Best Super Bowl Ad (2010 Edition)

OK, so, we didn’t post a link to our favorite Super Bowl ad last year, or the year before, but starting today, Christine and I have decided to post our favorite of the dozens of crazy-expensive, wildly over-produced Super Bowl ads that air each year during the big game. Yes, amigos, we still Tivo the game strictly for the commercials. But we do always watch the halftime show — which rocked! Long live, The Who! — so, that counts for something, right?

Anyway, I gotta say that this year’s crop of commercials was a little weak compared to years past and most of the heavily-hyped ads were downright lame. Betty White playing football for Snickers? Funny concept, but stupid ending. Same thing with Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo hamming it up as the Griswold’s in that painfully-stupid Homeaway.com promo. Yikes…

And though we loved the Bud Light ads — that beer can house was hilarious! — the one commercial that came out of left field and moved us both to tears — seriously, we were totally bawling — was the Google Search Stories ad: “Parisian Love”. Simple, elegant, and beautifully produced, it was a sweeping, epic love story stuffed into one lovely little minute. Really touching stuff. Wow…

And if you enjoyed that one, there is actually an entire Google Search Stories channel on YouTube (who knew?) with a bunch of other equally-cool commercials. So, check it out!

Also, dying to hear which ads you loved or hated this year, so, comment away…

Oscar Nominees 2010

I know I am totally behind on my analysis of this year’s Oscar Nominations — my friend James calls me the king of day old new lately — but Greta is about midway through her first winter cold, and, wow, what an all-consuming adventure that has been. Seriously, I’ve never seen so much snot…

And, ironically enough, that kinda describes how I feel about this year’s crop of nominees. I mean, there were a few cool surprises (Maggie Gyllenhaal earning her first nod for “Crazy Heart” and the always-deserving Jeremy Renner pulling an upset Best Actor nod for “The Hurt Locker”) but overall, most of the big award-magnet movies this year left me pretty cold.

“Up in the Air” was a total snooze, I really dug the ladies in that movie — both of whom scored well-deserved Supporting Actress nods — but I kinda hated George Clooney’s character and the too-cool glibness of the script sealed my hatred of the film. Same thing with “Precious”. Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe were fantastic and deserve every award that comes their way, but the movie itself was a glorified (if R-rated) after-school special. Snooze…

The Coen Brother’s latest outing “A Serious Man” was another one of their crazy, impenetrable disappointments. Seriously, does anyone know what the hell that movie is about? I sure don’t, and I’ve watched parts of it twice! The fact that this shiny turd of a movie scored a Best Screenplay nod and a Best Picture nomination makes me think the Academy sees the brother’s names on the ballot every year and just checks them off out of habit. I mean, come on, guys, you don’t  have to nominate EVERY movie they make! Urgh…

Now, with my least favorite nominess out of the way, let me get to the movies I did love. “Inglorious Basterds” was freaking amazing. Not only did it look great, but the cast rocked — the insanely-good Christoph Waltz is a lock to win Best Supporting Actor and he totally deserves it! — and the script was incredible. Tense, dramatic and funny as hell, “Basterds” is probably Tarantino’s best movie so far, and being a QT fan from way back, that is really saying something.

Also loved Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” and was thrilled to see the movie recognized in the Best Picture category as well. I told Christine after we saw it that if there was any justice in the world, “The Blind Side” would be nominated for Best Picture, and, well, I guess justice ruled supreme on Tuesday. I kid you not, amigos, this is one the best Hollywood movies in years, so, congrats to everyone involved.

Also very glad to see Jeff Bridges in the race again for “Crazy Heart”. Bridges has served his time, and unless Renner pulls a major Adrien Brody-style upset, he is totally gonna win Best Actor this year. Bridges didn’t just play that character, he WAS that character. Awesome, awesome work!

Scoring her 16th nomination this year, Meryl Streep positively soared as Julia Child in “Julie & Julia”, and is probably the only genuine competition Sandra Bullock has in the Best Actress race. I’m hoping for another tie, but, barring that…it’s gonna be a squeaker.

Glad to see the Academy finally giving sci-fi some respect this year as well. I haven’t seen “District 9″ yet, but the fact that a little indie geekfest like that scored so many nods — including those for Best Picture and Screenplay! — is very exciting for a sci-fi geek like me! Go, aliens!

And speaking of sci-fi, I gotta hand it to nutty old James Cameron, man, “Avatar” was incredible. Unlike the rest of the world, I hadn’t seen the movie until last night, and I was completely blown away.

I was so prepared to hate those freaky, blue bastards, but, wow, was I wrong. “Avatar” has more heart and soul in it’s weakest parts than several of the other nominees combined. And the effects? Gorgeous! Trust me, you have never seen anything like this movie before, and though it will face some stiff competition from “The Hurt Locker” in most of the major categories, I have a feeling “Avatar” will break the sci-fi curse by winning Best Picture. Yep, it’s that good.

Ooo…also very excited to see Stanley Tucci finally joining the Oscar Nominee club with his creepy turn as a murderous pedophile in “The Lovely Bones”. I really loved the movie and even though it was pretty much shut out everywhere else, was very glad to hear Tucci’s named called on Tuesday morning. Same thing with Tucci’s fellow first-time nominee, Christopher Plummer.

Yes, you read that correctly…Captain Von Trapp himself has never been nominated for an Oscar. Shocking, huh? And, even though I hear “The Last Station” is a total snoozefest, I gotta say, rock on Mr. Edelweiss!

