Sunday, December 31, 2006

Auld Lang Syne

I hijacked the lyrics from wikipedia and I would have never thought that is what they were saying. Should we forget old acquaintances? I don't sing this song anyone at the strike of the New Year. My only hope for the new year is good health for everyone.





Should old acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind ?Should old acquaintance be forgot,and old long time?
CHORUS:
For , my dear,
for ,old long time
we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for old long time.
And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !And surely I’ll buy mine !And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,for auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have run about the hills,and pulled the daisies fine ;But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,since old long time.
CHORUS
We two have paddled in the stream,from morning sun till dine (dinner time) ;But seas between us broad have roaredsince old long time.
CHORUS
And there’s a hand my trusty friend !And give us a hand o’ thine !And we’ll take a right good-will draught,for old long time.
CHORUS

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

So sue me

I'm posting just to be posting. What else am I to do at work when everyone else is home or shopping.

Dreamgirls: A review by Richard Roeper

Good, but not Supreme
'DREAMGIRLS' IS FLASHY, BRASSY, BIG -- BUT IT'S NOT THE YEAR'S BEST
December 22, 2006
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist'Dreamgirls" is a star-studded, finger-popping, whiz-bang adaptation of the Broadway hit. It's sure to have some audiences literally standing and cheering, and it's bound to garner multiple Oscar nominations.
But it doesn't deserve to win in most categories.
They're selling this as the shoo-in for best picture, and I am telling you I'm not buying. As much as I enjoyed the sheer brassiness and emotion and bigness of this production, as much as I appreciated the performances from the terrifically talented cast -- as much as I liked "Dreamgirls" -- I didn't love it. Maybe it was just a little too slick and over the top for its own good.

Not that writer-director Bill Condon (who also penned the screenplay for the equally splashy "Chicago") has merely replaced the original Broadway cast with movie stars (and one "American Idol" finalist) and filmed the musical. There's a lot of flashy camera work (maybe too much), some new numbers, a few fresh plot twists, expanded roles for a couple of characters -- but at heart, this is essentially the same story that roared onto Broadway some 25 years ago.
But remember, it's not the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes, even though it sure seems like it was "inspired by" the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes.

Three poor black girls from Detroit become R&B crossover superstars, with the help of their Barry Gordy-esque, Svengali of a manager? Check.
The original and greatly gifted lead singer of the act is relegated to the background in favor of a thinner, more conventionally attractive, more audience-friendly diva? Check.
Pushed-aside former lead singer is quickly forgotten and falls on hard times? Check.
Lead singer becomes a solo sensation and branches out to film? Check.
Not to mention the parallel versions of James Brown and the Jackson 5, among others, who exist in this "Dreamgirls" universe.

The breathtakingly gorgeous pop/R&B star Beyonce Knowles has been cast as Deena, who becomes the lead singer of the group, replacing the more vocally and more physically robust Effie (Jennifer Hudson). Even Deena acknowledges Effie's a better singer, but Deena wins the spotlight on the strength of her face and her charisma, and her willingness to take direction.
There are a couple of levels of irony at work here, given the various personnel changes, lawsuits and drama involving Beyonce's real-life group, Destiny's Child, and the fact that everybody who starred in "Dreamgirls" on Broadway has been pushed aside for younger and/or more famous movie stars. (Of course, this happens with just about every big-screen adaptation of a Broadway musical, with the exception of "Rent.")

We first see the Dreamettes at a talent show in Detroit in the early 1960s. A curiously subdued but suitably villainous Jamie Foxx is Curtis Taylor Jr., the Cadillac salesman and aspiring talent manager who recruits the girls to sing backup for the lascivious Jimmy "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy), a James Brown-sounding soul sensation with a voracious appetite for extramarital affairs, booze and drugs.

Foxx seems particularly uncomfortable during the musical numbers, barely moving his lips, but Murphy deserves a best supporting actor nomination for his searing performance. Whether he's crooning a ballad or getting nasty with a sexually charged number onstage, rapid-fire quipping with the ladies and his bandmates or sinking into a drug-fueled funk, Murphy is riveting, not once winking at the camera or falling back on time-honored "Eddie-isms." It's maybe the best work he's ever done.

