Everyone has their own taste when it comes to music.

What may be considered music to one’s ears, may be considered simply torturous to others. Just because I feel that Michael Bolton sounds like a cat getting skinned alive, and that his music is some sort of cruel joke to all of mankind, doesn’t mean that some other tone deaf person has to agree with me.

One thing is for certain, whether it is the sweet voice of Bonnie Raitt or the overrated raspy voice of Bruce who stepped in it Springsteen… if it is played at decibels to make you feel that your ears are going to bleed and it is played over and over… it can be quite torturous no matter who it is.

Everyone is aware that the prisoners at Gitmo (Guantánamo Bay) were needlessly tortured by water boarding along with other degrading and unspeakable acts. 

One of the methods used was music played repeatedly and at ear piercing levels. The songs used and some of the artists who made that music are not too happy to say the least. How would you feel if one of your songs was used to torture someone? I am sure you would be horrified.

Well, Michael Stipe of REM, along with twenty or so other artists have aired their disgust, and have banned together and formed Close Gitmo Now.   

A little info on Gitmo first, before we get into which performers are saying Gitmo has to go.

Gitmo has held nearly 800 detainees in it’s history. An alarming majority of those detainees were never charged, nor went to trial. Only THREE of those detainees have ever been convicted of a crime.To keep Gitmo open is costing tax payers MILLIONS.

So what did the spokesman for the CIA say when it came to using music as torture?
He said nuh-uh.

George Little, a CIA spokesman said:

“music was used only for security, rather than “punitive purposes”

And in a 2005 CIA document, it stated,

“loud music or white noise was needed “to mask sound and prevent communication among detainees”

So what tunes and artists made it to the Gitmo “top 20″?

According to the National Security Archive, they used anything from the Meow Mix jingle, to the Barney theme song. They used such artists as Marylin Manson to Britney Spears. Although the Meow Mix jingle and the Barney theme song both make me cringe and is enough to drive anyone buggy, at ANY volume… I wonder if the Meow Mix or the Barney people have a problem with the fact their music was used at Gitmo? I haven’t heard anything from either of them and I have to say, if they don’t have a problem with it, then I have a problem with them.

Why would they use the Meow Mix jingle and the Barney theme if it was just “to mask sound and prevent communication among detainees”?
And why were detainees subjected to “variable light patterns” while this music was played? Is the CIA going to say they wanted to have a disco effect for the detainees? Although it really wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

If the CIA claims are true, then why didn’t they just use classical music at non dangerous levels without light patterns? The term liar liar pants on fire comes to mind.

Another little pesky factor besides the CIA not having the permission of the artists to use their music, is the fact that the artist’s music was used as an interrogation tool.

So which artists are pissed and saying close Gitmo now ?
Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Brown, REM, Pearl Jam, Roseanne Cash just to name a few.

Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Brown

Roseanne Cash recently appeared on The Daily Show with John Stewart to tell everyone about the petition they have created which people can sign at www.closegitmonow.org

The BBC recently reported:

REM call for Guantanamo closure

Rock bands including Pearl Jam and REM have joined a coalition of musicians to support the US president’s efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

The National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, which also includes former military officers, launched on Tuesday.

Many of the artists who have signed up are angry that their music was used as an interrogation tool in the jail.

But CIA spokesman George Little said music was used only for security, rather than “punitive purposes”.

In a statement, REM said: “We have spent the past 30 years supporting causes related to peace and justice. To now learn that some of our friends’ music may have been used as part of the torture tactics without their consent or knowledge, is horrific. It’s anti-American, period.”

Other artists to sign up to the coalition include Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, Roseanne Cash, Billy Bragg, Bonnie Raitt and Rage Against The Machine.

On behalf of the campaign, the National Security Archive in Washington is filing a Freedom of Information Act request seeking classified records that detail the use of loud music as an interrogation device.

