Former Teen Idols Mickey Dolenz, Mark Lindsay and Peter Noone

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Ironically enough at the “Teen Idols” show no one was under fifty. I will even go as far as to say that no one UNDER 50 will even be remotely interested in this show. But for those of us who ARE over 50 it was a terrific ride down memory lane of the sixties. These three men, now all between 64 and 68, represented the heart of the teen pop music of the sixties, with Mickey Dolenz being from The Monkees, Mark Lindsay from Paul Revere and the Raiders, and Peter Noone from Herman’s Hermits.

I was always a Paul Revere fan from the time I was eight years old. Their outfits, the pony tails, the crazy Vox Phantom guitars, the pre-cursor to hard rock-metal music, the dance steps, the stage antics…all just blew me away. Hell, it was Mark Lindsay and Phil Volk who got me all fired up enough about music to start playing and become a performer (notice King Lizzard’s early 2000s look of the french ruffled shirts?). Luckily I was fortunate enough to somewhat be friends with Phil “Fank” Volk out here in Vegas. Mark Lindsay was, in my opinion, the only true lead singer of PR&TR.
Mickey Dolenz was part of a phenomena that bankrolled millions in sales, had the best songwriters on the planet and infuriated real musicians everywhere. The were the Pre-Fab Four known as the Monkees, where NBC cast two musicians and two actors as a band and had a goofy sitcom about their life. Dolenz was one of the two actors. At first they only pretended to play their instruments, but, at the protesting of musicians and Mike Nesmith, eventually learned to play. They started out as four mop-tops a la American Beatles and ended up and four psychedelic musicians…much like American Beatles…

Peter Noone is best known as Herman from Herman’s Hermits, and the youngest of the three. His top songs are “Henry the VIII” and “Kind of a Hush.” He still has the boyish look and big toothy grin. Peter was the silliest of the three, frequently going out to the audience and sitting to watch the show.

The three were onstage at all times, playing off each other, doing jokes, making fun of how old they are and singing backup for each other a la the original Rat Pack. Peter and Mickey climbed off stage, slowly and comedically to wander amongst the audience. Peter came out at one point with a walker. There were other celebrities in the audience, like Phil “Fang” Volk (original bass player of PR&TR) and Desi Arnaz, Jr. The venue was packed, but the average age was about 60. All in all it was a helluva lot of fun, and I enjoyed talking with the guys afterwards.

Set List:

Glad All Over (All 3)

Mark Lindsay:
Just Like Me
Action (partial)
Hungry
Arizona
Good Thing
Indian Reservation
Kicks

Mickey Dolenz:
That Was Then, This Is Now
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
Last Train To Clarksville
Purple Haze (partial – part of a bit where he was describing what it was like to tour with Hendrix – they did the song right up to where “‘scuse me while I kiss the sky” is – where the band stops dead & you hear Mickey chant “We Want Davy! – We Want Davy!”.)
Daydream Believer
Steppin’ Stone (duel with Mark Lindsay)
Pleasant Valley Sunday
I’m A Believer

Peter Noone:
Ring of Fire
I’m Into Something Good
Wonderful World
Love Potion #9 (All 3)
Just A Little Bit Better
Silhouettes
Listen People
Mrs. Brown
Henry The 8th (All 3)
Kind Of Hush (All 3)

Here are some videos I took with my Droid phone:

Perhaps one of the greatest metal singers, he fronted Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Elf and Heaven and Hell. His further contributions to the legacy of metal include being the originator of the devil horns salute.

