News From TheToyGuy Blog

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been writing for the new ToyGuy Blog. Below is a column I posted this morning that I thought you might enjoy.

Princess Leia is the #1 Nerd Crush
In a recent Maxim Online poll, readers voted Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi, as the number one hottest nerd crush. Loin-clothed Leia trumped other Sci-Fi vixens including Trinity from the Matrix, Tomb Raider's Lara Croft, Seven of Nine from Star Trek and Arwen Undómiel from The Lord of the Rings.
-J. McKinney

Rock-o-Matic: You Drive Me Crazy

Before I begin my post today, I want to congratulate Jeff who hit his 200th post today. Keep up the good work Jeff.

Today Rock-o-Matic looks at crazy bitches. Now, I know there's a lot of crazy bitches in the world but only a few of them record music that you and I can purchase. First, on my list is Lindsay Lohan. All I know is that I think she's in rehab, again. Her second album A Little More Personal (RAW) was the second of her albums I failed to buy. There was a third which I've heard about and she did a song for the Herbie the Love Bug movie, too. Anyways, I like this song and listen to it on my iPod while driving my car.

Lindsay Lohan - Who Loves You

The second crazy bitch is Paris Hilton. She was just busted for driving with a suspended license, which was a result of a DUI. And then she had all those private sex videos that came up on the internet that I watched. How embarassing for her. Her debut album was a tour de force. I thought about buying it, but thought harder.

Paris Hilton - Stars Are Blind

Finally, the craziest bitch of the moment (counting living people only. Sorry, Anna Nicole) is Britney Spears. Some people say she's on drugs or an alkie. I say she's just plum loco. As in cuckoo nuts. She shaved her head, whipped an umbrella around, she's been married and unmarried repeatedly, and I think she popped out a few crazy babies. Not a girl, not yet a woman, indeed. She's a certified crazy ass bitch.

Britney Spears - I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman

Second Life Goes Talkie

I'm sure MonkeyDaemon.blogspot, A.K.A. Adam, would have posted something today about the big announcement from Second Life if he weren't in the process of moving into his new apartment. So, while you aren't going to get a real journalist's take on the news, I'll tell you what it is in dumbed down reporting.

Second Life is giving users voices. That means no more typed IM chats but actual audible conversations.

I just hope I don't run into that Boba Fett who tried to mug me last year. Seeing the words "Give me all your money" was alarming enough. Now if I have to hear those words over my computer, I might freak out and actually do what he says.

Star Sighting!

Anderson Cooper. On 6th Avenue and 46th street. We passed each other crossing 46th.

Missing Palmer West in Concert March 10th

Missing Palmer West will be playing Saturday, March 10th at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore, PA.

If you are in the Ardmore area, check out former members of Wise and Foolish Builders and The Bigger Lovers in their new line-up - Missing Palmer West.

Doors open at 7:30 for this all ages show with opening act Kyler England & Kelly McRae. Missing Palmer West should take to the stage around 9:00.

You can pick up a copy of their debut EP at the show and check out missingpalmerwest.com for songs and info.


Advance Tickets available @ www.milkboycoffee.com (or at the venue) -- $8.

Milkboy Coffee is on Rte. 30 -- 2 Lancaster Ave. Ardmore, PA (milkboycoffee.com)

Museum For The Masses

One of the few. Scratch that. One of the only joys of waiting for a subway train is looking at clever advertisement graffiti. I love seeing a perfectly beautiful, air-brushed picture of a model with a good old Sharpe mustache and eye-patch make-over. And that's why I love these printable cold sores. How funny are they?!
Click here to download some for your station.

That Little Droid Did It!

Anyone that knows me knows what a huge Star Wars (Prognosis Negative to Heather) fan I am. So you can imagine how excited I was to discover this R2-D2 Garbage Bin. Unfortunately, even I'm not a big/crazy enough fan to spend $150.00 on trash can.

I Don't Know What I was Thinking Last Night

Boy am I exhausted today. As if Monday morning doesn't suck enough already, I begrudgingly stayed up last night to watch the Oscars. I wasn't planning to watch it as I really don't care but I guess I got caught up in Seth's Oscar enthusiasm.