‘Terrify and punish’

A report published in November 2008 by the Senate Armed Services Committee report, has already made several references to the technique.

In one case interrogators played records to “stress” a prisoner, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who believed music was forbidden.

In 2003, he was questioned while being “exposed to variable lighting patterns” and repeated plays of a song called Let the Bodies Hit the Floor by the band Drowning Pool.

Jayne Huckerby, from New York University’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, said loud music was also played at clandestine prisons run by the CIA.

Following an early information request, Ms Huckerby received a CIA document dated December 2005 in which the agency explained that the use of loud music or white noise was needed “to mask sound and prevent communication among detainees”.

She argued that such sounds were not a “benign security tool,” but a way “to humiliate, terrify, punish, disorient and deprive detainees of sleep, in violation of international law”.

According to the National Security Archive, tracks by AC/DC, Britney Spears, the Bee Gees and Marilyn Manson were used at Guantanamo.

The Meow mix cat food jingle, the Barney theme song and an assortment of Sesame Street tunes also were played into detainees’ cells.

But the CIA insisted any music was played “at levels far below a live rock band”.

And Major Diana Haynie, a spokeswoman for Joint Task Force Guantanamo, said loud music has not been used with detainees since the fall of 2003.

Barack Obama pledged to close the Guantanamo detention camp by January, but Republican opposition in Congress has made fulfilling that promise look less likely.

 

So one of the reasons that Gitmo remains open is due to Republican opposition?
Although I am certianly not surprised by this…. WHY ARE THEY OPPOSED?
What reasons could the Republicans have to want to keep Gitmo going?

The NY Times stated that the estimated annual cost to operate Guantánamo Bay is anywhere from $90 million to $118 million. There are 226 detainees left at Gitmo. That is a cost of $400.000 to $520.000 per detainee. To incarcerate a prisoner in a supermax prison would be $75,000 in the US. Is anyone paying attention to this simple math? Get the facts

At a time when the US is in such an economic mess due to the carnage that was left behind by the lovely Bush administration, perhaps the millions of dollars spent on keeping Gitmo open can be used elsewhere? Ya think?

Now before our comment section turns into a shouting match between Republicans and Democrats…..
and people telling me to get my facts straight, (I only report what is out there) remember that this article is about how horrible it was to use an artist’s music to torture people AND the fact that their music was used without their consent. Not to mention what it costs to keep Gitmo going.

So if you have a comment about Close Gitmo Now or the musicians who started the petition, then that is fine. But if you want to argue about what Obama has done or not done to clean up Bush’s mess that he left behind, or the BS spin and scare tactics that the Republicans are using when it comes to the health care plan, (you know who you are, you silly teabaggers) OR if you are a Michael Bolton fan, then please go argue elsewhere. *SNICKER*

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Way back in the days when vampires used to be scary instead of sexy….
Halloween was a different beast. 

In elementary school, we would get dressed up in our costumes and march around the different classrooms in the Halloween parade. We scarfed down orange frosted cupcakes and candy right in the middle of the school day. Man, that was really living!

Going Trick or Treatin’ back in the day was also very different than today. It was an art form. 

I lived smack dab in the middle of suburbia. Our house was situated within a continual maze of friendly streets and adjoining neighborhoods. We would carefully map out the best route for the most possible coverage. This  of course would insure that we would come home with a giant sack of Halloween goodness. We would travel which seemed like miles away from our house to accomplish this.

Every year we made it a point to visit the trick or treatin’ hot spots. Like the lady who always came to the door with a bowl of nickles. She used to let us grab as many as we can with one try. For some reason I can’t see that happening today, nor would kids think that it would be much of big deal to get nickles. Well, quarters maybe. *snicker*

I remember dressing up as a gypsy EVERY single year and wearing the same skirt which was passed down from my two older sisters. The costume was topped off with a kerchief on my head worn sideways, a single gold earring sewn to the kerchief and two circles of rouge on my face. (not very PC back in those days)

Every year my mother would add a few extra buttons and bells to the skirt so it would jingle when I walked ran from house to house. It really didn’t matter what my costume looked like, since my mother ALWAYS made me wear my coat over it. Of course this annoyed me to no end and sweat would always pour down my face from wearing too many clothes.

