The Office Interview- What the Cast Wants From the Set

With The Office coming to an end in May, the cast of the long-running NBC sitcom including Ed Helms, Rainn Wilson, Craig Robinson, Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski reveals to show staff what mementos they want to keep from the sitcom's set. While not a hit on the level of Seinfeld, The Office and its nine season-long run has eclipsed the lifespan of dozens of other sitcoms on network television.

Severe winter storm coming to Minnesota [video]

This kid's depiction of the weather forecast for Minnesota (as deciphered from Nova Scotia) is spot on. It sounds like something you'd hear/see on The Weather Channel, only more professional and in a tone which seems to match the warnings of peril and almost certain death that today's weather forecasts convey. I'm looking for more videos from this kid because his dire warnings of a sever winter storm are downright hysterical to watch.

Fall Out Boy is back?

I can't believe I am saying this but I am strangely happy that Fall Out Boy is back making music. Maybe it's because their music is about as rock as popular music gets and while I love how much alternative-type music has crossed over to the pop music landscape, true pop-rock tailor made for pop radio is exactly what the repetitive radio stations need most right now. While "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)" really had the most nonsensical lyrics possible, the video above for Fall Out Boy's new single seems to signal that they are attempting a rebirth of their band. It's cool and it has a good beat and those two things alone should equate widespread success and appeal to the masses.

North Carolina hill person sees bigfoot

This hill-person type guy from North Carolina, in an interview with the local FOX TV affiliate, insists that he saw Bigfoot / a sasquatch on his property and "rough talked" the creature away all the while pointing a stick at him and telling big foot / sasquatch to "git away from here, git, git!" (yes, the spelling of 'git' is phonetic based on the man's pronunciation in the video)

Maybe it's the thick accent but I have trouble believing anyone describing a beast whom he is apparently afraid of as having "beautiful hair" and being "8-10 feet tall with six fingers".

We all know that bigfoot has only five fingers!

Watch a dummy get blackout drunk

It's guys like t his in the video below, bonging two full cans of some God-awful blue-raspberry / gasoline flavored Four Loko that gave the blackout-inducing candy-booze a bad name. Just because you can bong it in ten seconds flat doesn't mean that you should. Something tells me that the bro who bonged the nastiest of all canned malt liquors went down for a solid 14 hour nap after this video was filmed. Or maybe this was all an elaborate ploy to get the dumb guy drunk so the other guy filming him could draw permanent marker penises on his face.

I've been drinking my whisky all wrong

According to this fine apparently British gentleman who knows his way around whisky, I've been drinking it all wrong. Sure, I probably scared a few of you off by saying that the video below entire about properly tasting and sampling your fine whisky is done by a British man but this guy has a sense of humor and knows his way around his scotch and whisky. I would love to hang out with Richard Paterson because he knows his liquor and would teach even the most hardened whisky drinker a thing or two about how to properly taste whicky and truly enjoy it. One hint, avoid the ice!

Bikini Hockey League

To all of the NHL fans out there who are dreading the possibility of an NHL lockout this year which could doom the entire 2012-13 professional hockey season the two videos below should put you at ease somewhat because not all professional hockey will vanish this upcoming winter. Not even close. There's still the BHL - yep, the Bikini Hockey League. Bikini-clad women on skates taking to hockey rinks across the country. It should be at least as entertaining as the NHL usually is and will likely be as competitive and interesting to watch as the Lingerie Football League.

Music from the MySpace relaunch video

JJAMZ (pronounced juh-jams) is the band providing the soundtrack to today's MySpace relaunch video which, in itself, is pretty damn cool looking but what caught me was the music. The track, entitled Heartbeat, is catchy, infectious and seems to be custom-tailored for what MySpace is trying to achieve with their upcoming relaunch. The one lyric, "I haven't seen you in a long, long time" could be construed as meaning that the website has become a ghost town of sorts when compared to its mid-2000s heyday.

The video (below) for Heartbeat has a bit of a creepy vibe to it with an old man seeming to be chasing down a cute blond high schooler preparing for a dance.



As for the relaunch video for MySpace, it's cool as hell. If the website itself can live up to even half of the wow factor of the video touting the site's relaunch, MySpace can be a true competitor once again to Facebook and the up-and-coming Google+. The new MySpace, if it comes together as promised, has a mix of Pinterest, Facebook integration, a crisp feel due to the choice of the font package with photos at the forefront. I'm in if it can draw an audience compatible with my likings.

Frank Ocean - MTV VMA performance

Frank Ocean, whose music sort of defies genres, first made a splash in the music world a few weeks ago when it was announced that the mellow singer with R & B underpinnings announced that he was bisexual. Tonight, though, marked what I can only assume was his live television debut. While he didn't perform the song I am most familiar with, Lost, he has garnered all sorts of buzz from his MTV VMA performance of Thinking About You.




