R.I.P: Roger Ebert - My Memories of Him & The Screening We Both Attended

When I was a kid one of my favorite programs was a movie review show called "Sneak Previews" on public access. It featured Gene Siskel and Pulitzer Prize winner for criticism, Roger Ebert....

I sat glued to the TV set every time it was on, well the show eventually evolved into the nationally syndicated network television hit "At The Movies" when Siskel passed away he was replaced with Richard Roeper, Ebert remained with it from the beginning until the end of it's run.

Roger Ebert's criticisms were some of my favorites, I always liked him more than Siskel, but sometimes Roeper gave him more a run for his money in my opinion.

Also I do have a personal story about Roger Ebert to share. I went to a screening of a movie titled: "White Sands" at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, CA. starring, get this, Willem Dafoe, Mickey Rourke and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.

When the movie ended and the lights went up, I saw Roger Ebert get up and try to walk down the aisle. Little did I realize how much sitting in a chair could hide just how overweight you are. Yep, Ebert's stomach was so huge he could not see his own feet let alone the ground, and he missed one of the stairs in the aisle, he stumbled, but did not fall. I laughed not out of any maliciousness, more about the absurdity of the situation.

Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert

He looked at no one in particular and said something about how he could not see the stairs. Well, uh....

Ebert was a class act who did not mince words in his reviews or in life, and he will always be a fond memory for me, he was part of the reason I love movies, his reviews not only criticized they would educate about the art of film.

TV Watch: Norman, Is That You? "Bates Motel"

Being a hardcore Alfred Hitchcock fan and having yet another spin-off made of my favorite Hitchcock film "Psycho" as usual, my curiosity was piqued, yet my dread was building...let's face it, no other Hitchcock masterpiece has been ripped off, paid homage to or had as many sequels or related projects made based on it than the king "Psycho".

With pretty much all of it being disastrous! OK all of it with the exception, of "Psycho 3" with the late great Anthony Perkins, which was genuinely disturbing and had religious imagery that Mr. Hitchcock would have been proud to call his own.

Now, what to say about "Bates Motel" a prequel of Norman Bate's formative years BKMC (before killing Marion Crane) - the fact that it is set in modern times, for me is a little distracting, but the essence of the story and characters are there, so I will give that part a pass.

Also on the plus side we should all be grateful Gus Van Sant has no part in this (the biggest and most horrible blemish on his resume a shot by shot remake of "Psycho") which as a huge fan I went to out of morbid curiosity...it was awful and really should have killed the careers of the the two leads (which seem finally dead now) being void of talent and charisma Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche.

Freddie Highmore & Vera Farmiga

That can not be said for this multiple take on Norman Bates and his Mother Norma...Freddie Highmore as Norman and Vera Farmiga as Norma are very talented, capable actors with charisma to burn. Oedipus didn't see his mother coming either...FYI.

Of course this is the central relationship to the story, and Norman seems like a fairly well adjusted young man despite his Mother's overbearing, control freak ways...until around episode three, yep we are starting to see the cracks in Norman's veneer...the more his Mother uses and abuses him and the more things in their world become unraveled, the more young Norman does too.

It does not help that our youthful Norman has some help pushing him, other than his "psycho" Mother, in the form of an equally unbalanced half brother named Dylan expertly played by Max Theiriot.

What do I think of the show overall? Other than the distraction of having it set in modern times, I am intrigued from week to week, the show plays to fans of the great film that was "Psycho" and is a stand alone for the uninitiated. Hey, it's been keeping me interested....and is the best use of the source material since the original and third sequel, let's face it no one will ever be Alfred Hitchcock, but they can at least do an honorable homage and not crap all over a classic like Gus Van Sant....

"Bates Motel' airs on A&E at 10pm on Mondays

Ponyboy Likes "Dick, Dick, Dick"

Lawrence, Kansas based trash rockers & "Entertain Me" favorites Ponyboy are unzipping their latest "Dick, Dick, Dick" a homage about their love of Dick Cheney on April 9th....NOT! April Fools, only the part about Dick Cheney.

Yes, the boys are releasing the abovementioned CD on April the 9th but it's about the fun kind of dick, not the jerk kind...