We started the show an hour after it began so that we could fast forward through all the crap. It didn't take us long to catch up to the live program. Se we took a Battlestar Galactica break then went back to where we had left off with the Oscars. Once again, by fast forwarding through all the sucky parts of the show, we quickly caught up to the live telecast and watched the last 30 minutes as it actually happened. I won't bother discussing who won because I didn't pay much attention to that. The only thing I put my magazine down for was Ellen. I think she did a great job as host. She did such a great job that I might even consider watching again in the future if she is hosting again.

I Love The Nightlife

Living in New York City isn't easy. Everything is overpriced, we are constantly surrounded by several hundred people, and while we have some of the most glamorous shops in the world there is no Pizza Hut delivery and only one 7-11. So why do we live here? We live here for nights like last night. What started as an average happy hour ended at an underground party. When I say underground, I mean it both literally and figuratively as we went to some club/bar that was below street level and in what looked like catacombs. We were there to see a friend of Seth's video imagery projected on a room divider that sectioned off the room. I wish I could tell you more but the details are very hazy. Suffice it to say, a good time was had by all.

We don't All Need Nurse-Maiding

The American Medical Association is asking Hollywood to give R-ratings to movies that depict smoking and to air anti-smoking trailers at theaters that show those movies.

This is almost as alarming as the proposed ban on headphones and cell phones while crossing the street.

I'm sick and tired of the Safety Nazis trying to control our lives. Instead of all these ridiculous attempts at censorship and repression, why not pass a national Common Sense law that says "You are responsible for yourself". If you want to smoke cigarettes that's fine but don't try to sue the tobacco companies when you get sick. If you want to talk on the phone while crossing the street then just do it but don't expect your phone carrier to cover your medical bills when you get run over. If McDonald's is your favorite food, enjoy it but don't ask Ronald to pay for your gastric bypass in 5 years.

Why should we all be expected to live in a decaffeinated, trans fat-free world of padded corners and restricted content because some people refuse to take responsibility for themselves?

PS. If you are that person who sued McDonald's (and won) because your hot coffee was hot, then shame on you.

Best Headline of the Day

The Britney train wreck - full speed ahead! Check out the cover of today's AM New York, it's hilarious.

Rock-o-Matic: J-Pop

Hola amigos and strangers. This week I'm looking at Japanese Pop Music, or more commonly known as J-Pop. I was first introduced to J-Pop during college. WTUL, Tulane's radio station, regularly played Pizzicato 5. Oh God, how i love the Pizzicato 5. When I traveled to Asia this one time I was also exposed to C-Pop (Chinese Pop) and K-Pop (Korean Pop). The videos on MTV Japan and whatever they have in China is mesmerizing. Chinese people rap?? Apparently so. But this week I look at J-Pop in all its various forms (except rap). The big sushi in Japan, so to speak, is Hitomi. Actually, I don't know that, but I read it on the internet. She's like the Madonna of Japan, so the gays will love her, right Jeff?

Hitomi - Go To The Top

I'm also smitten with those old Japanese songs. They're kitschy and catchy, such as the song from the Pinky Chicks. The song "Yopparatta Ojosan" tells the story of a woman who goes to a bar to meet a date and steadily gets drunk while she waits for him. But he never shows. Classic. Then of course is the Mothra song, well known from the Mothra movie (1961) as performed by The Peanuts. Again, classic.

Pinky Chicks - Yopparatta Ojosan
The Peanuts - Mothra's Song

Finally, I close with a Shonen Knife track that's sung in English (I think) and is characteristic of the non-sensical crossover Japanese-English songs that came from a genre of artists such as Pizzicato 5 and Shonen Knife.

Shonen Knife - I Am a Cat

I Hate 60 Minutes

The Amazing Race All Stars premiered last night and as usual, 60 Minutes ended 30 minutes late.

Does anyone know where I can watch the episode online?

Entertaining Vegetables

What happens when a girl who loves vegetables marries a guy with Lachanophobia (look it up)?

