Through sleet, snow, freezing rain… may the force be with you.

The United States Postal Service has got into the act of consumer feedback by asking Americans to vote for their favorite stamp choice in the new Star Wars stamp collection. There are many great choices and nice designs, but my vote went to the incomparable Boba Fett, whose look alone will ensure your letter's delivery. Other favorites were Chewbacca (of course), Storm Troopers, and the classic Princess Leia/R2-D2 moment.

Perhaps the coolest part of the relationship between Star Wars and the USPS is the creation of R2-D2 mailboxes to be scattered across the country. What a perfect idea… the mailbox is already shaped similarly to R2-D2, so they just overlaid R2-D2's likeness, and wha-la! Now R2 can delivery your message safely, just like he did for Lea and so many other characters. Plus, he knows a bunch of languages. That should help with international deliveries. It'd be interesting to see if the USPS gets any letters addressed to characters on Star Wars planets like Tatooine.

And just in case you don't have an R2-D2 mailbox near you, you can make your own with this PDF. Way cool!

Let's go shopping!

Recently, I have found a few interesting items online that seem very cool, but I just can't afford to buy right now. Figuring that you might have the same interest, yet more available cash flow, I post these sites for your shopping pleasure:

Perpetual Kid - which directed me to this (pictured above)

Mighty Goods - which directed me to this cool item.

Suck UK - another doormat, which looks eerily similar to the work of John Langdon (you don't know him now, but you know him if you read Angels & Demons)

Not so Sirius

A few weeks ago now, Dee and I went car shopping as her 92 Jetta, Vicky, was finally on her way out. Something about not having brakes pushes a person towards a new car.

After some deliberation, Dee landed on a beautiful, brand-new VW Rabbit. It was the last 4-door on the lot and it had a bunch of extras that we didn't intend on getting, didn't need to get, but got. Some, like the heated seats and sunroof, have been rather enjoyable pluses to the car. One thing we definitely didn't need, nor want was a satellite radio. VW must have a deal with Sirius satellite rado, as the car came with three introductory months of it instead of XM. (Of course, at this point it's irrelevant anyway.)

Well, we have been using the Sirius radio, because it's free (for now) and we were very curious as to what was on and what the experience was like. I was fairly excited by the many sports stations, the score being displayed on the console, two NPR stations, comedy stations (uncensored), commercial-free, not losing reception… what's not to love? Well, how about the last two things.

It turns out that Sirius is not commercial-free and does lose reception. Hmmm. How can this be you say? Well, it turns out that Sirius needs an asterisk involved with their commercial-free claim, as it's only music stations that are commercial-free. Sports, comedy, and other talk stations have plenty of commercials. Why would I pay to hear commercials? Well, so far I'm not, nor will I.

The other thing is that almost every time we go under an overpass or an extensive series of overpasses, we lose reception, and we get a "Linking" message. Other times, the stations just skip like a scratched CD. It's rather annoying, and actually frustrates me more then standard radio fuzz, or white noise.

So, for all that is potentially cool about Sirius radio, it just falls short on some fairly critical claims. I've heard better things about XM and wonder if things would change in a merger. Anyone have XM or have a different Sirius experience?

AI: Season 6, Round of 10 (Recap)

I declare shenanigans! Chris goes, and Sanjaya is not even in the bottom three! Was yesterday opposite day? Tell me it was opposite day. Someone broke into my TiVo and replaced my actual American Idol footage for some craftfully edited mashup, where it only seems that Chris Sligh got booted last night. Right?

Looking at American Idols own web poll, a majority of voters said, it was his time. Who are these people watching? There's no doubt that Chris's stock has dropped recently, but below Haley, Phil, and Sanjaya… worse than Sanjaya?!

Chris actually had some interesting, and more open comments about AI, after the send off show.

