Crazy.

British twins unwittingly marry.

Good Lord.

Funny that I mention this the other day . . . only for Katharine McPhee to get dropped from her label (RCA) too. It’s interesting; in her case I’d say that this is less endemic to talent or visual appeal than it is to the fact that the labels just seem to want a quick buck from the Idol kids. They’re willing to sign these gift-wrapped acts, ride ‘em for a year or so, then kick ‘em out if they don’t immediately post five million sales.

That’s actually one of the most significant problems with the whole recording industry. There’s no patience, room for growth, or attention-span for artist development. Combine that with alternative delivery systems (iTunes, MySpace, etc.) and file-sharing . . . it’s no wonder that the labels are freaked. They used to control the horizontal and the veritcal of what became a hit. Now . . . they have no idea what’ll catch on. It’s darkly humorous, and it’s only a matter of time before their lumbering antiquity vanishes.

Twenty bucks says the Republican party laughs hysterically at this photo.

On other matters, Kerry, shown in close-up below . . .

. . . has indeed decided that neither Obama, nor the other Democratic candidates, are, in fact, orcs.

FBI wiretaps have been suspended because they haven’t paid their phone bills.

The FBI now plan to move in with their Aunt May to save money.

In a previous blog, I jokingly made reference to reasons why Obama might be the anti-christ. This was mostly centered around how he seemed to be taking the primary season by storm.

So what happens? He immediately loses in New Hampshire.

There goes the thought that he could be the anti-christ.

Unless…

…he lost it just to throw me off track!!!

Back in 2006, I wrote the following blog about John McCain. I was just starting to think maybe he’s back to being his own man, but after reading this again…I don’t know that I can trust that feeling enough.

Wow. If this doesn’t just crush any hopes I had that there’s anyone on the Republican side that is genuinely trying to help this country. At this point, Senator Specter is the best Republican I can think of off the top of my head…and he’s not without his sizable flaws, too.

From AP Political Writer, Rob Fournier:

Later, the senator outlined his position on the Senate immigration debate, saying tougher border enforcement must be accompanied by guest-worker provisions that give illegal immigrants a legal path toward citizenship.

Murmurs from the crowd turned to booing. “Pay a decent wage!” one audience member shouted. McCain curtly threatened to cut the speech short, which quieted the crowd.

In the speech, McCain also argued that withdrawing U.S. troops prematurely from Iraq would turn terrorists loose on the United States.

That’s when one audience member unleashed the barnyard epithet.

McCain got another laugh when he finished the speech and asked whether anybody had “questions, comments or insults.” One audience member obliged with a pointed question on his immigration plan.

McCain responded by saying immigrants were taking jobs nobody else wanted. He offered anybody in the crowd $50 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona.

Shouts of protest rose from the crowd, with some accepting McCain’s job offer.

“I’ll take it!” one man shouted.

McCain insisted none of them would do such menial labor for a complete season. “You can’t do it, my friends.”

(more…)

A guy cut off his hand with a circular saw and microwaved it because he thought that it had the Mark of the Beast on it!

Seriously! Read this.

My favorite line in the story is this: “It was not immediately clear whether the man has a history of mental illness.”

To quote Dr. Peter Venkman: “I’d call that a big yes.”

Get the fuck outta here!

Turns out that the Spears family believes that Dr. Foghorn Leghorn violated their trust.

Quite frankly, I would have been more worried about who was violating my daughters. But hey, to each their own. Joking aside, I do believe that Dr. Phil committed a serious couple of serious ethical breaches here, both by publically discussing his advisement of Spears and by attempting to turn her pathetic situation into a show after he had become personally involved. We all know that the media is a circus and that Britney has the spotlight, but Dr. Phil is sinking pretty low to shove her into his personal Gabba-Gabba section for the sake of a ratings spike.

I will give him one bit of credit: he’s never recommended the lynching of Tiger Woods. That’s gotta count for something.

They need to fire this ignorant bitch?

Golf Channel commentator Kelly Tilghman apparently thought that it was funny to suggest that other young golfers today should “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley.” It took her two days to apologize. As of now, she still has her job.

Why?

If Imus can get shitcanned over the phrase “nappy headed ho”, then why does the pretty white girl get to stay after using a phrase that carries a plutonium-charge of racial insensitivity? Is it because she’s a pretty white girl? Is it because Tiger’s married to a pretty white girl, so a little joke won’t hurt his feelings?

It’s difficult to believe that a professional commentator would be this profoundly stupid, but there it is. Perhaps she didn’t mean any lasting harm. Perhaps she is just massively clueless. But really, using the word “lynching” and not understanding that it carries a racial conotation? In this case, I say let it be job-ending cluelessness (even allowing that she does hail from a place that elected Strom Thurmond governor and sent him to the senate for almost 50 years). Her alma mater, Duke, should be ashamed for producing an athlete that obviously learned nothing.

SHAWN’S THE YEAR in MUSIC 2007

I’ve found that it’s hard to classify an entire year’s worth of music as “good” or “bad”. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to do so without the benefit of hindsight. Who knew at the time that 2001 would prove to be such a banger? Anyway, on to the countdown…

(more…)

Hello there all!

Here is the link, for the few who asked, to the World of Warcraft article I did.

Thanks!
-Kyotee D.

So, Taylor Hicks lost his contract with J Records. Is anyone really surprised by this? All right, aside from the clutch of older, irony-challenged white ladies that took the name “Soul Patrol” and fans of arrhythmic, spasmodic dancing, is anyone else really surprised by this?

UPDATE: In the fifteen minutes since I posted the above bit, I’ve received two emails asking me if I hate everything about American Idol. Let me think . . .

No. I do not hate everything about American Idol.

Did you see these Hot Trends?

“Assassinate Obama” was the #19 Google Trend at the time of this blog. It had peaked an hour earlier, but I don’t know what spot that meant it got up to. Not a happy thing.

Will the stories this trend points to effect Obama’s polling going forward? Does this have anything to do with texting my brother last night to say Obama might be the anti-christ? Does this mean, as Dave Chappelle’s joke goes, he’ll need to pick a Mexican vice president?

Edit: OK, I’ve been asked to explain my anti-christ comment by a friend…so….

1. Virtually came out of no where
2. Ascended from one term (I think) as State Senator to less than a term as US Senator to likely President of the most powerful nation in the world (no, not China…the US)
3. Enraptures people with his speeches that are all feel good and no substance (or, at best, somewhat shifting stances)
4. Renounced Islam (admittedly a personal reason here)
5. Insulated from some constructive criticism by cries of racism (look at what happened to Biden when he said Obama speaks so well)
6. Most importantly: he’s related to Dick Cheney

So…there you go…the 6 reasons why he MIGHT be the anti-christ. Still…if he wins…I hope he at least has Edwards as a VP. :)