In a move that will have karaoke bar owners everywhere shivering in fear and tears of potential lost profits, evidently it's now illegal to sing that old stand-by, "Kung Fu Fighting", in public.
Or at least that's the case in Britain, depending on who happens to be walking by.
Yes, that strange country with mixed-up laws is at it again.
According to the Daily Mail (h/t: Hot Air), pub singer Simon Ledger was arrested for singing the legendary kitschy song, "Kung Fu Fighting." Ledger regularly plays the song, originally by disco favourite Carl Douglas, and has never had any trouble.
But not this time.
Apparently, two Chinese people were walking outside the pub where Ledger was singing, and they were offended by it.
They later reported him to police, and he was arrested on suspicion of "racially aggravated harassment."
The police later called him while he was eating at a Chinese restaurant (there's irony!) and set up a meeting, where they promptly arrested him.
Even the police officers were a bit iffy on this, but they did what the law says they have to do.
Is this nuts, or what?
"A Hampshire police spokesman last night said a 32-year-old man of Chinese origin had claimed he was subjected to racial abuse.
He added: 'If a victim believes that an alleged crime is racially aggravated, the police will treat it seriously. Investigations into this incident are continuing.'"
Apparently, this need to take everything that may even potentially be considered racial seriously means that they can't employ common sense.
This is almost worse than the Zero Tolerance policies that I wrote about a while back. These policies make it so that authorities don't even have to think. Instead, they can just quote the "letter of the law" and go about their merry way, meanwhile making life hell for the rest of the sane people on the planet.
(Keep in mind that I'm not talking about the police officers here, since they have to do their duty. Instead, I mean the fact that this wasn't thrown out as soon as it was heard by any kind of magistrate)
Where does this end?
According to the BBC, Ledger was released because there "wasn't enough evidence" to conclude that he had racial motivations in singing the song. That could have been cleared up in 10 minutes, not in forcing Ledger to go to the police station.
But don't discount the chilling effect. How many karaoke bars might remove this from the playlist because of the even remote possibility that something similar may happen?
Remove it because it's a horrible (though, admittedly, kinda fun) song. Not because it's racist.
When everything becomes racist, then the word really loses its meaning.
Some people really like cozy, extremely light-weight books. They like some quirky characters and a nice, sleepy English village.
If you're that type of reader, then you'll love the Aunt Dimity series.
After last year's atrocious Aunt Dimity Down Under, this year's Dimity book is a breath of fresh air.
Aunt Dimity & the Family Tree is so much better, though I'm not sure if it's because the previous one was so terrible or if it's because it's actually not that bad. Either way, I really enjoyed this, at least as much as I can enjoy this type of book.
"The most eligible bachelor in the sleepy English village of Finch, William Willis Sr, happens to also be the father-in-law of one Lori Shepherd. Recently returned from New Zealand, she is helping her father-in-law renovate and move in to one of the more storied (yet rundown) estates in the village. No end of elderly widows and spinsters would gladly help him as well (it sounds life-shortening to be a man in Finch). Part of the renovations includes restoring a soot-covered painting that looks to be a family tree of some sort. What secrets about the estate might it contain? The matter becomes even more intriguing when the piece is stolen from the local art restorer's house. With William and his newly hired staff, Declan and Deirdre Donovan, fending off the widows, it falls to Lori to figure out what's going on."
The conceit of the series is that Aunt Dimity is an old family friend of Lori's mother. She died a while back, leaving her estate in Finch to Lori, even though Lori had never met her. But Dimity's a lively dead person, communicating with Lori through ghostly writing in a particular diary, and Lori always spends at least a few minutes every night filling Dimity in on what's going on.
This is a very pleasant book, though if you like any sort of real conflict, then you'll have to look elsewhere.
Today's a special day. You know what it is I'm sure. It's that day we anxiously await every year. Kids love it so much that they skip around the yard looking for the little guys.
Yes, it's the day that you can save even more on your car insurance than usual.
What, you were expecting some other kind of saving? (and I don't think he's going to fit in those baskets, kids)
Whoops! Looks like I pissed somebody off with that joke.
And...moving on.
