Saturday Night's all right

Kates and I got around to watching last weekend’s Saturday Night Live last night, which is a record turnaround for this season. Considering the bad buzz and awfulness of the episodes this season, it’s taken us at least a week to watch other episodes …

But finally -- finally! -- we got an SNL over the weekend that had more than one or two sketches worth watching. And a host we actually cared to see (Megan Fox!? Gerard Butler!? Seriously!?) … Taylor Swift turned in a fine appearance last weekend, and I'd like to think that was only a warm-up for another great one next weekend -- Mad Men’s January Jones will host and the Black Eyed Peas will perform. Aw yeah!

I have to admit, I've gained a newfound respect for Taylor during the last few months, with the catchiness of her recent hits, the success of her album, and the whole run-in with Kanye at the MTV music awards.

But the thing that put me over the top – dare I admit this – was Taylor's Oprah appearance a few weeks ago ... I was flipping through the TV channels one day when I stumbled on it and caught this 11-year-old girl, who happened to be a huge fan of Taylor's, and Oprah hooked her up for an exclusive interview with the country star. I was charmed by how sweet Taylor was with the young interviewer, and I was equally taken by Taylor's openness and wit and the drive she showed during her conversation with Oprah. For all her success and the attention she garners, it appears it's hardly changed her from her roots as a simple country girl. (And by the way, this surprise for a pair of twin girls was classic! ...)

Saturday night’s SNL wasn’t great from top to bottom, but it did have some good moments that, at the very least, brought out a smile -- from the opening sketch lampooning Fox News’ insanely right-wing views on last week’s not-so-important election, to the “Roomies” sketch that had Swift and Nasim Pedrad playing a pair of roommates who cuddled and loved each other more than Pedrad's character did with her own boyfriend …

I loved that Taylor showed off some strong acting chops and that she held nothing back, doing excellent impressions of Kate Gosselin and Shakira …

Best of all was her hilarious and adorable “Monologue” song – which I was repeating the rest of the night (“ … In my Mono-logue … La la la …” ), and her public service announcement for T.R.A.A.A.P.D. (That’s Teens Raising Awareness About Awful Parents Drivers).





Apart from Taylor, I was quite pleased to see the return of Nicholas Fehn – my favorite “Weekend Update” character – even though his bit was hardly memorable. And better yet was Seth Myers’ introduction of another “Really!?! With Seth & Amy” segment, which gave way to Amy Poehler’s surprise appearance / return to the “Weekend Update” desk. …

This Is It

So I saw "Michael Jackson: This Is It" this afternoon. ... I'd been looking for a good time to see it since it hit theaters last week, and today was my best shot. I took off straight from work for a 12:30 showing ...

It's been so long since I've seen a movie in a theater, I was looking for a seat belt when I took my seat. After the usual pre-show trailers, I buckled down for the show ...

(... About the trailers, nothing extremely enticing. Although there was a semi-interesting one for a Hugh Grant/Sarah Jessica Parker romantic comedy, "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" ... The film depicts an estranged couple who gets moved to rural Wyoming as part of a witness-relocation program. In one funny bit, a woman dressed as a hunter steps out and cocks a shotgun, to which Sarah Jessica Parker's character deadpans, "Oh my God, it's Sarah Palin." I'm willing to bet, though, that it's your everyday Hugh Grant flick and all the truly funny moments went into that trailer.)

A lump settled in my throat during the opening scroll of "This Is It."... Man, I hope this is good. Please don't let this make me cringe, I thought.

But the moment the beat started popping for "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," a smile broke over my face. My foot started tapping and it barely stopped the rest of the way.

I'd read a few reviews of the film, but I still wasn't sure what to expect today. I knew the film was taken from footage of tour rehearsals, but I wasn't sure whether to expect a concert-style film loaded with Michael and company performing whole songs in full costume just as they would have in their London shows -- only without the screaming fans. Or would the film be a giant montage of footage, music bits and interviews cobbled together in a timeline to his June death?

Actually, it turned out to be everything I had imagined and hoped it would be: The perfect balance of Michael and company performing entire songs mixed with backstage footage of the planning, technical work, teaching moments and preparation that was going into the shows.

The whole film shows Jackson in a way the public has rarely, if ever, seen him. From moments of him tutoring his young dancers to encouraging a guitarist to sieze "her moment" on one of her solos, to critiquing his backing musicians. The film shows an extremely human and caring side of Michael Jackson, but it also shows the creative psyche of a man who was in charge, precise and determined to be the best on every turn of his shows.

He knew exactly what he wanted and he wasn't afraid to let director Kenny Ortega, the sound mixers or the musicians know it. At a couple points in the film, Jackson scolds the musicians to watch for his cues, but then reminds them "It's all for love." Multiple scenes show Ortega giving Jackson the last word on film and dance sequences.

Other points in the film show the childish wonder inside Jackson, like when he stepped onto a cherry picker for "Beat It." Jackson wanted to rehearse with the music right away, but Ortega only wanted Jackson to get a feel for the contraption and had to talk him out of rehearsing with the music "for safety."

For two hours, I was wishing I could have been anyone on that stage with him. A dancer, a background singer, that rad girl rocking on her guitar, didn't matter. It looked like they were having so much fun! You knew from their giddy smiles and adoring eyes what an amazing experience and honor those rehearsals must have been for each of them.