Let's examine Sanjaya for a second. He's now managed to push himself up and out of the bottom three, with a hairstyle that would make Cher go, "Oh no he di'n't." Is the American voting public really that into hair? Has Vote for the Worst got that much pull? Is this the sign that AI has jumped the shark?

I don't know about you, but I think that Simon is semi-fuming about his "singing" competition becoming a mockery of a high school popularity contest.

My countdown prediction:
12: Sanjaya Malakar (Brandon Rogers)
11: Sanjaya Malakar (Stephanie Edwards)
10: Phil Stacy (Chris Sligh)
9: Sanjaya Malakar
8: Phil Stacy
7: Haley Scarnato
6: Chris Richardson
5: Gina Glocksen
4: Jordin Sparks
3: Blake Lewis
2: LaKisha Jones
1: Melinda Doolittle

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

AI: Season 6, Round of 10 (Gwen Stefani)

So, if you wanted to bring Gwen Stefani onto American Idol, what would you choose as the song list? Well, apparently the producers have decided to do a complete cop out and use No Doubt Songs or songs that inspired Gwen (a.k.a. - The Police or Donna Summers). Oh, well that limits the choices. Why couldn't they pick any song produced during No Doubts tenure? My friend Elisabeth called during the show to complain about this, and I couldn't agree with her more. What a cheap way to go!

Alright, so beyond the song choices, did anyone else notice that Gwen Stefani now looks exactly like Holly Madison from Playboy's "The Girls Next Door" television show on A&E? I mean, exactly.


No Doubt:
Gina Glocksen (Awesome! I disagree with the boot assessment… UGLY boots… great performance)
Haley Scarnato (last week Haley found her true colors: her legs, and she brought them out tonight again… along with a pretty good performance, despite what they said)
Melinda Doolittle (she's just better than everyone else, and proves it each week)
Blake Lewis (looking strangely like Sting tonight… sounding great… thank God he didn't do any beat boxing)
Chris Richardson (Justin Timberlake covers No Doubt… what with the Members Only jacket?… I didn't want to like it, but I did… very nice)

Doubtful:
LaKisha Jones (I didn't like it… just found it boring… I think I'm finding her to be pretty one dimensional)
Chris Sligh (great song for his voice, and I liked it, but he is off the beat… it really doesn't bother me that much, 'cause I do that all the time, but if you're going to be a recording artist, you got to show you)
Phil Stacy (appropriate song, becuase he looked like a stalker in that getup…vocally he is a solid guy, but I just don't want to look at him anymore… and he has about two standard gestures on stage… just uninteresting)
Jordin Sparks (love the song choice… she looked like a picnic on a stony mountain top - awful boots… didn't work the song nearly enough, but sang it well)

A ton of doubt:
Sanjaya Malakar (he's just not trying anymore… and I don't care)

Bottom 3 Prediction: Phil Stacy, Sanjaya Malakar, & (surprise!) Chris Sligh

My countdown prediction:
12: Sanjaya Malakar (Brandon Rogers)
11: Sanjaya Malakar (Stephanie Edwards)
10: Phil Stacy
9: Sanjaya Malakar
8: Haley Scarnato
7: Chris Sligh
6: Chris Richardson
5: Gina Glocksen
4: Jordin Sparks
3: Blake Lewis
2: LaKisha Jones
1: Melinda Doolittle

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

Another great mashup, Super Mario-style

Another video that combines things that I like: stop motion animation & Nintendo video games. Courtesy of another fav, BoingBoing. I want to know who has posted the music for the Mario theme on recorder. Enjoy!

Mario Bros. Lego
Video sent by Bibi-de-Bibopof

iRack

Thanks to Chris from Source for this:

AI: Season 6, Round of 11 (Recap)

Oh dear God. Stephanie was going to go, but this is too early. She is better than Phil and Haley, and certainly Sanjaya (thanks again, Vote for the Worst).

What this really confirms is that I WILL NOT be in attendance for the Idols Live tour. Why? Because Sanjaya will be there! He'll be touring, people. Revolting. He'll be surrounded by crazy, braces-sporting, lip curling, middle school criers.