I remember one year my mother actually broke down and bought me a costume, after caving in to my sad puppy dog eyes. We were never allowed to bug my parents for things, and I always cringed when my father would say “well..we’ll see”. That used to drive me totally nuts.
 
At the department store I picked out my favorite costume out of the stack of boxes on the table, and my mother gave me the very serious ”ARE YOU SURE?” 
I nodded my head yes like a bobble head doll. Needless to say, I was beside myself with joy.

Looking back, I get so silly when I think about that costume today. It was either a princess or cinderella costume, I don’t think the box even specified. It was nothing more than a shiny piece of blue fabric cut into a square which had a slit in the back at the top of the neck with strings to tie it closed. And it probably cost all of $2.98, if that. 

“The gown” had yellow lines painted down the front to give the illusion that it had some sort of shape, and to make it look more ”gown like”. The plastic mask that came with it had blonde hair with pink painted lips that sported an eternal smile. It really was a piece of crap. But to me, this costume was the creme de la creme.

I remember I could hardly eat my dinner that night, as I knew trick or treating was just an hour away and I had visions of fellow trick or treaters ooohing and ahhhing over my magestic costume and I couldn’t wait to show it off.

I hurriedly gobbled down my dinner and put on my costume AND my coat,  *grumble* grabbed my pillow case and bolted out the door with my sisters. By the time I got to the end of the driveway, I noticed that trying to see out of my princess mask was going to be quite the challenge, especially in the dark. My eyelashes were rubbing up against the eye holes which of course were cut way too small. I didn’t notice any problem before when I tried it on in the house in the bathroom mirror. I guess I was too busy admiring the mask and did not pay attention to it’s functionality. Besides, I didn’t want my mother to think that I had made a bad choice.

My mask problems coupled with the fact that I was running in a tube sock shaped gown and trying to keep up with my sisters, didn’t make trick or treating very easy. By the time I got to the forth house, I was struggling to climb the stairs. Mainly because I just couldn’t see the stairs through the slits in that stupid mask. A layer of sweat was starting to form between my face and the mask and the elastic was already starting to tangle in my hair every time I adjusted it, which was every five minutes. I was no longer liking my princess costume and I found myself wishing that I had worn that dern gypsy skirt again.

But all that seemed to dissapear into the night as my pillow case bulged with precious candy.
FREE CANDY!

Going back home with my “loot” for the evening, I always had mixed emotions. Should I have gone down one more street? Maybe get one more Crunch bar?

Of course since my sisters were much older, many times they would drop me off and go back out. But that didn’t bother me. I was sweaty, tired and looking forward to the best part of the evening …
which was the almighty candy sort.

Apples (why did people hand out apples?) and unwrapped candy were tossed immediately and all the yucky candy like Mary Janes and “old people hard candy” was thrown in the “icky” pile. My Dad always had dibbs on the Hershey candy bars with almonds, but I didn’t mind one bit. It wasn’t my favorite candy bar back then.

I think my favorite candy bars as a child were Milky Ways and Nestle Crunch Bars. Besides my other candy favorites, which were Candy Dots, Twizzlers, Chuckles, (not the green one) Good n Plenty, Pixie Stix, and Jujubes. I never liked the wax whistles and lips. I couldn’t understand why kids would chew on those huge balls of wax. Yuck! Even back then I thought that was gross. 
Ironically today, my favorite candy bar is the Hershey bar with almonds. I find it’s simplicity equisite. *snicker*
But Good n Plenty and Twizzlers are still very dear to my heart.