Welcome to this week's addition of the one-hit wonders of the 2000s! This week, we'll try to avoid burning in Hell, though given the quality of music we've seen lately, that may be preferable! We'll see.
As usual, you can find the list I'm taking these from here. Don't let me catch you looking ahead, though. If you do, fire and brimstone await.
If I can get this stupid match lit.
Here we go! 1) Nick Lachey: "What's Left of Me" (#6) (May 13, 2006)
Would this song have been popular if it wasn't for his show with Jessica Simpson? I can see who brought the talent to the family.
"We had plenty of food in the fridge, but you had to go and look at it and now it's all gone!" No wonder she's leaving him.
This video is really deep, in ways that they probably didn't even consider. First, the fact that there's a camera crew recording the whole thing between him and his girl just highlights the fact that nobody cared about him other than the reality show. Secondly, when everything fades away, including the girl, and finally the camera crew, the house is left as bare as his career.
Since I seriously doubt he's that self-aware, this all has to be by accident.
But it still works!
2) Teddy Geiger: "For You, I Will (Confidence)" (#29) (May 13, 2006)
What a sweet song! And Geiger gives hope to the geeky young guys all over that hey, even you can get the hot girl to fall for you.
If you play the guitar, and have a music studio behind you, and pay the actress well (ok, I don't know how well music videos pay, but you get the idea).
But there's still hope!!!!
Unless you're this guy.
But even then, for some reason, girls will fall for you. Is it the glasses? Because I had glasses.
Nah, it's gotta be the stapler.
3) Saving Jane: "Girl Next Door" (#31) (May 20, 2006)
You know, I was going to say that this video is lame.
But how can a video be lame when it has a Matrix-inspired girl fight???
I don't know. I think my ideal prom date would be having nachos with the girl next door in the back of a limo.
But that just may be me.
This is your typical "high school angst" song, but it's actually not too bad. It's very inoffensive, sort of like cheddar cheese.
Unless you're French, which means you probably are offended by cheddar cheese.
How can you not be when there's so much other good cheese out there?
Ok, why are they selling soccer balls at the Cheese Shoppe?
4) Fort Minor (Featuring Jonah Matranga): "Where'd You Go?" (#4) (June 10, 2006)
(language warning)
This isn't too bad of a song, and it's kind of poignant. Sometimes we forget about how much time people in a travelling career spend away from their families.
What I don't get is why all the comments talk about the song reminding them of loved ones who have passed away. That doesn't seem to be what the song is talking about at all.
I guess we're all affected by songs differently.
I prefer songs that have this affect on me, though.
I see he's going for the pseudo Marilyn Manson look, without the make-up.
Looks like we're getting one rock and roll song per week, which I guess isn't too bad. Too bad there was more shouting in this one than actual singing, but you can't have everything.
I once had my lips pierced like this guy does, but I wasn't a wimp like he was. I went all out, with rings lining my lips both top and bottom. I was a true metalhead.
But then my girlfriend at the time got into Magnet Therapy.
The results were, shall we say, unfortunate.
I had a crick in my neck for years.
6) The Wreckers: "Leave the Pieces" (#34) (June 24, 2006)
I had no idea Michelle Branch was in a duo before going solo. You learn something new every day! And it's even a country duo!
This is a nice song, as most country songs are. The ladies have great voices and all. Of course, the song is about a break-up.
Who would have thought?
The only one who would have been surprised by that is this guy.
He's into Rap.
And there you have it! Week 2 of 2006, and it wasn't too bad this time. See? Didn't I promise better songs this week? You know I deliver on my promises!
Though not if it's raining. And not in those shorts!
We'll be back next week, and since it won't be a holiday, I can also promise no jokes that will offend any religious sensibilities.
Just those with humorous sensibilities.
But I'd better get out of here before they come and get me.
But first, the most burning question: why do these studies always show up in the Daily Mail?
Yes, it's true. The Daily Mail has written about this one too.
Basically, it says that attractive women who attach photos to their CVs in the job application process are less likely to get an interview. (Of course, attractive men who attach their photos are more likely).
And it's all out of jealousy, baby. (Can I call you baby? Well, you didn't have to give me a black eye. You could have just said "no")
You read correctly. The study blames:
"young, single and ‘jealous’ women in personnel departments who screen which jobseekers should be invited in.