Here to tell us about it are Ponyboy themselves, Charles McVey and David Zey!

MS: You guys just got done rehearsing are you all hot and sweaty?

DZ: Yes Sir!

MS: This must be David, how are you boy?

DZ: Good Sir!

MS: That's my boy! It's interesting how with this CD you guys are back to where you started with your insightful, satirical social commentary of your first CD "Little Dick Demo" after venturing into really dark territory with your sophomore CD about serial killer Luka Magnotta "Pussy Killer".

CMcV: The songs from "Little Dick Demo" and "Dick, Dick, Dick" were written at the same time, within the first year of us being a band. That's why they have that familiarity to it. This album is a lot more representative of what we sound like live, I think, where "Pussy Killer" had a lot of bells and whistles in it.

This Shit is Bananas: Charles McVey and David Zey

MS: "Pussy Killer" was really brilliant, but very dark, I think you guys music goes above most people's heads.

CMcV: Sometimes we do piss people off, because they are not looking deeper into what our music is saying. That's OK with me, I was always interested in artists who had some sort of depth to them, we usually  have two layers of ideas involved in our songs. Whether it be satirical or with some kind of homo angst all kind of wrapped together, very tongue in cheek.

MS: It was interesting to me that you are back to the basic origin of your musical themes and you took a unexpected detour as soon as you did, with "Pussy Killer" - It still jelled with your identity as a band, but...

CMcV: Well, the "Dick, Dick, Dick" record was already in production when we did "Pussy Killer". "Pussy Killer" really would have been a later release, but we wanted to release it on Luka Magnotta's 30th Birthday. Therefore there was a time factor involved.

MS: You guys are influenced by a lot of classic imagery, it reminds me of classic Madonna when she would take older references and make them her own.

CMcV: Definitely! I like Madonna a lot! I don't really keep up with contemporary pop music but I like her better than Brittney Spears.

MS: You guys really push buttons, like Ms. M, what line wouldn't you cross?

DZ: No shit and no blood!

MS: Rumor has it Grumpy Cat hates Ponyboy.

DZ: Oh yeah, I saw that. Someone made a Grumpy Cat hating us. Was that you?

MS: Uh, no I saw it and laughed. Being hated by Grumpy Cat is very special actually.

CMcV: I think so too.

MS: What do you think of freeballing?

CMcV: I'm a fan!

MS: David?

DZ: I prefer it, generally speaking. I don't like underwear, it's just extra bullshit you have to wear.

MS: Unless I am going out to a function or something, I freeball the other day when I looked in the mirror I noticed I tent out. (laughs)

DZ: No one would see the ridge of my dick if I didn't do it otherwise. (laughs)

MS: Exactly! That's important. (laughs) One last question, how did you guys meet?

DZ: On Craigslist. My Ex-Boyfriend like to hook up with dudes off of Craigslist. I was never really into that it felt really awkward to me. Anyway my X was into that bullshit, and he came across an ad in the men for men section - it was an ad looking for other gay musicians in the area. He hollered to me: "Honey, look at this Craigslist ad that I found". I'm like, Fuck no seriously I'm not into it. He's like: "It's different, this one's different, it's asking for musicians". So, I just responded: "I am gay I like metal, hardcore and rock-n-roll...I play drums, guitar, etc"...We got together jammed a few times and it all worked out.

MS: Very cool. It's a good marriage, don't you think?

Both: Yes!

"Dick, Dick, Dick" releases April 9th.

Ride Ponyboy at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ponyboy/143896842344210

http://www.youtube.com/ponyboymusicltd

 http://ponyboymusicltd.bandcamp.com/

I Have An "Alien Ant Farm" In Africa

Ei ei ooooooooooooo.....

Multi-Platinum Alt-Rockers ALIEN ANT FARM

Post Sneak Preview of New Song

Multi platinum rockers Alien Ant Farm have shared a sneak peak of one of their new songs "Let Em Know"....