So back to the trick or treating after glow….
My parents would let me choose a few pieces of candy to eat and then it was off to bed. Another one of my favorite holidays was done for the year. But at least the candy would last for weeks.

These days, I don’t hand out candy on Halloween any more.
I used to.
I would make trays of goodie bags stuffed with candy and even dressed up to hand the candy out. But now I only make goodie bags for the little ones in my neighborhood of the families of whom I am friendly with.

I stopped handing out candy when I noticed that there were really BIG and much older kids that were trick or treating. College kids. Most of these older kids didn’t even wear costumes when they came to my door. Apparently to them, wearing a “hoodie” with the hood up was considered costume.

Some of the kids, although younger, were being dropped off by their parents by CAR. An SUV would pull up on the corner of our street and about 5-8 kids would jump out. Can you imagine that? Trick or treating by car? That’s all I would have to do is ask my parents to drive us around trick or treating. They would have laughed us into the following year. NOBODY did that back then. Besides, what fun would that have been?

So between the trick or treating college kids and the other kids that were being bussed into our neighborhood, it just kind of disgusted me and I said that’s it, no more.

We decided to turn off our lights and keep our door closed. We thought that would suffice. After all, when were were kids, we never went to houses that didn’t have lights on, that was the rule. But that didn’t stop the kids around my way from ringing our bell and knocking on the door. So rather than sitting through the constant door bell ringing while trying to watch TV, we said the hell with it and decided to go out for dinner.

Our Halloween tradition these days consists of going out to dinner and perhaps a cocktail.
Gone are the days of making trays of goodie bags and going to costume parties and staying out till all hours of the night.

Tomorrow night, I will wear my black jacket and my rhinestone spider pin out to dinner. That is the extent of my costume these days. Although today I don’t have to wear my coat over it if I don’t want to. *snicker*

And to my Mom…
for all the years I put up such a fuss when I was a kid about wearing that hand me down gypsy skirt another year, I have to admit that the store bought princess costume that you reluctantly bought me was not nearly as grand as I imagined it would be. I guess mothers are always right. 

Who would of thought that the gypsy skirt that I loathed so much as a child, would end up being my fondest memory of Halloween today. *smile*

A very safe and Happy Halloween to you all!

If your planning a trip to the Big Apple, perhaps you might fancy a celebrity to show you around town? Who wouldn’t like that? Well, it’s completley possible now. Huh? Yep! I kid you not. A company called The Big Apple Greeters has been hooking up celebs with tourists to really give them a big welcome to New York City. One couple who participated in a tour, even had lunch with their celeb!
Now before you start thinking that this little outing would only be  a pipe dream because it would be way out of your price range, think again… IT’S ABSOLUTELY FREE!
What’s the catch? NONE! Well, of course they are not going to pay for your hotel or how you get there. DUH. But the tour is FREE!

The Big Apple Greeters have been around since 1992, and have volunteers showing out of towners their neighborhoods, and other places of interest. But now the greeters include volunteer celebrities. Tiki Barber and Sopranos star Dominic Chianese were on hand at City Hall recently to advertise that they are more than willing to hang out with people for the day. How cool is that?
I am sure NY would be a lot more fun if Dominic aka Corrado Jr. Soprano who was born and raised in the Bronx showed you around the Bronx and then shared a plate of ronies and some Chianti after. Salute!

The Associated Press reported:

NYC group offers literal way to follow the stars.
Tourists like to spot celebrities in New York City. Now they can hang out with them.
A volunteer tour organization called Big Apple Greeters is offering free personalized tours led by celebrities. Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber and “Sopranos” star Dominic Chianese were at City Hall on Wednesday to advertise their services.

Barber says he recently showed a Colorado couple around town and had lunch with them at one of his favorite spots.

Chianese says he loves New York and wants to show visitors a good time.

Organizers say celebrity hosts can’t be requested and will be randomly assigned. The tours are free.