And finally, though I have yet to see it, I was very pleased to see “An Education” score not only a Best Picture nomination, but also a Screenplay nod for Nick Hornby! Hornby is one of my favorite novelist, so, I’m guessing the script rocks. But either way, kudos to you, Señor Hornby!

To see the complete printable list of this year’s Oscar Nominees, click here. And, as always, dying to hear what you guys think of the nominated movies and such, so, fire away!

J.D. Salinger (1919-2010)

Man…January has turned out to be a pretty cruel month for influential authors of a certain age. Last week we lost “Love Story” scribe Eric Segal and hard-boiled “Spenser” creator Robert B. Parker, and today, the biggest name of them all…the crazy-reclusive, Garbo of literature, J.D. Salinger passed away at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire at the age of 91.

I’m not comparing their talents or anything — yes, amigos, the slowest reader on earth has actually read books by all three of the late greats listed above, so, suck it! — because, really, there is no comparison…Salinger’s “The Catcher In The Rye” is one of my favorite books of all time.

Now, I know everybody says that about “The Catcher In The Rye”, but, it’s true. That book rocked my world when I first read it and though my knowledge of Salinger’s other works comes mostly second-hand from my brother, Ryan — the true Salinger fanatic in our family! — I gotta tell ya, Salinger played a huge role in my development as a writer.

His use of slang and swinging, mid-century prose rattled my brain. I mean, whoa…that book was this shit, man. You weren’t just reading a book for your high school English class, you were cracking open Holden Caulfield’s head and peeking inside the man’s freaky soul, it was insane. Hell, it’s still insane!

“Catcher In The Rye” is one of like, three novels (“East of Eden” and “On The Road” being the other two) that is so good that it actually makes me shake all over when I read it. I wanna highlight every passage, memorize every line and read it aloud to Greta…all at the same time!

All I’m hoping is that the rumors are true and that Salinger left scads of books and short stories behind for us to read in the years to come. His daughter and several of his ex-lovers have mentioned the fact that Salinger wrote like a madman every day of his life…so, I’m guessing at least some of those wild ramblings must be worth reading.

In her 2001 memoir, “Dream Catcher”, Salinger’s daughter, Margaret said that her father actually color-coded his dozens of unpublished manuscripts: “A red mark meant, if I die before I finish my work, publish this ‘as is,’ blue meant publish, but edit first, and so on.”

So, if there is any solace to be found in losing Salinger today, it’s in hoping that some (if not all!) of those cryptic, red-marked manuscripts start bubbling to the surface very soon! Rest in peace, J.D., and here’s hoping you find some much-deserved privacy in the hereafter…

Apple’s new must-have: the iPad

OK, I know I’ve been away for a while — we were in NYC for a friend’s wedding and then returned with wicked colds, so, we have a good excuse — but when I heard that Apple was finally unveiling their long-rumored tablet computer today, I knew I had to write about it!

That’s right, amigos, after months of wild speculation, Steve Jobs pulled a rabbit out of his hat again with the announcement of the groovy new iPad touchscreen computer. Roughly the size of a magazine the iPad is like a marriage between an iPhone and Macbook…only way cooler.

You can surf the internet, upload pictures, and music and best of all, read a digital book with a lovely full-color page view. Take that, Kindle! But I think my favorite thing about this sleek, revolutionary gadget is the price tag. Get this, the iPad starts at the low, low price of $499 for the 16GB version.

The 32GB version is going for $599 and the 64GB version will set you back a very reasonable $699. 3G versions are also coming down the pike soon, but even they top out at well under a thousand dollars. So, get in line now, people, because these things are gonna fly off the shelves.

I know I totally don’t need an Apple iPad right now, but, wow, soaking up the beauty of this lovely new creature right now, one word comes to mind: iWant!

Happy New Year, amigos!

Here’s hoping everyone had a safe and healthy Christmas and that when the ball drops tonight at midnight you are eating and drinking something fantastic with someone you truly love. Hell, you ain’t even gotta love them that much if the food is good…know what I’m saying?

Anyway, in the true spirit of the season, wanted to share Greta’s latest Evite photo adventure with you. Uncle Ryan shot this pic a couple weeks back and if you click here, you can use it as an Evite tonight! So, have at it all you last minute party planners, and remember, even if you don’t use Greta’s baby new year Evite this time, there’s always next year. Happy New Year, amigos!

Feliz Navidad, amigos!

If you’re anything like us, today is gonna be kinda crazy. Christine will be baking till she drops, Greta and the cats will continue terrorizing our Christmas tree and I will do my best to stamp and address the mountain of unsent Christmas cards on our kitchen table. I know, I know…kinda late in coming, but they will get to you before New Years, so, I say that still totally counts!

But while our cards will be late, our warm wishes for y’all are anything but. So, in the spirit of the season, please enjoy these pics of Greta’s first visit with Santa Claus. As you can see, they really hit it off…for like, ten seconds. Ah, well…there’s always next year. Happy holidays, amigos!

Brittany Murphy (1977-2009)

Wow…I know this is kind of old news by now, but we’re both still really, really sad about the sudden death of Brittany Murphy on Sunday at the age of 32. Like most people we fell in love with her in “Clueless”, but “Girl, Interrupted” was the movie that really showed us what that little powerhouse could do.

I mean, whoa…if you ask me, they gave the Oscar to the wrong crazy girl at the institution that year. Angelina Jolie was great and showy/crazy enough to take home the gold, but Murphy was the real time bomb in that movie. She was like, scary good…and those chickens under her bed? Yikes!

