"BULLET THE BLUE SKY"...

To My E-mailing Friend

To the anonymous reader who had the kind words to say about this blog and inquired about my fiancee: please reply in the comments with your email address so I can write to you personally. When I receive your comments in my mailbox, I can't reply to them! And thank you!

Bullets

Yeah, sure a "notes column" is kind of lazy, but I'm kinda busy, you know? So here are some quickly dashed-off notes about things that have crossed my mind since my last blog:

--I'm embarrassed to admit I watched most of the MTV Music Video Awards last night. I can remember when the show was a cheeky, occasionally hilarious semi-parody of "real" awards shows that actually had memorable music performances and hosts that gave a damn. What we got last night was a mostly unwatchable parade of egotistical, humorless rappers, emo rock and roll bands that were barely distinguishable, presenters who were either tone deaf (Sarah Silverman), stoned out/sloshed (most everyone else) or ridiculously self-satisfied and self-promoting (Lil' Kim, Paris Hilton) and incredibly lame comedy bits that seemed strangely disconnected from the poorly directed proceedings. And I've never seen the normally hilarious Jack Black be less funny. Maybe a little bit of Black does go a long way. And I missed the only really interesting moment (other than Shakira's mesmerizing belly dance)--when Video of the Year was awarded and AFI came up to accept their award, they were hijacked by a disgruntled young black man who was seen only in long shot. If anyone could let me know what he said, or where I could find it on the Internet, I'd appreciate it.

--Overheard on a studio lot recently: the pilot for AQUAMAN, a possible midseason replacement on The CW, was the worst one to come out of development season. No wonder it didn't make the fall schedule. Too bad they couldn't line up James Cameron and Vincent Chase (ENTOURAGE)!

--What's wrong with CBS' reimagining of SURVIVOR? What could possibly go wrong with following the travails of four Separate but Equal racial tribes fighting over limited resources in a tropical setting? Maybe the tribes could be named Plessy, Ferguson, Brown and the Board of Education (I guess the last would be the Asians?) Between this and the Katie Couric Photo Fiasco, it hasn't been the greatest month for CBS...

(Original Couric picture below)



--I was going to do a full review of the pilot for JUSTICE (Fox), but it's just not worth it. It's not that the show is bad--nothing starring Victor Garber could ever be completely devoid of interest--it's just too obviously a Jerry Bruckheimer project, lots of shiny bells and whistles overwhelming little things like character and subtlety. The best thing about it is finding out what really happened with the defendant's case after the trial is over--it's a nice twist. If they make it so that the high priced law firm occasionally loses a case, then it will be worth occasionally checking out, but it will never be addictive TV. My grade: C+

--When I was little my Dad would tell me how gas prices always rise for the summer road trips and then drop a little after Labor Day--but never drop to the level they were at before the summer. I used to think it was just another one of my Dad's conspiracy theories, but then I got older and realized, goddammit, that the cartels really do raise gas prices every summer to increase their profit margins and then MAKE UP WHATEVER EXCUSE THEY WANT to justify it. People, as long as we are dependant on gasoline for everything we do, and just a few cartels and large oil companies control all of it, we will always be at their mercy and the story will never change.

--If music acts can "jump the shark" like TV shows, then Beyonce and Justin Timberlake look like maybe they should strap on their water skis.

That's all for now folks. Have a nice Labor Day weekend!

Peace...