Really, how can you beat this offer? Someone can show you NY who really knows and loves the area, you get to meet a celebrity and hang out, take some pics to show off your friends and family and again, it is FREE!
Sounds like it’s too good to be true!
But don’t take my word for it, you can visit their website and see for yourself.

Some snippets from the Big Apple Greeters website:

Founded in 1992 with a mission to enhance New York City’s worldwide image and enrich the New York experience by connecting visitors with knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers. Big Apple Greeter’s core program is its free-of-charge Greeter program which connects visitors with New Yorkers of all ages, conversant in over 20 languages. Greeters, who are all volunteers, accompany visitors on 2-4 hour informal visits to New York City’s neighborhoods in all five boroughs.

Big Apple Greeter is a non-profit organization that matches visitors with friendly and enthusiastic New Yorkers who are happy to share the city they love. A wonderful experience for families, friends and individuals traveling solo, Greeters help travelers feel welcome and get more from their stay in the Big Apple.

The New Yorkers who serve as Greeters are all volunteers, come from varied backgrounds and can welcome visitors in 22 languages. The office staff, also mostly volunteers, matches Greeters to visitors according to language, neighborhoods requested, and interests, when possible.

Who knows, maybe you will get the chance to be rub elbows with Donald Trump over some caviar in the city that never sleeps! Well I wouldn’t consider that much of a treat, and I highly doubt The Donald (eeew) would volunteer his precious time, of course unless it involved making him money in some way. For me? I would rather hang with Dominic Chianese any day.
I think this is a GREAT program and I totally approve! And the FREE part aint’ so bad either!

The Big Apple Awaits You!

But what they ended up with was Big Bang Fact:  If one uses enough explosives, one will rock a town:

“It was a boom that was just — I had never heard anything like that before, it was really weird,” said Sherril Stephens.

The explosion was so big it shook the town of Esparto, knocking Stephens off her couch and breaking her front window.

“Course all the neighbors ran out into the street. We didn’t know what was going on,” said Paul Williams, who heard the explosion.

Some people said they thought it was a plane crash, others, a house explosion.

The smoke and dust rose from the site about a mile from town.

It turns out the Discovery channel’s Mythbusters were taping an episode there.

They were trying to literally “knock the socks off” a mannequin by igniting 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate. But the explosion was a lot bigger than they expected.

“It felt like a house blew up, straight up,” said Paul Williams.

Williams was working at local school when he said he heard and felt the big boom.

“We were just scrambling to find out what was going on because we got kids out on the playground,” Williams said.

Williams said the school and others in town should have been notified the blast was going to happen.

Chief Barry Burns, of Esparto Fire Department, had several firefighters on hand for the explosion. He said he made the decision not to notify anyone in town for safety sake.

“Mythbusters is supposed to be a really popular show. Everybody would have been out there. We would have had to cancel it because it would have been too dangerous,” Burns said.

For most people like Stephens they don’t mind the inconvenience.

Stephens’ window was replaced that same day compliments of Mythbusters.

“It was fun, really fun,” Stephens said.

Now, she said she can’t wait to see the show.

Mythbusters told KCRA 3 they replaced a handful of broken windows.

There is no word on when the episode they taped there will air.

Hay guize…I got some windows that could do with some replacing that I can’t afford to have done, so if you ever want to tape an episode where you blow something up in a cornfield surrounded by more cornfield, feel free to give me a holla, okay?  (brosnanfan (at) gmail (dot) com)

I know that the video (the sound cuts out towards the end, I don’t know why, it isn’t my video, who are you to judge???) is not of the explosion mentioned in the article, but it is cool nonetheless, and it is one of my favorites…of course, featuring the exploding pen from GoldenEye.  What did you expect from me?  How long you been reading here?

That’s all I got.  And remember…please don’t try this at home.  We’re what you call experts.  I’m outta here!

Thank God, it’s Friday!