And though I loved her in the deeply-flawed “8 Mile” and some of her fluffier fare over the years — my Mom was just recently raving about a movie of hers called “The Ramen Girl” which I am now dying to see — I gotta say, my favorite Brittany Murphy “role” was her voice work as Luanne Platter on FOX’s long-running animated series, “King of the Hill”.

All of the voice actors were amazing on “Hill”, but Murphy’s Luanne was always my favorite. In lesser hands, Luanne coulda been a stereotypical dumb blonde, but Murphy imbued her with such heart and genuine emotion that you really rooted for her, no matter how far off track she went.

I know Luanne was a cartoon character, but, in Murphy’s gifted hands, she seemed so real and annoying that sometimes you just wanted to slap her silly…or kiss her, or, you know, both. I know that sounds crazy, but, Luanne was a very complicated character…so, back off.

Anyway, I’m sure the tabloids will have a field day with the finer details of Murphy’s tragically short life and untimely death, but all I know is that I’m bummed she won’t be around to make any more movies.

Hell, Christine and I liked Brittany Murphy so damn much that we even Tivo-ed (and watched!) the “Nora Roberts Collection 2009″ TV movie she did on Lifetime this past summer, “Tribute”.

The movie kinda sucked, but Murphy, as always, kinda rocked. And if that’s not a sign of someone with true star wattage, then I don’t what is. Rest in peace, sweet, beautiful, Brittany Murphy…we’ll miss you.

“Alexa Chung” gets the axe…

While catching up on our “Alexa Chung” episodes over the weekend, Christine, Greta and I were stunned to hear an emotional Chung proclaim on last Thursday’s episode that not only would that be her last episode of the year, but also, her last episode…bum, bum, bum…ever! Ahhh! Say it ain’t so, Alexa!

Alas, a quick Google search proved that it was indeed so…and that MTV had canceled our beloved “It’s On With Alexa Chung”. Urgh…so sad!!

I mean, I know the show suffered in the ratings and that ill-advised retool at the start of season two certainly didn’t help, but Chung really seemed to find her groove in the last few weeks, and the show had finally settled into what it was meant to be all along: a fun, goofy half hour chat show with music.

I’m not kidding, the last few episodes were golden, baby…A-list talent, crazy skits, cutting-edge music by bands you’ve never heard of…it was awesome. So, to have the show yanked from the schedule just when it was really starting to cook with gas is just plain cruel. Thanks, MTV, for the worst Christmas present ever!

So, as we mourn the loss of the best daytime talk show in years, I’ll leave you with some pics of our favorite Alexa Chung moments from both seasons. She might not brighten our afternoons anymore, but the memory of the lanky, hipster queen of UK chat will live forever in our hearts…

Long live Alexa Chung!

Joe Lieberman socks!

With that old turncoat, Senator Joe Lieberman doing everything he can to derail genuine health care reform in the Senate this week, I’m starting to think that maybe Al Gore “losing” in 200o wasn’t such a bad thing. I mean, seriously, can you imagine having someone like Lieberman in the White House? Yikes…

Not only does Lieberman regularly line his campaign coffers with big insurance cash, but his own wife, Hadassah, until recently worked at Hill & Knowlton, a major DC lobby shop. True, Mrs. Lieberman never officially registered as a lobbyist, but she did serve as Senior Counselor in their health care and pharmaceuticals practice. Yep, you heard me…health care and pharmaceuticals. Hmmm…kinda makes you wonder.

But even if all that other stuff wasn’t true, Lieberman has been showboating and holding health care reform hostage in the senate for so long that it was only a matter of time before he was parodied with sock puppets by our crafty friends at MoveOn.org. And, come on, who doesn’t love a good sock puppet parody?

So, check out the video, call Congress and the White House to make yourself heard, and spread the word far and wide…Joe Lieberman socks!!

Christine’s award-winning Gingerbread House Bundt Cake

OK, we have been waiting to blog about Christine’s award-winning bundt cake for a year. Literally! See, by the time we finished making it for Christine’s work Christmas party, it was already too late in the season to blog about it, so, we skipped it. Well, not this year!

Actually, there isn’t much to this thing…all you need is a Nordic Ware Bundt Pan, Gingerbread cake mix and all kinds of crazy candy for the outside. We bought our Bundt pan the year before at an after-Christmas sale at Sur La Table, and from what I can gather, our exact style is no longer available on most sites. But I did find a similar pan at Wal-Mart that would work just as well.

For the cake itself, we used Trader Joe’s Deep Dark Gingerbread Cake and Baking Mix, which is freaking delicious on its own, but even better in tiny Christmas house form. Yum!

As you can see in the second picture above, the cake comes out of the over kind of rounded on the bottom, so, we cut that part off and promptly ate it. Then, with the bottom of our Gingerbread house flattened, we placed it in the center back of our cake plate (gotta leave room for a big, snowy front yard, yo!) and got down to decorating the outside of our house.

Aside from the little jelly candies we used in the windows — which we found in the candy aisle at our local CVS — we stuck to pretty traditional candy decor: M&M’s, Red Vines, candy canes, and marshmallows.

The most expensive “building materials” we used were probably the Williams-Sonoma chocolate covered peppermint sticks (aka North Poles) we used for the fence. They weren’t cheap, but we only needed a few of them and since we had them in the house already, we used them.