But in an example of the ‘double standards’ that the researchers said these staff employed, attractive men who attach a photograph are more likely to get an interview than plain ones."
Apparently, the research showed that HR departments are overwhelmingly staffed with 29-year-old single women. (Ok, they may have used the word "average" in there rather than "overwhelmingly)
(I'll bet she's turning down a beautiful woman right now)
The research was published by the Royal Economic Society, and here's the methodology. Evidently researchers sent out "more than 5,300 CVs for 2,650 job vacancies. For each job, two applications were sent. One contained a photograph of an attractive man or woman, or a plain-looking man or woman. The other CV was identical, but did not contain a photograph."
Wait, were the CVs the same, except for the pictures? To the same job? Wouldn't the HR people figure something was up if they get the same two CVs, but one has a picture? And once they realized they were the same, the picture-less CV would be ignored anyway.
I haven't read the study, but that's what the article says, and that methodology just sounds weird.
But here's my favourite line in the article. About all of those women in the HR departments?
"When they see an application from a pretty woman, researchers said, many of these staff feel extremely ‘jealous’ of their potential colleague and often reject her instantly."
The suggestion is that they feel less-attractive women are the "underdog" and they want to support them over the attractive ones who could "find a job elsewhere." (which kind of goes against the suggestion that they're "jealous," doesn't it?)
Anyway, for some reason, this study just doesn't pass my smell test.
On the other hand, I've had some women tell me that, in the workplace game, one reason women have so much trouble compared to men is that men band together in mutual support. All too often, women are competitive,with the knives coming out, instead of supportive, and thus they don't have that network that men do.
Maybe there is something there?
So what do you think? Is this study full of it? Or is there something to this, do you think? Ladies, chime in! Especially if you're attractive.
Ok, scratch that last part. That was uncalled for.
Finally, I should mention this, in case you don't read the article.
The research was performed by researchers in the Department of Economics at Ben-Gurion University, as well as the Ariel University Centre in the West Bank (nice to see them cooperating!).
The reason this study was conducted in Israel rather than Britain is that it's more common for pictures to be attached to CVs in Israel than it is in Britain. I've been in a few hiring sessions for people at our office, and I've never seen a picture attached, so this study was news to me in more ways than one.
The Doctor Who world, as well as British television, were rocked yesterday by the news that Elisabeth Sladen had passed away.
Sladen played Sarah Jane Smith, one of the most popular Doctor Who companions ever. She was loved by millions of Who fans around the world. For many of us, she was the first companion we were familiar with, much as Tom Baker was our first Doctor.
Sarah was my first companion, and yes, I admired her good looks (I was 12 when I first discovered the show, keep in mind). But I also admired the intelligence she was written with, for the most part. The role of the companion in the old Doctor Who series was mainly to look good and to be the Doctor's sounding board, taking the audience's place by asking "What is that, Doctor?" so he could explain what was going on. Somehow, Sarah rose above that. She had a mind of her own, and she very rarely screamed. When she did, you knew it was something scream-worthy, too. Towards the end of her tenure, the writers got away from this a bit, and I think that might be why she left. Companions came and went, but very often I compared them to Sarah to see if they stacked up. While there were good companions after Sarah, none of them ultimately reached Sarah's high level.
I tried to find a couple of videos to post on here, but they were all too long or they were tribute videos and not actually videos of her on Doctor Who. But in that search, I saw the love that she engendered in fans. There are so many fan-made tributes, some of them put up yesterday after news of her death broke. Others have been made over the years. We Who fans have cherished her memory even as the Doctor moved on.
She was so popular that the producer of the new Doctor Who series, Russell T. Davies, decided to bring her back in a marvelous episode (at least as far as Sarah and the Doctor goes, as the story itself was a bit weak) called "School Reunion."
Just as beautiful now as she was back in the mid-70s, the Who fanbase loved it. They always say that you can't go home again. While that's true, that doesn't mean you can't revisit the past and take the best things about it, modify them slightly, and come up with something else wonderful.