My countdown prediction:
12: Sanjaya Malakar (Brandon Rogers)
11: Sanjaya Malakar (Stephanie Edwards)
10: Sanjaya Malakar
9: Phil Stacy
8: Haley Scarnato
7: Blake Lewis
6: Chris Richardson
5: Gina Glocksen
4: Jordin Sparks
3: Chris Sligh
2: LaKisha Jones
1: Melinda Doolittle

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

Visualize This American Life

This American Life is a wonderfully quirky radio program (listen here) that I have enjoyed off and on for several years. By chance I found out that the now radio show is being turned into a television show, to be airing on Showtime.

Click here for a delightful video sample.

Ira Glass, the show's host, appears to be as nerdy as I imagine him when listening to his choppy, observational voice. The show's logo treatment is wonderfully simple and fresh. What intrigues me the most, however, is the way that the show is shot. Keeping the storyteller role and staying true to his radio roots, each story seems to be told with voice over beautifully composed images. It seems to be a really nice way to keep what radio fans love about the show (the quirky storytelling, mixed with odd music and a focus on the truth of American's oddball lives) with a visual surprise - National Geographic quality video that explores the subject matter, but not by dramatization.

I'm really looking forward to this new offering. Now, I only wish I was able to get Showtime :-(

AI: Season 6, Round of 11 (British Invasion)

Let's start it out tonight with a little bit of fashion. Haley is looking HOT! Sanjaya is now cutting his own clothing. Melinda's hair now shapes her head in an egg-like package.

Why does Paula always have to act like she is testifying before Congress, leaning in to the microphone, and changing her tone when she gives advice?

Rising stock:
Haley Scarnato (where did those legs come from? where did the back of that shirt go?… she had a great stage performance and it sounded pretty good, too)
Blake Lewis (who's your daddy? c'mon… he handled that really high stuff well… I just don't understand why he has to beatbox something that the drummer is playing already… it's like a selfish tick… but it was really good… I just hate how cocky he comes across, but I think the ladies respond to the confidence)

Falling stock:
Chris Richardson (I find his voice not well-suited for a ballad, I didn't like it as much as the judges… everything comes out his nose… he'll be safe for a while)
Phil Stacy (if you're going to sing about coming from hardship, it helps to look like you had a rough childhood… it's the goofiness of karaoke with a really good voice… did you guys have fun? huh? did ya?… um, no)
Chris Sligh (that was just weird, the crowd thing was too long, and then all of a sudden it's upbeat… weird for me)

Hold:
Stephanie Edwards (the orchestra did a lot of work on that song… the song lacked a lot of movement)
LaKisha Jones (this sounded like a song from a James Bond film… I just wanted to animate some funky Bond film opening to it… it's weird to have a woman who should be doing gospel, singing a sexy bond song)
Jordin Sparks (she often acts her age away from her singing, and I think that may become annoying for people… being overcome with excitement is okay for only so long… at some point I want to see her come to grips with the attention of the limlight… the song was boring, but she sang it well)
Gina Glocksen (the drums were too muddy when it was just her and the drums… a frantic song with frantic results)
Melinda Doolittle (he or she? who's she singing to? not really questioning, but the changing pronouns were weird)

Speculative Stock:
Sanjaya Malakar (it was better than prior weeks… and WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THAT GIRL??!!!… what is happening?… awkward has met a new level of awkwardness… he has to go, or else he touring people, touring!)

My countdown prediction:
12: Sanjaya Malakar (Brandon Rogers)
11: Sanjaya Malakar
10: Phil Stacy
9: Stephanie Edwards
8: Haley Scarnato
7: Blake Lewis
6: Chris Richardson
5: Gina Glocksen
4: Jordin Sparks
3: Chris Sligh
2: LaKisha Jones
1: Melinda Doolittle

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

AI: Season 6, Round of 12 (Recap)

So, I forgot that they do bottom three at this stage in the game. The best part of the night was knowing that America is getting as tired of Phil Stacy as I am. Overall he's just too goofy to be a pop star. He's like an embarrassing father, trying to be cool, and would be, if he wasn't trying so hard. (I have to be careful, as that may describe myself some day).