24 Season 3

Yes, the end is near, my brothers and sisters. For nine years we have been on the roller coaster ride we call 24. We have followed brother Bauer through torture, life and death and back to life many times. And now the time is come to reflect on what a ride it has been. And all I can say is, holy fuck…
I started out by renting through Netflix season one. Before you can say terrorist alert I’m scouring my local Target stores, buying up all the seasons for $20 each because Netflix can’t ship ‘em out fast enough. Shit, I even watched Season 4 in real time, one right after the other for 24 hours. Now, mind you, after that I had some major aggression issues, like twisting the head off the local supermarket clerk because they didn’t have our ice cream bars in stock…
To be honest, there’s no fucking way all this shit could happen in one day, but that’s what makes it a blast. Let’s reflect on the past seasons:
SEASON 1- Starts out with Jack Bauer’s wife and daughter getting kidnapped by terrorists while a plot to kill the first African-American presidential candidate unfolds, framing Jack for it. It ends with Jacks ex-love interest being a mole and Jack’s wife getting killed.
SEASON 2- Starts out with Jack shooting a witness protection witness and sawing his head off and winds it’s way through terrorists trying to nuke Los Angeles.
SEASON 3- Starts out with Jack mounting a deadly prison riot to break a drug lord out and ends up with a hotel of people dying from a deadly virus. Not the best season. But it did introduce a whiney-ass creepy character named Chloe O’Brien, who would worm her way into our hearts for the next 5 seasons to come.
SEASON 4- Has the guy who played Im Ho Tep in the 90s Mummy trilogy as the bad guy who starts out by melting down nuclear reactors and winds shooting a nuclear missile at Los Angeles (yes, all the terrorists want to destroy LA).
SEASON 5- Kicked a major amount of ass, probably the best of all the seasons. Within the first few minutes President Palmer gets assassinated, Tony and Michelle get blown up, Jack (who’s supposed to be dead because he staged a raid on the Chinese Embassy in season 4 resulting in Chinese deaths and grounds for war) kidnapping a teenaged boy and dragging him around while terrorists hold an entire airport hostage. Nerve gas floods through a shopping mall and through CTU Los Angeles, killing lotsa people, finding out that the President of the USA was behind it all and ends with Jack getting Shanghai’d (literally) to China.
SEASON 6- was about suitcase nukes and Jack Bauer’s bad daddy issues…not a good season.
SEASON 7- Was set in Washington DC, about american militia funding a war in Africa and terrorism in the U.S. Tony comes back from the dead as a bad guy, and, in the end, Jack is dying after being exposed to nerve gas.
SEASON 8- Is a lame-ass plot to assassinate the president of Iran to start a world war, which stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Katie Sackhoff (Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, whom I understand critics are saying has single-handedly killed the 24 franchise). I don’t think anyone ever mentioned how Jack got cured.

Yeah, all the stuff is implausible and ridiculous at times, but it’s an adrenaline shot that keeps you wanting more. The characters are likeable and engaging and each episode ends on a cliff-hanger.  The only major thorn was the Kim Bauer subplots, which most times verged on the ridiculous (even though she’s gorgeous to look at), I mean, how many times can you get kidnapped in a day???

So, let’s see if we get a feature film out of all this at the end.

Lady Gaga went through a series of costume changes during her show Thursday at The Pearl.

Lady Gaga balances grace with bawdiness

By JASON BRACELIN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
If she ever had to walk in Dorothy’s ruby red shoes, she’d never want to peek behind any of Oz’s curtains.

Lady Gaga’s mission: to put the “art” in “artifice,” the “super” in “superficial.
In this context, appearance isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

“We are nothing without our image, without projection,” Gaga announced as part of a pretaped video montage projected onto the towering video screens that bookended the stage during a sold-out show Thursday at The Pearl at the Palms.

This was the first of two nights that Gaga’s “The Monster Ball” tour would take over the venue in what the chart-topping changeling has called “the first-ever ‘pop electro opera.’ ”

Well, there were no fat ladies on display here, just Gaga’s sculpted glutes, which she wagged at the crowd like an overeager puppy in a variety of guises, all of which were meant to showcase her body like a series of couture trophy cases.

It suited the hot and bothered tone of the evening: This was less a concert than a night of heavy breathing pop performance art, alive with carnal choreography and more lewd come-ons than could be heard at a dozen construction sites.

“Tonight, I’m feeling particularly slutty,” Gaga panted early on in the show, wielding her sexuality like a battle ax.

If you want to argue that this kind of assertiveness is empowering, then Gaga was the Rosie the Riveter of the female libido.

Throughout her show at The Pearl, Gaga balanced a feminine grace with a masculine bawdiness.

She was a commanding presence, gripping a white keytar and singing from atop an illuminated cube early in the show during a propulsive “Just Dance,” punching the air, feigning masturbation (of the male variety) and doing the splits to punctuate the fireball funk of “LoveGame.”

She went through a series of costume changes, donning everything from tight red bikini bottoms and a matching top to a shiny black dress with 20-foot-long blond braids carried onstage by a phalanx of dancers while Gaga lounged upon the lighting rig during “Paparazzi.”

Though her sex drive seemed to be stuck in fourth gear and much of her stage banter unprintable, every forked tongue has two sides to it, and Gaga did attempt to balance her potty-mouthed sensuality with some sentiment.

Much of her set was lip synced, but she sang sweetly, seated at a piano, during bittersweet ballad “Speechless,” and did her best to foster a welcoming, communal vibe throughout the night.

“I created ‘The Monster Ball’ so that you would always have a place to go,” she said at one point. “Tonight, the freaks are outside.”

Inside, it was all whiplash beats, monstrous synth lines and spine-tingling bass levels.

In Gaga’s boy-crazy catalog, the dudes are wolves in disguise with Johnny Walker eyes or credit cards in tight jeans.

On one level, she embraces conspicuous consumption and fetishes the finer things in life.

“I can’t help myself. I’m addicted to a life of material,” she sang during “The Fame.” “It’s some kind of joke. I’m obsessively opposed to the typical.”