Frank Ocean makes his network television debut Saturday, September 15th where he will be the musical guest on the season debut of NBC's Saturday Night Live. The smart money is on Frank Ocean performing both Lost and Thinking About You.

Revolution - full episode premiere

While the first episode of the NBC drama Revolution won't premiere for over a week, the pilot episode of the sci-fi drama set fifteen years from now in a world where all forms of energy vanished, you guessed it, fifteen years ago; the first full episode is available below:




Ambitious in concept, I am curious whether or not Revolution will be this year's The Event or Terra Nova or if it will actually catch on given its post-The Voice 10 PM eastern/9 central time slot.

Don't let the fact that the lead character is a strong-willed female with a bow and arrow lead you to believe that this is a television version of The Hunger Games because this is as far from that particular movie as you can get.

Revolution and its multiple layers of conspiracies will either give NBC some much-needed recognition in a world where network television is regularly being eclipsed by equally well crafted cable dramas or this series will wither away by mid-November and slip from our memories.

I, for one, have strong hopes for what I think is either the strongest or second strongest drama to hit the networks this fall.

Kelsey Soby - Fox 9 Minneapolis - Dance-Off videos

Apparently every Friday, towards the end of the Fox 9 Morning News the anchors / personalities / staff pull out their best or worst dance moves for the Fox 9 Friday Dance-Off segment. Having never seen this live as I am well in to my work day by that time of the morning I have found a number of Fox 9 Friday Dance-Off video compilations - most of which feature traffic reporter Kelsey Soby who has the best moves by far of the morning news team at KMSP-TV.




























Is Kelsey Soby the traffic reporter in Minneapolis / St. Paul who is easiest on the eyes? What about her dance moves - good, bad, other? And what about the Fox 9 Morning News program as a whole? Does it need more dancing to fill out the 5 and half hour-long program?

Phyllis Diller dead at age 95

Legendary funny woman Phyllis Diller dies today at age 95. The video below is of Phyllis Diller's last stand-up comedy performance a mere six years ago in 2006. Growing up, I remember her from what seemed like an endless parade of Bob Hope comedy specials on NBC -- that was likely in the 1980s. Being in elementary school, her comedy never struck a chord with me but looking back -- especially at her stand-up comedy, Phyllis Diller was a trend-setter. Having been a comic most of her life, she began her stand-up career in 1955 in her adoptive home of San Francisco, CA.



Her comedy, though, is what has stood the test of time. Her self-deprecating style is what works for me. An endless barrage of age jokes and poking fun at her own looks brought the comic down to earth and helped Phyllis Diller become instantly relatable to her fans.

Some of her more recent television work included appearances in at least three episodes between 1999–2003 on the long-running family drama 7th Heaven, in one of which she got drunk while cooking dinner for the household, and a 2002 episode of The Drew Carey Show, as Mimi Bobek's grandmother. She posed for Playboy, but the photos were never run in the magazine. Her voice can be heard in several animated TV shows, including The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972) as herself, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2002)] as Jimmy's grandmother, and on Family Guy in 2006 as Peter Griffin's mother, Thelma Griffin.

Why is Pussy Riot in jail?

The all-female Russian punk band Pussy Riot has landed themselves in jail. But it wasn't for what rock stars are typically jailed for. They didn't trash a hotel room or accost police or beat a fan or kill someone. Instead, they put on an impromptu performance at Moscow's Christ the Savior church -- performing what they called a "punk prayer".

From the description of the YouTube video below:
"Pussy Riot's gig at Christ the Saviour took place on 21 February. Five members broke into the Moscow cathedral, performing a "punk prayer" from the altar. Their song "Holy Shit" is a condemnation of the Russian Orthodox church's close ties to Putin. "Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin," they sang, "chase Putin out!" Three of them have been arrested for hooliganism and they could face up to seven years in jail."



I can see why Pussy Riot is so polarizing. Russia is a country which is very much rooted in their past which is very religious and politically backwards compared to the United States and many European countries. Punk music, at its heart, is supposed to be polarizing. It is supposed to question what is considered normal. Punk music like that of Pussy Riot is supposed to be loud and seem strange to the majority. It should ruffle feathers. It should not end in jail for the musicians performing it. Again, Pussy Riot didn't damage property or injure anyone. Yes, they did probably trespass but they also communicated their message that Putin must be chased out. For a democracy to be effective (like our own somewhat effective system of government) there must be changes in leadership and the simple fact that Putin is in his third term as president of RUssia tells me that the members of Pussy Riot have a valid message and that their arrest and subsequent jail time will be an embarrassment for Putin and the law enforcement members who pulled the band from the altar of Christ the Savior church.