About Alien Ant Farm:

Since the formation of Alien Ant Farm in 1995, the quartet has enjoyed worldwide success. Over the course of their four studio albums, cumulative sales surpass five million units a Grammy nomination and 4 top 10 singles. The band built a massive following on the road early in their career via high profile 2001 runs with Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Warped, and as the headliner on an MTV presented Fall Tour. In 2002, fame spread across the world, bringing Alien Ant Farm to the major European festivals, Australia's Big Day Out and a headline run in Japan. The following year they returned to Europe with Metallica, and to this day the band has steadily delivered audiences in territories across the globe. 

From the beginning, the clever humor of vocalist Dryden Mitchell and guitarist Terry Corso has delivered visual imagery that made the band vanguards in the realm of music video. All of the singles released received heavy rotation on MTV and MTV2, with "Smooth Criminal" was voted the #2 video of 2001 on MTV's countdown. They appeared on the channel's programs Celebrity Dismissed, MTV Cribs, and hosted House of Style. Alongside the massive support from cable, Alien Ant Farm were darlings of broadcast television with multiple appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and support from Carson Daly, Extra, CNN, Access Hollywood and Mad-TV amongst many more. With all the notoriety also came a 2001 Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2001.

The early history of the band began when the name came from a daydream Terry Corso had while employed at a day job. The concept revolves around the human species being cultivated by alien intelligence, and the colony forming much like it does in a traditional children's toy. In 1999, Alien Ant Farm self-released their debut titled Greatest Hits, which went on to win Best Independent Album at the L.A. Music Awards. In 2000, they signed to DreamWorks SKG, and went on to release Anthology. The following year, a cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" became a massive hit overseas, rising to #1 in Australia and New Zealand, and on the U.S. Modern Rock charts. It also rose to #3 in the U.K. To set the record straight on the inspiration behind choosing this song amongst the millions of copyrights, Corso shares, "When we were a young local band in SoCal, we'd play a different cover song by a different artist every show we would do. Wild unexpected stuff and sometimes not even songs we were that into. Just whatever was going on around us on the radio or whatever fit in with our inside jokes at that minute, from Ileah to Gary Glitter to The Police, we had a lot of fun with it. One week we had been throwing the idea of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" around the jam room, I believe someone had just watched Moonwalker again. The very next sow we played, we hadn't learned the whole song yet but decided to klunk the main riff out for fun, the crowd loved it and went a little crazy. After that we learned the entire song and super charged it. The rest is pretty much history." To this day, the cover is a crowd pleaser. This past October 8th, the band was asked to appear alongside Cee Lo Green, Smokey Robinson and The Jackson Family at the Michael Jackson Forever Tribute Concert in Cardiff, Wales.

In 2003, the Alien Ant Farm entered the studio with Stone Temple Pilots' Robert and Dean DeLeo and cut Truant. Unfortunately, they ran in to unforeseen adversity with the closure of their record label, offering an insurmountable obstacle to continue building on the band's successes. Still under contract to Universal, Geffen green-lit the opportunity for Alien Ant Farm to return to the studio. In 2005, they recorded with Jim Wirt, but that album was not released as scheduled. Alien Ant Farm chose to share it with with fans via a bootlegged version, which has affectionately been re-named 3rd Draft by the public. Looking back on the adversity the band went through, alongside the massive fame Mitchell reflects, "This Alien Ant Farm 'Wave' is a bigger, longer wave than I could have hoped for. All these years later, we are still intact. From friends to foes to friends again, this band is something special, and nothing short of tight and explosive." 

The next year in 2006 Up In The Attic was issued, and for the next several years the members went their separate ways reconvening in 2009 for performances in Kansas City, the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth, UK and at the WARPED Tour in memory of Michael Jackson. They were back, and come 2010 began to rebuild a legacy that grows with each passing month. The band staged a very successful tour over the Summer and Fall, where they road tested new material in front of the live audience. In the New Year, they'll release the new recordings. Mitchell shares, "The First batch of these new songs are pretty to the point and pissed. Angry, but not negative. That is possible in this non tangible, musical and lyrical world. Unfortunately not possible in the real world, and that's why I love music. I can get this all out without hurting anyone."

