Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Pretty self-explanatory.

Flight of the Conchords Season 2 Preview

I couldn't be more excited! Here's the entire first episode:

A Beautiful Show

Come one, come all to a beautiful show
It's gonna be awesome, and... some other stuff
De dee dee dee, doo dee dee, doo dee dee doo dee
Some other musical stuff!

Wow. That's inspirational.



A few random thoughts:

• How much would you pay to get a look at that script Charlie has tucked under his arm? You just know it consists entirely of bizarre Charlie-glyphics...
• Am I the only one who thinks that Who Versus would be an excellent band name?
  

The Nightman Cometh... Soon (I Hope!)

Oh, good God!

I'm having technical difficulties, both with my trusty laptop Keith & personally (the mother of all muscle spasms), so it may be awhile before I can finagle some video from last night's magnum opus.

Until then, here's a clip from the lavish ending production number:



And here is some behind-the-scenes footage from FX - with a bonus deleted song! I thought the Nightman was lacking some character development...



Hopefully I'll have more soon... once I pay the troll toll. =)

Check out "Hey, Obama!"

Just a quick note to make sure you all check out the video clip I added to the page...

It's called "Hey, Obama!" and is a musical tribute to the president-elect. This video was created entirely by my fabulously talented friend, Andre Moore of Stykman Studios.

After you watch it, be sure to check out Andre's website at fastfunnies.com, where you can view all of his humorous short videos. He's got all kinds of stuff, including some clips of his stand-up and lots of movie reviews. If, like me, you want to embed one of his videos on your own page, he also has many of them available on YouTube.

The Seats Are $60, But The Spit Is Free

Those of you who also drop in on my personal blog undoubtedly know that I had some exciting events planned for last weekend, beginning with dinner & a show on Friday evening in beautiful Fort Wayne, Indiana. (If you'd like to read about how these plans developed, you can find the details here.) Well, dinner ended up being limited to an IHOP run, since it is apparently the only restaurant in Ft. Wayne that is open past 11pm on a Friday night. Weird. But the show more than made up for the lackluster dining choices.

We had never been to the historic Embassy Theatre prior to Friday night, but it is now by far our favorite venue for live music in the state. The theatre itself is gorgeous - an old vaudeville house & movie palace which has been painstakingly renovated to meet modern theatre standards while still maintaining its original grandeur. As expected, the acoustics were perfect, at least to my somewhat untrained ear, and the room seemed to be both intimate and vast at the same time. The lobby areas, aside from being beautiful in their own right, also provided large, well-appointed restrooms, ample bench seating and a decent bar. And I must include that, unlike all other older auditoriums we have patronized over the years, the seats at the Embassy are actually fairly wide and comfortable, with a decent amount of legroom. All in all, it's a great place to take in a show.

I tried to take a few photos of the theatre with my cellphone, but they were predictably grainy & dark. So I've gathered a couple of pictures of the Embassy Theatre from the web, just to give you a general idea of the ambience:



So, you may be asking, why am I posting all this here instead of on my personal blog? Well, that's probably because I haven't mentioned yet why we drove all the way to Ft. Wayne for a Friday night date... The husband & I were lucky enough to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary by spending an evening with Ben Folds & the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Um... yeah.

Our assigned seats were 2nd row center, on the aisle - great seats, to be sure, but through some sort of computer snafu, they had been double-sold. So, here's a shout-out and huge thanks to the lovely gentlemen who agreed to take the replacement seats offered by the theatre (which, while also 2nd row center, were not on the aisle) and allowed 2 very grateful tubs o' lard to enjoy the extra-roominess of our original aisle seats. You really helped to make our anniversary date even more special. Thank you!

But now, back to the show... 2nd row center is not the best place to be if you want the best vantage point to watch the orchestra. We spent a lot of time looking at the violinists' feet. However, it is a great place to be if the whole point is to watch Ben Folds - he & his piano were positioned no more than 25 feet away from us. Words cannot begin to express how tremendous our seats were. It was like having Ben Folds in your living room... along with a 60 piece orchestra. And lots & lots of spittle. I'm still scraping it out of my hair 5 days later, not that I'm complaining. I just look at it as a bonus - I mean, who would turn down free saliva?

Here's a very blurry cellphone photo of the view from our seats:


As for the show itself, it was even more incredible than I had hoped it would be. The set list was pretty much what I had expected: a few cuts from the new album (Effington, Kylie From Connecticut), a lot of the songs he usually does in his orchestral concerts (Narcolepsy, Smoke, Zak and Sara) and a few unexpected choices (One Down, All U Can Eat). The sound mixing was a bit spotty, with Ben's vocals and sometimes his piano being overpowered by the orchestra, but this was a pretty minor complaint - especially since, sitting as close as we were, we could still hear Ben singing even without the mike. For us, at least, it was definitely an unforgettable evening of great live music.