But live, you really do get the feeling that it’s all one elaborate punch line, with Gaga smirking knowingly in the wings.

She often mocks that which she claims to obsess over.

“I hate money,” she said at one point. “You know what I hate more than money? The truth. I love a big, giant pile of B.S. over the truth.”

Ironically then, for at least one moment in the evening, the truth was exactly what she was speaking.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.

Coming Christmas to a Theatre Near You

Coming in time for Christmas!

Journey - Neal Schon (guitars, backing vocals), Deen Castronovo (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Arnel Pineda (lead vocals), Jonathan Cain (keyboards, backing vocals), and Ross Valory (bass, backing vocals)

I’m not going to belabor the point, this is the fourth time I’ve seen Journey, once with Steve Perry, once with Steve Augeri and twice with Arnel Pineda.
Journey is Journey and they are always amazing and put on a first rate show. Before the show Jonathon Cain was in the lobby mixing with fans. The show went on right at 8PM and they played a solid two hour set.
The only distractions were the venue. I was seven rows from the front, so I could see the whites of their eyes onstage. It was outside at the pool, which is huge and inviting, if it were July or August. Instead, it is October and it was 70 degrees with 35MPH winds that blew the suspended speakers and lighting rigs around like wind chimes, blew over chairs and made it too fucking cold to really enjoy the show. Even midway through the set Arnel donned a heavy jacket (see video below).
The other venue negative was the stage was too small to contain Journey—Arnel specifically, who had little-to-no room for his leaping,kicking, twirling and racing.It was like putting an overly rambunctious kitten in a small cardboard box.
There were projection screens on each of the stage, which people were watching and videotaping with their cellphones rather than watching the real thing on stage. Crowds were on balconies at restaurants watching as a full moon loomed overhead.
Otherwise, drummer Deen Castronovo sang two or three songs, which I don’t think I’ve seen before. He has a good range but was a little weak in spots (however, I’m sure maintaining a steady beat while singing has got to be difficult). Jonathon Cain broke out the harmonica and did a solo while Neal Schon played the mandolin.
They started out with Separate Ways and ended with Don’t Stop Believing. Notably missing was Any Way You Want It. People sang along to Lights, Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ finale (na na na na na) and Don’t Stop. They did not do an encore.
So, bottom line, Journey is Journey and always puts on a helluva great show. However, stay away from outdoor venues when you’re getting into fall and winter.
BTW, I think this was their last, or next to last stop on their summer 2009 tour.
]]> http://www.lizzardworld.com/?feed=rss2&p=719 0 http://www.lizzardworld.com/?p=690 http://www.lizzardworld.com/?p=690#comments Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:27:48 +0000 King Lizzard http://www.lizzardworld.com/?p=690 Review by the Phantom Jackass.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Steve Tyler and Joe Perry

I’m afraid this is the concert that broke the proverbial camel’s back. Last year saw a large group of classic rock concerts hitting the road, with Boston, Journey, Heart, Styx, anybody who was around back in the seventies was back again last summer. And of all the shows, only Journey and Trans-Siberian Orchestra were worth the trouble it took to get there.
This year it’s slim pickins. Only ZZ Top and Aerosmith together were promised to be the show of the year. Local papers were stating, “If you see only one concert all year, this is it!”
Unfortunately, the cost and the trouble to get to it and stay through it far outweighed the enjoyment.
You would think the hottest bands in America over the past 30 years playing in the hottest American resort town during a hot summer with hot babes wearing next-to-nothing would be a veritable gift from the rock gods. Instead, it was a battle to fight the traffic, with all valet parking being filled hours before the show leaving hundreds of cars anxiously roaming in search of a place to park before the show started.

Then to get anything to eat was a one hour wait (shit, even Mickey D’s had a line of about fifty people waiting). Once getting into the Grand Garden Arena you are immediately subjected to loud drunks and sixty-year-old women in spandex mini-dresses sloshing beer all over you. After a long wait you’re subjected to the ultimate in pathetic entertainment: a Guitar Hero Aerosmith mini-concert of two kids playing on their X-Box guitars. Another fifteen minutes of nothing, then you start hearing coyotes howling over

ZZ Top

the loudspeakers.
When ZZ Top hit the stage they opened with a set of 6 songs which I didn’t recognize anything and neither did the crowd. Billy Gibbons kept having to ask, “Are you still with us?” just because the audience just wasn’t being very supportive. It was only after they said, “We’re going to go wayyy back” that the audience perked. They did “Legs (with the furry guitars),” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “La Grange” and “Tush,” while their eighties videos played behind them on the video wall. When they finished “Tush” they just walked off the stage never to return. No waving, no bowing, no thank yous. Excuse me, where the hell was “Viva Las Vegas?”
Then came an hour wait before Aerosmith hit the stage, which really blew the momentum all to shit. By the time they hit the stage I was ready to leave. This, however, gave the drunks enough time to engage in shouting and whistling contests.