No, this isn't the premise of a new Fox sitcom. It's Christine Jay's (Collins to us RBC folk) new food blog - My Husband Hates Veggies.

Join Chris as she shares some of her favorite recipes, funny stories and duplicitous methods for tricking her husband to eat his veggies.

Check it at now at http://myhusbandhatesveggies.wordpress.com

Back In The Saddle Again

**WARNING: The following column contains explicit geek content and a lot of words. Jen should stop reading now.**

After 6 days of running around New York City looking at toys, I'm back at my office and back to blogging! Head over to theToyGuy blog for my reports from Toy Fair. On the theToyGuy blog, I mentioned the Hasbro Transformers event held this week. What I didn't mention was the following.

In case you don't already know (how could you possible not), this July, the Transformers live-action movie opens and I couldn't be more excited. I have to admit, I was a little concerned when I first heard that Michael Bay was directing the movie. After all, as the director of Bad Boys, The Rock and Armageddon, Bay is just as well know for his cliched characters as he is for his action scenes.

So the event began with a Q&A with Bay, some Dream Works executive and two guys from Hasbro (one of which I know and like). Then it was showtime as the lights went down and the curtains opened onto the screen. Just before the lights went down, Bay hopped off the stage to take his seat, which turned out to be right next to me. "That's just great", I thought. I certainly couldn't make fun of the movie with the director, who happens to one of Hollywood's most powerful people and at least 6'5", sitting within punching distance.

Fortunately, there wasn't a thing to make fun of from the 30 minutes of footage (4 separate scenes) we were shown and if what I saw is any indication of the whole movie, it is going to be better than I ever imagined! All I can say is "Transformers fans, roll out!"

At Last, Snow!

We finally had our first snow storm here in the Big Apple and while it was more sleet than snow it was still fun to watch. Temperatures are supposed to stay below freezing so we should have a few more days of all this white stuff hanging around.


Here's a picture taken from my desk looking out the window at the building behind my office. Rumor has it that the deck in the picture is used as a porn set during warmer months.

Rock-o-Matic: Love

Today is Valentine's Day. Therefore, the theme for this week's selection of sample music was easy. Each song deals with love. The first song comes from the musical Popeye, starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall. What a movie. Why this song? After last week's discussion of The Shining, I thought of Shelley. The song is simple and sweet. The other two songs, meh, why not. Otis Redding kicks ass with this live version of "I've Been Loving You Too Long". Pizzicato Five is one of my all time favorite Japanese groups, and "Baby Love Child" is a nice counterbalance to the intensity of Otis. Very lovely. Good stuff.

• Shelley Duvall - He Needs Me
  
• Otis Redding - I've Been Loving You Too Long
• Pizzicato Five - Baby Love Child
  

Weighing In On Anna Nicole

I liked Anna Nicole Smith, she was an entertaining mess. And she still is as there have been gaggles of rumors and conspiracy theories surrounding her death. My favorite is that her son was the father of her baby and that's why he was murdered.

What ever the truth may be, is any of her story actually news? I happened to see CNN a few times throughout the day on Friday and every time I did, they were discussing Anna Nicole. Isn't our country currently at war? Aren't there a myriad of real news stories that the Cable News Network should be covering? Don't get me wrong, I'd rather follow the Anna story over real news but that's why we have the E! channel.

Now That's Comedy

When was the last time you saw a sitcom all about queefing? Well, believe it or not but one exist. Check out The Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central. You will either love it or find it the most horrific thing on the bube tube.

Enjoy

Toys R Me

Its Toy Fair time again! For the next 5 days I'll be up to my ears in toys. New York Toy Fair, held every February, is when the toy makers give us press folk an early glimpse at the toys they will bring to stores at Christmas time.

Unfortunately, I won't have much opportunity to blog over the next few days but I will be doing regular Toy Fair reports for theToyGuy blog. My first entry, from today (Friday), is online now and check back on Sunday for my next report. As an added bonus, I've been invited to attend a very special Transformers Movie event next week with the movie's directer. I'll be sure to tell you all about it.