30 Rock - Season One

I was wrong and I now like Tina Fey again. If you missed the last two episodes of the season please watch them on NBC.com

This show had a slow start, but really hit it's stride when Fey stopped playing a bitter teen in 38 year old clothing and started having fun again. They dropped the brooding, pant suit crap to give her a relationship and a wardrobe. Liz Lemon's(Fey) dialogue with boss Jack Donague (Alec Baldwin) is 100% hilarious and highlighted by Donague always referring to Lemon by her last name. They also sprinkle just enough Tracy Morgan in to not make it overbearing.

Wedding Crashers 2: Electric Bugaloo

NBC started a new candid camera style show last week called "The Real Wedding Crashers" where a bride and groom help to pay off their wedding by allowing fake guests to "ruin" their wedding via pre-planned pranks which lead guests to think the cake has been destroyed or a fight has broken out.

Huh???

First off, I have been inspired by this movie and my own wedding attendance to figure out a way to market myself as a wedding guest. I truly believe I can raise guests ranking of a wedding by a full point and I'm not the only person I know with this talent. The beauty of the Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson characters is while they went to meet some ladies they injected themselves into the party to ensure everyone had a great time. Let's face it we've all been to weddings where the crowd showed up flat and need a little kick to get things going. Here's some tips from my bag of tricks

• Meet as may people as you can at cocktail hour and remember something about them.
• After doing your first sweep through the room, do a second quick run making eye contact and dropping one line comments to set things up later
• Touch base with both sets of parents so they know who you are
  
• Make sure to meet people from all age brackets
• Talk to everyone at your table and size up their expectations for the wedding
  
• Don't drink too much. I made this mistake once and will not do it again. It has serious affect on dancing ability and leads to creepiness as opposed to being the fun guy
• Talk to the band/DJ and let them know you're excited to work with them. I usually request a song or two which is acceptable. Anything more can be pushy
• Hydrate
• Once things get going patrol the dance floor to make sure everyone is alright and give everyone(guys and girls) attention
  
• Don't force anything
  

Multitask Mania

Saturday, I managed to watch the NFL draft, Red Sox-Yankees, Redwings-Sharks playoff game, and assorted NBA playoff action at the same time. That's right I have a serious sports problem. A brief recap.

With regards to the draft, Steve Young did nothing, but embarrass himself. He regularly fought with analyst Chris Mortenson (who in my opinion proves to be the most connected insider with all of professional sports) and Mel Kiper by presenting arguments showing he did little preparation for his assignment and knows no one in the business. Young needs to realize he's no longer a player and if ESPN had no problem letting Michael Irvin go he may be next.

Speaking of players, current Carolina Panther's receiver, Keyshawn Johnson, thought every team should take a wide receiver and then criticised USC protegee, Dwayne Jarrett, for leaving school early only to have his team draft him later in the day. That should be a fun training camp.

Oh, and Lions GM Matt Millen is still an idiot.

Simon Snaps

Simon Cowell finally blew up on the legendary Sanjiyah Malakar and ate Ryan Seacrest for breakfast on the way.

I'm seriously waiting for the announcement American Idol has offered the first buyout of one of it's contestants

The Prestige

I watched The Prestige over the weekend.

This film features Christian Bale(Alfred) and Hugh Jackman(Robert as former colleagues who become rival magicians in the late 1800s-early 1900s. The feud is sparked my the tragic death of Robert's wife in a trick gone wrong and Alfred may be responsible. Alfred develops a specific illusion Robert becomes obsessed with discovering and without ruining anything the catch to this movie is one of the most unique and disturbing concepts in a movie. I have the Illusionist arriving in a few days, but I give The Prestige a hearty thumbs up.

Fun Fact: Per the DVD extras, the bizarre David Bowie character, Tesla, is based on a factual rival to Thomas Edison. He held numerous patents and some of his achievements have been unable to be replicated by modern science

Love in the Movies

I just watched the preview for the new Adam Sandler/Kevin James movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry about two firemen who pretend to get married so they can meet some pension requirement not fully defined. Here is my assessment:

Jessica Biel is hot. I mean really hot.

Cue wife headshake

Entourage Season 3

Well, since I'm too cheap to get HBO, Bethany and I just caught up on season 3 of Entourage on DVD as we powered through the final 4 episodes last night. We're both huge fans of catching up on shows via DVD and look forward to the hopeful. release of Friday Night Lights this summer. It's more convenient than a movie because you can knock one out in 20-30 minutes instead of the move length 2 hour commitment. It also really helps with cliffhangers because you can jump to the next episode without having to wait a week.

We both give this past season a solid rating and found this season centered centrally around the Fab 4 and Ari as Vince tries to deal with life after Aquaman shatters the Spiderman Two record opening. Key highlights include a new Entourage member, Seth Green, a trip to Vegas, and more of Ari's wife. Also, one of the funnier moments occurs when Vince meets a girl who has him on her celebrity Top 5 list.

Season 4 started last week and I look forward to watching it when it becomes available. This is in fact season 3 1/2 because all 24 episodes were shot together and the original plan called for it to be one season. Whatever floats HBO's boat to keep people thinking The Soprano's shouldn't have been buried 3 years ago.

The Phenom

Tune into this amazing clip of a 13 year hockey player pulling some sick shootout moves

What a move!!

Read all the funny comments from jealous 11 year olds!!

Girlfriend

I have found myself thoroughly enjoying the new song, "Girlfriend", by Avril Lavigne although I wonder if she really recognizes it represents everything she loathes. I find it to be quite bubblegummy in nature and it takes me back to those early Backstreet, 'N sync, Britney days.

Idol Update

Where to begin...

For starters, I'm holding with my initial analysis of the talent being below average at best and here are some random thoughts:

Blake and Chris: I want them in the end purely because they seem to be having the most fun with it.

Jordin: Really? Come on people, I really don't see it. Good pipes, but something is missing.

Melinda: Ok, I'm going to be really polite here. Sweet as pie, but she doesn't even come close to having anything remotely close to a marketable look.

Sanjahah: I hear if he is finally voted off he has a standing offer to appear on "How to Catch a Child Predator"

Back in Action

Sorry all, I spent the last few weeks getting knocked around in the office wrapping up our audit and trying to get our tax returns out. I'm back for awhile