Plum Crazy

Est Notre Étude d'enfants?*

When you start to despair about the state of American education, watch this video:

To translate, for you non-French speakers. The question is "What revolves around the Earth". The four possible answers are "the moon", "the sun", "Mars", and "Venus". Our intrepid guest does not know the answer, so he asks the audience. 56% of the audience selects "the sun" as the correct answer. He goes along with them, and, well, at least he went home with the 1,500 euros he had previously won.

See, now you can despair about the state of global education instead!

I like the first comment on the YouTube page: "Parce que effectivement la france est le centre de l'univers..." Translated: "Because, effectively, France is the center of the universe."

*Loosely translates to "Is our children learning?"

Party On?

Hooray! The Yanks clinched the A.L. East crown last night and whooped it up in the clubhouse. I watched the celebration and am left wondering if they weren't a bit overzealous. After all, it's only the division title - true, a trip to the post-season - and that's not the Yankees goal. If you're the Detroit Tigers, coming off a 119-loss season in recent years, then you can trip the light fantastic. But if you're the Bronx Bombers and you're expected not just to make the playoffs but contend for the whole shooting match, then maybe you tone it down a tad. The time to let it loose is when you make it to the World Series.

Cross posted on THTRB.

The Groovy Thing about iTunes

You can hear that Brian Wilson got the win for the San Francisco Giants one night and be listening to the Beach Boys Greatest Hits the next night.

Cross posted on THTRB.

Rockstar: ???

So apparently the supergroup formerly known as Supernova will have to change its name, after a court injunction was issued in favor of the original punk band Supernova.

Regardless, did I tell you that the supergroup formerly known as Supernova was one I was destined to dislike? They didn't choose Toby after all. They went with Lukas, the one I liked least. So now I can feel totally free to completely ignore them. In fairness, I probably would have done that anyway.

Except Jason, dude? You're still metal. I look forward to the day you leave them and return to your roots.

Oh Oh Oh It's Magic

You know, never believe it's not so.

With another defeat of Tampa Bay and a little help from Baltimore, the Yankees skip eight and go right to seven!

He's a Magic Man

With some help from Bobby Abreu's 7 RBIs, last night's win over Tampa Bay brings the Yankees magic number down to 9!

Strange Magic

Why yes, boys and girls, it's that time of the year again. What time of the year you ask? It's the Yankees Magic Number Countdown!

Today's blog is brought to you by the number 10!

The Bells Are Ringing!

This 9/11, I would like all my few but faithful readers to wish my brother and co-blogger Jon and his new wife Judy congratulations on their wedding yesterday. It was a beautiful ceremony, and it was clear to all how much they love each other. So let's have a lot of joy amongst the sadness.

Congratulations Jon and Judy!

Googling for Fashion Tips

To the person who came upon my website with the search "brown shoes with navy pants".

No. Just no. Step away from the brown shoes. If you're a woman, navy shoes. If you're a man, oxblood. Not brown.

Chapter 2180

In which I confess my embarrassing love for the reality show "Rockstar: Supernova".

Let me make one thing clear right from the start. Supernova is a band I am destined to dislike. Consider the following:

Gilby Clarke. OK, so Gilby did some interesting things back in the day. The day meaning the time before he replaced Izzy Stradlin in Guns 'n Roses. But since then? Look, I never liked Guns 'n Roses, and that's the genre he seems most into these days. I wish he'd go back towards the punk genre he started in. He was so visibly excited when Dilana said she was going to sing a punk rock song. He clearly loves it. But it doesn't seem to be what he's performing these days. Therefore, strike one.

Tommy Lee. Ah, Motley Crue. Yep, never liked 'em. Tommy is a funny guy, but he's not getting paid to talk in Supernova. He's getting paid to make music, and I do not like his music. Strike two.

Jason Newsted. Dude, what are you thinking? You were in Metallica! You are metal. You are awesome. You do not belong with Gilby Clarke and Tommy Lee. This saddens me. However, since your last stint with a straight-up rock band lasted for, oh, about a year, I have doubts about how long you'll actually be able to stick this out. The metal. She is calling you. Heed the voice of your love. But you are not strike three. Not by a long shot.

Their original music. They've played a few songs now on the show, and I haven't liked one of them. I'm under no illusion that my taste in music is any predictor of mainstream success. No, I take that back. It may well be negatively correlated. If I don't like a band, it could be an indication of high potential for mainstream success. I'd have to run the numbers. Back to the point of this paragraph, though. I just don't like their music, and that, my few, my happy few readers, is strike three.

So, given that I will dislike Supernova, why do I watch this show? Why do I love this show? The good news is, I mostly don't have to listen to Supernova. I get to listen to some talented singers sing non-Supernova songs. And Dave Navarro. Dave Navarro scores high on my awesome meter. He's not Henry Rollins or Joey Ramone (sadly no one is Joey Ramone anymore), but he is up there. Look, I know some of you are going to point out that he wears mascara and nail polish. That his fashion choices can best be summed up as "satanesque". To which I reply: Your point? He's hot, deal. It's fair to say that devilish androgyny works for me. Back in my wayward youth, I totally crushed on the lead singer for Dead or Alive. Just thinking about how he looked back then... And Tim Curry in fishnets and a teddy..

But I digress. On Planet Lesley, Dave Navarro = hot + awesome = woo hoo! [Maths quiz for you all. If Dave Navarro = hot + awesome, what does Jason Newsted equal? Reread my paragraph on Jason to help you solve this equation. Answer below the jump.]