The snowy ground cover in the yard was powered sugar mixed with water and, lemme tell ya, that stuff was hard to work with! You have to wait for it to kinda half-dry before anything will stick to it and if you wait too long, it gets too hard and you’re screwed. Trust me, this is where having two people working on the house came in very handy!

After plopping down a marshmallow snow woman in the front yard, we dusted the entire house with more powdered sugar and hurried off to the party where, lo-and-behold, we actually won a prize! Hooray!

But even cooler than the shiny award certificate or the $20 Target gift card that went with it, was the fact that the people at the party positively devoured our Gingerbread house. I’m not kidding, man. I saw a dude scraping the sugar snow off the plate…crazy!

I’m not saying everything we used wasn’t edible, because it totally was, but, wow, we never thought anyone would actually eat the whole thing. Yikes…guess the pickings on the buffet table were slim.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a quick, easy-to-make Gingerbread house this holiday season, Nordic Ware has the pan for you. Happy Baking, amigos!

“Merry Swiftmas” to all…

As you know, Christine and I are crazy Christmas music geeks with KOST 103.5 playing non-stop in the casa and XM Radio’s handful of holiday-themed channels pre-programmed in the Chenbot. And though we usually pick up a couple of new songs and CD’s here and there every year, it is very rare that a song strikes a chord like the one we just heard tonight.

Recorded by Avril Lavigne’s former musical director and lead guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld, “Merry Swiftmas” is a sweet, goofy ode to 2009’s cutie of the year, Taylor Swift. And not only is it funny as hell, but it’s also a genuinely catchy song with some great hooks. And best of all, it is now available on iTunes, so, yay!

Check out Taubenfeld’s new “Swiftmas” video below and if it doesn’t have you reaching into your pocket for 99 cents, well, maybe you just don’t love Christmas as much as you thought you did…

2010 Golden Globe Nominees

With Greta teething like crazy, no one in our household has been getting much sleep lately. So, since I was still awake at 4:30AM this morning, I figured I may as well stay up to watch the Golden Globe Nominations at 5:00AM. I mean, what’s another half hour at that point, huh?

Well, apparently the Hollywood Foreign Press is as punctual as I am, because, even though their website said the nominations would begin at 5:00AM PST, they didn’t actually get to the good stuff till 5:37AM!! And trust me, trying to stay awake for those last 37 minutes sucked ass. Jesus, get it together, HFPA!

Anyway, there weren’t a whole lot of surprises this year on the movie side, except for the near total snubs of “The Lovely Bones”, “The Road” and “Where The Wild Things Are” — but it was cool to see three of our favorite actors (Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep and Matt Damon) score double nominations and, seriously, anytime Julianne Moore is nominated for an award is a happy day in my book. Now if she could actually win something sometime I’d be even happier!

Also glad to see Tarantino back in the thick of things with “Inglourious Basterds” raking up all kinds of Globes love, and though we haven’t watched our screener of “Up In The Air” yet, I am already in love with the movie from the trailers, so, kudos to Clooney and company on that front too. It was also very cool to see “Avatar” do so well and a smaller movie like “District 9″ score a coveted screenplay nomination. Wow…who knew the HFPA dug Sci Fi? Awesome!

But the big news of the day was on the TV front where Fox’s “Glee” very-deservedly cleaned freaking house with three acting nominations and a nod for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy. Hooray! After years of kicking ass in everything she does, Jane Lynch is finally nominated for an award! Coolness! Go-to character actresses like Alison Janney better watch their backs in the years to come, because the white-hot Lynch is on a roll, baby!

Also very happy to see “Big Love” score a few well-deserved nominations (go, Chloë Sevigny!) and we were very excited to see two of our favorite new shows, “Modern Family” and “The Good Wife” score some nods. Rock on, newbies!

My only complaint today are the three nominations for Lifetime’s God-awful “Georgia O’Keefe” biopic. That movie really, really sucked. Not only did it totally squander the considerable talents of it’s two lead actors, Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons, but it was so damn boring that it made Lifetime’s epic 2008 train wreck, “Coco Chanel” look interesting. And yes, I actually Tivo-ed (and watched!!) both of those lame-ass movies. Yikes…

But at the end of the day, the big story at this year’s Globes — which air on NBC on January 17th — isn’t gonna be about the nominees at all. I mean, with Ricky Gervais hosting and the booze flowing freely, who really cares who wins?

To see a full list of this year’s nominees, click here.

A Mother’s Cookies Christmas…

One of the coolest things about Mother’s Cookies triumphant return from the dead this year was that it meant we would have one more variety of Christmas cookies to plate for our holiday guests…you know, provided we didn’t eat them all first. That’s right, amigos, Mother’s Holiday Circus cookies are back!

We were so excited at this news — thanks for the tip, Santa Fe Sarah! — that we actually bought two bags of the red, green and white Holiday Circus Animal cookies when we found them at the store. I also just now discovered another variety of Mother’s holiday cookies online: the all-white Holiday Frosted Cookies, pictured below. Wow, who knew?

So, although Mother’s classic Gingerbread cookies have gone the way of the Dodo, the good news is that you can still get your Christmas cookie on with Mother’s this year. But you gotta act fast, because this frosted goodness won’t be around for long. They were literally flying off the shelves at the Safeway in Santa Cruz when we bought them, and that was at Thanksgiving. So, the odds may be against you at this late date, but, happy hunting anyway!

Oooo…and even if you can’t find the cookies anymore, you gotta check out the Mother’s gift shop at Kelloggs.com. Mugs, t-shirts and even a magnetic Mother’s Cookies bag clip! Best stocking stuffers ever!

