Favorites Of 2010

I just thought I'd share some of my favorite things from 2010

Movies

  

TV

Congrats To Elton John

Elton became a daddy in the past few days.

Isn't that sweet?

Kinda.

I'm not saying that because he's gay. I'm saying that because he's 62 and his partner is 48. This is something that has always bugged me.

At 62..that will put him at 80 when his child is heading off to college.

I realize that he has all the money in the world to provide for a child and since he had a child via surrogate, this isn't a "bought" child like Angelina and Madonna have (along with their own). But what I wish people would do before they have children at this point in their lives is stop and think about what kind of parents they'll be...not now...but in 10 or 15 years when the child is going to need supportive and active parents.

I only say this because my parents were 40 and 47 when I was born and it has been tough on both them and me at times because of limitations that health problems brought on.

Sure, money can buy nannies etc...but a child needs a parent....both parents..no matter what sex they are. So I congratulate Elton and his partner...and I wish them both long healthy lives so that their new family member can have love and support for many many years.

Engaged? WTF!!

Seeing Hugh Hefner's engagement announcements on the news really creeps me out. The man is 84 years old and the girl....young enough to be his granddaughter...or younter
Its nice to know that greed is alive and well in this world and that people will do just about anything to get a lot of money.

Seriously, the dude is 84!!! She's 24!!!

Why would any self respecting woman want to go to bed with that?

It's just plain ole creepy.

Its at times like this when I really wonder about the human race.

84!!! and 24!!!!

That's just wrong...on so many different levels.

YUCK!

Merry Christmas From This Wench

I love Christmas music, be it traditional carols or more modern tunes written for the season. So from me to you...I offer you my favorite song by the "cute" Beatle.

Hope you have a Wonderful Christmastime

2010's Most Overexposed Celebrites According To ME!

Who am I to judge?

I'm me, and these are the celebrities I'm totally sick of hearing about from 2010.

1. Sarah Palin: Politician, reality show star? WTF!!! Shouldn't this last thing totally keep her out of the running for President? Probably not, because we don't have any sense anymore, but lordy, I'm sick of seeing her mug everywhere I look. And she writes books?  Really? Are we sure? GAH!

2. Justin Bieber: I've heard he may be dating Selena Gomez from Wizards Of Waverly Place. Why? I guess he might be a step up from a JoBro though...then again...maybe not.

3. Miley Cyrus: Smiley Miley or Slutty Cyrus or whatever you want to call her is just getting to me. Smoking freaking herbs and whatnot...final season of Hannah Montana...slutty music videos..It's all too much if you ask me.

4. Taylor Swift: Now don't get me wrong, I love Taylor. She's sweet, cute and all those other things that give you warm fuzzy feelings, but she's everywhere!! And it's getting old, because even though she's good, she's not that good. And for a youngun, she's sure got a long line of ex's. I wonder how many there will be by the time she's 30!!!

5. Paula Abdul: How was it determined that she is a judge of talent? Who determined she had talent in the first place? Why did we have to give her a dancing show? Really! I know she's a choreographer and a good one...but she's a bit crazy...and isn't Dancing With The Stars one dancing show too many on the telly?

6. Oprah: Nice lady..yes... Her show is ending after a bazillion years...yes... But who cares...she's starting her own damn network! Isn't that more than enough? Oye and vey!

7. Conan O'Brien: The more I see this whiner..the more I hate him. Truly! I can't say anything nice about him anymore. I'm also sick of those American Express commercials he's done. See Conan...you can fall into a pile of dung and come up smelling sweet...I think that's why I hate people like that.

8. Kate Gosselin: I wish this woman would just raise her damn hoard of children and get out of the limelight.

9. Robert Pattinson:  One day I'll figure out why people think he's hot. He does look better when he's not Edward..but not by much. Plus his acting isn't all that great.

10. Brangelina: I'm lumping this supercouple together because I'm sick of all the tabloid fodder, and her genuine icky-ness. Plus I just want to feed her a cheeseburger or twenty

Amelia Earhart

I'm totally flabbergasted by how the media is treating the discovery of bones on a South Pacific island that may or may not belong to Amelia and her navigator.

Her plane disappeared on July 2, 1937.

You can read more of the story here

But it isn't the story that bugs me.

It was a smiley happy morning show host delivering the story that pissed me off.

See, if this story ends up being true...and the 70 + year old mystery gets some closure it means that Earhart and her navigator lived as castaways on an island. That meant that her death was probably a slow painful one. Not something that should be delivered with a smiling face.

No joke. I think that's pretty insensitive.

I wish the media could learn that even if a story is old, if the ending isn't happily ever after, it shouldn't be delivered with a grin.