On to the performances themselves. Generally, I enjoy watching these. I'm not a fan of "American Idol", since it contains two things I don't like* - singers who can't sing and people singing Whitney Houston songs. Singers who can't sing singing Whitney Houston songs is a geometric progression of things I don't like. It becomes a thing I hate. "Rockstar: Supernova" is not like that. All the performers are professionals. They've recorded and performed regularly with their own bands. They've just never made it big. Further, they also (pretty much) sing rock songs. Not much pop. No country, or at least not country that is un-rocked up. No Broadway show tunes. No one's insisting they show their "range" in order to sing with a band that won't be performing, you know, pop, country, or Broadway show tunes. Just singers who can sing singing rock songs that I mostly like. This is A Good Thing.

Now that we're into the final week, let me address the remaining rockers. First, in one way I was sorry to see Storm go last week, as I think she's quite talented and has a good stage presence. On the other hand, she is not the right person to front those three guys. That is not an insult (see also my explanation of my destined dislike for Supernova).

Lukas. OK, see post below for my thoughts on Lukas. I just don't care for the guy. I know he's got hordes of screaming fans and, you know, fine. He's definitely got edge and a stage presence. But his musical stylings just don't work for me. If any rabid Lukas fans happen here, good on you. This is a personal preference. You're totally entitled to love the guy and think he's the greatest thing since the vibrator. I know you're out there, and I don't think you're nuts or stupid or anything insulting for it. So don't tell me on my blog how stupid or whatever you think I am. Go to one of your happy little message boards and tell the world about it. I don't think he'll win, but IMO, he's the second most likely to do so. The band reacts well to him.

Toby. Not my cup of tea. But he's got a good voice and people seem to react well to him. I think he's going to win this contest. He's a good time rocker, and Supernova is heading in that direction (again, see my destined dislike for this band). So, to quote Toby, "Evs".

Magni. Magni rocks. Love him. Love his musical choices. Great voice. Muted stage presence, though, so not right to front this band. If they ever do "Rockstar: Coldplay", though, he is totally their man. Or "Rockstar: Live", because if he shaved the goatee, he and Ed Kowalczyk would be like twins.

Dilana. Wow, I love her voice. She doesn't have the greatest range, I'll grant you, but neither does Mick Jagger, so what does that mean? No one's asking her to sing outside her range. She also has phenomenal stage presence. She really works well with the band, too. She is hands down my favorite of the rockers. For weeks, I thought, "She's the one." In many ways, I still think that. But her reaction to the disastrous press clinic kills her chances, IMO. She really freaked out afterwards. Unfortunately, if you're going to front a high-profile band, the media pressure is going to be enormous, and I don't think she can handle it. Most people couldn't, so that's not an insult. It does, however, have to be a big factor in deciding who you're going to put in that position.

In order of likelihood of winning, IMO: Toby, Lukas, Dilana, Magni. We'll find out on Wednesday if I have any grasp of Supernova "reality".

*If you are an "American Idol" fan, do not take that as an insult. My likes or dislikes are precisely that - mine - and are not intended to cast aspersion on those who disagree. Unless I explicitly state otherwise. In this case, I do not.

Jason Newsted = Dave Navarro - hot

Showing my work:

Dave Navarro = hot + awesome
Dave Navarro - hot = awesome
Jason Newsted = awesome
If Jason Newsted = awesome, and awesome = Dave Navarro - hot, using the transitive property of equality, Jason Newsted = Dave Navarro - hot

Inspired by Andy

And the number one threat to the nation is...

See World Wide Rant for source of inspiration.

Threatdown Generator via Pen-Elayne.

An "Indecent Haste"

It's always heart-warming to read about a group of men debating the need for a bill to protect women from male violence. In Pakistan, there is a movement afoot to repeal the Hudood Ordinances. Among other things, the Hudood Ordinances require a female rape victim to have four male Muslim witnesses in order to prove a claim of rape (because, you know, rapists generally do commit rape in front of scads of witnesses, no). If the claim cannot be proven, the woman can be convicted of adultery and sentenced to death.

Sadly unsurprisingly, the repeal of this bill is highly controversial in Pakistan. A hard-line religious group has already rejected it. A committee has now been formed to amend the bill in order to make it acceptable to the hard-liners.

The MMA leader said that Chaudhry Shujaat was convinced that there was no need to show an ‘indecent haste’ to get the controversial bill passed from Parliament.

An "indecent haste". Such a lovely phrase. I'm sure if you're a woman who has been raped, there is no haste that is hasty enough to be "indecent". However, all of this must take a back seat to the concerns of a group of men.

Chaudhry Shujaat said the government wanted to resolve the issue amicably.

Amicably for whom? For Pakistani women?

With any luck, this bill will be passed in a non-watered-down version.

Via feministe.

Sci Fi Totally Hooked Me Up

geek

10 original webisodes of Battlestar Galactica! Sweeeet! Plus the teasers for Season 3 look awesome!

/geek

Ahem (Again)

Thanks to the Blue Jays, despite the Yankees' loss to the Twins, their magic number is now 20.

King Stephen

The only problem with picking up a Stephen King book is that you have to put it down at some point. Unless you park yourself on the sofa early in the morning and read all day. Today's a perfect day to curl up with the King book I'm reading, Dreamcatcher. Gloomy outside. Nothing better than a spooky book in the gloom and doom of a tropical storm.