For your weekend viewing pleasure, Jessica Alba stares at you…

From I Beat You, some bizarro challenging site where I think anyone can challenge anyone else (so many possibilities…).

Of course, this after my wife and I for some reason watched about thirty minutes of her movie “Honey” last night.

Ricky Gervais with Gordon Ramsey in the F-Word Restaurant. His podcasts (available on iTunes) are rip-roaring funny. We don’t get to see him too much (or I don’t as we don’t have HBO to see Extras).

Gervais video for Simon Cowell’s “This is Your Life” episode.

2 Minutes with Ricky Gervais (from a Canadian show “The Hour”).

More plugging in the UK.

Terrific New Hero of Comedy documentary on Gervais (Part I above, II-V below). They show Gervais before The Office, as well as the origin of The Office (Part II). Man, the internets is just great, to be able to see this stuff.

I was visiting Esther’s photostream, one of my Fickr buddies. The connection to Flickr buddies is significantly different than the connection to a fellow blogger. Bloggers often leave comments or write about one another, and you are able to both learn about someone and sort of expose yourself to them. Flickr contacts are often very voyeuristic. They often are not topic-specific; i.e., a photographer may have a wide set of interests that he or she captures. I’m in a group called 365Group, whose charge is to take a self portrait every day. Several of the people I follow are in the same mega-group.

But I digress. Esther had a link to the opening of Love, American Style. I less-than-vaguely remember the show as I think it was too risque for a pre-schooler/elementary student. Love, American Style had a different cast and a different look at some sort of romantic story. Happy Days got its start Of course, from there when you reach YouTube, you jump from old show to old show, so from there I headed to a host of other scary old shows and those I watched all the time (see below).

HR Puffnstuff

Love, American Style

Banana Splits

Land of the Lost

So much for posting while multi-tasking after a late start to the morning. I had some sort of point when I started this post, but it has evaporated. So make your own point.

My wife and I watched American Idol last night from our TiVo last night (the only way to watch the show, btw). She truly loathes the show but sits through it with me, week after painful week. The catalyst for her misery?

Little David Archuleta.

As she’s ranted and yelped about how little she likes him, I’ve tried to figure out what exactly it is that makes him so difficult to watch and listen to.

From Star Search

From 2002, singing to Kelly Clarkson and other AI finalists

By now, I’m sure everyone has heard about Jeff Archuleta’s banishment (EW has an interview with Nigel Lythgoe about this). If you watch the videos above, you see and hear a child with a very big voice, a child who has been molded just like a beauty pageant youngster. You can hear his father directing him to sing to Clarkson in the second video. How does that translate into singing and his performance in AI today?

I just think he comes off as a mimic, regardless of whether he is singing an exact replica of a song or not. He channels Mariah or some such singer as he sings the same song, over and over, week after week. His attempt to sing something different, “With You” by Chris Brown, came off just dreadfully. He bounced around like a bobble-head chihuahua, just totally missing the soul and connection with the song (along with bumbling lyrics along the way). The judges are no help either. The harshest his critique was? He was applauded for trying something different after the fiftieth Little-David-squinted-eyes-ballad. That’s criticism?

Maybe it’s unfair to bash Little David too much. I think the real problem circles back to his age and his father’s handling of him. It’s easy to think that he’s 12 or 13, but he’s 17 years old. He’s almost the exact same age as Jordin Sparks was last year when she won AI. The difference between the two could not be more apparent. Girls mature quicker than boys. For some boys, that means they remain sophomoric and goofy and brainless until they are in their twenties (or forties, actually). In a singing/performing contest like this, it’s easy to see that Little David just lacks the emotional depth of great performers. Combine his age with his father’s apparent micro-stage-managing, and you get someone who just cannot lose himself in the meaning of any song.

If you have the patience to watch until the 3:40 mark, Naomi Judd talks about Little David’s dad during his time on Star Search (”The worst stage dad…they had to put him in the Security Guard’s little box…”) Will Little David win? I don’t know that I really care as I don’t know if it really matters. The iTunes junkies, all of us will vote with our pocketbooks after these first albums come out down the road, so we’ll let that be the final vote. My hope: that Little David can join Up with People for a never-ending tour. For your viewing pleasure: Up with People during the halftime of Super Bowl X Steelers v Cowboys (with Phyllis George, Brent Musberger, and Irv Cross).

