Elton John at the Royal Wedding

It seems kind of strange to me that Elton John is at the Royal Wedding today, and will be performing here in La Crosse next Wednesday. But here's a pic of Sir Elton arriving at the wedding this morning (with partner David Furnish).

Survivor - 4/27/11

Well, the former Ometepe tribe wiped out the last of the Zapatera tribe members in Wednesday's episode. After voting Ralph off at tribal council, Jeff Probst tossed a curve ball when he announced they would immediately have another immunity challenge and then vote another contestant off. Sure enough the last thing we wanted, Boston Rob won immunity and his "cult" voted Steve off. Which means that next week there will be four competitors on Redemption Island.

And yes, Matt is still around. Despite his crying on camera and his obvious close proximity to a breakdown, he survived the "shuffleboard" game that Probst threw at the Redemption Island residents. Mike also survived, finishing second in the game and Julie was eliminated for good.

We also got to witness the strangest event this season when Philip announced that he'd had a dream visit from his late father, and dear old dad had revealed where his stolen swimming trunks were buried. Lo and behold, he walked straight to the area where the trunks were buried and in two tries... dug them up! Wow... weird.

So for the first time, next week the Ometepe tribe will finally have to vote off one of their own. Previews of next week seemed to suggest that Boston Rob's dominance in the game may be over... man I hope so. I still hope the Survivor brain trust quits bringing past competitors back to face off with new competitors... please!!

Survivor... with guns!

Actually it's not Survivor at all, it's a show called "Top Shot". Basically it's the Survivor format but contestants survive by out-shooting fellow competitors. At a time when all the cable channels have jumped on the bandwagon with reality shows dealing with every possible vocation and talent challenge imaginable, Top Shot stands out as one of the best for me. And amazingly, one of the past winners of Survivor Colby Donaldson is the host (see photo) and he does a great job.

The fun part is that every type of firearm is used by the contestants... as well as some non-gun weapons like the tomahawk and compound bow. Prone, sitting, standing, hanging upside down, descending 125 feet attached to wires... well, you get the idea - contestants are asked to hit targets while in some pretty unusual positions. And a lot of what happens goes beyond shooting talent, because the contestants have to live together and get along... or face votes to put them in elimination challenges.

Last night season two came to an end with the type of challenge you'd expect for an exciting ending... a timed event where contestants race from different firearms, shooting at a variety of targets with a required number of hits at each position. The winner was Chris Reed (the photo of the guy with the mustache), an ex-marine with a long list of shooting titles with bow, rifle and shotgun.

It's a unique show, fun and challenging and I look forward to season three... after all, I'm a hunter and competitive shooter myself. I wish I was younger... I'd apply!!

Survivor Update - 4/21/11

I am seriously ready to declare this as the strangest edition of Survivor of all time. The three-way duel on Redemption Island between David, Mike and Matt resulted in David's elimination and paved the way for yet another three-way duel next week. Did you notice that Boston Rob could not make eye contact with Matt at any time during that segment? I think old Rob knows that he's gone way over the line on his blind sides of Matt. Is that a bit of "coward" rearing it's ugly head Rob?

It's also very strange the way Matt has fallen into such severe depression. If it wasn't for his faith I'm not sure what would happen. I feel sorry for the kid, but...

Next topic... Phillip. I really want him voted off. The guy is crazy beyond anyone I remember ever on Survivor... he has seriously surpassed Coach, Johnny Fairplay, and even Russell. The highlight of the week was probably when Julie stole Phillip's swim trunks and buried them. The problem though is that we have to watch Phillip in his pink jockey shorts for the remainder of the show... but it was still funny. I still can't believe though that Phillip dropped the race card on Steve during the ridiculous war of the rice cans. That was bad. Seeing Phillip trying to negotiate with Steve, which amounts to threats more than logic, was perhaps the last straw for some of his tribe members... including Rob. Jeff Probst did a nice job of clearing the air at tribal council, gotta give Jeff points for that one.

The immunity challenge was won by Boston Rob, so the former Zapatera tribe members were again at the mercy of the Ometepe "cult" during the voting. Julie was voted off, sent to Redemption Island to battle Mike and Matt next week. Pretty ironic since she was the only one that knows where Phillip's swim trunks are buried. Ha!

Anyhow, I just have a feeling that Phillip is close to a meltdown. When a guy sits on a rock chanting in a non-existent language wearing a headband with feathers stuck in the front, and sits near everyone having a conversation with his late father (see picture)... well, I just think he's about ready to be turned on by his alliance. They're obviously tired of his behavior as well. I have a feeling he'll be sent to Redemption Island next week. I hope so...

Cowboys and Aliens...?

Yup, a combination of my favorite movie genre- Westerns, and my 2nd favorite movie genre- science fiction, opening in a theatre near you this summer. And there's plenty of big names involved; Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and more. According to the buzz on the internet, the story takes place in 1873... a spaceship arrives in Arizona loaded with aliens, and their goal is to take over the earth. It seems all that stands in their way is a posse of cowboys. Sounds very cool! I'm betting I own the DVD the day it's in the stores...

