bridges. Though all the ladies nominated were well worth the award, Natalie Portman won for her role in Black Swan. Sandra Bullock presented the flipside for Best Actor, which regretfully skipped Bridges this year and was awarded to Colin Firth for his amazing role in The King’s Speech. Franco, who was nominated for 127 Hours, looked as if he was going to cry backstage, maybe that’s why he skipped the Hollywood after parties!

So who took home the whole shebang? Best Picture was of course given it’s ten nominations: Black Swan, Inception, Toy Story 3, The King’s Speech, The Fighter, The Social Network, True Grit, The Kids are All Right, 127 Hours and Winters Bone were all up for the award. Alas, the Kings Speech won making it the fourth Oscar win of the night, out of its twelve nominations. Inception brought home three for the night and the Social Network four, making it a night of no mouth gasping upsets.

So what do we do to close out the awards this year? We bring in PS 22 from Staten Island to sing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” with all the winners. Eh, I could have done without this. Overall I roll in my red carpet, thank Ryan Seacrest for the fantastic carpet interviews, and hope to the movie gods that next year’s hosts and awards will be far more appealing then this round. Stay Tuned…