Joe Perry and Steve Tyler: The Toxic Twins

I’m not really sure if it was the band…I really don’t know, but I was really looking forward to this show for months and when I was there it was just plain, damned disappointing. Steve and company played an energetic set. They had the whole lights and stage effects thing going on. It was Slash’s birthday, so they dragged him out to do a blues guitar thing. There was little between-song banter. Joe Perry, it seems, had an off night: seemed like he was hitting a lot of wrong notes. And, IMHO, the mixing was so hot you could barely tell what songs were being played.
Highlights were “Love in an Elevator” with the lighting rigs moving up and down like elevators, “Sweet Emotion” with the theramin solo, jamming with Slash and Joe Perry’s standing on simulated flames guitar solo.
Low points were, well, an hour to get into the MGM and find a place to park, stampeding into the arena, waiting an hour before Aerosmith goes on, beer being spilled all over me, people who could NOT stay the hell down in their seats running back and forth every ten seconds milling about like ants, grannies in their hot pants and miniskirts embarassingly dancing in the aisles while elbowing everyone in the eye and toppling over, the arena drunks throwing shit and screaming obnoxiously, not being able to see very much because people won’t sit in their damned seats, the mix being painful…ah, hell, you get my point. Yeah, I think I’m gettin’ too damned old to keep going to these things.

Studio54 After Concert Flyer

Half-way through “Walk This Way” I decided to bail. Looks like the only thing I missed was Joe Perry doing a Guitar Hero battle with himself and yet another blues jam.

 At the same time all the other shows at MGM were letting out so you get caught up in the massive stampede of Aerosmith, KA and David Copperfield all stampeding to the parking garages resulting in a two hour delay getting the hell out of there. The only memorable moment of the evening was seeing two hot gals dressed in very revealing lingerie walking through the MGM lobby, causing whiplash and men to slap their foreheads.
I was originally thinking there was nothing wrong with the bands, it was just the venue, but I was also hoping to find some cool merchandise, but all both bands seemed to have was T-Shirts: No DVDs, no CDs, posters, hats, lighters, no signed stuff…zilch. At least nothing I could find in the three booths I looked at. Lack of good merchandise and Aerosmith going on late were band issues.
Ah well, it’s like your first sexual experience where the expectations far excede the actual participation.

Videos and Setlists:

Tush

2009 ZZ Top Set List

1. Got Me Under Pressure
2. Waitin’ for the Bus
3. Jesus Just Left Chicago
4. Chevrolet
5. Pincushion
6. Future Blues
7. Cheap Sunglasses
8. I Need You Tonight
9. Catfish Blues
10.Foxey Lady
11.Heard It On The X
12.Just Got Paid
13.Gimme All Your Lovin’
14.Sharp Dressed Man
15.Legs
16.La Grange
17.Tush

Love in an Elevator

2009 Las Vegas AEROSMITH setlist:

1.Eat The Rich
2.Falling in Love (is Hard on the Knees)
3.Rag Doll
4.I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
5.Unknown (with Slash)
6.Last Child
7.Combination
8.Love In An Elevator
9.Cryin’
10.Livin’ on the Edge
11.Bass and Drum Solo
12.Sweet Emotion
13.Walk This Way

Encore:
14.Guitar Hero Solo
15.Train Kept a Rollin’ (Tiny Bradshaw cover)

UPDATE: Steven Tyler Had a Great Fall

Steven Tyler, the charismatic singer in Aerosmith, fell off the stage at a concert during a motorcycle rally in South Dakota on Wednesday night and was reportedly airlifted to a local hospital with neck and shoulder injuries.

The Rapid City Journal is reporting that Tyler took a dive shortly after the legendary rockers began their song ‘Love In an Elevator’ at the famed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Apparently, the sound system had cut out. A witness told reporters that he tottered backward and fell from the stage and was promptly helped up by security, but was then taken backstage.

——————————————————————————–

Guitarist Joe Perry emerged and told the audience that his lead singer was heading to the hospital.

Mike Sanborn of the Buffalo Chip Campground, where the concert was held, said Tyler was in “good spirits” as he was ushered away.

“He was good natured about it,” he told the Associated Press. “He was talking and joking with the physician.”

This was the first time Aerosmith had performed at the rally, and promoters had earlier predicted the band would draw the biggest crowd in South Dakota history. The number of bummed-out fans has not been released.

