Blah-merican Blah-dol

First off, notice that the category for this post is "Television" and not "Music".  Calling it music might encourage them.

So far, this run of American Idol, I am very much disappointed in the song selection from practically all of the "idols".  Last night, they had any song from the 1990s to choose from, and they all picked shit.

First up was Bo.  He seems like a nice guy, but I really can’t stand him, solely because of his look, specifically because of his hair.  Yes, all the lay-dees see him as the icon for ‘bad boy" but please, no true bad boy would step a million miles close to American Idol.  He’s Playgirl(tm) Bad Boy.  Pure surface bad boy.  He sings some shitty song by the shitty Black Crowes and is bored and therefore boring.  He gives his Las Vegas Gigolo cowboy hat to Paula, and I hate the way he holds the mic stand, way down low as he stands, like a fake bad boy, on the very desk that the Judges sit behind.  How bad boy of him.  Faker.  I also hate how he and Constantine are dubbed "The Rockers".  How can these products be rockers when they are only Monkees?

Next is Jessica, who sings a boring LeAnn Rimes song.  My biggest trouble with Jessica is that I can’t tell her apart from the other blonde female country singing "idol".  You know, the one who the judges keep reminding us is the best, regardless if she performs well or not.  Anyway, as she sings, I go all Terri Shiavo and my wife takes away my ripple chips and I really don’t care.  I thank Simon for calling her "unlikable" and then I wonder how much that would hurt to hear, never mind that it’s broadcast over the continent.  "You’re unlikable" and a hundred million people nod in agreement.  Ouch.  Apt, but ouch.

I have a catholic-jewish-black conspiracy theory that I’m just now making up.  I believe that the Pope is actually dead, and they’ve been Weekend at Bernies-ing him for a while now.  I believe that he succumbed to some whithering disease that has also afflicted Mikhala (the American "idol" who got voted out, either last week or forever ago), because there’s simply no other explanation as to how she could have so much (granted annoying) talent and spark, and then, week after week, just crumble to the point where she became consistently lousy.  Now, Anwar seems to have succumbed to the same disease (which I hereby dub Pontiff-Bernard Syndrome).  He was so good early on, and now, last three weeks, he’s tanked, each week worse than last.  Last night he was awful, singing a poor-choice R.Kelly song.  Yeah, he hit the end-notes well, but friend, guess what?  The audience has already left.  I used to like Anwar, and was hoping for him to do well, but he really picks crappy songs.  His taste in song choice, like all the ‘idols’ it seems, is really suspect

More than I like Anwar, I like Nadia.  In her little pre-song interviews lately, she’s been hinting about her eclectic and subversive side.  I like that (why she almost seems like she’d be better suited to be a Canadian Idol contestant, since they seem to be, generally, a more cool and hip bunch.  More "Canadian" I guess.).  She sings Melissa Etheridge and does a fair enough job.  Nothing spectacular (in either direction, good or bad) and not much to say.  Good enough to stick around.

Oh Constantine, you scampy fat-cheeked boy.  Of all this year’s "idols" he’s the one I’d least trust, the one I’d least expect to see the return of the hundred and fifty bucks I leant him.  My criticism of this rocker is that his singing is too affected, he employs too many "sexy" singing tricks.  He has everything that makes Corey Hart bad.  Last night, though, I thought he nailed his rendition of Bonnie Raitt’s "I Can’t Make You Love Me" (a great song, by the way).  I expect him to survive to next week, and then he’ll come out all bubble-gum cutesy and re-energize my hate-on for him.

I don’t like Nikko.  I don’t like the songs he sings, or the way he sings them.  He is bland.  Last night he did an okay job, but I didn’t enjoy it.  In. Any. Way.

Anthony Federov grabs the puck at the blue-line, skates around two defenders, spins and shoots…he scores!!!  Sorry.  A-Fed, as they call him (because they probably don’t want to say the communist "federov" any more than they have to), sings a crappy Elton John song.  I think it’s called "A Vagueness About Your Appearance This Evening".  Anyway, I’ve never noticed it before but in his pre-song interview, I could hear him trying to stifle his accent.  Then I could hear him doing the same as he sang.  I’m calling him a Red Menace right now.  How did he do with the song?  As good as he always does, which is not very good.  He’ll be gone soon.

Carrie (the other white Jessica) sings Independence Day.  Is this awful country song about a woman who has every kind of hurt done to her, and then proclaims emancipation?  Wow.  Good for her, singing that.  Of course, she could sing farts and still the judges would pedestal her, because they all want her to win.  Shouldn’t she be on Nashville Star, and not American Idol?  Does America really want a country singer as their next idol?  Idiots deserve that shit, I’m saying.

