i [heart] you joey joe

There was a rumor this week that the New Kids on the Block may be staging a reunion tour, a rumor that Danny Wood denied on his MySpace page. That being said, NKOTB.com seems to have a new song from the band on its home page so who the hell knows. But man, I hope it's true!!!!!!

Anyways, in looking for NKOTB info, I found this blog that someone runs called NKOTB are Still Kicking Ass and it's all about the members of the band still kicking ass! Yeah! But then...well, I found a scary entry. It had photos of a girl's room plastered with New Kids posters and well, my first reaction was "Wow! That looks just like my old room! And her posters are even closer together than mine!" And then I realized I was jealous that her room looked more like "New Kids wallpaper" than my room in which you could still tell what color the walls were. :( That being said, I was able to identify at least 15 posters/centerfolds/pin-ups in her room that I also owned. I can't believe I still remember that.

So this of course brings up a crazy question: what band would you go see if they reunited? Now, I'm not talking about the Beatles or something -- everyone has to be alive for one. I'm talking about that band you loved when you were a kid that you would pay to see for nostalgia's sake now that you have your own paycheck to spend and don't need your parents to drive you to the arena. 'N Sync? New Edition? Wham? Ohhhh....Wham! That would be sweet. Or are you one of those Smiths fans that want to see them back together even though that's not going to ever happen because of the animosity among the former members? Comment with your band so we can all point and laugh at you.

vma train wreck

Every year, I watch the MTV Video Music Awards hoping this year will be different. This year is going to be better than last year. This is the year that MTV will prove that all those past horrible shows were just a fluke.

Every year, I am proven wrong.

Seriously, the whole show last night was a train wreck and you knew things weren't going to be good when Britney Spears opened the show. Her "comeback" performance was awful. She half-assed the singing, the dancing, the wardrobe, and the hair weave/wig on her head. The only good thing about the performance was her make-up. I don't know who her make-up artist was, but if that person had been in charge of that entire performance, it probably wouldn't have been the debacle it was.

People, if you make a comeback during your career, you should follow in the footsteps of John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. Now, THAT was a comeback! Britney's crappy gyrating and horrible lip syncing? Not so much.

Did anyone else watch this horrid awards show? The only good thing about it was when Justin Timberlake performed at the end. I mean, Justin was awesome last night! He was the only one.

ballad cheese

One of my favorite bands to pick when I rarely and randomly go out to karaoke is Journey. It's cheesy, everyone sings along, and...it's cheesy. EW.com recently ran a piece called The Ultimate Cheesy-Ballad Playlist that included Journey, of course, as well as some other great ones:

-- "Could've Been" by Tiffany and "Lost in Your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson -- When I was in fifth grade, owning the albums by both of these teenagers was mandatory. Man, I loved Tiffany.

-- "Crazy for You" by Madonna. This and "Live to Tell" are my all-time favorite Madonna songs.

-- "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls. Remember the summer when this song was on every single station all the time? I ended up seeing the Goo Goo Dolls in concert in Columbia, Mo. when I was in college. I got kicked in the face by a crowd surfer [yes, a crowd surfer at a Goo Goo Dolls concert] and took an elbow to the eye, which resulted in my losing a contact lens. My roommate had to drive my car home because I had no depth perception. Who knew a crazy night in college would be at a Goo Goo Dolls concert?

-- "Please Don't Go Girl" by the New Kids on the Block. The person on EW.com who mentioned this was mortified to be admitting she still listened to this song. I don't understand why you would be embarassed to admit that? I mean, I still listen to that song...

You know, that is a pretty mortifying thing to admit.

And in case you want to download and slow dance with your honey to Journey, here you go.
Journey - Open Arms

my humps

Remember that annoying song called "My Humps" from the Black Eyed Peas? Well, Alanis Morrisette covered the song and even did an awesome video for it!

No, I'm not joking. I'm a huge fan of cover versions of songs and this one is near the top of what I've heard before. It reminds me alot of a cover Tori Amos may do for a song in which is completely changes the melody of the song to make it sound completely different from the original.
But with Alanis, as much as the song is great, you need to see it with the video that goes along with it for extra awesomeness!