Review by King Lizzard

Rating: 0.5 out of 5 stars

I wasgoing to write a review on a show that I have come late into watching, but have come to like very much: Battlestar Galactica. I think its acting, music, story and special effects are top notch. But, again, since it is old news and the series has come to an end, all I can say is watch the whole damned thing from the mini-series beginning to the end and you’ll be just as hooked.
But now the new thing is Caprica. Since Hollywood’s going nuts for pre-quels, or shit that happened before the main event, it’s no surprise they threw this together.
I have watched all seasons of BSG (re-imagined) and purchased 3 seasons for further viewing. I was enticed to Caprica on the reputation of BSG and the previews on SyFy.
Set on Caprica 58 years before BSG, it shows the creation of the cylons, little Billy Adama and his dad, and the whole virtual artificial intelligence gag.
Watching this leaves me with so many questions:

1. I though Admiral  Adama  came from a better background than depicted here.  According to Caprica they were Mafia farmers from a low caste planet who became mob lawyers and hit men on Caprica.
2. Most of the movie is comprised of virtual raves, where human sacrifice goes on all the time. They actually showed titties on Sci Fi channel?
3. William Adama’s blue eyes were always a big deal in BSG, William as a kid has brown eyes. Inconsistant.
4. The mad scientist Daniel Greystone (Eric Stohlz) actually downloaded his dead daughter’s total essence to a cyborg without making a back up? And why the frak would he put his daughter’s essence into a warrior robot?
5. Greystone also made a virtual dead daughter of Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) by googling her? Seems to me it would be a bit more involved.
6. Lastly, the plotlines just doesn’t make any goddamned sense in regards to BSG events.

This is a piss poor movie full of plot holes, stupid shit, gratuitous sex an shit that just doesn’t make sense. Here’s hoping that Sci Fi doesn’t put too much into the Caprica episodes. The acting, the CGI work, the story, all grade F. It disrespects the original show by clinging to its coat tails. All I can say is, Frak this shit, don’t bother watching.

[View with PicLens]

So, doesn’t that make you wanna kill yourself?

1. Jackson’s Billie Jean was the first video by a black artist to air on MTV.

2. Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State Anthem South Carolina on My Mind, recorded by Hank Martin and Buzz Arledge.

3. Jackson’s waxwork features in five Madame Tussauds museums across the world. Only Elvis Presley and Madonna have more Tussaud figures – they have six each.

4. Jackson’s total lifetime earnings from royalties, solo recordings and music videos, revenue from concerts and endorsements have been estimated at $500 million (#271 million).

5. Jackson has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for radio play, located at 1541 Vine Street, and one for recording at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard.

6. Jackson received a Presidential Humanitarian Award from Ronald Reagan in 1984 for his support of charities helping people overcome alcohol and drug abuse.

7. Michael Jackson is the seventh of nine children.

8. Jackson fought fellow 50 year old Madonna on MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch – he lost.

9. Three of Jackson’s albums – Bad, Dangerous and Thriller – are among the bestsellers of all time.

10. Thriller remains the biggest-selling album since records began.

11. Jackson has sold more than 300 million records worldwide.

12. Jackson wears his trademark black armband to remind fans of the suffering of children around the world.

13. Jackson’s favourite superhero is Morph from the X-Men.

14.Jackson picked up his iconic moonwalk moves, which he debuted at the Motown 25th Anniversary show in 1983, from streetdancers he spotted performing outside a hotel.

15. MC Hammer once challenged Jackson to a dance-off. He was told to Beat It. Jackson reportedly responded, “I’ve seen your videos and every single dance move you use, you got off of me.”

16. Little Richard wanted Jackson to play him in a biopic.

17. Bubbles the chimp and Ben the rat are two of Jackson’s most famous pets, but he also befriended a ram called Mr Tibbs, a python called Crusher and Louie the llama.

18. An obsessed French Jackson superfan committed suicide in 1984 after his mother refused to allow him to undergo surgery to look like the star.

19. In 1984, a U.S. library accused Jackson of owing it over $1 million in overdue book fines. Officials said they would scrap the fines if he returned the books autographed.

20. Jackson dedicated his 1997 Blood On The Dancefloor album to Sir Elton John.

21. Jackson is a vegetarian.

22. Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Jackson 5 on May 6, 1997. He was inducted as a solo artist on March 19, 2001.

23. Jackson once dated Brooke Shields and Tatum O’Neal.

24. Jackson has several media nicknames. They include The Gloved One, Wacko Jacko, Jacko, The King of Pop, and MJ. Close friends call him Smelly!

25. Jackson’s music video for Thriller was voted the greatest music video of all time in a recent Channel 4 (UK) poll.

26. Jackson won an MTV Movie Award for Best Movie Song in 1994 for his song Will You Be There from the movie Free Willy.

27. The Scream music video Jackson made with sister Janet is the most expensive promo ever made, costing more than $7 million (#3.8 million).

