Little Nuggets: 12/9/09

I've been spending a lot of time with my 25,000 songs the past few days making playlists to determine what the best songs of each genre truly are. Of course you know I'm going to share this information with the world as soon as I'm done. I've also been downloading a lot more tunes and trading with my brother in order to have the most complete collection on the planet. The #1 Adult Contemporary Hits List is now on Wikipedia which definitely helps on my quest to find new music to add. But I've also had a lot of pop culture nuggets on mind that I need to jot down so here we go:

This whole Tiger Woods mess is getting to be a little too much. But I'm actually grateful for this news because it exposed a great little pop culture nugget that I find very interesting. When I heard Tiger was involved with a porn star named Holly Sampson, of course I had to gain more information because she was a XXX starlet that I had never even heard of. Upon checking out her bio on Wikipedia, she actually was a child actress in the 80's! A child actress gone bad! A child actress who happened to portray the older love interest of Kevin Arnold on the infamous first episode of third season of The Wonder Years! I remember thinking she was cute back when I was becoming a man in 1991 and that Kevin should hit that instead of being teased by Winnie Cooper. Pretty shocking that the actress ended up working her assets in adult films without me hearing any buzz at all about this fascinating turn of events. Guys out there, you know you are going to hit your favorite porn viral video website after reading the blog to see her all grown up. Always enjoy hearing these great Where Are They Now stories!! Ladies and gentlemen, Holly Sampson!! Yay!

Speaking of porn stars, watch out for Sasha Grey. Jenna Jameson is yesterday's news. Sasha is going to be the new face of the industry. She's going to be a huge brand once the economy settles and the porn market figures out a way to stay alive. She's pulled off the rare act of going mainstream thanks in part to starring in Stephen Soderburgh's next movie. I understand why he chose her over all the other porn stars, she's a real performer. :)

Billboard has released their chart of the Top 40 One Hit Wonders of the 00's, and it's no surprise that Bad Day by Daniel Powter was #1. The Top Ten is as follows and remember it's based on statistics and not based on my opinion although I pretty much agree with most of them.
1) Bad Day/Daniel Powter
2) Lean Back/Terror Squad
3) Butterfly/Crazy Town
4) This Is Why I'm Hot/Mims
5) Laffy Taffy/D4L
6) You're Beautiful/James Blunt
7) Crazy/Gnarls Barkley
8) Hit Em Up Style (Oops!)/Blu Cantrell
9) Inside Your Heaven/Bo Bice
10) He Loves U Not/Dream
For the other 30 songs, check out the complete list by clicking HERE

Speaking of music, CBS mixed things up and introduced the Grammy nominations live in prime time with the usual list of performers like Black-Eyed Peas to piss me off. I won't go into detail on the actual nominations yet, but have some thoughts I'd like to share:

How in the world are the Silversun Pickups up for Best New Artist? An old friend of mine and I were talking about this band three years ago when their album Carnavas was released. They were pretty well-known even then and their first single Lazy Eyes was used in commercials and football games. Their second album, Swoon, came out with a little more fanfare this past year. Were there not enough rookies on the scene that the critics chose this kick-ass band, or were they just too lazy to notice?

Big Whiskey & The Groogrux King is Dave Matthews Band's first album to receive an nomination for album of the year. Maybe it's just me, but am I the only one who has been harsh reviewing the album. Personally I think it's their worst and most disappointing album they ever recorded. Yet my brother and friends insist it's great. Maybe I have to broaden my mind and give it one more chance. It's not like I haven't listened to it a bunch of times to make a fair observation, though. Maybe having one of the members of their band pass away garned some sympathy votes.

Nice to see AC/DC get hard rock nominations for their singler War Machine and their Black Ice Album. I'm sure Angus and the boys could care less, and won't even show up to accept should they even win. They probably deserve a Grammy at this point, but considering AC/DC had to be begged to show up at their Hall Of Fame induction in 2001, I doubt they will could care less about an award that was given to Jethro Tull, A Taste Of Honey, and Milli Vanilli.