Scott is a scary looking dude.  I think he’ll stay in the competition for a while longer because each and every Ameican is afraid to not vote for him for fear of a personal pipe-bombing.  He’s a scary looking dude.  But the voice of an angel.  At least sometimes.  Last night, he tanked.  All over the place and not at all good.  There, I said it.  Here.  Here are the keys to my car.  Why don’t you go start it, while I stand well outside the potential debris range.

Vonzell is a beautiful woman.  I don’t know what it is about her singing, but it’s not quite there. Ever.  She comes so close to having it all, but just can’t reach it, for some reason.  But she sure is beautiful.

Tonight’s "bottom three" (an inelegant phrase, I dare say) will be: Jessica, A-Fed the Communist, and Anwar.

Jessica gets the boot.

WotD: Aliment

Yesterday, a large lunch of Schwarma and a large dinner of Chicken Tikka Masala provided more aliment than I required.

or,

I didn’t say you were fat, dear.  Aliment was those jeans show off your hips.

The Battle

We got a digital camera a month or two ago, and ever since, my son and his friend have been pestering me to use the "movie mode" of it to help them make a movie.  I have always been reluctant because, as other movie projects we’ve done in the past prove, it ends up with them having fun doing the acting, then it’s a couple of hours of frustrating importing, uploading and editing on my part to get some type of finished product.  Frustrating because the program I use (the rather cheap Windows Movie Maker 2) keeps crashing, and any other program I’ve tried has been worse.
Anyway, Good Friday I relented and agreed to shoot them in a "movie".  It really is just an action scene, but they do actually have a rather involved plot outline for a larger feature.

We went outside, around our yard and for twenty minutes or so, we came up with some quick shots, which I then took and edited together.  Borrowing a cool piece of music, The Battle was complete.  It actually turned out much better than I thought it’d be.
I’m offering it here for only a couple of days because I don’t want it eating up my limited bandwidth.

If you stumble upon this post after April 1, 2005, the download link will not be working.

Have a look, if you like.  It’s a 7MB wmv file.

Download The Battle (6861.4K)

Could This Be Any More Wrong?


APCLogo
Originally uploaded by annekenstein1.

Apparently, this is a real logo, for the real Arlington Pediatric Center.

What the hell?

Arrested D’oh!velopment

I always thought it’d be an interesting experiment to take an actual episode of The Simpsons and try to reproduce it as best as possible, shot for shot, camera angle for camera angle but with live action actors.

A while ago, when I was watching Arrested Development, I was trying to figure out what it is about it that appeals to me so.  Smart writing, yes, good acting, yes, these are givens, but one thought I struck upon that I hadn’t before is that Arrested Development, more than any other live action show, comes closest to capturing that frenetic, what’s-gonna-come-next, where will this week’s plot eventually take us pace of The Simpsons.  Lots of really short scenes is the norm for both shows, there are all kinds of little jokes that zoom past you without you even realising it half the time, along with the big jokes, the plot can start off down one path and end up, 22 minutes later, somewhere totally unexpected.

So, there.  Has anyone else thought of that?  I should write a book, I’m so smrt. Smart.

Boring Exercise Update #2

I’m going to be keeping a small diary of my running exploits, so please feel free to ignore these posts.

Today was my second run.  The difficulty of the first run was 100 (the maximum on my scientific scale, on the probably flawed theory that subsequent runs get a bit easier).  It was a real trial to get through and I barely did.  Sounds simple, probably:  8 repetitions of 60 seconds or running followed by 90 seconds of walking.  But for a schlub like me, carrying around the extra pounds I do, it was a task, I tell ya.  The worst part was the two hours afterwards, what with the aches and the pains and the high-den-froid-en, nice laaaa-ddy!
Today’s run was again 8 repetitions of 60 seconds running and 90 seconds walking.  It seemed a bit easier to get through to the end of the 8 reps, and the afterwards pain is substantially less (see, I’m an ace at exercise!!), although I did find it kind of difficult to walk after my final run.  Not because of shortness of breath, or anything, but because of sore shins.
The big problem, one I hope goes away eventually, is the pain all up and down my left arm… no.  Is really sore shins.  Does anyone know if that will remedy itself after a few more attempts?  I hope so.
Anyway, exercise attempt number 2 rates a 90 on my worthless scale.  That’s a whole 10 point difference (those 10 points coming off because this time I had no doubt I’d finish the 8 reps).
Yay Me!!