28. Jackson’s double album HIStory is the biggest selling double album ever released in the U.S.

29. Jackson’s Blood on the Dance Floor is the biggest selling re-mix album of all time.

30. Jackson really is a King in West Africa – he was given a royal title by villagers in Gabon, Ivory Coast in 1992.

31. Jackson’s pre-concert ritual includes drinking Ricola candy dissolved in hot water. He claims the beverage helps to keep his throat and his singing voice clear.

32. Jackson owns the patent for a stage shoe device that allows performers to lean forward and appear to defy gravity.

33. Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana in 1958. The town is planning a tribute museum to the pop superstar.

34. Movie star Macauley Culkin is godfather to Jackson’s two eldest children, Paris and Prince Michael.

35. Culkin helped Jackson design the amusement park at his Neverland Valley Ranch home in California.

36. Lisa Marie Presley’s former brother-in-law and his wife were the witnesses at her Dominican Republic wedding to Jackson in 1994.

37. Jackson shares the record for the most Grammy Awards won in one year with Carlos Santana and Norah Jones – they each won eight.

38. Jackson co-wrote charity anthem We Are The World with Lionel Richie.

39. Jackson is godfather to Nicole Richie, Bee Gees star Barry Gibb’s son Michael, and Oliver star Mark Lester’s kids.

40. Jackson and brother Tito were best men at Liza Minnelli and David Gest’s wedding.

41. Jackson’s performance during the 1993 SuperBowl half-time show drew the largest TV audience in American history.

42. The directors of Jackson’s videos have included Martin Scorsese, John Singleton and John Landis.

43. In 1999 Jackson paid $1.5 (#810,000) for the 1939 Best Picture Oscar, which was presented to producer David O. Selznick for Gone With The Wind.

44. Jackson appeared on a postage stamp in the Virgin Islands in the mid-1980s after locals voted him the superstar they’d most like to honour.

45. An extensive 1997 survey declared Jackson was the Most Famous Person in the World.

46. Jackson helped plan neighbour Gregory Peck’s funeral.

47. Jackson once described close friend Elizabeth Taylor as “a warm cuddly blanket that I love to snuggle up to and cover myself with.”

48. Jackson provided a voiceover on The Simpsons – but it remained a secret for 12 years. He voiced a character in a mental institution in the Stark Raving Dad episode, which aired in 1991, but, because of a contractual problem, Jackson had to be credited as John Jay Smith. His contribution to the classic cartoon series remained a rumour among fans until The Simpsons creator Matt Groening confirmed it really was Jackson when the episode was released on DVD in 2003.

49. Jackson shares the same birthday as U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who turns 72 today. Other celebrities who share Jackson’s birthday include moviemakers Sir Richard Attenborough and William Friedkin, and actresses Rebecca DeMornay and Carla Gugino.

50. Jackson’s comeback plans have been scuppered by a new online poll – 71 per cent of 59,000 people voting on website PopEater.com answered `Not a chance’ to the question ‘Can the King of Pop make a comeback?’

Michael’s Last Video

Bubbles the Chimp-Now

[View with PicLens]

Bette Midler: Great Gams for 60+

Okay, once again I get to suspend my sexual preference, at least for an evening, and attend the greatness that is the Divine Miss M. Bette Midler, who, at 63 is as raunchy and bawdy as ever. She seems to be in great shape, pacing the stage in Peg Bundy fashion and calling out to “Let’s hear it from the Jews, now let’s hear it from the Christians, now let’s hear it from the gays!”
Playing at the same venue as Elton John and Cher, this time we got free orchestra tickets. The show starts out really quite ingeniously.
For the time the audience is loading in you’re looking at a projected graphic advertisement of Bette’s “The Showgirl Must Go On,” with her in white hot pants sitting in the middle of the Nevada desert. Then as the show actually starts the graphic pulls away to show that it’s a billboard on the side of the long desert stretch of highway leading into Vegas. Donkeys and buzzards stare at us as the band walks over the boulder backdrop and takes place on the stage. A tornado rips through the desert tearing apart the billboard. It picks up cars and trucks on the highway and spins them around a la Wizard of Oz. The tornado tears through the desert and into Las Vegas, tearing up the strip. The tornado heads to Caesar’s Colosseum and proceeds to blow it apart as the stage gets hit by wind and smoke (the tornado is entering the theatre) and from the midst the Divine Miss M appears out of the tornado.
With her backup singers The Harlettes and her dancing show girls, the Caesar Salad Dancers, they go through a series of popular songs from the 30s through the 80s.