The audience consisted of a strange mix of Ben Folds fans, many of whom were high school or college age, and Philharmonic season-ticket holders, most of whom were well over 40. As a result, I overheard some pretty bizarre and interesting conversations over the course of the evening. It was a bit surreal, to say the least. I did feel sorry for some of the blue-haired old ladies scattered throughout the auditorium... While one would hope that they would at least find some amount of enjoyment in the orchestral arrangements of Ben's songs, the same could not be said for the boorish behavior of a few of the fans. Add in Ben's colorful vocabulary and you've got a recipe for some very uncomfortable grannies.

Still, I'd say that the atmosphere was largely very positive - after all, no one can engage an audience quite like Ben Folds. I think he likely made a few converts at this show, both for his own music and for live orchestra shows. The Philharmonic played a few pops selections at the beginning of the show before Ben came out, and they were all enthusiastically received by the crowd - especially the medley of Beatles songs. And the auditorium remained full until the end of the show, which would indicate that the season-ticket holders were enjoying Ben's show, too. Ah, good times!

This was, of course, only the beginning of a wonderful anniversary weekend mini-trip for us, but I can't think of a better way to start a vacation! I'll undoubtedly be posting some photos & details of the rest of our trip - nothing as exciting as being spat on by Ben Folds, of course, but lots of fun nonetheless - on my personal blog over the next week or so, for those who are interested in such goings-ons.

Oh, and join me back here soon to discuss the first few episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
----------------
Now playing: Ben Folds - Ben Folds Live - 010 - Narcolepsy
via FoxyTunes

Are You Watching?

Shame on me for not posting this sooner...

If they haven't already done so (on second thought, even if they have), I decree that all my subjects hie themselves posthaste to www.drhorrible.com to watch the first 2 installments of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Hieing to www.drhorrible.net is also acceptable, as long as the aforementioned show is watched. So let it be written, so let it be done.

I'm not going to try to describe this tasty, free (until Sunday) online treat in any detail... After all, it shouldn't be necessary if you all make with the hieing like I asked. But if you need some persuasion, here's my best effort:

• Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was written, directed, and produced by one of my personal heroes, Joss Whedon (with a little help from his friends, including his brothers). If nothing else, consider this a much-needed "taste of Whedon" to tide us over until Dollhouse finally premieres (assuming that Fox doesn't manage to muck it up like they did Firefly... but that's a tirade for another day).
• As the "Sing-Along" part of the title indicates, this is indeed a musical production. In fact, this is the first Whedon musical since the critically acclaimed and much-loved Buffy episode Once More With Feeling all the way back in 2001. Just as with that project, Joss was heavily involved in creating the music for Dr. Horrible. (Music by Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon. Lyrics by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen.) So, it has to be good!
  
• Q: How often do you get to see Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion sing, dance (a little), chew the scenery (not literally... at least not yet) & generally ham it up onscreen? A: Not nearly often enough. Even if they did it three times a day, it wouldn't be often enough. As I have always said, you can never have too much NPH.

So, what are you waiting for? GO HIE!

I Am An Evil Herbivore

One of the few major life events that occurred for me during my blogging hiatus was the chance to see Eddie Izzard perform live on his "Stripped" tour. I bought the tickets for my husband's birthday, and he was a bit ambivalent about going. However, he told me on the way out of the theater that it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I do agree that it was really, really funny. We give it two giant thumbs-up - highly recommended.

I haven't been able to find any decent bootlegged video from the "Stripped" tour, so I thought I would share an older Eddie Izzard concert clip. This is Eddie's description of the Creation and Noah's Ark (my favorite bit is at the very end, about the evil giraffe):

Charlie's America Song

First of all, I must apologize to all my subjects for my prolonged absence from this venue. Suffice it to say that there was lots of random and uninteresting life crap that was commanding my full attention for awhile. If you require more detail, please check my personal blog, where over the next few days I will endeavor to explain myself with a bit more aplomb.

Anyway, back to business...

I had hoped to post this clip in time for the 4th of July weekend, but alas it was not to be. But there's never a bad time to show our love of country, so I present to you the most patriotic song I know, courtesy of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Kelly:



Just as an aside, let me express how extremely excited I am about the upcoming new season of Sunny. And I'm pretty sure that the gods of FX are smiling on me, too - this year the season premieres on my birthday, September 18th. Woo-hoo! Looks like I'll be having my birthday party at Paddy's Pub this year...