I was just transported back to 1987 when I saw this video.  I totally remember when this movie came out…yeah, it was pretty cheezy and corny, but come on.  Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd.  Whaddya gonna do?

I love how Dan is just basically doing the Blues Brothers dance with a new partner.  He only knows a few steps, but the ones he knows he does with conviction, and isn’t that what counts?  And what’s not to like about Tom Hanks, pre-Oscar?  He’s still in his nutty, zany phase in this movie, and so what?  He wears it well.  (Oh, and cookie if you catch the one second clip at the end.)

This movie holds a special place in my heart…no, not because of its wonderful cinematic qualities or the many awards it won or because of the uplifting, heartwarming message it conveys, but because I had a best friend/pseudo boyfriend (he never really could make up his mind, which is probably why he never moved up the ladder to “real boyfriend”) at the time who was Dan Aykroyd’s Joe Friday personified.  He looked like him, he dressed like him, he acted like him, he could do the Joe Friday impression, he even worked in the police station and had a blue shirt.  Ah, memories…

Maybe I’m sharing too much with you people.

I so know what DVD I’m gonna rent this weekend!

Well, that’s all I got.  Now you kids be good and be sure to put away your goatskin pants when you’re done with them.  I’m outta here!

You won’t have Michael Jackson to kick around any more!

Well, he did it…Michael Jackson, frail and tottering and acting drugged, made the announcement that he is definitely playing London one last time (I’ll still believe it when I see it):

[The] trembling, gaunt figure in front of the microphone stumbled over his words just long enough to tell everyone he loved them – before saying an emotional goodbye. [...]

‘This really is it,’ he said. ‘When I say this is it, it really means this is it.’

And just in case anyone failed to pick up on the message, he added: ‘This is the final curtain call.’

Quite whether that was worth a five-hour wait in the refrigerator temperatures of the 02 Arena was the subject of much discussion afterwards among those who had so loyally endured the queueing marathon.

What was billed as a press conference turned out to be four minutes that failed to change the world. But, don’t worry. There will doubtless be masses of hyped up non-events like this one throughout what is certain to become the Summer of Jacko. [...]

It has been 12 years since he toured, the last several of which have been shadowed by erratic behaviour, tarnished reputation and concerns over his health.

He might have been punching the air and giving victory signs yesterday but his heavily-caked face failed to mask the uncomfortable impression that here was a middle-aged man who looked and acted as if he was on painkillers.

Now, don’t forget this is in London, so you’re going to have to pony up some dough; after you pay air fare, tickets for Michael’s shows should run around $70-$106 USD (£50 and £75 UKP).

Also this week, Britney Spears kicked off her new Circus tour, with tickets going anywhere from $90-$750 a pop.  So, this beggars the question:  In this recession, when people are losing their homes and being laid off left and right and wondering just how they are going to put dinner on the table, would YOU pay that kind of money for tickets?  I think you already know my answer.

Thinking of these two also brought to mind this snippet, talking about how both Brit and Michael are horrors to work with in the recording studio:

If only Britney Spears could sing in studio the way she’s able to cash in on her All American smile she’d be much more pleasant to work with, according to one of her New York record producers. The shapelessness of her psyche during recording sessions transcends into a living recording hell. The incensed producer said Spears has the blank schizoid fever of white southern trash when it comes to laying down her vox. “She’s the only artist I’ve ever worked with where it takes at least 250 takes to record a vocal,” the producer told IUC. “If you could hear just her voice tracks on solo play you’d have to block your ears. You hear the blank tones of her annoying southern drawl. Simon Cowell would have a heart attack hearing her.”
Another pop icon the producer had stirring memories working with was Michael Jackson. “Michael was impossible to deal with from the second he stepped in my studio,” the Grammy award winning producer said. “He requested mineral water from Norway and refused to wear headphones to record his vocal. That’s the biggest nightmare to work with. Imagine, no headphones and all the background noise filtering through. It’s almost impossible to clean up in post production.”

