Friday, February 6, 2009

FEY-dar: "Generalissimo" [30 Rock ep. 3.10]

This is the BEST episode of the season thus far. Alec Baldwin will receive another Emmy nomination for this one.


BREAKING NEWS: Rizz reads my email on-air

Each morning during the final 30 minutes of Tony Rizzo's show the syndicated Bloomberg Sports Business Update runs. The Update runs around three minutes and provides news about one or two major business sports items. The anchors that do the update have a very Ted Baxter-ish delivery and are apparently unaware of the humor their updates generate.

Last month when the Cleveland Browns fired head coach Romeo Crennel there was a piece about it on the Update. But the anchor mispronounced Crennel's last name [putting the emphasis on the first sylable instead of the other way around]. This became a running joke on Rizzo's show and they would play a drop of the anchor's mispronunciation anytime someone on Rizzo's show mispronounced a name or encountered a name with a difficult pronunciation.

This morning the Update was about Michael Phelps continuing fallout over the photo of him that made the rounds last weekend:
The report covered Phelps' three month suspension by the US Swim Team. But then the report got better.

Phelps appeared on boxes of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and the cereal company was none too thrilled about the photo. They cancelled their endorsement agreement with Phelps. When the Update covered this development they began with "Phelps also took a hit". I was in near tears I was laughing so hard. I couldn't believe that the anchor read that with a straight face. So I sent the following email to Rizz:
Hey Rizz...Who writes the scripts for those sports business updates? Those little updates consistently provide some hearty laughs. The Crennel mispronunciation from last month...and now today's. The guy's reading about Michael Phelps being photographed appearing to smoke a marijuana pipe. Then later in the same story he starts a sentence with "He also took a hit" and I laughed hysterically. Play that again...THAT'S funny.
And he did. And they laughed and played the Crennel drop and assorted water pipe sounds. It's good to be alive!!!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Farewell: Lux Interior [10.21..1946 - 2.4.2009]


With great sadness I have just learned of the passing of Lux Interior, lead singer of seminal psychobilly/punk band The Cramps.
Lux Interior, lead singer of The Cramps, passed away this morning due
to an existing heart condition at Glendale Memorial Hospital in
Glendale, California at 4:30 AM PST today. Lux has been an
inspiration and influence to millions of artists and fans around the
world. He and wife Poison Ivy's contributions with The Cramps have
had an immeasurable impact on modern music.

The Cramps emerged from the original New York punk scene of CBGB and
Max's Kansas City, with a singular sound and iconography. Their
distinct take on rockabilly and surf along with their midnight movie
imagery reminded us all just how exciting, dangerous, vital and sexy
rock and roll should be and has spawned entire subcultures. Lux was a
fearless frontman who transformed every stage he stepped on into a
place of passion, abandon, and true freedom. He is a rare icon who
will be missed dearly.

The family requests that you respect their privacy during this
difficult time.
I saw The Cramps several times over the years. I even once had the pleasure of sharing a bill with them during my dancing days. I can think of major events in my life that somehow involved a Cramps concert: one of the first dates I went on with one of the former Bad Gal Zeros was to a Cramps concert. That same concert was also the last time I saw my friend Pepe [singer for Loco Gringos] alive. He died of an overdose a couple of days later. The Cramps were the band I and another former Bad Gal Zero had gone to see on the night I had a major optic injury that sort of/pretty much paved the way for the creation of Bad Kid Zero. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who has memorable moments that involved The Cramps.
Lux was a hell of a frontman. I can't think of a single show where he didn't give 100%. One of my cherished rock mementos is a microphone that he destroyed during a show at Trees in the early 90s.
Farewell Lux. You came and gave it your all and in doing so touched the lives of many, many people in ways you probably didn't even imagine. Stay sick!