Sarah's return was so popular that Davies decided to create another show for her, called The Sarah Jane Adventures. This was more of a children's show, but it definitely had plenty of older adults watching, those fans who just wanted to see more of Sarah Jane.
There was always some doubt about whether this show would return for a 5th season. Perhaps that was because of Sladen's health problems? I don't know.
I do know that it's fitting for the last episode ever to be named "Good-bye, Sarah Jane Smith".
I hope Ms. Sladen knew how much love we Who fans had for her. I like to think she did.
This is my favourite picture from the new Who series. I cried during this entire scene in "School Reunion."
At the end of her final episode back in 1976, she tells the Doctor "don't forget me."
In these harsh times, we here at One Hit Wonders Inc would like you to read our lips and know that we feel your pain, and also that we've got a strategery to win the future.
One bad song at a time.
Yes, we have a plan to help you out. I've sent our interns out on a quest for a few items.
They searched far and wide, and finally found what I was looking for.
Of course, that took them a week to find. I'm not sure where they unearthed it, actually.
Anyway, with that in hand, I can finally start paying my employees! And, subsequently, help the rest of you out as well.
What do you think of my first batch?
I think I need to even out the greens.
Besides, I think I'm going to have to stop before I can even get started, because I think the interns are using the machine for nefarious purposes.
And we can't have that!
So back to the songs. Welcome to week 19 in the weekly series you all love and dread, the countdown of the one-hit wonders of the 2000s.
We're entering 2006, and I'm seriously starting to fear these every week. Will we have more rap crap? Or just regular crap? Or how about some crappy crap? We're all things bowel movements to all people.
As usual, you can find the list I'm taking these from here.
And don't worry about checking things ahead of time. I've run over my picture budget for this week. SOMEBODY made tons of copies of Justin Bieber pictures and charged them to my account.
Is there no age-limit to his fanbase?
Here we go! (Warning: Dailymotion videos are loading slow for me today. If it doesn't show up for a bit, just be patient. It will. Then again, you might decide it's not worth it anyway)
Yay! Let's start out the year with a #1 hit that's rap! And really, really crappy rap too. The beat, which in rap can sometimes be infectious even when the song itself isn't, is annoying more than anything else.
This is me after listening to this song (see what I do for you?)
Or...that could be from the 10 margaritas I had last night.
What? They were on special!
2) Ashley Tisdale & Lucas Grabeel: "What I've Been Looking For" (#35) (February 11, 2006)
(This live version is the only one I can embed. Sorry!)
Ah, yes. High School Musical. The movie that spawned multiple sequels, all of them full of teeny-bopper love.
I hate to say it, but this is really bad. Really, really bad.
What? Patricia, why are you knocking on my door? Can't you see I'm writing here? Go back to your desk and get back to work! Look out the window? Why?
Oh.
Ummmm...ok, I'll be back later to finish up. Talk amongst yourselves.
3) James Blunt: "You're Beautiful" (#1) (March 11, 2006)
(sorry for the subtitles, but it's literally the only version I could find)
This song was a #1 hit for Blunt, and it was endlessly mocked (both the song and the video). The song has a nice sentiment, but the guy can't sing and I swear I'm getting sugar sickies from listening to it (when I don't feel like blowing my eardrums out so I don't have to hear his voice).
He's had a lot of international success, but this is the only time he cracked the Top 40 in the States (thank God).
I've almost broken my finger moving so fast to change the radio channel when this song has come on. In fact, this is a picture of my hands during the first part of 2006.
Scary, isn't it?
4) Matisyahu: "King Without a Crown" (#28) (March 25, 2006)
A Hasidic Jewish reggae singer? Ummmmm, ok? I guess that's a niche that needed filling!
It's helpful that the video provides the lyrics, because there's no way I'm going to be able to follow them. Can he sing any faster?
Like most reggae songs, the beat in this song is really awesome. And Matisyahu actually does a pretty job with everything else too. I do feel like I've had a bit too much LSD watching the video though. I feel like I'm tripping, man.
The song's got a nice religious message, too. I think I'm going to convert. I just don't know if I'm going to become Jewish or Rastafarian.
Even if you've never heard this song on the radio, I'm sure you've heard it in commercials (unless you've got a quick "mute" button finger like I do). Powter is from British Columbia, so I'll take it easy on him.