Amazon’s 25 Days of Free!

One of the only things we love more than Christmas music this time of year are freebies — actually, who am I kidding, we love freebies all year long! — so when our friend, Ginger, told us about Amazon.com’s “25 Days of Free” Holiday Music downloads, we couldn’t click over there fast enough!

Not only do they have a wide array of tunes available, with everything from Sinatra to Lady Gaga ready to rock your Christmas playlist, but they also add new songs every day. So, by the time Christmas arrives, well, hot damn, you’re gonna have yourself a pretty substantial collection of free Christmas tunes, yo.

And lest you think this is the only deal on Amazon right now, they are also offering something called the “12 Days of Christmas 2009″, which offers daily deals on music downloads and actual CD’s through the 17th of December. For example we scored the new Bob Dylan Christmas album, “Christmas in the Heart” for $6.99 yesterday. Pretty cool, huh?

So, if freebies and discounts are your thing, get yourself to Amazon.com pronto. Oh yeah, and just for the record, Amazon did not pay us for this post, we just love them that much. Yay!

Unique L.A. starts today!

Longtime readers are probably sick of hearing us rave about how cool the Unique L.A. independent design show is, but for the rest of you, please trust me when I tell you that Unique L.A. rocks, yo! This weekend will mark our third trip to the show and if history holds true, we are sure to come home with loads of groovy stuff and tons of great ideas for projects of our own.

Most of Greta’s favorite outfits and toys — not to mention a good chunk of the super cool artwork in her nursery! — were purchased at the last two shows and though we came home with dozens of bags, the prices at Unique L.A. are beyond cheap. Seriously, there are deals to be had here, amigos. And best of all, you’re supporting local artists and designers instead of, you know, Target and shit.

So, if you’re looking for art, clothing, home goods, jewelry, hell, even just some rocking-good food, Unique L.A. is the place to be this weekend. We’ll be there all day Sunday, so, if you see us foraging through the sale bins at Misha Lulu, by all means, stop and help us. Seriously. The more hands, the better!

Unique L.A. is being held today and Sunday, December 5th & 6th, at the California Market Center in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. For directions, hours, parking, vendor and ticket information, please visit the Unique L.A. homesite here.

Monday Morning Mommy Movies at the Americana!

With the 2009 award-season already in full swing and the movies Christine and I have seen this fall essentially boiled down to two — “Precious” and “The Road”, which we are seeing tonight — we were both thrilled to learn that the super cool Pacific Theaters at The Americana in Glendale are now offering Monday Morning Mommy Movies!

The rules are pretty simple. Every Monday at 11:00AM, parents of any gender — I guess Daddy and Me Mondays didn’t have the same ring to it! — can bring their babies/toddlers and any older kids they want, to see a new release movie in an actual theater (!) without the fear of bothering other viewers. I mean, when the seats are packed with screaming babies, who’s gonna complain, right?

Needless to say, as soon as we heard about it, Christine and I were hooked. The problem is the movies they have been picking kinda sucked. Yes, the theater picks the movies. And honestly, that is my only complaint with the program. I mean, ain’t nobody going to see a movie on Monday morning EXCEPT sleep-deprived parents of young children, so, why not let us have the run of the joint for that first showing? Kinda stupid if you ask me.

Anyway, when the Michael Jackson documentary “This Is It” hit theaters a couple of weeks back — and more importantly, was selected as a Mommy and Me movie! — Christine and I packed Greta in the car and headed to the Americana. We sat in the fourth or fifth row back with our friends Chris and Jess and their new baby girl, Lily, and lemme tell ya, we had a blast!

Sure we were surrounded by strollers and diaper bags and shit, but, since most of the parents were sitting on the floor in the handicapped section behind us, we pretty much had the entire row to ourselves. Greta got to crawl around the seats a little, Christine and Jess could spread out to nurse, it was the next best thing to watching a movie at home.

And best of all, the movie itself rocked! The music, the dancing, the sheer enormity of the staging, the King of Pop in fighting form…there wasn’t a slow moment in the entire movie and more than anything, it makes you realize how freaking awesome that concert would have been. Wow, so sad…

Anyway, the girls seemed to dig the movie, with Greta even grooving a bit to “Wanna be Starting Something” — which I played into the ground this summer on our iPod! — and the older kids were seriously rocking out. There was one little African-American kid with this gigantic Afro who was dancing up and down the aisles the whole movie…it was so awesome!

So, kudos to Pacific Theaters for starting up such a cool program to begin with. And lest you think the Americana is the only place to see a Monday Morning Mommy Movie, think again. The screenings are held at Pacific Theaters all across the Southland, so, check it out!

Oh yeah, and if you wanna spread out on the floor with your wee one, I recommend you get there really early because those “seats” were snapped up by 10:30. At least that’s what Chris and Jess told us when we rolled in at 11:05…

“Seasame Street” turns 40!

Wow…I guess I’m not the only cool thing that turned 40 this year. Ha! Seriously though, the thought of “Sesame Street” being on the air for almost my entire lifetime does make me feel kinda crazy old. I mean, who knew it had been around that long? Yikes…

Anyway, happy 40th birthday to Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch — who apparently had orange fur in the first season! — Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Grover, Guy Smilie, Elmo and all the rest of those bad-ass muppets. You guys made my childhood more awesome than you’ll ever know…

And now that we have a little one of our own in the house, you can bet she’ll get her fill of that iconic theme song on a daily basis too. We haven’t started Tivo-ing “Street” regularly yet, but we have watched some segments online, and, lemme tell ya, Greta is already hooked!

