A room full of depressives, schizophrenics and recovering addicts will almost never agree on what constitutes “Must-See TV.” The only options that night were "American Idol" and a Mel Gibson movie, the one where the kids make tinfoil hats to ward off alien mind control. Watching anything brain-related in a mental hospital—forgive me, behavioral health facility—is pretty much verboten, so we decided on "Idol." Personally, I was more interested in my proximity to Mike on the couch, and how his hand had crept toward mine under the edge of the stiff, synthetic blanket on my lap. It was August, but you wouldn’t have known it. The air conditioner was [...]
I’m thinking today about Hedwig and "The Origin of Love" and the time when the earth was still flat and clouds were made of fire and mountains stretched up to the sky, sometimes higher. When folks roamed the earth, like big rolling kegs, with two sets of arms and two sets of legs and two faces peering out of one giant head, who sang the songs?
Last night on "Idol," Mary J. Blige came and visited Jacob Lusk in the studio and when they embraced, I had a vision of the two-headed, four-legged singing genius, who, by the cruelty of Zeus, was split into two separate pieces, each [...]
As the local polls were closing last night, I sat in the American Idol Experience in Disney's Hollywood Studios, outside of Orlando. This is of course only partly by choice. The trip I had every say in, and the Election Day Hollywood Studios visit I agreed with. The American Idol Experience? I guess I acquiesced to that. Our friend, our hook-up for Disney goodness, was working on that particular entertainment, so we stopped by to give it a look.
Election Day is one of my favorite days ever. I'm a political junkie, in the good way and the bad way. The good way is that I'm actually informed, I [...]
It gets messy in the Idoldome. But all of the mania happens on stage, not in the audience. The colossal disco lights create a dizzying swirl. Fifteen-foot sheets of white fabric are propped up by a hurried squadron of grips. A pack of deposed Idols appears. They are chunkily boxstepping and no one can answer the question "How deep is your love?" Cameramen circle the 12th place and 4th place contestants as they try to remain on key, then, black-out. Poof! Ryan Seacrest materializes on a massive rafter, the two-chord theme for the show booms over the speakers, a disembodied voice screeches "Two minutes!" A man in a rhinestone [...]
An FCC survey of cell phone users has found that one in six have experienced what they're calling "bill shock," huge leaps in price for what the Boston Globe terms "inexplicable" reasons. Why? Has AT&T instituted a "spillage surcharge" every time its crappy service drops a call made from someplace not at all off the beaten path like, I don't know, its customer's street-facing bedroom? Nope!
Seth Colter Walls: Maura, has it been a good first third of 2010, music-wise? What were the highlights? And what depressed the shit out of you? Maura Johnston: 2010 has actually been a great year for music. So far! And there's more to come!! Seth: Really? Because I've felt slightly… underwhelmed. (Though I'm glad you are confirming that the rest of calendar year 2010 is still to come.) Maura: Well, I know the whole existence of the future has been a cause for worry recently. But I am optimistic!
Here is the Lane Bryant ad (for underwear!) (worn by and marketed to plus-sized women!) that was apparently too hot for airing during Dancing With The Stars and American Idol because it showed a lady heading off for a "lunch" while wearing only a trenchcoat, some lingerie, and a pair of shoes. Whether or not this is some big publicity stunt that the plus-sized fashion retailer devised is up for debate. Maybe the standards and practices departments at ABC and Fox are simply anti-nooners in general! But it should be known that the store has put up an irritable blog post about the whole thing that also manages [...]