And oh, the sets and effects. There were fireworks exploding from the stage. Jackson, dressed in his classic white suit, was worked into some vintage film footage as part of "Smooth Criminal." One of my favorites was the industrial skeleton of a building the dancers descended from during "The Way You Make Me Feel."

Given that "The Way You Make Me Feel" is my favorite MJ song, I could have predicted that performance might also be one of my favorites in the film. ... The segment opened with Jackson working with a keyboardist on a jazzy intro to the song. Jackson dances to the keyboard and nitpicks on the arrangement. "Let it simmer," he says. A debate continues until the keyboardist tells Jackson he's got to be clear with the musicians about what he wants from them. Jackson needs to tell them if he wants "a little more booty," the keyboardist says, causing Jackson to fall into laughter. "A little more booty, I like that," he laughs. ... Moments later they perform "The Way You Make Me Feel." The music, the dancing, Jackson's voice -- it all had me smiling again.

I got my first real bout of chills and misty eyes when a colorful psychadelic backdrop appeared on the stage with the J5 logo, and Jackson started doing the "I Want You Back" routine with his dancers ... The joy of that was quickly squelched, however, when Jackson lost some of the lyrics and then berated the crew because he couldn't hear through his earpiece; it felt like someone was punching him in the ear, he said. Ortega noted it, the music resumed with a medley of "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There," and I got the chills again. The music also featured accompanying footage of Jackson's childhood days with the Jackson Five.

I got bigger chills during Jackson's calls to save our environment and his performance of "Earth Song." But my misty eyes and chills didn't reach full force until the film's "Man In The Mirror" finale.

As I drove home, nothing on the radio compared. I wanted more Michael. ... I got home and wasted little time putting on my "Thriller" album.

Here's the trailer. And here are the songs featured in the film (with a few video clips):

"Wanna Be Startin' Something"
"Jam"
"They Don't Really Care About Us"
"Human Nature"
"Smooth Criminal"
"The Way You Make Me Feel"
"I Want You Back" / "Stop The Love You Save" / "I'll Be There"
"Can't Stop Loving You"
"Thriller"
"Beat It"
"Black or White"
"Earth Song"
"Billie Jean"
"Man In The Mirror"

Update: 11.04. 2009 -- Here's a couple good reads I stumbles across today about the film ...
a 'I'm happy for Michael' says director Ortega
a 'This Is It' as his personal thriller: The film on Michael Jackson proves an unlikely odyssey for Tim Patterson, a commercial director who made crucial contributions.

Happy Halloween

... Kates finished Phoebe's costume with only a couple hours to spare (Never mind I found Phoebe's little bone, painted it and had it finished weeks ago). There were tears shed. But we made it ...

We took Phoebe on her first trick-or-treat outing this afternoon ... and oh, what fun it was ...

Phoebe went as Pebbles Flintstone ... Kates and I went as Phoebe's parents.

We only went to a few of the neighbors' houses, but Phoebe got enough KitKats, Twix bars, Hershey bars and gummy candies for Kates and I to snack on tonight ...

Here's a few images from the day ...

(A sweatshirt she got from her daycare ... )


(Kates doing Phoebe's, er, Pebbles' hair ... )


(At first, she wasn't so sure what was happening and why people were walking around the neighborhood dressed as colorful superheroes and Muppets ...)


(But she soon got the hang of it ... Back at home, the first thing she did was sit on the kitchen floor and check out her stash ... )

We survived

... I got this passage forwarded to me the other day by a friend, which is interesting because I had been thinking about it a couple days earlier. I've received it a few times, and it always fascinates me to read because it's largely the memories I have of growing up. And, of course, it's not the way things are today...

Like a lot of these things, I don't know where it originated. But I wanted to share it here ...

So for all of you born between 1930 and 1979 ...

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes made with Lard, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Flavor Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. Why?

Because we were always outside playing ... that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OK.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

We had friends and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. What can kids today do besides push buttons.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If you are one of them, congratulations.

The ABCs of TLC, GSN and A& E: Niche networks skew younger to avoid ending up MIA

This is hooey.

From today's Washington Post: The ABCs of TLC, GSN and A& E: Niche networks skew younger to avoid ending up MIA.

Grading with Kates

So Kates and I were watching the World Series last night while she graded a government quiz she recently gave her fourth graders ...

Here are some of their actual answers to the questions on the quiz ... and some of our reactions in parenthesis.

Give the NAME of as many people as you can that are important in our government. Get an extra point for each name if you can tell WHY that person is important!

... Brock Obama. He is important because he is the president (This answer sent us into a giggle fit coming up with urban ways to say/spell the president's name ... B'rak Mmmbama!)

... Bill Clintent. He is the vise president and he helps the president.

... The president. He tells what's going on or something he would like to change.

What is the Bill of Rights?

... A list of rights
... It says we can do this (To which Kates wrote in her red pen, Do what?)
... A list of what is right in the world such as clean up and respect stuff.

Name ONE amendment to the Constitution. Tell why it is important.

... No slavery because people were getting very hurt.
... Slavery. It's important because it's an amendment (It's like milk. It does a body good.)
... Amendment XI is the emgemt of congress (... The what of congress?! The image? The management? The merger? The emergency?)

The Executive branch _______ the laws.

... follows
... excuses (Oh, you shot someone? That's ok. You're excused!)

Finally, after reading yet another comical answer, Kates just burst out laughing, sighed and said, "I can't."