Olympic volleyball hottie Neslihan Darnel of Turkey

Olympic volleyball hottie Neslihan Darnel of Turkey, seen here after a win over the Republic of Korea (North Korea), celebrates during Women's Volleyball on Day 7 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Earls Court.

Video of Olympic volleyball hottie Neslihan Darnel of Turkey



Olympic volleyball hottie Neslihan Darnel of Turkey's biography:

Birthplace & Date: 09/12/1983 - ESKISEHIR (TUR)
Age: 28
Height: 187 cm / 6'2"
Weight: 72 kg / 159 lbs
Family: She has a daughter.
Club name: Eczacibasi Sports Club, Istanbul, TUR
Coach: Lorenzo Micelli (ITA) (gsb.gov.tr, 1 May 2012)

Sexy ass volleyball player Liliana Fernandez Steiner

Check out Spanish sensation Liliana Fernandez Steiner. The Spanish-born Steiner represents Spain on their Beach Volleyball team. The video below shows sexy Liliana Fernandez Steiner crushing the competition in her smoking hot bikini showing off her bodacious and sexy butt and her hot body diving into the sand at the London 2012 Olympics.

Liliana Fernandez Steiner biography:
Liliana Fernández Steiner (born 4 January 1987) is a Spanish beach volleyball player. As of 2012, she plays with Elsa Baquerizo. They have qualified for 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Age: 25

Height: 178 cm / 5'10"

Weight: 75 kg / 165 lbs

Gender: F

Nickname: Lili (20minutos.es, 23 Jun 2011)

Hobbies: Reading, dancing. (fivb.org, 2012)

Occupation: Student

Education: Tourism

Language(s) spoken: English, Spanish

Coach: Daniel Wood. (lili-elsa.com, 2011)

Will Against Me! survive Tom Gabel's transgender journey?

I was first introduced to the punk rock band Against Me! with the song featured above, "Don't Lose Touch". Gabel's vocals have a gutturat quality to them and the driving beat of the drums drew me to their music. I was totally blown away when they officially made it big with their breakthrough album featuring this song, "Thrash Unreal".
Again, more guttural vocals with a totally catchy hook and a kick-ass video with some equally meaningful lyrics about a young woman who has pissed her life away as a party girl. Imagine my surprise, though, when I cracked open my browser early this morning and see both Against Me! and lead singer Tom Gabel as hot search trends. Imagine my further shock to see that Tom Gabel publicly announced that he is dealing with gender dysphoria and considers himself to be transgendered and will be transitioning to life as a woman.

 I have to think that this is a first in the rock world -- think about it, have you ever before heard of a straight-up punk rock band whose frontman has come forward as transgendered. While I'm all for people doing whatever it takes for them to be happy with the person they are, I have to wonder what this means for the band he has worked tirelessly to lead to success. What will become of Against Me!? Will Against Me! go forward as a band without Gabel/Laura Jane Grace? Will Laura Jane Grace (formerly Tom Gabel) continue to front the punk rock outfit and bring about attention to the struggles transgendered people face while still writing and performing truly amazing music? Only time will tell but Rolling Stone has an in-depth interview with Gabel so we'll all know shortly.

Feeling defeated by the day, Google AdWords

It was just one of those days today. The type of day where you just want to wipe it away and forget that it happened. Due to a whole world of changes at the office (diversification, new directions, etc.) I've been tasked with a whole pile of online tasks that, if I was asked seven years ago back when I was still a print graphic designer, I would have said that you were crazy to expect this out of me. Of course after I failed the 109 question Google AdWords for Search certification test today, I felt like my co-workers, again, were crazy to expect this out of me. A passing grade is 85% and I achieved a not-terrible 81% but it wasn't enough in the eyes of Google to achieve certification.

It's been that kind of week/month/year for me. I've been tasked with a whole host of new ventures which rest on my hopefully capable shoulders. On top of achieving Google AdWords certification, I also need to complete a framework for handling what can only be described as a whole shit-ton of data via an XML workflow and wrangling it into a hundred or-so page InDesign layout. That task is due in a couple weeks and I still haven't figured out a simple and understandable way for non-techies to input the data. Add to that having to design a rather involved (for me) companion website for that XML/InDesign project and I'm starting to feel the pressure.

Not to mention learning a rather intense and complex website monitoring/evaluation software package for my employer's S.E.O. venture and I've got simply that much more to get done.

I feel, somedays, like the future of my employer rests at least partially on my shoulders. I am confident that I can handle these tasks and more but the timeframe has me concerned. Thankfully my team has a meeting tomorrow to plan the launch dates of a whole host of service offerings so I can at bring up my concerns and mention my woeful shortcomings in front of those who, up until now, thought I was totally capable and were in awe of what I've been able to accomplish in a short time.

Hey, at least I have the musical stylings of Childish Gambino and his awesome and totally filthy rap lyrics to get me pumped up on my way in to the office each morning.

