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It practically gallops!

Bring Out Your Dead

No one dared cheer or applaud during Celine Dion’s performance at the Oscars on Sunday night. She sang Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” as pictures of deceased Academy members were shown. At most other award shows, the In Memoriam segment turns into an applause-o-meter popularity contest for the dead. The producers of the Emmys, Tonys, Grammys and next year’s Oscars should immediately book Celine for their future death montages.

The Paley Center in New York posed a question via Twitter. Who would be the last person in the montage? Their guesses were Dennis Hopper or Leslie Nielsen. A local Tweeter named Barry suggested that Patricia Neal could be the one. In fact, Lena Horne was given the place of honor.

I recently read that Patricia Neal converted to Catholicism a few months before her death. She was influenced by her friend Dolores Hart, an actress who became a nun.

February 28, 2011 | Filed Under Catholic | Comments Off 

Punch Brothers

If there were only five Best Picture nominees at the Oscars, they would probably be the five that are nominated for Best Directing. This year I’ve seen all five Best Directing nominees and eight of the ten Best Picture nominees. My wife and I have been playing catch-up since the Golden Globes by seeing nominated films on four of the past five weekends.

The snappy dialogue of “The Social Network” was appealing on an intellectual level. The personal growth of the monarch in “The King’s Speech” was more emotional. “Black Swan” made me feel sorry for the ballerina with an untreated mental illness. “True Grit” made wonder why Hailee Steinfeld was nominated as a supporting actress even though she was in every scene of the movie. “The Fighter” made me want to reach through the screen and throttle somebody.

Dicky Eklund and Alice Ward are despicable characters more interested in their own glory than the well-being of boxer Micky Ward. Dicky, when he’s not strung-out on drugs, is his brother’s trainer. Their mother Alice does too much talking and not enough listening. I’ve heard that the opposite of love is not hate but apathy. I did not love Dicky and Alice but I wasn’t apathetic either. Christian Bale and Melissa Leo made me angry toward their characters, which is a testament to their acting abilities. Amy Adams and Mark Wahlberg played likeable characters. I found myself rooting for them to stay together.

February 27, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Going Green

The George Mason Patriots extended their winning streak to 14 on Thursday night. They close out the regular season in Atlanta on Saturday evening with a game against the Georgia State Panthers.

In the past couple of days, Tom C. Block, chairman of the Green Machine Boosters, has uploaded seven YouTube videos of the George Mason University Pep Band The Green Machine. You can see them practicing “Thriller” but it’s rehearsal footage of their Rage Against the Machine medley that has gone viral.

My former colleague Russ Allen tipped me off about the video. As a Maryland fan, at least he appreciates the accomplishments of Mason’s success in a mid-major conference. Some ignoramus at Best Week Ever says (I assume sarcastically) that George Mason “is apparently a school just outside of DC.”

Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post shows a lot more love toward the Green Machine. Thanks to him, I saw Bill Murray enjoying the George Mason University Pep Band at the beginning of this season in Charleston.

February 26, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Open the Pod Bay Doors

A lonely TiVo demanded my attention Tuesday night. The machine sits in my office, unused since I got a high-definition DVR in the living room. It took me 24 hours to diagnose the problem and unplug the troublemaker.

I was watching my HD television and writing a blog post when Firefox told me it had lost its connection to the Internet. It was late enough that I decided to call it a night, assuming that the glitch was temporary. When my WiFI clock radio had no audio in the morning, I suspected that the problem was not resolved.

After work on Wednesday, I called my Internet service provider. They had me restart my wireless router while they sent a refresh signal to my cable modem. It didn’t change anything. Then they had me plug my laptop directly into the cable modem, which put me back online. It also proved that the problem was on my end, not theirs. Something must have been wrong with my old Linksys router.

On Wednesday night, I wrote my blog post while plugged into the cable modem. I turned on the rarely-used TV to watch “American Idol” and saw an error message on the screen. The TiVo had shut itself off and left a note. My TiVo was connected directly to the router via a network cable. It sent a cry for help which caused the router to stop working. Once I unplugged it from the router, my WiFi started working again.