OK, maybe that is a bit of a stretch, but this was the most stunning display of moronic combined with the most evil side of female connivingness (I know this is not a word, but really I think it is). I haven’t read EW’s recap yet, so definitely head there if you are a fan at all. Also, head to the Survivor website to watch this episode in its entirety.

Meet Exhibit A, Erik. He’s the Superfan and would have a restraining order as a stalker if he hadn’t actually been cast on the show. He’s also a Herculean competitor of the Ozzy mold. With Ozzy leaving a few weeks ago for being too cocky and James almost losing his finger, Erik was the last man standing with four ladies.

Erik wins the Immunity Challenge (lapped the girls; btw, they should have had the person who finished last is out as a twist–the women were horrible in the challenge). He’s like a Labrador puppy in these challenges, still sprinting at the end when the other four haven’t even made it to the last stage of the challenge.

In the interim, Erik has told different alliance stories to three of the women, who then tell each other of his promises and laugh it up, all within earshot of him. He’s a downtrodden puppy who just wants to be liked by these Survivor heroes of him, and it gets him down around camp. Back to real-time: after the Immunity Challenge, the four ladies are sitting around talking about what they will do, and then Cirie stumbles on the most ridiculous idea in the history of reality television. Cirie blurts out that Natalie should use her evil, wily ways to get Erik to give her the Immunity Necklace, playing on his pitiful emotions and need to be liked. Natalie knows she’s going home and would do anything to stay, but even she can’t come to grips with how anyone would actually fall for this. ‘Why would he fall for that?” asked Natalie. ”Ozzy, Jason, and Erik,” announced Parvati. ”He belongs in that threesome.”

More giggling ensues, then Natalie heads to find Erik and lay it out for him: Cirie will joing Erik and Natalie to vote out Amanda, but only if Cirie gives Natalie the necklace as a sign of redemption and to show that he is indeed a man of his word that everyone can trust. The jury will also like the move, she explains.

My wife was on the sofa, and as the Tribal Council rolled on, she was ambivalent. “This is ridiculous,” she said. “No one would be that stupid.”

Ahhh, she obviously overstates the size of a man’s brain. And the pure wickedness of the female species.

And you thought the male praying mantis had it bad. At least he gets a last hurrah before having his head bitten off…

No more superlatives. Enjoy…

UPDATE

Go to the bottom of the EW review to see the Jeff Probst interview with EW on Erik’s move.

Alan Sepinwall at the Star-Ledger has a terrific article on American Idol (see 5 Reasons the Best 12 Weren’t). Just a terrific deep-dive into this season vs the overall franchise. Some of the new gimmicks haven’t exactly worked out (for example, the use of instruments this season has more often been a prop than an exhibition in musicianship), while some of the old new gimmicks have been ridiculous (see the Q&A from viewers). His on the money with his discussion of themes and mentors. Everyone is probably very gun-shy about doing away with these things, but I think it is time to do that.

What he fails to mention is how those who have remained (aside from David Cook) are so lacking next to some of those who have been cast away. Carly and Michael Johns should absolutely still be here with Jason Castro and Brooke gone in their place. I’d much rather have seen those two added to the trio that remain to see who could have made it to the last three. My wife cannot stand Little David (photo above from Star Search at age 12). He drips child beauty pageant, and he probably needs a wild weekend with Miley Cyrus to knock some reality into him. From all accounts, his father is in the Crazy Stage Parent Hall of Fame, so it’s hard to attack Little David too much directly.

David Cook (above) has been a breath of fresh air in this competition. He’s escaped the so-called controversy of knocking off previous knock-off’s found on YouTube to become the best this season has had to offer (regardless of who wins). You can definitely see him having a career with legs in the future. The big question AI has to ask itself is what needs to change in the show to have six others like him in the last eight or nine (we’ll always have some strange person who makes it deep, like Sanjaya or Jason Castro). As much effort and investment in weeding through the tens of thousands of possibilities, you’d think the show would do a better job of finding more diamonds in the rough.

One reason they haven’t had more spit out at the end is that the obstacle course the contestants have to run doesn’t correlate with what makes a successful recording artist. A young man or woman with a particular style and tone shouldn’t have to somehow push that style on a succession of songs from the Beatles, Neil Diamond, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Dolly Parton, and Mariah Carey. Maybe they can simply perform the absolutely best song they want to perform each week then let us decide.

The cliche that the judges’ feedback has become is also a problem that Sepinwall omits discussing, one that makes the show less appealing. Let’s go worst to first. Paula really needs to be replaced. She brings no critical eye to the show and doesn’t appear credible most of the time. Randy should be much more focused in his feedback rather than simply rambling and throwing in his slang terms. Maybe I’m overstating things a bit, as he does seem to focus on the accuracy of the singing and specifics of the arrangement.