In the meantime, here is another one of my favorite covers for you to download.
Travis - Baby One More Time

And another cover from Alanis.
Alanis Morrissette - King of Pain

fashion sense run amok

So Pete Wentz, the bassist for Fall Out Boy, is working on a line of clothing. Well, of course he is. Who isn't? But that's beside the point. The point is that this stuff is horrid. Here's the description from Women's Wear Daily via ONTD:

"Executives at DKNY Jeans also took notice of Wentz's creative ability and signed him on to a partnership in which he works with the DKNY Jeans design team to create Clandestine Industries for DKNY Jeans. The line, which includes graphic T-shirts, dresses, jeans, sweats, skirts and jackets, is fully inspired by Wentz. The colors are all mostly dark, such as the black leather jackets and dark-indigo denim jeans, but there is a bright pink pop of color found throughout on jacket linings and some T-shirts. There's a graphic print T-shirt of his pet bulldog, Hemingway, who tours with the band regularly, and other prints inspired by Wentz's own extensive tattoos."

Yeah, because I want to buy stuff that's all about Pete and looks like stuff Pete would wear and Pete, Pete, Pete. Did Pete design a line of clothing or a line of clothing for himself?

Seriously, ignore all that is wrong with the models in this picture. Would any of you even wear shoes like the ones below? Blech. Just because some rock star designed them doesn't mean people should wear them in public.

i ain't sayin's she's a gold digger

But I wouldn't blame her if she was, especially when the person is question can spend $3,900 for dinner.

That's right! Kanye West is going to have almost $4,000 spent on food for a meeting Wednesday night in New York that is being flown over from England. Apparently, there is no good food in Manhattan so he has to have a random restaurant in another country cater the meeting. What. The. Hell.

By this time next year, it will be all over some VH1 show about the lifestyles of celebrities and how much they spend on stuff.

random bar story

A few weeks ago, I had a random bar moment that I must post about because...well...it is pop culture related.

So I was standing in line for the women's bathroom [what's new?] when the bar started playing Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself" over the loud speakers. For some reason, this motivated some random guy to start singing along to the song while looking at me.

Why is this a problem? Why did I get grossed out? Well, first of all, I'm married, so I had to use my patented scratching my forehead move that shows off my wedding ring. Apparently, the guy would not be deterred -- or else he was drunk -- because he kept singing along. This further grossed me out because "Dancing with Myself" is about, well, pleasing yourself. No, seriously, it is.

So yeah...married girls freak out when you sing songs about, you know, having sex by yourself to try and pick them up at bars.

Video of "Dancing with Myself" [YouTube] -- Note the apocolyptic/Blade Runner vibe. Apparently, some things in the future never change. Like dancing with yourself.
Billy Idol - Dancing with Myself [MP3 via sendspace]

what's the buzz

Who has turned into the new Sinead O'Connor? Britney Spears!

I think those are her bodyguards, but I'm not sure. Frankly, I think the bodyguards aren't doing their job. They need to work harder at protecting Britney...from herself. I mean, really? You think someone shaves their own head and that's healthy? Anyway...

So in the past week, Britney was in Florida, then went to some harsh rehab in Antigua, then flew back to L.A. to be with her kids [at least they weren't with her during all this], then shaved her head, got some crappy tattoos, and went out with a wig that looks like it cost $5.

This girl has to be on a path to self-destruction because I don't know where she's going otherwise.

trl gets requested to leave

Remember when MTV's TRL was the biggest thing in the world. Well, Just Jared is reporting that the show has officially be canned. Yeah! Ok, it was good when it first started and I didn't realize Carson Daly was a tool. But then it just got horribly bad. I mean, when you know the votes are being staged, what's the point of watching? And it didn't matter what was voted on anyway considering you couldn't actually watch the video because of all the "shout-outs" like "Oh my God! Hi Susie!"

Rumor is that MTV may just replace it with more reality television. Um...that's part of the problem, not part of the solution, idiots.

i don't know about this

There are rumors that Hollywood will be making a movie about Milli Vanilli. Yeah, the lip syncing Milli Vanilli. Apparently, the VH1 Behind the Music wasn't enough to whet our appetite.

Oh, but spoiler alert! This is how the movie ends. At least, how I assume it ends. From the article:

"[Writer and Director Jeff Nathanson] has secured the cooperation of Milli Vanilli alumnus Fabrice Morvan, who has been pursuing a comeback for years, as well as the estate of his colleague, Rob Pilatus, who died of a drug overdose in 1998."

You would have known this if you had seen the updated Behind the Music. Another spoiler alert? In Titanic, the ship sinks at the end.

So in order to remind you of the whole having to return the best new artist Grammy, I give you this MP3:

Milli Vanilli - Blame It on the Rain

And if you want to know what Fab is up to, he has a Web site with his new single.

wikit: marky mark

Ok, I have to say that Mark Wahlberg did a fantastic job in The Departed. I'm just saying that now so people don't get the idea that I'm ragging on him.

