A few months ago, I showed how Pearl Jam had stolen a song from Devo.
Apparently, Pearl Jam just really really want to be Devo.
Exhibit B: Their Halloween show a few days ago:
PS - I'm seeing the real thing Friday! Woo!
Just read some awesome Sumo news: Sumo is coming back to Las Vegas! Apparently the Sumo was such a big hit when it played Mandalay Bay a few years ago, they're desperate to do it again. And the Sumo Association has agreed to do it next October (at Mandalay Bay again). Hope I can still get a comped room by then...
Seems like up to this year there has been exactly one decent new comedy on TV in the last 5 years. And while that one, How I Met Your Mother, hasn't exactly been blowing me away this season, there are actually 2 new shows that are funny and worth watching.
Modern Family (ABC, Wed 9pm)
This show is about three different families, with the hook being that one is an old guy married to a young woman with a young kid and one is a gay couple who adopted a new baby. The third is a pretty standard family with the jokes coming mostly from the boneheadedness of the Dad. As it turns out, the three families are related (nice twist/surprise in the pilot, so the families come together in various ways throughout the show.
The cast is great: Ed O'Neill, who played Al Bundy, is hilarious (as you'd expect); the flamboyant half of the gay couple, Eric Stonestreet, is funny but not over-the-top; Julie Bowen is the Mom in the normal family, is basically just a straight-woman but, having played Ed's girlfriend, of course we love her; and Ty Burrell, who I'd never seen before this show and plays the cluelessly dumb Dad who tries to act cool, is absolutely hilarious. (Clueless dumb guys are always hilarious, aren't they?)
The show is done semi-documentary style, with interviews with the characters between the action. That doesn't add so much, but the jokes are set up well, often relatively subtle in a good way, and this seems like a show that will use the build-up of character over time to get even funnier (more inside jokes when we know the characters better).
If you haven't been watching, all the episodes are on the Web site. (I recommend ep's 2 & 4.)
Community (NBC, Thu 8pm)
I was really impressed by the pilot of this show and then another later episode, for their ability to put together an emotionally resonant plot in half an hour with a ton of jokes (especially the pop culture jokes I love) still in there. It's a show about a community college, with a large ensemble cast that's very likable. Most of the characters aren't obviously funny, but they seem to be varied enough that over time the writers will be able to write enough situations and added-in quirks, etc., to keep the shows interesting.
The cast is led by Joel McHale, the guy from The Soup. Like his work on The Soup, he's cynical and snarky but likable and very funny. The tension of the relationship with his love interest is very well done, and I just hope they keep it going long enough, because probably the show loses a lot if they ever actually get together. Chevy Chase plays a supporting role and basically does his Chevy Chase thing, which, of course, is very funny if a little ridiculous. The breakout unknown on the show is a guy named Abed, played by Danny Pudi with a great rhythm.
The setting of the community college not only supplies some funny jokes but also lets the writers expand the cast whenever they want by throwing a new teacher/counselor/administrator into the mix. They did that very well with John Oliver and John Michael Higgins. Unfortunately, they also chose to include Ken Jeong as the Spanish teacher. Ken Jeong is the scourge of comedy these days, suddenly appearing in every comedy movie (and doing his best to ruin them all with his over-the-top ham-fisted comedy bellowing). You saw him as the naked crime boss in The Hangover or the mean OB/Gyn in Knocked Up.
So far, though, that's the only misstep for a really funny show that's even making me care about the characters after just a few episodes.
If you haven't been watching it, I definitely recommend watching the exceptionally well-written Pilot episode, as well as episode 3, in which the attempts by the lead to fake living for the moment for his film class lead to a brilliant final scene.
I'll also say that I'm not sure it's a good show, but I'm enjoying watching Bored To Death on HBO, mostly just because I enjoy watching everything Jason Schwartzman does. I love that guy.
Just saw a trailer for a documentary on Bill Withers called "Still Bill". Looks interesting. Unfortunately, doesn't seem like it has distribution to be in movie theaters any time soon. Check out possible screenings at the Still Bill Web site. Maybe it'll come to cable at some point...
Yet another reminder to complete my list of Top 100 Singers (on which Bill Withers is #43).
Here's some great singing and the best song ever to use the phrase Dad Gum-It:
It's 40 years since the creation of Monty Python's Flying Circus and IFC is putting on a 6-part documentary all about it. With the (surviving) Pythons coming together again to discuss the show, it's pretty much a slam dunk to be hilarious.
Check it out at IFC.com: Monty Python - Amost The Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)
Starts next Sunday.
Meanwhile, enjoy this skit - one of my favorite lesser-known ones... (one of the few w/ an actual punchline)
Now that all the playoff teams have been decided, it's time for my annual statistical explanation of why the Red Sox will win the World Series. Before you call me a "wicked hom-ah", remember that I've been right 50% of the time and the Sox were only 1 game away from the Series last year.
Anyway, as I've done for the last two years, once again I've compiled the three statistics that correlate with success in the playoffs, and once again, the results are desirable. (See my correct 2007 prediction here, and my somewhat less correct 2008 prediction here.)
So, here goes:
Team Fielding
The Red Sox started slowly but picked up in the 2nd half, partly by acquiring the guy who should have won a Gold Glove for us a few years ago, Alex Gonzalez. (Nice job on that one, Theo.)
Twins .987, Phillies .987, Angels .986, Red Sox .986, Rockies .986, Dodgers .986, Cardinals .985, Yankees .985
Team Strikeouts-per-9 innings
Even without Matsuzaka for most of the year, the Sox were one of the leaders in K/9 behind Lester, Beckett, and a bullpen full of power arms.
Yankees 7.82, Dodgers 7.77, Red Sox 7.71, Rockies 7.22, Phillies 7.13, Angels 6.61, Cardinals 6.55, Twins 6.52
Closer ERA
Hopefully, Theo Epstein knows this is one of the three important stats and won't dump the amazing closer he has (Papelbon) for a cheaper closer-of-the-future (Bard) when his contract is up in two years. Supposedly, Papelbon had a bad year this year. Uh-huh, right.
Yankees (Rivera) 1.76, Red Sox (Papelbon) 1.85, Cardinals (Franklin) 1.92, Twins (Nathan) 2.15, Dodgers (Broxton) 2.61, Rockies (Street) 3.06, Phillies (Madson) 3.26, Angles (Fuentes) 3.93
OK, 8 pts for first, 1 for last, add them all up and here's what you get:
Red Sox, 18 pts; Yankees, 17; Dodgers, 14; Twins, 14; Phillies, 14; Rockies, 12; Angels, 10; Cardinals, 10
Red Sox over Yankees in ALCS, Dodgers over Phillies in NLCS
Red Sox over Dodgers in World Series
(Note: last year, I looked at just the last month of the season to see if any team was hot in these 3 stats and, sure enough, it was the Phillies who came in hot and then won the World Series. So, if we look at just the last month, how do things change? The Red Sox, thanks to hot fielding in the last month and a consistent Papelbon, still win the World Series, but instead it would be a rematch with the Rockies. Which, honestly, wouldn't be that fun, so go Dodgers.)
Beckett & I had some fun playing with YearbookYourself.com this morning:
