Somewhere out there, Demi Moore is taking a meeting with Les Moonves…

It’s very telling when you look at the list of actresses who today got Emmy nominations for their work in drama series:

Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters, ABC

Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer, TNT

Glenn Close, Damages, FX

Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NBC

Holly Hunter, Saving Grace, TNT

With Sedgwick as the youngest of the five talented actresses at age 42, the median age of the quintet of nominees is 52 years old.  With acclaimed, award-winning actresses like Jessica Alba, Megan Fox, and Anne Hathaway grabbing all the plum big-budget studio film roles, is it any wonder that TV is where older good actresses continue to turn to solid, reliable work?  Never mind the fact that TV drama’s overall quality is as good if not better than the best Hollywood can muster in their motion pictures.

To be fair, though, I really think Anne Hathaway is plenty talented, her age simply attracts the suits more at Warner Bros.,  Universal & Paramount.

Yesterday, my coworker brought in a bag of Nacho Cheese Bugles.  I had quite the late ’80’s/early ’90’s flashback, accompanied by the thought “Can these really be as good as I remember?”  Well, ladies and gentlemen, I assure you - Bugles really are as good as you remember.  While my childhood delight with them mostly focused on putting them on my fingers and pretending I was a witch, this time around they disappeared too quickly for any such play.  The Nacho Cheese flavor is delicious and not as in your face as Doritos.  And who knew that Bugles have actually been around for 5 decades, according to the General Mills site?  They also have a Chinese “Fun Club” although that site appears to be down - I say appears because I do not read Chinese.

The bottom line, folks, is that you really should try Bugles again.  Sure, their time of popularity was about two decades ago, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still delicious.  I highly recommend them.

Nothing like new music! (especially when its on the freebee variety)

Dutchmassive - Domination Recordings - The DrumLove EP (25 minutes of pure instrumental boom-bap!) Download here: DrumLove

Common Market - New album titled Tobacco Road, set to hit stores September 9th! (What! An agricultural themed album in 2008!?! If Lil Wayne can rap about himself being like a loli-pop, then RA Scion and Sabzi can drop an allegorical album about love, life and art from a “harvesting” perspective). Song samples:

Winter Takes All  - Tobacco Road - Gol’Dust

Dj Mafioso - “3 MCs, 1 DJ” featuring Binkis Recs - Off the Dj Mafioso mixtape/album La Bodega. (ATL flava with the quick-to-slap you over-the-head lyrics of Binkis Recs)

NORE - “Still On The Run Eating” featuring Lil Wayne - (If it wasn’t for the Reggaton explosion a couple years back, NORE would be in serious ‘milk-carton’ emcee missing-in-action status!)

AZ - “The Secret” - featuring Raekwon & C.R - (This might be the first time AZ and Rae have collabed? Pray to the hip-hop gawds that it ain’t the last!!)

NY Oil - “Soldier” - featuring Chuck D - (Gotta be NY Oil’s dream to collab on a track with the godfather of social-political rap!)

More later..

By now, you’ve heard about this . . .

The first and most important point to make about this cover is that both the Obama and McCain campaigns reacted swiftly, calling it “tasteless and offensive” among other things.

But as for the message of the picture? The cover goes with a story on the inside of the magazine called “The Politics of Fear”. If that line would have run on the cover, then the message of the satirical art would be rather clear. As it is, a random person passing a newsstand might not get the joke, and therein lies the problem.

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How many dirty pictures of this little whore can there be?

Okay, I’m kidding. Mostly. (Please, Mouse, don’t sue me. Joke. Satire. Mostly.)

Honestly though, this is just the warning shot. Remember when the first “maybe she’s not a virgin” rumbles began to swirl around Britney? As fast as The Mouse is trying to generate their own next wave of teen pop (Miley, The Jonas Brothers, The High School Musical kids, etc.), the kids are just as quickly making dumb decisions to hasten its end. Vanessa Hudgens has already had her photo scandal, Miley’s on like her fourth . . . how long until the first Jonas paternity suit?

It’s fairly obvious that Cyrus’s fame has made her a target. Allegations of phone hacking, etc. indicate that there is now cache among less-savory media types when it comes to scoring images of this girl. She could help her own case by, let’s see, NOT storing racy photos of herself in an unsecure location. Her handlers should also make sure that her personal electronic devices have better security. If the photos are in the world because she was dumb enough to send them to someone, well, I guess she’s the one who has to explain it to Walt’s Frozen Corpse.

As it is, I’m sure it won’t ding her popularity much. It might even motivate some young men to pick up her material. If she does view herself as a role model in any fashion, then she should probably find a way to curtail her exhibitionist impulses. And stay away from her back-up dancers.