Come 2013 Alien Ant Farm will return, and the path for the future will unfold one day at a time. The band is hard at work on their new record "Always And Forever" (AAF) which will be release in the summer of 2013, guitarist Corso shares, "We are pretty excited for the year to come. We just came off of a three-month tour in the U.S. that made us realize that with the original line-up back together, we have fire and hunger again. With a fresh new collection, we hope to get our core fans excited, as well as turn some brand new listeners on to the ALIEN ANT FARM sound and show the world we have a lot more to offer than the average rock band.” Having the original members back in the line-up will give the fans what they have been waiting for." In summation, bassist Zamora offers, "Although we spent a couple of years apart and wrote our last record with only three original members, there is no denying the chemistry of the original four piece. The band, the show, and the songs are just better with all of the original members doing what they were born to do, being Alien Ant Farm." Drummer Cosgrove echoes, "It's good to have the original core back together." With strong repertoire, great attitudes, and a fan base that has been there every step of the way, the future is lining up nicely for Alien Ant Farm.

Go Meryl Streep and have an "Alien Ant Farm" in Africa - Ei ei oooooooooooo:

http://www.alienantfarm.com/

TV Watch: Jennifer Love Hewitt Proves How Handy She Is On "The Client List"

"Riley is a single mother living in a small Texas town and leading a shocking double life. Her secret would send shockwaves through the community and possibly land her in jail if it was ever exposed. Riley's taken a job at a seemingly traditional day spa, but soon realizes that the parlor offers a little more than just massage therapy. It's not the happy ending she was expecting but it does open her eyes to a world she's never seen before" - 

So goes the synopsis for the Lifetime series "The Client List" starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. While bored with everything on TV one night and having pretty much exhausted all of the things on my On Demand feature, I saw this listed on Lifetime and decided to give it a shot.

Now I know I am coming into season two (I was aware of the show, just never saw it before) and may have missed a lot of set-up from the first season, but as it turns out "The Client List" is much like tuning into a daytime soap you have not been following, not that hard to fill in the blanks and fit the pieces together as so you know what is going on. 

What can I say about this show, it is one of those things that is a guilty pleasure, like a plateful of cheese smothered nachos, you know it's bad for you, but damn it's fun!

Cybill Shepherd on The Client List

I happened upon the second episode of season two. The opening scene proves just how handy Jennifer Love Hewitt can be, literally. As Riley Parks the now owner of the abovementioned spa we see Ms. Hewitt giving a client a half hour long hand job and having having issues with wrist and shoulder fatigue in the process, that scene alone would have made the episode worth watching. 

Grudgingly I admit to being a fan of JLH, there is something very appealing about her, she is a good actress, but let's face it she's got a nice pair of assets and she is adorable even while giving a hand job. Thus her casting, I am sure, in the lead role, after all who is going to get offended by JLH being bad? No one, you actually sympathize and root for her, even while she is pressing high heels into the back of a public official. JLH brings humor, sexy and likability with her to every role she plays. 

BTW, can we talk about Cybill Shepherd as Riley's Mom "Linette Montgomery" who is blissfully unaware (although I'm not so sure) of Riley's double life.

Loretta Devine with Jennifer Love Hewitt "The Client List"

And the great Loretta Devine as "Georgia Cummings" Riley's best friend and former owner of the spa that Riley started at and now owns....

PS - there are plenty of hot guys on the show, but the female characters are definitely in charge!

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive" - Sir Walter Scott

Get your guilty pleasure on, and tune in to "The Client List" on Lifetime...

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/the-client-list

Margaret Cho Wants To Be Naked

Aroma Smells Like Bigotry

By Margaret Cho

Aroma Spa & Sports

This is a really beautiful Korean spa in Los Angeles. Korean spas are wonderful, and they hold a special place in my heart. I have been going to the jijilbang since I was a little girl in Korea. You can have a bath and a scrub and a sauna and usually a meal and other spa treatments if you like, and aroma is special because there’s a huge swimming pool, a state of the art gym and a golf range on the top floor.