Searching through videos, I found this little gem of Michael and Britney performing together at Madison Square Garden in 2001  (sadly, shortly before the terrorist attacks).  It shows that even as recently as 2001, Michael could still sorta-kinda bring it (even though this was basically a rehash of a previous Grammy performance) and Britney looked pretty good pre-Kevin, although all Brit does is wander back and forth across the stage and shakes her booty a little while leaving Michael to do the actual work.  It just ticks me off that they goofed with a great MJ song…you know, from back when he was actually trying.  Putting Brit’s voice on there made it toothachingly awful…at least we know Michael can sing when he wants to.

Well, y’all enjoy…I’m outta here!

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Psych is one of the best shows on television you’re not watching.  Basically, Shawn is not a psychic but he had to pretend to be one in the pilot to get out of trouble with the cops…he notices everything because he was trained by his retired cop father to grow up and be a detective.  Only he grew up to be a loser, until he started pretending to be psychic.  Not only is it funny, not only is James Roday the hawtness, not only does it have The Best Theme Song Currently On TV (I have it on my mp3 player), but in the Tuesday The 17th episode, it got rickrolled.  Sort of.  Dude!

This part doesn’t have the prologue, where there is always a flashback, but here’s the back story:  Shawn and Gus (the two guys in the clip, best friends since grade school) went to summer camp every year where they always paired up in the Camp Pinata Contest.  Well, one year Gus teamed up with golden boy Jason Cunningham and won with a pineapple pinata (you search for the pineapple in every episode) while Shawn, who made a pinata in the likeness of Rick Astley, got stuck working with the kid who wore a jacket all week (complete with obligatory Star Wars reference).  Shawn got so mad at Gus that he drowned his Rick Astley pinata in the lake with a chain anchored to a rock.  Which leads to the theme song, which leads to this opening clip.

Oh, and if you ever wondered what happened to Mallory from Family Ties, she makes an appearance in this episode.  That’s all I’m gonna say.

The whole episode is a takeoff on the Friday The 13th movies.  You have to watch this show!  Srsly.  It’s on Friday nights, 10 PM EST, USA Network.  Set your DVR.  You can also watch episodes online at the link above.

Oh, the Reese’s Cups reference in the title?  I dunno, it’s just how my brain works.

In between the lines there’s a lot of obscurity
I’m not inclined to resign to maturity…

That’s my motto…be good this weekend, I’m outta here!

I remember back in 1993 when Conan did his first show.  I only had one kid, I recorded it on VHS tape, and I was prepared to hate him.  After all, he was stepping into the show which my boy David Letterman had made famous, and he got that sweet gig only because NBC had decided to go with the safer Jay Leno instead of giving The Tonight Show to Dave after the retirement of the late, great Johnny Carson.  I remember watching the first show, and laughing in spite of myself at Conan’s wry way of poking fun at himself.

Now, here we are in 2009…Conan himself is getting ready to take over the hosting duties of Tonight, Dave has carved out his own unique niche over at CBS, Jay is gearing up for his own variety-type show at 10 PM.  How things can change.  It took Conan until about 1996 to truly find his footing, and he was famously on thirteen-week extensions of his contract for a long time until he finally figured out how to showcase his unique brand of humor.  On his 10th Anniversary Show, Mr. T came out and presented him a medal with a 7 on it:

O’Brien: But Mr. T, we’ve been on the air for ten years!

Mr. T: I know that, fool, but you only been funny for seven!

Tonight is Conan’s last Late Night (wow, I swear it seems like yesterday that he just got there…isn’t that something only old people say?):

Over the past week, his last as host of NBC’s “Late Night,” Conan O’Brien has taken to entering the NBC headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center from the ice-rink side, breaking with his long routine of coming in from Avenue of the Americas.

“I was just determined that in the last few days I would walk through the front and into that main entrance,” Mr. O’Brien said. “I know I won’t come this way again.”