Actually, I won't have to. For once, we have a #1 song that's actually not too bad.
Of course, the video has a sense of inevitability with these two lovebirds. But that's ok! Every song needs a happy ending!
For once this week, I don't feel like throwing up.
Finally, a little Rock and Roll!!!! Something this list badly needed.
But did it have to be this bad?
Get out of your basement guys! And turn down the amps. You're shaking the camera.
Oh, I see. It's really a huge auditorium with lots of screaming fans.
I remember imagining this in my basement too, rocking to some cool song and imagining the women trying to get up on stage. It's good to see that I wasn't alone.
Too bad it wasn't real for either one of us.
I also had other nightmares as well.
I can no longer watch Winnie the Pooh without screaming.
And there you have it! Week 1 of 2006, and...well, let's call a spade a spade.
*sigh* I guess the interns are still scared of the heaving mobs of High School Musical fans.
Anyway, let's be honest.
That dress does make you look fat.
*And* this week sucked (two honest comments for the price of one!).
Let's hope next week is better! In fact, I know it will be.
Yeah, thanks for the warning. But it can't get any worse.
But now it's time to get my day started. I have serious plans.
But first, the wife is making me take out the garbage.
I know that many of my readers have iPhones or iPads, and they love to play games on them. Who wouldn't?
For those trivia buffs out there, one of the best console/PC video trivia games has just come out for both devices. You Don't Know Jack has arrived!
The format of the game is that of a fictional game show, hosted by the ever-irreverent Cookie Masterson (voiced by Tom Gottlieb), and you are playing for lots of money. The faster you answer each question, the more money you get (or lose, if you get it wrong). There are also question variations, such as "Dis or Dat", where you're given seven names and you have to choose if the name is one category or another (as pictured above). Each game consists of three rounds, two 5-question rounds and then a "Jack Attack," where you can win big money. The object is...wait for it...to win the most money!
I reviewed the console version of the game on my Video Game Revue blog (check it out if you like video games!). This is a bit stripped down compared to the consoles, but surprisingly not as much as you would think.
First, there is no multiplayer, which is the mainstay of the console games. I guess it might be difficult to do over a 3G network, though. I don't know. I hope they're able to implement it at some point.
Secondly, there is no "Wrong Answer of the Game." In the console version, each episode is sponsored by some wacky product (banana toaster, anyone?). One wrong answer in the episode goes along with that product in some way. If you choose it, then instead of losing money, you gain big bucks! That's not in the Apple OS version.
Each episode is self-contained, meaning you will never see those questions again unless you play the same episode. No repeats! That's been a major problem in video trivia games for many years.
With twenty brand new episodes, completely different from the console/PC version, how can you go wrong? Especially when the questions are so timely? A Rebecca Black question? A question about Elizabeth Taylor's death? Am I asking too many questions? This is a game full of questions, so how can I be?
More episodes are promised as well.
At $2.99 ($4.99 for the iPad version), this game is a steal!
And it's hilariously fun to play.
We now return you to our regular, non-video game blog.
Have you ever seen an advertisement that just seemed to be put in a bad place? The advertisement's not bad, but either the timing or the placement in the newspaper just happens to coincide badly with what's around it.
That can happen with billboards, too, as it did in Durham County, Great Britain.
Many of you have heard of the hit series The Walking Dead on AMC, right? I didn't watch it, but I have heard a lot about it. It's a show about a zombie apocalypse, and it's supposed to be really good.
It seems that it has made its way over to the British Isles now. Of course, they have to advertise it, right?
"An advertising firm has been blasted after a billboard for The Walking Dead was put on the wall of a funeral parlour in Consett, County Durham.
An apology has been issued after the ad for The Walking Dead appeared on the side of The Co-operative Funeralcare.
Susan Jones, from the Willow Burn Hospice, in nearby Lanchester, said that while some people may see the funny side, others would not."
Personally, *I* find it hilarious, but I may not have if I'd been headed to dear ol' Grandpa's funeral in there when I saw it.
Thankfully, as soon as the company realized how bad this looked, they quickly removed it.
This was before anybody complained.
