Gunter glieben glauchen globen

I have to fill you in on Friday night after I get back from my trip, so I'm moving on.... for now.

I love getting to spend time with many of my favorite people in one room! I'm excited to do more of that in a couple of hours, while also seeing this:


Yes, I will be just like the fools in this video who still know all the songs by heart and unabashedly feel every beat of the drum as if it's my own heartbeat just like I have since I was a moody teenager... and I can't wait.

The creators have taken nearly every classic song from the soundtrack of my life and worked them into a story line. Brilliant! I don't really have an opinion either way about the lead guy in the show (he was on American Idol), but I do care about singing all of our favorite 80's songs together in a theater full of other stoked people doing the same thing. There will definitely be cocktails before and after, because if I relive (even in my mind, even through song) the boy drama from when I was a teenager, I'm going to need a few. We're ALL going to need a few.

Click HERE for the list of songs featured in Rock of Ages, and guess which one was my high school Homecoming dance song. While you're at it, tell me what YOUR high school Homecoming dance song was.

Forget Patrick Dempsey. This guy wins the award for "Best Man of Honor" ever.

Patrick Dempsey is hot and everything, but why did he agree to star in what looks to be a remake of a Julia Roberts movie? I didn't actually see it, so technically I shouldn't say anything, but I will anyway.

Dear PD,
Accepting a role in this movie was a horrible idea. You shouldn't have stooped to this level of paycheck-collecting. Call me before deciding to do something this transparent, as I would have talked you out of it. Your first clue should have been that they didn't cast the perfection that is Rupert Everett as the star's trusted sidekick. Women (and probably even some men) love you too much to be fooled by the premise of this movie as being a fresh idea in filmmaking.

It's not just this movie, though. I haven't even watched the past 2 seasons of your TV show because of this marked change in you. Somewhere along the line you lost your career joie de vivre; after the good old days when you inspired sheep jaded teenagers to do the African Anteater Ritual all the way to when you played the rejected "Mr. Perfect" proposing to Reece Witherspoon in Tiffany's. Something in your career path changed after that, and it makes me sad.

Long live the Ronald Miller days,
Jules

On that note, the following video of the best wedding toast ever is the antidote to the poison Hollywood is trying to infect the world, and certain better-than-that actor's resumes with. You can't beat it, and frankly, I wish some of the weddings I've been a bridesmaid in or even just been to as a guest in support of my friends would have featured some sort of song & dance number. I love you, all of my married friends, and I blame myself for not sneaking around behind your backs to come up with this idea for your own wedding receptions.

This real-life "Man of Honor" came up with the idea to surprise his best friend, the bride. Somehow, even though so many people were involved in the subsequent performance, it was kept secret from her as is proven by her reaction to everyone's participation. You know she's something special if they got her father-in-law and brothers involved. After seeing this, I'm now liable to audibly "booooo" the next boring wedding toast I hear (my apologies in advance if this happens during a toast you're making).

Look out whichever-one-of-you-is-next-down-the-aisle. We may not have spent our summers in musical theater camp or done dinner theater together in college, but if I have anything to say about it, you might just be in for something like this:


The sign he holds up at the beginning says, "Well, here we go! The story of Amy... (cue music)". You must at least hang on long enough for the dance break, in which they manage to squeeze in nods to at least 4 Broadway classics.

America, F**K YEAH!

I know Team America: World Police came out a couple of years ago, but I just saw it. The guys who created South Park are responsible for this movie, so you'd be a fool to expect anything less than maximum irreverence--but this was off the charts... and HILARIOUS. I have never seen a better musical/action farce. Adding to the charming offensiveness is that there is not one live actor in this movie. It is all marionettes, all the time.

The theme song is titled, "America, F**K YEAH!", and is perfectly suited to the movie. It's basically what every action movie theme song strives to be. You can hear snips of all the great songs from the movie if you do a search for Team America on iTunes. The country twanger "Freedom isn't free" taught me that freedom actually costs each of us "a buck-oh-eight". Brilliant.

WARNING: Do not listen to it at work, around children and especially your judgmental mother-in-law. You've been warned.

I'll leave you with a small taste (distaste?) of the twisted genius that is the collaboration of Matt Stone/Trey Parker and Team America:

If you've ever seen the Broadway show RENT, you will probably laugh out loud at this movie clip.


It goes without saying that everyone having AIDS, and the AIDS epidemic in general, is not funny in any way, shape, or form. Except in the above movie clip.

"A Place Where Nobody Dared to Go", at least until now

{Disclaimer: My sister Missy will probably be the only person as fired up about this as I am.}

I am shocked by this news. I wonder if they considered the impossibility of improving upon perfection. I consider it the mockery of a classic, and seriously question if the Broadway production should have been green-lighted.

Seeing the original movie at 7 years old had a major impact on my life.
1) I knew after watching Sonny Malone (Michael Beck, also known for his role in Warriors. Remember that movie? 'Warriors, come out to play-ee-aye!') get paid to paint huge versions of record covers for music store displays, that I wanted to do something like that when I got older.


2) I realized after watching Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly. GENE KELLY WAS IN THIS MOVIE!) play the clarinet in a big band that I wanted to do the same. I can still perform a mean "When the Saints Go Marching In" on my Vito, even though the only time in the past 17 years that I've bothered to pull it out of the case was to show my nephew 2 years ago.

3) Most importantly, I wanted to be outlined in neon all of the time.


Two out of 3 ain't bad, right?

In all seriousness, I actually bought the soundtrack through iTunes last year. The grandfather of all mashups--and the sexiest Tubes song ever--still holds up, even after 27 years!

(I recommend advancing below vid to -2:59, when The Tubes do their thing)

(Think they're talking about something other than dancing?)

Well Broadway, you've pulled off miracles before. I'll be reading the reviews, and hoping that you don't mess this up: