CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock opposes abortion even in the case of rape and incest, he said at a Tuesday night debate, because pregnancy from rape is “something that God intended to happen.” Mourdock, who is in a tight race with Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly, was responding to a question about whether abortion should be legal in cases of rape or incest. “I know there are some who disagree, and I respect their point of view, but I believe that life begins at conception,” the tea party-backed Mourdock said. “The only exception I have, to have an […]
MUST SEE TV: N-F-AIL
Once again the bizarro universe of NMA videos aligns seamlessly with the absurdity of this American life. This time they dissect the national shame that is the NFL replacement ref farce (high school refs? Lingerie League refs? Really?) with pitiless precision. To paraphrase SNL’s Stefan, this video’s got everything: fire-breathing kids, boobies, fatsoes, ref-on-player sex on the 50 yard line and, of course, NFL Commissioner Goodell urinating on a stadium full of fans from the Olympian perch of his luxury box high above the clouds. You have been warned. RELATED: Hey NFL, Footlocker Called And They Want Their Clerks Back
SNL: Eastwood & Chair
Would have been funnier last Monday, but better late than never. God bless Bill Hader.
NPR 4 THE DEAF: Being Alec Baldwin
Photo via Men’s Journal FRESH AIR Alec Baldwin stars in two movies this summer — and they couldn’t be more different. In Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love, Baldwin joins an ensemble cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Roberto Benigni and Penelope Cruz as they romp around the Eternal City — running into trouble, weathering existential crises and falling in — and out — of love. Meanwhile, in Adam Shankman’s Rock of Ages, the big-screen adaptation of the jukebox Broadway musical, Baldwin dons long locks and joins Tom Cruise, Russell Brand, Bryan Cranston, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in homage to ’80s […]
CONCERT REVIEW: The Shins @ The Tower
BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER If Zac Braff’s Garden State was The Graduate for the iPod generation, the Shins’ “New Slang” was its “Sound of Silence.” “You have to hear this one song, it will change your life,” Natalie Portman beseeched us all in Braff’s film. That scene sure changed the Shins’ life, for better and for worse — depending on where you stand on the two albums that followed, 2007’s winsome Wincing the Night Away and the new Port of Morrow. I like ’em fine, but they sound like the work of a different band from the one […]
REWIND: R.E.M. @ The Mann 6/18/08
Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA BY JONATHAN VALANIA First time I heard “Wolves, Lower” live was at the Beacon Theater in New York City, and The Dream Syndicate opened. It was 1984 and Michael Stipe had hair down to his shoulders. The second time I heard it live was last night at the Mann Music Center, and Modest Mouse and The National opened. Hate to sound like Bill Murray reviewing movies he didn’t see on SNL back in the day, but The National? Didn’t see ’em, babe. I blame the traffic planner who thought just one or two little one-lane access […]
NY TIMES: How Saint Rick Got His Sanctimony On
[Illustration via VETERANS TODAY] NEW YORK TIMES: The Santorums’ beliefs are reflected in a succession of lifestyle decisions, including eschewing birth control, home schooling their younger children and sending the older boys to a private academy affiliated with Opus Dei, an influential Catholic movement that emphasizes spiritual holiness. As members of St. Catherine of Siena, a parish here in the wealthy Northern Virginia suburb of Great Falls, the Santorums are immersed in a community where large families are not uncommon and many mothers leave behind careers to dedicate themselves to child-rearing, as Mrs. Santorum has. Mr. Santorum has been on […]
SPORTO: Superbowl XLVI Ad Game Play By Play
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY So the Giants won. I hate them. At least the Patriots lost. Hate those cheaters too. Now let’s review the commercials. A true Super Bowl Ad can only air while the game is being played, so pregame and halftime ads are out. Forget the “straight” ones too…the car commercials, movie trailers, TV promos and others that just aren’t going for a laugh. The rest were trying to be funny or cool, and I’ve given them a ranking from 0-10. Anything that scored a six or higher I considered funny. The strategy now is to try […]
BLOOD SPORT: The Crucifixion Of Lana Del Rey
NMA TV: Lana Del Rey’s new album Born to Die has been panned by Billboard, Spin, Pitchfork and Stereogum. Video Games, voted best song of 2011 by the Guardian, was the first we heard of Lana Del Rey, but subsequent performances, including an appearance on Saturday Night Life, have been terrible. Her performance on SNL was so bad Brian Williams wrote an email to Gawker calling her a “Brooklyn hippster [sic]” and her performance “one of the worst outings in SNL history.” Juliette Lewis also tweeted negatively about her performance. Del Rey fans say her songs are good and she […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When U Can’t
FRESH AIR In 14 years on Saturday Night Live, Darrell Hammond did many impressions, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Sean Connery. Few of his cast members knew that Hammond struggled with drugs, alcohol and self-cutting as the result of childhood abuse. In his memoir God, If You’re Not Up There, I’m F——-: Tales of Stand-Up, ‘Saturday Night Live’ and Other Mind-Altering Mayhem, Hammond details the systematic brutality he suffered at the hands of his mother, who beat him, stabbed him and tortured him with a hammer and electrical outlet. “I’ve been in treatment since I was 19, and I’m […]
The End Of REM As We Know It And I Feel Fine
THE FINEST HOUR: R.E.M., The Mann, 6/18/08 [Photos by JONATHAN VALANIA] REM: “To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening.” *** BY JONATHAN VALANIA First time I heard “Wolves, Lower” live was at the Beacon Theater in New York City, and The Dream Syndicate opened. It was 1984 and Michael Stipe […]
GABBA: Kids Have All The Best Stoner-Friendly Shows
Hilariously trippy preview for SNL’s Fred Armisen’s appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba! PREVIOUSLY: I hadn’t been to the Mann since the mid-80s. I was in high school back then and as I recall they had a sweet system going to promote underage drinking. Any time there was a show, somebody would set up kegs in the semi-wooded areas just beyond the fences. How many? Twenty, fifty, a thousand, who knew? But it was beer paradise for thirsty 16 year-olds who otherwise had to take their chances and trek to that “special” distributor in Springfield that (almost) never carded. Outside of […]
Q&A With Judah Friedlander, World Champion
In advance of his appearances tonight and Saturday at the Helium Comedy Club, we got Judah on the horn and solicited some very useful advice, such as: How to beat up a cyclops and a one-armed man; how to rock the trucker hat (and Run DMC spectacles) with no real truck driving experience to speak of; how to have an illicit affair with your junior high school teacher; and how to land movie roles as wrestling fan, action figure dude, drunk man, ice cream man, maintenance man, pawn shop patron, and cafeteria guy. You know you want to know. *** […]