Que viva “La Calle de Sesame”!

“Not Forgotten” is on sale now!

That’s right, amigos…after premiering at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival and playing to packed houses and rave reviews across the Southwest and in Los Angeles and New York City, “Not Forgotten” is finally available on DVD and Blu Ray wherever DVD’s are sold. If you’re looking for a deal, Amazon has the best online price ($14.99) but I bought mine this week at Best Buy for the same price.

“Not Forgotten” is also for sale at Wal-Mart — thanks for the heads up, Minnesota kinfolks! — and available to purchase and rent at Blockbuster Stores nationwide. So, check it out today!

Oh yeah, and aside from the audio commentary that I mentioned before, and my brief cameo in the movie, you can also catch a glimpse or two of my sweaty mug in the “Making Of Featurette” in the special features. I’m the dude with the gigantic head that says “awesome” a lot, you can’t miss me…

Baldwin and Martin to host Oscars!

OMG, I know I’m more than a few days late on this one, but, what an inspired idea for Oscar hosts! Sure, Wolverine was fun last year, but the idea of a comic — not to mention musical! — genius like Steve Martin hosting this year’s Academy Awards with his “enemy”, Alec Baldwin is kinda awesome.

This way, even if that lame 10 Best Picture nominees idea falls flat, the rest of the show will still rock. And, who knows, if the guys are any good in Nancy Meyers’ upcoming romantic comedy, “It’s Complicated”, they might just snag a nomination or two of their own. I mean, come on, they are starring opposite perennial-nominee Meryl Streep in this one, so, that kinda increases the odds.

Either way, kudos to newly-minted Oscar producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman for picking the right guys for the job. Now, just keep the rest of the show running smoothly and Bob’s your uncle!

Dispatch from Planet Greta: Baby chickens rule!

OK, I know it seems like I’m posting a lot of Greta-centric stuff lately, but after uploading some super cute Halloween pics onto our sister blog, I figured I had to share a couple here too. As you can see, the baby Princess Leia costume will have to wait till next year…

To see more Greta-in-baby-chicken-suit-costume pics, check out Planet Greta or our Flickr photostream today. And, once again, Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, amigos!

With a pre-Halloween party last weekend, tons of candy-giving-out on tap for this weekend and Christine gearing up to make some of her traditionally-badass Halloween cupcakes, this week has pretty much flown by. So, in case I miss the opportunity to tell you all on the actual date…Happy Halloween, amigos!

And in honor of Greta’s first Halloween on the planet I decided to share this hilarious video I shot of her a couple weeks back at our local Target.

Though she laughed and smiled at most of the ghoulie stuff on display, as you can see, the poor thing did not know what to make of that creepy witch. Yikes…I hope she fares better with those spooky laughing Santas come Christmas!

“Not Forgotten” to debut on DVD and Blu Ray 11/3

Just wanted to remind you guys that my movie “Not Forgotten” is debuting on DVD and Blu Ray next Tuesday, the 3rd of November. You can rent or buy the movie anywhere DVDs are rented or sold or you can even, as I just discovered, burn an illegal bootleg copy of your very own on a number of sites online.

Hmm…I guess I should be honored that someone took the time to upload a bootleg copy of the DVD (complete with the bootleg cover art pictured on the Blu Ray box below) but, I think I’d rather have you guys buy a regular copy instead. Besides, I think the new cover art is much cooler.

Ooo…and if you do buy a real copy next week, not only will you get to see “Not Forgotten” in a beautiful widescreen transfer, but you will also be able to listen to the super cool feature commentary I recorded with the movie’s director, my co-writer, Dror Soref. We had an awesome time recording it this past summer, and let me tell ya, we kept it very real. So, it should make for a pretty good listen.

Either way, mark your calendars, amigos, because next Tuesday is truly a day NOT to be FORGOTTEN. Urgh. Sorry, I couldn’t resist…

Where have you gone, Alexa Chung?

OK, I’m gonna give Alexa Chung the benefit of the doubt on this one. The first season of her MTV talk show “It’s on with Alexa Chung” was fun, funky and sometimes just plain weird, but we loved every kooky second of it. Seriously, I loved Miss Chung so much that I actually named my new cell phone after her. Yep, I name my cell phones…

So, you can imagine how excited Greta and I were to see the promos for the new and supposedly-improved “It’s on with Alexa Chung” that began airing a few weeks back. Like Miss Chung herself, the commercials were cool and super hip and promised to bring us: “More celebs. More music. Less BS.” with season two. Wow, a new and improved Alexa Chung? Sounds awesome, right? Wrong!

After watching the show — which began airing in its new 3:30PM time slot last Monday — for a whole week now, all I can say is…WTF MTV? Every single thing that was cool or unique about the show is gone, seemingly forever. No more cool comedians stopping by to dish about pop culture, no more funky-fresh loft-like set, goofy guest intros and strange game play…shit, they even dumped the twitter and facebook pics from fans that used to bookend the commercial breaks. Lame!

I’m not kidding, amigos…it’s like MTV sucked everything that was fun and original out of the show and replaced it with a crazy-fake “live TV show” vibe. The groovy credits from the first season disappeared a while ago, but now the show starts with Alexa being “counted in” by her producers backstage before walking out onto the bland-ass set to greet her audience. If that’s supposed to be edgy, the honchos at MTV have apparently never watched “The View”.