NBC's Bent is their best sitcom since Community

The first two episodes of NBC's late-season apparent comedy burn-off of "Bent" - starring Amanda Peet and created by Tad Quill (last year's poorly received "Perfect Couples") are in the books and were actually very solid. In a short conversation with MPR's Bob Collins via Twitter last night, he stated that the show's dialogue pacing made something by Aaron Sorkin seem like a slow southern drawl.

To me, "Bent" has an obvious romantic comedy slant to it. The tense romantic chemistry between stars Amanda Peet and the contractor working on her remodeling project -- David Walton -- makes for plenty of awkward and truly funny moments. Throw in the rather adorable and precocious child of Amanda Peet's character played by Joey King and Jeffrey Tambor who stars as David Walton's booze-swilling father who plays piano at an upscale department store while struggling in his dream to become an actor and there are plenty of excellent scenes playing up the sentimental humor and outright gut-busting moments.

"Bent" should be given a true chance. It's time period -- featuring back-to-back episodes stuck at 8 PM C/T on Wednesdays on NBC do the series no favors but NBC also launched a certain single camera sitcom entiled "The Office" in a less-than-favorable Tuesday 8:30 PM timeslot at this exact time of the year with a six episode run for its first season and "The Office" went on to run for at least eight seasons and is still NBC's highest rated sitcom.

"Bent", while not a workplace comedy, could easily be the next relationship-centric single camera comedy to be a cornerstone for NBC while shows like "30 Rock" and "The Office" come to the end of their lifespans.

Check out "Bent" as it sticks to its back-to-back episodes the next two Wednesdays at 8 PM and 8:30 PM C/T the next two weeks.





What others are saying:
Hitflix says:

... It is snappy, and funny enough when it needs to be. It is acutely aware of all the will-they/won't-they clichés and enjoys letting Pete, Alex and Ben be aware of them, too. And it has absolutely terrific chemistry between Walton and Peet, the kind that can't be manufactured — even though I've seen many, many unfortunate series try. It's not perfect, but it's also not particularly bent.…

The New York Times says:

... Sometimes it’s best not to think too hard and just embrace the idiocy. If you’re able to bring that mind-set to “Bent,” a screwy comedy NBC introduces on Wednesday night, you’ll have a pretty good time. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

... it is all very well done. If the characters are not particularly original, neither do they come off as artificial. The dialogue is 75% banter, but it is crisp and tart, and the actors make even the ripostes you can predict sound spontaneous.

Awake might be NBC's best series this year

NBC has, since the demise of Seinfeld, Friends and E.R., been a network struggling to find a hit series and be a cornerstone for the network and "Awake" - beginning March 1 - may very well be that hit series to save NBC from being relegated to an over-the-air version of a lowly cable channel. "Awake" is a well-written and well-acted drama featuring a detective who, after a traumatic injury, is living dual realities in parallel worlds. Don't let the sci-fi angle of that description scare you off. At its heart, "Awake" is a solid police procedural that just happens to have a sci-fi twist. Think of this series like FOX's "Alcatraz" but better lit and on a network desperate to save itself.

While the series premiere is nearly two weeks off, NBC wants to share this rare gem of a series with the world early. Below is the pilot episode of "Awake".



"Awake" debuts Thursday, March 1st at 9 PM central on NBC.

Episode One of The River on ABC - worth watching

Yes, The River on ABC is a limited run (8 episodes) series but after watching the first two episodes last night I have to say that I am intrigued by the story which The River has to tell. It has elements of Lost, The Blair Witch Project, The Shining and Paranormal Activity to it. It's a found-footage concept which may or may not have been overdone in recent years but still works because viewers know that there is likely an endpoint to The River.

The central story is about the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Emmet Cole who, for over 20 years, was the central star of a fictional nature show in which his family was heavily featured. A film crew, along with Cole's son, wife and a longtime childhood friend of Dr. Cole's son meet in the Amazon River in an attempt to locate and rescue Dr. Emmet Cole.

The River's major flaw, unfortunately, is bad acting. The British actor playing Dr. Cole's son is brutal in the delivery of his sometimes forced and cheesy lines. But what is lost in the bad acting is made up for in the suspense. Oh, sure, we see a glimpse of the spirit-like being or monster which is likely responsible for the mayhem in this uncharted area of the Amazon River but unlike Lost, which made viewers wait for what seemed like forever for an explanation or even a glimpse of the smoke monster, The River gets right down to business -- knowing that they have a mere eight hours to wrap the story up.

I wouldn't worry about The River on ABC being drawn out beyond its initial eight episode run because its lackluster ratings last night seem to indicate that it's a one and done. So sit back and enjoy the suspense which The River has to offer. It settles in to its permanent timeslot next Tuesday at 8 PM central on ABC.