Colin is such a key part of the show that it would be hard to imagine AI without him. The constant booing whenever he speaks is overworn and ridiculous, as is chiming the music in immediately after he says his first words. To watch him on AI then watch him on “Britain’s Got Talent” is like watching two different people. He generally likes and respects his two cohorts across the pond. He repeatedly shows that he thinks Paula has no sense at all. He also has resigned himself, it appears, that AI is what it is and there isn’t much he can do about the American public.

Lastly, me email to Sepinwall (about to send):

Really terrific analysis of American Idol. As part of the wrong demographic (>40 Male), I’ve still been a fan of American Idol. The one thing you fail to mention is the impact of TiVo/DVR on American Idol viewership. There is absolutely no way I would watch American Idol live, and I never watch anything on the results show except for a performance that might catch my eye. I fast-forward to the end to see who was voted off then delete the episode. I haven’t even sniffed listening to a group sing number and haven’t seen a cheesy AI commercial since maybe Season 2.

Just in case you needed more: I’m not sure which is strangers, the Britain’s Got Talent audition by Craig Harper of a Boyzone song (where he sings the parts of all five members) or the actual Boyzone song itself.

You be the judge.

No, I’ll say the strangest has to be Mr. Donald Bell-Gam, absolutely horrific and making Simon Cowell wish for the worst American Idol experience as an escape.

Or maybe the Gollum Boy, with his terrific impression from Lord of the Rings?

Or maybe Michael Machell, playing keyboards possibly for the first time (the theme from Star Wars)?

My favorite thing about living in New Jersey was listening to Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN. Mike Francesca made his name originally on CBS March Madness coverage, while Christopher Russo has transformed himself from a sidekick with an irritating voice to a terrific sports talk radio host. They’ve been together since September 1989.

And now he has the Mad Dog Minute. Watching him and listening is some kind of treat.

I took our family plus a few boys from our soccer teams (10-12 years old) to see Ironman yesterday. Let’s put aside the fact that it was rated PG-13 and I had a 3-year old plus boys 10-12 for a minute. I’ll address that in a bit. It was a really, really great movie.

Robert Downey, Jr (Tony Stark/Ironman) really brought something fresh to the genre. Would he have been viewed as good if he didn’t bring all of his own personal history and demons along for the ride? I’m not sure. Gwyneth Paltrow played a great, understated Pepper Potts, Tony Stark’s long-time assistant. In fact, the movie was really packed with terrific actors in all of the roles. Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges brought depth to roles that could have been throwaway’s, which I think really added to the movie.

One of the boys I brought was of Middle Eastern descent, and it was strange how uncomfortable I got at times watching some of the movie. Having him a few seats from me actually forced me to step away from the film a bit and look at how Marvel portrayed the different members of the cast who were Arabic. I actually think they did a nice job, with terrorists, an aid to Tony Stark, then innocent villagers all shown on the screen. I’m not sure if anyone else noticed all this, and I doubt I would have if not for the young boy who I’ve coached for close to six years now.

The previews actually were more disturbing than the movie itself for young boys, with much inappropriate sexual innuendos in a couple of trailers. The movie had one risque portion (a reporter who spends the night with Stark). The violence in the film wasn’t too graphic, so it is more of a parental judgment of what is acceptable or not for boys at specific ages. It wasn’t scary, so even our little guy made it through fine. He actually stayed tuned in for the entire movie, which is tough for him in a live-action film.

Definitely hit the movie.

A riveting complete video of the now famous Last Lecture from Professor Randy Pausch from Carnegie Mellon.

From the caption with the video:

Almost all of us have childhood dreams: for example, being an astronaut, or making movies or video games for a living. Sadly, most people don’t achieve theirs, and I think that’s a shame. I had several specific childhood dreams, and I’ve actually achieved most of them. More importantly, I have found ways, in particular the creation (with Don Marinelli), of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center (etc.cmu.edu), of helping many young people actually *achieve* their childhood dreams. This talk will discuss how I achieved my childhood dreams (being in zero gravity, designing theme park rides for Disney, and a few others), and will contain realistic advice on how *you* can live your life so that you can make your childhood dreams come true, too.

107 minutes in length, so be ready to multitask as you watch/listen. He authored The Last Lecture as well. His Daily Update page gives details of his continued fight against pancreatic cancer.