Come Play On Our Island (bring protection)

You can’t beat free tourism advertising:

– Hell’s Angels Sets Up Chop-Shop in Charlottetown
– NB Bike Gang Expands Domain To Include PEI
– Charlottetown Policeman Caught With Child Pornography
– Mob of Charlottetown Teenagers Harrasses Chinese Restaurant Owners
– PEI Students Stupidest In Canada
– Charlottetown Festival to present Canada Rocks – A Musical Revue

(okay, just kidding on the last one.  Well, let’s just say the jury has not yet returned a verdict)

Exercise. Gasp!

I am not what I would call "fit".  I would love to remedy that but cannot begin to fathom the idea of going to a gym.  I have grown pathetically comfortable in my non-physically active lifestyle.  I have been contemplating, for months now, the notion of beginning to improve my fitness and well-being.  I had kind of talked myself into waiting until the weather was better before I begin any program that would involve outside activity.  Now that it is spring, it is time to take that contemplation and turn it into actuality.
So, today begins what I hope becomes a long and fruitful routine in my life.  Today I take fhe first steps towards getting more healthy.  Today I start a running regimen.
My goal is to be able to run 5 Kilometers straight within 9 weeks.  I found The Couch-to-5K-Running-Plan, which looks like a good way to ease me into the world of getting fit.
I hope I can force myself to stick through the initial weeks so that the routine can plant itself into my brain.  I post my intentions here so that I can fear the humiliation of failing in this task.

I’ll report back here on my progress as events warrant.
Once I succeed on this task, then perhaps I’ll be in a better condition (physically capable and mentally willing) to take advantage of the goodness that a gym and it’s services could offer me.

Exercise. Gasp!

I am not what I would call “fit”.  I would love to remedy that but cannot begin to fathom the idea of going to a gym.  I have grown pathetically comfortable in my non-physically active lifestyle.  I have been contemplating, for months now, the notion of beginning to improve my fitness and well-being.  I had kind of talked myself into waiting until the weather was better before I begin any program that would involve outside activity.  Now that it is spring, it is time to take that contemplation and turn it into actuality.
So, today begins what I hope becomes a long and fruitful routine in my life.  Today I take fhe first steps towards getting more healthy.  Today I start a running regimen.
My goal is to be able to run 5 Kilometers straight within 9 weeks.  I found The Couch-to-5K-Running-Plan, which looks like a good way to ease me into the world of getting fit.
I hope I can force myself to stick through the initial weeks so that the routine can plant itself into my brain.  I post my intentions here so that I can fear the humiliation of failing in this task.

I’ll report back here on my progress as events warrant.
Once I succeed on this task, then perhaps I’ll be in a better condition (physically capable and mentally willing) to take advantage of the goodness that a gym and it’s services could offer me.

Ken Burns’ “Civil War Jazz Ballers”

"My dearest Edith, today saw the sun shining and the fields of grass being mowed in preparation for the Tantonville Titans’ jazz ensemble performance.  On the mound will be our top trombonist, Willie "Slide" Carmichael, so I am filled with great hope.  If the ensemble goes well, we expect to capture the Pennawatty Pirates fort by nightfall.  Capturing this fort will go a long way in ensuring the North wins the war.  I hope to be home before the fall turnip harvest, but Cpl. Adamson says I’ll likely die in the 7th inning, running for a foul note.  Still, I remain hopeful.  Yours, forever, Kenny."
Left fielder and third trumpeter, private Kenny Kennilson’s letter to his estranged wife is but one of the touching and written letters from the men of the Tantonville Titans First Battalion Jazz Collective.  The first all white jazz group that saw battle in the great civil war.  Unfortunately, they all died at the Battle For Penawatty that day, by a score of 9-2.

Isn’t that a touching story?  If you’d like The Annekenstein Monster to continue with great stories, moving portraits like that, then I implore you to fake donate some money to The Annekenstein Monster right now.  It’s simple to do.  Compubots are standing by, over in the comments section of the Fake Pledge post.  Just click there and type in your fake-pledge amount.  Remember, no amount of fake money is too little, or too big.
I’m Rob MacDonald, owner and operator of this very site.  We’ll be back to Ken Burns’ excellent documentary "Ken Burns’ Civil War Jazz Ballers" in a never, but before we never get back, I’d like to tell you a bit about The Annekenstein Monster, and why it’s so important for you to fake contribute to it.
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Having thought about it, I’m actually coming up empty.  Still.  The compubots are standing by.  And they do charge about $7.50 each per hour to stand by, so, I guess, that’s one reason to fake contribute…??
Thanks for your time, and now, back to "Ken Burns’ Civil War Jazz Ballers", exclusively on The Annekenstein Monster…
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