Movie Review: How Do You Know

Movie: How Do You Know
Release Date: December 17, 2010
Synopsis: Lisa's athletic ability is the defining passion of her life, having been her focus since early childhood. When she is cut from her team, everything she has ever known is suddenly taken from her. George is a straight-arrow businessman who is accused of a financial crime, even though he's done nothing wrong. Although he may be headed to jail, George's honesty, integrity, and unceasing optimism may be his only path to keeping his sanity. George and Lisa meet on the worst day of each of their lives: she has just been cut, and he has just been served. When everything else seems to be falling apart, they will discover what it means to have something wonderful happen.

Review: This movie should have been so much better than it was. Every actor in it should have made it so, yet though the film was cute, it wasn't nearly as fun or cute as it should have been. I think the problem lies within the love triangle that the writer created.

Why?

For all intents and purposes, you should want to hate Matty. He's got a big ego. He's not totally ready to commit. He's a whole lot of other things. But there is one thing that Matty is....ADORABLE.

Even the viewers really can't make up their mind which guy Reese's Lisa should end up with in the end, and that's what brings this movie down. Well that and the unbelievable scenario created between father and son in the business world.

Oh and why was Jack Nicholson channeling Lewis Black in this film? Too weird.

Paul Rudd was beyond adorable as George. Too nice and gorgeous. The kind of guy every girl wants to date. Which makes you wonder why Lisa took so long to realize she had feelings for him.

So sure, this movie was cheesy...and not really worth the price of a movie ticket at full price, but for a matinee or dollar theater showing, it is worth the 2 hours, mostly for the cuteness of the cast.

Rating: 3 stars

The Best Commercial Ever

I know I rant about commercials pretty regularly. Funny, because I don't really watch as much tv as you would think. The tv is usually just on in the background a lot.

But I thought I'd share the best commercial ever made...for Christmas and a runner up. If these don't give you warm fuzzy feelings...well...you're a republican or you don't have a heart...wait...aren't those the same?

Eat N' Park Star Commercial



Hershey Kiss Bells

Sing Off Is Addicting

I really wish this show wasn't 2 hours long. I wish it didn't take up so much time out of the week. 2 hour shows really cramp my style, but dang this seasons crop of sing off groups are fabulous.

It isn't often that I can sit and watch something like this and just be blown away, but I was...especially the groups I watched last night.

OMG

Acapella Beatles, Elton John and Lady Gaga!

It was freaking amazing.

I truly don't know how anyone could vote any of these groups off.

They are that good.

And Monday..

Acapella Pour Some Sugar On Me rocked in a crazy acapella kind of way.

Plus I have determined that though I'm not a fan of Ben Folds' music...he's just not my cup of tea, I love him as a judge.

So any of you Sing off viewers, who do you think will win?

Dear Republicans

Dear Republicans,

What is your agenda, except to make the President look bad? Don't you fear looking childish when you stamp your foot and say, we must extend tax cuts on people making $250,000 or more, or you won't get to extend anything, and we'll block any other legislation you try to pass.

Do you really think you come across looking like good leadership?

You look like a bunch of whiny 5 year olds having tantrums.

Shame on you.

What do you plan to do to cut the huge deficit that you created? Yes you! Because when Clinton was in office there was a budge surplus. I've read this in many places, so I'm pretty sure it is right...so when W took office it all went away because he decided to give us a small break. I can tell you for me it amounted to about 3 dollars a pay, a whole whopping $158.00 a year.

Do something useful with your time in power....that shifts all the time guys and gals. Oh and please toss Sarah Palin back under a rock...or send her to Russia. But before you do anything, grow up!!! Baby games don't belong in government.

Sincerely...

Mistress of the Dark

Thirty Years Ago Today

If you haven't missed it, it was 30 years ago today that John Lennon was shot and killed outside his NYC home.

All the fans are rabid in their continuous mourning.


Yes, John was a wonderful singer/songwriter.

Yes, he is and always will be missed.

But why do we have to have this outspread crazy ass mourning? And why only on two days out of the year?

He's gone.

He's not coming back.

We don't know what he would have done had he lived. How much music he would have made, or anything.

I believe we should celebrate the life he lived, which wasn't necessarily a great one, ask Cynthia and Julian. He made mistakes, because believe it or not, he was human, albeit a very talented one. But better than celebrating his life, just celebrate his music, because it is all we have left.

Speaking Of Music In Commercials

Shouldn't it be illegal for two companies to be using the same song for ad campaigns. Especially when the songs are super earworms?

Think of the public, damn it!

I really am sick of Vampire Weekend's Holiday worming its way into my head, thanks to Honda and Hilfiger.

Grrr.

In case you've missed out on these advertising gems...allow me to spread some Christmas pain



And possibly some Thanksgiving pain...



