1 Comment · Wednesday, March 6, 2013
As we were teetering off the fiscal cliff last week, an inexplicably large amount of people were concerned about just one American who lost his job: Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots.
by Jac Kern
04.30.2012
Jac's favorite recent pop culture and Internet findings
The
White House Correspondents’ Dinner was Saturday, and while CityBeat’s invitation
must have gotten lost in the mail, the event brought journalists, celebrities
and famewhores from across the country to Washington, D.C. What began in the
1920s as an opportunity to recognize journalists is now more of a “Washington
goes Hollywood” event, usually hosted by comedians and attended by celebs who
have little (if anything) to do with politics or reporting. Although the event
gets criticism for becoming a schmooze-fest,
I’m a fan of what has become a Washington roast, where politicians stop taking
themselves too seriously, at least for one night.
President
Obama kicked off the night with a dig at his recent “hot mic” incident, and
continued by poking fun at other politicians, odd celebrity guests and other
current events.
The
evening was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, who took the stage like a true equal
opportunity offender:
Speaking
of diminishing journalistic integrity, how ‘bout the rise and (immediate) fall
Gawker’s Fox News mole? Earlier this month, Gawker announced
a new column by a Fox News employee, who was prepared to share the deepest,
darkest secrets from everyone’s favorite conservative channel — or something.
Two days later, the “mole” (revealed as O’Reilly
Factor associate producer Joe Muto) was found out by the network and
subsequently fired. So that’s the end of that, right? Not quite. Muto
was served with a search warrant early Wednesday morning. New York’s District
Attorney’s office seized Muto’s laptop, cell phone and some notebooks as part
of an open investigation. Fox News is accusing Muto of conspiracy and grand
larceny, according to this warrant.
The best/worst part of the whole debacle is that Muto only managed four Gawker
posts, which included juicy Fox dirt like a photo of a bathroom Bill O’Reilly
uses and a clip of Mitt Romney talking about his horses to Sean Hannity. Yawn. UPDATE: Muto apparently grew up in Cincinnati. Represent!
From
Pizza Hut’s new pies with cheeseburgers instead of crusts to the Heart Attack Grill
living up to its name, junk food on ‘roids is all the rage right now! Las
Vegas’ Heart Attack Grill is known for its over-the-top diner grub, including a
“Quadruple Bypass Burger,” so should anyone be surprised that eating there
could potentially be harmful to one’s health? For the second time this year, a guest collapsed at the restaurant, which boasts the Guinness World Record for
highest calorie hamburger (9,983 — about five times the calories recommended
for one day).
People go to Vegas for the thrill of a gamble — the Heart Attack Grill just
offers a unique spin! Meanwhile,
in the Middle East, Pizza Hut is finally solving that boring pizza crust
problem (what are we supposed to do — just eat plain dough?!) by swapping it
for cheeseburgers and chicken sliders. This
came just weeks after we were introduced to The Hut’s hot dog-stuffed crust,
which is now available in the U.K. The most shocking part about these pizza monstrosities?
They aren’t served in the States (yet)! Are we becoming a healthier nation or
is our fatness just rubbing off on other countries? In
movie news, a 2007 viral comedy short is now becoming a
star-studded smorgasbord. Jay
and Seth vs. The Apocalypse starred Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogan as friends
confined to an apartment during the end of the world. Filmed in just four days
immediately following production on Knocked
Up, the short is only available as a trailer on YouTube:
After
the success of Knocked Up, Pineapple Express and other Rogen
comedies, the crew is remaking the short into a feature film, currently titled The
End of The World. In
the film, James Franco (playing himself) hosts a party at his apartment when
the world begins…to end. Party-goers will include Jonah Hill, Danny McBride and
Aziz Ansari, in addition to Rogen and Baruchel. It’s an Apatowpocalypse!
While these dudes are taking something scary (the apocalypse) and turning it into
something funny, this bitch is turning something from my youth (dolls) into
the stuff of nightmares. Meet Valeria Lukyanov, “human” Barbie!
Also,
this Craigslist ad:
by Mike Breen
02.27.2012
Posted In:
Music History at 10:17 AM |
Permalink |
Comments (0)
Frankie Lymon's tragic end and Josh Groban's comedy efforts
On this day in 1968, one of Rock & Roll's Shakespearean tragedies came to an end as singer Frankie Lymon, a Pop superstar in the mid-’50s with Rock & Roll/R&B vocal group The Teenagers, died from a heroin overdose at the age of 25.
Actually, if you've ever seen the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love
(named for Lymon and the Teenagers' biggest hit), you know that the
singer's death was a trick ending. The story of Lymon's sad legacy
(blockbuster hit leads to lead singer ego explosion; quits group; can't
find solo success; finds drugs; gets drafted; quits drugs; mounts
comeback; celebrates with drugs; dies) took an unusual turn in the ’80s.
Three different women came forward claiming to be Lymon's widow and
entitled to his estate. Turns out, they were all
telling the truth — Lymon had married all three but never divorced any
of them. Ultimately, the singer's estate was awarded to his third wife;
if that conclusion was reached on a coin-flip, could you really blame
the judge?
Here's archival footage of Lymon's last TV appearance, a 1965 slot on the program Hollywood A Go-Go where the 22-year-old singer lip-synched to the original version of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" — recorded when he was 13.
Born This Day: Musical movers and shakers sharing a Feb. 27 birthday include Jazz legend Dexter Gordon (1923); ex-WKRP in Cincinnati DJ, Dr. Johnny Fever, aka Howard Hesseman (1940); Journey guitarist and MILF pilfer Neal Schon (1954); guitarist/songwriter with Metal giants Iron Maiden, Adrian Smith (1957); Sex Pistols hanger-on Nancy Spungen (1958); singer with R&B/Hip Hop/Pop trio TLC, Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas (1971); and Classical/Pop vocalist Josh Groban (1981).
Groban is the kind of singer who would be really easy to make fun of if
he didn't have such a good sense of humor about himself already. One of
those Classical/Opera crossover Pop stars (like Charlotte Church or Il
Divo) who approaches Pop and Rock material with the same overly careful
enunciation and melodrama, Groban has parodied himself on various comedy
programs, including Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and this bit from Jimmy Kimmel Live, where the singer used his talents to make Kanye West's nutty tweets sound even nuttier.
Cincinnati native Andre Hyland is ready for his comedy close-up
0 Comments · Wednesday, September 29, 2010
It’s perfect for the Cincinnati native/L.A. resident, an improvisational comic whose guerrilla style finds him inhabiting a broad range of fringe characters, disturbing the audience unaware of the joke and delighting the audience that is. It’s a fine wire to walk, and Andre Hyland traverses it with Wallenda-like agility