I went this morning, had a gorgeous swim in the pool, then went downstairs to have a soak, scrub and sauna. As soon as I walked into the locker room, I felt uncomfortable. I guess I should mention here, Korean spas are, uh — well, clothing optional is not the right thing to call them. It’s more clothing non-optional, in that everyone is naked.

Perhaps I do get stared at a lot because I am a heavily tattooed woman, but I am also a Korean woman, and I feel I have the right to be naked in the Korean spa with other Korean women. I don’t feel shame that my skin is decorated. My tattoos are my glory. I am happy in my skin and I am not sure what to say when others are not happy with my skin.

I walked around from pool to pool, and I kept getting dirty looks from the ladies there. They would talk about me very negatively in Korean, and I just spoke loudly in Korean –- not back at them, but nicely –- saying “ahhh Jotah!” which means “this feels good” –- really at no one -– but just to show that I could understand what they were saying and they weren’t getting away with anything.

I walked into the huge sauna, naked, and sat there watching golf on tv –- they have a fucking tv in the sauna. How sweet is that? A few seconds later, a fully clothed young woman, I am guessing the manager of Aroma Spa, came into the sauna, looked around and walked back out. Then, I guess she mustered up the courage and came in again and asked me if I would come outside with her, as the sauna was too hot for her as she was fully dressed.

I walked out to next to the pools with her, and she sat me down on the wet bench and tried to tell me, very apologetically that I was making the women there upset with my heavily tattooed body. She was really sorry and embarrassed about it, and I felt bad, but I was actually enraged.

This is something I have never done -– I actually said, in Korean “Do you know who I am? I am MARGARET CHO!” She realized who I was, and she was horrified! She said she did know me, and had seen me and was familiar with my work, and she apologized even more profusely and tried to explain that in Korean culture, tattoos are very taboo and my body was upsetting everyone there. I told her I was aware of that, but that I really wanted to enjoy the spa and my treatments and I was going to pay for them, just like everyone else there (it’s pricey, by the way). She asked if I could please wear something, anything -– a towel or something –- and cover myself so that I wouldn’t frighten anyone with my body.

She brought me a robe and arranged for some nice extras in my treatments, by way of apology, or uh, whatever.

Even after donning a robe, I was still being given heavy duty Korean woman stinkeye as I moved from sauna to hot tub to pool. I would get into the pools, trying to stay as clothed as possible until the last minute, just trying to get my body into the water and all the Korean stinkeye women would all get out.

This was too much to bear, and I knew I had to get out of there before I got all “OLDBOY” on them, as I watch too many Korean gangster movies and can threaten a bitch in Korean harsher than Choi Min Sik on a bad day.

I restrained myself from saying “joo-goo lae?” which loosely translated means, “you want to die?” I didn’t say it. I thought it. but I didn’t say it.

I left the spa, way tenser than when I came in, which is the opposite of what should happen in a spa. I paid at the counter, and the manager and some clerks were there who were extremely sweet and apologetic and I gave like a 40% gratuity or something because I didn’t want them to be upset.

I told them that I really wanted to join, but I felt so weird about how I was treated. I told them that Korean culture is one thing, but this place is in Los Angeles. We are not in Korea right now. This is America. And it’s not like I enjoyed looking at their bodies that much. These were all women of various sizes and shapes and some, like me, bore the marks of a difficult life. My tattoos represent much of the pain and suffering I have endured. They are part of me, just like my scars, my fat, my eternal struggle with gravity. None of our bodies are ‘perfect’. We live in them. They aren’t supposed to be ‘perfect’. We are just us, perceived flaws and all. I am just only myself. I like a good scrub and a sauna, especially when you can watch Tiger Woods while it’s all going down.

Their intolerance viewing my nakedness –- as if it was some kind of an assault on their senses, like my ass was a weapon – made me furious in a way I can’t really even express with words -– and that for me is quite impressive. This bitch always has some shit to say.

I guess it comes down to this -– I deserve better.

I brought the first Korean American family to television. I have influenced a generation of Asian American comedians, artists, musicians, actors, authors -– many, many people to do what they dreamed of doing, not letting their race and the lack of Asian Americans in the media stop them. If anything, I understand Korean culture better than most, because I have had to fight against much of its homophobia, sexism, racism –- all the while trying to maintain my fierce ethnic pride. I struggle with the language so that I can be better understood. I try to communicate my frustrations in Korean so that I can enhance my relationship with my identity, my family, my parents homeland.