I officially hate Hilfiger, Honda and Vampire Weekend now...

An Almost Perfect Cover Song

I'm feeling my age...I'm really taking a trip down the easy listening superhighway.

Right  now I'm tripping on Celtic Thunder.

I noticed the other day that they covered The Moody Blues' Nights In White Satin. So I had to have a listen...and its almost perfect....if the gorgeous man would just SING THE RIGHT LYRICS!!

All that aside...this version should make Justin Hayward proud. It is stunning.

Kurt

I know there are Glee naysayers among us, and admittedly this season has kind of been hit-and-miss (the Britney Spears episode was by far the worst in the series so far. Quit with the guest stars. I fell in love with your characters, wit, and writing, and having Britney Spears on just because you can was a joke), but I still stand by statements I made somewhere on the internet at some point about how Glee and the character of Kurt are dealing with homosexuality in a totally awesome way. I think one of this week's PostSecrets helps to prove that point.



Actor Chris Colfer called it "very touching."

And here's something fun: it's currently being blamed for the crash of Tumblr. Rumor has it that it's been forwarded so much that it crashed the site. How sweet would it be if that were true?

Music in Commercials

When did the music in commercials start getting so good? What happened to cheesy jingles that were annoying and embedded themselves in your brain? Not that they're not used anymore or that I miss them, because I don't, but still. Is advertising suddenly hip or something, or are have the powers that be realized we won't groan and change the channel if a commercial has a good song playing over it?

Case in point: the HP commercial with "Brand New Key." Or the Samsung commercial with "Silly Boy" by The Blue Van.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have jewelry commercials. Don't get me started.

Stop Remaking British Shows!!

On January 17, Syfy will be premiering a new version of Being Human.

I have one thing to say to that.

No, no! A thousand times no!

That's not to say the cast isn't pretty or talented, but I really think it is time to start coming up with new ideas, rather than rehashing old ones, so that we can ruin something good. There have only been a few cases where the American version of an original British series was actually good, The Office comes to mind there. I don't think this will be another Office.

Have a look at the trailer

One for the Pens Fans

Pens fans who pay attention to team happenings outside of the game (and no, I don't mean stalking them like creeps around the bars and clubs they're known to frequent) are aware of the work the guys do around the Pittsburgh area for the community both as a team and individually. Even their girlfriends and wives get involved. So it's not surprising that they've found one more way to give back, although a little more indirectly.

So, after a hat trick, have you ever wondered where all the hats thrown on the ice go?

As part of a Boy Scout project, a local high school student decided to collect hats for needy kids and got in touch with the Pens folks, so that it's been arranged to have aforementioned hats cleaned and donated all over the world, with some even making it down to Haiti just before the earthquake hit. Thousands of hats have been collected, including some by donation, but most of them thanks to our very own Pittsburgh Penguins and their ability to not just score goals, but to score three in one night.

Meaning this kid's going to have some hats coming his way after Crosby's hat trick just last night.

Check out the full article here.

SNL Is Funny Again

I wasn't too impressed with the new season when it started, but for better or worse, they've captured much of what it is that makes Miley Cyrus annoy most of us.

What Is It With Taylor Swift

I admit, I think Taylor is cute, and her music is super catchy in its country pop kind of way, but why the love affair with her?

Is it just the cuteness?

The music is nice, but it isn't very inspired. In fact, if you really start listening to Taylor's songs, you'll notice that most of them sound alike. Taylor Swift songs are all interchangable. Plus most of them are about guys that have dumped her, with few exceptions.

Oye!

Bitter much, little girl?

I think Back To December is one of the only songs where she takes the blame for a relationship.

Wow!

However the chorus sounds suspiciously like Love Story?

An I'm sorry song by Taylor!!

That's a novelty!

It leaves me wondering if her songwriting will develop much as she matures, or will it be the same ole same ole.

I know I've ranted about this before, but which each new single I get more and more confused. How can people think she's so fabulous when she's writing the same song over and over with different lyrics?

World AIDS Day

So today is annual World AIDS Day because believe it or not, AIDS is still very much a problem, especially in third world countries where treatment and prevention are either difficult or not well-known.

But there is some good, and interesting, news. Techniques to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV have been successful, apparently incredibly so, to the extent that by 2015 there could be no babies born with HIV, as opposed to the 430,000 born this year so far. Which also shows that the problem of stopping the spread of HIV isn't as simple as safe sex, as some would make it seem.

In addition, actor Alan Cumming raises some interesting points on his blog. One, AIDS and HIV no longer are associated with just the gay community like they once were, which is a good thing. What's not so good is the fact that, at least in his opinion, people have become so used to talk about AIDS that maybe we've stopped caring. Become disillusioned and desensitized, as it were. So, do you agree?