"Councillor Owen Temple, who represents the Consett area on Durham County Council, said he was aware of the billboard, but had not received any complaints.
He said: 'Some will be amused, but others may be offended. It left me unmoved.'
Gotta love that British resolve (not to mention gift for understatement).
How about you? Hilarious or distasteful?
Any other hilariously inappropriate ad placements (or any other similar occurrences) you can think of?
You remember what you did for lunch at school, don't you? I think I used to bring a brown bag with a sandwich, chips, and a cupcake or something. I'd occasionally buy lunch from the cafeteria, and got that slice of pizza with the grease pool in the center of it. Or something else equally as yummy.
Nowadays, of course, schools have to serve better things. I hope they are. I haven't found any 10-year-olds to ask (that aren't being home-schooled, anyway).
Also, the lunch I brought to school way back in the day would probably get my parents a sternly-worded letter about nutrition and healthy eating if I were to do it now. Or maybe the Children's Health Police would show up at their door.
("Your son's been busted for Twinkie possession. And ugly shoes, too")
But what if a school went that extra mile, and prevented kids from even bringing lunch to school in the first place? That's what Chicago's Little Village Academy's doing. Students there must buy the school lunch. They are no longer allowed to bring anything from home. Only children with allergies will be able to do so (I predict a great increase in the allergy claims from the children in this school).
"Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school," principal Elsa Carmona told the paper of the years-old policy. "It's about ... the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke."
But students said they would rather bring their own lunch to school in the time-honored tradition of the brown paper bag. "They're afraid that we'll all bring in greasy food instead of healthy food and it won't be as good as what they give us at school," student Yesenia Gutierrez told the paper. "It's really lame."
(I love when news articles have to quote kids. "It's really lame" indeed)
This goes far beyond the usual "banning pop at school" type of thing. Banning whole lunches? What if you don't like string beans and that's what's on the menu?
In addition to the supposed health benefits of this restriction, you can't get past the fact that forcing every student to buy lunch is definitely a cash cow for the school. Even if the student is subsidized (and not all of them are, so that could be another hardship), the school still gets the money.
This is yet another way of ripping parenting responsibilities from the parents. If this keeps up, why not just ship the kids off to school for 18 years and have them show up on the parents' doorstep, all ready to go to college?
("Hi, Mom & Dad. You look older since I saw you last.")
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you're running down the street naked, late for your driver's test, and people are throwing all sorts of food at you? You know, they hit you with strawberries, bananas, sushi (this is Vancouver, you know), and, most shockingly of all, rutabagas? And then you get so mad that all of a sudden you transform into a semi-truck cab and run them all down?
But then you finally get to the DMV and you promptly fail your driving test? "Too much blood on the hood" is one of the comments.
Is it just me?
I guess it is.
I did find a listing for this dream in Weber's "Dream Encyclopedia" (You know Weber, the guy whose motto is "Dreams are a window to the soul...and stop looking through it, you Peeping Tom. I'm naked here!" That guy?)
It's filed under the heading "Batshit Crazy."
Ok, I guess I'm the only one.
Why am I dreaming about stuff when I've got one-hit wonders to catalog? I don't know. I just know that I've got DEALS DEALS DEALS!!!
Yes, buy one bad song, you get the second one free! I have to be crazy to give you a deal like this!
Hence the dream.
Whoa. My mind's blown now.
Anyway, on to this week's show!
As usual, you can find the list I'm taking these from here. I'm not even going to threaten you or anything for looking ahead. Some idiot emailed me and actually said that threats are...illegal or something.
So I tracked him down and gave him a wedgie.
Here we go! 1) Teairra Mari: "Make Her Feel Good" (#35) (August 27, 2005)
You know one way to *not* make a girl feel good? Stalk her and chase away any guy that looks like he might be interested in her.
That would do it!
You can also make her pay for her own meal on your first date. But that may only work for certain women.
This song actually has an infectious beat, but I've got repetitive thumping *and* repetitive lyrics rolling through my head like a freight train. I think I should see a specialist about this.
Yeah, um, that didn't work. It's still there.
2) The Click Five: "Just the Girl" (#11) (September 3, 2005)
The band name sounds like a web advertising company, doesn't it?
