JayFublerHarvey.com

“This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table”
    - George W. Bush, 2005.
(Article: Bush: Attack on Iran ‘ridiculous’)

“I have no war plans on my desk……We’ve got to use all means at our disposal to deal with Saddam Hussein.”
    - George W. Bush, 2002.
(Article: Bush: ‘No war plans on my desk’ for Iraq)

The karaoke fest continues…Yawn. Think I’ll pass from now on until they settle on the final twelve…

Faves:

Carrie Underwood & Nadia Turner

Two completely different singers who both know themselves well enough to be comfortable. Both strong vocally…bring enough of themselves into a song so that it doesn’t become boring. (Especially Nadia). They’ll make it, no problemo…

Quote of the Night:

“…I’d love to be your microphone”
    - Simon Cowell to one of the pretty, less talented singers.

Passed up to Watch American Idol:

My new Miyazaki DVDs…I must not be feeling well…
Back to Nausicaa!

My status as a pop-culture whore continues…as I begin to seriously watch the 4th season of American Idol.

Each season provides a better collection of singers and this year seems to be no exception…raising the age limit definitely seemed to up the ante for everyone.

But does anyone really expect the show to ever find the next great talent? The next Aretha…next Whitney…next Luther? Probably not. And considering the returns of the past Idol finalists, it doesn’t look like we’ll see anything like that anytime soon. (Damn…not even a true star yet….and no, Clay doesn’t count…)

But America loves rags to riches stories. Local guy/gal makes finally makes good. American Idol offers up such possibilities every week. Past, present and future dreams get played out vicariously through our TV screens. And so….we continue to watch. Yes, even us adults. :)

So after watching the first installment of 12 possible future indentured servants….

My Personal Faves:

1) Bo Bice
The first rocker of the night. Easily the most confident and expressive voice of the group. Definitely understands his own voice well enough to use it to its fullest effect. There seems to be enough underlying soul in his voice where he probably won’t have any trouble with any Soul/R&B songs either. Should be very interesting.

2) Scott Savol
The local boy! NEOhio in the house!
Strong soulful voice coming out of someone whom you wouldn’t think would have anything close to it. He hit his song with no problem. Simon…the whole “he doesn’t look like an Idol” is so played out. Get new script writers. Let’s hope the voters look past the mug…

3) Mario Vazquez
Best Stevie Wonder imitation of the night. Someone who actually realized that putting your own charisma into a performance might be a good idea. Sounded like you were having fun, kiddo.

Other Thoughts

1) Replace Paula
She has nothing new to say. She has no advice to offer than what she can parrot from Randy or Simon. Even the back-n-forth between her and Simon is getting tired. She needs to bounce….
(Bring back Gladys Knight. She’s not as cute as Paula, but at least she gave good advice and knew what the hell she was talking about.)

2) Attention Black Men
We all love Stevie Wonder. We don’t love you. You think you sound like Stevie. You very well might sound like Stevie. Sounding like Stevie still leaves you minus the energy, spirit and genius of Stevie. Imitating him ain’t gonna get it. Make the song your own or leave it the hell alone.

Bring on da Ladies….

Just a little reminder for all the Miyazaki deprived people out there…Tuesday, February 22nd is your wake up call!

Head to your local Best Buy, Wal Mart, Target, KMart, Roscoe’s Chicken and DVDs and purchase the latest salvo from the greatest modern animator, Hayao Miyazaki!

(The man behind the Oscar winning Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro & Castle in the Sky).

Two of Miyazaki’s most famous films (as well as another great film from his Studio Ghibli) are being released in the states for the first time (on multilingual, subtitled and dubbed DVDs)

• Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Even More Info)
  (Was his most famous film for a very long time…Nausicaa is the icon for the post!)
• Porco Rosso (Even More Info)
  (Miyazaki’s pigs can fly…”I’d rather be a pig than a fascist”)
• The Cat Returns (Even More Info)
  (Same cat from the popular Whisper of the Heart)

And never fear…there’s even more Miyazaki more to come this year!

Congrats to Matt Drudge for helping to give Chris Rock and the Oscars more publicity (and certainly higher ratings) than they ever expected. Backfire’s a bitch, ain’t it?

(And Matt…everyone remembers that you and Rock have a not-so pleasant history…oh let the bias thrive!)

