It is what it is.

Since Troy is using this week to revel in his Huey Lewis mancrush, I thought I would take it upon myself to class up the joint with a little video by a true rock and roll pioneer. She’s the Godmother of punk rock and the original riot grrrl, and she could totally kick Belinda Carlisle’s ass if she wanted to. Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare to have your socks rocked off by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Huey Lewis and The News + “Back to the Future”= shitloads of money for all invovled.

Huey Lewis and The News Week continues with the song that has more or less been proven to be the direct inspiration for Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters theme. (See the Huey Lewis and the News episode of Behind the Music for the full story.)

Fun News Facts: The band had 3 #1’s on the US Hot 100 (”Power of Love”, “Stuck with You”, and “Jacob’s Ladder”). Total US Hot 100 entries? A staggering 22 between 1982 and 1994.

Because Corey Henson demanded it . . . we give you Huey Lewis and The News week!

“Walking on a Thin Line” is indeed about post-Vietnam angst, just like the widely misunderstood “Born in the U.S.A.”

By the way . . . you know who else loves Huey Lewis? Patrick Bateman.

Look for the animated Martian Manhunter and Dr. Fate at seven seconds! Remember, those two never appeared on the television program. (For the record, neither did Steppenwolf, who clocks in a touch earlier).

Ready for some hot hand flourishes, interesting and gripping body pretzels, and some of the greatest electronic-voice singing since Cher in “Believe?” Of course you are!

Don’t wait another second and click below to glory in the wondrousness that is Paula Adbul’s new “I’m-desperate-for-a-come-back-so-watch-how-I-can-still-dance” music video for “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow”!!

http://www.fox.com/paula/

As a kid the Smurfs were my most favorite and most beloved cartoon series! I would get up at 6-mother-freakin’-AM every Sat. morning just to watch my cheery little blue friends scamper about in their many exciting and joyous adventures! I had, and still have on my desk at work (super nerd alert!), many of the little toy figures. I also posses a treasured Smurf binder given to me when I was 8 years old as a Valentine’s Day gift, and this amazing binder still holds all my drawing and doodles as a child. No other cartoon impacted me more; even to this dad my dad calls me anytime he sees something Smurf related.

So can I be anymore jazzed about the new 3-D Smurf movie coming out! OMG! I don’t think so! Seriously, I hope I don’t get hit by a truck before this movie makes it the big screen ‘cause this is the fulfillment of all my kiddie dreams (because, like, the first Smurf movie was utterly and completely horrendous! What was up with the singy-voices? Ugh! Sooo bad.). Bring on the movie baby, you know I’ll be waiting in line! Wheee!

So, like, even though I am totally a 33 year old man I am so not ashamed to freely and openly admit that I am so loving the heck outta the new Care Bears cartoon on CBS’ Kewlopolis programming block. Like, how can I not? Hello! Any show that is lucky enough to be featured on a block of shows called “Kewlopolis” has gotta be way radical to, like, the max, right? I mean, “cool” isn’t even spelled the way old boring geezers do! Oh no, it’s spelled all “Kewl” with, like, a total “K” and “ewl” and junk, because, welp, it’s totally hip, totally now and, like, totally AWESOME!

Plus, who doesn’t love little furry bears with happy and colorful belly badges teaching positive life lessons? I mean, if I have to relearn my all my forgotten morals – like telling the truth (as if!) and sharing (lame!) - then I for sure want to be educated on them from Funshine Bear and his shiny, smiley sun belly badge of joy. Funshine Bear rocks out hard with his totally red skater hat too! Whoot whoot! He’s street and he’s sweet! Now that’s a winning combo! So don’t hate all you judgey judgersons! Care Bears kick fanny, embrace it! LOL!

Whenever you listen to one of the old timers talk wrestling, you kind of wonder if they’re still working you or not. For the guys whose carny backgrounds demanded that they pay homage to kayfabe, their livelihoods and their health depended on it. After all, you didn’t want to be the guy caught smartening up the marks, because they would tell all their friends it was fake, then they wouldn’t come, and then your co-workers would break your legs.

On the other hand, it seems like these guys had the most amazing experiences, and that’s what you pick up out of Classy Freddie Blassie’s book Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks. The road stories, the crazy fan stories, the lifestyle stories, the in-ring stories… this book has them all. It’s a very entertaining read and well worth your time.

One nice thing about this book is that Blassie doesn’t pull punches with himself or others. He’ll tell you how much money he made in one sentence, and then in the next sentence admit that he was a lousy father and a serial fornicator. Such honesty is refreshing, as the only comparable book that I’ve read is Ric Flair’s. Most of the other books out there tend to sweep such infidelities under the rug.

I honestly didn’t know as I was reading the book that Blassie passed away in the same year as this was published. It became a bit depressing to me then that I would never get to meet the man or hear him use that trademark catchphrase of his. Above all, he seemed to be a guy that made himself better and tried to do better for himself and his financially.

To say that the Mick Foley books and the Ric Flair book were some of the greatest wrestling books ever written are really unimaginative picks. This one deserves any accolades it gets, simply because it is one of the more understated offerings from WWE Books. Blassie’s career spanned seven decades, and he’s worked with and known all the great ones. This is an excellent book, and it’s a great history lesson of the who’s who of the wrestling business. In the end, I think Blassie got all the credit and stability he was searching for in wrestling when he started, and isn’t that all that really matters?

Now this is sad . . .

Brad Delp, long-time singer for the band Boston, has died. Delp’s incredible range (and often amazing high register) powered several classic rock anthems, including “More Than A Feeling”. Boston was often unfairly slagged in the ’70s as “corporate rock”, though the truth is that guitarist (and MIT grad) Tom Scholz recorded most of their material in his home studio and garage on equipment that he invented.

It also bears repeating that Boston’s sound carried a lot of influence. Go and listen to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. Now listen closely to the chorus of “More Than A Feeling”. Hear that rhythm part? Yeah. Rest in peace, m’man.