As Dolores DeLago the Mermaid

At one point she dons the mermaid tail as Dolores DeLago and does a spoof of American Idol (complete with AI’s holy trinity on video), gets talked into playing Vegas by Wayne Newton, ends up in the middle of an oil field performing, has a vision of Elvis who tells her “It’s Now or Never” and she breaks into the big time in Vegas as nearly forty mermaids in wheel chairs do a showstopper showgirl number in synchronized ballet reminiscent of Esther Williams.
At one point she becomes Soph, the world’s oldest showgirl, appearing on the stage in an eighty foot feather headdress, and Bette and her girls go into a showgirl routine called “Long Legs and Great Knockers.” She breaks up the dancing by telling obscene one liners, such as “My friend and I were at the park, sitting on a bench, when a man came over and exposed himself. My friend had a stroke, but unfortunately my arms were too short.” Near the end of this bit she had a candid moment with the audience by admitting that she was in her twenties when she created Soph and thought of Soph as being this old bat in her sixties…to which she hangs her head and says, “You can see where I’m going with this…”

The Caesar Salad Dancers

She performed her stock faves, “The Rose,” “In the Mood,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” and ended with a killer version of “Wind Beneath My Wings.”
There are several things which made me enjoy Bette more than Elton and Cher. First, the stage focused on her. Cher’s stage was really busy with acrobats (Bette says, “This is the only show on the strip that doesn’t contain French-Canadian circus performers.”) and ever changing set pieces, and Elton was so buried in his over-sized sets and videos screens you didn’t even notice he was on stage.
Second, she was actually pretty funny. Lastly, she can still sing like a motherfucker, whereas Elton’s high-end is gone and Cher is sounding more and more like a warbly man.
Manly yes, but I like it too.

Captained by the malicious  Nero (Eric Bana), a large alien spacecraft mysteriously emerges from a ’space thunderstorm’ before attacking  heavily outclassed Federation ship. Surviving the attack is Winona Kirk, returning to Earth to raise her newborn son James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), who grows up to be a rebellious troublemaker. Meanwhile, an exceptionally bright half-human half-Vulcan student by the name of Spock (Zachary Quinto) is struggling to fit in because of his impure bloodline. Hoping to prove something to themselves and their naysayers, the two join the space cadets where they are both fast tracked into duty on-board the newly commissioned U.S.S. Enterprise. Their first mission is to aid in the recovery of a Federation ship, whose last transmission mentioned a ’space thunderstorm’ much like the one from the day Kirk was born.

 
Best described as an origin story, Star Trek is more concerned with introducing  the franchise to newcomers than it is  just rewarding its loyal fanbase (who will no-doubt see the film anyway). In order to ease newbies in, the narrative has been heavily modified and characters altered to be more relateable to a 21st century audience. It works like a charm; the film doesn’t overwhelm you with a franchise that has been nearly fifty years in the making, allowing us to get to know the characters at the same time as they get to know each other. Yet fans needn’t worry as there seems to be an abundance of ‘in’ jokes in the film, something I deduced from the impromptu laughter and applause of the costumed Trekkies in the back row. By the sounds of it, they also thoroughly enjoyed Leonard Nimoy’s extended-cameo as the elderly Spock, a role he has been playing since 1966.

But it is the young Spock who sits central to the film, portrayed with great nuance by Zachary Quinto of TV’s Heroes. He shares the role of protagonist with a charismatic Chris Pine as the arrogant Captain Kirk, whose rebellious childhood couldn’t contrast more with Spock’s systematic academic upbringing,  which foreshadows their future personality clash on-board the U.S.S Enterprise. Even though the story here firmly revolves around the rocky origins of their friendship, the dynamic crew onboard the Enterprise still have a great presence. Fuelled by consistently humorous dialogue, the over-excitable Russian navigator Chekov (Anton Yelchin), pessimistic medical chief McCoy (Keith Urban) and attention-seeking Scottish engineer Scotty (a return to form for Simon Pegg) are each a joy to watch.

The only character hard done by is the film’s villain Nero, whom despite being portrayed with great menace by Eric Bana, isn’t given nearly enough screen time to truly justify his wickedness.  This can be seen as a consequence of Abrams’ overextending his reach, as his attempt to get all the introductions done in a single sitting sees the primary narrative get brushed over.  To save on time, the plot employs too many unlikely conveniences to jerk its way forward.  There’s also the needlessly tacked-on love triangle between Spock, Kirk and Uhura, which gets about as sensual as the line: “I’ll monitor your vitals…”.

 
Star Trek truly shines when it delivers the Sci-fi action, boasting some of the most spectacular computer generated effects seen to date. Trekkies  will no doubt take great pleasure in seeing their beloved universe come to life so vividly. One sequence in which Captain Kirk and Hikaru take a freefall dive through a planet’s atmosphere is nothing short of breathtaking.  Abrams captures the live action using the same raw and twitchy camera work he employed in TV’s Alias and Lost, where multiple wiz pans and frequent lense flares create an unmatched energy and urgency on screen. That being said, the camera continues to shake incessantly during the most casual of conversations, leaving me to question whether this is purposefully dynamic cinematography or just a camera operator suffering from hypothermia.