That being said, I saw him in concert in 1993 and yes, he did strip down to his underwear during the show. He also told the crowd what hotel he was staying at and his room number. Some friends and I took that information and called the hotel to speak to him and were denied by his entourage. Perhaps it's because we were 15 and 16 and called at 11 o'clock at night from a pay phone in a McDonald's parking lot. No, none of us had cell phones at the time because no one had cell phones at the time since it was 1992.

Oh, and that picture above? It just to hang on the back of my bedroom door -- as a huge poster. I still wonder why my parents let me do stuff like that.

Little known fact: Mark has a third nipple. Yes, it's true.

Little known fact: Mark was one of the original members of the New Kids on the Block, but dropped out. His brother Donnie, however, stayed in the group and became rich off of it.

Little known fact: The show Entourage is loosely based on Mark's life when he arrived in Hollywood and he's one of the executive producers for the show.

So with that, here is a Marky Mark song you'll all enjoy. It required me to find the CD and then rip it. Yeah, I'm a nerd who still owns the CD.

Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations

And yes, he is an Oscar nominee.

gram of grammys

Did anyone else watch the Grammys last night? I did, but learned a valuable lesson when I rewatched it with the husband. It would have been a much better idea to just let the Tivo tape the show and then watch it. Seriously, I was able to reduce a four-hour Grammy show to a half hour with Tivo.

Now don't get me wrong, there were some highlights like:
-- The Police reunited!!!!! [YouTube link here]
-- Justin Timberlake's two performances
-- Mary J on fire as always

But then there were some...I don't know how else to describe it except complete crap performances like:
-- Chris Brown "performing" a song that he sang probably ten whole words of the whole time while dancing the rest and letting his back-up singers do the heavy lifting
-- Ludacris rapping a song about some runaway girl [yes, I understand that some kids live troubled lives, but there's a difference between bringing attention to their plight and over doing it just to have people think you're a "serious" rapper]
-- Shakira's performance was ok, but you have to wonder how interesting a two-hour concert is when all she does is shimmy around the same way over and over again. Not only do her hips not lie, but they don't shut up, which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that they say the same things over and over and over again

The big winners last night were the Dixie Chicks and I do like that one song about not wanting to place nice but all those Grammys were too many. Justin Timberlake should have at least gotten a few that went to the country chicks. As the husband and I talked about later, it's always weird with the Grammys. More than any other award show, when an artist starts to get momentum in the first hour of the award show, you know they're going to sweep everything. Even the Oscars aren't like that.

So yeah, did anyone even pay attention to this or was it just me?

wikit: adam ant

Before Johnny Depp made pirate attire chic again, there was only one pirate: Adam Ant. Now, I didn't know too many New Wave pirates -- hell, I didn't know any -- but there is something about Adam Ant that I wish I could replicate now. Maybe Halloween this year or something.

Not so little known fact: Adam Ant is not his real name. No kidding. His real name is Stuart Goddard. He was very smart to change it.

Little known fact: The band was originally called Adam and the Ants and was managed by the Sex Pistols' former manager, Malcolm McLaren. Malcolm then talked the other three members of the band into leaving Adam to go solo. That band, Bow Wow Wow, was a one-hit wonder and never got close to the success Adam Ant had on his own.

Little known fact: He once dated Jamie Lee Curtis. At least that's what it says on Wikipedia.

Little known fact: Adam got in some legal trouble in 2002 for brandishing a firearm at a pub in London. Turns out he has bipolar disorder.

So below are two great Adam Ant songs that may not be as well known to some of you. The first -- Desperate But Not Serious -- is an '80s classic and the second -- Wonderful -- comes from Adam's 1995 album of the same name.

Adam Ant - Desperate But Not Serious
Adam Ant - Wonderful

please explain my addiction

I admit it, I like the new Beyonce song Irreplaceable. No, I'm not planning to get rid of my husband, but there is just something about that song that just gets in my head. "Everything you own in a box to the left." It's all in one little box because Beyonce is a sugar mama despite the fact that in real life, she's dating Jay Z. But anyway, I still like the song. Just a warning: clicking on that link will make you get this stupid song stuck in your head, too. Proceed at your own risk.

And no, I have no idea why she feels to the need to pose with her hands on her head during a Red Carpet. I know I didn't tell her to do that.

you put what where?

Ok, so I admit it. I like Justin Timberlake's new album. I wouldn't mind seeing him in concert, too. There, I said it.

Apparently, the concert I really wanted to see was last night at Madison Square Garden when JT came out with Andy Samberg from Saturday Night Live to sing "Dick in a Box" -- a song originally performed on SNL back in December. Last night included the bad outfits, the strategically placed boxes, and a slight change of words. The holidays you can now give your loved one a dick in a box include Valentine's Day and Flag Day. Good to know.