I mean, come on, even the most sheltered tween out there has seen live TV before, so, it is not exciting or even remotely cool to see someone walk past a bunch of grips and shit backstage to make her entrance. It’s just lame…and, considering how great the show used to be, kinda sad.

And not only is the new format completely ridiculous — Alexa and her guests remain mic-ed when they cut to commercial so we can hear them chatting…ooo, edgy! — but Chung seems to hate it as much as we do. Seriously, there were times last week when even she looked totally bored.

I just don’t get it. MTV might think they’re fixing a broken show with this incredibly wrong-headed reboot, but what they’re really doing is trying to turn Alexa Chung into Carson Daly, and that is just plain stupid. “TRL” had an awesome run but it got old and it’s dead for a reason…let Alexa Chung do her thing or cancel her show and start over with someone else. It’s that simple.

That said, I’m giving Miss Chung and her producers one more week to turn this shit around…after that, I guess Greta and I will have to start watching something truly groundbreaking like the “The Bonnie Hunt Show” or something…

Heather Graham’s best work in years…

If I posted every cool video I got from Moveon.org, our blog would be nothing but videos. But this one, a commercial that Heather Graham taped recently in favor of keeping the controversial public health insurance option on the table, was just too awesome not to share with you guys.

And hello, I don’t care what side of the public option fence you stand on, if it looks as good as the shockingly-limber Miss Graham does in this clip, then pass that freaking bill already! Jeez…

The results are in…Via rocks!

Contrary to popular belief it did not take me twenty days to decide what I thought of Starbucks new Via Instant Coffee — I knew what I thought the second I tasted it! — but it did take me that long to find time to blog again with the wee one taking up almost all of my waking hours, so, many apologies. The truth is, I’ve missed you guys, probably a whole lot more than you missed me (ha!) but, in any case, it’s very good to be back.

And now, at long last I can tell you that the new Via Ready Brew is absolutely fantastic. I was so shocked at how good it was that I literally failed my taste test.

Seriously. I made such a face when I found out I’d guessed wrong that the barista actually laughed out loud. It was hilarious and I must say, completely surprising. Who would think instant coffee could taste exactly like brewed? Amazing.

I can’t vouch for the Colombian, but the Italian I had was so good that I actually bought a three pack to take home. And next time we go anywhere, you can bet your ass that a couple dozen of those cute little packages will be stashed somewhere in our Vue! Add some hot water at a gas station, stir, and I can drive all night, baby! Que viva la Via!

FREE COFFEE ALERT: Starbucks Via Taste Test Challenge starts today!

Just when you thought Starbucks had done it all, the mad scientists from Seattle have outdone themselves yet again. Starting today Starbucks will be selling their very own line of instant coffee — you know, the stuff your Grandparents drink — in the form of the beautifully-packaged Starbucks Via.

Available in two flavors, a mellow Colombian Roast and a more bold, dark roast Italian, the coffee comes in little packets that look to me like those fancy sugar containers at hotels and such. And though the mere mention of instant coffee brings me back to the bad old days of my Maxwell House-filled youth, I have to admit, I have been dying to try Via since I first heard about it. So, hooray!

Even more exciting than the launch of this new coffee product is the fact that Starbucks will be giving it away all weekend long as part of their Via Taste Test Challenge. All you have to do is show up at your local Starbucks, ask to take the taste test and you’ll be given a cup of Starbucks’ traditionally-brewed coffee and a cup of the new Via Instant Coffee. That’s right, two free cups of coffee all weekend long. Awesome, huh? I mean, hell, even if it sucks, it’s still free, right?

I might not be able to take the test myself till Saturday, but in the meantime, am dying to hear what the rest of you think of the latest and greatest from Starbucks. So, by all means, comment away…

2009 Fall TV Season Report Card

Seeing as the Fall TV season has been up and running for a couple of weeks now, thought we’d finally weigh in on the crop of new shows. The good news is that, so far, most of the shows we’ve watched have been good. Seriously, I can’t remember the last time we added this many new shows to our Tivo Season Pass!

And though some of the most heavily-promoted new shows kinda sucked (I’m talking to you, “Cougar Town”) some of them are actually totally deserving of the hype (“The Vampire Diaries”, “The Good Wife”, “Modern Family”, etc.). But rather than bore you with long, detailed descriptions of the shows in question, we felt an annotated report card would be much more to the point.

So, without further ado, I give you our first annual Fall TV Season report card…enjoy!

Letter Grade: A+

“The Vampire Diaries” (The CW) – Long-lost loves, family secrets, dark, brooding vampires in high school…what’s not to love here? “Twilight” be damned, this show is the best of the crop so far…and the fact that it stars mi “The American Mall” amiga, Nina Dobrev, certainly doesn’t hurt. If you haven’t already, you must Tivo this show!

“Modern Family” (ABC) – This show has only aired twice and we laughed our asses off and cried during both episodes. A really sweet, heartfelt and hilarious look at one crazy extended family. Awesome!

“Glee” (FOX) – Best new show that started airing last season. It’s like co-creator Ryan Murphy threw his old WB show “Popular” in a giant pot, boiled away the fat and cheese and created something truly magical. “Glee” is a pleasure to watch from start to finish.

“The Good Wife” (CBS) – This show looked like such a snooze when it was announced, but it is so much more than meets the eye. The cast is superb, particularly Julianna Margulies’ mouthy sidekick, Archie Panjabi, who truly electrifies every scene she’s in. I’m not kidding, these gals have onscreen chemistry to burn. And seeing Josh Charles, Chris Noth and Christine Baranski back on a weekly series is never a bad thing either.