There was a time when I wondered what the hell was wrong with the Grammys. They obviously didn’t understand what was truly happening. Had no idea what were the best songs and albums of the year. They just didn’t get it. (Heavy Metal giants Jethro Tull, anyone?) That was 15 years ago…when I actually enjoyed what was played on top 40 radio. (Does that automatically make my 17 year old self musically suspect? ^_^)

These days, I can barely stand the majority of what’s on top 40 radio. Thumping beats will always work, but the number of talentless individuals has just seemed to have skyrocketed. (Reference my “1/4 of an artist” article). Yet where do I find myself on Grammy night? Happy that there’s somewhere I can find out about the true cream of what’s currently happening in all genres. Would’ve never discovered the fantastico Robert Randolph and the Family Band without the show.

As appreciative I might be, I still gotta pick with it… :)
(Note: I did miss parts of the second hour….)

Best Performance of the Night:

My sweet, sweet Alicia Keys performing “If I Ain’t Got You”. Tearing the house down never felt so good. :) (So happy to see ya without those tight braids too, Lady A)

Overblown Moment of the Night:

The “historical” tsunami relief performance of “Across the Universe”. Just because you get a bunch of past and present superstars up on stage together doesn’t mean it’s all going to gel.

Norah Jones sounded scared to be up there. Brian Wilson just sounded bad. And Stevie, Stevie…where was the power at the beginning, man?

On the flip side: More powerful vocals from Alicia. A great harmonica and comeback blow from Stevie. Even Tim McGraw sounded great….

Made for a very uneven performance.

And there’s something simply not right about the lead singer of Green Day breathing air on the same stage as Stevie Wonder….

Unexpected “Am I Hearing This Right?” Moment:

Gwen Stefani and Eve channeling Fiddler on the Roof into a pop song. Holy Toledo, I like it! ^_^

Unexpected “What The Hell?” Moment:

Melissa Etheridge looking like Uncle Fester. Took a good 5 seconds for me to figure it out. Still, she blew mighty game on her Janis Joplin tribute. Keep on rocking, Unc! (Here’s hoping for a quick recovery!)

Need to Check Out:

Los Lonely Boys!
And Queen Latifah’s standards album…she’s not Ella, but she gave good enough to warrant more of a listen. ^^

Oh No…Not Again Moment:

I love Ray Charles…I truly do. But seeing another “someone died, so let’s give it to them” award simply turns my stomach…

Length of the Show:

No more excuses! It’s perfectly possible for any award show to finish on time. The Tony Awards do it EVERY YEAR. Directors…get with the program and stop blaming long acceptance speeches for your inability to run a tight ship.

Eyes Rolling Moment of Night:

That 70’s Grammy Head-Bigwig-Dude talking about a lawsuit against internet piracy and how it’s about compensating the artist for their work. Nothing about the record companies’ raping of the artist in sight…

Oh, Hell No! Moment:

James Brown referring to Usher as the “God Son”. The vomit can’t spew fast enough…

Attention Black Eyed Peas:

When performing in concert, it’s a good idea to rap INTO the microphone. It looks like will.i.am got his degree in it…rest of you need to follow suit.

Attention Marc Anthony:

Get your wife off the stage, please? Thanks.

ATTENTION Marc Anthony:

Seriously…Get your wife off the stage, now!
(While she still is your wife…)

From around the world, and into your lap(desk)top, we bring you today’s “Mind your own business” moment:

Indonesia is considering a draft which would bring about new morality laws, the result of which would bring them in line with most Muslim nations. Such changes would include:

“…offenders caught kissing in the open could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined as much as 300 million rupiah ($33,000)”

and

“Unmarried couples living together could be penalised with up to two years in jail and a maximum fine of 30 million rupiah.”

Not all that surprising if you take other Muslim nations into consideration, but of course shocking to many of us here in the states.

I love a soft pair of juicy lips, but even 1 month in a pound-me-in-the-ass institution would be too much for tasting that sweet delight. I do find it amusing that kissing harbors more of a penalty than shacking up. I guess those in charge know that those who are “living together in sin” have probably suffered enough solely from the co-habitation.

Still tho, my main source of amusement comes from the fine print:

Justice ministry official Abdul Gani Abdullah said the law would only apply if others complained.

“Kissing in public is a crime if the people around are not happy and lodge a complaint. But if they think it’s all right, then no action will be taken,” he told the AFP news agency.

“The same goes with cohabitation. If neighbours think the presence of an unmarried couple living together is a nuisance, they can report to police.”

So… “indecency” is tolerated, unless someone complains…
Is Indonesia turning into the FCC?!?
(I wondered what Michael Powell was doing these days…)

Here’s hoping people mind their own…

Now this is what I call livin’ large:

Mmmhmm…what you’re seeing is someone playing tetris on the side of a building in France. Apparantely, you can use your cell phone to call in, start up and move the pieces as they ‘fall’ down the building.

The gamer in me is off to get a towel to wipe off the drool…