I really dislike those videos where a band pretends that they're so fricking popular that people are dying in stampedes because people are so desperate to see them.
Yeah, those crowds lasted, didn't they? That's why they're on this list.
I also love the definite article in their name. Adding "The" to your band name just boosts you from "ho-hum" to "stardom!" For about 6 months, maybe.
I guess that's enough for some people.
I don't know. Am I just grumpy? Is this just a knee-jerk reaction to what's hot? Like my total antipathy toward haggis?
We have now posted Episode 9 of the EPLT podcast, where we discuss having pets in the classroom. A must-hear for all animal-lovers.
I also interview Jeff Miller about a lot of Master of Educational Technology things. So if you stumbled upon this blog by finding my name (or Jeff's), but were looking for my professional web presence, welcome! Don't mind the dust over in the corner. I'm a horrible housekeeper.
But also, make sure you tell your friends about us!
And please send us a comment on the show and let us know what you think. If there is no nepotism involved, it may even be read on the air!
Yes, I have heard the feedback. It's amazing, though. I love video games so much, and yet hardly any of my fans on this blog actually like them, or at least like reading about them. The video game posts on here have gone over like a lead balloon, at least for the most part.
Mainly for that reason, I'm now moving most video game posts, and all video game reviews, to my new blog, Dave's Video Game Revue. I will probably, at least for the near future, cross-post those reviews to Game Informer Online, but I won't be posting them here any more.
But a game review? Or talking about a video game issue? That will go over there instead.
I've copied the game reviews that I've posted here over to there so I have some starting content. They include bBattlefield: Bad Company 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Comic Jumper and more.
So hopefully I won't hear any more "I don't read your video game posts" comments, since they won't be here to be not read.
But for those of you who are interested, I hope you check it out.
And go ahead and follow it too. You can follow most of the same procedures that you can use to follow this blog.
Yes, the offices of One Hit Wonder Inc are now back and fully operational.
But you know. I...well, I kind of lied earlier. It wasn't an Internet outage that caused me to think there wouldn't be an episode this week.
No, it was a bomb threat!
Not that kind of bomb! (stupid interns...must still be nervous)
It was *this* kind of bomb.
The bad guys sure are a colourful bunch, aren't they?
Anyway, we couldn't afford this guy:
so we got this guy in to defuse the bomb and get rid of all the bad guys.
They all keeled over, dying of laughter. It was easy to defuse the bomb then.
So we're back, with Week 17 of the one-hit wonders of the 2000s!
As usual, you can see where I'm getting these from here.
But don't look ahead of me. I might have to do something drastic.
Here we go! 1) Bo Bice: "Inside Your Heaven" (#2) (July 9, 2005)
Jesus comes to American Idol!!!
This stuff's going to be happening more and more, I think. Both Bice and Carrie Underwood sang this song and released it (she was the winner, the same year Bice was the runner-up). Both songs hit at or near the top of the charts (Underwood hit #1 while Bice hit #2).
It's all just so confusing! The only reason Bice is here and not Underwood is because for her, this song actually led somewhere.
Not that Bice has tanked or anything. He's toured a few times, done his own thing with his own acoustic songs, released a couple of CDs that I'm sure fans could find if they really wanted to.
Oh, and then he topped it all off by walking across the Mississippi river.
Some rock and roll! Awesome! And tattoos, too. Can't get enough of those. I love how they tied the musical performance and the video content together! I know, if my house burns down, the first thing I'm going to do is set up the instruments and sing my heart out.
Papa Roach was the lead singer in The Roaches family band, but Papa & Momma had a falling out. Seems she had an affair with Uncle Roach and he kicked her out of the band.
Then the egotist decided to name the band after himself. The nerve!!!
4) Lil Rob: "Summer Nights" (#36) (August 6, 2005)
Oh no!!!! More rap!!!
What a way to ruin a Summer night!
And it's not even good rap.
This is the kind of party Rob seems to be talking about:
This is the kind of party this song makes me want to hold.
is so much better, though I'm not sure if it's because the previous one was so terrible or if it's because it's actually not that bad. Either way, I really enjoyed this, at least as much as I can enjoy this type of book.
