Live, From Wherever I Am

For a few years now I’ve wanted to like the television show Last Comic Standing.  I’ve been interested in the entertainment form (comedy) and follow some of the nationally known comedians, primarily through radio and television appearances.  However, Last Comic Standing just never was able to hook me, struggling through several years of format changes and weak participants.  Never the less, I thought this season might be the one I could get into, primarily because instead of going with a more amateur type approach they used veteran comedians.  In fact, of the ten finalists, I knew of and was quite familiar with four of them, Tommy Johnagin, Rachel Feinstein, Roy Wood Jr, and Laurie Kilmartin.  I actually thought this year the show would rock.  
So I tried to watch a few times.  It was difficult; the segments were so short it was hard to feel like any of the performances were strong.  For the most part the judges were good, with the exception of the one judge that no one has ever heard of.  The public voted each week on who got to stay, which I initially thought would be a good idea.  However….
I’m not going to mess with Last Comic Standing anymore.  Last week on their morning radio program Bob and Tom interviewed the final two comics, runner up Tommy Johnagin and the winner, Felipe Esparza.  While it is true that Bob and Tom didn’t know Felipe as well as they know Tommy, I believe the contrast of the two illustrate very well why I’m giving up on Last Comic Standing.  Remember while you’re listening to these clips, Tommy Johnagin lost to Felipe Esparza.

(Editor’s note:  each of these clips is about 3 1/2  minutes.  If you’d like to hear the entire Tommy Johnagin clip – about 21 minutes – let me know and I’ll get it to you.)

Bob and Tom – Felipe Esparza segment
Bob and Tom – Tommy Johnagin segment

If it makes you feel any better, you can vote for your favorite here:  Click here to take survey

There’s not much to say here….I met this guy during my bike ride today (you can see the top of my Bike E back there behind him), it’s called a Rhoades Car, a 4 wheel bicycle.  This particularly one is the four seat model, with reinforced tires and cool fenders.   And I want one.

Dateline – WASHINGTON (the state) – It’s that time of year – time to start thinking about FOOTBALL, and that means it’s time for the second season of the Greyhavens Fantasy Football League. After a successful first season, the league is once again poised to provide fun and excitement for everyone that wants to participate.

Oddly enough, the original founding teams are all that currently have registered for the 2010 season: Dunedain, The Hand of David and Snowmen.  The league is still hoping to hear from some of last years’ teams, particularly the Bruisers, the Bulldogs, The Burning Legion and last years’ regular season leader the Wurstens6, as well as some new managers that have expressed interest in joining the league.

There continues to be an emphasis on simplicity in the league, which will continue with the simplified draft which requires managers simply to rate players in order of preference – or even do nothing and rely on Yahoo Sports preference rankings.  Scoring will remain basic with some additional offensive ways to score points (points for receptions and completions, additional points for longer field goals) and some additional defensive points (increased points for interceptions, blocked kicks and fumble recoveries; points for defensive return yards and defensive return touchdowns).

Team owners will need to register their teams soon in order to have time enough to reorder their draft preferences.  Registration is simple and requires only a yahoo id.  If interested in registering your team, simply send an email to craigthegrey@yahoo.com requesting registration information.  You’ll receive complete, easy to follow directions to register your team.  Any questions can be directed to Commissioner Cottle at craigthegrey@yahoo.com or via any of his web presences (Live, From Wherever I Am, All Cottles Great and Small, or Facebook.

The GFFL draft will be conducted on or around September 5th.  All managers must be registered before 11:59 pm on September 4th.  Good luck!

Last weekend we went to see Despicable Me, the latest animation project from Universal.  I’ve spent the week since then trying to come up with something to say besides “this is a great movie.”  I haven’t been too successful.

This movie manages to capture strong emotions in completely absurd situations (the plan is to steal the moon!).  The characters are very, very compelling – we expect to fall in love with the orphan girls, however the level of adoration we have for the minions is off the charts.  Remember Pixar’s desk lamp and how you felt connected to it?  Take that times about ten and you have the effect the minions will have on you.

Perhaps one of the reasons the movie comes across so well is that although there are many voices in the movie you should recognize, (Steve Carell, Julie Andrews, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, Jason Segel) they’re done in such a way as to not at all distract from the movie.  I can’t watch any of the Shrek movies without an image of Eddie Murphy in my head.  And Fiona’s voice is Cameron Diaz’s voice, not Fiona’s.  I can’t see Alan Rickman in anything – including as Snape in Harry Potter movies – without hearing the Voice of God from Dogma.  Not so with Despicable Me.  The characters all have their own identity, there is no distraction from a voice clearly from outside the project.  Not once did I think of Maxwell Smart or Michael Scott, or any of those annoying characters Kristen Wiig does on SNL.

Go see Despicable Me.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to have your own minion.  It is a great movie.

Remember Valerie Bertinelli?  Unless you were comatose, you had to have had at least some level of crush on her in your youth.  She was one of the stars of “One Day at a Time.”  She was the cute, non-addicted one.  Of course, that she married Eddie Van Halen only made her more appealing.  For some time she’s been selling us on the virtues of the Jenny Craig diet plan.
So, my latest sign of the apocalypse:  This month Valerie Bertinelli is on the cover of the AARP magazine.

(I’m still not going to join the AARP….until I’m actually old….which I’m not….despite their regular offers….which have been coming to me for several years now.)