Thursday, October 9, 2014

MR. VICE PRESIDENT, YOU STILL HAVE A MINUTE-TWENTY: There is nothing but sadness to convey upon hearing the news that Jan Hooks has passed away from a long illness at age 57. She was, as Alan Sepinwall properly notes, one of the best "glue" performers on the show, lacking breakout characters herself but ridiculously versatile as a straight man, celebrity-of-the-week, or whatever else was needed. Watch her against Jon Lovitz's Devil on "The People's Court" -- her delivery "I am a barfly" is just perfect. Or, gosh, her Sinead O'Connor versus Hartman's Sinatra, Bette Davis' video will, any many more.
YOU'RE GOING TO GET WHAT YOU DESERVE: The 2015 ballot for the Non-Country Popular Music of the 1950s and Beyond Hall of Fame includes five first-time nominees: Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, the Smiths, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bill Withers, and Sting, the first two in their rookie year of eligibility. (First albums: 1989.)

Joining them on the ballot are returning nominees N.W.A., Lou Reed, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Kraftwerk, Chic, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, the Marvelettes, the Spinners, War, and Bill Withers.

[Among the excluded: The Cure, New Order, Sonic Youth, Warren Zevon, Bon Jovi, anything metal or prog, and every woman who played post-WWII non-country popular music not named Joan Jett or in Chic, such as, um, Janet Jackson (if you're nasty), who has never been on the ballot despite being eligible since 2007.]

Do we have a Doodle ballot?  Of course.  

[My tentative ballot: NIN, SRV, NWA, Lou Reed, Kraftwerk. On the fence on Sting and the Smiths.]
HEY, HEY WHAT CAN I SAY?:  This attempt by SPIN to rank every single Led Zeppelin song is worth a gander -- it's not a slideshow.  First, it's largely right: Over the Hills and Far Away is indeed their best song and most of the stuff on Presence -- an album I'm sure I never listed to straight through -- is way down the list.   I quibble about ever separating Heartbreaker from Livin' Lovin' Maid -- two songs that are as inseparable as Pink Floyd's Brain Damage and Eclipse from Dark Side of the Moon.

The only misplaced one is Your Time is Gonna Come which readily ranks among the Top Ten -- and I don't think that's even nostalgia from a really great date, the memory of which is fused with a trip to the Laserium at the Morrison Planetarium in 1988.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Requiring passes for rides with long waits could ease frustration, said John Gerner, founder of Leisure Business Advisors in Richmond, Va. "If visitors have to wait more than an hour, It almost doesn't matter how good the ride is – they're upset," Gerner said. 
On the other hand, Disney risks angering guests who don't snatch up FastPasses reservations before they run out. "You're essentially making people reserve in advance and are taking away this really long line at the scene," Gerner said. "The trade-off is that people willing to wait six hours don't get to do so."
[When we did the ride at California Adventure in late June, I'd say the wait was 45m-1h both times in the late morning, and the kids were a bit antsy the second time but believed that it was worth it.]
ABSOLUTELY BONKERS APENUTS:  According to our own Amy Watts, writing for the Baltimore Sun, the audience deeply appreciated Alfonso Ribeiro's breaking out the Carlton Dance for DWTS this week, a crowd pop perhaps only exceeded on television last night as that received when Finally, The Rock Has Come Back ... To Brooklyn.
I AM LOOKING FOR A 'DARE TO BE GREAT' SITUATION: I'm totally fine with Cameron Crowe wanting to spike a tv adaptation/sequel to Say Anything, but perhaps then shouldn't Crowe be returning to 20th Century Fox TV the money they've paid him for those adaptation rights over the years?
IT WAS NOT ACCOMPANIED WITH A PROFANE TIRADE AGAINST JOHNNY MARR:  Morrissey has admitted he has undergone treatment for cancer, issuing the most Morrissey-esque statement on the matter possible--"If I die, then I die. And if I don't, then I don't."

Monday, October 6, 2014