February 25, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Polynesia Want a Cracker

Girl Scout cookies are a good thing, we can all agree. The local media has given a lot of coverage to the cookie drive this year, possibly due to press releases from Ackermann Public Relations. Although I love the real thing, an email challenge proved irresistible.

Clover Valley cookies that are similar to Girl Scout cookies Ron S. wrote to tell me about knock-off versions of Girl Scout cookies for sale at Dollar General. They are sold under the Clover Valley brand name. Each box costs only $1.95.

The cookies look a little different but the tastes are very similar to the originals. My wife recalled that Thin Mints are chocolate on the inside, unlike the Clover Valley Mint Thins. Real Samoas have coconut on the outside while the Fudge Caramel Coconut cookies are enrobed in chocolate. I wonder if they are available year-round.

cross-section of Clover Valley Mint Thins cross-section of Clover Valley Fudge Caramel Coconut cookies
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February 24, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments 

Concrastination

In the afterglow of a very successful Star 102.1’s Dancing with the Knoxville Stars, speculation has already turned to who will be in next year’s cast. Terry Morrow reports that WBIR’s Kris Budden has expressed interest. During Thursday night’s show, I announced that WVLT’s Bob Yarbrough should dance next year. I based that on no facts whatsoever. His morning and noon co-anchors, Michele Silva and Allison Kropff, have both participated.

The ideal mix of local celebrities would be someone from Star 102.1, someone from each of the three local TV news organizations, someone from the print media and a few other notable personalities. In each of the first three years, we’ve been fortunate to have someone from a nationally-televised reality show. We need contestants who will inspire ticket sales and donations to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. It will be months before the official invitations are sent out by Seth Linkous at the hospital. Potential dancers need to be available for weeks of training at Academy Ballroom in addition to the dress rehearsal and the actual performance.

In the days since the event, I’ve been contacted about three potential candidates. Two of them sent email privately and one, Logan Murrell, posted her request on my Facebook wall. Logan is a 14-year-old performer who has been singing professionally since she was a small child. I like her initiative and I think that ballroom dancing lessons can only benefit her in the future.

I’ve seen Logan sing with the Knoxville Symphony, on stage in Market Square and at a fancy charity event. At first, her style invited obvious comparisons to a young LeAnn Rimes.  However at the Signature Chefs auction, she did jazz standards instead of country songs. On Facebook, she mentioned that she’s been doing cover versions of current pop songs, including some by a favorite of mine, Bruno Mars. Her latest work is posted on her YouTube channel. Her video for “Grenade” appears to have been shot in the warehouse district near Knoxville’s Old City.

February 23, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Precedents Day

Allison Kropff told me not to miss the noon newscast on Monday. I talked with Allison and her husband Justin on Thursday night after Star 102.1’s Dancing with the Knoxville Stars. To me, the midday broadcast is like the evening news is to others. I watch it when I get home from work.

Chef Walter's first day in remodeled kitchen Allison was only a little surprised when I correctly guessed that she was hinting Chef Walter was getting an HD upgrade. Last week’s cooking segments were obviously pre-recorded. I had wondered if Walter was on vacation but it turned out that his TV kitchen was was being renovated.

When WVLT became the first local station to broadcast its newscasts in high-definition, it appeared that the ceiling-mounted camera above Chef Walter’s head was still an old SD model. They stopped using it after the first couple of days. I am curious if they will buy an HD camera just for the overhead shot or if there’s a better way. At WBIR, they have a mirror mounted above the cooking set. Their regular cameras only have to tilt up to get an overhead shot. Most people don’t notice that right-handed chefs suddenly become left-handed.

Chef Walter's Rustic Apple Cheddar Tart Monday’s cooking segment involved no cooking. Chef Walter had already cooked a Rustic Apple Cheddar Tart and did show a nice close-up of it. The rest of his time was spent acknowledging the companies who supplied his new cabinets, appliances and countertops. He should finally get to cooking on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he’ll be on location at the O’Connor Senior Center for their annual pancake breakfast.

February 22, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

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