Jimmy scores an R&B hit with a tune called "Cadillac Car," but it's quickly mayonnaised into a mainstream hit by a ridiculous Pat Boone-type who strangles every ounce of soul from it. (It's an easy laugh and a funny bit, though it was funnier when "Saturday Night Live" made the same point about white artists purloining black music in a skit with Ray Charles some 30 years ago.) Burned by the experience, the money-motivated Curtis dials down the funk on the trio, packaging their look and sound so they'll be palatable to the "American Bandstand" crowd.
The key commercial move is installing Deena as the Dreamettes' lead singer, just as Effie's romance with Curtis is becoming complicated. (The fiery Effie clutches her midsection and says she's not feeling well about a half-dozen times, concealing her pregnancy with all the subtlety of a character on "General Hospital," yet nobody catches on.) When Curtis delivers the news to Effie that she's been replaced by Denna -- not just as lead singer, but as the leading lady in his life -- her response is the full-throttle "And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” It’s a star-making moment for Jennifer Hudson, and she brings it home with tremendous passion and heart.
Hudson’s overall work in the film is basically a two-note performance — sass and ballads — but it’s an impressive debut in a role that’s tailor-made for accolades and acceptance speeches, and she’s sure to get an Academy Award nomination, and probably a win.

As the ’60s roll on — Condon gives us snippets of Martin Luther King speeches, Detroit in flames and talk of the war in Vietnam — Deena becomes an international superstar, sporting a Diana Ross-sized Afro, taking front and center on the album covers and flirting with the role of Cleopatra in a big-budget movie championed by Curtis, who is now her husband as well as the mogul of a Motown-like label. (In one unnecessary sequence, we see a Jackson 5 clone band singing a Jackson 5-type song. Why do that if you’re claiming your story isn’t inspired by the real Motown story?)

For a film celebrating R&B and soul music, “Dreamgirls” has a surprisingly conventional Broadway sound. We get ballad after ballad after ballad, with only occasional tastes of true funk or Marvin Gaye-type “message” music, both delivered by Jimmy. Regardless of the genre, Condon favors the rapid-fire, MTV style of quick cuts and fast zooms and dizzying pans, which adds to the energetic pace but doesn’t always serve the music.

Condon also seems ambivalent about whether to make “Dreamgirls” a pure musical or a melodrama with music. Most of the time, the characters speak and act in a realistic manner on realistic sets, with the songs relegated to the stage. But every once in a while, a dialogue-driven scene will suddenly break into a mini-musical, with one of the characters launching into a song in the lobby of an office building or on the street. It might have been too much to have everybody singing all the time with no dialogue whatsoever, a la “Jesus Christ Superstar,” but as a film “Dreamgirls,” might have worked better if all the singing had been done onstage, or at least in separate scenes.

“Dreamgirls” is flashy and dazzling. It is overflowing with zest and talent. My guess is that fans of the musical will love it. But it’s a little short on heart and soul, and it is deeply conventional. In the year of “The Departed” and “The Queen” and “Babel” and “Flags of Our Fathers”/“Letters from Iwo Jima,” it’s not the best picture of the year, even though it’s probably going to win Best Picture of the Year.

ShitDamnMotherFucker

Thank you D'angelo for the song

I had all sorts of little things I wanted to write about today but most of them included pictures. I guess I will have to just write and edit the posts later. I love all this extra time I have now that I am not in school.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Ways You Know You're a Kellenberger

I was on facebook today and came across this website. I read it and laughed at the memories it brought back on they got to #31. Here is the entire list

1. The colors on this page mean something to you!
the page was done in Blue and Gold. Kellenberg colors

2. You shutter when you hear the words "My Child!"
There is significance to this I just can't remember

3. You always wanted to have a gray blazer
Of course grey blazer meant you were closer to graduation

4. When you finally got one you thought you were tough shit!
Not really

5. Is it just me, or does the Latin School hallway always smell.
Never spent that much time there

6. You always wanted to sell ads, but you never did.
Never sold one nor really cared to

7. If you're a guy, the only reason you went to Blue and Gold is because you had a friend or girlfriend performing in it.
I was in blue and gold. GTV!

8. You always hoped that the person in the tournament that you knew would win, to avoid a tear jerking scene afterwards.

9. You hated Bobby Seck (or the appropriate quarterback)!
I have no idea who this is probably after my time

10. You always wondered if Miss Tyrko was alive during the Civil War!
I was one of the few people in that school that really liked her

11. You are scared at the thought that Fr. Francis has a driver's license!
Who!?!

12. If you actually didn't do it, you've always wanted to have sex in Emmanuel!
What the hell is Emmanuel and don't you know you can get 20 demerits for having sex on campus. I never, never, never, never ever thought about sex in that school.

