The Writer's Poke

What do The 69 Eyes and Kylie Minogue have in common? They both recently released their 10th albums, and these albums were not released in the United States. What's up with that? A good site to find videos never seen and music never released in the United States is EMI Jukebox Finland. So, if you're either a 69 Eyes or Kylie fan, check it out: http://www.emi.fi/jukebox/artisti/68/kylie http://www.emi.fi/jukebox/artisti/51/the69eyes

For Writers: Superheroes need dance partners, and those dance partners are the supervillains. Without Lex Luthor, Superman never leaves Smallville; without the likes of the Joker and his ilk, Batman just lives life as the ordinary Bruce Wayne. Villains have all of the special powers and all of the intelligence that heroes possess, and they always seem as though they could destroy the hero and take over the world. This perceived balance of power between the forces of good and evil makes the comic book reader or animated series viewer believe that everything is at stake. Traditionally, good always wins in the end, but the success of the hero depends on the real possibility of failure. This world view is very much in line with a religion like Zoroastrism , where the gods of good and evil are equals – as opposed to Christianity, where it’s established as a foregone conclusion that God will eventually destroy Satan once and for all. Assume the role of the villain. What event, if any, brough...

Wrestlemania 24 is just a week away (and yes, this is the 24 th year they've done one). I thought I'd post my thoughts on the matches; while the card isn't great, it's one of the better Wrestlemania cards that they've put on in a long while. 1. 24 Man Battle Royal (winner facing ECW Champion Chavo Guerreo later in the show) -- Odds on favorite has to be Kane. Could someone less well-known win? Maybe, but I think Kane is likely to win and then go on to beat Chavo Guerreo for ECW title. Prediction: Kane 2. Chavo Guerreo vs. Kane -- Normally, this kind of match would happen later in the show, but don't be surprised to see Chavo come out immediately after the Battle Royal is over (or, actually, he'll probably watch the match from ringside, jumping in as soon as Kane has eliminated Mark Henry and Big Daddy V from the ring). The producers will want to get both the Battle Royal and this match done in 15 minutes. ECW has no value to them... Prediction: ...

For Writers: My wife and I have spent the last three months watching a lot of animated superhero programs (notice I didn't say cartoons, because let's face it: cartoons are for kids!). Batman: the Animated Series is quite good. But, in every episode, someone must fall from a great height. That's a rule that the TV executives made: "Writers, please make sure that someone falls from a great height in each episode , please." The good thing is, you can make a great drinking game out of it, if you're so inclined. Superman: the Animated Series. Well, I didn't like this one as much. Batman is darker, and the villains are more like family to me. Superman just isn't my type; after all, he's not from here, and I like my heroes human and without superpowers. I actually didn't realize this about myself until I started watching these animated programs. I seriously don't like god-like superheros. There's simply no thrill in watching a god defe...

Ah, the nature of a political campaign!

Funny stuff! http://www.challengeofthesuperduperfriends.com/teaser.asp

People talking about winning the Iraq war, but I'm not sure what they mean. One of the most infamous events of the Bush presidency happened a few years ago when he flew onto a Navy battleship and declared victory in Iraq. Gee, if that's your idea of victory... Anyway, 4000 Americans have now died, and nobody seems to care. A recent poll indicated that only 30% of Americans even know what the body count is. And I'd bet even fewer know that we've spent 500 billion dollars to "win" this war. So what does winning mean? 1. Getting rid of weapons of mass destruction? (none there) 2. Getting rid of Sadam? (he's dead) 3. Installing an American-style democracy? (never gonna happen) 4. Forcing everyone in Iraq to get along? (we will be there 100 years or longer if that's the goal) 5. Make American companies a lot of money? (perhaps this is happening, and will continue to happen for as long as we're there -- is that the real meaning of "winning," m...

Yes, I like professional wrestling, but I don't like the way it's presented on TV. The average TV match lasts less than 5 minutes. If the match goes longer than that, there's always a four minute commercial break, and you can generally predict when the match is about to go to commercial -- someone is always thrown out of the ring. While matches last less than 5 minutes, promos can go on forever -- up to 15 minutes. And they never go to commercial when someone is cutting a promo. That means to the WWE promoters, the talk is more important than the actual wrestling. And, of course it would be, as their main interest in doing the TV show is to promote the next pay-per-view. In essence, WWE Raw and all the other shows like it are infomericals . Interesting side note: in last night's show, Vince McMahon took on Ric Flair in a street fight. The match was at least 10 minutes long, but there were no commercial breaks, which is odd. Was it because Vince was in the match? Pro...

In 2004, I actually wrote in the name of Jesse Ventura for president, and I still think the man makes a lot of sense. When you watch this video, ignore his "new look." Just listen to what he says. He has a new book coming out, and that very well could be the reason that he's teasing the idea that he might run for president this year. Honestly, I can't see a grass-roots movement for Jesse happening any time soon, but he certainly might make things interesting. This won't be the year for a 3rd party candidate, and if Barack wins the nomination, I would have to support him. But I'll tell you what, if Hillary wins the nomination, I'd be glad to vote for Jesse again. :)

MC-SNL-01 [jonnyalisblog.com] Uploaded by Alisvideo Okay, my wife won't be happy that I put this video on my blog, but I wanted to see how many hits it would generate. :) A couple of questions to ask yourself when you watch the video. 1. The show What Not to Wear says that women in their 30's shouldn't wear mini-skirts. Is this advice Mariah should heed? 2. Does Mariah know that the camera is going to being shooting up at her? 3. What color is Mariah's underwear, and why didn't she wear silver sequined undies? 4. What do you think of this song, the title track off her new album, E=mc2? (is that what Einstein really meant: Energy equals Mariah Carey squared?)

Three weeks ago, Tina Fey hosted Saturday Night Live and basically endorsed Hillary during Weekend Update. Tonight, Tracy Morgan appeared on SNL's Weekend Update and kicked some comedy butt for Barack. Tracy's closing line refuted Tina's idea that "bitch is the 'new black.'" To quote Tracy: "Bitch might be the new black, but black is the new pres... bitch." Didn't see it? Check it out here, before NBC and the Clintons have it taken down: http://www.hyerstandard.com/2008/03/video-snl-tracy-morgan-counters-tina.html