I went to Tower Records yesterday just to look.

Yeah, riiiiight.

The last thing I need to be doing is spending money on "entertainment." But I found the Foo Fighters latest, One By One on sale for $10. Now who can pass that up? I’ve been missing my favorite of theirs, There is Nothing Left to Lose, ever since the ex got it. Alas, it was not on sale. (It can’t be burned, it’s one of those.)

But the greatest find was without a doubt Rufus Wainright’s new one called Want One. The album was not on sale, but I just couldn’t put it down before I reached the cash register.

I’ve been a fan of Rufus ever since the Tribute to John Lennon that aired back in 2001. It was a great special with the likes of Dave Matthews, Natalie Merchant and Stone Temple Pilots doing covers of John Lennon songs. But when the lights came up on this guy being backed by Moby and Sean Lennon as he belted out "Across the Universe," I dropped whatever I was doing. "Who is that?!" If you’re into music piracy, download the live version of "Across the Universe" and you’ll hear what I did.

Rufus has an unmistakable voice. If you’re in a used cd store (or not used for that matter) I recommend you pick up his 2001 release Poses. It’s a GREAT album, which showcases his vocals with quiet piano. The title track is my favorite.

Want One, unlike Poses, is dense with production, layered often with a full-blown orchestra. A prime example is the opening track "Oh What a World," which begins with something akin to chanting monks, then kicks into carnivale, even sampling Ravel’s "Bolero." My favorite tracks are "I Don’t Know What It Is" (kind of a theme to my life lately), "Vicious World" and "Beautiful Child." And "Vibrate" shows off his sense of humor ("My phone’s on vibrate for you/But still I never ever feel from you").

I’ll be addicted to this one for some time to come. Every friend I let borrow Poses brings a new fan into the fold. Hopefully Want One will do the same.

Do you receive emails from Nigerians asking for your bank account number?? Then you should appreciate my new "Link of the Week." Be sure to read the small print, there's funny buried there. My thanks to John C. for giving me this gem of a site!

OUCH...

Bush deck.

Hollywood News in Brief


Walter Cronkite to Return to Block of Ice

After enjoying the last eight weeks with his children and grandchildren, veteran newscaster Walter Cronkite is set to wave goodbye to his loved ones yet again next week, and return to the nine foot block of ice that has encased him for the past 21 years.

"It's wonderful to stretch my legs, and see how my grandchildren have grown. You might say it really warms my heart," said Cronkite, to the delight of reporters and fans at a recent news conference.

Scientists defrosted the ex-CBS news anchor at the death of his friend Bob Hope on July 27th, as stipulated in Cronkite's contract with the cryogenic firm in charge of his preservation. After attending the funeral, Cronkite remained unfrozen the last several weeks in order to pay tribute to Hope at this weeks Emmy Awards ceremony.

Though 87 years of age, Cronkite is technically still 66, just as he was after being frozen in the basement of the Smithsonian shortly after his retirement as the CBS news anchor in 1981.

Cronkite's wife Betsy and daughter Christina were wistful at the thought of saying goodbye to him yet again. "I'd really like Dad to stay," said Christina, "but that's me being greedy. My father is a cultural icon and future generations will benefit from having him chiseled out again to give commentary on world events, or perhaps attend a ribbon cutting."

Cronkite entertained the crowd of reporters for several minutes before bidding farewell. "And so, friends, I must go... and that's the way it is!" The crowd went nuts.

Christina laughed, but through tears. "He will be missed," she says. "Again."



Show With Mark Harmon Scheduled to Fail

TV's new fall season has barely debuted, but that hasn't stopped CBS Executives from already scheduling their first ratings disaster. Navy NCIS, starring Mark Harmon as the head of a Naval Criminal Investigation Service, is slated to tank and be pulled midway through the November sweeps period.

"This is a bold move meant to keep our competition off-balance," explained Programming Chief Leslie Moonves. "We still don't even know how the show will perform in the ratings, but by planning its failure ahead of time, we'll avoid making snap decisions we might later regret."

Moonves declined to add other programs to the list at this time, but was confident that Navy NCIS was the right choice. "Can you name one successful show that starred Mark Harmon?" queried Moonves, who waited a few moments before nodding to reporters. "See?"


Other Entertainment Headlines


Fox Hires Guy with Abs for New Series

Johnny Depp to Play Next Role Quirky, Kinda Gay

This Years 'Survivor' Already Inferior to Next Years

Hello and welcome!

This is that first post in a new blog. The first post traditionally tries to get all the awkwardness out of the way. There are several essentials for the first posting in a new blog and let's go over them now, shall we? Doesn't that sound like fun!

1. First, there is the obligatory "Why am I doing this..."

There are oh, so many reasons. The first of which is that I've had my feathers ruffled a lot in the year 2003. Stuff has really gotten my goat... bees in my bonnet... bats in my belfry... and whatever other animal/stress metaphors. I need a place to sound off about them and I'm tired of ranting to my cat, Oggy. She never knows what I'm talking about, thinks I'm mad at her, then poops in the corner for sweet revenge. That does neither of us any good.

Another reason to do a blog is that I consider myself a writer who wants to be more prolific, but lacks the external pressure to do more writing. What could infuse more pressure than having the entire planet wondering when my next update will be? (Okay, well, maybe not the entire planet, but the one or two bored friends who check in. And the couple of psycho strangers who will love me from afar. And, oh, they WILL love me).

2. What to expect.

My blog will NOT be a personal diary. If you want to see that, well... you are sick. And you're asking for boredom. I keep a written journal for personal stuff (since 1982) and only my family will read that after I'm dead. By then, I will be a wondrous being of pure light and immune to their laughter and ridicule.

You will also NOT see me using profanity here. I have nieces and nephews, some of whom haven't started middle school, and therefore won't be cursing on their own for a few years yet. Also, it would be terrible for my mother to be reading this and hear MY voice in HER head use the f word. She'd call me crying, which would upset me... rant to cat... poop in corner... general unhappiness.

What you WILL see in my blog will be just about anything else. I hope you will applaud at times. I hope you will be angry at times. And I hope you will laugh, always.

Also, I hope you will respond and let me know what you think.

3. It's my hope that the links on the side of the page will grow over time. I'm going to try to do a "Link of the Week" each week. These will always be something I've found to be exceptionally entertaining. I thank my friend Sean for her leading me to my first pick, Dispair.com.

4. Disclaimer

The final part of my opening blog is the expected disclaimer. Here goes.

I have no idea what I'm doing. No really, I'm totally making this up as I go. I just found this blog site on a lark and got started. Maybe I should have shopped around. Maybe other blog sites have something cheaper than "free". When I'm done typing, am I supposed to click the "Post" button or the "Publish" button?

Oh my God, which one?! The anxiety is killing me!

Other blogs have cool pictures and neat designs and colors and I have no clue how to do that. And I thought I was internet savvy.

Well, that's that. Thank you for reading my first post. Come back soon for the second one. There's sure to be less awkwardness next time.

Maybe.

CF