Verdict:

An endlessly exhilarating and engaging ride regardless of its narrative flaws, Star Trek sits proudly as one of the best sci-fi films of the last decade, and that’s coming from someone who has never Trekked before.
 Author: Anders Wotzke
Date: Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Cher and Cher Alike, In a Town of Impersonators Here’s the Real Deal.

review by king lizzard

It’s about time we post something new here, it’s been a busy winter.
 Wednesday night I had to suspend my gender preference for 90 minutes and attended the Cher show at the Colisseum at Caesar’s Palace. Before I get more in depth, let me say that I recognize and acknowledge the fact that she’s a legend
and a fuckin’ Oscar winner (this plays into the show).
However, John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band confirms that just because you’re a legend doesn’t mean you can’t suck.
That being said, let’s get into it, shall we?
Now this was the venue that was originally built for Celine Dion, and is now home to Cher, Bette Midler and Elton John (review coming of him soon).
When you enter the Colisseum you’re greeted by a large screen showing fanning stars and a New Age “floaty” music on an endless loop. This was cool, but before a rock/pop concert do you really want your audience all mellowed out and spacey?
And true to form, the show that was supposed to begin at 7:30 wound up closer to 8:00, although I must say that every seat in the house was packed for a Wednesday night (yes, I got in for free, like always).
The planetarium stops, a disco beat pounds through the venue as images of Cher are now projected onto the screen.

The curtain goes up and Cher descends from the rafters in a lighted cage she dubs the “Evel Knievel deathmobile,” wearing a crystalline gown and white feathers singing, yes, U2′s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
Hmmm, thought this was the Cher show.

The song has the typical stable of dancers popping and locking, and the Cirque-like acrobats dangling overhead. On each side of the stage are mobile ministages that hold her five piece band and back-up singers that roll in and out.

After the intro song she tells everyone how great she is and how great the show is. On the jumbo screen behind her an old alter-ego of Cher’s pops up: Laverne (you remember, the old broadwith the horn-rimmed glasses and raspy voice)  who breaks into an overly-long rendition of “I gotta Be Me” while the real Cher heads out for  one of seventeen costume changes.

The sets mutate from sixties pop to eighties Mad Max. Cher sings “The Beat Goes On” in a duet with a video Sonny on the big screen backdrop. Cher sings Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefied” in Thunderdome costume and post-apocalyptic setting. Cher emerges from a giant pearl to sing “Love Hurts.” Cher floats around the stage in a gondola singing something, who knows, I was watching the fake water…
There’s plenty of “Zumanity” like soft-porn acrobatics as men and women in tighty whities do sex ballets on ropes overhead.

There lots of videos of the Sonny and Cher show. There’s a segment of movie clips that  highlight her acting prowess, ending with her “Stuck on You” rant of “I don’t have to beg, you know why? ‘Cause I’m a fucking Oscar winner!”

The whole disco segment of the show could easily be trashcanned, the most embarassing part being one guy dressed as an Indian with four puppets dressed as the Village People limping around onstage to YMCA.

Cher talks about how her closet is like the Grand Canyon with clothes while a Gypsy wagon is rolled out. She goes inside while dancers prance for ten minutes, then emerges with a white floor-length  headdress to sing “Halfbreed.” She ducks back into the wagon while dancers prance for ten minutes, then emerges as a Gypsy for “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” and “Dark Lady.” Then ducks back into the wagon while dancers prance for ten minutes, then emerges as…oh, who gives a crap at this point.

The end of the show has her barely clad in an age-appropriate edition of her famous slingshot costume while she sings “If I Could Turn Back Time.” What??? No battleship guns? This is Vegas, surely we can afford battleship guns. The curtain goes down and there’s ten minutes of pulsating disco beat to more images of Cher. The curtain goes up and everybody is on their feet, shaking their groove thing to “Believe” whilest silver confetti falls from the sky. The End. Back to the planetarium as folks exit.

Now, saying anything bad about Cher is like talking shit about your mom. Even though you disagree with her point of view you still love her cause she was always there for you growing up. I’m glad I saw it, but if I would have paid the $400 my seats were worth I probably would have been pissed.

BUY TICKETS TO CHER

And an old clip of Sonny and Cher

As of December 18 another ten inches is forecasted forcing something that is frequently seen in the northern states but not to much here: Schools being closed because of snow. Nellis AFB released people early pending a strong storm which brought flurries around 4PM. Some casinos released non-essential people early. People in Las Vegas can’t drive, anyway, so fender-benders are up drastically: good for body shops in town. A lot of trees and other flora have been damaged, including tree limbs falling from the weight of snow and ice.

This also proves that, despite movie mythology, Las Vegas is NOT 120 F all year long, it DOES get damned cold during the winter, with an average daytime temp in the low forties. Temperatures in Vegas have been high of 43 and low of 29 of late.

You live long enough you do get to see Hell freeze over.