I deserve to be naked if I want to.

P.S. I saw a heavily tattooed Korean man in the gym area, and I doubt he was asked to cover up at all.

Naama Kates: It's Good To Be "King"

Naama Kates

Naama Kates is back, after her critically acclaimed debut "The Unexamined Life" and the hit single "Before You Lose It" Naama has recently released the CD "King for the Day" I highly recommend it!

Ms. Kates has this to say about her latest: "I wrote it when I was working on"The Unexamined Life", it was the first song I wrote after that record, while it was in production because I felt like, I was kind of living this dream really that I didn't even imagine, having my record done by this amazing producer, its like a lot of musicians' dreams when they come to LA I think".

I caught up with Naama during her album release show at The Silverlake Lounge on March 13th, where she and her band performed a flawless hour long set - It's Naama time!

MS: How are you my dear?

NK: I'm alright, how are you?

MS: Fine. You were so amazing tonight, The Silverlake Lounge has really great acoustics.

NK: Of course I didn't hear what my band sounded like, but I heard what the other ones did, it can be a little loud acoustic wise in there.

MS: I thought the acoustics for your show were dead on.

NK:  You're right, I have seen other shows there and they have sounded really good.

MS: When I go to a live show, I always expect a glitch here and there, but yours was like hearing the album, except it was live.

NK: You know what that is? It's because that is the way we recorded the album actually. There are no overdubs on it at all, all the songs are just a take that we chose, we did maybe a couple on each one, and just chose one. We played them how they are on the album, partly because it was more time and cost effective, that we did it that way (laughs) Hey, it worked!

MS: Very well by the way. I heard most of the album before I came to your show, my thing is I have to hear something a few times before I am super familiar with it.

NK: I so get that. Especially with this album it's not like other things. The structure is kind of wandering and stuff. I know I have to listen to music, a lot, before I know it, enough to know it when I go hear it live. 

MS: What the Hell with that girl who was talking louder than your show?

NK: Yeah, she was talking the whole time, I could hear the same voice, at the same frequency in my ear the whole time, but I couldn't see anything with the lights on me, but the TV in the corner. 

MS: I could not locate her either, I'm like "WTF is that coming from"?!

NK: She was near the front I think.

MS: Well I said something to Andrea ( Delesdernier Naama's PR person) She said "that happens with every show" I'm like noooooooo, that was really special, I mean I talk during a show, but you can't hear me over the whole thing!

NK: Oh, I know, I know. My thing is, I don't mind people talking at my shows, people are there with their friends. But if I am at a show or whatever and I am sitting really close to the front, I won't talk. All I heard was "wa wa wa wa"

Myself & Naama Post Silverlake Lounge Show

MS: Yeah, it was really rude. What I would like to say about the music off of "King for the Day" is it is a lot more low key than the "Unexamined Life".

NK: It's more down tempo.

MS: The more uptempo songs were not as frequent on "King" as they were on "Unexamined". Is that where you are at right now?

NK: You know, I don't really plan that when I write. Like, I don't ever have any pre-conceived ideas what I am going to write, period, when I do. All I know is I am going to write...I just sit down and do it, I guess it is a reflection of where I am. The things I am talking about on this album are a little more calm, it also has a lot to do with the arrangements. It was arranged with a four piece band, it was really organic.

MS: I get that, that's the way I write, and I think all writers do too. But, even though you say "it's what comes out" it is not as random as we writers think.

NK: There is definitely some driving force behind it, with the subconscious and everything...pushing the message out. But you are not calculating it or contriving it consciously at the same time.

MS: I one hundred percent agree with that. Creativity is winged on it's own level.

NK: Definitely! Life is not that deliberate. 

MS: BTW, since I turned you on to it, are you loving "Pretty Little Liars"?

NK: Yes! Great characters and story, good call!

Check out one of my favorite artists  Naama Kates and crown yourself "King" at: http://www.naamakates.com/