Let’s get real: the Miss Universe pageant is a mostly bloated, hoary affair, now resurrected by Donald Trump and his lackeys and it’s essentially a travelogue and two-hour commercial-filled tribute to Las Vegas, which is where this tired blimp has now parked itself recently. The show, telecast by NBC last Monday night, even lost 10% of the late summer audience from last year, so maybe this thing really is on its last legs. Read the rest of this entry »

George Steinbrenner, who died the other day following a massive heart attack at the age of 80, was a larger-than-life figure. As owner of the New York Yankees for 37 years, he presided over 7 World Series titles and 11 pennants -no small feat for anyone in baseball, especially someone who took on such an obsessively managerial role in virtually every aspect of the game, from the merry-go-round hiring and firing of managers to on-field calls that really weren’t the purview of a team owner. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer has officially begun and with the toastin’ and roastin’ temps and it’s time we crown a new Summer of 2010 pop song champion. It’s the 3rd annual SMASHgods competition, and I have to tell you, with pop radio stations blaring everywhere across this country, everyone is in the mood of enjoy a totally energetic song right now, whether it be cruising down Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood (KISS-FM, 102.7 with Ryan Seacrest), or the Upper East Side (Z-100 in Manhattan) or up north in SF, where I have managed to find no discernible difference between Wild 94.9, Energy 92.7 and Movin’ 99.7. Read the rest of this entry »

Full disclosure: I was a pretty hardcore Jamiroquai fan back in the day. In the early 90s I was in Paris and inside the Virgin Megastore I heard a pretty amazing album, “Emergency on Planet Earth” on the headphones. Its eclectic mix of jazzy beats and funk on what was a paean to the horrors that we have caused to our environment made them noticeable to world audiences who also noticed the lanky lead singer, Jay Kay, the one that appeared in a furry buffalo hat.

They seemed to be very popular in Europe before they caught on here; in fact, the “Return of the Space Cowboy” US club tour in 1995 was played to small audience–they even performed at a tiny dive bar in the Rockridge district of Oakland, CA (which is now a lonely laundromat). Read the rest of this entry »

It is honestly hard to muster excitement about the final four American Idol contestants. Many have called this the most lackluster season, one that given us mostly stiff and uninspiring contestants, and we’re inclined to agree. This wasn’t the season of an unusual talent, like Adam Lambert last year, an artist who transformed some song choices like David Cook (remember what he did with Mariah Carey or “Eleanor Rigby”?,  or even the crowd pleasing charm of a Carrie Underwood.  No one this season has generated much originality, or at least these streaks of brilliance haven’t been sustained. Remember when (now-departed) Andrew Garcia did Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up”? Read the rest of this entry »

Ah, Singapore! I have spent some time here in the last few years and I was just there recently on a business trip. What can be said about this amazing but sometimes unsettling authoritarian city-state? Where the main activities that concern most Singaporeans seems to be a heavy dose of extravagant shopping (you really must see the incredibly designed Ion Orchard shopping center, a feat of art and design with swirling escalators going up and down several floors) and bodacious eating. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week saw the much-hyped premiere of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on ABC. It did pretty well in the ratings (well, who watches TV on Friday nights anyways?) and it was all over the media outlets, from Larry King Live to the Oprah Winfrey Show. The preternaturally boyish celebrity chef from England, with executive producer (and also boyish) Ryan Seacrest in tow, were busy telling the nation that it was facing a crisis in how poorly its children were eating in public schools all over America. Read the rest of this entry »

I was trying to figure out why this family of four had brought in some throws and pillows to my local AMC movie theatre yesterday. The kids were in tow, too, and they seemed just as eager as their parents to go see…..”Cop Out”? “Tooth Fairy”? It couldn’t be. When I looked closer at the displays, it turns out they (and quite a few others) were queueing up for AMC Theatre’s annual tribute to this year’s Academy Award Best Picture nominees. Read the rest of this entry »

I thought this was an interesting and effective way of demonstrating just how huge the Internet is.  Scroll down and get a glimpse of some of these numbers.

This montage was put together by the folks at Online Education, who proudly feature the stuff they don’t teach you in college.

So you thought that the cuddly teddy bear holding the little red heart box of chocolates really nailed it today didn’t you? You thought you scored with your special Valentine, right? Well, talk about thinking totally outside the box: a company called DNA 11 offers you a gift that is so intensely personal, so unique and yet rather unusual that it will never be forgotten.

DNA 11 offers you a chance to provide your own DNA sample, which they will then process and place on an artistic screen, either in mini-portrait form or on a canvas that you could use as artwork. Now, we’re not talking that kind of DNA sample. Read the rest of this entry »

On her website, Marcela Valladolid recounts how almost 12 years ago, she went to Food Network and initially proposed a Mexican food cooking show. She approached Food Network exec Bob Tuschman, who is still the head cheese by the way, but nothing really came of it. Back in 1998, the Food Network was still admittedly a mini-wasteland of basic, uninteresting fare like “Emeril Live” and a lot of infomercials.It’s hard to believe that Mexican food would be given much space back then. Read the rest of this entry »

Breadstick Blues

Before I get started, let me preface this by saying that I’m a big fan of the bay area favorite:  Mary’s Pizza Shack.  The “Shack” serves a variety of homemade Italian food including pizza, pasta, sandwiches, soups, salads, breadsticks, appetizers and desserts at moderate prices.  Now the part about “moderate prices” shouldn’t be ignored, as Mary’s does indeed offer great food at equally great prices.

But what also shouldn’t be overlooked is the fact that Mary’s breadsticks are indeed on offer — but despite the advertised “complimentary” (FREE) teaser, they come at a price. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re like me, still dreading the thought of having to buy those last Christmas presents and thus be even further in debt for the momentary pleasures of another loved one, then I suggest a viewing of Rob VanAlkemade’s “What Would Jesus Buy?, recently aired on the Sundance Channel and produced by noted documentary filmmaker himself, Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me”). Read the rest of this entry »

Before the main US trade show for cars, held next month in Detroit at the North American Auto Show, Los Angeles holds an annual display, bringing together many new models and concept vehicles for the public to see.

Overall, the show at the LA Convention Center is important for the volume of cars held in three cavernous halls. And even if Detroit still rules supreme because it attracts the world media for the occasional “world” debuts and the annual announcements of the cars of the year, LA is still a pretty fine show.

Here are some of the more impressive new models that I saw last weekend: Read the rest of this entry »

I defy anyone not to like this amazing clip from a 5-year-old boy in Japan who, armed with a ukulele, plays the hell out of one of the most endearing yet also annoying pop songs, Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours”.  You must know this song –it’s the stuff or earworms, the kind of sing-songy, melodic dross that, according to Billboard Magazine, has spent the most weeks in the Hot 100 (76), received triple Platinum status and has sold over 4 million copies worldwide. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave it to the Chinese to provide the world with a graphic, yet hilarious animated blow-by-blow account of whatever it is that took place near Tiger Woods’ mansion in Windermere, FLA early last Friday morning.

The Chinese, you say? In case this even bears repeating, Tiger Woods is probably the globe’s most well-known athlete, and possibly its wealthiest. And the Cadillac Escalade crash that was heard around the world only underscores the enormous global reach that this suddenly notorious golf titan has. Read the rest of this entry »