Over the past couple of months on the ‘Rama, I’ve been covering Marvel’s writing situation on Punisher MAX in the advent of Garth Ennis’ departure from the book and the arrival of Victor Gischler, Gregg Hurwitz, and Duane Swierczynski as a rotating trifecta of violence.

I was very fortunate to get an advanced copy of Gischler’s Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse for an advanced review. It’s really quite a good read…

Here’s an excerpt of the book from Simon & Schuster.

Here’s my review.

And here’s some press on the book via Victor’s MySpace.

I think the Punisher MAX title is in good hands.

Have a Happy Fourth.

Eks

Please to enjoy, Vince and Lucas’s conversation with Warren Ellis from within his hotel room at Wizard World Chicago. He talks FreakAngels, other Avatar work, his Internet presence, and how he feels about being back with the X-Men. Every time this man opens his mouth, gold spills out. Hit play and catch some for yourself!

 

 Standard Podcast [6:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How’s the Canibus in Muncie, (IN)?

So okay, the (above) headline is a little lacking in the cutting-edge creativity y’all are accustomed to getting from your’s truly Capt. Westside. (But, hey even the best can an off day, right?) But…if you (hip-hop fan) happen to be in the Ball State University/Muncie area; about 50 miles North of Indianapolis (Mapquest that ish: here), the one-time Fugees affiliate/one-time battle-rap phenom/one-time of ‘victim’ of a L.L. Cool J lyrically beatdown will be making an appearance at Mo’s Tavern on July 18th!

I Know You Gonna Dig This cause with DJ Definition on the ‘Wheels of Steel’, the Kutthroatz (in-da-buildin’) and Lyrical Lounge alumni Merc Versus also performing, the show will most certainly be for the rhythmically inclined!

None of that ‘bumblegum rap’ rules apply at this show, so don’t sleep..

The Bi-Coastal edition:

Sounds from the Westcoast…

DJ Muggs (of Soul Assassins fame) teams-up with fellow Californian (and cold-chain swingin’ champion) Planet Asia on a full album colabo titled Pain Language. Tentatively to hit the streets on Sept. 2, the album will undoubtedly remind listeners of Muggs and GZA’s Grandmasters 2005 masterpiece. However, yearning ears wanting to hear original flows (which Asia has in abundance) and that signature ‘murky’ Souls Assassin sound should hardly dismiss Pain Language as a retread. Peep the B-side single:  “That’s What It Is”

Sounds from the Eastcoast…

The Saint continues to “save-the-day” with MP3 freebies as: “Do You Remember” is the second single from his forthcoming album About Time. Shout-out to Pro Se/Domination Recordings for continuing to make the strong push for that ‘authentic’ hip-hop music. And make sure you check for About Time when it drops! With Saint on the rhyme, and features from DJ Cade Money, Verses, NYOIL, Eternia (and a few other true-skool favorites) the album is bonafide live!

A few months ago, I joined RedRoom.com at the request of Ivory Madison, CEO of Red Room, who I interviewed for Newsarama for her work on Huntress Year One for DC Comics.

Well, now, I’m embroiled in the “clicking war” of a lifetime. The stakes: an expense paid overnight for two to San Francisco and dinner with said CEO and her friends from Red Room. Basically, for every unique click I receive between June 1 and July 31st, I get a notch on the post–the more notches–you get the rest…

Here’s the thing–I’M IN FIRST PLACE…but just barely. Want to help me win this thing?

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One of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, George Carlin, died yesterday of heart failure. Here’s a great example of why he was so brilliant:

When someone offers me a free comic book—I take it. Good, Bad, Ugly—you never know what you’re gonna get but it’s free…and free is good. In this case, it was very good. I was one of the few folks who responded to Mark Millar’s offer for a free, lettered electronic copy of Kick-Ass #3 on his forum on the MillarWorld website in exchange for a review of the book. I’ve been reading this title since it started, several months ago, and, so far, it’s kept my attention with its over-the-top hyper-realism, violence, and social commentary. As a cautious reader, I realized quickly that there is more to this story than the surface “real life superhero” premise so I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop on Kick-Ass protagonist, Dave Lizewski, since the first issue.

Something tells me that the aforementioned “other shoe” has begun its tumultuous journey with the advent of the climax of Kick-Ass #3.

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STREETS OF FIRE EDITION!
This one’s for Matt Brady.

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This is the most ri-fucking-diculous trailer I’ve seen in a long time. This will be the next “quotable” flick–guaranteed. If you don’t enjoy this trailer…you’re an idiot.

Have a happy Tuesday.

Eks

Yeah–this was originally posted on Blog@ over on Newsarama.com; I couldn’t help myself.





Makes you want to move to Italy, doesn’t it?

He’s got his own MySpace page.

Have a great Wednesday!

EKS