13. You HATE Chaminade!
Did not they had cuter boys

14. You also HATE Sacred Heart, but not as much as Chaminade!
Not really

15. You know someone who smokes pot!
Did not times a changing

16. The words elevator and blow job make you laugh!
I would love to know the story behind this

17. The troll, need I say more!
Ahh Mrs. Trentecoste. One wicked dean

18. You always thought it would be funny to release all the animals in "The Zoo!"
Animals at Kellenberg?

19. You hated it while you were there, but you can't imagine having gone to another school!
I think if I went to Holy Trinity I would have left pregnant

20. You always wondered why Mrs. Dugal drove them to school everyday!
Who is she driving to school?

21. When you found out why, you were very much enlightened!
Someone enlighten me

22. You hated coming in the side door, just because you had to walk past the guys locker room!
That wasn't so bad. Stop bitchin

23. You were ashamed during basketball season!
Very true and football season. I remember how bowling team kicked ass though

24. Mr. Buckley ROCKS!!!!!
He did

25. You always wondered what they put into the chicken in the cafeteria, but it tasted good, so who cared!
My favorite day at Kellenberg was Wednesday because it was pasta day. I can't comment on the chicken

26. You or someone you know received demerits for parking on the streets behind the school!
I know lots of people that parked there and never known anyone to get in trouble for it

27. You wonder if Miss Purcell is straight!
Ahh Miss Purcell. My senior year pre calculus teacher and homeroom teacher. I had to see her in the morning and I had her 9th period. Not the way to begin and end the day. She is a vile and evil woman who deserves Rosie O Donnell

28. You've slept during ETV announcements!
I was never that brave

29. You can still recite the 3 o'clock prayer!
What 3 o'clock prayer

30. You wanted to know why it's not called the 2:48 prayer.
See #29

31. You were friends with at least one black kid!
WHAT THEE FUCK!!!!!!!!!

32. You thought that guy in Glad was Miss Panasci!
I remember Miss Panasci but don't know what the hell Glad is

33. You know all the words to El Shaddai!
El Shaddai Adonai in Hebrew literally means I will love youuuuuuuuuu and I will have compassion on youuuuuuuuu. I will be able to sing that on my death bed.

34. You know someone who fainted at The Triumph of the Cross!
I remember this but no one fainted

35. You think it's funny to watch the janitor chase geese off the fields! (Thanks Miguel)
Sorry didn't get to enjoy that one

36. You always wondered why Bro. David did laps around the library!
I never saw Brother David running laps around the library. I know I did kiss someone in that college research room that you could go in and close the door

37. You want all the Latin Schoolers to just disappear, all they do is clog up hallway traffic!
I never wanted them to disappear. My senior year I had 5th period lunch with all of them and they were always willing to lend you money. I could do without those big ass book bags they had

38. Mrs. Von frightens you, just a little!
Don't know her

39. Although no one will admit it, you know Quiz Bowl is the most successful program at the school!
After my time

40. You've seen at least one fight break out in the cafeteria!
Yes

41. You hated getting a green slip, but when you did, you showed it off!
Never got a green slip. Never had a grey one either

42. You've cheated on at least one test! (this includes getting old exams)
Several times

43. You've used Spark Notes before!
We had cliff notes when I was in high school

44. You wish Mr. Huggard would stop using that stupid phoney accent!
Bite your tongue for saying anything bad about Mr. Huggard

45. You think that picture next to the Chapel looks like a guy giving another guy a blow job!
Umm can't recall that one

46. You think all those paintings above the lockers are just stupid!
No paintings above my locker in 97

47. Even though you tell people the football team won a championship in '99, deep down you know it was cheap! (We beat Xavier for God's sake)
After my time

48. You know at least 1 person at both Hofstra and Nassau Community!
That goes for anyone from Long Island

49. You've power locked someone's locker!
I never did it to anyone but I've seen it done. I forgot about this LMAO

50. Even though you hated it, you still go back at least once a year!
Nope haven't been back since 97

Sunday, December 17, 2006

D*ck in a box

I don't care for Saturday Night Live anymore but decided to watch since Justin was hosting. It was not as funny as the last one but if they had more skits like this I would watch it all the time

This is a link to the uncensored version at the NBC website

http://video.nbc.com/player.html?dlid=51289

Youtube was not that great

Isn't it ironic

I know I've said before but I will say it again. It's frustrating having a blog to write on but can't express everything that your feeling because it can't go on line. I hate having a blog and still having to keep things to myself

Dennis Haysbert


Hello out there. I know its been a while but I am back and the woot of the day is still garbage. I was watching 24 tonight and I was looking at Dennis Haysbert and just thinking damn. Just to see him stand next to other actors he just dominates the room. Very few people can pull that off as an actor on a television show.