Brandon goes home. I'd say his stage presence and forgetting the words hurt him. How Sanjaya fares better only the hair gods know. I am getting tired of being frustrated about him. I think he's tired of taking people's spots. It's totally out of his control. I wouldn't be surprised if it all got to him enough one day to actually pull himself out.

Diana Ross is Diana Ross, but I am glad we're onto the next show.

Let's take a look at the big board (actual results in parenthesis, when my prediction was wrong).

My countdown prediction:
12: Sanjaya Malakar (Brandon Rogers)
11: Sanjaya Malakar
10: Haley Scarnato
9: Stephanie Edwards
8: Blake Lewis
7: Chris Richardson
6: Phil Stacy
5: Gina Glocksen
4: Jordin Sparks
3: Chris Sligh
2: LaKisha Jones
1: Melinda Doolittle

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

AI: Season 6, Round of 12 (Diana Ross)

I absolutely hate this part of the competition, because you are forcing people to choose from a library of songs that were never meant for them. Diana Ross is Diana Ross, and we, nor she, should be subjected to most of these renditions. It's just painful and uninteresting most of the time.

People who forgot words:
Haley Scarnato (pull it together woman… you forgot like half a word, not your name like Simon did previously… you looked good, you sounded okay)
Brandon Rogers (I didn't even know he forgot them… I had to go back in TiVo time to find it… the real question is which was worse? the words forgotten or the performance?… the performance was very bad)

You're singers, not composers:
Blake Lewis (I actually thought that this was interesting, but I hate the fact that you end up looking so egotistical about arranging this yourself… if I thought they had just did this for you, it would have been nicer… and the song was pretty flat… it just needed to be less repetitive)
Chris Sligh (put the glasses back on, please! without them you have no eyes! stop stealing from Coldplay, and go back to what you had been doing so well)

Excellent!:
Jordin Sparks (she didn't give a great stage performance, but I have to imagine that song is very difficult to sing and she sang it dead on)
LaKisha Jones (no one knew that song… no one who saw that didn't believe that it was beautiful… I really wonder if you are too good for this… like maybe you should be on the stage of the Met, not Idol)
Melinda Doolittle (excellent again… there's just no way differentiating amongst these three right now)

Okay:
Phil Stacy(I don't know why people like this guy… I am going on record as not liking this guy… he's too goofy, and I just don't hear anything special)
Gina Glocksen (here's where it gets interesting, as it's easier to compare Jordin, LaKisha, and Melinda… could Gina sneak in as those three battle each other? tonight's performance was just okay, but I like her)
Stephanie Edwards (I recall absolutely zero of what you sang tonight)

Not good:
Chris Richardson (Chris, you're starting to look awkward as the songs get longer… I just don't know how far your looks will carry you)

And when will it end?
Sanjaya Malakar (the hair, the singing, the awkward gestures… it all adds up to pure embarrASSment)

Should go home:



Will go home:



My countdown prediction:
12: Sanjaya Malakar
11: Haley Scarnato
10: Brandon Rogers
9: Stephanie Edwards
8: Blake Lewis
7: Chris Richardson
6: Phil Stacy
5: Gina Glocksen
4: Jordin Sparks
3: Chris Sligh
2: LaKisha Jones
1: Melinda Doolittle

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

AI: Season 6, Round of 16 (Recap)

Partial justice! Sundance Head is gone after desecrating one rock's greatest songs ever. Jared Cotter lost in the battle for cutest African American male. Sabrina Sloan could not compete with Melinda Doolittle, LaKisha Jones, and Jordin Sparks: the big three. And finally, finally, we say goodbye to Antonella Barba.