Wow, Hall & Oates with a sweet nomination. Usually one of these relics from the past garnered enough attention to get nominated and win the album or year. Off the top of my head, I remember Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Warren Zevon, and Ray Charles all winning acclaim and the big award. And I'll always laugh remembering Steely Dan's Two Against Nature beating out Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP for album of the year. These award shows are a joke! More about the Grammys as we get closer!

If you haven't already heard, Weezer's lead singer Rivers Cuomo was involved in a terrible bus accident recently. Thank God he is okay and will fully recover. Hope he gets better soon because the band has to get in the studio immediately to keep up with releasing another disappointing album soon. After years without a new album, it seems they are putting out new records annually.

This whole Aerosmith mess has to stop. If Joe Perry and the crew really think they can continue the band without Steven Tyler at this point in their career, they really need to hang up their guitar straps and drumsticks. An Aerosmith without Steven Tyler as frontman is like The Rolling Stones replacing Mick Jagger or KISS without Paul Stanley. Let Steven do his solo album, and patch things up for the sake of the true Aerosmith fans. Seeing someone like Lenny Kravitz take lead vocals for Aerosmith is not in the best interest of rock & roll fans.


Speaking of KISS, the band has finally released a music video for their first single off Sonic Boom. Kind of strange that the video comes out now when they have just released their second single, Say Yeah, to the radio stations. Have to admit the music video is well done, and truly gives a person who is clueless about KISS an idea of why they need to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2010. Check it out:


It took me awhile, but I finally got around to listening to the new Chickenfoot album. And it kicks ass! For those who aren't aware of Chickenfoot, it' s the supergroup consisting of Sammy Hagar on vocals and rhythm guitar, former Van Halen member Michael Anthony on bass, Guitar God Joe Satriani on lead guitars, and Red Hot Chili Peppers member Chad Smith (aka the fake Will Ferrell) on drums. It's great to know there still is some old school kick-ass rock & roll still making waves. Fuck Van Halen! Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony are better off without the drama with Eddie and Alex. The album has already gone gold. Three singles have been released from the album, but it's the third single, Sexy Little Thing, that has got me drooling. It might just sneak up on everybody and earn my choice for 2009 Song Of The Year.

Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't already have such love and dedication for the TV show that came later, but I really wasn't impressed with the Friday Night Lights movie. The characters were not that interesting, specifically Billingsley who was the inspiration for Tim Riggins. Although the actual football scenes during the state championship game were well done, I really didn't care if the Panthers won or lost. The counterparts on the TV show like Coach Eric Taylor, Saracen, Smash Williams, and Riggins are more multi-dimensional and intriguing. I didn't want to give it a full entry blog, so this is just a quick review. Final Grade: B-

Thank God my brother came through and got me the new albums from Silversun Pickups, Weezer, and Three Days Grace. The days of buying albums from my favorite artists on the day they hit the market at Best Buy are over unless it's a KISS or AC/DC album (can't kill all tradition!). Thanks to not having the cash for all of these albums that get released each week, but also to itunes where I can wait a few months until somebody buys me an itunes card so I can grab the new stuff. If anybody want to buy me a Chanukkah gift, here are the albums I still need to add to my collection:

Backspacer/Pearl Jam, In A Different Light/Everclear (Art Alexakis and his new bandmates following the new trend and reworking their hit songs. Oh how I miss 2000 when I was obsessed with Art, Craig Montoya, and Greg Ecklund and their awesome music that defined a certain time in my life!), Karma/Winger (have all the other ones and heard it sounds like stuff from the 80's) , Burning The Days/Vertical Horizon (surprised they are a band!), Crash Love/AFI, Shock Value II/Timbaland and Friends, and of course For Your Entertainment/Adam Lambert. I can't wait for 2010 for new albums from RATT (the first album with Stephen Pearcy in almost 15 years), Bruce Kulick, and The White Stripes.