Letter Grade: A

“Melrose Place” (The CW) – Already a hundred times better than the original series, and a million times better than the hideously-lame “90210″ remake that debuted last year, this “Melrose” is juicy, campy, sexy and best of all, crazy fun to watch. And unlike the new “90210″, the classic characters actually have a story and a reason to be there when they show up. Ooo, and speaking of, Heather Locklear is checking back in soon…so, bring on the awesomeness!

“Mercy” (NBC) – Didn’t expect this show to be good at all, but caught a few minutes of it in passing and am now totally hooked. Quirky characters that don’t annoy, zippy writing and a first-rate cast in a medical show about nurses? Wow, almost makes me forget that “ER” was canceled…

Letter Grade: B

“Accidentally On Purpose” (CBS) – I normally loathe Jenna Elfman, but it seems that I’ll watch anything to do with babies and pregnancy these days, so, I Tivoed the show. And, you know what? It’s not nearly as bad as it looks. I won’t Tivo it again, but you could find much worse ways to pass a half hour.

“The City” (MTV) – I know this show — a spin-off of the far-more-popular ‘The Hills” — is technically in it’s second season, but, wow, with two new alpha bitches on board, this is a brand new show in my book and it rocks!

Letter Grade: D

“Cougar Town” (ABC) – I am not easily offended, but the onslaught of crass, unfunny, gross-out jokes on this show made me wanna stop watching before the first commercial break. Yuck…just, yuck.

“Eastwick” (ABC) – Three charming female leads does not a series make. I don’t need a crystal ball to see that this mediocre reworking of an already mediocre movie is headed nowhere fast. Yikes…

“Trauma” (NBC) – The show opens with a kick-ass head-on collision between two helicopters in San Francisco, but it’s all downhill from there. Yawn…

Letter Grade: F

“The Beautiful Life: TBL” (The CW) – Models, runways, drugs, and a skeletal, strung-out Mischa Barton badly playing herself? What’s not to love? Well, amigos…everything. I don’t know what’s funnier…the fact that someone at the CW actually thought this show would be popular enough to warrant a cheesy nickname (“TBL”??) or the fact that it was deservedly canceled after two episodes. Urgh, what a train wreck…

Oh, yeah, and just for the record, these grades are for the episodes that have aired so far. So, if a cool show starts blowing chunks and getting all “Alias” or “Heroes” on us midseason, we reserve the right to change our grades. I mean, hello, it is only October…

End of the road for Saturn…

You’ve probably already heard the sad news by now, but despite a valiant effort by the Penske Automotive Group it looks like our beloved Saturn Motors has finally reached the end of the road. Is it weird that Christine and I were almost in tears when we heard the news? Maybe, but who cares. We loved and will continue to love every single Saturn we’ve ever leased or owned…

And as the very proud owners of a 2004 Saturn Ion named Mr. Sark and a 2009 Hybrid Vue we recently christened,  Chenbot, we can very safely say that Saturn was the coolest, most forward-thinking car company ever.

Long live the great and mighty spirit of Saturn Motors!

Dispatch from Planet Greta: Greta crawls!

OK…I know we promised not to bore you guys with baby news all the time once we launched our sister (or is it daughter?) blog, Planet Greta, into orbit. But, I’m sorry, when your baby girl starts crawling, you kinda wanna spread the word!

So, without further ado, we give you the HD video world premiere of Greta crawling across the living room floor last Wednesday night in her pajama top and a diaper. Yep, that was what she chose to wear for her crawling debut, I guess the pajama bottoms were slowing her down or something.

And while I swore I’d never let “my baby” run around the house in just a diaper, once Greta tore off those pants — something she really loves to do these days! — she was moving so fast we barely had enough time to  pause “Glee” and grab the camera, let alone re-pants her. Oy!

Either way, enjoy the show…

Founder of Jedi Church banned from store for wearing hood!

Just when we thought religious discrimination was a thing of the past, the UK press is reporting that one of the founders of the International Church of Jediism, Daniel Morgan Jones (23), was forcibly ejected from a Tesco supermarket in North Wales for refusing to remove his hood — which he wears at all time for religious reasons — while shopping.

According to Jones, who also goes by his Jedi name, Morda Hehol, the Jedi doctrine explicitly states that a Jedi Knight “must wear a hood up in any public place of a large audience.” I don’t know how large the “audience” was at that grocery store, but Jones claims that Tesco security violated his “religious rights” by asking him to remove his hood.

Making matters even worse was the fact that a Muslim woman in a veil was allowed to shop freely while Jones was shown the door. “I walked past a Muslim lady in a veil…surely the same rules should apply to everyone” Jones griped later.

Still reeling from the experience, Jones is considering legal action, but in the meantime advises other UK Jedi to boycott Tesco stores, hoping to make the grocery chain “feel the Force“. OMG, so awesome!

But the real kicker here was the reaction from Tesco’s corporate office. Responding to the Jedi dust up this afternoon, Tesco released a statement saying, and I quote: “He hasn’t been banned. Jedis are very welcome to shop in our stores although we would ask them to remove their hoods. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Luke Skywalker all appeared hoodless without ever going over to the Dark Side and we are only aware of the Emperor as one who never removed his hood.” Ooo, snap! Take that Morda Hehol!

Funnier still was Tesco’s closing statement: “If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they’ll miss lots of special offers.” Ha! Hilarious! Break out my Anakin costume, sweetie, we’re going to Tesco!