4/15/66 - Buffalo Springfield

San Bernadino, California - The Buffalo Springfield played their first concert on this date in '66, opening for the Byrds. The audience was stunned and wowed by these virtual unknowns, and the band was off and running for a wild and crazy 25 months. Though they only placed one song in the Top 40 in their short career, For What It's Worth, they were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
The band produced some of the most influential musicians in the history of North American rock and roll. Neil Young and Steven Stills who went on to huge successes as solo artists and members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were members. Richie Furay who founded Poco and the Souther, Hillman, Furay band was a member. Jim Messina who joined the band in early '68 also played with Poco and later teamed with Kenny Loggins as the duo Loggins & Messina, was also the band's producer.
Last year the band returned to the headlines when they announced a 2011 reunion tour. From June 1 through June 11, 2011 the band will re-unite for seven concerts, all in California. Original members Steven Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay will be joined by Joe Vitale on drums to replace the late Dewey Martin who died in 2009, and Rick Rosas on bass for Bruce Palmer who died in 2004.
I wish I could be there!!

Survivor Update - 4/14/11

Weird show last night. If I were to give the show a name it would be "Pass the Kool Aid". The reason for the title is that Boston Rob is controlling his former Ometepe tribe as though they're a brain-washed cult, with unquestioning loyalty to Jim Jones... er, Boston Rob. He even adopts a "Buddy System" so none of them ever goes anywhere alone. Rob is paranoid about former members of Zapatera cornering one of his minions alone. At one time I kind of liked Boston Rob... that's no longer true, he's just another scumbag whose power has gone to his head big time. I warned you Probst... keep the former competitors out of the game. It's getting ridiculous and I'm betting you know it, but you don't know what to do about it.
The episode had two immunity challenges and two tribal councils. Both immunities were won by ex Ometepe members and two more former Zapatera members were voted off; Mike and David. Steve, Julie and Ralph are all that's left to battle Rob's army of six.
A few additional observations from last night:
I cannot believe that Rob's tribe didn't eat any of the fish that Ralph caught... I was actually disturbed at the cult-like atmosphere and a little sick to my stomach.
Philip wore a feather to tribal council, announced it had materialized out of thin air, and proclaimed it was a symbol of his tribe's prowess. Seriously, this guy is off his meds and has gone past comical to a point approaching looney.
Once again last night I was shaking my head at a challenge, the "hang from a horizontal pole until there's one person left". This is another of those challenges that strongly favors lighter contestants, I mean really between a 190 pound man and a 110 pound woman who stands a better chance of hanging upside down with your knees draped over a pole for a longer time? The weight cancels strength, the ability to endure pain is paramount, and younger joints excel. In other words, this challenge will always be won by a young, skinny girl. Who were the last three hanging? The three young, skinny girls. This challenge favors them completely... I rest my case.
Finally, both of the competitors voted off last night were sent to Redemption Island, without a competition taking place. The show ends as Matt realizes that he has to defeat two challengers, not one. But the way this show is going even that isn't unfair enough to Matt... I'm betting the plan is to wait until a few more are voted off and then have one big challenge.
Wonderful. Not.

4/13/64 - A Hard Day's Night

Today in rock history, the Beatles announced the title of their upcoming movie "A Hard Day's Night". To be honest, the world hardly took notice. Back then, putting a rock star in a movie invariably meant a "B" movie, a low budget quickie with little plot and a quick run through the theater circuit. Even the Beatles themselves were skeptical (we're not actors!) and almost turned the project down. And the budget was modest as well, 200,000 pounds British.
It's entirely possible, that if United Artists hadn't hired Richard Lester to direct the movie, the Fab Four might have turned the whole idea down. But the boys were huge fans of Lester, admiring his library of movie credits as well as his work on a British TV series called "The Goons". Coupled with a screenplay depicting one frantic/normal day in the lives of the Beatles, the project forged ahead. After the boys recorded six new songs specifically done for the film, the movie was placed on a tight, 8 week shooting schedule, and the rest is history.
A year later, on 4/13/65, the Beatles won two grammy awards. One award was for Best New Artist... the other was for Best Performance By A Vocal Group for the song "A Hard Day's Night".
Over time, the movie has come to be recognized as the most important and accomplished pop musical in history. And interestingly, the movie accurately depicted what the group put up with during the height of "Beatlemania". And though the Beatles went on to do four more movies; Help, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine and Let It Be, Beatle fans still prefer A Hard Day's Night nearly two-to-one as their best big-screen endeavor.

Survivor Update... disappointment!

Yeah, I'm disappointed. Finally, after six consecutive wins on Redemption Island Matt was allowed to return to the tribe. And his last victory was a hard one, one of those deals that women usually win where they have to stand on tiny steps for long gruelling minutes. But, he defeated Sarita, Probst announced they were merged, they redubbed the new tribe Murlonio, and everybody went to work building another shelter. Just another day in paradise.
But the show has reached a point that truly annoys me, because as soon as Matt is once again honest with Boston Rob (see picture) Rob decides that he is in total control and quicker than you can blink an eye he betrays and blindsides Matt again and you guessed it... Matt goes back to Redemption Island. Sheesh.
I'm going to say it again... Probst, stop bringing back these previous contestants! They're ruining the show! The game becomes focused on them and it prevents the tribes from developing their own story, and I don't like it. I'm glad I don't work for CBS either, I'm tired of reading other blogs that say the whole thing is fun... it's not.
I just hope that Matt snaps out of it and can continue his string of victories and eventually wins this thing. He's the only player that deserves it.

April 4, 1964 - Searchers

The wave of new rockers from Great Britain continued with "The Searchers" appearance on Ed Sullivan on April 4, 1964. They performed their smash hit "Needles and Pins" and further anchored the foothold of the British Invasion. Surviving members of the band still perform today. They were one of my favorites!