Oh, and for those of you not familiar with the sketch, you can find the uncensored version here.

wikit: prince

In honor of this weekend's Super Bowl, I give you a wikit for Prince, who will be playing the halftime show for the big game. By the way, the above picture is from Prince's rehearsal for the show. No, I don't know if he actually wears bright orange suits everyday or just for special occasions like Super Bowl rehearsals. I have to say though, I kind of like that chick's dress-- you know, if it was a little shorter to cover my ass.

Not little known facts about Prince: He's from Minnesota and he likes purple.

Little known fact: He once stood behind my friend Stacy's dad at the check out line at the local grocery story in Minneapolis.

Little known fact: A song by Prince made Tipper Gore start the Parents Music Resource Center, which is responsible for those Parental Advisory labels on albums. Tipper heard her 12-year-old daughter playing "Darling Nikki," a song from the Purple Rain soundtrack about a sex fiend. Well yeah, that may not be the best for a 12-year-old to be listening to. That being said, Prince ended up winning an Oscar for his work on the soundtrack.

Little known fact: The whole symbol thing wasn't to be weird and artistic or something. It was rebel against his record label at the time, whom he felt were treating him unfairly. I don't know why you need a symbol for that, but there you go.

And so I give you my favorite Prince song, which he may or may not be performing on Sunday. Let's hope he at least doesn't have some sort of wardrobe malfunction.

Prince - Let's Go Crazy

don't take your bus to town

Especially if that bus was stolen.

I was watching American Idol the other day and they had this chick and her mom on with this really long hair. Somehow I remember that Crystal Gayle had really long hair. Why I knew about a country singer that was popular in 1983, I have no idea.

Anyway, that's when a friend brought up the fact that Crystal's tour bus was recently stolen. How can you steal a tour bus? A Toyota Corolla I can understand, but a tour bus? And it turns out the guy drove it to Daytona Speedway. Well, of course, a country fan who stole Crystal Gayle's tour bus would take it to the Mecca of Nascar racing!

So if you own a tour bus, I recommend you lock the doors when you get out next time.

crap i liked: vanilla ice

Seriously, what was up with those outfit, dude? Did you mom make that?

I remember the night before my first day in seventh grade, the local radio station played The Song of the Summer over and over and over again on a loop as a way to send us stupid kids back to school. I think the DJs used it as an excuse to get high in the booth or something. Anyway, that song was Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby. I loved that song back then.

About eight years later, I had a friend admit to me that part of his hazing to get in to a frat on campus included having to memorize that song. Sounds about right.

Yo DJ! Let's kick it!

Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

By the way, this was back in the day where you were walking a fine line between getting sued and not getting sued. Totally different than today when Diddy just rips off another song by The Police for his latest crapfest. Anyway, Ice contended that he put an extra "dun" in his bassline so he wouldn't have to pay David Bowie and Queen any royalties. Judge for yourself.

David Bowie & Queen - Under Pressure

wikit: morrissey

So I've been listening to Morrissey lately and thought I should post a little about him so you can all enjoy my wonderful taste in music.

Morrissey used to be in 80's emo band The Smiths back before emo was cool and I know you've all heard their song "How Soon is Now," which is always used in emo-type movies. So be it.

After that, Morrissey struck out on his own and recorded such songs as "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" and "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful." True, but why do you have to keep following me to let me know that?

Little known fact: Morrissey's moodiness has made him enemies with several musicians including Madonna, George Michael, and Robert Smith of The Cure, who once was quoted as saying, "If Morrissey says don't eat meat, then I'll eat meat, because I hate Morrissey." And this is coming from one of the most goth emo singers out there. Go figure.

So here's to moody emo before it was popular. And with that, I give you one of my favorite Morrissey songs.

Morrissey - Everyday is Like Sunday

grudging approval

Ok, so John Mayer is dating Jessica Simpson, which I can't approve of. I frankly can't approve of anyone dating Jessica Simpson. Even Nick Lachey became cool when he got a divorce from her.

Anyway, as much as that's annoying, the guy has a pretty cool blog. For those of you who are Grey's Anatomy fans, there's been some controversy about Isaiah Washington calling another one a slur on the set. So based on that, John Mayer thinks Isaiah's character needs to come out of the closet and admit that not only is he gay, but he's also a Scissor Sisters fan. John did all of this in script format on his blog for you to read and, well, I grudgingly admit, it's funny.

Also, as most people know, I love the show The Office. In the Christmas episode, boss Michael Scott did a karaoke version of John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland" and rather than getting paid in royalties for the use of the song, John simply asked to be paid with a Dundie. The show gave him the "Tallest Music Dude" award for his efforts.

But Jessica Simpson? Seriously?