I gave you my TV and Movie to do lists, and to conclude, here are the books I need to read over the next month: The Book Of Basketball by Bill Simmons (arriving to my house this weekend!), Under The Dome by Stephen King, Up In The Air, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and AC/DC: Why They Matter (yet another AC/DC history lesson!)

This decade has probably provided us with some of the best television shows of all time: The Wire, Freaks & Geeks, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Friday Night Lights, Lost, Weeds, Family Guy, Entourage, and The Office. But I'm sure the 2000's will be noted as providing the worst possible horseshit shows of all time as well per this extensive list featuring people famous for being famous: Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kourtney and Chloe Take Miami, Flavor Of Love, The Girls Next Door, The Hills, Laguna Beach, The Real World, Road Rules, Love Cruise, The Moment Of Truth, Am I Hot Or Not?, The Anna Nicole Show, Celebrity Apprentice, I Love New York, The Osbournes Variety Show, Newlyweds, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, The Bachelor, Hogan Knows Best, Brooke Knows Best, The Cougar, The Swan, My New BFF with Paris Hilton, The Simple Life, Megan Wants A Millionaire, Tool Academy, Jersey Shore, The Real Housewives Of, Living Lohan, The new 90210, Hole In The Wall, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Bromance, Hannah Montana, Community, and many more I'm sure I missed. And to close out the decade, we get the utmost worst show I can think of actually being produced. A Jackson family reality show about the Jackson Five minus Michael! Hmm, think that Jermaine, Tito, Randy, and Marlon are grateful that Michael's death keeps them relevant for a little bit longer?

I still don't care for The Big Bang Theory except for the obvious reason being Katey Cuoco. These '00 sitcoms just contain too much forced humor for me to enjoy. And I really can't stand actors trying too hard to act as geeks. Jim Parsons is okay, but I have issues with the other male lead, Johnny Galecki. Who is this guy anyway? Well, after doing some research on-line I realized I have known him all along. He was the kid who played Rusty Griswald in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. And might I add he was the worst of the four actors to play the role. Yes, even worse than Ethan Embry in Vegas Vacation. Now I have even more reason to despise this actor. Let's hope there are no Emmy nominations in his future.

Sad to put into words, but the death of the shopping mall experience is now complete. No more convenience/pharmacies like CVS or Rite-Aid to buy a snack. No more toy stores such as KB Toys to check out the latest action figures. No more music/entertainment shops like Sam Goody, The Wall, and FYE (which just announced they are closing a lot of their stores) to check out high priced CD's. And now no more book stores like Borders Express, B Dalton, Waldenbooks to browse magazines and books while my wife shops. Considering I also don't wear trendy clothes or eat much fast food anymore, there is no reason to go to the local mall except to get a haircut. If I need to by anything nowadays, it's off to the big box stores that assisted in hurting the economy: Target for convenience, Toy R Us for toys, Best Buy for movies and music, Barnes & Noble for books and magazines, and Kohls for clothes. Or maybe it's about time to just save money and time and order things on-line. The days of purchasing cool unique items in the mall with friends are officially over!

My pal Jim told us that one day Kurrgan would be the heavyweight champion of the world in the WWF. We joshed on him all the time that he was dead wrong on this observation. But maybe Jim knew more than he lead on. That's Kurrgan that I've seen in the previews portraying a goon in the new Sherlock Holmes movie hitting theaters very soon. His real name is Robert Maillet and he actually bloodied and knocked down Robert Downey Jr. Good to see him doing well since he's a true freak of nature.

Speaking of wrestling.... I have to discuss the death of yet another professional wrestler. Eddie Fatu, or should I call him Umaga, passed away last weekend. He's most known for appearing in the main event of Wrestlemania 23 representing Vince McMahon vs. Bobby Lashley representing Donald Trump in a Hair Vs. Hair stipulation match. Yet another tragedy as Umaga was only in his 30's. Congrats to those of you that had him in their pro wrestlers death pool!

Be excellent to each other and..... PARTY ON DUDES!