There were enough tears to start another river. Perhaps that river will carry away Sanjaya Malakar to a far off place where singing is banned. The weird thing is that the usual assumed culprit, Vote for the Worst, cannot be accountable. Both of their ponies, Anotnella and Sundance got voted off, despite their efforts.

Now that we're down to 12, we start voting people off regardless of gender, I believe. Time for final predictions, which I'll be posting soon. So far, let's see how I've done with my "Will go home" predictions…5 out of 12 correct. 42% Eh, I almost had Jared Cotter this last time. So, almost 50%.

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

Best title for a movie ever?

I was in Blockbuster tonight, and I had to stop when I saw this selection: Killer Drag Queens on Dope

The best part was that the way the cover read, it said, "Killer Drag Queens… (On Dope)" As if being a killer drag queen wasn't enough! :-)

AI: Season 6, Prediciton

In the past few episodes of American Idol, Ryan Seacrest keeps mentioning an announcement tonight for something "ground-breaking." What are the chances that there will actually be soemthing ground-breaking revealed? Not much, but I do think I may have figured out what he is referring to. At least it's my guess. And like a magician predicting the future, I am going to record my idea before the show airs tonight, and we'll see if I am right. So, here it goes:

I think Seacrest will announce tonight a contest to determine a guest judge for American Idol. I think they'll probably run some online video submission competition, where the winner will be a judge for an episode, or perhaps a series of episodes.

The idea falls in line with the flurry of consumer-generated contests that have appeared with many brands, and it would stand to freshen up the show a bit. Of course, whether or not it is true remains to be seen, but I think they'd get a ton of submissions form folks who'd like to sit next to Simon and give the contestants their two cents (and probably Simon a few choice thoguhts as well).

Anyway, that's my bold prediction. We'll see if I'm right pretty soon.

UPDATE: Well it seems I was wrong, and American Idol is joinging the "let's give back" bandwagon. Not that it's a bad wagon to band with, but come on… another show trying to prove that they're doing something good? It seems like you either have to be a resounding success or a tiny non-profit to try and tackle big issues like poverty. And Africa is very popular right now with the whole RED thing. And I'm sure having Bono involved is going to only help American Idol. So, I am a bit jaded about this move. At least the show isn't asking me to make a donation. Although it would be nice if they took all those Cingular voting fees and put them to good use as full donations.

AI: Season 6, Round of 16 (Girls)

Note to Paula: surname = last name. When we start putting the women against the men, the men will be dropping like flies.

HUH?:
Haley Scarnato (she looks a lot different from week to week, and I am not sure that I could pick her out of a line up… I agree with the judges: she hasn't made much impact)
Stephanie Edwards (not a fan of the song, but she can sing…)
Sabrina Sloan (that song came from deep in her nose)

BAD, BAD, BAD:
Antonella Barba (it's not bad enough that we have to listen to you sing, but now we have to be subjected to you playing violin, too!… Simon hit it right on the head: you've been through a lot, but it's the end of the road and you've got to go… and it doesn't matter if you are doing your own thing, Antonella, especially if your own thing is horrible, because even if you won't compare yourself to everyone else, the rest of the voters are… if you don't get voted off, I hope you will have the presence of mind to bow out on your own)

YES!:
Jordin Sparks (she didn't give a great stage performance, but I have to imagine that song is very difficult to sing and she sang it dead on)
LaKisha Jones (another great performance… just a bit less interesting that Jordin's)
Gina Glocksen (ROCKIN'!… very awesome, even if it wasn't perfect singing)
Melinda Doolittle (YES, YES, YES! Awesome… she needs to start reacting with more confience to the positive comments)

Should go home:



Will go home:



Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

AI: Season 6, Round of 16 (Boys)

It was back to the round of 24 for the guys… less than the best performances. As they went through the review of all the performances it was obvious that this was a crappy series.