He added, “I’ll probably cry like a baby on Friday night.” [...]

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have reservations about how Conan will fit into the earlier time slot.  He’s already had to leave some of his best-known gags behind because of censor issues and the earlier time is usually more traditional than edgy:

What he creates on “Tonight” will inevitably be different, he said, in ways still to be determined. Several other late-night producers privately question whether Mr. O’Brien’s comedy style — which he himself defines as more silly than sophisticated — will translate to the more traditional “Tonight” show. A competitor who would speak on the record, Rob Burnett of the Letterman show, said: “I think Conan will succeed. He’s a really smart, really funny guy.”

Plus, let’s face it, Leno going to the 10 PM slot probably wasn’t the news Conan was waiting all his life to hear:

Warren Littlefield, who was NBC’s top program executive when Mr. Leno began at “Tonight” in 1992, said: “Sure, Conan is still getting the ‘Tonight Show,’ but who are we kidding? Call it what you will. But if NBC hasn’t done it yet, you know they are going to at some point be saying: ‘Late night begins at 10 o’clock.’ ” [...]

Mr. Leno made clear in an interview in December that he envisions his show as another late-night entity, despite the prime-time location.

“Even though it’s 10 o’clock, we’re going to pretend it’s 11:30,” Mr. Leno had said. As to guests, he added, “I think we will have an advantage in saying to press agents: It’s prime time. We reach a wider audience.” [...]

After the announcement Mr. O’Brien’s representatives said they preferred this outcome to the prospect of Mr. Leno landing at ABC — his most likely destination — and going head-to-head with “Tonight.” But the move gave Mr. O’Brien pause for about “an hour and 45 minutes,” he said. “The 10 p.m. thing, Monday through Friday, I don’t think that was something anybody necessarily saw coming.

“I took some time before I went to my producer and said: ‘In this scenario I’m still hosting that show that Johnny Carson had that I watched with my father in my living room, right?’ And he said, ‘Yes, you are.’ And I said, ‘Then I’m good.’ ”

Known for an affable demeanor uncommon to the often cutthroat world of television stars, Mr. O’Brien professed relief that NBC found a way to keep Mr. Leno in house.

“Of all the alternatives in the universe, this one honestly does work best for me,” he said. “I didn’t want to suddenly be perceived as this person who forced someone into a bad position. I wouldn’t be comfortable in that role.”

And here’s a bit of Conan trivia that I didn’t know…according to the article, NBC actually gave Conan the axe one night, only to change their mind the next morning.  Oh yeah, I’ll bet that was fun.

Anyway, I thought you might like to see what things were like back in the day.  I’ll be tuning in to watch the show tonight, only I’ll put it on DVR instead of VHS.  Oh, and for a little bit of Conan fun that I can’t post here, here’s the End Of The Show Song, the part that is never on TV!

Enjoy a blast from the past…that’s all I got, I’m outta here!

A little early, I know, but I wanted to share it with all my GlossLip friends before I head out for the weekend.  (Yeah, head out…to the other room!  But if I close my eyes, it’s a vacation in my head.)  So, I wanted to share a very romantic scene from one of my absolute favorite movies, the A&E/BBC version of Pride and Prejudice.  If you’re looking for a romantic movie to watch this weekend, I can’t recommend a better one.  I love the book, but there are times when I simply must watch the movie.

And Colin Firth is teh awsumness.

Don’t eat too many conversation hearts, be safe, and enjoy yourselves…I’m outta here!

While seeing Ed McMahon shilling for a gold-digging website gave me a bit of a start, I have to admit the ad is pretty funny.  At least the man has work!

And of course, seeing MC Hammer made me nostalgic for baggy-crotch pants, fade haircuts, and really big medallions.

Either work hard or u might as well quit!

That’s all I got…I’m outta here, everybody have a nice and safe and fun weekend!