Ben Folds - "Fred Jones Part 2" live

I realize that the musical offerings on this blog have been a bit Folds-heavy (or should I say Foldsian? Folds-tastic? Foldserrific?), but I've just been digging what he's putting down lately. And after seeing the man himself in concert this past Friday, I was moved to post yet another Foldsalicious video clip.

This one is a particular favorite - it's a great song that is actually better live, and it features special guest vocals from John McCrea of Cake. Mmmm... cake. But I digress.

So, here's Ben & John performing "Fred Jones Part 2" on VH1. (If you'd like to see a clip from the actual concert I attended on Friday, I posted one on my main blog here earlier tonight. It's pretty low quality, but it's an as-yet-unreleased song from his upcoming album, which is kinda cool.)

2008 Spirit Awards Exclusive Clips #4 and #5

Like most of you, I'm looking forward to the Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday evening. There's probably not going to be a lot of excitement this year (I wonder what the Vegas odds are for any actor who's not Daniel Day-Lewis or Javier Bardem?) But I'm hoping that my boy Jon Stewart will keep us entertained nonetheless.

I'm actually more excited about the 2008 Film Independent's Spirit Awards this year, which are often a bit overshadowed by the 800 lb. Oscar gorilla, since they take place on the same weekend. I am often more interested in the nominated films & actors at the Spirit Awards (and this year is no exception), and the ceremony itself is usually a bit more hip and fun than the Oscars.

The Spirit Awards have Rainn Wilson as host this year, too, who is one of the few people on Earth that might have the power to woo me away from Jon Stewart. I can't exactly vouch for Wilson's hosting skills, but he seems like he'd be a natural. And since he's long been on my short list of People I'd Watch Even If They Were Just Waiting In Line At The License Branch, I expect to fully enjoy the festivities.

So, I officially recommend that everyone tune in to the live broadcast of the 2008 Spirit Awards this Saturday, Feb. 23rd at 5:30 Eastern on IFC. Or, if you're like me and don't have access to IFC in your backwater town, you can catch an edited rebroadcast on AMC later that evening at 10:00 Eastern.

To whet your independent movie appetites, here are 2 more exclusive clips, this time from Juno producer Mason Novick. First, he talks about nominated screenwriter Diablo Cody:

Mason
Novick, producer (JUNO)
Uploaded by filmindependent

And in this clip, Novick discusses Juno star and Best Female Lead nominee, Ellen Page:

MASON
NOVICK, PRODUCER (JUNO)
Uploaded by filmindependent

2008 Spirit Awards Exclusive Clip #3

Today's clip is from Tamara Jenkins, writer/director of nominated film The Savages:

Tamara
Jenkins, writer-director (THE SAVAGES)
Uploaded by filmindependent

So Who REALLY Made Huckabee?

For those of you who (much like myself) have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, here's a clip from last night's Late Night with Conan O'Brien that sums up the Great Late Night Talk Show Host Controversy of '08:




Good stuff... If you'd like to watch more of the related footage from A Daily Show and The Colbert Report, there's a good post on TV Squad that has clips from all 3 shows.

Disregarding Mike Huckabee's opinion on the subject - and I do urge everyone to disregard Huckabee on just about every subject - we are now left with the great philosophical question of our time: Who really made Huckabee?

Before we try to answer, let's quickly recap: Colbert made Huckabee, O'Brien made Colbert, Stewart made O'Brien... so, who made Stewart? Would not that same person, by the Transitive Property of Talk Show Host Equality, have therefore also made Huckabee?

So, who can lay claim to such a feat? Who is, was and forever shall be the undisputed King of All the Talk Show Hosts? Why, of course - it's Sp-a-a-a-a-c-e G-h-o-o-o-s-t! (With a little help from Moltar...) See for yourself:




Now, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast was made by Cartoon Network... so does that mean that Ted Turner created Mike Huckabee? Wow, I bet Ted's pissed.

Stephen Stands Up For The WGA

You know, it takes a very special kind of person to bring in Ambassador Andrew Young and the Harlem Gospel Choir to pay homage to the plight of the striking Writers Guild members...

I've been missing this stuff so much! *sniff*




If you haven't seen this episode yet, I urge you to check out the clips on Comedy Central's website. Only then can you truly appreciate the Colbert genius.

What's a Squeasel?

As I've mentioned here before, I'm a pretty diehard fan of Anthony Bourdain, and I particularly enjoy his television appearances.

So, in honor of the new season of his travel/food show No Reservations, which began last night on the Travel Channel, I thought I'd post my favorite Bourdain clip ever.

It's a bit long, but it's really worth it. This is an excerpt from his Vietnam episode:

A Birthday Drink

Happy 45th Birthday to a true Canadian genius, Mr. Dave Foley.




Let's celebrate with a drink:



----------------
Now playing: Del Amitri - Roll To Me
via FoxyTunes