EH:
Blake Lewis (okay, I'm done with the beat-boxing… and 311 is your favorite band ever? are you kidding me?… I'm just getting tired of the sound effects… his best move next week is to do a ballad, as Chris did)
Sundance Head (that's it man! you just stepped on hallowed ground… I was half-way there to liking you, because of the fat joke and the cleaner cut… and then you picked my favorite Pearl Jam song ever and you just cannot compete with Eddie… not happy; not at all)

BAD:
Sanjaya Malakar (same crap, new hairstyle… someone should tell him that the words he is singing mean something, and that he is allowed to show an emotion besides 'paste-on smile', but he'll be back again if Vote for the Worst has anything to say about it)
Jared Cotter (What was that song? First really fast, then slow, then fast… was that about the song or something else?! His voice was just plain off and it was funky in a bad way… but he'll be back)
Phil Stacy (the start of that song sounded like he was underwater and the high notes were all very awkward… speaking of which, someone has to stop that guy from wearing hats - they just look awful on him… bald head or go home)

GOOD:
Chris Richardson (nice little backstory this week… song was okay vocally, but it was a great choice and probably hit the females right in the heart)
Brandon Rogers (that's his genre… that's what he'll make an album doing… and it helps that he looks the part of a Lenny Kravitz)

BEST:
Chris Sligh (and then there is Chris… as far as the guys go… the rest can just go home)



Should go home:



Will go home (if there is an sanity in the world left, Sunjaya will go home):



Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

AI: Season 6, Round of 20 (Recap)

What is up with the new, pneumatic Pickler?

Antonella and Sunjaya… how long will they last? That is the new question. They are clearly moving on based on aspects other than singing. And so Simon made a really good point the other night… the show doesn't kick people off at this point, the voters do (he was referring to Jennifer Hudson, but it applies here too)

It's not until the next couple rounds that we really get into an area where the differences in talent become more minuscule.

Does anyone have a tissue? Or twenty? WHY DO I HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE SAME CRAP PERFORMANCE THAT GOT YOU KICKED OFF THE PREVIOUS WEEK? Is there anyone that can stand these send offs?

Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair

AI: Season 6, Round of 20 (Girls)

The most disturbing thing from last night was the Hollywood Tan commercial with William Hung. The most anticipated singer was Antonella Barba… how would she sing? how would she look? would they bring up the pictures?

In the clear:
Gina Glocksen (good performance… Simon is right: she needs to figure out is she is going to be the rocker girl and how to dress the part, because she can't go up against the LaKishas in this female group)
Alaina Alexander (you do not want to pick the song that just swept the Grammy's and then run out of air… I FINALLY figured out who this girl looks like… anyone see The Departed?)
LaKisha Jones (very good, nice change from last week's over-powering performance)
Melinda Doolittle (it was good… showed a lot of skill… just found the song rather dull)
Jordin Sparks (just not an interesting performance… vocally good, but I wasn't very interested in it… it is amazing that she is 17)
Sabrina Sloan (I think the last time I heard that song was in my parent's car, listening to an easy listening radio station… ugh)

In front:
Stephanie Edwards (if you can sound like Beyoncé, then I think you're on your way… very good… only thing was that she seemed to be off the rhythm)
Haley Scarnato (she went from 'who is that again' to 'whoa! who was that?!')

In trouble:
Antonella Barba (oh Antonella… it's been a hard week hasn't it?… the song was actually better, but still very awkward… this just isn't the stage for you… but I do think that someone sabatoged the mic - seemed to be popping and funky… maybe some folks really want to see you go)
Leslie Hunt (how do you do the same song as one of the guys did last night?… it was better than AJ's performance somehow, vocally, but this song could be a very sexy song, and she made it very weird with the scat and it lacked anything sexy)

Best Performance:



Should go home:



Will go home:



Also check out: Vote 4 Idol Online, Vote Fair